Old Man Eagle

[BCrose]

This reminded me of a wise old man

[Donald]

Wonderfully sharp with the blur in the background just right. Well done.

[Mike Buckley]

A wise old man, indeed. Great capture!

[RockNGoalStar]

He looks like he is hatching a masterplan to take over the world! Love it!

[Bobobird]

Hmmm eagles sit in trees and do things like other birds. Hmmmmm

Judging from all the pics I have ever seen thought all they did was stand in trees or fly....

Well caught.

[Nancy Moran G]

You're killin'' me, 1st the swans, now the eagle, so crystal clear!!!
Bravo on 2 excellent photos. Something to aspire to, but I just wonder what setting et al you used to help me learn.
Merry Christmas to all,
Nancy

[BCrose]

You're killin'' me, 1st the swans, now the eagle, so crystal clear!!!
Bravo on 2 excellent photos. Something to aspire to, but I just wonder what setting et al you used to help me learn.
Merry Christmas to all,
Nancy

Glad to share. I have a pretty standard set-up that I use for almost every bird shot. I don't like to be changing settings a lot while the action is happening fast.

I use Aperture priority. Usually at f/5.6 or f/4. Sometime I use f/2.8 when shooting stationary subjects. Very difficult to nail focus at f/2.8 for Birds in Flight.

Having a high shutter speed is essential for this type of photography so I use a little trick to ensure my shutter speed never goes below 1/1600s . To do this I use Auto ISO...(Don't shudder) ...and set it so that the minimum shutter speed is 1/1600. When the shutter speed tries to drop below that speed the Auto ISO kicks in an maintains the speed by increasing as required. Often times I am shooting at 1/2500 or greater with this set up. On my D4 I set the max ISO to 3200 which is totally acceptable IF the exposure is correct and you don't start increasing/decreasing exposure in post.

The great thing about auto ISO and Aperture priority is that it increases in non-conventional increments. For example the image above is ISO 450. This also applies to shutter speeds, they will increase in small steps and not full stops so you really get a fine tuned exposure with little effort.

I use Continuous focus...set to Dynamic with 21 focus points I think, maybe 9...and spot metering. Matrix metering does not work for me. Tried it and just don't get the exposures on the subject I want. I am not that worried if the background is not correctly exposed, but I want my subject to be spot on.

And of course set to rapid fire 10 fps and hope that I get a good capture from short 3 to 5 frame bursts. One thing that high speed cameras like this excel at is the frame rate but most people that own them usually never fire 20 shots in 2 seconds...it is more like little short bursts of 3 or 4 frames, but the key is that you are getting those 5 frames instantly so you capture what you are trying to capture. If you abuse this feature you will just be sitting there looking at hundreds of similar images and in my opinion a waste of time.

So my D4 is basically a point and shoot

Sorry for going on so long...as you can tell I am passionate about this

[rpcrowe]

Great shot of my favorite bird. Probably the only thing that I disagree with Benjamin Franklin thoughts, is that he wanted the wild turkey as our national bird rather than the bald eagle...

[AndyB1975]

Another amazing shot. I am starting to dislike you Monte (only out of jealousy) your bird photography is just brilliant!

[jamn4ex]

well I feel like I may never point my camera at another bird again..... Just kidding ,But now I see many possibilitiesThanks for sharing such a unique pose and terrific shot .... and the recipe

[jprzybyla]

Great capture Monte. Eagles are so majestic, there are several in the marsh I mainly shoot at but most times they are roosting in the middle. Way too far for a detailed shot. You and I basically shoot the same way. I use that set up on the D7000. I differ from you in that for stationary birds I use a slower shutter speed. For birds in flight I switch to either shutter priority or manual which I have set to 1/2000. Shutter priority shoots at f5.6 and manual uses f8. I also shoot in bursts of 3 or 4 frames.

[BCrose]

Great capture Monte. Eagles are so majestic, there are several in the marsh I mainly shoot at but most times they are roosting in the middle. Way too far for a detailed shot. You and I basically shoot the same way. I use that set up on the D7000. I differ from you in that for stationary birds I use a slower shutter speed. For birds in flight I switch to either shutter priority or manual which I have set to 1/2000. Shutter priority shoots at f5.6 and manual uses f8. I also shoot in bursts of 3 or 4 frames.

What is great about these new generation camera's like yours is the high ISO capability allowing us to get these fast shutter speeds. Canon and Nikon alike. A huge leap forward in technology for us birders. Most people think that the high ISO mostly helps the wedding photog in low light situations but we have a great usage of it as well.

[terrib]

Monte, I have had a chance to comment on all your photos but they are all excellent and I'm glad you have joined us. Thank you for sharing your shooting methods. I have the same philosophy on AV and spot metering but you've reminded me to check the capability of my Canon 7D to see what parameters I can set for minimum shutter speeds or maximum ISO. I was unable to do that on my Canon XSi but have not checked the new 7D.

Thanks again for sharing your wonderful photos. They are truly inspiring!

[BCrose]

Monte, I have had a chance to comment on all your photos but they are all excellent and I'm glad you have joined us. Thank you for sharing your shooting methods. I have the same philosophy on AV and spot metering but you've reminded me to check the capability of my Canon 7D to see what parameters I can set for minimum shutter speeds or maximum ISO. I was unable to do that on my Canon XSi but have not checked the new 7D.

Thanks again for sharing your wonderful photos. They are truly inspiring!

Thanks. And you have a great camera there with the 7D. It is by far the best in it's class with the incredible 8 fps in this price range. I shoot with a friend that has one and he keeps up to me and the D4 in most instances, being a DX it has some drawbacks but also the advantage of the crop factor. ISO is fantastic on this camera as well. I would not fear 3200 if exposed properly or even a bit to the right. ISO degradation really begins to show when you try to bring out the shadows in post. Or tone down the highlights. A correct exposure on your subject is essential to take advantage of using higher ISO values.