Spot-billed Pelican, Hebbal, Bangalore

One of my first handheld shots, 500f4 + 1.4x converter, ISO 400. Almost full frame, cropped for composition.

Comments and critique welcome, thanks for looking.

Apana

Apana,
I know of few people who regularly handhold long telephoto lenses, but I don't know how you do it all the time. Ofcourse, to try out, I had handheld my 400 f2.8 with a 2x attached and had got a few sharp. But that was handholding for a few moments.

The image is sharp. The depth of field very nearly covers the full beak.

Getting the exposure right is the trickiest part in Pelican photography. Often the whites get overexposed.

Pelicans look good when the wings are completely up or completely down. In this case it is gliding over water and unfortunately the light is not behind you. That would have helped in lighting the underparts better. Light appears to be low as well.
What was the exposure?

A slightly warm light would have great. Thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
Sabyasachi

Hi Apana,

Beautiful gliding photograph. I liked the composition.The reflection in the water is interesting. Was it cloudy when you took this photograph?

Look forward to more..

Wow, what a shot! I agree that better lighting, especially of the underparts, would have looked good. But at such times you can't help it, can you?

Thanks for your comments.

I would have never dreamt of handholding the 500, but I then saw eveybody in Bangalore handholding their long lenses.

Yes, it was cloudy and when processing I let the white balance stay at 'As shot.' Changing it to cloudy may have added some warmth to the image.

Apana

I like this picture..... composition is really good.... !!
even the shadow below the wings seem to work here... as does the reflection on the water...

Beautiful...loved the feel.