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Phil Douglis | all galleries >> Galleries >> Gallery Ninety-five: Back to the beach -- finding new stories in familiar subjects > Sunset hunt, Mission Beach, California, 2015
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15-SEP-2015

Sunset hunt, Mission Beach, California, 2015

The sun had already set when this hunting pelican soared directly past our balcony. I was shooting the colors and textures of the seascape as I saw the pelican approach, and I was able to position it exactly where I wanted it to be in my frame. I place its beak at a spot that is about one-third the way into the frame. It still has two-thirds of the frame to traverse, but my shutter freezes it here forever. The bird is framed by a band of golden light that sweeps across the image behind it. They gray textured water below it becomes a mysterious hunting ground. This gray sea is echoed by a gray sky that fills the top of the image. A few seconds after this pelican left my frame, it found its prey, and plunged straight down into the sea to catch it. It had its meal, and I had this image.

FujiFilm X-T1
1/400s f/6.7 at 230.0mm iso2500 full exif

other sizes: small medium large original auto
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Phil Douglis13-Jan-2016 03:34
Thanks for this comment, Efraimd -- this image depends heavily on the surrounding context to tell its story. The colors and textures of the softly focused sea, clouds, and sky provide a perfect setting for a pelican seeking its prey.
Guest 12-Jan-2016 17:18
nice
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