Flight of the Fish Eagle

[Stu Bowie]

I was invited by my good friend Chris Kotze to a display of rehabilitated raptors that have been nursed back to full health. We were taken to an open area away from the suburbs of Johannesburg, where these birds could fly for a bit of exercise, flying from one handler to the other, coaxed by a small food item. We had a Barn Owl, a Spotted Eagle Owl, a Rock Kestrel, a Falcon, and this beautiful Fish Eagle. Taken early saturday morning. This is full frame, with a touch of canvas to the top.

Canon 1D Mark IV
100-400 @ 370mm
1/2000
F/6.3
ISO 640

Exp comp +0.33
hand held

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Gorgeous light Stu, great looking bird and nice HA and exposure, you certainly make the 100-400 sing.........
Cheers
Sanjeev

[christopher galeski]

very nice capture Stuart,sharp,great detail,spot on exposure,nice flight pose,well done.

[PhilCook]

Now that's extra good !....apart from sharp and lovely exposure cant believe the light you managed to get in the eye, I feel a little more on the left would be a little nicer, but pretty darn sensational as it is !

[BenBotha]

Fantastic picture. All tecs are spot on. The 100-400 really sings, you dont have to rent the 200-400. Ben

[Chris Kotze]

Hi Stu nice to see you got this great shot, super light and colours, I like the flight angle. Ditto that 100-400 work very well for you and your profile shows that.

[Jonathan Ashton]

That is a one heck of a good shot Stu, marvellous detail and super exposure - a really top notch image!

[Cheryl Arena Molennor]

Beautiful shot Stuart. The pose is nice and the environment works well.

[Mike Veltri]

Very nice Stuart, love the incoming flight pose.

[Melissa Groo]

Fantastic work, Stuart. Love how you managed to get such great detail in both the blacks and whites. Super sharpness and I really like how it's angled towards you.

[Satish Ranadive]

Stuart Sir,
Very very sweet image of beautiful looking fish eagle in beautiful lights.
Love the wing spread,nice details, HA and composition.

Regards,
Satish.

[gail bisson]

Nice shot! His feathers seem much blacker than the Fish eagles I have seen. Is this something to do with being in captivity?
I really like the eye level topside view and creates a nice diagonal line. I like the IQ and sharpness of the eagle.
Nice BG color as well.
Gail

[David Salem]

What a nice opportunity you had to see a Fish Eagle like this up close and you took great advantage of it. About as good of eye contact as it gets as it looks like its peering right at the handler. Techs look great and the detail is awesome.
Very nice one for your portfolio Stuart!!

[Stu Bowie]

His feathers seem much blacker than the Fish eagles I have seen. Is this something to do with being in captive

Thanks Gail. Im not sure why the wings look more black. It could be due to a 'different' diet being in captivity. He was fed a small chick after flying about.

Thank you all for the feedback and kind words.

[mohammad reza shahab]

great looking bird.great detail,light and very nice pose.