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No not that one, a wedge tail eagle After this shot which was the closest that I could get I watched through my binoculars when two of them cooperated in a kill. Thrilling stuff.

Nice capture Also a very nice looking bird.

I have always had difficulty with shadows which accounts for most of the bird against a bright sky. Please tell... Did you have to do much processing to get the shadow detail? If so, what did you do? Any tricks to the exposure?

Regards

Andrew

Andy you are right about the shadows and I had to bring out a little detail in PS otherwise the underside of the eagle would have been too dark. I shot in aperture priority and trusted that the the shutter speed would be enough to freeze the birds flight, which luckily it was.

Thanks

Superb John. Terrific detail and sharpness. Was thgis with your trusty 80-400mm? (Or have you since sold that off?) How close was the eagle - close enough for a Better Beamer/Flash Extender to light up the underwing areas? 60m or so would probably be the maximum.

Hi Simon yup the 80-400 at it's limit (just a slight crop), don't think the BB would have been much use at that range and in any case I didn't really have the time. Those birds are sure aware of humans.

Very nice shot John, one that I would be more than happy with.

Yep - fair point about the BB set-up time John. I find it's either on or off; not something you can quickly scramble for when a fleeting opportunity presents itself. Still, you proven here that you didn't need it anyway!

must of flew pasted while having coffee then ........ good shot john......

Great shot John,

they don't really hang around when they see two legged animals around

Very nice framing as well.

cheers,

André

Hi John. Lovely shot to add to previous comments. A question ... Is the 80-400 working better with the D3?

It worked fine with the D2X - define better.

The key thing with bird images I have experienced is lock on and ISO. I always seem to get a potentially good image in failing light so I imagine that the D3 with its higher ISO potential (and noise control) would help in obtaining useable images with the 80-400 much more often. Also, I noticed a big improvement from the D70 to D200 with the 80-400, so I am supposing that there would be a noticeable increase in obtaining a focus lock with the D3 from the D2x. Continuous focus would be important for flight images. Better might be quantifiable in these two cases.

Lovely image John. The 80-400 (and your talent) shines again. Well i should imagine your chest and arms wouold have expanded quite a bit after lugging around the big D3 80-400 combo Actually truth be known i'm just jealous:) How do you find it after a few weeks with it especially relative to the D2X which was not light weight in ALL respects?
cheers
marco

Thanks Marco, it is quite a heavy combo, but I am built close to the ground and fairly stocky. I certainly cannot hold it up to my eye for extended periods, but then again, for the sort of work I do it is not necessary.

Awsome bird

Great shot mate

Cheers cobby