The baby eagle and I waited for two and a half hours for mom and dad to show up with something to eat. I gave up and returned home with this photo of Jr Eagle alone in the nest. As I watched and waited for mom and dad to return, I began to wonder if they just got tired of feeding him and waiting for this big guy to leave the nest and when he did not, they decided to leave the nest to him and struck off to find their own retirment home. I can think of some humans I know who should do this.

This was the best photo I got.

I forgot to bring my tripod. I had my monopod but this photo was taken hand held with me laying flat on my back. I got less shake that way. I used my 500 mm mirror lens f/8, ISO 1600, 1/1000 of a second. I pushed the picture one f stop to get the dark bird, otherwise the camera would have used 1/2000. I have included two images from the same shot. The first is a small section from the center of the total frame using the RAW image. The original frame was taken with the camera held at a 45 degree angle, simply because this was the most comfortable way to hold the camera and minimize shake. I cropped and straightened the portion I wanted in PhotoShop. The full image is the full JPG image as converted by the camera.

I was about 450 feet from the nest. At this distance I found the lens very hard to focus. The slightest movement caused the focus to move off the Eagle. Because the lens always at f/8 and I was looking at a small object as seen thru a100 view finder.

I twisted myself on the ground into a posistion where the camera was supported by my cheek bone. My head was on the ground and shake was minamal. I decided I would shot it this way and crop it and streighten later in PhotoShop.

I found myself wishing for a brighter, longer lens and a brighter view finder.

Dave