Diving Brown Pelican

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Sony A850~Sony 70-400G@400mm~ISO 1600~1/2000sec~F7.1~manual exposure~HH~near sunset, no clouds~1-25-2011~Texas City Dike~CS5

Had a nice overcast when I arrived at the Dike today, but as often happens it didn't last.
I managed to capture this juvi pelican in a dive as the tip of its bill hit the surface. Unfortunately the lighting was less than optimal; though the sun was fairly low on the horizon, it was coming from the right and somewhat harsh. I used the fill-light slider in ACR to lighten up the shadows somewhat, and had to resort to NR. This was not a substantial crop, and I was disapponted in the amount of detail. Comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill

my website

[Brendan Dozier]

I know you said you wanted more detail Bill, but this is still a very nice action shot. I love how you captured his bill just impacting the water. I don't think I have seen a pose like this. I know you are pretty picky about light, but I think the light looks pretty sweet. You did a good job with the NR for 1600 ISO. Looks like it could use a bit more sharpening, but I would love to get a shot like that.

[pat lillich]

hey Bill, the effect of the lighting is like that really sweet light in the morning with the golden glow - combined with the blue water it makes for a very rich image. I love pelicans and have never managed to catch one just hitting the water like this, and with the beautiful feather detail - its gorgeous.

[Julie Kenward]

Bill, for me the head is the biggest problem - it's not as sharp or as detailed as your images normally are. It's a great action image but the lack of detail in the head area no doubt made you want to moan a little.

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Yes Julie,we both noticed a lack of detail in head area, and I would attribute it to the lighting. However, there may be something else going on. It seems the pelicans, after quickly dropping from a considerable height (sometimes more than 50 feet) onto a water surface that could be described as "hard" may actually contact muscles in the bill to smooth things out as an adaptation to make entering the water less traumatic. Smoothing things out like that may reduce visible detail. Just a theory. regards~Bill

[Matthew Latini]

I love the pose and the angle of the shot!
Sure, the head area lacks some detail but I think the detail in the rest of the body and the awesome timing does help to offset that.
Could it be that the focus point was simply a bit back from the head?

[WIlliam Maroldo]

Thanks Mathew. Indeed it could be the focus point could be behind the head, and since the "event" took place in a very short period of time AF aquisition errors are quite possible, and why I try to compensate for this by expanding the DOF used. F7.1 may have been inadequate. However,to me at least, the loss of edge sharpness to be expected with inadequate focus wasn't evident in this image, and I have seen this problem in other diving pelican images where focusing errors could defintely be ruled out. regards~Bill

[Matthew Latini]

I did notice this quote before I responded, which does seem quite interesting and may explain it. I'm just starting to do some BIF shots and there are some pelicans at Bolsa Chica, where I've been shooting, so I'll keep this in mind when I'm out there.

It seems the pelicans, after quickly dropping from a considerable height (sometimes more than 50 feet) onto a water surface that could be described as "hard" may actually contact muscles in the bill to smooth things out as an adaptation to make entering the water less traumatic. Smoothing things out like that may reduce visible detail. Just a theory. regards~Bill

[Steve Uffman]

living near the coast of Louisiana, I love the pelicans. Took several news agency photographers out to the barrier island rookeries during the BP deepwater incident as we were real worried about the nesting birds. As such, I can really appreciate the timing of this thing. In fact, this is a shot I have visualized many times so I know how difficult this capture was. I agree that the pelicans that fall out of the sky, rather abruptly at great speeds only to survive the impact clearly do something instinctively to mitigate the blow. I think you captured it Great job

Sony A850~Sony 70-400G@400mm~ISO 1600~1/2000sec~F7.1~manual exposure~HH~near sunset, no clouds~1-25-2011~Texas City Dike~CS5

Had a nice overcast when I arrived at the Dike today, but as often happens it didn't last.
I managed to capture this juvi pelican in a dive as the tip of its bill hit the surface. Unfortunately the lighting was less than optimal; though the sun was fairly low on the horizon, it was coming from the right and somewhat harsh. I used the fill-light slider in ACR to lighten up the shadows somewhat, and had to resort to NR. This was not a substantial crop, and I was disapponted in the amount of detail. Comments and critique welcomed. regards~Bill

my website