Bald eagles, Crested Caracara, Osprey and more!

[Nancy A Elwood]

Well, what a difference a week makes at Viera. First and foremost a cold front FINALLY came through:D and left us with blue, unhazy skies, lovely light and very comfortable temps. Second, there must of been 6 bald eagles, 3 Crested Caracara, 8 osprey and several harriers all competing for the same space. At one time I had to choose between aiming at a bald eagle, crested caracara, harrier or osprey:D. I probably looked rather funny going around in a circle with my D300 and Nikon 500:eek:. Anyway, this is one of my crested caracara images. This bird had really dark feathers. Taken with the D300 and Nikon 70-300VR, f/7.1, 1/2500, iso 800. C&C always welcomed.

[Jim Fenton]

Boy I wish I was down in your neck of the woods Nancy :)

Image looksfine to me with one minor exception, that being that the whites on the underside of the subject appear to have a bluish cast to them?

The more I use the 70-300VR, the more I like it for images such as this.

[Axel Hildebrandt]

Good wing position, sharpness and light, I only wish for a lower angle. I have to see this species sometime.

[ChasMcRae]

I wonder why bluish tinge on wings but not on breast and neck ? Could this be actually close to real color with a grayish tinge ? or did you do focal change to breast and neck but not wings ?
I like the full wings out profile.
Chas.

[Nancy A Elwood]

Charles I think you are right about the slight bluish tinge, real color with a grayish tinge. I did nothing with them. I only did a bit of levels and sharpening.

Thanks all for commenting!

[Ákos Lumnitzer]

Looks awesome from here Nancy! wow! I am so jealous that you have so much to pick from! :( Well done, love the wingspread! :)

[Brian Barcelos]

Nancy, really love this one and one of the better Crested Caracara in flight shots I remember seeing in a while. Beautifully exposed, wonderful wing spread and sharp. Only wished you'd post it up bigger so we could better enjoy it. Congrats

[Doug Brown]

Great wing position and sharpness Nancy! It must be nice to have to choose from all those different raptors! To me the image looks a little over-saturated and a little too contrasty. How do you like this repost?

[Harshad Barve]

fantastic wing pose and sharpness, Doug's repost looks better
TFS

[ChasMcRae]

I sort of like the original.but then I use to shoot with Fuji Velvia !

[Stu Bowie]

Lovely looking bird Nancy, and I like the wingspread. Overall sharp, and stands out nicely against the sky.

[Nancy A Elwood]

Doug thanks for the repost and it does look nice, but to tell you the truth I had turned down the contrast a lot. I do like a bit of a punch in the colors, like Charles I used provia and velvia in the old days. Also, this particular bird had very dark shaded feathers, much more so than I had seen before. But, I like both and appreciate all comments. Thanks all!!

[colincarter]

excellent shot Nancy, great composition aswell seeing the underside of the iwngs