Bald Eagles

[BCrose]

Finally getting some sunshine and warmer weather. Birds are coming back

Juvenile and adult Bald Eagle in flight. Full front lighting on the first, back lighting on the second

[kdoc856]

Predatory birds fascinate me, and these are excellent shots of two beauties. Their population seems to be increasing fairly rapidly, and we are seeing them again in Ohio fairly frequently. It also seems to me that the hawk population is recently much higher, but I've not seen any confirmatory statistics on that. Thanks for sharing these, Monte

[Plumcrak]

I have seen more Hawks around here also, although I am way too slow to capture anything that moves faster than a turtle

Beautiful shots Monte. Always a joy to see your work.

[terrib]

These are beautiful, Monte. I especially like the second one. What lens are you using on these? And do you use a tripod or handheld?

[jprzybyla]

Beautiful birds Monte. Nicely captured, showing how they set and use their feathers in flight.

[Cantab]

I'll add my voice to the chorus: great shots!

[Bobobird]

Beautiful and majestic birds. Well caught.

[BCrose]

These are beautiful, Monte. I especially like the second one. What lens are you using on these? And do you use a tripod or handheld?

Thanks everyone for the comments. I appreciate it.

Well...the lens. Maybe I have mentioned in my past posts that I have been using the Nikon 400mm 2.8 VR...Best lens ever made in my opinion.
I recently sold it. I just could not justify a $10,000 lens sitting in my closet most of the time. I was able to get a very good price for it and decided to go a different route.

The eagles above are shot with the Sigma 150-500mm About $1100 at most stores. I love the lens. It definitely does not compare to the Nikon in image quality, especially with the depth of field with it being f/5.6 wide open compared to f/2.8. You do get what you pay for and I will need to seek out better light with the Sigma but for what I do it is going to work fine. I will miss the Nikon but am happy with my decision.
My other consideration was the Nikon 300mm f/4 and the TC 1.4. Which would have given me 450mm at f/5.6. About the same price but I would have had that f/4 at 300mm which is another beautiful lens.

With the Sigma I can hike around and hand hold it for shots like the eagles. Very difficult to carry that Nikon up and down steep trails.

[FlyingSquirrel]

Fabulous photos, Monte, thanks for sharing. I appreciate the info about your lenses and thoughts on those. At one point not long ago I had considered the sigma 150-500 but opted instead for the Canon 400mm 5.6 prime, for better IQ and handling. However, these photos taken with the sigma show that even a mediocre ("non-pro") lens can produce superb photos, when in the hands of a skilled photographer.

[Steve S]

Very nice eagles in flight. The first , however, has a green cast , that can be fixed with some magenta added. Also, the highlights can be lowered a little, to make the sky more like the bottom photo.

[bedantabd]

Beatifully exposed images Monte. I feel cropping is a bit too tight, especially #1.

[BCrose]

Thanks for the input.
Steve: I had some exposure problems with the first one, it was quite overexposed, I brought it down to where it is now in Lightroom, seeing it now a few days later I see it could be perhaps .5 of a stop less.
Bedanta: You are right...But I was trying to just show the bird. All that was in the frame was bird and sky, I was going for a close-up. Not great framing I know.

[Downrigger]

Well beyond any useful C&C from me except: Kudos! And to wonder about the light - almost seems to have been from below!! And thanks very much for the lens discussion. The Sigma did justice to your skill. Just too bad not a little faster, eh?

[BCrose]

Well beyond any useful C&C from me except: Kudos! And to wonder about the light - almost seems to have been from below!! And thanks very much for the lens discussion. The Sigma did justice to your skill. Just too bad not a little faster, eh?

You are kind right with the light, the bird was high overhead and turning into the sun that was fairly low as it is here in winter. And yes...f/6.3 is slow when you have been used to shooting f/2.8! You really do get what you pay for with these super teles as they are called.

[Brownbear]

Gorgeous shots... Thank you for sharing. It is also great to read that you took these beautiful shots with a Sigma lens.

[Aforns]

Gorgeous capture !!!

[jprzybyla]

Nice work Monte....