Pelican Pics (Dial up warning)

[antman]

These were all taken in the wild (if you want to call Narrabeen that).
All pics have been pp'ed. No crops. All taken with 70-200 vr.

Its taken my while to get some really nice pelican pics and they all came in a rush last weekend. Apologies for the number of pics.

[NikonUser]

Nice!

They all look nice and sharp!

My favourite is probably number 5. Would like to see a little more of the reflection though.

Well done.

EDIT: Just noticed number 6 as well. I'd clone out the dark bit down the bottom and maybe crop a bit closer but I really like the way that one looks.

Paul

[Alex]

Like them, but the 2nd one is fantastic. Well done.

Alex

[Jamie]

Pelicans can be a real pain in the butt to photograph, i always have trouble with them and blown highlights. Looks like you have done a great job though.....well done!

Number 2 is fantastic, love it.

[mudder]

When I opened the thread I wasn't expecting such sharp, well exposed images, #3's a corker, #4 is beautifully timed, #8' a bewdy too, bugger the residential background though, rats!

These are really, really sharp images, I always have trouble with exposure on these B&W buggers, well done!

[obzelite]

Great job, very sharp.

My only criticism is the depth of field, it’s probably just me, but it seems a lot of area in front of the birds is also sharp, yet it drops off almost straight after the bird. As if the auto focus is picking the ground as the focal point and the bird is just at the limit of the depth of field.

[antman]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions.

I have actually spent a fair bit of time trying to get some half decent shots. Apart from the lighting issues all they seem to do is paddle about the lake or sit around preening themselves. They don't seem to do much flying when you want them too.

I was lucky on Sunday with the lighting - bit of sun and cloud cover. Also one of the pelicans was being fed by a fisherman right near the surf so I managed to get a few actions shots as well.

And obzelite, yes some minor focus issues (sometimes had it on AF-C when it should have been AF-S and vice versa )

[christiand]

Hi Geoff,

great pelican shots !
What focussing technique were you using ?

Cheers,
CD

[antman]

HI Christian,

With regards to focusing, I generally used AF-S for the more still/static shots and AF-C for the flying / movement shots. All on center focus point. One of the problem was trying to remember which mode I was in. The other was quickly switching AF-S to AF-C when they suddenly start flying away. There doesn't appear to be any quick method on the D70 (not sure if D200 would be better in this regard).

[christiand]

Thanks Geoff,

Very nice results.

Cheers,
CD