My Bald Eagle!

[Roy Stuart]

Taken with a Canon 1dMk2 and a 100-400mm F4.5-5.6 IS lens on the shores of the Columbia River near Yakima, Washington.

[Vivek Khanzode]

Good shot, but very harsh lighting...

-- V

[Cem_Usakligil]

Hi Roy,

This is an impressive image and shows the eagle in its full glory. But I agree with Vivek that the contrast is way too high, possibly due to the time of the day.

I am sure you can play with it in Photoshop to make it a bit less contrasty. I took the liberty of playing with it for a few minutes just to see if it can be done.

[Asher Kelman]

Hi Roy,

I love that 100-400 Canon lens. It seems so useful. Nikolai Sklobovski has covered a number of air shows and Civil War re-enactments with that lens. It appears so versatile. For all that can be said for it's reach, I love to see the birds with more of it's world. So here' I'd prefer to have a further extent of the rocks and the water below to show it's position above everything else. You have shown that, but I think it can be stronger.

I'd reduce the shadow over the left side of the eagle's head. The eyes of the eagle need to be shown well. After all, besides the patriotic aspect of the American Bald Eagle and it's majestic wingspan, the eagle's eye represents (as for the owl and the hawk) much of the hunting nature of this noble creature.

Thanks for sharing. I wish I was there too!

Asher

[Don Cohen]

Hi Roy,

Thanks for posting, and I agree with the other's comments about the harsh light. If this was shot in Raw format, you might be able to salvage some of the detail in the white feathers, along with judicious use of shadows/highlights in photoshop.