Decades ago, I worked on Don Henley’s house, the founder of the Eagles. This is not about that, but rather about the bird, the American icon, the trash scrounger, and pretty bird; the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), the white headed sea hawk see Wikipedia on eagles.
Although eagles are found in all of the continental states, they are not always near where we might live unless you have to live in Seattle. Eagles are fishers, needing open bodies of water with plentiful fish, they are also scavengers and thieves trying to steal fish and offal from others.
Eagles fighting over over food
To photograph eagles it helps to have a long lens or be extremely lucky. For the most part, eagles tend to be skittish of people getting to close. I use a 100-400, or if I have time the 500mm lens. If you you have a crop factor camera, so much the better for extending your reach. Usually even with a long lens there is quite a bit of cropping required (see original of the photo below). This means that there have to be enough pixels to crop, and it means that the image quality needs to be pretty good; in focus, no motion blur (usually). You can’t do it with a cell phone or a point and shoot, unless you have that over abundance of luck.
The other thing it takes is patience, something that I do not have an over abundance of. Unlike the Lord of the Rings, the eagles do not appear on cue. So, it means carrying around the right equipment (which is heavy), having it ready for the possibility of an eagle.
Cooperative Eagle
Cooperative Eagle
This photo is one such. We were driving along a river in Wallowa-Whitman when I spotted the bright white head across the river. I hollered at my cousin to pull over, but startled him instead, and by the time I got the words out of my mouth we were past the eagle. It was three miles before we could turn around and come back, and the eagle was still there.
The opening photo from Homer, Alaska I had to stand still for 20 minutes waiting for the eagle to take off to get that shot. Hunched over a tripod watching of the right second (is is less than a second) is an exercise for the back muscles and the patience.
Often you will see the eagles flying, and will have to pan to get a decent shot.
Soaring Eagle
This shot highlights (bad pun) another problem when trying to get birds in flight; the high contrast between the bird and the sky. If you have the opportunity, using a better beamer on a flash will help to bring out some of the shadow detail that is lost. This is a non eagle….
Blue bird with Better Beamer flash fill
Note the eyes, without the flash the eyes would not have shown up like this.
To see more eagle photos see my gallery.