Wintering Bald Eagle

Gallery: AvianPosted January 21, 2010172 views8 comments

This photo was taken along the Eagle River in Eagle County Colorado on January 15, 2010. I shot the image with a Nikon Coolpix P90 camera on a monopod shooting out the passenger window of my car. The eagle was approximately 150 yards away in a tree along the river bank.

This photo is unchanged from the original image taken, no cropping or digital effects. Additional suggestions or thoughts on how to improve this photo are appreciated.

Comments

8 comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on January 21, 2010 at 10:53 AM

Get closer. At that distance you are getting some obvious chromatic aberration along the edges adjacent the snow field, Also, I believe the P90 at max zoom (624mm) does not do the best job in that market niche of image stabilization.

As for composition, I believe you need some CW rotation to get the scene level, and the bird needs to be less centered. see the "Rule" of Thirds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Keith Bauer on January 21, 2010 at 10:59 AM

Some good advice from Phil. An unfortunate shadow on the eagles head didn't help you here. Still a nice effort. I'm sure you'll have more opportunities.

Registered on November 20, 2003, 458 Posts, 4836 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 21, 2010 at 11:37 AM

It's always a good day when you get an Eagle, Cindy. Phil did give you some good advice, though, of course, changing cameras can be an issue. The essence of bird photography, in my experience is getting close, which often translates as lots of patience. Welcome to NPN.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Laura Stafford on January 21, 2010 at 1:23 PM

What an awesome Eagle. The detail on the Eagle's body is nice, but the shadow on his head is a little distracting, but how wonderful to be able to photograph such an amazing bird.

Laura Stafford

Registered on November 3, 2009, 52 Posts, 375 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on January 21, 2010 at 3:11 PM

Good start, the advice already given is good. Glad you got a chance to photograph a bald eagle.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Nick Saunders on January 21, 2010 at 6:20 PM

Hi Cindy and a warm welcome to the forum. Some helpful comments have already been mentioned.
I also think a better angle might have helped here , as the eagles head is very much in the shadows.
Next time, if you could let us know what camera you are using and any technical detail - aperture , shutter speed , ISO etc , would be helpful to those viewing the image.
I look forward to seeing more !

Registered on February 6, 2008, 321 Posts, 3035 Comments

Comment posted by Lindy Martin on January 21, 2010 at 10:27 PM

Hey Cindy, welcome to NPN. Fantastic opportunity just to even see this bird! Others have offered great advice. One thing that I have tried is very slowly driving ahead or in reverse so as not to spook the subject, but I always shoot (even if it is not technically correct) just to enjoy the fact that I saw something really cool!! Good job on this one - just take you time

Registered on March 10, 2009, 60 Posts, 169 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on January 21, 2010 at 10:36 PM

Hi Cindy. An eagle in where else, "Eagle County".

Nice looking adult bird and reasonably sharp for the distance involved. One thing I always "try" to do is be mindful of the sort of background I am capturing. If I think it can be improved by changing my position without spooking the bird than I do so. It has been a while since I have seen an eagle, so nice to enjoy this one.

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments