Fish-Dish

Amazing detail in the fish head, especially considering this is in shadow. Your nature shots possess a consistency in their excellence and I admire your tenacity. Congratulations...

Very impressive just as your whole portfolio is. ~Will

Very accurate exposure in all details. A photo with a story. I think the dark blue fits this shot its Provia blue.

Excellent scene with some strong colors and dramatic lines. The eagle's head and especially his eye are just so vividly sharp which really makes this one work for me. I too have enjoyed many of your images over the last couple of years.

 

One suggestion here: Tech details say you were able to take this at f/5.6 with a shutter speed of 500. Why not give up some of that shutter speed for a smaller aperture, and gain a little more depth here? This way the other half of the fish and the eagle's talons would also be a little sharper? In my opinion that softer portion of the image takes away just a bit from the quality of this overall.

 

Except for that issue, this is a really nice capture and quite interesting to look at.

Great capture! Nothing more need be said, except congrats!

Vincent I can only assume that Harry never tried a smaller aperture to get better depth of field because he would have more than likely lost overall sharpness in the photo. With a 500mm lens it's pretty tough to get tack sharp shots like this without decent shutterspeeds.

1/250 sec @ f/8 would probably have been plenty fast enough for this shot. But, it's tough sometimes to pick the optimal aperture (at the moment, in the field). f/5.6 would generally be fine for a more distant shot of a single subject, but for a closeup like this a bit more DOF would help. Nice dramatic pose though. -Greg-

It was'nt easy for me to make a choice about the blue on top, but I decide to let it in becouse I did like it more that way.

@Christopher Appoldt. The slight halo is caused by using the shadow/highlight in PS. I did and do it more often on purpose because I like it that way.

@Patrick. Thanks for explaning to Ben that the MF 28 is'nt a lens, but a multi functional back for the F5.

@David Roossien. You are right about that piece of the sky. Would have been nicer with that part a little more darkened up.

@Bill Tate. Never thought about the piece of the eagles tail that way, but you are right, would have been better to clone that small piece out.

@Vincent K Tylor, @Clint Dunn, @Greg S. The camera and lens were on a sturdy tripod, so it would'nt heve been a problem to go to F8.0 with shutterspeed of 1/250th, but the thing is, I never thought about doing so by the time I made this and some more shots of this feeding eagle.

After looking at it now, I should have done so, but also gives me a good excuse to go back to Alaska and try it all over again :)

Thanks again for all the helpfull comments. Best regards, Harry

Awesome shot. I took some of the contrast out of the pic to soften the blue. I find it shows more detail of the feathers & other darker areas but at the same time takes away from the focus of the ferocious expression you've captured so well. Congrads on a such great piece of work!

Harry,

We've had past discussions on your eagle photos and as you may remember I'm just a few miles down the road from Jean and her eagles. She remembers you from your visit and passes along her best to you.

 

I look forward to her begining her work with these wonderful birds again this winter and the opportunity to return to her compound. Maybe one of these days I'll run into you there as well.

 

Great photo and congratulations on POW.

 

Jim

With the eagle flying and perhaps attacking, I can easily see why the 500 shutter speed would be needed here. However, once this big bird sat down to begin to actually eat his prized dish, as he is doing here, I believe the photographer could then have safely chosen to stop down some and take advantage of the extra depth needed to get more of the subject in focus. The eagle's talons and the other half of the fish are somewhat difficult to distinguish at first glance. It looks just a bit too soft down there. I do believe the image overall would be stronger with that lower portion of the shot as sharp as the head. I also agree with Greg that f/8 and 250 shutter would probably have been plenty fast to maintain sharpness, and, would have delivered all of the depth needed as well to deliver a near perfect capture. I know Harry uses the same camera I use, the Nikon F-5. Adjusting that aperture is perhaps one of the easier things you can do. Just rotate a knob with your thumb to the aperture (or shutter speed) desired. If you choose to change your f-stop, the camera of course automatically adjusts the shutter speed accordingly as well. Anytime I shoot wildlife with a longer lens, depth of field is of course is always a concern. So, anytime there is an opportunity to gain some added depth then, I try to jump on that as soon as possible. This is still a great capture however, even as is. Though there is a measure of room, I believe, for improvement. Although I can honestly add that if I had something like this in my viewfinder, I'd probably end up dropping my camera altogether. So getting the settings just right is obviously easier to say than do...

I must have cross-posted with you Harry. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. This is how we all learn. Like i said, I probably would have dropped my camera from excitement after witnessing all of this. Guess you have to go back again. Poor guy. Aloha!

This is one of the few shots of wildlife in photo.net that I really like. Scary photo, congratulations on the pow and thanks....

Must have been about the eagle getting the fish out of the water at Katchemak Bay. Hopefully everything is well with Jean and please give her a big hug from me next time you're there. If I can find the time and what's more important, the money, I am going back to Homer March 2007.

Thanks again. Would be great to see you around by than. Best regards, Harry

Great photo and very good detail. As close as one could possibly get.

A real great presentation of the food chain in action.

 

Every thing was said already...Chapeau!! for your photographic skills.

I am sure there will be some who will say that this is not the way to view it - but - would I have been pleased to have produced this shot ?

Yes - very.

The wow factor is in full effect on this beauty.

Congrats!

Congrats on the POW...would like to see your portfolio featured for the week also. I love your work, you have to be one of the most gifted wildlife photographers I have seen. The first picture of yours I had seen was "Stand Up Comedian", that got me hooked on your work. Can't wait to see what comes next. I could look at your photographs for hours and hours..please keep em coming. They so inspire me to do better and work harder at this. I could only hope to be one day as good as you. Peace, Annie

Hi Harry,

Even here this pic is top of the bill, and it should!!!!

Exelent capture and as said, most people here would have dropped their camara if they see this through the viewfinder......

Congrats!!!

Gr. Ray

ALL ELEMENTS IN PIC. ....MAKE DRAMATIC TENSION.R.

The image is spectacular as is-- why would anyone want to crop it?

I do find it curious (not a critique) that the exposure is sunny-16 for EI 60 with Provia 100F, yet the sky is rich blue and not at all pale. If it weren't a camera that records exposure info, I'd wonder if there was an error in the reported data.

One reason to crop this would be to emphasise the role of the fish in this predation event. This is clearly a striking image that beautifully conveys the overwhelming power of the eagle. However, in an event such as this there must always be an individual who is the prey and for them the consequences of the interaction are very severe indeed. When I think of the predator-prey photos that really stick in my mind all of them focus heavily on the "emotions" of the one being preyed upon. Yet every image like this one that I have seen has been a celebration of the bird. I was playing with this thought and Michael Seeward's comment that by cropping down to the head feathers the image became more interesting to him. I have cropped even more severely and to me the effect is interesting - the power of the bird is unmistakeable but we also cannot avoid noticing that the fish is dismayed at the position it finds itself in. I am not suggesting my crop should replace the larger image but I thought I would share these ideas and see what other people think.

The picture is technically excellent with perfect framing and great subject matter. Peyton Osborne

Very sharp and great timing.

A rich image so that the only suggestion are on way of cropping it... I agree with those who suggest to crop the top blue sky off as to better concentrate on the lower action spot.

the severe crop is interesting too, as it does not place the eagle head in the middle of the image.