Staring Eagle

[Mizaki]

A recent shot of an eagle.

As I am just learning the ropes in digital tecnology (and have been absent from photography for few years) I know, I did something wrong when compressing the image under 100k. It just dosen't look anywhere near as good as the original. Any advice?

[sparker1]

I don't know, it looks pretty good. A lot of people seem to sharpen after a re-size. This is an eaglet, right?

[jdbulldog]

Are you sure this is an eagle? I looks like a vulture, maybe African. It has been a long time since ornithology and I need to see more of the wings to really know.

J

Great picture either way!

[Scottes]

It just looks like it need a bit of sharpening is all.

I agree on the vulture - given the hole in the beak and the "necklace" of feathers. And I agree that it's still great in any case.

[cocodel1st]

Agreed, a little bit of sharpening would benefit the image. Good job. What lens are you using?

[Mizaki]

Thank you all for your comments and advice concerning what kind of bird this is as well as advice concerning sharpening and such.

First of all, to be honest, I have to admit that this is a shot on "cheated location", i.e. "Eagle Park" in Canarias. So, in no case this can be considered as "great nature shot" and as such, wherefore the image lacks certain soul - at least for me. Just an exercise for digital newbie (who needs to go to bookshop to get some manuals for sharpening and other digital tricks).

In any case, I was pretty happy about the blurred background and bokeh, as I was trying to "blow" the bird away from the background. Please note, that concerning the background there are no tricks involved and the image is uncropped. Actually I recieved a photgraphic print of this image from laboratory today and the image on photographic paper in A4-size looks stunning. Considering the F-value, increasing it perhaps a notch or two would have been even better. I was just too worried about getting the background blown away.

Regarding the equipment, the body was EOS 20D and the lens was 200mm f/2.8L prime (Comparable to 320mm 35mm, I suppose. Anyhow, even in 35mm era I always preferred primes). The distance was something like 15-20 meters. Anyhow, as those are all new, I hope that I master them soon as the only limiting factor appears to be my lack of skill.