Emma Brewer

A super shot of squabbling pelicans in Greece

EMMA SAYS: I took this shot of pelicans on a recent trip to a lake in Greece, while lying on the beach. The birds are quite extraordinary and fascinating to photograph. This group were squabbling over fish that was being thrown to them. I didn’t want to include the fish in the shot, but I liked the idea of the interaction and the splash as their big bills hit the water.

It was taken on my Nikon D500 with a 10-24mm lens at 10mm. The exposure was 1/1,250 sec at f/8 and ISO 250.

ANDREW SAYS: What a great shot. I really think you’ve caught the character of these birds as they jostle to try and get the food being thrown to them. I am full of admiration for this shot: you’ve got everything just about right. There’s a fast shutter speed to freeze the action, f/8 for good depth of field through the group, and a low viewpoint with the wide-angle lens to make it feel as if you are right in there with them.

The splash right at the front of the frame is great too, with all those water droplets creating a sense of energy as the lead bird has grabbed at the fish – now presumably inside its mouth.

The only thing to double-check is the highlights on the left wing of the bird on the right of the trio at the front. It just looks like they could be clipping.