Female bald eagle.

[John Goldman]

Canon 50D, Canon 300mm 2.8 lens, f3.5, ISO400, SS 1/4000.
Minimal crop for composition.

[Joel Eade]

John, I really llke the pose you captured here. Looks like you had challenging lighting situation with the sun off to your right and maybe in front of you slightly. Even though you pulled out pretty good detail the image has a little more noise than I would like. Due to the lighting, the bird may be underxposed some.

As for the crop, if you have space I would add a little on the left and remove a little from the right to get bird out of the center and give it some "space to fly into". I would also maybe try to tone down the bright streaks in the BG.

Very fine capture, worth spending some time with.

[Ronald Zigler]

Wow, nice photo John. It looks like the eagle is flying into the wind which gives it a particularly dynamic and energetic feel. You captured this photo in PA recently? Thanks for sharing.

[nancy hazen]

Stunning!

[pat lillich]

wow John, what a beautiful bird! I love the pose you captured. I wonder if you could give the effect of a little more light on the head? those wings and talons are incredible...

[John Goldman]

Thank you all for your responses.
Joel, I wish I had more space to the left. Unfortunately I am not as talented as others for keeping the subject exactly where I like in the viewfinder and this is all I have to work with.
Now that you mention it, I agree, the bright streaks should be toned down.
Pat, I see what you mean, the white tail is brighter than the white head. The tail is brighter for the sun is shining through the translucent feathers whereas the head is not so translucent. Thanks for your comment, I will leave it as is.

[Michael Gerald-Yamasaki]

John,

Greetings. While the very cool white balance has its appeal, I think I would prefer a warmer white balance, color noise is a bit distracting, some additional sharpening couldn't hurt...

107658

Curves - Neutral eyedropper on head for the white balance, Topaz Denoise - Clean Color only, nudge on the sharpening. Tempted to lighten the head but didn't.

Noticed you posted in AdobeRGB which can show up odd on some browsers (though most are now color managed) repost is in sRGB.

Composition doesn't detract much for me. Good looking subject & action.

Cheers,

-Michael-

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi John, this is a real nice capture. Tough situation with the light and some selective lightening would help I think. I would also be tempted to bring the blacks down a notch but that's just me - I like good black levels. Agree with Michael regarding the color temp, seems very cold and I like the warmer temp of his repost. Did you use auto white balance? Good job getting the shot!

[John Goldman]

Michael, I like your warmer repost, but not any better than my original cold post. BTW, it was a very very cold windy day!
All critiquers, thank you very much for your time, inputs, and encouragement. I learn a great deal each time I post an image.

[Gerald Kelberg]

Hi John, Like your shot very much - dynamic pose, nice action. I am intrigued that you have identified this as a "female". Is there some visual cue that identifies the sex on these eagles?

[John Goldman]

Yes, Gerald there are visual differences between males and females. The females are larger and their beaks are longer. There may be other differences that I do not know about. This female is a resident that I have been photographing for a couple of years. Her mate is tagged making it even easier to distinguish between the 2.I posted a photo of the pair last month, http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php/91355-Mom-and-Pop?highlight=.