Wedge-tailed Eagle

[Scott Turner]

Species
Common Name: Wedge-tailed Eagle
Scientific Name: Aquila audax

Date: 1/5/2015

Location: Bathurst NSW

Camera Details
Brand/Model: Canon 1DX
Lens: 500mm F4L IS + 1.4xTCIII

Camera Settings
ISO: 2000
F-Stop: f5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1600s
Exposure Bias/Metering/Flash: +2 1/3 stops off the cloudy sky.

Technique: Handheld looking up.

Attraction Aides: None. - but I did find a sheep carcass which I'm sure was the reason why they were lingering.

Post Production: contrast mask and shadow boost with slight increase to saturation since I was looking into the sun and the image had little to no contrast and colour.

I actually saw 7 in the air at one time and stood under them while they rode updrafts up into the sky multiple times which was an amazing and awe-inspiring experience. For the first time ever though I was actually afraid for my life while photographing as well because when I got out of the car initially I saw one of the dominant males just landing on a tree with his massive wings out in full display. The wings regularly measure around 2.5m (8ft2inch) but this one was a lot larger from what I could tell. The wings from tip to tip were longer than the tree branch he was landing on which was no small branch. My guess would be in the range of about 2.7-2.8m (~9ft)!. Seeing he was so close to me as well when he landed, about 20m (65ft) in front of me, it made the experience even more epic.

[Daniel Cadieux]

What a cool eagle this is! Great wing and tail spreads. The colour looks neat too. The comp is too centered IMO (I'd love to see less acanvas at right), and I could see a bigger version. All in all very nice, and thanks for the detailed description.

[arash_hazeghi]

adding to Dan's excellent points, the blacks have lost detail here, perhaps because the bird is so small in the frame but the pose is great and we would love to see more from this less common specie

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Nice wingspread. They are awkward to shoot high in the sky and I always wait for these kinds of poses so they don't look as steep an angle. Agree with crop.
The rusty colours look rather interesting, I don't ever recall seeing one this rich.
When are you going to put up some pics of when it landed? Would love to see the closer shots. This looks a little lacking in detail, perhaps due to a big crop.
Cheers Scott

[Pao Dolina]

So Beautiful!