Pelican

Pelican near Seagrove, Florida
Photograph by Tom Atwood

The brown pelican is a big, beautiful bird. Fast, too. This photo required a shutter speed of 1/1000 second to freeze the pelican as it flew above the Gulf of Mexico. I was lucky to have a hotel balcony on the 11th floor near the beach. The pelicans would float past the balcony, mainly in the morning and evening, practically begging to be photographed. Shutter: 1/1000; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO: 200; Focal length: 200mm.