A few weeks ago, while playing chauffeur for my folks, I grabbed my camera and headed down to the weir. I had gone once earlier in May but I didn’t get a chance to get right down to the river’s edge.

I find it tricky to shoot these adorkable waterfowl. I tend to be at the weir on crazy sunny days in the middle of the day when the sun is high so lighting become quite a challenge. Yes, too much light can happen in the photography world! Learning is a lifelong pursuit when you have a lot of passions, hobbies, and interests so, I’ve been spending more time trying to understand exposure and how to correctly use a histogram. I’ll spare you the gory details but it’s one of those things that requires practice and this less than ideal shooting conditions are the perfect time to practice what I’ve learned.

No, I wasn’t as successful as I would have liked to have been but I think I got a few good shots. The birds themselves also gave me a challenge that I’m not that used to action shots. While watching pelicans in the past, I’ve watched them fly overhead but never close enough that would make me think that I might be able to get a picture or two out of them. On this trip to the river, it was a different story and despite my poor reflexes, I’m happy with what I got! I can’t choose one favorite though so enjoy the gallery below.

And there were just pelicans by the river either so I practice both my patience and photography on some of those feathered fowl as well.

All in all, I had fun working on my photography techniques on that trip to the weir. And, of course, watching the behavior of these magnificent creatures is always a treat. I look forward to many more trips to the river this year!