Back Off, Baldy! Go Catch Your Own Fish.

[Bill Dix]

Scores of bald eagles sat napping in the trees or on the rocks below the dam. Or at least they seemed to be napping, with one eye open, until one of their number decided to swoop down and snag a fish. Then 4 or 5 of them would take chase, trying to get the bird to drop his prey. Sometimes they were successful; other times the eagle with the fish would make it to the safety of the trees where he could eat his breakfast. Taken shortly after sunrise several weeks ago.

D7200, 500f4 + 1.4 TC, ISO 1600, 1/2500s @ f/8 manual. Gitzo and Mongoose.

[David Salem]

Cool looking pose of these two and I like the fact that we can see the fish they are squabbling over.
Not sure if it happened at capture or in PP but the image looks very contrasty. Reduce the contrast or the blacks and I think it will look better.
Nice capture Bill

[Bill Dix]

Thanks David. I experimented with a few settings. To my eye it started to look washed out if I went very far, but here I've reduced the blacks by around 7 points.

[keith mitchell]

Bill I wondered how this would look with Davids suggestion ,think what you have done as improved your image just giving the birds a more natural soft look.Well done getting this ,the nice fish is a real bonus.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the behaviour, composition and repost looks better to me. Well done Bill.

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Keith and Jim.