Pelicans in black and white

[Eileen D]

I tried my first wildlife photography on a trip to Florida last week. This is one I converted to black and white because I wanted to emphasize the lines and textures in the shot.

My questions:

I had some problems with the highlights because the light was so strong from the right. I notice it most on the back of the bird in the foreground. Is it something your eye picks up on right away?

Does the composition work? The foreground bird is centered but I was trying to get the intersection of the birds to be the place to which the eye is drawn.

The background is blotchy from some of highlights on the vegetation. Does that need to be worked on to be more solidly dark?

I welcome your responses and any other comments!

Thanks!









EXIF data:

Camera: Canon 50D
Lens: EF 70-300 f/4-5.6 IS USM
Focal Length: 250mm
ISO: 320
Aperture: 5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/320

[sgeary]

What a great picture..the composition works well for me...the background does not bother me it works...great capture!

[Eileen D]

Originally Posted by sgeary

What a great picture..the composition works well for me...the background does not bother me it works...great capture!

Thanks for the kind comments, Shawn. I was thrilled just to be close enough to get some shots of these birds. There were trees filled with pelicans, some nesting, some staying nearby. What an incredible sight!

[sk66]

Great shot. And very nice B/W conversion.
I would probably go ahead and blacken the background, and maybe bring up the white just a hair..

[Eileen D]

Originally Posted by sk66

Great shot. And very nice B/W conversion.
I would probably go ahead and blacken the background, and maybe bring up the white just a hair..

Thanks for the comment, sk66, and the black and white compliment! Funny how I didn't see the unevenness in the background until I posted it but I agree that blackening it is the way to go. I'll also try bringing up the white to see what it looks like.