Kamikaze Brown Pelican-Bolsa Chica


Posted by Tom Hill on Mon Feb 16, 2004 1:54 am

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Image
Nikon D1h, 70-200mm f/2.8 AF-S VR, Incident Metering, f/5.6, 1/800sec, Cloudy WB, Handheld

If you've never seen Brown Pelican's hunt, it's amazing. They fly along, pull their wings in, then dive cranium first into the water. I can just image what it looks like to a fish seeing these guys come at you.

The image was interesting to post process. There's lots of detail available in the RAW file but no single exposure setting was giving me detail in both highlights and shadows. I merged two separate photoshop images--one optimized for shadows, the other for the highlights--from a single NEF. The result is this image that has acceptable detail in both the highlights and shadows.

I sure with it was brighter to give the image more punch. Oh well.

Cheers
Tom Hill
http://www.tom-hill.com

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Tom Hill
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by Alan Murphy on Mon Feb 16, 2004 9:12 am
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Great timing Tom. Maybe a little more USM and a slight boost in contrast.
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by matt kuchta on Mon Feb 16, 2004 10:27 am
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I'll go with Alan's suggestions, but I like the pose here - the horizon above the bird really emphasizes the downward plunge of the bird.
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by AlexC on Mon Feb 16, 2004 11:03 am
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Just before impact those wings go F-111 !!!
I like it !! congrats !!!! 8)
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by Heather Forcier on Tue Feb 17, 2004 5:17 pm
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Tom,

Getting a shot like this is an incredible feat. Not only is it a timing issue, but you have the bird turned with its back and head towards you. You also did well to freeze the action with your shutter speed in what appears to be lower lighting. This is a capture I'd love to get someday.
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