Eagle with Black backed Gull

[gail bisson]

Canon 1DX
600mm with 1.4x
ISO 800
SS 1/250
F 6.3
HH in winds of 70km per hour while sitting in a puddle.
I took my Mom for a drive (she is living with us as she recovers from a total knee operation) and saw this eagle fly in and kill the gull on the mudflats, about 100 feet from the road. I stopped the car, climbed into the back seat, got my camera and lenses together for the shot, opened the window and... a car pulled up behind us and the lady jumped out of the car and ran towards the eagle with her point and shoot. Needless to say, there were many 4 letter words flying out of my mouth (shocking my Mom) as the eagle flew away!! The eagle flew into this tree so "idiot lady" got back in her car and drove off. I waited for about 15 minutes , got out of the car and zigzagged my way across the mudflats and got as close as I could. The sun was directly behind the eagle so I waited for a dark cloud and took about 50 shots hoping that one would be sharp because my camera was being buffeted by the wind and my SS was 1/250. I took shots standing up but the images were not tack sharp so I sat in the water and propped the lens on my knee and got this shot.
I cloned out a branch that was cutting across the eagles' neck.
Cropped to vertical from horizontal so a big 50% crop.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail
PS I did take some shots at ISO 1600 and SS 1/500 but I liked this one the best
PSS. I didn't swear at the lady, just to myself in the car!

[Loi Nguyen]

Wow, Gail, what a story. I know what you mean by taking photo of a bird up high while standing and with SS 1/250! Looks pretty sharp to me and you handled a difficult light conditions very well. The eagle is a bit too center for me. I'd suggest moving it to the left a little bit. Well done. And it was worth it sitting in the mud!

[shane shacaluga]

I love this image. The story about the lady with the point and shoot is great too. Thanks for waiting and grabbing this powerful moment. Nature at its cruel best!

Will leave the tech comments for the experts.

[Diane Miller]

Wonderful!!! I LOVE IT! Perfect sharpness and DOF. Kudos for the stalking.

I wouldn't change a thing, except to take the LOL's P&S and throw it in the water, with her behind it. There should be a law against people taking P&S's out in the woods without a permit, like they have for guns, that you have passed a course in how to use them.

[PhilCook]

Great story Gail...great opportunity and even greater the results, great job on cloning out the branch across the neck....just " great " lol

Amazing shot especially considering the difficulty in achieving it...not forgetting the scewball with the P&S. Vertical aspect works nicely, and all very sharply focused...love the evil look in the eagles eye....bet you're a horror movie fan lol

[Peter Dexter]

The best photography is always an adventure. Sounds like she wasn't really an "idiot lady", just wanted to photograph the eagle and prey...just like well... you did. And speaking of the prey it's just as well you identified it for us since I doubt most posters could identify the gory mess of the gull down to species level. Goes to show nature can be gruesome .

[gail bisson]

The best photography is always an adventure. Sounds like she wasn't really an "idiot lady", just wanted to photograph the eagle and prey...just like well... you did. And speaking of the prey it's just as well you identified it for us since I doubt most posters could identify the gory mess of the gull down to species level. Goes to show nature can be gruesome .

hi Peter,
I should have been clearer when I said idiot lady!
Of course, she should not be criticized for wanting the shot.
I was upset because she ran towards the eagle, thus scaring hom off.
gail

[Don Railton]

Hi Gail

Great story and worth all the effort to get in my opinion... Its graphic and shows nature at her true self, and is nice and sharp especially considering the conditions. I usually have trouble with dog off the leash... They seem to always appear just after you get into position and the owners seem oblivious to the disturbance they create..

TFS

DON

[Don Railton]

PS is the eagle sitting on top of a broken tree? I see a trunk at the bottom but nothing above...

DON

[gail bisson]

PS is the eagle sitting on top of a broken tree? I see a trunk at the bottom but nothing above...

DON

hi Don,
yes, he is sitting on top of a broken tree.
thanks for the comments everyone,
gail

[Robert Holguin]

Excellent shot!!!!
Sharp, great IQ, terrific comp, and a great story to top it off.
Very well done.

[David Salem]

Hi Gail, I know the feeling when something like that happens. Looks like you still made lemonade. I like the pose and the Gull hanging down below. The Eagle looks very powerful in its pose. You can see the Gulls head clearly which is important in a shot like this. Great detail for this larger crop too. I like it all and the story too. Well conveyed and all ways.

[mohammad reza shahab]

Amazing shot ! Perfect Moment.

[Girish Prahalad]

excellent story & an ample reward for your perseverance. the predator in it's environment is well depicted here.
All positives as noted above.

[Grace Scalzo]

A good piece of natural history depicted, Gail. Well done on the techs, too.

[Ashleigh Scully]

Hi - this is really good. I like the story, also!

Thank you for commenting on my photos, too.

[arash_hazeghi]

oh wow this is really dramatic

[Satish Ranadive]

Great story, great image, Gail. this is wonderful image in environment.Rare moment.
Love it.

Regards,
Satish.

[Peter Seidel]

Great image Gail - before I started reading the full description about the gull, I thought wow - never seen a bald eagle eats bald eagle shot before. Definitely shows a very commanding perch - I think the portrait orientation is definitely the way to go. Great story too - though sorry you had to go through that. I had an incident a couple of months ago when getting into a position to shoot a kingfisher (which are a pain to track) - a woman out for a run ran right past me making noise as I was crouching down to take the shot (and of course the shot was lost) - I bit my tongue, probably shouldn't have. Hopefully there won't be a next time.

Pete