I was a bump on a log

Mark Edell

I was driving by a stretch of water yesterday where the mouth of a river opened up in to the Hood Canal in Washington State. There were eagles everywhere!! Unfortunately, they were out on sand bars and oyster beds too far away for me to take any good shots.

This Morning I took the kayak and launched it from a mud flat up river. All I did was point my self toward and eagle, laid still and let it drift. I was a bump on a log. The sun, for the most part did not cooperate but I did manage to make one good run at this guy. I almost ran right into his perch before he flew away.

#1



#2



#3



Thanks for looking!

slpollett

I am so envious! These are awesome eagle shots. The first one is gorgeous & my fave. All 3 are beautiful though.

Sherry

Mark Edell

Thanks Sherry, it was a fun morning!

Harryb

Marvelous, especially #3.

snowman1

Realy nice work, number 2 stands out to me.





http://dougsphotos.smugmug.com/

Dennis Kaczor

Very nice captures Mark, and the one that stands out for me is number 2.

Mark Edell

Thanks everyone. I have plans to do it again this weekend with a bigger , More stable kayak. With the small kayak I get this feeling of impending doom because I'm carrying all that equipment.

dlplumer

Harryb wrote: »

Marvelous, especially #3.

+1

angevin1

Same here..Envious and all fab!

Ric Grupe

Makes me wish I was young again! Digital cameras came along a tad late to my life. I would love to do something like this.

Excellent!

CKjeep

I like all of them. i wish i could get that close to the few eagles we have here

WillCAD

Fabulous shots! Publication quality, no doubt.

Captions:

#1: Oh, look at DIS guy! Tinks he's gonna just float right up ta my perch here and I'm not gonna notice 'im, huh? Geez, what a rube.

#2: Okay, I've had enough a DIS guy. I'mm goin' to get myself a fish...

#3: Frikkin' tourists. Oughta be a law...

Mark Edell

lol! Thanks for the comments

Stella7d

WoW!!! These shots are phenomenal!!!

WillCAD

Hey, Mark, just out of idle curiosity - what gear were you using for those shots? And what post-processing did you do on them? They're unbelievably sharp and have great color.

raptorcaptor

Excellent shots, Mark!

Mark Edell

WillCAD wrote: »

Hey, Mark, just out of idle curiosity - what gear were you using for those shots? And what post-processing did you do on them? They're unbelievably sharp and have great color.

I was using a Canon 40D with a 200mm 2.8L with the Canon1.4x teleconverter.

Make = Canon
Model = Canon EOS 40D
Software = Adobe Photoshop CS2 Windows
F Number = F4.5
Exposure Program = Aperture priority
ISO Speed Ratings = 320
Focal Length = 280mm

I used Photoshoop for PP and Neat Image for noise reduction. I really don't do a lot of post possessing, typically it's:

Shadows and highlights adjustment
Slight saturation
Run through Neat Image
Unshapen mask (41% default)
Crop (if needed) and resize

----Extra things I might do depending on the shot---

Extra sharpening on the eye(s) only with sharpening tool
Lasso the subject and add just a pinch more saturation
Darken the background slightly with the dodge tool to make the subject pop!

That's about it.

Maestro

Number three is the DA BOMB! Number 1 is very good as well. It has that stoic perch quality that raptors have. Number 2 has a great pose but just looks a tad OOF, not a deal-breaker though. You took advantage of some excellent opportunities.

Mark Edell

Thanks Stella, Glenn and Stephen