THE IMMATURE BALD EAGLE - A STUDY IN PICTURES

I have not had the good fortune to photograph an immature bald eagle with good success, ever.  That all changed today.  At least, I've done my best with it.  I adjusted the camera and lens for minimum ISO and the lowest shutter speed I could use without suffering shake.  The goal was to be able to crop the shots later with minimal picture distortion.  I am satisfied with the results, at least on my computer.  This was difficult as I was on the water and the slightest wave would "rock the boat" and ruin the shot.  I had to press the shutter between "boat rocks," so to speak.  I would guess this eagle to be between two and three years old with another two or two and a half years to go before he is awarded his white head, neck and tail feathers.  He is a large eagle and I have not previously seen him in the area I was working in today.  I will not comment much throughout this presentation of photos.  There are a lot of pictures.  I hope you enjoy them.  It's rare to be able to collect shots of an immature - at least it has been so for me over the years.

   

The boat is turning sideways and the eagle is being back lighted by the sky now.  This is exactly what I didn't want to happen.  I had to adjust the camera brightness setting down a third stop.

I'm hoping these shots crop decently.  Even now, as I upload them, I can't tell what the finished images will look like posted on the blog.  Its too much work to remove them if they aren't satisfactory, re-size them and re post them.  Fingers crossed.

I'm posting these early in the day as the satellite is used less by the world.  Now, however, a storm is brewing and clouds can ruin the effort.  I gotta move fast.

All of these shots are crystal clear at their "as taken" sizes.  Cropped sometimes leaves a lot to be desired.  The clouds are moving over the satellite dish and I suspect problems uploading shortly.

That's enough.  I'm happy with these shots.  This eagle is mine forever now.  I can pull up these shots and remember the moment of our meeting.  I hope you weren't bored with so many pictures of this bird.  As I stated before - this is the first opportunity I've had to get shots of an immature bald eagle up until now.  I can't explain it but that's how the cards were dealt me.  I wish I could use a tripod effectively on a boat but, it just doesn't work.  If I could hook this camera and lens outfit onto a tripod I could really get some fabulous shots.  There is too much movement in a boat for that to work.  These shots were taken resting the camera and lens on the seat of the boat.  The lens itself is about 4 pounds so you have an idea what I have to hold on a subject free-hand.  That's it for today, I think.  I can't wait to see these shots myself.  We'll be going to the flood plain on the French Broad River soon with a blind and a "tripod" for some on land photography.  It ought to be fun.  See you then.