Pelican Landing

This is one of my favorite images from a recent trip along the Oregon coast. Near a quiet stretch of shoreline not far from a bird refuge, pelicans gather in the shallows—resting, feeding, and moving with a kind of unspoken rhythm.
I captured this moment as one bird broke that calm, stepping out of the surf with wings fully extended. There’s a slight awkwardness to pelicans on land, but also a surprising elegance when they transition between water and air. I wanted to isolate that exact moment—somewhere between motion and control.
The late afternoon light helped flatten the scene and simplify the background, letting the texture of the water and the shape of the bird carry the frame without distraction.
Shot on a Fujifilm X-T5 with a 70–300mm lens and 2x teleconverter, allowing me to keep distance and capture the behavior naturally.