Bald egale attack

[arash_hazeghi]

Adult eagle was attacking to reclaim his salmon from the crows. I hope you like this frame

1D4 600mm f/4 1/1250sec ISO 1600 handheld

click here to see a high def file

[John Cooper]

Fairly tight in the frame Arash but I think it makes for a very strong composition. Excellent detail throughout and some detail in the sky adds interest. Are the dark tones on the eagle that bright Arash? They appear a little bright on my monitor.

[arash_hazeghi]

Fairly tight in the frame Arash but I think it makes for a very strong composition. Excellent detail throughout and some detail in the sky adds interest. Are the dark tones on the eagle that bright Arash? They appear a little bright on my monitor.

Thanks John,

yes that's how this bird looks, it is not too bright on my screen but it is not too dark either. It is a young adult with some dark patches in the head/tail whites. Exposure for eagles is tricky but here the reflection from the snow helped.

I like the tight composition here because it shows the intensity of action better. You don't really want a loose composition when the BG itself does not add much interest.

BTW, BG is not sky, but snow.

[Ivan Ellison]

Tricky to get right with such a bright BG, I certainly like the composition it does reflect the size and power of these birds. the snow has added a nice bit of uplighting to give some more detail in the wings/dark area. Am saving my english pounds up for a trip there in a couple of years for my 50th, with shots like this you are certainly encouraging me to do so.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Excellent shot, (not so bright as the previous) great action super angle. As always the quality is outstanding.

[arash_hazeghi]

A quick tip for correct exposure when shooting eagles in winter conditions:

When Jim Neiger and I were shooting eagles we saw that other photographers had major difficulty exposing the eagles. They would often underexpose severely or cook the whites. The root cause of their problem was using modes other than manual for exposure. If you use any other mode the meter will go for the snow and the eagle will be underexposed by about 5 stops when it flies against the snow. When eagles fly against dark BG the meter will cook the whites, of course they were very frustrated when checking the images on the LCD. By choosing manual mode you can get accurate exposure even with a tough BG and even extract some texture from the snow during RAW conversion.

Manual exposure is an integral component of flight photography IMO.

[gail bisson]

A quick tip for correct exposure when shooting eagles in winter conditions:

When Jim Neiger and I were shooting eagles we saw that other photographers had major difficulty exposing the eagles. They would often underexpose severely or cook the whites. The root cause of their problem was using modes other than manual for exposure. If you use any other mode the meter will go for the snow and the eagle will be underexposed by about 5 stops when it flies against the snow. When eagles fly against dark BG the meter will cook the whites, of course they were very frustrated when checking the images on the LCD. By choosing manual mode you can get accurate exposure even with a tough BG and even extract some texture from the snow during RAW conversion.

Manual exposure is an integral component of flight photography IMO.

Hi Arash,
I couldn't agree more. Overcast conditions are the best for BE in my opinion otherwise the whites on the head get blown so easily. Snow is the best reflector of all to get the light under the wings. When I shoot BE, I will meter 1+ 1 2/3 off the snow for the first test shots and adjust/tweak from there. It always seems like the best shots are from the first fish throw when the eagles come screaming in!
Nice tight flight shot.
Good primary tip wing curl with nice diagonal line from wings.
Exposure is excellent,
Gail

[John Cooper]

Thanks John,

yes that's how this bird looks, it is not too bright on my screen but it is not too dark either. It is a young adult with some dark patches in the head/tail whites. Exposure for eagles is tricky but here the reflection from the snow helped.

I like the tight composition here because it shows the intensity of action better. You don't really want a loose composition when the BG itself does not add much interest.

BTW, BG is not sky, but snow.

Thanks Arash - yes I did agree that the tight framing made for a a strong composition. I probably should have realized it was snow..!!

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Vey nice Arash, and thank you for the tips. I find myself using Aperture priority most of the time, but will be diving into manual mode in the near future.

[Satish Ranadive]

Gorgeous image.Love the wing position,great details,lights and blues in the ice at the bottom.
Thanks for the nice tips for BIF photography.

Regards,
Satish.

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Love those strong yet graceful wings. Its an awesome pose and I like the High key effect it gives for a nice change

[Stu Bowie]

Spectacular Arash. The exposure and and sharpness right on the money. Very well captured.

[Bill Dix]

Amazing wing spread, and super comp. I guess it's the uplight from the snow that lights up the underwings so nicely.

[Dan Busby]

Super techs and stunning display of eagle feathering and fiery intensity. Not sure about the dark background line running through the upper wing tip - I think it distracts from the subject (but I am sure you considered that and made a decision to keep it!)

[dankearl]

I envy your location and you are getting great photos.
I think just a tad of contrast would make it pop a bit and make the browns more natural.
The whites look great, very nice exposure and they are not easy as you know.
I hope you are enjoying your trip and I look forward to more images.

[Hayath Mohammed]

Strong composition this. The super wingspread does look awesome!
Just wondering if the bird would pop more with a little push to the blacks?

[arash_hazeghi]

Strong composition this. The super wingspread does look awesome!
Just wondering if the bird would pop more with a little push to the blacks?

thanks Hayath,

To answer your question, if your monitor is calibrated properly it should look exactly as it did in the field, the source of light here was reflective (snow), you can think about it as a natural bounce flash. Bald eagle plumage is actually not black but dark brown.


Thanks everyone for kind words.

[David Salem]

Nice work in non California conditions. Love the high key effect and the exposure. Cool bent primaries on the left wing. Nice and sharp and I like the eye contact. Well done...

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Perfectly timed Arash, love the under wing detail and banking pose well done.