# Eagles and Seagulls



## Aloicious

Was out birding again today, got some pretty decent Bald eagles, and a couple of yelling seagulls. These are several of the ones out of those I've been able to sort through so far. 

1- Juvenile and Adult






2- Pfft...showoff...





3- Juvenile takeoff





4 - Another Juvenile






5- Adult





6 - Adult spotting a fish





7 - A couple of yelling Seagulls, with an eagle 





all these were 300+1.7x TC @ f8 1/1000 ~100-300ISO. it was a pretty good trip.


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## NancyMoranG

Those are absolutely fabulous! They jump off the page with clarity. You are giving a few people here a run for their $$ with those shots. 
For us dreamers, give us some specs on what you used and how....
excellent, thanks...
Nancy


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## Aloicious

Thanks Nancy, I used a D800 with a 300mm f2.8 and a 1.7X Teleconverter (for approx 520mm focal length), I stopped down to f8, and shot at 1/1000s, I used manual mode but with auto ISO, the ISO ended up around 100-300 for most of these shots. I was at a waterfoul management area where alot of eagles winter at, I think they estimated 50 of them were there this year, this spot I was at had probably 5-6 adult eagles and 1-2 juveniles, there was even a northern harrier, and like 25 seagulls and a few other species, but I'm still combing through all my images.


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## MSnowy

Nice set. #2 is the best of the set for me.The expression on face of the one on the ground is great


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## coastalconn

Fantastic shots!  Blows my eagles away.  They are all great.  I really like the 2 shots of the Juvi's (#3 and 4).


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## ceeboy14

Very-very-very nice!


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## bc_steve

Nice pictures!!

I have been thinking of getting a teleconverter and you make a pretty convincing case to invest in one!  I love how sharp those pics are


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## Radical

Wow! Great shots


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## matthewo

very nice photos.  looks as if you found a good spot.

i found a spot but the only way to get close enough to where i saw a dozen juvi eagles was by kayak or boat


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## baturn

Very nice! All of them! But am most impressed with #6 as I have always wanted a head on BIF of an eagle. Well done!


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## Aloicious

bc_steve said:


> Nice pictures!!
> 
> I have been thinking of getting a teleconverter and you make a pretty convincing case to invest in one!  I love how sharp those pics are



Thanks everyone...

Steve, yeah the TC's are helpful, but beware that they don't work too well on alot of lenses. for example, my 1.7x TC is good on my 300 2.8, but not so much on my 70-200 2.8....I only have the 1.7x converter, and I'm really only satisfied with the results with using it on the 300, I hear the 1.4x is a bit better on a wider range of lenses since you only lose 1 stop of light rather than 1.5 stops and there are less elements to reduce IQ in it, but I don't have one, so I can't really comment. I want to try a tc20e III, its supposed to be the best 2x teleconverter out there, but I don't have the extra cash to drop on it, and I'd lose even more light than with my 1.7x...perhaps one day

it was pretty crowded there with other photographers (being president's day and all), but it was fun to meet and talk with some other people interested in wildlife photography in person. I met a real nice guy with a 600 f4 on a wimberly head who let me check it out and get a feel for the wimberly since I've been thinking about getting one, I talked to him for a good while about improving my shots and stuff and he gave me some good pointers. it was kindof funny, he had a D700 with the 600f4 on a wimberly head and carbon fiber gitzo tripod, while his friend that was with him was trying to take pictures with his iphone through a spotting scope. heh


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## Aloicious

Here's a few more I just finished up from the trip...

8 - here's another head on shot for baturn:





9 -DIVE! DIVE!





10 - Eagle 5, you are cleared for landing, lowering landing gear:





11 - these 2 are 100% crops, but they turned out fairly well.





12 - So the eagles would soar in and land in the snow, but then they'd walk around in the snow, it was very comical to watch, mainly because they're SO graceful and majestic in flight or perched, but they're almost clumsy when walking, they kindof waddle around, it reminds me of how Charlie Chaplin would walk with his oversized shoes and cane.


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## O'Rork

Excellent set. 7 FTW.


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## runnah

I feel like one of these should be nominated for the photo of the month but I am not sure which one.


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## ratssass

Man..............every single one are beautiful!!!I really like #2 from this set,but not a single one that makes me go "meh".


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## ratssass

runnah said:


> I feel like one of these should be nominated for the photo of the month but I am not sure which one.



really!!!which one???lol


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## Aloicious

Thanks guys, this was by far my most successful birding venture as far as IQ goes, it was in the morning with the sun up, so I was able to keep my ISO really low, last time I was out I had to push it up to 3200 which decreased the IQ quite a bit


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## TreeB

Just Beautiful!!!!!!!!! Would Love an area that I could go to like that. So When can I come visit?


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## sm4him

*Wowie Kazowie!!!  *:shock:  :hail:

Incredible. Stunning. Gorgeous. Bee-U-T-FUL!!

That does it, though. I am NOT posting my most recent Eagle shots. They suddenly look like they were taken with a point-and-shoot compared to yours and coastalconn's recent shots. :lmao:


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## Aloicious

Thanks Sharon, don't deprive us of your images though!


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## Mully

I think #2 is a real winner, the whole set is wonderful, great capture


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## Aloicious

heh, thanks Mully, yeah #2 is funny, you can just see the standing eagle is NOT impressed with his friend's attempts to show off.


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## ratssass

#2 from the 2nd set.............now I remember......Judas Priest-Screamin' For Vengeance


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## Aloicious

ratssass said:


> #2 from the 2nd set.............now I remember......Judas Priest-Screamin' For Vengeance



haha...totally! I knew I liked that one for a reason....


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## whosnut

Those are great shots. I especially like the flight shots. Their eyes and eyebrow ridges (do eagles have eyebrows?) make them look intense!


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## paul100

I was wondering about tele converters and possible loss of quality.  No issue in these shots! Fabulous


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## Aloicious

paul100 said:


> I was wondering about tele converters and possible loss of quality.  No issue in these shots! Fabulous



Thanks! its also worth noting that the teleconverter I use did require a little AF fine tune correction, not much, but enough to make a good difference.


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## Benco

Excellent, they're all simply...er...excellent. What more can one say?


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## Aloicious

Thanks! I think I'm going to try a re-edit of #9 and remove that gull in the foreground when I get home.


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## Aloicious

Okay, so I got a chance to re-edit the diving shot (#9) which was one of my favorites of the series, except for that gull in the foreground. just removed the gull, slightly different aspect ratio crop, and I boosed the saturation a little bit, what do you think of the new version?

re-edited:





first edit:


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## cwcaesar

I like the edit.  Maybe a little more room could be left on the right, but that is just me.  I think it they all look fabulous!!


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