Where Eagles Dare

Photo of the Day

Just over a week ago I was sitting by the Wabash watching the snow come down like crazy. I had about a half hour to kill so I sat watching the river. Little did I know that just about a mile down the river from where I was Michael Heinz was watching eight or so bald eagles fly around. He is a staff photographer for the Journal and Courier, and he took a great photo of an eagle flying through the driving snow. You can see that photo in the article linked here. Not only is it a beautiful photo, but with all of the snow flying in front of his lens it is a technically brilliant photo as well. Ever since I saw that article I have been meaning to get down by the river to get some pictures. That finally happened yesterday afternoon. I tried to wait until the sun was behind where I would be shooting so that I could use it to my advantage. I was ready to quit when I saw an eagle dive down into the water to get a fish. I took a crisp, clean shot of the shore behind the eagle. The actual eagle was out of focus. Luckily I got a second chance when I saw the eagle before the dive. I got this shot of the eagle just after catching a fish. This is the best shot of the bunch as far as clarity is concerned. On my Facebook page here I posted a couple yesterday, but they fell apart when I zoomed in far enough to see the fish in the talons. I have to figure out how to get closer to these eagles for sure.

Technical Data

Not much to say here. After I zoomed in farther than my 1:1 button would in Lightroom there was not much that I could do. I had to just let the picture go or risk pixelating it any further. The biggest technical data here is that it was shot with my 70-200mm lens zoomed all the way in with my 1.4x extender on it. On my crop sensor camera that gives me about 448mm of lens. Most wildlife guys shoot with at least a 600mm lens, but I will just have to learn to zoom with my feet. I think that a picture from a bit closer would look better anyway. My island in the middle of the river is coming back, and this would have been perfect from right there. I guess that is something to think about when I go out again.