My First Bald Eagle Shots

jonh68

These are my first bald eagle pictures. It has been a Holy Grail of mine ever since i took up photography about a year ago. They have been making a strong comeback in lower Alabama and I feel great that I was able to take picture of one in my back yard so to speak. They will not make any magazine cover, but they are special to me nonetheless. I spotted it on the way back in to the dock on a fishing trip. It was a great way to end a great fishing trip.







Here's some pics from the fishing trip.










That's my brother with a nice speckled trout and I do have dust on my sensor, just too lazy to do any photoshop on it:D

ShepsMom

Good job on catching that eagle! I know we have them around here, but i'm yet to spot one. Love last 3 images as well. Thank you for sharing!

jonh68

ShepsMom wrote:

Good job on catching that eagle! I know we have them around here, but i'm yet to spot one. Love last 3 images as well. Thank you for sharing!

Thank you! For disclosure purposes, the trout was let go to spawn another day. We have started to keep the runt legal males and let go the big females. We practice CPR on the big females: Catch, Picture, and Release.

Harryb

Congrats, eagles are always a thrill. Good set of shots.

Osprey Whisperer

Congrats on the first eagle shot. You're an eagle virgin no more. Seems like one never has long enough glass for these amazing birds.

Maestro

Congrats on the eagle, but I hate to tell you this. It will now become an obsession! More eagles, then eventually you will just move to more raptors in general. You have been warned.

jonh68

Oh, I have already caught the raptor bug. I drive down the road looking for hawks on telephone poles and I have come to learn the sound of an osprey when I go fishing. Now I need the glass to get closer!

I have a Hawk on a mouse kill, an osprey on a fish dive and capture, now I want an eagle on a hunt. The above two were by accident so maybe I can luck up again. Always prepared :ivar

Bird Man, I hope to take osprey shots like yours.

PhotoHound

Oh what a feeling
That first capture is such a thrill , I will always remember mine. It does become adicting though, so be prepared for that!

Telecorder

Yup...!

PhotoHound wrote:

That first capture is such a thrill , I will always remember mine. It does become adicting though, so be prepared for that!

Amen to that! Eagles in the wild were the reason for my first digi purchase -- Pany FZ5 superzoom - to get images of the mating pair of BE in the local area.

I finally spied what appeared to be one in a distant perch...


Set up the tripod and my FZ5 w/ an Oly TCON-17 and snapped away... Only after down loading and zooming in did I realize there was another BE in the tree just to the right of this first image -- severely cropped (Tail Feathers barely visible in upper right of image)...


I later got what could have been a great image but for the distance to the subject...:cry


Now that I have my Bigma + D50, I'm getting closer to my original desire...


and have learned that subject distance with good glass means all the world...


Moral -- Beware Raptor urges - they are like Lens Lust... never enough

jonh68

Tele,

Is that the Sigma 50-500mm? I am really debating on a 70-200 VR or a longer lens like the Bigma. I need a fast lens for sports at night, but I just recently bought a speedlight that I can use for soccer, football, and basketball.

Telecorder

jonh68 wrote:

Tele,
Is that the Sigma 50-500mm? I am really debating on a 70-200 VR or a longer lens like the Bigma.

Yep, Bigma = Sigma 50-500mm f/4 - f/6.3. As I got more into long range BIF & Raptors, I realized that my Pany FZ5 and then the FZ30 were good for their price point out to 420mm but the allure of a dSLR with much better IQ, AF speed, low noise etc were what I needed.

With my limited budget, I did a lot of due diligence and realized that, to get better IQ than my FZ30, I'd have to look at:
300 f/4 + TC
Tamron 200-500 Di
Bigma

I was lucky to get a used non-DG Bigma off eBay for $510 and haven't looked back

If long range glass for distant daytime wildlife is desired, the above three lenses are good for their price point but I'd venture not the best for night time opportunities.

I recently went to China for 9-days and, while my 18-70 DX was great, a 18-200 VR would have been ideal.

John68 wrote:

I need a fast lens for sports at night, but I just recently bought a speedlight that I can use for soccer, football, and basketball.

The Bigma is a daylight lens w/ its f/6.3 on the long end. Unless you're at a pro stadium with new lighting, I'm afraid the Bigma would be too slow and you'd probably wouldn't get into the stadium w/o press credentials due to its size.

For daytime, outdoor sports and distant wildlife, the Bigma is a great lens. I have no experience with the 70-200 VR but for sports at night, I'd say a fast, f/2.8 stabilized system would be needed. Keep in mind that the SB600/SB800 is only effective out to maybe 120' and may not be allowed indoors. Others have commented a 85 f/1.8 is a good basketball lens indoors.