Hop, Skip, and a Jump Bald Eagle Blur

When Lady D left Homer she took the good weather with her. For the last full days of the 2nd IPT I did nothing by attempt to create pleasing blurs. I wound up with dozens of keepers; don't ask me what I am gonna do with them!

This one was created with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 200. Evaluative metering +3 2/3 stops off the dingy grey sky: 1/8 sec. at f/11. I used the two sensors below the sensor: AI Servo/Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. If you missed the rear focus tutorial, click here.

Don't be shy; all comments welcome.

I really like the blur and splash in the water and the blur of the eagle. However, the eagle was closer to center than I'd prefer, and I wasn't sure about the second head. So I started playing around -- took away the upper head, cropped just a bit from the right and added canvas to the left. While I was at it, it seemed like it would be worth playing up the great blur in the water. In Nik Color Efex, I used Pro Contrast for that and also used Darken/Lighten Center to highlight the area with the eagle. Then I masked off the eagle, itself, so just the water around it would be lightened.

Thanks. Well done, especially the 2nd head removal! The expanded canvas left is, however, too obvious with the dead straight lines.....

Artie, I like the wing details and the implied motion, I also like the second head- it adds a bit of ghosting that I like. The colors are dreamy. I think the canvas on the left is a good idea and a snip off the right.:S3:

Hey Artie, I really like the sense of motion and action captured here. IMHO, the double head is the best part of this image so I would leave that alone....it shows great action and also shows that this blur is intentional. I know there are people out there (not in this forum) that would look at the repost and think that it was too bad that you just missed getting this in focus! :bg3:

I agree that more on the left and less on the right is a good idea and if this were mine, I'd add a touch more contrast.

Thanks Ken and I agree with that with this image that two heads are better than one :). At times, I do get rid of the image of a 2nd head but here I feel as you do that it adds. And the first rule of creating intentional blurs as you know is that the image be focused accurately.

Artie, this is awesome capture! Love those two heads... it adds so much more to the action.

Very nice motion blur capture Artie! I like the two heads and agree about a snip off of the right.

Hi Arthur, a little late getting around to this one, but I think it is fabulous. The double head is very cool and the water turned out lovely. Nice blur.

Wow, stunning colors and a great capture of the moment!
The second head is one good part of the image, so I would keep it!
I like the image just like it is!