Mr Percival, Big Boy and Babe sing!

Well John, I read the whole thread and agree and ditto all that's been said. It's magical, funny, touching, & I wouldn't change a thing. 7/7 Well done!!!!!

 

Elizabeth

What could be sweeter than a great picture of Aussie pelicans?

 

Excellent.

So not only Pelican have also big mouths,... but they make it on the front page as well... is this a pure and immaculate coincidence Elves ?!... ;-))

Congrats John, and sorry for this cynical intro ... a great timing. You might be tempted for aesthetic purpose but for meaning/symbol dont touch anything (beside the sky color that may be adjusted) - especially the pelican in the background (it is eating a fish, apparently not paying attention to the show held on the beach side)!

PS: Reminds me a bit this pic

Have they found Nemo yet?

19-35mm? Wow, it's amazing how close did you get without scare the pelicans or gulls. What's the trick?

 

The composition is fine as it is. Maybe the gull in the foreground masking the pelican feet is a bit in the "wrong place", but nothing bothering.

It is am excellent capture. Nice colours/lighting etc. etc.

Regards, 'Surya'

Just a question, suddenly crossed my mind?... did you add (some of) the seagulls (and shadowed them) or is it 100% nature shot?

Don't change anything! The seagulls have front row viewing to what obviously looks to them a strange wonder with a big gob. Like the Ink Spots, the lead singer in the front, harmonys to the rear and the pelican at the back on baritone.

This is a photo that makes me happy. It really does seem like the pelicans were putting on a performance that you were privy to; excellent capture/composition. I wouldn't do anything to this photo.

 

We see many "artsy" photos and this one while being artistic is not full of it's self. It speaks of it's own intrinsic value and not necessarily of the artists. Many times it seems a photographer gets in the way of a good photo.

The image does not look real to me. The three seagulls in the foreground don't seem to have eyes, and their body postures are so similar. They look like copies of one another.

 

The anthropomorphism of the title is disturbing, in that animals don't exist to entertain humans. The tendency for humans to see animals only as something to eat, or to entertain us, is a barrier to appreciating other species as a separate reality, rather than as our own fictions, and false beliefs.

 

There was a POW of penguins with a similar title, stating or suggesting that the penguins were mo-town singers, which of course is completely false, and dangerously inaccurate, because people project their own illusions onto reality, without knowing anything about the reality, such as the fact that species might be on the verge of extinction due to human activity, let alone to learn anything about

the life, or characteristics of that particular species, or its habitat.

 

Disney, as far as I have read, has quite a poor environmental track record, which is more than a little ironic considering how much money it has made by selling media featuring cartoon animals.

 

We are currently in a major period of the extinction of animals, and yet the media about animals seems obsessed with depiciting them as cartoons, and a source of entertainment, without telling what is truly happening to them.

Jake, are you jealous?

The image is fanatastic Jack! I don't care whether they are made of plastic or real.

no. i am not the least bit jealous. my post was not about me.

 

my post was about anthropomorphism, which is the strong tendency for humans to project their own characteristics onto non-human entities.

Superb...

This is my first comment

But wondering it's all gimmick !

 

-Venkat Natarajan

Excellent and very amusing photograph! Do not clone anyone out, they all have their role. Even the slightly jaded 4th gull (he'll be right back anyway, just going to get a drink, antropomorphically speaking :)).

Fantastic shot and wonderful composition. If that far-left gull were looking at the trio, as all the other gulls are, that would be most extraordinary. As is, it's wonderful and the foot-covering-gull is no problem. As far as anthropomorphizing is concerned, I think some folks just like to have fun with titles. I don't get the title on this one, (never heard it before) but it seems like a fun shot, worthy of a fun title. Not everything in this world must be dead serious.

I believe the title refers to some animal characters in a movie about a pig, Babe, in which all the animals are made to talk.

Here's another pnet sighting of those lovable birds - please,no autographs! :-)

John, I'd leave it as is -- after all, even in a concert hall, there's always one yahoo answering a cell phone or heading to the little bird's room. ;) Seriously, I love it as is and I hope to be as lucky in capturing a moment like this. Well done!

 

As for the "anthropomorphizing" issue -- I really don't see how it's relevant to the photograph. Surely it's obvious to everyone here that the pelicans are NOT singing -- I'd probably guess as earlier mentioned a threat display or possibly grabbing for a tidbit of fish flung their way. I certainly don't think this picture spells doom for all animal life on Earth simply because we can smile at it.

This is just wonderful! Such a rare magical moment - and you were there and did a great job.

Hi thank you all for comments. To those wondering this shot is unaltered (no cloning or pasting). The title refers to names given to these pelicans by a retired lady that lives a couple of hundred metres from where the birds spend most days. The lady watches and talks to them and has named them all and is very protective (stops children from throwing rocks etc). She alway comes up to talk and tells me what her two favoutite birds Big Boy and Babe have been doing (She has known them since they arrived at Kirton Point at about 9 months of age). I also like to sit quietly on the sandbar keeping below the pelicans eye height (some days for 2 or 3 hours). The birds have accepted me into their world and will come right up to me. I never feed them or touch them. I find them interesting as so often I see strong personality traits in them and they remind me or differnt people I know! Hope this helps answer some of the questions raised. Cheers from Australia. John

Superlative! My all-time favorite bird has been done justice. As for retouching, if you've really got a hankering, lose the dark bit in the rear pelican's mouth. As to previous comments as to commercial potential, I work in advertising and we tend either to have highly-skilled in-house people or vendors retouch images. Art directors are variedly subjective, so leave it to them.

John, This is a very well crafted image.

 

I'm interested to know about how this shot came together. What was going on while you were shooting? I'm suprised the birds stay put like that. Was it tricky to set up or did it just sort of flow as you were shooting? I'd love to hear also about what techniques you used if your willing.

What an incredible shot!

What I've noticed most in this amazing photo are the repeated elements. Most obviously there are the 'three tenors'. But also the six seagulls on the right all facing left and all looking rather similar, the two seagulls in the foreground (including the cloning candidate), and then two more on the left not watching the performance, merely looking like they're on their daily walk down the beach and trying to avoid the concert.

On another note that has been raised above, In my very limited experience with pelicans I have always been able to get within a metre of them without any trouble. Maybe I've always seen them in places where they are used to being fed by humans?

Completely off topic: I think this website needs an update so that there is a viewing frame and a comments frame in the photo discussions. So often I have to open a new browser window or scroll up and down when someone points out an interesting feature that I can't remember.

It's a great photo. I like, I like! No, I love it! I would not advise you to touch it up on the computer. It is good enough as it is. Thank you for a cheering us up with this picture.

That is a cool shot, the three tenors do hawaii!

Love it!