ErikT

Eagle

Bird of prey

Bird of prey
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NIKON D750

settings

Aperture f/6 ISO 200 Shutter 1/400 Focal Length 3800/10

upload_date

Jul, 2018

Views

328

Likes

+11

Awards

Top Shot Award

Contest Finalist in Majestic Eagles Photo Contest

Peer Award

Magnificent Capture

Behind The Lens

Location

This photo was taken during a visit to a local airshow. There was an exhibition of birds of prey as a side-activity, and the eagle was one of the birds present.

Time

Since it was quite a windy day, not many airplanes would take off during the airshow. Around noon, I decided to have a look at the birds in the exhibition. They had just been fed, and a volunteer was showing the birds and giving out information about each animal to the passers-by. Since most people where having lunch, it was a great opportunity to shoot the birds without a large crowd around.

Lighting

As already said, it was a windy day with a grey sky. The advantage was an evenly lit environment with no sunspots or dark shades. The bird was sitting low at the ground, in a sandy environment. So the overall color tone of the image would be brownish with a white accent of the eagle's head.

Equipment

This was shot using a Nikon D750 Full Frame camera with a Tamron 150-600 lens I just bought. So it was the first time shooting with this lens. No flash, no tripod involved.

Inspiration

One of the advantages of a large focal lenght is the nice bokeh in the background, and I wanted to try this on the animals. So I was looking for a background that had some structure, but not too much. The color of the eagle matched quite nicely with the color of the sandy background.

Editing

The final image was cropped to filter out some unwanted blurry objects (some green tree branches) in the background, and to align the eagle's eye to the rule-of-thirds. Furthermore, I pumped up the shadows a little to see more of the darker feather structure of the bird.

In my camera bag

The Nikon D750 is the main body I use. And for this event I took with me the Tamron 150-600 to shoot the planes in the air, and to capture some close-up images of the bird. Depending on the event, I also use the standard kit lens, a Sigma 105mm macro lens, and the Nikon 50mm 1.8 prime. For landscapes and architectural shoots, there's also the Irix 11mm wide angle lens in the bag.

Feedback

When shooting birds, use a zoom lens to have some close-up images with a nice bokeh in the background. A trip/monopod could be handy when going out in the woods, but since the birds on the exhibition couldn't fly away, shooting handheld was a valid option in this setting. Another advantage of the zoomlens is that you can get a nice shot without disturbing the bird with your proximity.

See more amazing photos, follow ErikT

ErikT

ErikT

Eagle

Bird of prey

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow ErikT

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