White Pelican

I captured this image November 17th last year at Lake Morton in Lakeland, Florida. I keep checking everyday to see if the pelicans have arrived this year. Eagerly awaiting... Comments and critique welcomed and appreciated. Thank you for viewing.

Nikon D500
Nikon 500mm F/5.6 VR AF-S ED PF, camera and lens supported by a Oben carbon fiber monopod with a Wimberly MonoGimbal head
1/500 F/5.6 Matrix Metering EV +1/3 ISO 180 Auto 1 WB, image captured at 500mm (750mm 35mm Equivalent)
Post processed in Lightroom Classic, Photoshop CC 2022 and Topaz Denoise AI
Cropped slightly for composition and presentation

Love the exposure, the details are quite prominent, just wondering if a little too prominent? I know you have different light there so maybe I am just envious! Did you use Clarity or perhaps blending modes - maybe a tad OTT - please correct me if you disagree.

Jonathan Ashton said:

Love the exposure, the details are quite prominent, just wondering if a little too prominent? I know you have different light there so maybe I am just envious! Did you use Clarity or perhaps blending modes - maybe a tad OTT - please correct me if you disagree.

Click to expand...

Hi Jon, no clarity, no blending modes just the normal development sliders in Lightroom other than lightening the shadows on the back of the head. I did use the new subject masking in Lightroom to work on the bird separate from the background. Thank you for viewing and commenting.

This looks great! I love the pensive look. Great whites and textures within. One of those rare instances where I would also have kept the blue cast. A really fine portrait Joe!

Feather detail is strikingly beautiful. The only thing missing for me is a catchlight in the eye.

Are they back there yet?

with love, artie

Arthur Morris said:

Feather detail is strikingly beautiful. The only thing missing for me is a catchlight in the eye.

Are they back there yet?

with love, artie

Click to expand...

Hi Artie, no reports of the White Pelicans yet. I can't get to Lake Morton until Wednesday morning, will let you know what I find then. Here is a edit adding a catchlight to the eye. Thank you for viewing and commenting.

The soft tones and resulting feather detail look great, Joe. Wouldn't mind a bit of upward head tilt, but the pensive look works well here. The addition of the catchlight helps as well.