I gotcha!

[PRSearls]

Yesterday, was my first trip to L&D14 to shoot eagles this year. There were a number in the area but most were camera shy and stayed well out of camera range. Only a few fished and my best action shot was against the morning light. I was lucky to catch this BE a split second before he plunged his talons into an unsuspecting fish. Look at the menacing appearance of his feet. The lighting is terrible here but I thought I'd share it anyway.

1Ds III, 500 f/4 IS, ISO 400, f/7.1, 1/1600, manual mode

Paul S

[davidedric]

Never mind the lighting, that is one heck of a picture. Great action shot

[jerry1550]

Good shot. I would not worry about lightning.

[FootLoose]

Great shot, Paul. I like the lighting.

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Paul,

Great capture, I find Manual is the way to shoot when the lighting is like this.

Cheers,

[Sergio M.]

It is indeed a great shot, Paul.

[HiImTom]

Beautiful!

[jeeperman]

Nice capture, Paul. It is a good place holder for the time until you nail just what your after.

[Bobobird]

That is a great action capture. Well done.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Very nice and exciting shot. I'm not sure if you are open to c&c since you haven't mentioned it, so I'll withhold my suggestion unless you note otherwise.

[PRSearls]

Thank you for your compliments. I'm always open for c&c since that is how we learn and get better.

Paul S

[mammarazzi]

Fantastic shot, wonderful colour shades of blue and great lighting.

Joanne xx

[FlyingSquirrel]

Thank you for your compliments. I'm always open for c&c since that is how we learn and get better.

Paul S

Paul, great, thanks for letting me know. I just have a few little suggestions, based completely on my own opinions and preferences. Others may disagree. If it were my photo, I would:

- tweak the temperature and color balance a little. While the water is fine, the eagle itself has a cool/bluish color cast to my eyes (My monitors are calibrated). I'd possibly tweak the temperature selectively only to the bird, leaving the water how it is.

- I'd increase LCE a tiny bit to try and get the subject to pop a bit.

- I might potentially increase the saturation a miniscule amount on the browns and yellows

Regardless, it's a fantastic capture and I really like it. Thank you for sharing and I look forward to seeing more

[PRSearls]

Thanks, Matt. These are good observations and suggestions. I"ll tweak the image a little more.

Paul S

[WJT]

Paul, great, thanks for letting me know. I just have a few little suggestions, based completely on my own opinions and preferences. Others may disagree. If it were my photo, I would:

- tweak the temperature and color balance a little. While the water is fine, the eagle itself has a cool/bluish color cast to my eyes (My monitors are calibrated). I'd possibly tweak the temperature selectively only to the bird, leaving the water how it is.

- I'd increase LCE a tiny bit to try and get the subject to pop a bit.

- I might potentially increase the saturation a miniscule amount on the browns and yellows

Regardless, it's a fantastic capture and I really like it. Thank you for sharing and I look forward to seeing more

Paul its a magnificent capture, and with wildlife your rarely going to get it all your own way. I agree with Matt that this could be made a much better shot in PP. If you can reduce the shadow a touch that will also highlight the feathers under the wings and increase the definition and saturation slightly. I wouldnt over do it, but just a tweak. Great rewards for a lot of patience, well done.