Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Is there any hope?

Unseasonably warm October weather found me at the beach- Ocean Shores, WA, October 15, 2018, about 2:30 PM. Only time I had to take some snaps. Captured this Brown Pelican fishing, with a companion Gull waiting to steal the pelican's catch.
I was about 130 meters from the action. Noted some heat shimmer. Tried to position myself in different angles vis-a-vis the sun ( facing West, to the left or South of my position). Did not help.

The first shot is uncorrected shows the shimmer, making the shot soft. The second and third had some exposure correction. Did not help.

Is there any help to bring clarity to this photo? My personal clarity has a long since gone South for the Winter, however!

D500 Nikkor 200-500 f5.6.
1/1000, ISO 110 (Auto ISO), f11, tripod/gimbal shot, with remote release. Group AF helped keep these guys in focus, mostly. No crop.

Luv the spray and had hoped the image would come out. Also wish to improve the look of the diving pelican- second two shots.
Tried LR, Luminar, Topaz, NIK- no luck.

Brown Pelican (Pacific Coast) being tailed by a Tern?

Thanx in advance.

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rook2c4 Loc: Philadelphia, PA USA

What I have learned over the years is that oftentimes the best way to deal with shimmer, haze, fog, steam, etc. is not to fight it, but to work with it, allow it become an expressive element within the image. Atmospheric effects/conditions such as these can help give an image character, set a mood, or imbue a profound touch of naturalism to scene captured - if done right. Of course this requires the photographer to approach the scene with the atmospheric effect in mind, and then compose in a manner which will take advantage of the condition and give it purpose.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Is this closer to what you were trying to achieve with the first image?

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Dr.Nikon Loc: Honolulu Hawaii

Well..., let us take a look...I use a awesome NATGEO carbon fiber tripod .. a carbon fiber gimbal.., a D850 /wth electronic remote release and a 200-500 5.6 ...so other than the D500 .., the set up is close the same .., so what went wrong ..? Just shooting technique...the sun should be at your back or at least hitting at a different angle .., and the settings ...I do no know what you used ...I do know that paractice with the 200-500 is required to get desired shots from it ...a lot of practice trial and error ..to bring out the sweet spot of that lens and the settings that work best based on your camera , your location and subject matter ....

Go back to your location again and again shooting birds and pelicans ...take it off of group focus .., to single focus ..practice hitting the bird with it .. try a lot of bracketing with f stops and speed .. ISO changes ...I find I really need to dial in that 200-500 to adapt to the shooting location ..sun angle ...and yes different times of the year to get different low angle of the sun on my subject ...at the beach and the waves .,

When I first got my 200-500 .. I slapped it on my D810 .., ran down to the beach and shot away .., I came away without a single keeper ... wow ...it took me time to work with this lens /camera and location setting combination ...

As you can see from the examples of my last shoot of surfers .., having worked with this lens for almost 2 years .. I have dialed it in ..

Now let us look at your shots ... I cleaned them up a bit ... I would suggest continuous practice with your combination and you will dial in this lens ...

Embrace as was said before ..., the elements ...

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D850 200-500 320 ft out

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D850 200-500 300 ft out

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D850 200-500 310 ft out

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mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Or you can easily remove most of it with the judicious use of the haze filters now available in most of the better post processing programs.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Your take on his images has a strangely unrealistic color tonality. Nothing wrong with it if that's the effect you're striving for, but I hope the intent of your edits in post was not meant as an attempt to accurately replicate the scene but rather to create an almost surrealistic artistic impression of those scenes. While my take on the first image may not be stellar, I'm pretty sure that your approach is not the direction the OP was going for.

Dr.Nikon Loc: Honolulu Hawaii

That’s the spin I put on most of my stuff .., I was just showing him that the 200-500 can reach and capture .., as for his .., he said nothing he tried worked so I showed him that all was not lost ..

His shots were poor and lifeless .., your correction while better than his was still a dull lifeless shot .., I put a little pizzzzzazzz in them for him .. color translucency in the waves etc ..,

You are correct .., he may not desire what I did to the pictures either ...

Thnx for the feed back .., always appreciate a diff opinion...

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Thanx. I do try to use the elements.

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Yes but I wanted the birds to be more in focus and detailed.
Thanx

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Thanx for the response. I was unfortunately a slave to the conditions including time.

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

Thanx for the response. Yes I have tried what I have but that heat shimmer is tough to shoot through. Frustrating.

Sinewsworn Loc: Port Orchard, WA

I appreciate the back and forth. My main concern is accurately portraying what I saw. Once a satisfactory image is present, then the creativity can flow. The pelican and gull are barely discernible. That series Is the main event although hard to see.
Thanx Dr. Nikon and mwsilver.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

That shimmer is a fact of life. If we ever discover other universes with different laws of physics, shimmer might not be an issue in them. That's a nice effect, and it's often used on purpose in movies.

CatMarley Loc: North Carolina

Unless you are God, you are not going to be able to avoid the laws of physics. The shimmer is physically THERE. It is part of the atmosphere reacting to heat. Your camera is capturing it just as surely as it is capturing the waves and the sky. It IS a real part of the scene as it really exists. Why do you want to evict it from your true depiction of nature?

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

I agree wholeheartedly with suggestions to work with what is, but I would also like to point out that the birds in this series are tiny specks! I don't see how it would be possible to get them "more in focus and detailed," even without heat shimmer.

Sinewsworn, you also posted a topic in early September in which you expressed disappointment with shooting conditions. My advice, for what it's worth, is to either look for different photo ops when weather is not what you expected, or to put away the camera and just enjoy the show. I speak from experience: four summers of attempting to photograph a far-distant bald eagle nest with a bridge camera!

We can't realistically capture every "wow" moment in nature that we see. So you can choose to be frustrated or choose to appreciate that you still have the ability to get out and experience these wondrous sights.

I apologize for the lecture.