Eagle at the RookeryTh

I had to post this here just because it is a pic that I would not have been able to get without my new body and the advice I have gotten here. I am still getting used to my 5D4 and still am not reacting to the situation as fast as I might as I am still in the mode of my previous body (a 70D). I am a birder first, so I tend to travel light. I just do not have the patience to set up a tripod and wait for what might come around. I much prefer to go seeking birds and get what photos I can. This style of photography puts me in the category of hand held photos. I got this pic today really as an afterthought. I had gone to a local pond I am quite familiar with to see the Heron rookery and see what might be happening. I was surprised to see 7 herons here (last year there was only one productive nest). This might bode well for the herons this year as now there are 2.5 nests with at least one extra heron. So who knows. Today I was just ready to leave, when this young eagle swooped down on a goose (which I missed as the eagle came out of nowhere) then circled around and tried for a merganser who dove under the water. The eagle then circled around and made a pass at the heron rookery and this is the best pic of that encounter. I don't think the eagle really thought it would get supper, but just wanted to harass the herons. Who knows? I was so intent on capturing the action that I forgot to bump up the shutter speed which might have helped some. The rookery is pretty far from the road, so challenging to photograph for me. Canon 5D4, 100-400 IS 2 with 1.4 Teleconveter, 1/500, f8, ISO 640

Attachment 168701

Forgot to mention that this was cropped to about 1/9th of the original. I would have never gotten this good of an image with my 70D body.

Michael, nice behavioral shot… nothing wrong with shooting handheld, I do 99.9% of the time.
Although my gear is heavy a 1DX and an old 500 plus an extender it offers me speed and shots that I would not get with a tripod.
Try when shooting handheld when possible to double your focal length (minimum) in speed.

-Tim

Thanks Tim. I had been setting the shutter speed at the focal length, or a bit more but will try to double it when lighting is good enough. I will often find a tree or some way to help steady the camera if I can and I have a bit more time to get a good photo but that is probably only about 10-20% of the time. I appreciate the advice and it makes a lot of sense.

Mike can you push the ISO to get that shutter speed?? I shoot an older camera,(and the monster caviat of learner talking). but I know I'd be higher iso wise in this situation and from what I read these newer canon sensors are amazing,maybe not 1DXii amazing but still good for more than the older sensors . Michael I'm certainly not the guy to help with techs. Tim if you see this where would you be tech wise,please? or anyone else naturally:S3:

Cool action Micheal ,although it's a big crop I'd actually like it a bit looser,the action the 1/9th showed is very eye catching. It grabs me mate ,as the viewer/nature lover I'm drawn to study the behaviouur on show,assess etc. Because I don't know what surrounds such a large crop it's tricky being objective in some ways Michael. Please could you show the whole frame. This action is eye candy Michael although it's maybe small in frame,(due to your constraints mentioned),I feel it has enough power to be set more in it's landscape,it's original setting if you like. It still might be a bigger crop than one wants Mike, but you have huge detail resolving power with the 5Div's sensor. I feel there is a higher quality image to be had both IQ wise from not cropping so much AND maybe even more so compositionally by showing me, the viewer, more. I don't know the please forgive:bg3: ,bigger picture Michael,but I want to see more of the woodland at least.


It's a dynamic action filled image Mike,there is power and drama I feel it has all those qualities to such extent much smaller in frame might work better..If i could work selectively I'd pull the hilights back on certain herons too
Cool pic TFS

Cor buddy that must have been a special sight:c3:,thank you for the back story too .

HH is ok as long as we are very very still:S3:

Take care,cool image ,made me think a bit as well thank you

stu

Stu, the 5DMIV should handle a much higher ISO with no problem with an ISO range 100–32000; expandable up to 50–102400.

-Tim

Stu, as Tim said, I could have easily bumped up the ISO getting a faster shutter speed without harming the IQ. In the heat of the moment, I just did not look at my shutter speed as I was so intent on capturing the action. I actually got pics of the eagle just as a merganser dove when it made a pass at it. The eagle came in from out of my view, so I missed the shots when it made a pass at a goose on the pond.

I am now trying to keep my shutter speed at 1/1000 or faster after Tim's advice. I had been going on the advice I had seen in numerous places to keep the shutter speed at about the same as the focal length, but being hand held it makes sense to go to a faster shutter speed especially as this sensor can handle higher ISO as you mentioned. I posted another iteration of the pic cropped at about 75%. I usually get the horizon pretty level, but I think I wasn't paying attention and the full frame is askew, so I cropped it just enough to fix that problem. My sense is that the eagle gets a bit lost in the woods zoomed out. I will be interested to hear what you think. I will also add another pic that is the one just before this action that is cropped a bit more, but not as much as my original post. You can see that in my crop, I did crop out one of the herons in the rookery.Attachment 168734

Here is a pic of the action just before the original post cropped at about 50%. BTW There are now 4 nests and 8 Herons. That tree on the left is now being built upon.Attachment 168735

Hi Micheal sorry slow in reply. Wow the resovling power of the 5D mark iv is very impressive. Mike i'd prefer just a slighty looser crop than your first,not too much but a bit looser. I feel now that you were on the right track and to an extent my inexperience was talkiing,I do agree with the lesser crops the action is being lost,frankly I didn't realise just how big the crops are,a testiment to your camera Mike and that detail. could it work better as a 3.2 crop rather than square? Action to be off center towards the RHS

Fantastic to hear more birds have joined to breed ,all the luck with more Micheal

take care

Stu