# White Pelican **URL:** \ **Category:** Image Critiques\ **Tags:** birds\ **Created:** [February 10, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/white-pelican/4012 "2019-02-10T14:59:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lyle\_Gruby](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@Lyle\_Gruby](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Lyle_Gruby)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 2:59pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/white-pelican/4012/1 "2019-02-10T14:59:38Z")
![_LWG2503%20copy%20II](https://images.naturephotographers.network/original/2X/c/cc658acfc591b79185a491e71908034877288e2f.jpeg) Shot this near Little Rock, AR, when I was there for Christmas (during a quick break from family). Found these guys the day before and came back the next morning. They weren’t very friendly, so it took quite a while to figure out how to approach them. Eventually had some success while hiding among some reeds on the bank and waiting on them to come by. Very overcast day. I shot this around 11:00 a.m. The delay in figuring out how to get in photographic range was actually a blessing because the overall light level was much higher than it was at daylight, which let me lower my ISO substantially. Techs: D850 500mm AF-S II + 1.4x tc 1/2000 f/7.1 ISO 640 Ran levels on the bird and used a luminosity mask to dodge some of the whites on the neck because they were gray-ish and dirty. Darkened the background and used a luminosity mask to burn some distracting elements. Resized and sharpened. I think I probably ran some NR on the BG and FG, but I don’t specifically remember doing that. Cropped a bit for composition. I still think it might need a bit of CCW rotation. All comments welcome. ##### **_You may only download this image to demonstrate post-processing techniques._** ---
**Author:** ![Hans\_Overduin](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/hans_overduin/32/406_2.png) [@Hans\_Overduin](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Hans_Overduin)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 5:00pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/white-pelican/4012/2 "2019-02-10T17:00:37Z")
Hello, Lyle - good you found a spot from where to shoot ! Pretty impressive birds. You managed well on the techs. The image has a slightly tilted feel to it, but on closer inspection it seems straight 🙂 … Best regards, Hans ---
**Author:** ![Dan\_Kearl](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/dan_kearl/32/6715_2.png) [@Dan\_Kearl](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Dan_Kearl)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 6:40pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/white-pelican/4012/3 "2019-02-10T18:40:23Z")
The whites look excellent and I like the dark BG… I think a bit off the bottom and a bit more on top with more of the dark BG if you have it would look good. ---
**Author:** ![Dennis\_Plank](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/dennis_plank/32/27033_2.png) [@Dennis\_Plank](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Dennis_Plank)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/white-pelican/4012/4 "2019-02-10T22:19:27Z")
Nice job on the processing, Lyle. A lovely image. The rotation is extremely difficult to judge on this kind of image, but visually it does look like it could use some and that’s what really counts. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Schoen](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/david_schoen/32/368_2.png) [@David\_Schoen](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/David_Schoen)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 12:47am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/white-pelican/4012/5 "2019-02-11T00:47:04Z")
Superb point of view on this pelican image. Perfect exposure to bring out detail in the white plumage. I think you got the angle as far as I can tell but this one is difficult due to the reeds in the background being less than horizontal. Last time I was in Little Rock was a Fourth of July weekend and it was exceedingly steamy with 99+ percent humidity and temperatures in the 90s. Just as wet then for as it is for this pelican. ---
**Author:** ![Allen\_Sparks](https://assets.naturephotographers.network/user_avatar/community.naturephotographers.network/allen_sparks/32/63507_2.png) [@Allen\_Sparks](https://community.naturephotographers.network/u/Allen_Sparks)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 4:43am UTC](https://community.naturephotographers.network/t/white-pelican/4012/6 "2019-02-11T04:43:25Z")
Hi Lyle! Excellent exposure showing the detailed whites. Nice processing on the background. I like this comp but I could also see trying a tad off the bottom and maybe a little more on the right.