Pelican Abstract

Gallery: AvianPosted November 13, 201055 views6 comments

Craig Strand's Wood Duck abstract from a day or two ago inspired me to revisit this image that has been in my files since Feb.

Brown Pelicans offer some pretty incredible photographic possibilities, and are also fairly easily approached. In Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico, I took this close-up of a Brown Pelican's body plumage. I think the textures are very interesting--the feathers seem almost leathery, with surprisingly little of what I think of as typical "feather detail." I gave this image a good bit of ccw rotation to level out the feather pattern and cropped to 60% of original.

Your comments and critiques are appreciated. Please view the larger version if possible.

Canon 7D, 500mm + 1.4x, monopod. 1/1600, f/8, ISO 400

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on November 14, 2010 at 10:52 AM

Brian,

I've taken close up images like this one of Brown Pelicans because I find the shingled, overlapping way the feathers are on the wings to be fascinating, this image shows that very well. You have lovely details, especially visible on the larger image (thanks so much for posting it), nice sharpness and I think the subtle browns are great. The one thing I might consider id cropping a bit from the top to eliminate that very dark area at the top right, the darkness draws my eyes up there to try to figure out what it is. Very minor thing though.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on November 14, 2010 at 12:29 PM

Thanks for posting this abstract Brian. I agree with the unique overlay of feathering, which is very apparent in the larger view, and how different it is along with the dominant elongated shape of pelican feathers. I am often attracted to the birds feathers when viewing many postings by members.
Great job, thanks!

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Monica Siri on November 14, 2010 at 3:54 PM

Brian,
an interesting idea to show a pelican. Very nice close-up with superb detail.

Registered on September 20, 2009, 132 Posts, 3764 Comments

Comment posted by Simon Bennett on November 14, 2010 at 3:57 PM

Wonderful textures and detail.

Registered on February 4, 2007, 350 Posts, 4614 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on November 14, 2010 at 5:25 PM

Really well done for your goal here Brian. I would def crop to remove the dark triangle in the URHC.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on December 4, 2010 at 8:22 PM

It's fun to see one aspect of a bird examined more closely, Brian. Your image makes us realize that even one aspect of one species is beautiful. It also causes us to wonder why these feathers have evolved the way they have. I tried a brief search on the Internet, but, although I see plenty of info on feathers, including pelican feathers, I didn't see anything about the evolution and unique functionality of pelican feathers. Maybe we just don't know.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments