His Magesty, the Pelican

[FootLoose]

Pelicans have held a fascination for me ever since my grandfather taught me Rudyard Kipling's verse when I was a small boy:
"A wise old bird is the pelican
His beak holds more than his belly can ..."

I think our local pelicans are pretty wise because they don't fish for themselves: they herd fishermen down to the water to catch their meal for them. Here's one using is fisherman to catch breakfast shortly after sunrise





Seriously though, until this day I had never been able to capture a close-up shot of a pelican, so when I spotted this fellow standing on the rock platform I slowly worked my way towards him. He was a little wary of me as I was only a few metres from him and he kept twisting his head around to see what I was up to. (I was motionless, just photograhing him as quickly as I could in case he took flight.)

I hoped to capture a sense of this bird's regalness, and I hoped the open space to the left would convey a sense of his 'domain'. I took the photos from the shaded side because previous experience has shown that direct sunlight blows the whites in their feathers. Also, I was taken by the golden 'halo' from the early morning sun on his neck. Any comments and criticism will be appreciated.

#1



#2


#3


#4


#5



All shots were taken with EF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6 lens.

[FootLoose]

Lost #5 ???

[kentruth]

If you ever want to get pics of eastern brown pelicans upclose & personal I have a major breeding colony less than an hour from my house. Survivors of the BP oil spill were relocated to the Georgia coast, sadly most of the nests this season were wiped out by an early tropical storm & spring tides, however I caught this flirtatious gentleman wooing his lady-friend after the storm...Nature taking care that there is a next generation!

[Bobobird]

Beautiful captures Greg. Wonder what you could have done with a zoom?

[Donald]

Not so sure about the first one Greg, with the background cutting across neck and bill, but the rest ................!

I hoped to capture a sense of this bird's regalness, and I hoped the open space to the left would convey a sense of his 'domain'.

Given that was your goal, you achieved with distinction, I would say. In other words, you've done what you set out to do ... and you can't really get any better than that.

[FootLoose]

Georgia is a little off my beaten track, Lesley

Thanks for comments, Bobo and Donald. I had only had the new camera about 1 month when I took those photos and had progressed to the stage of using 'P' mode because it allowed me to control the iso speed. I have since ventured into Aperture Priority mode and experimenting with the 55-250mm zoom Heaps to learn but it's all fun

[davidedric]

Nice photos - and I like the idea of including the first one to give context. Many bird photographs are beautiful images but I often want to know more.

Sadly, not from Kipling, though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixon_Lanier_Merritt


I doubt that august victorian gentleman would have had much truck with limericks

[FootLoose]

Nice photos - and I like the idea of including the first one to give context. Many bird photographs are beautiful images but I often want to know more.

Sadly, not from Kipling, though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixon_Lanier_Merritt


I doubt that august victorian gentleman would have had much truck with limericks

Thanks for the comments and the correction, dave. I should know better than to trust my memory these days...

[Ken MT]

minor comment is that the horizon is not quite horizontal. Easily fixed and will not take any of the pelican away

[Dave Humphries]

I took the photos from the shaded side because previous experience has shown that direct sunlight blows the whites in their feathers. Also, I was taken by the golden 'halo' from the early morning sun on his neck. Any comments and criticism will be appreciated.

The whites only blow if you over expose Greg - to which there's a simple answer
Shoot with some - EC (negative exposure compensation), you may need as much as two stops.

Even shoting form the shady side, it is blown on his/her face in #1, but less so in the almost identically posed #4.

I have to say I was amazed that you'd got so close as to shoot these at 50mm, well done - I bet that felt 'special'.

Cheers,

[FootLoose]

minor comment is that the horizon is not quite horizontal. Easily fixed and will not take any of the pelican away

Thanks Ken, I hadn't noticed that.

[FootLoose]

The whites only blow if you over expose Greg - to which there's a simple answer
Shoot with some - EC (negative exposure compensation), you may need as much as two stops.

Even shoting form the shady side, it is blown on his/her face in #1, but less so in the almost identically posed #4.

I have to say I was amazed that you'd got so close as to shoot these at 50mm, well done - I bet that felt 'special'.

Cheers,

Thanks for the tip, Dave, I will have a look at the manual. And, yes, it was one of those 'magic moments' being so close to the bird.