Pelican Cove (NBP1011)

This summer I photographed a large colony of Brown Pelicans that nest on the Chesapeake Bay. After 2 days of clear weather, this morning was cloudy, and we had to cut short the photography time as a storm approached. Photographing your subject in different conditions can be a challenge but it also gives you a chance to create images that are different from the ones you have made before.

The composition was set up with the immature Pelicans in the foreground and the rising sun, off center. Everytime the adult Pelicans went up (above the horizon line) I would fire off a burst of photographs. I tried to keep the shutter speed slow enough to capture some motion. No attempt was made to capture lighting, as that would have required much longer shutter speeds. I was so focused on the photographing the Pelicans when they went up that I didn't review a lot of the photos, on the LCD of my camera. It was not until I got back home and went through the images from my trip that I realized what I had captured. I couldn't believe my eyes. While there were other photos of the same composition that I liked, this one stood out. The birds in flight had good separation, plus, the lightning (and it's placement) were a huge bonus. So what would have been a good photograph was made better, with a strike of lightning.

~Image updated periodically~