In the Field

Feathers & Flight. Columbia Valley Wetlands, BC, Canada. April 5, 2008

I give seminars on bird photography on a fairly frequent basis. During the seminars I tell the participants that there are two things to focus on (pun intended) when photographing birds - the exquisite detail of the feathers and the beauty of flight. However, it's rare that you can capture BOTH in a single image. To date, this is my best effort.

Looking at this image brings a few comments to mind. First, I was only able to capture the feather detail and subtle hues on the back of this eagle because of the ambient lighting. I'm fond of breaking rules, and one of the most common rules of bird photography is to avoid top-lighting (and back-lighting). This image was shot with the sun almost directly above the eagle (and slightly behind it). In this case, however, I was ABOVE the eagle and shooting down on it. Thus, instead of producing a silhouette, this top-lighting gave me the feather detail (and colour) I was hoping for. Take-home lesson: pay attention both to the angle of the sun on your subject and YOUR position relative to that subject (rather than just characterizing the subject as "top-lit" or "back-lit"). And, don't get in the habit of thinking that all photos of birds (or any wildlife) that are shot in direct sunlight always have to be front-lit (there's a certain high profile bird photographer who argues that in direct sunlight you should almost always use front-lighting).

A final comment - I shot this image with the "wrong" camera! I had spent the bulk of this day shooting with my D3 and had "programmed my mind" for the dynamic range of the D3 set at ISO 800 (which is the ISO that was best suited for the particular conditions on this day). But when I shot this eagle I was using my D300 (set at ISO 400). The D3 at ISO 800 has almost a full stop more of dynamic range than the D300 at ISO 400. "So what?" you say. Well, in this case it means that I ended up over-exposing the highlights on the eagle's tail by about one third of a stop beyond that which I could retrieve using my current favourite raw converter (Phase One's Capture One). So...blown out whites on the tail of the bird! Damn! Oh well...that's the price you sometimes pay for shooting with multiple cameras.

Behind the Camera

Feathers & Flight. Columbia Valley Wetlands, BC, Canada. April 5, 2008

Digital Capture; Compressed RAW (NEF) 12-bit format; ISO 400.

Nikon D300 with Nikon 300mm f/2.8G ED-IF AF-S VR lens (450 mm full-frame equivalent) - handheld. VR turned to "On" and in "Normal" mode.

1/800s @ f5; -1.3 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Feathers & Flight. Columbia Valley Wetlands, BC, Canada. April 5, 2008

RAW Conversion to 16 bit TIFF, including first-pass/capture sharpening, exposure compensation, and highlight adjustment using Phase One's Capture One 4. Multiple RAW conversions (2 at different exposure settings) in this case in a not-so-successful attempt to retrieve highlight detail on top side of eagle's tail (see below).

Further digital correction on 16-bit TIFF file using Adobe's Photoshop CS3. Photoshop adjustments included compositing and masking of two exposure versions (at -0.17 stop for entire image and -0.4 stop for top of tail). Other Photoshop adjustments included selective curves adjustment, selective saturation enhancement and selective sharpening for web output.

Conservation

Feathers & Flight. Columbia Valley Wetlands, BC, Canada. April 5, 2008

Ten percent of the revenue generated by this image will be donated to Wildsight.

Species Status in Canada*: This species is not designated as at risk. The Bald Eagle was listed as "Endangered" in the contiguous US states from 1967 to 1995. In 1995 it was downlisted to "Threatened". On June 28, 2007 Bald Eagles were removed from the list of endangered and threatened species - a true American conservation success story.

The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is a very large bird of prey with broad wings. Adults possess characteristic white ("bald") heads. It takes Bald Eagles a full five years to attain their characteristic adult plumage (including their nearly pure white head and tail). In the years prior to the development of their adult plumage they are easy to confuse with Golden Eagles. Being very broad-winged Bald Eagles are able to use an energy-efficient flapping-soaring style of flight. While many people like to think of the Bald Eagle as a fierce hunter, in reality they hunt only as a last resort. More commonly they scavenge for their prey. Additionally, they often klepto-parasitize other weaker species such as Osprey, commonly stealing the other species hard-earned prey items. The Bald Eagle is, of course, the national emblem of the United States (Benjamin Franklin argued against this - his preference was for the Wild Turkey).

This Bald Eagle was photographed in the Columbia Valley of the East Kootenays. While Bald Eagles are currently not under the threat of extinction, they do, of course, require suitable breeding habitat to continue to thrive. Many ecosystems - including Bald Eagle breeding areas - within the Columbia Valley face development pressure, including pressure from both logging operations and human population growth. Wildsight is an effective conservation organization that protects biodiversity and promotes sustainable communities in Canada's Columbia and Rocky Mountains. Support for Wildsight, through donation or becoming a member, will help ensure that they remain effective in their efforts to conserve threatened or endangered species and ecosystems.

*as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada