This young eagle was several months old when I captured this in late June. He would hop out to a branch just above the nest, and practice his wing flaps over and over, holding tight with his talons to keep from lifting off. They're rather scruffy looking at this age.
D7000 | 500f4 + 1.4 TC | ISO 800 | 1/1000s @ f/7.1 | +0.7 EV | braced from car window
Bill, I like the perch, comp, exp. and the angle of the bird. You froze a very nice pose. Lots of nice lines in the image. Details look a tad soft to me.
Bill, Nice pose captured with the wings up. Great HA as well. Agree with Kaustubh that the image is a little soft. A contrast mask on the head and body might do the trick.
Thanks Kaustubh and Clemens. I agree it looks a bit soft. Here's a repost with a little contrast boost to head and body, and a bit more USM to the same area. Helps a little. Thanks for the suggestion.
Excellent image, Bill ! Repost is good; I was satisfied with the OP.
The original post looks to me like a fine film photograph. The repost looks like a fine digital photograph.
I struggle with this all the time, having been raised on film.
While I welcome the opportunities to create in post-production what we sometimes miss in the field, I try to exercise caution when pushing the envelope.
But not to digress too far -- it's a fabulous photo !
Bill, I also think the repost looks a tad unnaturally sharpened. I am thinking there was subject movement that 1/1000 did not freeze perfectly. Hard to fix those in post. You did your part well...raising ISO and you needed that positive exp. comp. against sky BG.