Bald Eagle and GB Heron

Gallery: AvianPosted May 24, 2011217 views15 comments

Hi everyone,
My apologies for my absence recently. My monitor broke down and had to be sent in for repair and I've been busy with workshops. This was taken this weekend out at Hood Canal, WA. One of the great things about photographing there is the interaction that goes on between eagles and herons. We had some nice luck this weekend as we had a couple of instances of good interaction close up in front of our whole group as we sat on the rocky beach. The light at this point was a little bit harsh but I'm not complaining. This is cropped to about 80% of FF.

7D 500F4 1/2500 F8, iso 500, manual exposure, handheld

Comments

15 comments

Comment posted by Peter Conway on May 24, 2011 at 9:23 PM

Thanks for providing the larger image, its a must see! Superb detail in both birds. You have to love the interaction here.

Peter

Registered on June 25, 2007, 347 Posts, 3913 Comments

Comment posted by Harry Harris on May 24, 2011 at 9:52 PM

Nate, What great action and a great job capturing it. I like the wing postions of the birds. I guess they are trying to make themselves seem bigger. Even with the harsh light, I find you exposure spot on. Thanks for posting this image.

Harry

Registered on August 2, 2010, 169 Posts, 741 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on May 24, 2011 at 9:58 PM

Love the interaction Nate, I'm always on the lookout myself..Of course seeing and getting a great behavioral shot are often two very different things

Techs look great, light looks good to me. like that bit of splash action I see too

PS - Just got my first Roadrunner shot a couple of hours ago, I was so excited to finally get it I almost fumbled.
Barely fit in before and it turned & ran out of sight into the brush..
Off to give old Wiley Coyote a hard time, it was done with me

Registered on July 24, 2008, 1201 Posts, 10758 Comments

Comment posted by Raymond Klassen on May 24, 2011 at 10:59 PM

I like this interaction, especially with all the raised wings. Yes the light is harsh, but the shadow detail is better in the large version. Nicely done!

Registered on November 30, 2008, 114 Posts, 790 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on May 24, 2011 at 10:59 PM

Really nice action image here. The Eagle is really tack sharp-especially the look at/in the eye. Very well done.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by David Williams on May 24, 2011 at 11:54 PM

Great detail in the larger shot, Nate. Love the action here and would really like to see this sort of happening sometime.

Registered on March 8, 2005, 315 Posts, 2291 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on May 25, 2011 at 10:14 AM

Great action Nate. Larger version really shows nice detail and sharpness on both birds. My only wish would be for a bit more light under the heron's wing, but that is only wish and not a necessity by any stretch. Cool shot.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Craig Strand on May 25, 2011 at 5:51 PM

Welcome back Nate, very nice interaction captured here.

Registered on March 30, 2008, 416 Posts, 2885 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Balke on May 25, 2011 at 8:56 PM

Such interesting interaction, Nate. The eagle looks pretty stoic while the heron seems to be trying to communicate something. It makes me wonder what. I like how you were able to overcome the somewhat harsh lighting and still obtain so much detail in the image without blowing the whites.

Registered on June 18, 2009, 229 Posts, 2915 Comments

Comment posted by Michael Lotito on May 26, 2011 at 6:43 AM

Wonderful interaction! I am always impressed when 2 subjects are captured in focus!

Registered on June 26, 2009, 181 Posts, 1558 Comments

Comment posted by Charles Gangas on May 26, 2011 at 9:03 AM

Terrific behavioral interaction Nate. The detail in the larger image is excellent despite the light, and the pose of both birds posturing is quite a moment captured!. Be really neat to know what they communicated to each other.

Registered on August 12, 2009, 544 Posts, 2414 Comments

Comment posted by Ashley Vincent on May 26, 2011 at 9:57 AM

I love seeing images of two different species in contact with each other, so this one already has huge appeal, but what a bonus to see such great detail in both subjects, especially seeing as they don't appear to be exactly on the same visual plane, which means your choice of aperture was spot-on Nate, very well done :^)

Registered on March 1, 2011, 154 Posts, 2083 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on May 26, 2011 at 6:12 PM

I can still hear that heron's displeasure with the eagle alighting so close, great timing Nate catching the splash down and wings up. Excellent depth of field and detail in both birds

Ken Archer

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on May 26, 2011 at 6:51 PM

Amazing interaction captured beautifully Nate.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Leekam on May 27, 2011 at 10:49 AM

Way to go, Nate! The shot I hope to get one day. The only thing missing is a fish they are fighting over.

Registered on May 28, 2009, 83 Posts, 646 Comments