Bald eagle - "gotta go now"

[John Goldman]

Did not have to wait the usual half eternity for this bird to decide to go somewhere else.
Canon 50D, ss 1/2000, f6.3, ISO 800, 600mm, window mount.
NR, slight crop for composition, Nik tonal contrast & detail extractor. Cloned out some distractions.

[Kerry Perkins]

Hi John, very nice image! Techs are solid and color rendition looks great to me. I might crop a bit from the right and bottom, but otherwise looks really good to me. Well done!

[John Chardine]

I agree, very nice. Also agree with Kerry on the crop comments. Is this a large crop? Reason I ask is that the IQ of the bird is not the best and wondered if you were pushing the limits of the 50D.

[John Goldman]

Yes, John, this was a fairly substantial crop, about 50%. I really didn't want to go any tighter for the reason you suggest. Although the techs indicate 600mm, I haave the impression that I had stacked a 2x and a 1.4x TC on my 300 2.8. The Exif data showed only the 300 with the 2xTC. The eagle was quite far but sometimes I trip the shutter under less than ideal conditions, seemed like a good idea at the time.

[Kerry Perkins]

John, by all means push the button! Many people freeze up and think that they won't get the best shot, but so what? I say shoot away and your chances for getting something usable increase dramatically. The IQ may not be the best, but the fact remains that you captured a moment of nature to share with others.

[Cynthia Thayer]

What I'd give to get a shot like this.