Eagle Cowlick

Jerry: Welcome to NPN and thank you for posting in the Avian Critique Gallery. Always great to get a Bald Eagle in the Viewfinder. It looks like you were able to get a nice sharp image. Posting your technical details (ISO, shutter speed, aperture, focal length) can help with the critique process. The angle you had to shoot at was pretty steep. The large branch on the top of the frame dominates the overall image for me. Too bad it had to be so big. Looks like your images have a fairly large white border (especially evident in the larger version). That reduces the size and amount of detail available for your viewers. I don't know if the sky was really that blue, but it feels a bit over saturated. I hope to see more of your work. Nice start to your participation on NPN.

The angle was indeed sharp. The eagle was sitting at the top of a tall cottonwood tree. I did not change the saturation, so the sky is pretty accurate. Here are the image details. Also, I agree with you about the border. In the future, no border.

Canon 7D
Canon 100-400 mm IS lens
Aperture: F5.6
Shutter Speed: 1/1250
Focal Length: 400 mm
ISO: 200

Welcome to NPN, Jerry! A good start—the eagle is in good detail, with a nice over the shoulder look. The heavy top branch really subtracts from the image, but sometimes you gotta take what the bird gives you. Good job on the whites!

I like his expression with the messy hairdo! I think if you cropped a little bit off the big branch on top it might balance a little better.

Welcome Jerry. I agree with everything Keith said.