Coming In

Gallery: AvianPosted July 12, 2015130 views6 comments

Another from my recent James River shoot. Nikon D750 Nikon 200-400 F7.1 1/3200 ISO 2500

I learned that the Bald Eagle is faster than the Osprey when they come in for a fish. Much harder to keep everything in focus with the eagles. A Great Blue Heron moves in slow motion compared to an eagle. Still learning how to get more eagle keepers.

Comments and critiques please. Still trying to get the hang of it.

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Jim Hansen on July 12, 2015 at 12:56 AM

I think you've got the hang of it with this one Andrew. This is a gorgeous image. Great light, great wing position, and love those outstretched talons. Extremely sharp, exposure looks right on, and excellent handling of the darks and lights. My only nit is that the ripples on the water make it look like it could use a bit of CW rotation. Overall, excellent!

Registered on May 5, 2011, 161 Posts, 908 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on July 12, 2015 at 12:57 AM

Hey Andrew,
This is a keeper for sure, you have some wonderful detail and good exposure with a nice balance between the whites and the dark browns. The timing on the action is perfect with the out stretched talons and that intense look at the prey. The light in the large version is stunning but has an over sharpened look to it mainly on the Eagle. There is a need for some CW rotation to level the waves / ripples in the water. Hope this is the first of several images of this event.

Well Done . . . devil

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

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on July 12, 2015 at 3:17 AM

I love the incoming pose, Andrew. Sweet light and the reflection is a nice bonus. Well done.

devil

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

Comment posted by Kurt Bowman on July 12, 2015 at 3:31 AM

Great timing on this one Andrew. Looks like you have the focus down to me (at least on this image). I agree the ripples make this appear it's not level, but it really is level IMO. Just unfortunate how the ripples are diagonal across the scene. I don't see the over sharpening that was mentioned. It looks good to my eyes.

As far as getting more keepers...hard to say how to change things without knowing where you are having issues. Is it with tracking? Is it with your AF settings? Are you hand holding? tripod? All these and many others come into play. Really for me the big thing is practice practice practice. Practice shooting even faster birds, then eagles will feel slow (i.e., many species of ducks, cormorants, gulls because they are unpredictable in flight, etc). All these things can help hone your skills. But looks so far like you are doing fine.

Registered on June 19, 2008, 1005 Posts, 8028 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on July 12, 2015 at 1:11 PM

One of the desired poses/moments well captured ! You must be happy cool . Like it a lot ! Cheers. Hans