My new favorite spot! (7 images)

[mcary]

I just found what may soon become my favorite wildlife photo spot. I'll share a few from this past weekend. All shots but the first are with the Canon 40D and 100-400L and the first scene was with the Rebel XT and 17-40L. My apologies for the high number of shots.

[Steve Foss]

Jesus, Mike, you are REALLY making me miss the prairie. Lots of choice images here. And please, never post that many again. Right! Joke!

Of them all, I have to say I like the final image of the pellies against the sky. I've watched white pelicans for nearly 40 years, and of all their behavior I have to say I most enjoy the way they wheel and soar into the sky. The female harrier is a great comp and a very close second to the pellies. Had she been facing you, she'd have won hands down.

Sweet work!

[finnbay]

Very nice! I like both the BIF pelicans, but the field with the hay bales has some charm as well!

[just_havin_fun]

I don't understand were you praying to Jesus or telling mike that you miss the prairie?

[Dbl]

Beautiful selection of shots! The hay bales shot and the last two are wonderful. Perfect exposure and nice composition on them all.

[MN Shutterbug]

Don't ever apologize for posting this many again, especially when they're this good. What are the coordinates of this spot? You know me, miles mean nothing.

[fishinchicks]

The last shot is my favorite. We get pelicans circling overhead all the time here, but not close enough to get the good shots. Nicely done!

[WCS]

Looks like you found a great spot! Nice shots. I like the first and third best, but they are all winners.

[buzzsaw]

The one that stands out head and shoulders above the rest for me anyways, is the hay bales... the comp is perfect in all ways! A nice series, Mike! Looks a bit like Aggaziz maybe?

[mmeyer]

I also really like the hay bales. The combination of the different lines and textures give it a great feel. I also like the pelicans on the stumps but would like it better on a sunny day.

Those are fantastic shots. I really do like all of them.

Thanks for sharing.

[buzzsaw]

Mike, I came back to look at the picture of the hay bale image that I liked and noticed that it would benefit from a slight CCW rotation. Just some friendly cc. What are your thoughts?

[mcary]

Buzz,

I'll have to give it a try. Thanks for the input.

I gave it a .75 degree CCW rotation and slight crop off the top. Here's the result:

[MARINERMAGNUM]

Hay bales for me-outstanding!

[Steve Foss]

It looks nice, Mike. So did the original.

While our eyes seem to crave 90-degree angles and level horizons, what I don't know is if the horizon was level or not to begin with. Many land/sky horizons are not. If the hilltop ran off into the distance at an angle or was parallel to your sensor but sloping up/down, it would not have been level in the original scene.

And none of the three "horizons" here, either the land/sky horizon or the two secondary horizons in the stubble field, are parallel. So, which should be made level and which should not?

Not trying to cause trouble, just supplying a different perspective.