Double Eagle Stare

Gallery: AvianPosted February 17, 2013169 views7 comments

I liked the sinister looks these two guys gave me as I photographed them. I know the background is a little cluttered, but that is the habitat that the eagles like on the shores of the Mississippi river in Wisconsin where I found them. The eagle on the left looks to be just barely four years old, as his head still has some dark feathers. The eagle on the right is clearly a juvenile. Hard to guess his age, but he is probably somewhere around two or three years old. The camera metadata says the distance was 156 meters. One of the reasons I posted this image was to show the kind of image the new Canon 500mm Series II can provide. I am still amazed at the sharpness at this distance. The camera was hand held, which makes this lens performance even more amazing. The image is only slightly cropped.

Canon 7D
Canon 500mm f4 II with 1.4 tele converter
Focal Length: 700mm (effectively 1120mm taking into account the 1.6 crop factor of the 7D)
f5.6
1/125 s
ISO 100

Comments

7 comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on February 18, 2013 at 12:09 AM

Good image Jerry. Glad you were able to get around the clutter of the small branches. Your lens does show good sharpness, but give yourself credit also. Thanks for sharing.

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

Comment posted by Bill Marsh on February 18, 2013 at 7:13 AM

Great image Jerry. Very sharp for hand holding a 500 especially at 1/125 sec. Good job!

Registered on December 29, 2012, 21 Posts, 225 Comments

Comment posted by Howard Cheek on February 18, 2013 at 8:34 AM

Great HH work and sharpness, sounds like a dream of a lens Jerry.
Both have relatively unobstructed views, well composed too.
Wonder what time of day this was?
Well done!

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

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on February 18, 2013 at 11:19 AM

Well Done Jerry and Great Post.
Thanks for the info on the new lens.

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments

Comment posted by Basri Akcasoy on February 18, 2013 at 2:05 PM

This is unbelievable, handheld with 1/125 and 3.2 kg 500mm gun + TC + 7D. I think you never need tripod. It's also amazing from more then 150m.
All of this really good workshop for me.

Very nice capture with beautiful light, pose and sharpness. TFS.

Registered on February 16, 2012, 118 Posts, 767 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on February 18, 2013 at 6:09 PM

Very nice - double subjects are always so much more difficult to capture.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on February 22, 2013 at 9:30 AM

I really like the double head on stare in this one Jerry

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments