Eagle attack

Puesto que yo tengo la misma c᭡ra, por qu頮o me dejas hacer esas fotos? ;)

 

Impresionante!!

 

Un saludo

Estupenda!!!!!!!

 

Uffff ????? que pasada.....!!!!!!

A very impressive image.

I can feel the power from the attacking bird, the motion of the attacking bird really works.

This shot is a staple for Nat. Geo and similar publications, and is the result (probably) of patience, travel and a good lens. I, however, prefer my own interpretation:

 

Small Bird (female): Get out of here, you cheating bastard! I know about you and that chicken hawk!

 

Large Bird (male): Damn it, woman, get off my case. It didn't mean anything.

I think one great element in this photograph is the warm light on the eagles wings that creates a nice contrast with the frozen landscape. Needless to say the timing is great. On the other hand it does not impress me as a composition. I find the attacking bird somehow flat and out of scale to be interesting. I could find similar photos in you portfolio that were better composed (but again they lacked the light). Overall , certainly a skillful photo , but still I feel you can do even better.

I don't know about this. This is one of those situations where, even if you are right, sometimes you are wrong. There was really nothing to "compose," because it's hard to concentrate on "composing" something that's moving so fast. So it's a "right place at the right time" shot, which is not to diminish the power of the shot at all. It's impressive for it's action, but aesthetically, I'm not impressed by the flying bird which appears to have lost a piece of itself, and the bird on the right seems to be stuck on a post, fighting more perhaps to free itself than to defend against the other bird. Nice color and action, and certainly worthy of discussion. Perhaps Doug has the right perspective. Perhaps we could just call it "Eagle Discussion." I enjoyed looking at the other photos in this portfolio. Interesting work.

Generally taking this kind of picture requires time, patience, skills and a quite powerful gear, a great lens, a tripod - not to mention luck! I am not displeased of having part of the subjects blurred becouse of several reasons:

he was shooting under low light (sunset or early morning as far as shadows tell), with a long lens at f4..

predicting contenders positions at shooting time must have been difficult thus focusing was difficult (and canon ultra fast focus is an help here)..

also limited DOF avaibility under low light conditions has to be taken into account..

finally subjects were moving probably pretty fast.

Miguel has done an excellent work shooting this image, and the blurs can only tell us how remarkable his work have been and also tell us something about the dinamism of the scene that otherwise would be lost.

Congratulations, Miguel. A superb picture from a really interesting folder, where aesthetics are generally great, and where I particularly love the choice of actions you photograph. A well deserved POW imo. And this is imo your best folder, so keep shooting these birds, Miguel !

As for the photo itself, I can understand the elves' little concern the blurry bird. I felt the same as I first saw this picture. But as explained by a previous poster, shutter speed may indeed have been limited by fairly low lighting...

Outstanding capture! Right place at the right time...yes, but none the less, this is a magnificent image.

I am very sorry to say this, but this photograph in my opinion is PS. I hate this, but just look at the blurring effect near the tail and below the wing of the attacking eagle. Also, the vector of motion of the eagle + the motion blur are not in parallel. Moreover, the plane of focus seems to me different in the attacking and the attacked eagle. Moreover, around the attackin eagle there are local blurs, instead of a uniform distribution of dust.

 

Again, if I am wrong my apologies and 7/7 is what you have already got. But, this picture seemed to me like a composition from the start, and if one cannot say his opinion then...anyway, those are my thought. Corrections appreciated, as well as photo compositions, but this so.

amazing shot Miguel! I really love your work, A few questions if you dont mind, were u using a motor drive? and where do u go to take these spectacular pics?

Hi.Great picture but I think you should increase the size of the attacking bird to keep the proportions correct (it looks too small to me). Considering you have shot at 1/500 I cannot understand why the attacking eagle is so blurred, especially the feathers on the wings considering the larger bird is so sharp). I would have also cloned out the artifacts around the neck and head(has this been pasted). If it is indeed a straight shot then maybe submit one of the other pictures off your website which look far more convincing.

Increase the size of the bird??? Just let it be! Just because you CAN manipulate

something, doesn't mean you should. ...Even if it is to get a better 'composition.'

 

IMO a photographer should just get as much credit for being in the right place at the right

time with the right gear as he should for shooting 'great composition.'

Miguel - FAntastic Capture!!! I am curious - how long did you spend in preparation/

waiting for this shot?

My only critique is that I think there is too much USM applied in PS. Other than that, WOW!

Sorry forgot to add ; )

"I can understand the elves' little concern the blurry bird. I felt the same as I first saw this picture. But as explained by a previous poster, shutter speed may indeed have been limited by fairly low lighting... "

 

Whatever the cause of the limited DOF, I think the proof of a sharper focused smaller bird producing a better image would be to present a side by side comparison, and see how many prefer the sharper version. Put another way, why would anyone purposefully put the smaller bird in soft focus? The softness of the smaller bird is a flaw, in my opinion, although one which most of us are willing to overlook.

i am going to go out on a limb here and suggest all of you are partially blind. the small, attacking bird is neither small or attacking. it is simply landing further behind. the larger bird (the one in the foreground) made a bit of a mess landing and is regaining its balance. very interesting photo. i know little about nature photography, but this strikes me as being quite unique and praiseworthy.

The blur is caused by the speed of the attacking bird, check his web site.

I don't have any problem with the bird motion on the left. A case can be made for its actually adding dramatic action to the composition. An amazing photo!

Taking a look at the Miguel Lasa's website, I find pictures in the same folder as this one that, as an image, are much stronger and more balanced. The light is good in this one, but the blurred incoming bird and the difference in dimensions throws this one off a little bit... with the combination of blur and a small dimension, the incoming bird almost looks like it's in a different plane of focus (as someone mentioned above) Of course, they could be in the same plane, but one bird if smaller and moving faster, as would seem the case. Anyhow, these two things certainly do not make the image horrible. I'm curious though - is using a digital camera while shooting critical-moment, fast action nature shots like this beneficial? I would imagine so - knowing exactly what you captured prevents you from going home and developing eight rolls of duds (almost, but a fraction of a second too late - kind of pictures). You can stay out there until you get a number of shots you like.

Having spent many hours photographing the Bald Eagles in Homer, Alaska and seeing how they interact with each other in situations such as this I have to applaud Miguel and this image.

 

For those of you who insist that this is a composite or has been PS'd in any manner than explained by the photographer, I invite you to join me for a photo excursion to Homer so you can observe these birds in the wild. I suspect that perhaps some are only jealous of not having taken this image themselves and are trying to distract from the reality of the image. Even with the exposure being at 500/sec, their movement is to fast for eveything to be in focus. I've taken images of eagles at faster shutter speeds and still had feathers blurred.

 

When you have bird of this size, this close to you there is going to be some movement shown. Judging by the snow that appears to be flying under the attacking bird I suspect that it has just taken off to fly at the other one in an effort to show some domination. Remember that not all these birds are the same size and I have observed smaller birds trying to show dominance over larger and apparently older ones. The flying bird would show more movement as it is moving faster than the standing one. The lower bird is mearly stretching back and spreading it's wings to prepare for the inevitable strike. Sometimes when doing this is appears almost as if they are falling backwards.

 

I guess the days of taking a photographer at his/her word are gone. Everyone thinks something has been run through PS just because it is a great image. Composition, color saturation, lighting, all the basics can be controlled through the camera and yet no longer does the photographer receive the praise for learning and applying their skills so effectively. Sometimes I feel it was a sad day when PS was created.

 

Technically this is a great photo and deserves all the 7/7 ratings it receives.

Just one question, and I'm asking it because I'm an amateur when it comes to PS, and maybe someone can enlighten me. Why is it that the "attacking" eagle has a different colour at the immediate front of its claws/feet, compared to the background? It looks like it's a cut and pasted pic from another photo.

 

I took a look at your portfolio, and it's very impressive, great photos, but this particular one seems suspect to me.

If this photo is manipulated, all photos in the series must be.

I think this is a great photo and Migual deserves a full credit for taking one. I love the light in this picture and also the action. I would have liked slightly different angle for the attacking bird, but hey that easy to say.

Great work.

-RD

Guys, what is the purpose of manipulating a pic, and saying it isn't, in a web site's discussion forum? what does it come to him? glory for something he hasn't done... and he knows it? c'mon! it would be a silly thing to do. all the praise would be useless...and he knows it! Miguel: my best regards, and I envy you not only for the pic, but for the time spent there!!

Keep up the good work!

I feel like i need to step in to defend Miguel even though I have never met him. I work with eagles and I can add something to this discussion. This is indeed a real shot, not composited.

 

The eagle on the left is preparing to meet the challenger.. they do that with their claws, since the talons can be up to 4-5 inches long and are razor sharp! You can see slight blurring in the motion of the right claw of the eagle on the right, showing movement there. You also see small snow flakes being "flicked" up from the eagle on the right, again showing movement. Basically, the bird on the right has been in a sitting pose, sees the bird on the left coming in... up to 30 mph at this point in the photo (give or take), and getting into a strike pose. At this moment, the bird on the right will simultaneously hop up and put claws/feet/talons forward in an attempt to gouge the chest area of the attacker. There is only ONE TIME when birds get into this position.. that is as a defense in an attack.

 

The plane of angle and the size of the attacking bird, is as all PHOTOGRAPHERS know, a trick of perspective. Lens choice and position of the bird make it seem that the attacking bird is smaller because you are seeing it practically on edge. Any birder knows that birds in flight show multiple silloettes (sp) depending on if they are flying away from, toward or from left/right or right/left in frame.

 

The subject of the photo is clearly the bird being attacked.. sharper focus, dominance in the frame, light, etc.

 

While I wasn't there, I'll have to guess what Miguel went through to get this shot. He's low on the ground, so probably in a blind of some kind. He's been there for hours, because he's gotten the birds to feel relaxed enough to land nearby to him to get the shot. He's probably scouted the area for some time to know where the birds habitually land, and he's probably entered the area before dawn so that the birds didn't see him. You can see it's cold in the area because of the snow on the ground. He either had a spotter with him to tell him there was a bird coming in from the left, because a moment ago.. literally less than a couple of seconds, the bird on the right was probably engaged in preening or eating behavior. This action would have happened in such a short time that he wouldn't have been able to react quickly enough once his brain realized what was about to happen.. it would have been over. He probably took several quick frames, as quick as his camera would allow. If he was lucky, then this fight between the two would have gone over again and again, allowing him to get multiple sequences. If he was really lucky, the eagles didn't hear his camera firing or film rewinding or the his movements in the blind to cause them to flee the area.

 

What's amazing in the photo for those who don't take wildlife shots.. is that the lighting is superb, the timing is EXACT, the subject matter is impecable, and the behind the scenes work that is involved in making something like this. We've seen too many National Geographic shows, becuse we've lost the ability to appreciate what it takes to record truly spectacular wildlife images.

 

Again.. well done Miguel!