Shot RAW through a fence from about 35' away. I got lucky as he look right down the barrel of my lens. The f/2.8 negated the need to eliminate the fence in PP. WB & saturation adjusted in RSE6 then converted to jpg. Then cropped, curves, resized, BG cleaned a bit, USM & SFW in PSCS. I love this lens!
Post Challenge.....Thanks for all those 1s, 2s & 3s. For those who didn't see it, there is a light in the upper left off screen between two cages coming from behid the eagle's right shoulder. You're right American Horse, I shouldn't have wasted this shot here.
PS....for those who saw the light, thanks for all those 8s, 9s &10s.
Statistics
Place: 37 out of 238 Avg (all users): 6.2460 Avg (commenters): 6.2632 Avg (participants): 5.4225 Avg (non-participants): 6.5691 Views since voting: 1401 Views during voting: 412 Votes: 252 Comments: 24 Favorites: 3 (view)
This is a fantastic eagle image with great details. The composition is strong with a crop that shows the image to it's fullest. It is technically very well done. The DOF highlights the bird, yet allows the details of the bird to be clearly in focus. The attention is immediately on the beak and eyes of the bird, which is supported by the clear focus and bright color.
The difficulty in taking this image to the top level is the perception of the voters that the single light source was not artificial. There is clearly a light source over the eagle's shoulder, resulting in the bright patch on the head, the catchlight in the eye and the glow over the eagle's back. Yet, most likely because eagles are generally in natural lighting, a number of voters doubted the source as artificial. In a situation like this, the photographer is at a great disadvantage if he does not clearly show his light source is artificial. Yet, the fact that this image scored so high indicates many gave you the benefit of the doubt.
Overall: Wonderful pic, strong appeal, technically superb, without a definative meeting of the challenge which hurt it some.
This is a GREAT eagle shot. Very hard to get 'em looking right at you. Is it really lit by a "single, artificial light source"? It looks like natural lighting to me. (Unless this a great shot of a stuffed bird in a museum). I apologize in advance for lower vote if I am wrong about the lighting.
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