My wife and I just returned from a 2 week road trip, with stops in Charleston, Savannah, St. Augustine, Beaufort (SC), and Pawleys Island (SC).
We did some birding along the way and I was anxious to try using my new 500 mm lens to capture some birds in flight.
Pelicans are a good bird to practice with because they usually follow a predictable flight path and aren't too fast. Below are some of my better shots from the trip.
C's and C's welcomed and appreciated, and let me know which ones are your favorites.
Great shots. Are you the one that asked me about places to stop and shoot around here? OTOH, how did you like Pawley's Island? I love the beach there, especially in the afternoon...it's so peaceful.
Mar 07, 2013 at 06:13 PM
David Leask Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
These are all nice and sharp Dennis. However, they are a bit too centered for me. I would suggest more room on the side they are facing. This is not set in concrete though as the last shot works because of the splash behind the peli ~ Ron
Thanks BeeBalm, ACJD, David, KMunroe, SurfnRon, KCollett, Codroy, and Treebeard for the kind words.
For those of you who thought the shots were too centered -- I agree! I wasn't thinking enough about composition when I cropped. It makes perfect sense to have more space in front of the bird.
Also, Treebeard -- yes, I think you were the person who told me about Pawley's Island and Huntington Beach State Park. My wife and I visited BrookGreen Gardens too (between Pawley's Island and Murrell's Inlet), which is a lovely place filled with fantastic sculptures and beautiful gardens. They have a couple of aviaries there, which I'm not fond of. The aviary containing herons (and other large birds) is way overcrowded, and I did not take any pictures there. It was too much like shooting fish in a barrel.
One very cool place we visited, also, was Audubon Swamp Gardens inside Magnolia Plantation (about 18 miles NW of Charleston). One area within Audubon Swamp Gardens has some nesting Great Egrets and Great Blue Herons. In one large tree I counted about a dozen GBH nests. There's also a pond there that has various types of ducks and other birds. My wife and I would like to go back there soon.
The pelican pictures I posted here were taken at Crescent Beach (south of St. Augustine) and at a lagoon within Hunting Island State Park (near Beaufort, SC).
Yes, Brookgreen Gardens is nice for it's botanical stuff, sculptures and walkways. Glad you made it to the inside of Magnolia Plantation. I wanted to go there but since I am moving back to NH by the 20th of March that won't be possible. I hope I can hit Brookgreen Gardens before I move though.
