Bald Eagle Take Off

[Melissa Groo]

Canon 5D Mark II
500mm
Handheld from a kayak.

ISO 800
1/1600
f/7.1

Took this a couple weeks ago at a local lake. Eagles are pretty rare around here so felt lucky to get fairly close to one. I liked the light on him and the dramatic take-off pose. I am wondering if this works even though he is in a busy BG. I applied a slight Gaussian blur to the BG to help separate him. Did some sharpening and a little shadow recovery under the right wing to try to bring out more detail.
Thanks for looking. Comments and critiques very much appreciated!

[Nancy Bell]

The pose is indeed dramatic. But unfortunately, the busy bkgd is a distraction from the magnificant bird. You could try a selection of the bkgd and desaturate it some & maybe more blur. But too much manipulation and the image loses the look of reality.

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks Nancy. I didn't even think of taking down the saturation. here's a repost having done that, and adding some moderate Lens Blur. What do you think? Hoping it helps separate eagle more successfully without verging into unreality....

[Chad Caswell]

I think your re-post works very well, congrats on your find :w3 You captured this majestic beauty in a very nice take-off position.

[gail bisson]

Hi Melissa,
Repost looks great. What is "lens blur" and how do you do it?
The repost makes the bird pop a lot more. I love the take-off pose,
Gail

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks, Gail and Chad! I too prefer the repost. Gail, I just went into Photoshop (CS4), chose Filter, Blur, and then chose Lens Blur, and then tried not to overdo it (I also made sure the branch was selected with the bird, and then inverted, as I knew it would look unrealistic if the branch was blurry). The truth is, I don't know anything about it, have never tried it before, but was hoping it might impart a more realistic look. I would be interested to know which Blur Filter the experts use as I am sure there must be a "best" one for this particular purpose--making the background look further away than it is. For example I noticed there was "Smart Blur," Shape Blur," etc..

[Arthur Morris]

The repost is better. You did as well as you possibly could both in the field and at the computer but the BKGR is a bummer. I have never attempted to blur a BKGR like this :e3

[arash_hazeghi]

The repost is better. You did as well as you possibly could both in the field and at the computer but the BKGR is a bummer. I have never attempted to blur a BKGR like this :e3

I agree with Artie, blurring the BG in the computer does not work here is why:

The blur that is associated with the bokeh of the lens does not have Guassian form, by applying guassian blur to the BG you only make it look unnatural and somewhat fake especially when the original BG was busy. Unfortunately when the bird is so close to BG nothing can fix it...

I like the take off pose nicely done! hopefully you can get a better BG next time

[Amy Marques]

Hi Melissa, sometimes you have to take what you can get- I also would have been thrilled to have the opportunity to photography a hard to find eagle. I really like the pose you captured here. :S3:

[Melissa Groo]

THanks for your thoughts, Artie and Arash. I learn something every single time, I love that. And thanks Amy, yes, sometimes one just has to seize the moment even when it's not perfect! And make the best of it. It sure was an exciting moment for me.

[Duane Noblick]

I actually prefer the original and feel the light on the Eagle separates it enough from the background. If you want to try to separate the Eagle from the BG more I wouldn't try to blur it but maybe run the burn tool over it to knock down some of it's punch. Not every Eagle is found out in the open (especially the ones I photograph) so seeing some environment, where they live, is a plus at least for me. I like the take off pose and congratulations on getting a rare capture in your area.

One note about the original image....the branch it's taking off from is too blurry and doesn't look real...

[Melissa Groo]

Thanks for your comments, Duane. THat's a good tip you have about the Burn tool, I'll have to try it.