# Shooting a Heron when, this guy comes out of no-where



## matthewo (Feb 16, 2014)

Well actually I knew he was around,  It was sitting at-top a large metal power pole, where I have seen this one before before.  This was the first time he came down and grabbed a fish in front of me, I was lucky enough to catch him out of the corner of my eye and start shooting him.  the un-fortunate thing was the background, as well as, I was shooting at F10 for the stationary heron and that didn't help anything as far as the already ugly background.  I still am very grateful to have a photo of an eagle fishing, as i have been waiting a while to get a photo like this.

there was a lot of heron and egret activity as usual, but this really topped the day for me this time.

1)







2)the grab.





3)





4)


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## Nevermore1 (Feb 16, 2014)

Great pics!


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## tirediron (Feb 16, 2014)

A bad day to be a fish!


Outstanding!


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## EIngerson (Feb 16, 2014)

matthewo said:


> 4)



GREAT SERIES!!!!  I nominated this photo for the "TPF Photo of the Month" for February.


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## coastalconn (Feb 16, 2014)

OK, Matt, I did like you, but this is despicable!  How dare you pull off the best Eagle shot I have ever seen.  The nerve of you!  Clearly you have a defective D7100, I think you should return it immediately and pick up a D40.  (It is KR's favorite camera after all).    Fantastic Series


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## limr (Feb 16, 2014)

Wow, really stunning!


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## baturn (Feb 16, 2014)

WOW! Just WOW!


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## rodbender (Feb 17, 2014)

Holy Awesomeness


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## mmaria (Feb 17, 2014)

yeah.... wow!!!


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## Woodsman (Feb 17, 2014)

Headon ... amazing shot


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## Braineack (Feb 17, 2014)

EIngerson said:


> matthewo said:
> 
> 
> > 4)
> ...



IF you didn't do it, I was going to.


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## weepete (Feb 17, 2014)

Great shots!


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## sm4him (Feb 17, 2014)

Stunning, really.
I thought you weren't supposed to have TIME for this stuff anymore--I was hoping your skills would get rusty and I could gain some ground on you. 
Just kidding! I'll never gain any ground on you and Kris anyway, might as well enjoy seeing what you produce!

I got to see more eagles at one time than I've ever seen in my life this weekend. About 16 of them, 4 adults and the rest juveniles at one of the nearby dams.  I got a few pictures, even a few of them fishing, but they look like they were taken by a monkey with a Kodak Instamatic compared to these.


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## cmhbob (Feb 17, 2014)

Ebpt...duh...buh...thppt...herpderp....BIRD!

I was driving to church  Sunday morning a week ago, and saw what I thought was a buzzard landing on the side of the road. Then I thought, "I've never seen a buzzard with a white head before." As I got closer, I thought, "Wow. That looks a lot like a bald eagle, but this is Muskogee, and we're basically in town. I can't imagine....EAGLE! OMG! THAT'S A BALD EAGLE." I stopped the car in the middle of the road and grabbed my phone. But by the time I got the filthy window down, all I saw was tail feathers.

Amazing series!


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## PixelRabbit (Feb 17, 2014)

EIngerson said:


> matthewo said:
> 
> 
> > 4)
> ...



I was totally going to do this!!
Just WOW!! LOVE LOVE LOVE this one!!! It is quite reminiscent of Kris's Osprey


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## RichieT (Feb 17, 2014)

Unbelievable!!! Great shots!!!!


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## BillM (Feb 17, 2014)

Well I was going out to take a few pictures but now I think I'll just sit here and look at your's. Thanks for raising the bar even higher, it's so high now I can't even see it lol


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## bribrius (Feb 17, 2014)

BillM said:


> Well I was going out to take a few pictures but now I think I'll just sit here and look at your's. Thanks for raising the bar even higher, it's so high now I can't even see it lol


That's the thing about being on here. you see amazing shots like this and then you start stressing out trying to figure out why you cant do that. LOL


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## EOV (Feb 17, 2014)

Quite outstanding series! I like the the eagle is so confident they it doesn't even look down when it it grabbing the fish. Color me impressed on these shots. Kudos.


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## paigew (Feb 17, 2014)

okay those are totally amazing photos! Good job!!


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## TJNY (Feb 17, 2014)

Well, the crop is.......nah!  Great pics!!!   :hail:


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## astroNikon (Feb 17, 2014)

amazing  :thumbup:


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## lambertpix (Feb 17, 2014)

Those are all fantastic (obviously), but that last one is just flat jaw-dropping.  Absolutely stunning series!


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## matthewo (Feb 17, 2014)

Thanks everyone. I want to reply to more comments, but im kind of busy right now.  Hopefully tonight i will post


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## matthewo (Feb 17, 2014)

Ok, im back.  Thank you all for the support and comments.

I did notice the eagle didn't even look down in the photo with both the talons in the water,  maybe it does it more by feel or maybe already had the fish.  I missed the shots before it.  I did have a couple more but the background was even worse.

I feel I have put my time in here, usually full 8 hour days at this location.  obviously I would shoot herons and egrets and hope for eagle activity.  I have been maybe 15-20 times and really enjoy going.  Now that I have seen this eagle do a similar thing on 2 separate times in the mid morning hour, maybe next time I will try to set myself for a better background.

And I have been shooting less, and I guess just putting in a full day on the weekend allowed for some good opportunity.  still have a lot of egret and heron fishing photos to post


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## AlanKlein (Feb 17, 2014)

Great eagle shot.  Also the heron shot is terrif.  All nice.


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## manicmike (Feb 17, 2014)

Eh, they're ok.











But seriously, this is probably the best work of yours I've seen. Outstanding.


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## kathyt (Feb 17, 2014)

These are awesome. Great job. Wow. Are you sure that Eagle isn't mounted?


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## randyphotoforum (Feb 18, 2014)

I came back to say: great shots buddy


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## yahgiggle (Feb 18, 2014)

Lucky Son Of B%#$ Just awesome buddy :-D


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## Warhorse (Feb 18, 2014)

I'm left speechless...


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## HughGuessWho (Feb 18, 2014)

All I can say is, Amazing. Can't say that I have ever seen a better capture.


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## sk66 (Feb 18, 2014)

Really nice "in your face" shot!
IMO, it's worth some extra time in PS... It's pretty rare to get this angle/closeness.


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## ronlane (Feb 18, 2014)

Wow, very nice capture.


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## Bossy (Feb 18, 2014)

Absolutely stunning!


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## JacaRanda (Feb 18, 2014)

DAYUMNNNNNNN!!!!!


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## matthewo (Feb 18, 2014)

thanks again,  you guys maybe right.  I never would have thought the crop would have been so popular, I really liked the photo but with the background in a full size image it was somewhat distracting.  

I think I will go back and edit it again and spend a little more time.

I put it on my facebook page and just checked today, and to my amazement the photo had 106 shares, and the sequence of 4 photos I put up had over 6000 views, holy cow, im not kris rowe, so this is all new for me LOL


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## Flare (Feb 18, 2014)

Very nice shots. Great shooting, love them all. Nice job.


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## LarryLomona (Feb 18, 2014)

Very nicely done, awesome.


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## MichaelLee (Feb 18, 2014)

Wao Awesome Work (Y)


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## runnah (Feb 18, 2014)

Is no one going to address him shooting heroin? Please seek help.

Awesome pics.


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## yioties (Feb 18, 2014)

Those are just stupid good shots! I'm lucky if I see a sparrow here!


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## wackii (Feb 20, 2014)

Fish is underexposed :mrgreen:  J/K  Great shots :thumbup:


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## coastalconn (Feb 20, 2014)

matthewo said:


> I put it on my facebook page and just checked today, and to my amazement the photo had 106 shares, and the sequence of 4 photos I put up had over 6000 views, holy cow, im not kris rowe, so this is all new for me LOL


LOL, shots like that are better than Kris Rowe has (so far)


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## fotofinish (Mar 1, 2014)

Just great shots.


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## bc_steve (Mar 1, 2014)

Amazing!


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## sweetapollo (Mar 2, 2014)

These are fantastic. Also like the cropped shot best. Well done!


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## Patrickktown (Mar 2, 2014)

Incredible shots! Well done.


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## RawRusty (Mar 2, 2014)

Awesome. Proof again the photographer's best friend= patience.  Congratulations!   RR.


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## Civchic (Mar 3, 2014)

I'm a nobody when it comes to this stuff, but it's not often when I scroll down and actually *gasp* when I see a photo.  That cropped shot is incredible.


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## Rags (Mar 3, 2014)

Whoa! That's the best Eagle I have ever seen... Fantastic capture..
 and well resolved

Excellent

All that said... what do you have for us next week?......

Rags


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## Jacaranda_wifey (Mar 3, 2014)

Fantastic pictures!!! #4 is outstanding!  Beautifully captured !


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## matthewo (Mar 3, 2014)

Thanks everyone, that photo has had such a great response as well on Facebook.

I feel lucky to have gotten this shot, but now the standards are high and doubt i will be able to top it. Lol


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## Amocholes (Mar 4, 2014)

What background?  These are great!


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## wyogirl (Mar 4, 2014)

one word.... WOW.


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## grafxman (Mar 4, 2014)

That last photo belongs on the cover of Audubon Magazine.


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