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Behind The Lens
Location
This was taken in the Upper Mississippi Wildlife Refuge. The refuge runs for quite aways along the Mississippi River and I will go to areas along the Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin sides of the refuge. I spend a lot of time in this area during the end of winter through spring. It was just starting to have the ice thaw and the eagles will gather to grab the fish that were frozen in the ice over the winter. These two were just a few of around a dozen bald eagles that had found a rather large fish.Time
It was morning toward the end of the Golden hours.Lighting
Nothing special, it was in the morning so I had a nice color temperature. One of the things about shooting bird successful I feel is having plenty of sunlight. Clouds can help set a mood, I just like how birds look when its sunny.Equipment
Nikon D500 and a Tamron 150-600mm lensInspiration
This whole area inspires me! With any photo there is a lot of prep and work that goes into it. You do have to have a certain element of luck, that being said its amazing how much luckier your get when your out working an area on a regular basis. You have to be where opportunity can present itself.Editing
I shoot in raw, and I kind of have a process I go through. I use Lightroom for file management, but I do all the editing in photoshop many just because of old habits I guess. A camera can only do so much so when I shoot something I then come back and edit things in away to bring back what I am seeing in my mind.In my camera bag
I carry a Nikon D500, D750, and 2 D7200 all with battery grips. Tamron SP AF 10-24mm F/3.5-4.5 Di II LD, Tamron SP 24-70mm f/2.8 Di VC USD, Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 DI USD, Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens, Tokina 100mm f/2.8 AT-X M100 AF Pro D, Nikon 50mm f/1.8G AF-S NIKKOR Lens, Nikon 180mm f/2.8D ED-IF AF NIKKOR. I aslo carry 8 100X150 ND filters for Landscapes.Feedback
Get out and shoot! The only way you're going to get great shots is to go after them. I work in the same area that I have seen animals Some days I see a lot some days I don't see anything. The key is to put yourself into the situation to get the shot. It also has been kind of a cause of mine lately. I teach a course and I am absolutely shocked by how many people don't know the basics of photography. They labor under the misconception that cameras and better cameras make the photographer. It's knowing what your shutter speed and aperture do, and that knowledge of how they work will do wonders for your photography. Photography is an art form, and a knowledge of composition and how people look at photography is a must. We live in a world saturated with photos. What we need to come up with is a way to get people to stop and take a longer look.