Incoming!

[Scott Turner]

I had another amazing morning yesterday, braving the cold but managed to see 5 wedge tailed eagles and photograph 4 of them. Luckily 2 of them flew directly over me only meters away!! This was one of the best shots I captured of one wedge tail being dive bombed by a magpie to leave his territory. Unfortunately the image isn't take sharp because of the slower shutter speed I was using, in the hopes to try and exposed for the shadows a bit more. I had the sun behind me and a moderate breeze also coming at my back making for perfect flight photography conditions. Let me know what you guys think :)

Canon 7D & 500mm F4 + 1.4xTCIII 1/800s @f5.6 ISO320 This particular shot was taken at almost minimum focusing distancing, meaning this is not cropped at all. I was shooting on a GITZO GT354LS and Jobu Design Pro 2 Gimbal at the time, but hand held for this shot.

[Richard Flack]

Good action shot Scott! Must have been quite exciting taking this one. I can see where the eagle gets his name from. Given how close you were I think a higher depth of field would have helped here as the eagle's wings and the magpie are out of focus. The colour on the eagle also looks a little out, but I am not familiar with the species. And yes, as you say the IQ has suffered a bit.... but still a dramatic shot.

[keith mitchell]

Great that you where able to see 5 wedge tailed eagles in one day and to get a shot of one being mobbed by a Magpie really is something else, I can certainly live with the little loss of sharpness, very well done getting this.

Cheers Keith.

[Karl Egressy]

Nice action shot. The Eagle is nice and sharp especially the head.

[Arthur Morris]

Yes to neat action and great timing. The harsh, off-angled light presented you with an impossible situation. Oh for a cloudy day....

[Randy Stout]

Scott:

Love the action, the opposing wing positions. Great job getting both birds in the frame when they were in so tight.

Looking at your settings, I would certainly recommend pushing up your ISO to give yourself some more flexibility in choosing shutter speed and aperture.

DOF to cover the entire scene, at that close range was always going to be an almost impossible goal. So, go for enough shutter speed to make it sharp.

Very exciting time I am sure, and hopefully you can have another go at it.

Cheers

Randy

[vishaljadhav]

I love the exposure on the head gives the image a lovely dimension
Love the action

[arash_hazeghi]

the action is superb but the poor IQ is holding this one back. Both birds are OOF, the upper one has strong motion blur because of slow SS and unfortunately the eagle's head and plumage is soft too. I agree the light was harsh.

unfortunately most of the time action happens conditions are not right...

TFS

[Tobie Schalkwyk]

Lovely scene you might not ever see again! Pity about the low ss but not the end of the world - the head of the lower bird has enough focus to make it a keeper. Had it been mine I would have experimented with blurring the top bird even more since it's out of focus just enough to be a distraction. More blur just might make it look more soft on the eye.

[Scott Turner]

Thank you all for the kind comments. As I said unfortunately it isnt the best but was happy enough with it. Unfortunately when I sized it down and reduced the quality to upload here it accentuated the sharpening even more just slightly I noticed. Personally with regards to having the magpie in focus or even just a tad more detail I wouldnt like as much. I think it would be too distracting, pulling attention away from the wedge tail. I think just having an outline and basic detail is enough to provide a good idea of the situation, but that is my opinion :)

[Daniel Cadieux]

I like the opportunity you had, and I'm OK with the angled lighting in this case. The comp is tight for my tastes. I agree with Randy about boosting your ISO more to help you achieve more SS...the 7D is vilified online for poor noise at higher ISOs, but it performs well at ISO 800 and even 1600 even absolutely needed.

[adrian dancy]

It seems you were too close!
I agree with Randy's comments.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Scott, you know I gave you feedback already elsewhere. :) Wish I had my young wedgie have a magpie chasing it a couple of weeks ago when I had the same opp. That was not, sadly, the case.

Nothing you can do about light angle with these shots, unless you have a spot you "bait" them to like people tend to do in other parts of the world. This to me is just an opportunity that you had to take based on where you were and what presented at the time.
Hope you nail another shot another time with better technical details.


Cheers mate