I saw this American White Pelican recently when I was down at Swan Falls Dam. I think it's a cool looking bird and I was surprised to find it there. I love how the early morning light cast a nice glow on the scene and the reflections. I love reflections! I like this close-up shot very much, but I think the ones with the dam in the background add a bit more interest.
In this second image, I included the dam in the background to get a sense of place and the environment where I found the bird. I really like the compression of the environmental shot and the clarity of my subject in both shots that I got from my new lens.
I added a filter in Adobe Lightroom 5 to this version of the image to add an erosion effect that makes the image seem much older than it is. I also added a canvas-type textured look to the image.
This last version of the image was converted to black and white. It's hard for me to choose a favorite.
Which version of this image do YOU like best? I'd appreciate hearing your thoughts. Please let me know in the comments.
