This portfolio is a detailed 80+ image study of Brown, White and Pink-Backed Pelicans.
The Brown Pelican is shown in both Breeding and Non-Breeding Colors (more images of the
Brown Pelican are in the Florida section). The White Pelican is shown in great detail, with a large
number of images showing flight, takeoffs and landings, herding fish, and just being a pelican
in all sorts of light. I have added images of Pink-Backed Pelicans, with some detail shots.

Landscape images are nearly all 1500-pixel Portfolio-grade, regardless of thumbnail size.
Portrait images are all 1200-pixel Portfolio-grade (some of the images are larger).

Click an image to open a larger version.
Use your back button to return to this page.
Composites will open in a second window.

The Brown and White Pelicans are in separate Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The banner below leads to the Featured Birds Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Select one of the following Galleries (Direct Links)

Brown Pelican
White Pelican
 

Brown Pelican 3653

Non-Breeding colors, taken in January at Bolsa Chica Refuge.

Brown Pelican Breeding Colors 0502

Breeding colors, taken at Bolsa Chica in early November.

Brown Pelican Breeding Colors 0518

Brown Pelican 0565

Breeding Colors, shot in late November in Florida.
Image colors adjusted (shot at sunrise... the unadjusted image
can be seen on the Anhinga to Wood Stork page, in the Florida section).

Brown Pelican Dive HS5709

Two hunting dive shots from the
composite image shown below.

Brown Pelican Dive HS5714

These images were taken at
Bolsa Chica Wildlife Refuge.

Brown Pelican Hunting XL

Click for 1731 x 750 version

Available as an XL Composite (4015 x 1740)

Brown Pelican Hunting Dive 3623, 25, 26

A 1500 x 625 reduction of the dive sequence from the composite shown below.

Brown Pelican Hunting Dive SXL

Click for 1540 x 1085 version

Available as an SXL Composite (4106 x 2892)

Brown Pelican Hunting Sunrise

Click for 1505 x 1325 version

A composite of crops from a hunting sequence taken at sunrise from Sanibel Island, Florida.

Pelicans Herding Fish 0520
(the 1983 x 867 panorama will open in a second window)

A single-shot panorama taken on an overcast December morning at Sepulveda Refuge.

Pelican Flight 0330

Pelican Flight 0527

Pelican Flight 0268

Pelican Landing 0270

White Pelicans can be extremely challenging to shoot around mid-day
when the skies are clear due to the bright reflections off their feathers.
Overcast days don’t provide the pretty light, but the reduced contrast
and reflection issues allow better examination of detail at mid-day.

They’re a heck of a lot easier to shoot on cloudy days too.
Further below, you’ll see a number of shots taken on a clear
day at noon... the difficulties will be immediately apparent.

Pelican Landing 0229

Pelican 0324

Pelican 0311

Pelican 0216

White Pelicans Mating Season 2541M
(showing horn on bill displayed during mating season)

Pelican Flight 0916
(horn beginning to grow)

Pelicans can be tricky to get a focus lock on in the sky
because the normal way of focusing on the wing root or head
doesn’t work since there is so little contrast. The best way is to focus
on the leading edge of a wing or the beak. The beak is best as it will put
the head in the focused plane regardless of the aperture selected.

The Brown and White Pelicans are in separate Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The banner below leads to the Featured Birds Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Select one of the following Galleries (Direct Links)

Brown Pelican
White Pelican
 

Pelican HS6791

Shot late in the afternoon at Sepulveda Refuge.
Notice how dark the water appears in these shots.

Pelican HS6795

The water is dark because of the exposure
compensation required to shoot the white bird.

Pelican Takeoff 0134

Late morning on a clear day at Sepulveda.
Avoiding over- or underexposure of the white
feathers is quite challenging in these conditions.

Pelican Takeoff 0135

These two images are part of a
takeoff sequence shown in a composite
that can be seen at the bottom of this page.

Pelican Takeoff 0151

This takeoff is without a doubt among the most challenging sorts of action
sequences possible. The bird is going from areas of dark background to midtone
backgrounds and back again, and the subject itself is bright white in the morning sunlight.
The only way to avoid overexposing the bird is to know beforehand what the proper
exposure for the bird will be, then manually select the aperture desired for the
look you want for the sequence and a shutter speed that will achieve the
correct exposure at that aperture. This avoids having the meter alter
the exposure as the bird occludes a darker or lighter background.
It is possible to spot-meter the bird, but if the metering spot hits
a shadowed area or an area lighter than the one you used to
set the exposure compensation, the sequence will be ruined.
It is far better to pre-meter the subject and use manual mode.

Pelican Takeoff 0157

Pelican Takeoff 0158

Pelican Takeoff 0160

The previous four images are from a 10-shot takeoff sequence,
which can be seen in two composites shown at the bottom of this page.

Pelicans Herding Fish 1276

Pelicans Herding Fish 1279

Pelicans Herding Fish 1288

Pelicans get together as a group and herd fish into a tight ball,
then dive on the ball to grab as many as possible before they disperse.

Pelicans Herding Fish 1289

They fly close to the water and drag their feet, run or hop, splashing the surface to scare the fish.

Pelicans Herding Fish 1292

Pelicans Herding Fish 1295

Pelican Herding Fish 1317

Galloping Pelican 1381

Pelican Landing 1387

Pelican Landing 1394

When they land, they stick their big feet in front of them and water-ski,
scooping the air with their wings and water with their tail to slow down.

Pelican Head-on 0247, 0248

Note the subtle adjustment of the primary feathers and the head and neck movement to compensate for the shifting wind. Open the image but don’t expand the window, then use the Page Down and Page Up keys on your keyboard... you’ll see the head, neck, shoulder and feather movements much more easily that way.

White Pelican 0262

White Pelican 0263

White Pelican 0266

White Pelican 0269

The Brown and White Pelicans are in separate Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The banner below leads to the Featured Birds Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Select one of the following Galleries (Direct Links)

Brown Pelican
White Pelican
 

Pink-Backed Pelican HS1646

An African native, smaller than the White and Brown varieties, with a
pink, mauve, cream and brown color scheme and a yellow tip on the bill.
Sort of an Art Deco, interior decorator’s version of a pelican. Very stylish.

Pink-Backed Pelicans 4912

Pink-Backed Pelican 4892

Pink-Backed Pelican 5092

Pink-Backed Pelican HS3677

Pink-Backed Pelican X1518

Pink-Backed Pelican X1518 (detail)

Pink-Backed Pelican HS3630 (detail)

Pink-Backed Pelican HS3633

Pink-Backed Pelican HS3641

Pelican Flight 0938

I guess you’ve noticed that I’m using these soaring shots as section dividers. It is so hard to get
a good image of these guys against the sky that when you do, you want to use them for something.

Pelican Cormorants X7573

Part of a series of images taken just before sunset. Like many other
images on this page, three of these are available as XL Signed Images.

White Pelican at Sunset X7575 (detail)

A detail crop (reduced) from another of the images in this series.

White Pelican X5373

This image, shot in the late afternoon with the sun at my back,
is also available as an XL Signed image (4288 x 3000).

White Pelican Yawn X5162-5166

With a bill this massive, you had to know that a yawn would be impressive.
Here is a sequence where a bird puts all of his energy into the yawn. When you
simply have to catch a fly ball (or a stray meteor or two), you’ll know just who to call.

White Pelican Yawn X5167

He looks like a cartoon with his bill extended straight up like that.

White Pelicans X5483

Pelicans and Cormorants socializing.
One of the pelicans is entering the water.

White Pelicans X5484

This is an island in the middle of the
pond at Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge.

White Pelicans X5514

This shot was taken in the middle of the afternoon while the pelicans were
lazily moving to another area of the pond to see if the fish were tastier there.

Pelican Landing X5551

A couple of late afternoon landings, from in front this time.
Note the water-skiing technique, and how they scoop air to slow down.

White Pelicans Landing X5554

They prefer water landings (easier on the legs, or maybe just more fun).

White Pelicans X5556

However... sometimes they drop right in on a prime piece of real estate.

White Pelicans X5565

The Formation Mosey. These guys were just puttering back and forth across the pond.

White Pelican Sunset X5608

Part of a series of sunset shots.

White Pelican Sunset X5617

White Pelican Sunset X5611

Like many others on this page, these are available as XL Signed images.

Pelicans Sunset Landing X5629

Formation landing in profile.

White Pelican Sunset X5634

Buzzing the tower before landing...

White Pelican Sunset X5633

The Brown and White Pelicans are in separate Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The banner below leads to the Featured Birds Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Select one of the following Galleries (Direct Links)

Brown Pelican
White Pelican
 

Pelican Head Shots

Brown Pelican in Breeding Colors, Pink-Backed Pelican, and White Pelican.

Pink-Backed Pelican

Click for 1119 x 1200 version

Available as an SXL Composite (3271 x 3507)

Pink-Backed Pelican SXXL

Click for 1440 x 1200 version

Available as an SXXL Composite (6026 x 5020)

Pelican Landing

Click for 1505 x 1425 version

Pelican Takeoffs SXXL

Click for 1500 x 1391 version

Available as an SXXL Composite (7412 x 6874)

White Pelican Takeoff Sepulveda Wildlife Refuge SXXL

Click for 1744 x 1200 version

Available as an SXXL Composite (7412 x 5100)

White Pelicans Sepulveda XXL

Click for 1000 x 1364 version

White Pelicans

Click for 1125 x 1200 version

Available as a XXL Composite (3976 x 4240)

White Pelicans Sepulveda XXL is also
available as a XXL Composite (4288 x 5848).

Pelican head-on

Click for 1000 x 1364 version

Long-beaked birds look so comical head-on.

Available as an XL Composite (2300 x 2900).

White Pelican Herding Fish

Click for 1000 x 1389 version

Available as an XL Composite (2160 x 3000).

The Brown and White Pelicans are in separate Galleries on the Photoshelter website.
The banner below leads to the Featured Birds Collection where a Gallery can be selected.

Select one of the following Galleries (Direct Links)

Brown Pelican
White Pelican
 

If you are interested in one of the Composites that is not on the Photoshelter website,
contact Ron Reznick (contact information is on the Ordering page)
 

Click the composite above to visit other portfolios in the Wildlife Studies section.