Bald eagle in British Columbia

double_entendre

Wife and I were in BC for our anniversary and got to get out and see some wildlife. (If I could figure out how to retire there, I'd be gone in a heartbeat.)

Captured these couple bald eagle shots and I'm mostly happy with them. The thing I seem to struggle with at the moment is cropping. How constrained by traditional print sizes do you all tend to be? I'd love some thoughts on that topic.

C&C in general welcome, especially with regard to crop (I have a lot of room as this was caught with a 300mm f4 from a distance) and tone/contrast/lighting.

Thank you for looking and offering feedback.

pathfinder

In your first image, I think you might be able to lose the left 1/4 of the frame and the top 1/5 as well, maybe 1/10th off the bottom

I prefer the first image, and the second image makes me want to see what happens in the next second - it looks like the eagle is just about to loft.

I share your affection for British Columbia. I love Yukon Territory also. I saw far more wildlife in Canada than in Alaska.

double_entendre

@pathfinder said:
In your first image, I think you might be able to lose the left 1/4 of the frame and the top 1/5 as well, maybe 1/10th off the bottom

I prefer the first image, and the second image makes me want to see what happens in the next second - it looks like the eagle is just about to loft.

I share your affection for British Columbia. I love Yukon Territory also. I saw far more wildlife in Canada than in Alaska.

I'll crop when I get in front of my computer again and see how it goes.

On the second, I'll have to check, but my recollection is that we were in a small inflatable that was pitching about, so my shots to keepers ratio was pretty low. lol

pathfinder

I've shot from inflatables with long glass before too, and I know how much fun that can be at times if there is any wave action about. I do get the feeling something very interesting is just about to happen in your second image just the same.

double_entendre

@pathfinder , here's a cropped version to about what you suggested. Definitely a tighter crop, but I like it. Maybe a bit tight at the top? I like the texture of the rock, even though the eagle is the focal point. Hmmmmm.

Ignorant question: According to PSE, the photo is about 8.5 x 6.1 inches. If I wanted to print this to something larger. Say 8x10ish for discussion purposes, is there anything I can do that would make it look good besides cropping less? Probably a finishing school question, I imagine, eh?

Thank you very much for taking the time to comment and critique. Really appreciate it. Wish I had had the the 200-500 I bought last week with me at the time, though realistically, given the swells, probably it wouldn't have helped. Hah.

Tony Britton

Congratulations on your anniversary. I've been happily married for 36 years! The color, contrast, lighting and detail are fantastic in your photos of this intensely beautiful bird. I especially like the second image. Very well done.

Tony
https://tonybritton.smugmug.com/

double_entendre

@Tony Britton said:
Congratulations on your anniversary. I've been happily married for 36 years! The color, contrast, lighting and detail are fantastic in your photos of this intensely beautiful bird. I especially like the second image. Very well done.

Tony
https://tonybritton.smugmug.com/

Thank you so much for both the comments on the pics and our anniversary! Just hit the big two-oh here and she still keeps me around. I’m very lucky.

I have a few pinniped pics to post from the same trip, but need to do some editing still. Your California sea lions shot was inspiring.

Stumblebum

Good shots!

pathfinder

@double_entendre said:
@pathfinder , here's a cropped version to about what you suggested. Definitely a tighter crop, but I like it. Maybe a bit tight at the top? I like the texture of the rock, even though the eagle is the focal point. Hmmmmm.

Ignorant question: According to PSE, the photo is about 8.5 x 6.1 inches. If I wanted to print this to something larger. Say 8x10ish for discussion purposes, is there anything I can do that would make it look good besides cropping less? Probably a finishing school question, I imagine, eh?

Thank you very much for taking the time to comment and critique. Really appreciate it. Wish I had had the the 200-500 I bought last week with me at the time, though realistically, given the swells, probably it wouldn't have helped. Hah.

The simplest thing would just crop your earlier image at 4x5/8x10 - the image you have at 6.1 x 8.5 is very close to a 4x5 aspect ratio anyway and just a bit more room on the top and bottom won't hurt at all.

When printed from Lightroom, you can alter the white borders of the image as needed, or can print borderless with some printers also. 4x5 aspect ratio is widely available in frames, mats, etc