Tom Brott
December 2025 - Three Pelicans
About the Image(s)
This image was taken at Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The brown pelican had just captured a large fish and the two white pelicans wanted some. you are able to see the size of the fish in the pouch of the brown pelican.
Processed in RAW and Photoshop. I tires to burn a couple lighter areas on the white pelicans back and also dodged the pouch on the brown pelican to enhance the outline of the fish inside. I also cropped dome water and shrubbery out.
Canon R5, f/8, 1/250 sec, ISO 800, shot at 500mm.
2 comments posted
What a great image. Amazing how they store fish in their pouch. You can see the intent of the 2 white pelicans. You have captured nice light showing the detail in the pelicans. The contrast of the rippling water in the foreground works well with the stillness of the background.
For your original you have Sharon's photo up so not sure what happened there. Posted: 12/15/2025 16:53:38
For your original you have Sharon's photo up so not sure what happened there. Posted: 12/15/2025 16:53:38
First, please accept my apology for somehow getting my original on your page. I usually check after each upload ot make sure it is correct, so don't know how I missed that, but it is now removed.
This makes me smile because the brown pelican is the smallest and he is the one that caught the big fish. The story is for me is "winner takes all." In my opinon all three birds are appropriately exposed and your postprocessing has revealed a lot of detail in the feathers. In my opinon, this makes the image more interesting I can't quite tell which direction the light is coming from that allowed you to get the reflections and still have catch light in the eyes of at least the first and third birds. I a not certain the foliage at the top adds to the story and I do think it is somewhat distracting. Even though it would not leave much space above the birds you might try cropping it out and see what you think. Posted: 12/16/2025 18:48:57
This makes me smile because the brown pelican is the smallest and he is the one that caught the big fish. The story is for me is "winner takes all." In my opinon all three birds are appropriately exposed and your postprocessing has revealed a lot of detail in the feathers. In my opinon, this makes the image more interesting I can't quite tell which direction the light is coming from that allowed you to get the reflections and still have catch light in the eyes of at least the first and third birds. I a not certain the foliage at the top adds to the story and I do think it is somewhat distracting. Even though it would not leave much space above the birds you might try cropping it out and see what you think. Posted: 12/16/2025 18:48:57