Catch of the Day
My first visit to Conowingo Dam in Maryland. When they open parts of the dam, the eagles come in to feed.
My first visit to Conowingo Dam in Maryland. When they open parts of the dam, the eagles come in to feed.
Read less
Read less
Nov, 2015Views
376
Likes
Awards
Fall Award 2020
Outstanding Creativity
Top Choice
Absolute Masterpiece
Superb Composition
Peer Award
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
Top Ranks
Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
Top 20 rank
Top 30 rank week 1Categories
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Discover more photos See all
Behind The Lens
Location
The Conowingo Dam is a large hydroelectric dam in the lower Susquehanna River near the town of Conowingo, Maryland. It is known to be a place where the Bald Eagles are world famous. where we can often see up to 100 eagles in a day. It is an awesome place to watch eagles fish, call, and perch within easy photo taking distance. Amazing to see the eagles compete for the fish, often trying to steal the fish from other birds. Watching them dive and capture the fish, amazing!Time
We get to the dam early, by 7-8 am, as there are many photographers who get some of the prime areas. We usually stay for 4-6 hours, watching and photographing the action. Bringing coffee and a snack is also a good thing. There are porta pottys there, so that is not a problem. There are some picnic tables, but we bring our own chairs. It is cold, as the best time to go is end of October through the beginning of January, Bald Eagles are the most plentiful. Best to dress in layers with really warm clothing, hats/gloves, boots. Standing in the cold for hours, it can be very chilly.Lighting
Daylighting is the natural light. Sometimes they are over the water, fishing or stealing fish from other eagles. Sometimes when they catch a fish, they land in the trees behind all the photographers.Equipment
I used a Nikon D750 camera with a Tamron 150-600 lens. Best to use a fast shutter, 1/3200 for this image and an ISO of 640. I always have a walk stool to sit on, in case we aren't near one of the picnic tables.Inspiration
It was exciting to see so many eagles in one location. Some fishing, some fighting, some stealing fish from the other eagles. Being able to capture one with a fish was just awesome. I was so happy with many of my images from that trip. This was definitely my favorite.Editing
I use Adobe Camera Raw & photoshop. I just did basic post processing, a bit of contrast and sharpening.In my camera bag
I always take 2 cameras, I had the Nikon D750 and the Nikon D700. I did have the Tamron 150-600 on the D750 camera, and a Nikon 28-300 lens on the D700. I always have lens cleaners, lipstick and some tylenol & bandaids, just in case.Feedback
Practicing taking images of birds in flight is something that I still do. It isn't always easy to capture this, with the eagles it is a bit easier because they are large birds. Using a fast shutter speed is also important to capture the bird in flight. I have been using auto ISO since the lighting conditions can change from daylight to shade. Using a tripod with a gimbal head is very helpful for photographing birds in flight.
