Fish Eagle Dive

[Stu Bowie]

Another from my series of a Fish Eagle chasing a Hamerkop taken in the Kruger National Park in October last year. This angle is as captured, and hasnt been rotated. It wasnt easy, as I was shooting from my car, as this chase was going on all over the place. I wished for a better BG.

Canon 50D
100-400 @ 400mm
1/2500
F/7.1
ISO 500

Exp Comp +0.33
Hand held from the car

[Robert Holguin]

Wow!!! I really like the top view , excellent feather detail, love the wing span. My only nit is the shawdow on its face, but other than that fabulous image.
Well done.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Pretty awesome, Stu. Acrobatic pose, incredible detail, perfect exposure - nothing short of spectacular.
So, how did the chase end?

[Stu Bowie]

So, how did the chase end?

Thanks Robert and Sid. Sid, this happened a few times. Sometimes, the Hamerkop evaded the FE, and I remember sometimes the Hamerkop dropped his catch for the FE to have. I couldnt capture each chase, as some of it was fairly far away.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Nice banking pose . Lovely clarity and exposure on this one Stuart . The angle somehow makes the eagle look stouter than it actually is ....

[Brendan Dozier]

Very cool POV, Stuart, nice pose and details. Way to keep up with it and get the shot.

[Jonathan Ashton]

I really like the pose on this one and the detail is excellent, it would not have been easy to capture this I am sure.
I have taken the liberty of modifying the whites (Curves followed by Selective Colour) on the neck and lightening the shadow on the face (made a small mask & brightened it). I think the difference is marginal but I think it helps a little. I would be interested to see what you think.:S3:

[Craig Kerr]

Wow Stuart you did a fabulous job of this eagle in hunting mode... Great story... no faults this side :-)

[Jim Crosswell]

Great image Stuart! I like the composition, wing position and details.

[Doug Brown]

<embed id="application/x-exifeverywhere" type="application/x-exifeverywhere" width="0" height="0">Love the cool acrobatic flight position, but I do wish we could see the eye. Excellent sharpness from wingtip to wingtip. I might move the bird slightly to the left in the frame.

[Randy Stout]

Stuart:

Dramatic pose, and comp, with nice display of wings.

I do like the subtle changes Jonathan made.

It would be fun to see the whole series. Do you have them posted on a website?

Cheers

Randy

[Yves Guillot]

Very nice shot! cool pose! Well done!

[Roman Kurywczak]

Very dramatic pose Stuart! I have a slight preference for the repost.....but all in all a fantastic capture.

[Nico Steenberg]

Great in flight angle and sharp detail captured Stu, wondering about the black stripes in the neck feathers i think this can still be a immature that changing the adult feather colours ? A super IMG !

[Sachin Saraf]

Stu you captured an amazing pose...everything else is said above...Wonderful work!

[Stu Bowie]

Thank you all for the kind words and feedback.

Jon. Thanks for your repost. Your tweaks make a big difference.

Randy. As per my PM to you.

[Morkel Erasmus]

you did well with this Stu! was it chasing the hamerkop due to territorial battles?
nice dorsal view, the repost takes it up a notch for me...

[gail bisson]

Good one Stuart. I like the repost with shadow lightened,
Gail

[Stu Bowie]

Mork, Gail, thanks a stack for popping by.