Bald Eagle

Taken at the Portland Zoo on a tripod ........I still had to sharpen it and

I'm not sure why I didnt use my shutter release switch thingy is that

why? Should I have used the timer or my shutter release switch?

Very nice picture. Just curious based on your comment, what focal length did you shoot this at?

Jim I shot it at 400.0 mm I used my 100-400 F4.5-5.6 IS USM lens, maybe the reason I had to sharpen was cause I forgot to turn off IS ? That lens is usually shoots stuff really sharp. I had the same problem with my tigers. Aperture was set at 5.6.........Sharpness in camera was set at 7. I'm confused!

I think you have a great forum question. To me his eyes and head look fairly sharp. His feet look a little soft. That could be due to the fact that at such a long focal length you would have had to have a smaller apeture, say around 11-14 to improve depth of field. Problem with that is it effects the shutter speed which I know from experience is required to be fast at longer focal lengths (I know there is a rule of thumb for this but dont know it). The IS will definifely help, as it will let you stop down the speed. I find myself having to increase the ISO in low to moderate light to compensate for the smaller apeture which can cause a certain amount of noise. Based on the background, I am guessing the light wasn't the best, probably a little overcast. That complicates things and makes it harder to shoot fast with a smaller apeture opening. Something else you can do to improve image quality off a tripod with a cable release is to use the mirror lock. This is suppose to eliminate the slight movement you get during normal shutter release and is effective when shooting at slow speeds. I am not an expert, but there are a lot on this sight. You may want to bounce it off them. Regardless, I think it's a geat picture of a spectacular bird. Take care-Jim

Thank you Jim. I'll try to look this question up if I don't find the answers to my questions, I will post on the forum and see what they have to say.