White-tailed Eagle on finals

[Gerald Kelberg]

I managed to escape the daily 'humdrum' last September for a few days with an all too brief visit to Lauvsnes in Norway. It is a beautiful location in the fjords and the White-tailed Eagles were present and pleased to accept our offerings of fish. But the light was, at best, was dull and heavily overcast.

I was trying to get the right balance between shutter speed and ISO, and this was one of the better outcomes. Shot with the Sony A9II and the EF 100-400 at 400mm. Shutter speed was 1/2000 sec at f/6.3, ISO 2500.

Post production adjustments in Lightroom. For noise reduction I tried both LrC and Photo AI, the better result being this one with Photo AI.

Your comments and suggestions are warmly welcomed.

 

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Gerald, it's good fun isn't it?

In some respects shooting with a smaller zoom is good, no arm ache, as I bet within minutes that 200-600 would be tiring you out quickly, plus trying to keep a good balance in that skiff is tough.

Overall I like the framing, slight tilted wings and talons ready to be deployed, but I would lose the blue in the subject and bring a bit more warmth/stauration in, not a huge amount but in September they are still colourful. Did you open the underneath of the wings, looks a bit thin/light. In Lr if you choose, you could get a bit more depth, tonal range and oomph just to add a bit more punch to the capture.

Overall a cool frame, and if I'm right, did you have a sack of dog biscuits on board, yes/no would be fine.

Looking forward to more.

TFS
Steve

 

[Gerald Kelberg]

Hi Steve,

Yes, to the dog biscuits and any number of Gulls, all with the name "Charlie"!

The 200-600 used on the first day was good, but I found I was shooting mostly between 300 and 400mm, so switched to the lighter lens.

I have lightened the underside to get some detail, but I'm not 100% happy. The light was very poor and the underwing shadows dark. Agreed, a little out of the blues on the subject helps.

Thanks and best wishes,

Gerald

 

[Steve Kaluski]

I have lightened the underside to get some detail, but I'm not 100% happy. The light was very poor and the underwing shadows dark. Agreed, a little out of the blues on the subject helps.

Yes I think it might be worth revisiting if you have the time, and at ISO2500 minimal NR, but if you lifted the file then you need to factor that in. I might be tempted to leave as shot, but without seeing the file, it's only guessing. If you were shooting with those techs the light to me might be OK, if you were shooting ISO6400 plus then you might have been chasing the light.

Still a nice capture just my take Gerald, I trust you kept off the Dog Biscuits and yes, all Gulls are Charlies.

There was a WTSE called Brutus, a real head case, loved to come a bit TOO close!

 

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hey Gerald .. must be nice to get these options shooting the majestic eagle up close in action .
Very nice overall capture with the talons ready to be push forward and the look of the subject to the potential bait .
Nice wing stretch ...
The water looks good , as does the Eagle for the most part . I just think there is too much of blue color in the underwings .
Easy fix ... if you wish to do

Cool shot and TFS Andreas