On a trip to Flatanger in Norway I photographed this white tailed eagle on the fiord. I used my Canon 7D Mark ii with the 300mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens.
The exposure is 1/1250 sec at f/8.0 and ISO 400 in manual mode. During the development in Lightroom I have increased the exposure by 0.48 and the image is not cropped at all.
Great action here Steen. I like the pose you captured. I would lift the shadows on the wings, as it does look a wee bit dark. I am sure at ISO 400, this shouldn't bring too much noise into the image. Nice detail on the bird and a lovely look on the eagles head. Well done on capturing this.
Hi Steen, the action captured here is fantastic. Did the eagle catch the fish naturally or was it baited? It is a pity that you under-exposed the image. I think you could have shot at ISO-800 with the 7D2. The water is dark and the eagle's right wing does not have much details. You could try to lift the shadow as William suggested, but you may get noise because the image was under-exposed. Loi
Well you certainly got a very dynamic pose on this action frame! You were lucky not to clip any feathers at left, but I do wish you had more there (I realize this is a FF image). I'd have raised the ISO to 800 as per Loi, especially if anticipating action. My 7D takes it very well, so your 7D2 should be even better...the result is OK here but it is putting the odds more in your favor for sharp results.
I agree that it would be nicer to have a little more detail under the wings, particularly the right wing, but it does contrast nicely with the light on the belly. The timing is superb with the trailing water
I have now tried to lift the shadow and put a further increase on the exposure. The result is better although I prefer to have used ISO 800 in the first place ... ; - )
For your information I was with Ole-Martin Dahle (The Eagle Man) on the fiord and he attracts the eagles by throwing out fish. This eagle landed just 25 meters from the boat.
I also spent some time with Ole - last year in May. Had a fantastic time as I am sure you did, with lots of great photo opportunities and beautiful Eagles.
Great action in your image - very dynamic pose and the great splash of the water and the fish. I agree with the comments above that it should be possible to extract more detail from under the wings. The way the light/shadow falls across the head of the bird is not ideal, so maybe with some careful local adjustment you will be able to reduce the difference between light and shade there.
Wonderful image indeed! Wish you had a little extra room to the left, but that can be addressed with a little PP.
Very well done, they are spectacular birds. You've done a great job capturing it.
White tailed eagle
Reply With Quote