Two more Bald Eagles

Both pics shot with a Nikon D300 with a Nikkor 200-400mm, F4 Ed, IF, Vr lens .
Got to the Wetlands at dawn as usual only to find the Eagles near by as expected.

all shot in Raw 12 bit, ISO 400, F4.5, 400mm , shutter 1/2000


1. Adult Male, all of his colors are in.



2. this one is still immature..notice tail is not fully white and there are still white marking on his back and wings

Hi Eric

What a delight it must be for you to have the opportunity to photograph these majestic birds, they're both wonderful shots, but the first one is my preference, pin sharp, wonderful warm early morning light catching his feathers and the tree stump, the pose, everything about it - wonderful.

I spend a lot of time in the northern highlands of Scotland and have seen Golden Eagles on many occasions and Sea Eagles a few times, but always sailing about high in the sky, I've never managed to see one close enough to photograph, how I would love to get shots like these, thanks for showing them to us.

Hi Eric

nice shots! like them all… However the 1st one seems to have some halo in the sky around the guy…

Thanks for sharing!

Nicolas Claris said:

Hi Eric

nice shots! like them all… However the 1st one seems to have some halo in the sky around the guy…

Thanks for sharing!

Click to expand...

Thanks...I have been looking hard at the photo and i dont see the halo your speaking of. More info please?

Eric Diller said:

Thanks...I have been looking hard at the photo and i dont see the halo your speaking of. More info please?

Click to expand...

Hi Eric

Below is a version where I did exagerate what I see, maybe it's just my eyes or maybe due to my very precise new monitor Nec Spectraview 3090 ;-)


Copy of original for comments only - original don't show that much halo…-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Original

Nicolas Claris said:

However the 1st one seems to have some halo in the sky around the guy…

Click to expand...

Since you mentioned this I'be been staring at the screen, specs on/off/on/off, funny thing is I can see it with my glasses off (unusual for me) if I stare at the screen long enough, not sure if it's just a phenomena of staring at the screen too long. You're making me think I need to go for another eye test LOL!

janet Smith said:

Since you mentioned this I'be been staring at the screen, specs on/off/on/off, funny thing is I can see it with my glasses off (unusual for me) if I stare at the screen long enough, not sure if it's just a phenomena of staring at the screen too long. You're making me think I need to go for another eye test LOL!

Click to expand...

I have looked hard myself and don't see any halo. Went and printed the photo out to a 8 x 10 at Costco and it looks even better than online. You sure your eyes aren't [laying tricks on you? I have looked on 5 other monitors as well and all looks good.

There is definitely a "halo" just like Nicolas has described. Open the image and use "Equalize" it or posterize to around 8 levels and then you'll see it clearly.

Did you perhaps apply LCE to the image, that could be the culprit.

Hi,

They're both great images - but I can also see the slight halo (not that I find it distracting mind).

Don't know what you use to process, but I've noticed that in Lightroom 'clarity' and 'fill light' can both sometimes cause this. I guess that underneath the hood they are both a form of LCE as Cem suggests (well clarity certainly).

Cheers,

I to see the slight halo. I'm very sensitive to it as I have found myself creating it in some of my eagle pix into a bright blue sky when using the shadow/highlight tool in CS 3. I really like both of these captures.
D