Pelican Patterns

“The hardest part of capturing animals is their movement. A shark doesn’t move like a turtle. A turtle doesn’t move like a ray. There’s a flow to each animal. The more you observe them, the more these patterns become apparent. A drone gives me a bird’s eye view of the ocean, but a bird’s eye view of a bird is a little different. Pelicans have an elegance to them that is easily observable from above. They don’t just follow the coast; they follow the water. A key factor to getting a shot is anticipation of the next move.

Once I noticed that pelicans liked to follow the waves of the ocean, their movement became more predictable. They’d follow a swell from several yards off the beach until it would crest just offshore.

Then they’d rise with the wave and follow the developing trough back offshore. The undulation becomes a rhythm and you’re no longer struggling to keep up. Instead, you’re following the curves of nature in a fluid and seamless pattern. “

@marissa_wil