Thanks in advance for taking the time to critique this image.

The standard I'm aiming for here would be like that of a calendar or greeting card image (as opposed to, for example, a fine art print).

I appreciate your feedback since I sometimes find it difficult to be completely objective in evaluating my own work. So... don't hold back. If I was just fishing for compliments I'd post the image elsewhere.

(click to enlarge)

You mention that you are looking for greeting card or callender quality leven rather than fine art. I must agree that it is not fine art. As for the others... maybe with a caption or story behind it. On a side note, with the simple compostion and empty spaces I think this photo may work as a stock photo.

Composition/use of frame space: Ballanced, but much empty space. The sea spray adds a nice dynamic.

Colors/White Balance: Fair, nice empty blue sky. Green sea.

Exposure: Harsh light and lost detail in the bird shadows.

Creative use of Aperture/Shutter: Birds and spray are sharp enough.

Perspective: Direct into the subject.

Creativity: Lacking. Nothing out of the ordinary or sparkling in the photo. Ordinary sea, sky, waves, pelicans. Not bad... just ordinary.

Emotion: Lacking. Same as Creativity. No drama or struggle.

Forethought/Visualization: I am drawn to the birds as the main subject of interest, but I am dissapointed there. No striking details, just almost silloettes coasting on the breeze.

Post processing: The lack of shadow detail is a problem for me.

This photo falls short between a good bird in flight shot and a landscape. Neither is spectacular, both fall short. The action is sedate, but not relaxing enough to be a pleasant tropical scene.

I think this picture falls inbetween two many things and doesn't land solidly.

Buddy,

I like the composition of the waves at an angle offset by the pelicans. I also like the way you caught the light on the splashes of water, and the overall balance of the shot.

I do wish the pelicans would turn to the left so we could see more of them - they are a little lost since are head on.

I think the colors are probably fairly accurate representation of what you say, but I think the shot lacks "drama" - for lack of a better term. I am also a bit bothered by the overblown highlights in the waves.

I hope you do not mind, but I made quick change attached. In thinking of your goal for a greeting card I tried to add some "drama", emphasize the waves and not let them be blownout. I know my version is pretty different so you may not like it, but I wonder if it would work for a greeting card ... with some lettering in the top left quadrant about "togetherness" or something.... Let me know if you are offended that I took this liberty and I will delete it.

daveman - No offense at all. In fact I thank you for the re-do and agree it adds some drama for sure.

citylights - Your assessment makes sense to me as I look at the picture.

I think what I really failed to capture here was that the pelicans were picking up the stiff off-shore wind that created the blow-back on the top of the surf coming off the top edge and the pelicans were obviously positioning themselves to catch the wind and just cruise that line effortlessly - even calmly - in the face of significant natural forces. It was pretty cool.

As I think about it further maybe my crop of the picture was too tight and eliminated the context necessary to communicate the unique action that was on-going.

Thanks, guys, for helping me to open up my thinking about these things. Much appreciated.

Buddy,
I am not sure. When I look at your waves they are pretty blown out, but it might be my monitor.

Looking at the greyscale you posted, I see differences on all the white strips, but cannot tell the difference between the bottom 3 black strips.

Does that help?

I can see all 33 gradations distinctly on my monitors but it would probably require up to 256 gradations and some special tools for any of us to really know how well our monitors are resolving subtle shade differences.

There are some pure white areas in the wave on the left to be sure, which I felt helped balance the overall scene, but, as I said, I see a lot of detail too. In the original TIF file it's not an issue, definitely moreso in the 'shrunk-for-the-net' version here.

All of that aside, your comments (and citylights' too) are sensible and very helpful to me. Thanks again!