First Eagle Images

jeffmeyers

Okay. These are not the best images, I know. But this my first attempt at capturing eagles. The weather was nice yesterday so I took a quick trip up to Grafton, Illinois, to see if I could capture some eagles on the bluffs of the Mississippi.

There were quite a few of them. But in order to capture them you had to pull off the side of the road, check traffic (the road was narrow at the river bank), jump out of the car, aim the camera, focus, and shoot. I got a few through my sun roof.

I'm going to need to go back when I have more time AND a longer lens. Cryminny, my 300mm just wasn't enough, even on my D300 with it's FX-sized sensor. Sigh.

#4 is probably the only one that is half-way decent.

If you have any tips for capturing these guys, let me know. And what kind of lenses do you guys use?

#1


#2


#3


#4

bfjr

Congrats on your 1st
I'm still waiting :cry

dlplumer

Nice capture Jeff

Candid Arts

I really enjoy the crop in #1 and #2.

Overall not bad images. Better than my attempts, at least they were flying for you. I couldn't get them to leave the tree branches they were on. #2 is definitely my favorite.

jeffmeyers

Thanks, guys. I'm eyeing the Sigma 150-500 lens for wildlife shots. All of my other lenses are Nikons, but this Sigma lens gets some pretty good reviews. I realized how inadequate my 300mm is on this little trip.

Ric Grupe

Sadly 300mm isn't enough most of the time. Too bad, since that's the optical sweet spot.

At least you got the eagle!

My first was mostly branches.:D

PrescottPhotog

jeffmeyers wrote:

But in order to capture them you had to pull off the side of the road, check traffic (the road was narrow at the river bank), jump out of the car, aim the camera, focus, and shoot. I got a few through my sun roof.

Hi Jeff, Good shots for what you had to do to capture them. Eagles are great and when you get "that" shot it's a great feeling.. and then you want a better/closer shot..