Eagles in Flight

[Kent Wilson]

Hi all --

I just returned from photographing eagles along the Mississippi River. Conditions were not very good, with gray skies a lot of the time, fog coming off the water other times; but there was some good light as well.

I'm using a Canon 40D with a 100-400 zoom, mostly on a tripod, with only the center focusing point active. I found I got about 20% decent images. I expected much better results. In a number of cases, the bird was not in sharp focus even tho the focus point was on the bird. (And in many cases it was not, alas.) Are my expectations too high or am I just too old for this kind of photography?

kent

[Fabs Forns]

I have no experience with the 40D, but I met someone in San Diego next to me,aht had a 40D and told me he was having a hard time with 40D.
However, if we don't know the shutter speed you were using, was it camera blur for lack of shutter speed or just missed focus? It would help if you posted and example!

[Kent Wilson]

Hi Fabs --

I deleted the worst images. But here is one that I think is pretty soft. taken with a Canon 40D, 100-400 lens @400mm; 1/800sec, f/5.6, Evaluative metering, ISO 400, AI Servo AF, Continuous Drive. Adjustment for exposure in ACR +1.3 stops.Nik Sharpener Pro RAW Presharpener. AF Point was on the underside of the nearest wing.

Taken late afternoon, gray windy, cold day. I was hoping to photograph the eagle taking a fish; It missed this time.

I view my images in Breeze Browser. I have no sharpening set in the the camera. Could it be that many of the images only appear to be soft or out of focus?
http://flickr.com/photos/wkentw/2227639312/

[Fabs Forns]

It seems like the focus loved the water, which is usually the case with all 45 points in the 1 series, but I see no reason for this is the center point was on the bird :(

[Doug West]

Hi Fabs --

...AF Point was on the underside of the nearest wing....

Kent,

When you said the AF Point was on the nearest wing, is that what you remembered or
is that what BreezeBrowser shows?

The only reason I ask is, even though I could've swore my AF Point was on a head
of a bird, I'll look at the AF box in BB and it'll be on the tail :o

Doug

[Kent Wilson]

That's what Breeze Browser shows. (I can't remember my cell phone number, much less what I managed to focus on!)