Thought I'd post one from an amazing weekend with Bald Eagles at Sheffield Mills, Nova Scotia. We are very lucky to have such a shooting opportunity in our back yard. The eagles are fed dead chickens from local farms.
Small crop followed by standard post-processing.
Date: 6 February, 2011, Time: 1501h
Model: Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Lens: EF500mm f/4L IS USM +1.4x, 700 mm
Program: Manual
ISO 800, 1/800s, f/6.3
Exp. comp.: 0.0
Flash: off
Wow, John! He really is coming right at you. It sort of makes you glad you're not a fish! The composition/lighting seems right-on to me and you couldn't ask for a better pose!
Excellent John! I do have a question about the lighting, which to me seems perfect. The light seems to be soft(low contrast) which I would guess caused by a light overcast, or early morning with something diffusing the light. In any case the sky seems unusually blue, and cloudless, for such lighting. Just wondering. regards~Bill
Good question Bill. The image was made mid-afternoon on a winter's day (I always give the time of the exposure in the techs, just for this reason). The sun was getting low in the sky by then, was golden in colour and was behind me. The other factor is the snow- the birds fly over a field of snow and often, like this one, they are fairly low. So essentially you have this big, diffuse spotlight lighting up the underside of the bird and caused by the reflection of the ambient light from the snowy ground.
Last edited by John Chardine; 02-07-2011 at 09:06 PM.
Reason: added missed word
Thanks for the quick answer. I noticed the time, but 1501h didn't mean much to be. I guess 15:01 military time would. What is the "h" ?
Anyway, the snow seems to be a very good reflector and diffuser, as opposed to water that is a good reflector but poor diffuser (wave patterns with bright highlights). In any case I see the influence pretty clearly now that you mentioned it, and without this vital factor I would have to rethink my ideas about high/low contrast light and its effects on avian photography. Thank you~Bill
Bill- It's short for "hours". Military time has no colon as far as I know. Anyway, we use this quite commonly in Canada but I can see how it might be confusing. I'll change the format- which is easy to do in Photo Mechanic which lets you program exactly how you want the EXIF data to look.
Wooohoo! congrats on a great shot...headed to shoot Eagles Friday in Louisiana. A shot like this would be an absolute dream shot. setting a tough standard my friend.
Love the sharp intense eyes and this really works with the centred composition. I would be tempted to clean the red spot (blood?) off the left talon if your ethics allow.
Holy smokes that is one awesome eagle image! Man, I agree...that might show up to haunt my dreams sometime! Love the wing spread but that face and the angle of descent really ups the drama.
Head on
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