The Mount

[Marina Scarr]

Finally captured this Bald Eagle pair mating after 6 years of attempting. This was the first frame of the series, and I was quite impressed with the male's aggression and agility!

Canon 1D4, Canon 500L & 1.4 TC
F10, 1/1250sec, ISO 1250, manual mode
Feisol tripod, Jobu head

[Daniel Cadieux]

Bravo for your persistence! Awesome interaction you got here, perfect incoming pose and the female's lowered head of submission alludes to what came next. Neat perch, and the clear sky gives us a clean look at the action. I can't help but feel there is a very tiny bit of "haze" in the deepest blacks - a quick darkening of those would not hurt.

[Clyde Hopper]

Hi Marina ,an absolute all time favorite ! This photo needs no caption ,nor any explanations . The photo tells the whole story ! Can't wait to see more !

[Doug Brown]

I'm impressed that you hung in there for 6 years, but the results are well worth the time spent! The leafless perch gives us an unobstructed view of the action, the light is great, and your DOF choice covers both birds. You couldn't ask for a nicer landing pose from the male. I do agree that perhaps a bit more contrast would help.

[Grace Scalzo]

...and well worth the wait, Marina. Perfect capture of this moment, very unique and a story well told. I thought my glasses needed cleaning, but if others are seeing haze, then maybe it's not me. :w3

[Karl Egressy]

Amazing picture, Marina. Love the interaction here. Six years. It is impressive.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

So what now? :) 6 years in the making and it came out just great. The landing pose, with the dynamic wing stretch, is killer.

I agree about the "haze" look. Just darken the blacks (and maybe midtones) a bit and it's ready for print!

Miguel

[Robert Kimbrell]

A great moment Marina. Very interesting head down pose on the female. Your timing was right on. I look foreword to more of the series.

[arash_hazeghi]

excellent shot Marina, sometimes you wait for a lifetime and it never happens. you got lucky

agree with adjusting contrast a bit. what do the frames after this one look like? please post.

[David Salem]

Nice prelude to whats to come. Great perch with an unobstructed view of the action. Great looking details but I noticed the haze right away too. An easy fix to a beautiful frame. Cant wait for the next few.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Marina, it all came together - congrats. Superb incoming pose of the male showing the full wingspread, and just love the overall light in this. The perch is really neat and clean, and everything stands out against the sky BG. Imagine this against an OOF foliage BG. :w3

[Melissa Groo]

What a powerful, dramatic moment you captured here. I love her submissive pose, his huge wingspread, and her submissive posture. You nailed it. I too would love to see more in this series.

[christopher galeski]

Great capture Marina,worth 6years trying.well done.

[shane shacaluga]

Wonderful scene! Thanks for sharing

[David Smith]

Great image Marina... The long wait was finally worth it... Beautiful...

[hennieloots]

Congrats Marina, amazing capture. I like the contrasting demeanor of the two birds. The male's wingspread and open beak is awesome. Great perch and good background.
TFS
Hennie

[Marina Scarr]

Thank you everyone for all of the comments/critiques. They are always much appreciated.

Here's one of the subsequent photos which I posted in July. Have no idea why I did it backwards.

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/111926-Bald-Eagle-Hanky-Panky

[Jonathan Ashton]

A really special image great timing, one to be proud of. I see a slight warm colour cast, is this the time of day?

[Marina Scarr]

I see a slight warm colour cast, is this the time of day?

You may be right about that, Jonathan. I may see a little bit of yellow in the male's head feathers.

This wasn't captured at first light. These eagles normally mated BEFORE sunrise which is why it was so difficult to capture this behavior in the previous years. On this particular day, they were mating with two month old eaglets in a nearby nest.

[Markus Jais]

Spectacular. One of the best Bald Eagle shots I've seen here or anywhere on the web.

Markus

[Girish Prahalad]

great interaction here with perfect pose & wingspread. details & exp looks good. agree with other on the haze aspect.