Juvie Bald Eagle skimming the surface

[gail bisson]

canon 1D MK IV
F 4.0 500mm
ISO 400
SS 1/3200
F 6.3
HH lying down on icy shore
Cropped by 25% from left hand side and top
Some will not like the head and wing merge but I love this shot. His "knees" are so close to the ground it is truly amazing they don't catch on a piece of ice and cause a crash.
PP in LR3 and Color Effex Pro. Detail extractor to entire image at 15% and then used all black mask and chose snow and head at different opacities. Thank you Randy for showing me how to do this!!
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Marina Scarr]

Well done on this action shot, Gail. My first thought is that I would up the SAT just a tad to give it a little more pop. Wish the rear wing weren't intersected with the head, but love the action portrayed here and you did well capturing it.

[Sachin Saraf]

Gail, Except the nit you mentioned this is amazing capture...Superb low angle, high SS ensured no motion blur and nice DOF.

Eagle nicely stands out of that pure white BG and we can feel the intense action in the scene.

[Melissa Groo]

Great action captured, and wonderful job on processing, Gail. Love the intensity of the stare and the talons curled. I do wish the far wing did not merge with the beak, but I think it's still a wonderful image.

[Yves Guillot]

A truly great action shot Gail! It is not an easy one to catch for sure! Well done!

[Nick Palmieri]

Really cool action here. I am also wondering if boosting the saturation a tad would make the head pop a bit more. Cool image either way. TFS.

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

Great action, shooting angle, intense stare.

Yes, the wing merge is less than ideal, but it still works very well.

I do think on the raw file, you could very delicately lighten the head and bill to give it a bit more separation from the darker wing. Might take a little work, but I would give it a try. I tried in on the jpeg, but it would be better on the raw.

Cheers

I will trade PS tips for photo ops!!

Randy

[laurie golden]

Gail,

I love the action and have no problem with the wing/head intersection. He looks so close to a crash and does not even know it.

[RakeshDhareshwar]

Brilliant action image , Gail . The eagle looks a bit contrasty on my monitor .

[Robert Holguin]

Wow!!!! Superb action shot. Love the low flying and shooting angle. Excellent detail, exposed very well, and great comp.
Very well done.

[Karl Egressy]

A very dynamic pose perfectly captured, Gail. I like to see juveniles.
They come in so many different patterns during the first five years of their life.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Gail, well timed to capture this pose, and good work with different opacities. The overall detail on the eagle shows up nicely, as well as the snow around his knees. Good show of the feet and talons too.

[Frank Schauf]

Great action image, congratulations.