In Pelican file........(view larger)

In Feb/012, Louise and I spent an extended long-weekend in Denmark, close to Albany in South Western Australia. Whilst Perth's temps were around the mid 30's, Denmark was scrabling to get to 20 degrees and it was overcast with intermittant rain. More "log fire" type weather than for photography.

Nevertheless, we two intrepid photographers braved the elements and had a lot of fun with low-light captures. We walked for miles to get some of the images in this folder and had to "hunker down" in the wet grass to ambush many of our subjects, all of whom were not "people-awared" and were prone to scatter, given the slightest cause. 

Mentally we dreamed of having longer lenses.... but you have to use what you got - right?

Hope you enjoy the series...............

Regards

Our "Ambush" tactic for this image was rather fortuitous in that, farther downstream (left of image shown) was a carpark with a lowlevel bridge spanning the waterway. These guys were close to the bridge when a car arrived with some noisy kids.......... the pelicans immediately started swimming upstream, passing right in front of us. So skittish are they, that our shutter noise spooked them into flight, seconds later.

Seems a peaceful pose, but their feet were paddling like crazy...........

Regards 

Hi Grayham

A superb image, so tranquil, you'd never guess that they were "about to decamp" so to speak. Love the Autumn colors of the reeds on the far bank. Great composition, DOF. Lovely viewed larger!

Kind regards

Louise

The image has the full story........ your comments are always

appreciated.......

Best regards

This is my favourite shot of the whole weekend away. Thanks for your visit and comments.

Best regards

Grayham, this is really a lovely shot. I think the exposure is just right to get the detail in the light areas and to high light the pelican bodies. The composition shows the social nature of these birds and puts them in motion in unison. It has reflections as well. The pelicans are well framed by the grass on either side of the waterway and form a slight diagonan line keeps my eyes going back and forth from one pelican to the nest. Very good shot 6/7.   Dave

You are a "Gentleman and a Scholar" and I thank you sincerely for finding this image and doing it justice with your critique.

I made the mistake of posting it mid-week for a critique and the 24 hours passed with little to no traffic.......... my mistake.

Every now and again one gets an image to be proud of..... one that you can sit back and say "Wow, I really like that"....... and this is my one for 2012 todate.

Thank you so much for stopping by.............

Best regards

What a Peaceful capture! I love it! 

The stillness of the water with a slight hint of a breeze in the air, the two pelicans following the leader and the 4th in the back making one think that there is one rebel in the group. Their pose reflecting in the water is also something that caught my eye as usual. Your colours,clarity as well as sharpness perfect. The grass on the opposite side of the riverbank hanging over in the water yet again with it's slight hint of reflection is perfect. The small white flowers as well as the white feathers of the pelicans add a different touch to the tones of green and brown of nature as we see with the eye.

I took a closer look again and because we are nature lovers and in the KNP very often....You can even see the bottom of the river if you know what you are looking for...Well done my friend. 

My honest opinion overall - You captured an Amazing scene here! 10/10

Warmest Regards and looking so forward to all the others that are to follow.

It's a hard choice between this one and the next in the series.  The Pelican "spooked by shutter noise"  has a lot more immediate impact, simply because of the splash and dramatic wingspan. But personally I prefer the more sedate balance of this one. The touches of light on the far bank flora is really nice, and the detail in the birds is quite exquisite to view also.  The fringe of foreground vegetation allows a good understanding of your perspective, and the number 3 is always an interesting figure (Even though there are essentially 4 birds they are seen as three initially) to contemplate. There is a sense of life and graceful movement that is conveyed by the wake of the birds that makes for a peaceful scene.   Personally I think you were right with your first choice, I think this is a strong contender.

Best Regards

Alf

Grayham,

I really enjoy this image!  I read a lot of the background you have written about the trip and the difficulties in getting shots in this location and that makes me appreciate the shot even more.  These guys are so evenly spaced that your composition works perfectly.  I saw it large and there is a tremendous amount of detail in the landscape.  Its a beautiful setting for viewing these birds.  All your efforts were very worthwhile!

Best,

Phil

Thank you so much for your lovely detailed comments, which (incidentally) made me re-visit the image to see what you saw. So very perceptive of you.

I admire your work immensely, so to receive a 10 from you is very heart warming and encouraging.

Thank you again for your time in evaluating this image.

Best regards

Thank you so much for your visit and descriptive comments. You have seen the attributes of this image (pretty much) as I see them, which for me, is a huge bonus.

This one image made the whole trip worthwhile (miserable weather) and I thank you again for recognising its qualities.

Best regards

Thank you for your time in reading the background info on this image and for the subsequent comments. I really appreciate your input here. As you well know, Birding can be an exercise in futility as the subject matter is never  helpful, so a capture like this one tends to "make up" for all those "missed" ones.

I appreciate your time with this image.

Best regards 

Grayham,

This is very nice. I believe this is the series you mentioned to me. I have a deep appreciation for the waiting, coming home empty handed, and the "oh wow" moment. I love the story on this series, especially how you picked your spot and luck brought the birds to you in such a grand manner.

You mention the overcast quality of the day, but here it looks as though there was enough light to get contrast in the vegetation and reflection on the water, but not so much as to blow out the whites. I like the colors here. Pelicans are among my favorite birds to watch, so this really brings a smile.

As I am at the beginning of bird photography I can't offer much in the way of critique. I can look carefully and take lessons with me. I understand working within the limits of 70-200mm. Sometimes (quite often) more reach would be nice, and then at times 200mm is just what the day calls for.

Thank you for sharing the photos and the story.

Thank you so much for your lovely comments on this image. The fact that you like this image so much is just reward for me.

I appreciate your time...........

Best regards