Screamin' Eagle (c)

EDIT: Forgot to mention below that the blue background is not an over-processed sky but is the shadowed interior of a raptor shelter in the background.

I thought I might as well continue my recent trend of a few images from the Alberta Birds of Prey Centre in Coaldale, AB.

This juvenile bald eagle was photographed in the late-afternoon this past September. Admitedly, I'd have liked a little less intense light, but we were waiting to get some of our favourite owl species in the better light and I had to point my lens at SOMETHING!

I noticed this guy getting really intense every time some (free) ravens flew over, so I laid down in the grass and just waited. Sure enough, a couple minutes later, they flew by again and he called out, giving me this intense pose.

I liked the results of my HDR experiment on the Ferruginous Hawk portrait I posted earlier enough to try it again here, and am quite pleased by the results. By way of explanation, I processed three different exposure variants from the original RAW file, then used my settings in PhotoShop's HDR Pro for more natural, realistic tones. I then blended (via masks) the resulting file with a median conversion from the RAW wherever I felt there was a little too much HDR effect. I also attempted to pull down the yellows a little, though they are pretty intense in the original RAW capture as well.

And for those of you who weren't too excited about my OOF shoulder/wing on the Ferruginous portrait, this one's nice and sharp for ya.

Thanks for looking...I'm anxious to hear how you think this one works!

Nikon D7000
Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4 IF-ED
ISO 400
1/640sec @ f/5
full frame