Had my new camera less than a week but finally made it out for some eagle shoots yesterday.
I only have a 300 f4 + 1.4 TC, (you really need 500+ at lock & dam 14), so this is cropped a lot,
still pretty good with the D800E.

Suggestions, comments?

thanks


replaced the original one with one not so contrasty..

Hi Wapsijims,

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations on the new camera.

I like where you placed the eagle in the frame, and you were dealing with some fairly harsh light. The only suggestions I would offer would be a) try to get closer to the subject (or get a longer lens, as you mentioned), and b) take lots and lots of pictures.

Birds in flight are difficult to photograph and your ratio of misses to hits will be high.

Good luck, and keep posting images!

Dennis B.

P.S. You might want to tell us your name -- it might be easier than "Wapsijims".

Thanks for the welcome. My name is Jim Shannon (I added it to my profile too).

Here's one more, a little closer, maybe 50 yards.....

So the river isn't frozen over as of yesterday...

Thanks for sharing.

#2 appears to be processed much better than the first. The harsh light in #1 has blown the white on the eagles head! Don

Always a treat to see

Some nice action Jim,

Welcome aboard,
Mark

Nice

Nicely done Jim

I guess I need to use my D800 more for birds, but I love the crop factor of my D300

Welcome to the forum

Lil

Hey Jim
Welcome to FM, enjoy the new camera & keep shooting those eagles
Paul

Welcome to the forum! Nice first captures. I shoot at L&D 14 from time to time. Practice on the gulls, and set your white off them so when you do get an eagle your white balance will be set.

My rule of thumb as to where I start is on bright days like what you had -1 to 1 &2/3 under. On cloudy gray days I go all the way up to 2 over on EV.

Play around and KEEP shooting!

wapsijims wrote:
Suggestions, comments?

I think you are doing just fine. We have eagles at Guntersville Dam. At first I thought you were local.


You might tidy up the harsh light in the first photo but some times I can't get it right. If your doing this well with a 300mm you will get many more shots in the future.

Welcome JIm ! Nice set ! Would love to get an eagle in flight

Birdie

Welcome Jim. You are off to a nice start with these two shots ~ Ron

nice ones Jim .. congrats on the new camera

Great shots. Enjoy your D800E.
harsha

Howdy and welcome to the forum and to LD 14. Now you've got the eagle bug like the rest of us. Nice shooting.

Larry

Welcome to the forum Jim. Nice images.