Eagle in a Tree

I thought the tree worked well with the eagle. I just pointed and shot. My brother and myself were at the Sequim game farm and for two fifty plus year olds, we had a blast. We saw alot of four year olds, but they were in their mom and dads lap with big smiles while 'mommy and daddy' were feeding the bears. Hard to say who had the most fun out of it all. Maybe me and bro, acting like four year olds where it wont do any harm to anyone else. :)

Cliff - I have found photographing bald eagles to be quite challenging so I am in no position to criticize your shot. That being said, I assume it's here to be criticized, so this is what I see in it: The background is completely lacking (not unusual around here given the angle, but still somewhat distracting). The bird's head gets lost in the clouds. The details in the eagle are hard to pick out because it is a little small for the image - cropping to get the eagle to occupy at least a third of the frame might help with the details - but it would be a pretty severe crop and I don't know what equipment you used.

The focus is good and the exposure seems fairly close - even with that horrible background (again - nothing against the photographer - you work with what you get). Glad you had fun.

I really like the composition here Cliff and wouldn't change a thing in that regard. I would agree with Thomas about the background, but as we all know some things are out of our control. Nonetheless nice capture of a simply awesome bird.

Cliff - keep going for the birds , they actually are quite a bit of fun to image and they can be extremely challenging.

As Thomas mentioned, the background wasn't working in your favor and the angle is a bit too extreme. I don't mind seeing a subject small in the image as long as the image as a whole is representative of the habitat the subject lives in - environmental bird shots can be as interesting or more so than the closeups. This is pretty representative of an eagle in its habitat, but the other things mentioned didn't work in your favor.

Bird photography is an exercise in patience, something I've learned over the years.

We were both, me and my brother, complaining that it was just a 'static' shot. I appreciate the comments! And i have to keep remembering to state camera and equipment. 20d on this one for crop factor, 70-200 2.8 with 2x, at f/5.6

Really great but that background keeps it from being exceptional for me..... still beautiful to see these graceful animals in the wild!

I've got to agree with Thomas's critique. That was a well thought out and written response.

I've really struggled with photographing raptors when they are at this angle. I've never been really happy with the look "up into" the bird. I think this shot would have worked great if it could have been more straight on (and a little tighter).

I agree Cliff, the eagle in the dead tree works very well, but as noted IMO, the two things hurting are the sky and the angle. I am not usually a fan of "butt shots." preferring an angle more with the viewer on the same plain with the subject. I shouldn't complain as all the eagle shots I have (and none are keepers,) are at this lower angle. I need to either drive up north of Seattle to their wintering grounds to increase the number of eagles/chances, or find an overlook in my area that looks down on a perch or nest site.

One thing you might try here is to eliminate the color cast. The image might pop a little more. Taking photos of eagles isn't easy because they are almost always above you. If you can get more of a head profile, the image would be better.