White Bellied Sea Eagle

[Ian McLachlan]

The problem about submitting this is that several months ago David Salem sent in a gorgeous frame from this sequence ,which I obviously missed as I was standing next to him!.This was taken off Kangaroo Island in the Southern Ocean as soon as the light and the birds were up; luckily this boy came off his cliff straight away only happens sometimes and turned in the right direction for the sun, but the time of day was a great help. Fish thrown from the boat. I took out bit of n.membrane from his eye.





D5
500mm VR FL f4
@700 mm
1/3200th
1000 iso
5.6
hh
6.16 am
c and c very much appreciated.

[David Roach]

The dark sea BG, that sweet light on all that white, the pose, HA, prey and trailing water drops. All make for a fantastic image. Only nit is the wing positions. Wish they were less flat. TFS

[gail bisson]

This is a wonderful frame Ian- no need to feel like a second fiddle to Dave's great shot!
Whites look pretty good in this lovely early morning light.
I like the trailing water droplets on the fish and the clear view of the talons holding the fish.
I would warm the image up slightly.
I am sure that the water was this deep blue but I would still desaturate the blues a bit as they overwhelm the eagle . If you warm the image up a bit that may reduce the vibrancy of the blue water and you would not have to desaturate.
In a perfect world the beak would clear the far wing but certainly not a big issue.
I would also like a bit more room top and left.
Well done,
Gail

[Isaac Grant]

A real beauty Ian. Such a fantastic looking bird. I like Gail's comments. Tone down the cyan in the water a bit and maybe run a little detail extractor on the birds to eke out some more details. Add a touch of warmth and you are all set. Easy fixes. The hard work was already done!

[Chris van Rooyen]

Ditto Gail's comments - great shot, well done. You were fortunate to get a really lovely posture. I do this a lot with African Fish Eagles, and I know how tricky it can be to get a good wing position.

[Ian McLachlan]

Thanks all for very helpful advice.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Super image Ian, the bird looks great, the sea looks a little dense to me, maybe try a lumo bask on the background and lift it a little?????

[John Mack]

Very nice. Really like the color of that water.

[Mike Poole]

Late to the party, but a really nice capture of a great bird - worth trying some of the suggestions already mentioned

Mike

[arash_hazeghi]

love the dynamic pose Ian, tack sharp and I love the talons and the fish too. Agree with trying to extract a bit more details from the RAW
TFS