David and Goliath

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Taken late July last year along the Parramatta River in Sydney, in a small muddy bay.
The White-bellied Sea Eagle was being harassed by a number of Australian Ravens as she was looking for something to eat in the shallows.
We watched her make a few half-hearted attempts at stooping down, but she never took anything.

Canon 1D4, 500/4L IS + 2x, ISO1000, f/11, 1/3200th, HH, very little crop from the top and right to balance the space above with what was below.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Akos, nicely timed very much like the wing action of both birds, the Raven says it all.

For me I think the techs look good and you certainly needed a higher SS to freeze the action. Was this taken late afternoon in some warm, late sun? I'm just wondering if it's slightly under exposed and if +1EV may have helped but mindful of retaining the detail in the whites. I think you can tease out some more detail from the capture, especially on the raven, likewise a tad more selective USM perhaps?

TFS
Steve

[Glenn Pure]

Nice result, Akos especially catching fairly good light on the underside of the eagle. It's such a typical scene with a raptor being harassed by ravens (and other larger birds) and you've done well to get the raven close in the frame like this. I agree with Steve that a tad more detail in the shadow areas would be good.

[Gemma Watson]

ahhh. Raven's teasing.

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Thanks for your e-mail Steve. I normally use full ISO values and not the intermittent ones for some unknown reason. I could have gotten away with 2/3 more (i.e. ISO 1600), I was rather worried about blowing highlights on the white plumage. With all the action taking place so fast I was not able to chimp and readjust as needed.

[Steve Kaluski]

I think it may have helped here, have you got Highlight Alert enabled p157 manual, if not it could be beneficial?

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Yes, always enabled. 'Cept when this fast-paced action was taking place, I did not have a chance to review on the fly or I would have risked missing frames. When I arrive at a site is to immediately set my base exposure. The standard MO is, I aim at some greenery that is more or less mid-tone bathed in the same light as my subjects would be in. I set my exposure as 0 in manual mode, then for a white bird I go to -1 or a dark bird +1. As the light fades, I can generally pull up to 0 with a white subject or close down to 0 with a dark. That works usually.

[gail bisson]

Love the eagle but wish there was more detail on the raven.
Great wing spread and you had some nice light.
It is so tricky to expose properly when you have a black and white bird or birds!
Gail

[Daniel Cadieux]

A couple of nice poses here, with some good interaction! A classic case of "shoot now, ask questions later" or else risk losing the opportunity...

[Gerhard Weldhagen]

This is a classic Australian scene and those ravens are a real pain to expose correctly. The action is usually lightning fast and the colour contrast between the raven and other bird usually varies significantly enough to risk blowing something at either end of the histogram. You did very well here Akos, I tried this many times before with mixed success.

Cheers mate,

Gerhard

[William Dickson]

Well captured mate, not a sight you see often. Good work.

Will