Pelicans

[Bonish Photo]

Although they look very clumsy and awkward on the ground, I've found a new passion for photographing these big ugly birds. One of the cool things is they'll let you get pretty close to them without being spooked. And if you're anywhere along the coast of Florida, they're a dime a dozen.


This was shot from my Kayak in Crystal River Florida. All of these were shot with a Canon 1D, with a 28-300L USM IS, hand held


This one was sleeping on a Dock in Cumberland Island GA. Real Early in the morning before the sun came up.


This was on the ferry ride back from Cumberland Island during sunset and the bird was coasting in the boats wake behind us.


This one was flying beside us on a different ferry ride.

Thought I'd share some of them as I never thought Pelicans would be a topic of photography...LOL

Pat
http://www.everymilesamemory.com

[bob_r]

Pat,

I'll be in Florida in a couple of weeks and hope I'm lucky enough to catch a few of these guys. I saw a number of them last year, but was trying out a very poor telephoto lens and didn't salvage any of the shots.

The birds that always impress me down there are the egrets. We saw a number of them at Disney last year and it just amazed me to see those big birds sitting on the little booths.

Bob R

[Bonish Photo]

If you're anywhere along the water in Florida, you should be able to get good shots of the Pelicans. Like I said, if you go near a fishing pier, and the fisherman are pulling in a catch, they sometimes have to swat the birds away as they're that aggressive.

They arent the least bit scared when you're pointing a big lens at them from a close distance. Nothing like the Egrets and Heron's who are spooked at the least little movement. I was amazed and held a new respect for bird photographers of those two species after trying to get close to them for a few days.

Good luck, and make sure to post some shots afterwards.

Pat
http://www.everymilesamemory.com

[bob_r]

Pat,

I hope to bring back a lot of shots. We're staying at Miramar Beach on the panhandle. My grandson has band camp for much of the summer, so we've just got a week to work the trip in. We'll only be there for 4 days, but hopefully the weather will cooperate and I'll fill up the Epson P-5000.

Bob R

[Bonish Photo]

I'd recommend you take a day and drive South East down 98 towards St. George Island. The state park there is beautiful. There is a section that my wife and I walked down where no vehicles are allowed. It's very secluded and quite deep sand, but along the shoreline I've never seen so many crabs or sand dollars.

It was actually the first time that I had ever seen a sand dollar on the beach and after a 1/2 hour of walking, I got bored with looking at them as there were hundreds. The birds are everywhere and plenty of secluded beach shots.

Carabella Beach is a small town that is really only a one stop light ghost town, but it has the smallest police station in the world. It's only a phone booth on the side of the road.... That whole panhandle area is very cool to explore. We kayaked the Blackwater River and didnt see another person the entire day!! BUt then again it was mid-March, so it wasnt really tourist season yet.

Good luck, and you should find plenty of stuff to fill up that Epson.

Pat
http://www.everymilesamemory.com

[bob_r]

Pat,

I did get a few shots of pelicans. Here's one of them that I got in Ft Walton Beach:

Bob R

Canon 30D - Canon 70-300mm - 1/800s f/5.6 at 300.0mm iso200

[irrigator]

I live in Florida and we sometimes take these guys for granted. We actually have a lot of large birds to shoot. anywhere near the water is good. These were shot @ Ft. DeSoto Park in St. Pete.

[Bonish Photo]

Wow, I love the water in that last shot Irrigator!!

Bob, that is a cool shot and I like how warm it feels. For some big clumsy birds, they sure are cool looking when you get them in the right light.

Pat
http://www.everymilesamemory.com