Bald Eagle

[Doug Brown]

Here's another photo from my Utah trip. Never having photographed bald eagles in the snow before, I contacted Jim Neiger for some advice. He was very helpful, and I got some shots that I was quite pleased with. Here's one of my favorites.



Canon 1D Mark III, 500mm + 1.4x, f/13, 1/1600, ISO 800, tripod, manual exposure, no flash

[Judy Lynn Malloch]

Love the flight pose here Doug and the fanned tail. The eye contact is beautiful as well as excellent exposure. The only nit for me is that I would like to see more space on the bottm and a tasd more on top. This is an image I would be proud to have Doug. thanks for sharing.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks Judy. I'm never sure about how to crop. In this one, I thought that the sharpness held up to a bigger crop, and I wanted to emphasize the bird. That's why I cropped it the way I did. But I see your point too. Like I said, the crop is always my toughest decision.

[John Cooper]

Yes you should be happy Doug with this fine image - great action nicely captured and excellent detail. The wintery BG makes a splendid back-drop for this dark toned eagle. Well done!!

[Maxis Gamez]

Very nice composition and pose Doug.

[Stephen Stephen]

Lovely image and composition Doug. I particularly like the lighting on the head.

[hugh robateau]

Beautiful shot, Doug! I like the fact that there is some detail in the sky. The composition and details is very nice, also.

[Keith Bauer]

Sure looks like you had a productive trip to Utah. I like this a lot. Nice exposure. What was the advice that Jim Neiger provided?

[Doug Brown]

Hi Keith. Jim suggested that I meter off of the snow and then go +2 on exposure compensation. I found that I was having better luck with anywhere between +2/3 and +1 1/3. I really did like manual exposure up there.

[Jim Neiger]

Hi Keith. Jim suggested that I meter off of the snow and then go +2 on exposure compensation. I found that I was having better luck with anywhere between +2/3 and +1 1/3. I really did like manual exposure up there.

The key to my suggestion was to meter the snow IN THE SAME LIGHT that the eagle would be in. If you meter in direct bright light and the eagle is in shade or not direct light the results will vary. When I was in Homer I used this method and used either +2 or +1 2/3 with great success. It is important with dark and white birds to take the whites to the edge of overexposure so you can get the most detail possible in the dark areas.

[Doug Brown]

Thanks for the clarification Jim. I didn't have much sunshine, so the light was pretty consistent.