Repost: Bald Eagle with Fish

Gallery: AvianPosted January 19, 2014144 views12 comments

After a morning of snowshoeing, I ventured to Wabasha, Minnesota, to watch dozens of bald eagles fish in the Mississippi River. After I watched this raptor snatch his lunch from the water, it flew almost overhead to find a safe place to dine on its prey.

Please feel free to comment and critique.

Location: Mississippi River, Wabasha, Minnesota, USA

Date and Time: January 19, 2014, at 13:28

Equipment: Pentax K-5, Pentax DA* 300mm f4

Exposure: 1/3000s, f/6.7, iso 400

Crop: Since the lens is only 300mm, more than 50% of the image was cropped.

Post processing in Lightroom 5: Basic adjustments. Dodged the shadowed areas of the fish and talon.

Comments

12 comments

Comment posted by Matthew Studebaker on January 19, 2014 at 10:30 PM

nice wing position and large fish. I always prefer sky that is not solid blue but I'm sure you couldn't control that.

Registered on December 21, 2013, 11 Posts, 82 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on January 19, 2014 at 10:44 PM

Nice flight position and the fish in talons is great, too. Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Mark Jenkins on January 20, 2014 at 6:46 AM

I like the wing position and there is good detail even with the crop. Nice one.

Registered on April 20, 2008, 307 Posts, 604 Comments

Comment posted by John Neukirch on January 20, 2014 at 1:08 PM

A cool image and you maintained pretty decent sharpness at such a severe crop. Nice wing position!

Registered on July 9, 2012, 207 Posts, 1476 Comments

Comment posted by Barb Pflaum on January 20, 2014 at 1:50 PM

I like the position of the wings and the fish in the talons. Very nicely done, Randy!

Registered on January 14, 2009, 316 Posts, 2724 Comments

Comment posted by Chet Dowell on January 20, 2014 at 2:56 PM

I really like this image, Randy. A wonderful action capture, beautiful subject and marvelous detail.

Chet

Registered on December 3, 2012, 237 Posts, 1171 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 20, 2014 at 8:12 PM

Sweet light pose, Randy. I like the wing position and eye contact and the image looks sharp. It does look almost a bit hazy though on my monitor-not sure why.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by SandyRichardsBrown on January 21, 2014 at 12:47 AM

Nice pose and wing-spread from this fellow. Great fish too.
Fine detail, although it does seem a bit "hazy" -

Sandy

Registered on November 24, 2003, 3937 Posts, 12909 Comments

Comment posted by Randy Runtsch on January 21, 2014 at 5:11 AM

Thank you for the kindhearted remarks, everyone. I will return to Wabasha this Saturday with my wife and parents, and hope that the eagles will exhibit their fishing skills once more. Dozens of swans winter at the site, too.

The left wing of the original image does show a hazy look. The tonal curve has been adjusted to attempt to sharpen the look in this new version.

Registered on October 30, 2013, 50 Posts, 445 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on January 21, 2014 at 11:56 AM

Wonderful flight pose with the wings up plus the eye contact and fish really add to the image.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on January 22, 2014 at 10:51 PM

The increased contrast in the repost is a nice improvement here Randy, great to get him with this large fish. The crop shows a little bit.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Randy Runtsch on January 23, 2014 at 6:43 AM

Thank you for the new comments, Jim and Nate.

Registered on October 30, 2013, 50 Posts, 445 Comments