General eagle photo comment

[Allan]

I am so jealous!!!

All of these wonderful eagle shots make me want to pack up and move to eagle country. We will have some here but I will be lucky to see as many in the season as some of you shot in a day.

 

[Flew]

Come on down to Guntersville or even Conowingo Allan. We'd love to have you. :smile:

 

[Allan]

I would love to, but travel is out for this year. Too many expenses. The one thing I wish people would post here is exposure information. I know I would shoot eagles with the sun at my back on a clear day at -2/3, but I would like to see what exposure and what compensation others are using. I ask that as I will have limited chances to get good shots this year and .....

Another question I have is how much esposure compensation people are making in pp. I know, ideally, none, but ....

Something like 1/1000 at f8 -2/3 in camera, needed to do another -1 in pp.

 

[The chemist]

I would love to, but travel is out for this year. Too many expenses. The one thing I wish people would post here is exposure information. I know I would shoot eagles with the sun at my back on a clear day at -2/3, but I would like to see what exposure and what compensation others are using. I ask that as I will have limited chances to get good shots this year and .....

Another question I have is how much esposure compensation people are making in pp. I know, ideally, none, but ....

Something like 1/1000 at f8 -2/3 in camera, needed to do another -1 in pp.

I wouldnt mind seeing the same thing allan:biggrin: Its hard to come by eagles in my area:biggrin: Sure am enjoying the shots though!

 

[Flew]

I can tell you what I do. I always shoot in Manual exposure mode. I generally set my aperture to f8 (unless the light is really bad) and the shutter to 1/640 in lower light levels and as high as 1/1250 in very bright conditions. I then adjust the ISO setting to get the exposure right with the sun at my back. I use the histogram and take a series of test shots until I get everything just right, then wait for the Eagles to appear. With the D200, I generally try to get the sky at about 120 to 140, depending on the conditions. This results in the Eagle's white parts being about 1/6 to 1/3 stops under exposed, which I find works best with the D200. My ISO settings tend to be around 250 or 320, but can go as low as 200 and as high as 400.

Hope this helps. :smile:

 

[aman17]

One question

What lenses are we using and are TC 's being used.Magnificent shots.
arnie--aman17

 

[Flew]

What lenses are we using and are TC 's being used.Magnificent shots.
arnie--aman17

Arnie,

A variety of combinations work well. In general, I would include the Nikon 300 f4 and f2.8, the Sigma 120-300 f2.8, the Nikon 400 2.8, the Nikon 500 f4, and the Sigma 500 f4.5. Many folks also include the 1.4, 1.7, and/or 2.0 TC's.

Personally, I have used the 300 2.8 with the 1.4, 1.7, and 2.0 TC's, and the 400 2.8 with the 1.4 and 1.7 TC's with excellent results.

Here is an example with the 300 2.8 + 2.0 TC:

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And one with the 400 2.8 + 1.4 TC:

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[Safariguy]

I'm quite envious too! Then are these all full frame?

 

[Flew]

I'm quite envious too! Then are these all full frame?

Jeff,

No, they are pretty heavy crops. I have to set up so that the female coming straight in with wings spread will fit the frame. Any other shots where I don't get full wingspread are thus not full frame, so I crop for composition. Here's one of her that is only very slightly cropped for composition. Taken with the 400 2.8 + 1.4 TC.

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[Allan]

I can tell you what I do. I always shoot in Manual exposure mode. I generally set my aperture to f8 (unless the light is really bad) and the shutter to 1/640 in lower light levels and as high as 1/1250 in very bright conditions. I then adjust the ISO setting to get the exposure right with the sun at my back. I use the histogram and take a series of test shots until I get everything just right, then wait for the Eagles to appear. With the D200, I generally try to get the sky at about 120 to 140, depending on the conditions. This results in the Eagle's white parts being about 1/6 to 1/3 stops under exposed, which I find works best with the D200. My ISO settings tend to be around 250 or 320, but can go as low as 200 and as high as 400.

Hope this helps. :smile:

Yes it does. You are a RR fan. I have read his methods but have not used them much. So blue sky is around 140. What what you say a cloudy sky is?

If the eagle was backlit, do you add ec - how much in general?

 

[Flew]

Yes it does. You are a RR fan. I have read his methods but have not used them much. So blue sky is around 140. What what you say a cloudy sky is?

If the eagle was backlit, do you add ec - how much in general?

Allan,

The blue sky is not typically 140, it is typically between 160 and 190. As I pointed out though, when shooting Eagles, their white heads are very difficult to hold without overexposure, so I underexpose by between 1/6 and 1/3 stops. If I get it right, the Eagle head/tail peak EV value will be between 235 and 245, and I don't add any EV comp in PP (some gamma using the Curves applet, usually between 1.08 and 1.18, depending on the lighting conditions). Of course, I don't always get it just right, so I adjust accordingly.

With regard to cloudy skies or back lit subjects, I struggle like most everyone else. For back lit, I try to use fill flash to bring out the subject details whenever possible. Depending on exactly how cloudy it is, I might set my exposure so that the sky is as high as 190 or even 220 for white clouds. You can get away with these settings because there isn't any direct sunlight on the subject.

 

[Lou Buscher]

I am so jealous!!!

All of these wonderful eagle shots make me want to pack up and move to eagle country. We will have some here but I will be lucky to see as many in the season as some of you shot in a day.

Hi Allen, looking for eagles are you??? Well go on my home page and look for the link to the American Bald eagle Info by Hope Rutledge. After you get it open look for the link where to fid eagles and I bet you may find some pretty close to you
Lou
www.loubuscher.com

 

[Toklat]

Arnie,


Here is an example with the 300 2.8 + 2.0 TC:

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And one with the 400 2.8 + 1.4 TC:

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Beautiful shots Frank!!

 

[aman17]

Hi Frank,Man I'm so envious of you.Fantastic job on those shots.My hats off to you.Thanks for the info.
arnie

 

[Flew]

Hi Frank,Man I'm so envious of you.Fantastic job on those shots.My hats off to you.Thanks for the info.
arnie

You are certainly welcome. Now go out and get some Eagle shots. :smile: