African Fish Eagle

[Gabriela Plesea]

This image was taken this morning at h08:31 on the St Lucia Lake (Kwazulu Natal, South Africa). We had some wonderful sightings, among those a pair of Fish Eagles nesting in a tree not far from the lake. I missed all opportunities of capturing those majestic birds in flight over water, save for this one. And I really thought I hit the jackpot until I got home and uploaded my images. I made an effort though and this is what I came up with. I particularly do not like the water and I am not sure what to do about it (I blurred a bit at the top to give it a smoother appearance). I also added a bit of canvas on the right side and cloned in some water. I sharpened the bird using Unsharp Mask and played with vibrance and contrast. Lightened the eye just a tad using levels.

EXIF Info:

Nikon D3S
Nikon VR 300mm F2.8
1/8000s
F6.3

I would really appreciate any suggestions, comments and critique of technical nature or otherwise.

Kind regards,

[vishaljadhav]

Interesting image this one, the pouncing pose with those claws stretched forward are for me the highlight of this image.

I found the upper part of the wing a bit dark, tried to edit it to get more details out of the upper wings, lightened the water a bit more, more a rough cut job done here

[Loi Nguyen]

Fret dynamic pose, killer light. I don't see a lot of details on whites, so not sure whether this is a large crop or what. It's a beautiful shot though.

[Frank Schauf]

A great dynamic situation, congratulations.

[Allen Sparks]

Hi Gabriela, wonderful action pose you caught here. Might could squeeze a little more detail out of the whites. Wonderful image.... -- Allen

[Robert Holguin]

Great shot.
The pose with the showing of those massive talons is amazing!
Nice light and great comp.
Well done.

[Satish Ranadive]

Wonderful flight pose you have captured here. I like the way eagle pops up against nice blues. Love the colors,details and beautiful claws.
Great composition with nice reflection.

Regards,
Satish.

[Gabriela Plesea]

Many thanks to you all for your comments and for viewing! No complaints about the water so I guess my cloning wasn't too bad Wow Vishal, I never thought of trying to reveal more detail on the bird...for me the shadow was there and I never thought of lifting it-I see what a difference you have made, thank you! I must admit I am very humbled when someone takes an image and actually spends the time to sort something out for me-this is extremely kind and thoughtful, I appreciate it.

Kind regards,

[Marina Scarr]

Super action image, and I have to admit the RP looks even better. Surprised that I actually liked the water lighter. Wouldn't have even thought about it. Good eyes Vishal. Those extended talons are just super.