Bald Eagle stare-down

[Charles Scheffold]

Canon 1D Mark IV
800mm/5.6L IS
1/320s @ f/5.6
ISO 1600
~6MP crop
Shot from car (in the wild) using Kirk window mount

At first, this wintering Bald Eagle landed so close to my car that the 800/5.6 would not focus! After a few minutes another bird came and chased him off. Thankfully he moved to a branch just a bit further away and I was able to get in a few shots :)

Lighting was tough, hence the high ISO and low shutter speed. But IS saved the day!

thanks
Charles

[Randy Stout]

Charles:

An intense stare to say the least.
Nice exposure, detail in darks and whites. Good BG for him

Wish there was a bit more light on the shadowed side

I wonder where your focus point was, as the bill and shoulder look just a bit sharper than the eye.

Very good noise control considering the ISO.

Cheers

Randy

[Charles Scheffold]

Charles:

An intense stare to say the least.
Nice exposure, detail in darks and whites. Good BG for him

Wish there was a bit more light on the shadowed side

I wonder where your focus point was, as the bill and shoulder look just a bit sharper than the eye.

Very good noise control considering the ISO.

Cheers

Randy

Thanks for the comments, Randy. I focused on one of the eyes and then recomposed, but it is possible that the bird moved its head before I pressed the shutter. Not sure. At 800mm f/5.6 and at such a close distance, the depth of field is extremely shallow. Closer examination of the full size original reveals that the nares are sharp as are the left and rightmost parts of the mouth. So perhaps the eyes are not as sharp as they could be.

thanks
Charles

[Don Lacy]

Hi Charles , Wonderful stare and feather detail I would run another round of selective sharpening on the eyes.

[Charles Scheffold]

Thanks for the feedback - I made the following minor changes:

* Dodged the shadowed side of the eagle's face
* Applied slight selective sharpening to both eyes

[Stu Bowie]

Charles, it must be tough to have too much lens.:) I like the inquisitive stare, and your repost works much better.

[Pieter de Waal]

Hi Charles, repost is great. Love the stare and detail in the eyes, bill and gape.

[Craig Brelsford]

Good job producing this image in less than perfect conditions. The repost is an improvement, especially because of the added luminosity of the bird's left eye.