Bald Eagle

[Justin Bond]

Shot this morning in a tree my grandfather planted around 100 years ago. I know it has some flaws, too steep, too much clutter, kinda soft. But these birds are so hard to get close to.

I own a large part of a wetland in central Utah and we always have Bald Eagles come in the Winter. There are only two Bald Eagles in the valley right now. In other years I have seen many more this time of year. It seems less every year. I think more will come as Spring moves in.

Most days I see them sitting out on the in the swamp and on the ice near the ducks and geese. It's rare to get close to them.

189740

Z6 Sigma 150-600@560 f/16 ISO 640 1/320

[Mike Poole]

A nice sighting, and good to hear you possibly have further opportunities with these. Unfortunately as a quality avian shot the clutter is a real killer. You've done well to get the eye sharp through all the branches though. Like you say the angle is very steep.

Looking at your techs, I can't really see a good reason to be shooting at f16. You don't really need that extra DoF in my opinion, and you'd stand a better chance of a sharper file with a faster shutter speed and a wider aperture (read up on lens diffraction).

If you see them in regular spots on you land (not jealous at all by the way!) is there any chance you could set up some kind of temporary hide and maybe a perch closer to eye level and try and get them onto it?

Mike

[Justin Bond]

Thanks Mike. I really appreciate the comments. I'm trying to learn. I set at f/16 because I thought a higher f stop would take out some of the harsh light in the mid-morning, high sunlight. I guess I don't understand my camera well yet.

I do know several spots they hang out around here. I need to be more patient and set up and take more time in a hiding place, like you suggest, and not just shoot whenever you get a half-chance. It's great fun though. Thanks for the info. It means a lot.

[arash_hazeghi]

Hi Justin before you focus on the techs, I'd find a condition that is better for photography, the settings were totally off here (f/16 1/320 sec etc. as Mike mentioned ) but with that kind of clutter the image is in instant delete for most bird photographers even if the settings were right. the eagle is shaded and blocked by branches.... maybe wait until he perches on something better

TFS

[Justin Bond]

OK thanks arash. I understand. Just don't think you have a photo you can post just because you caught a bird sitting in a tree. I understand. I will work on it more. Thanks.

[arash_hazeghi]

OK thanks arash. I understand. Just don't think you have a photo you can post just because you caught a bird sitting in a tree. I understand. I will work on it more. Thanks.

that's the difference between dime a dozen snap shots you see on facebook and a work of art. it's not easy but if you are interested in the latter you certainly found the right place :S3: welcome to BPN!

cheers

[John Mack]

A practical image for sure. I like the pose on the bird. 99% of the bald eagles I see are in situations like this. Very rare to have one on a nice perch in nice light and with a nice background.

[Arthur Morris]

Thanks Mike. I really appreciate the comments. I'm trying to learn. I set at f/16 because I thought a higher f stop would take out some of the harsh light in the mid-morning, high sunlight. I guess I don't understand my camera well yet.

I do know several spots they hang out around here. I need to be more patient and set up and take more time in a hiding place, like you suggest, and not just shoot whenever you get a half-chance. It's great fun though. Thanks for the info. It means a lot.

Justin. As I said yesterday, the quality of the light is the quality of the light. Changing the aperture does not affect the quality of light. Period. Did you see my other sucggestions?

with love, a


ps: don't feel too bad; we all made images like this when we started.

[Arthur Morris]

OK thanks arash. I understand. Just don't think you have a photo you can post just because you caught a bird sitting in a tree. I understand. I will work on it more. Thanks.

If you don't post bad images when you are trying to learn you will not learn :). Do look at and comment on the work of others here.

with love, a

[Justin Bond]

If you don't post bad images when you are trying to learn you will not learn :). Do look at and comment on the work of others here.

with love, a

Yes I do look at them all. Beautiful work on here. I don't comment a lot because I don't know what to say yet.