Bald Eagle Chase

Cruising on a beach in well-known eagle habitat, I thought it would be a good idea to bring my camera along with me. I was glad I did when I spotted an eagle diving in from the distance. I was surrounded by a large group of waterfowl that immediately took flight and I was treated to a real spectacle as the eagle swooped and darted this way and that in an effort to get some dinner.

I shot 50+ photos throughout the action. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy evening with low light and this combined with the distance between myself and the subject (300mm 4.5/5.6) most of my shots ended up looking something like this:

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did you spot these near victoria? or elsewhere on the island?

These were taken at the Esquimalt Lagoon, which is 10-20 minutes (traffic dependant) from downtown Victoria.

Here's another that I like...click on the image for a full resolution version.

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I like that lagoon! It's been a while since I was there. Neat shots!

Thanks!

What did you have ISO on? These are really tough photos......but getting the speed up might help with the fast action.

Cool shots! I too have been frustrated by the limitations of 300mm 4.5/5.6.
Hopefully I will have a better lens by the time eagles return to NJ.

Flo wrote in post #9783348
What did you have ISO on? These are really tough photos......but getting the speed up might help with the fast action.

Yeah I admit my ISO was not high enough. I believe I had it set at 400...all I remember while shooting is wishing that I had a second to crank it up a notch because I knew that it was too low. I was shooting the other birds when the eagle suddenly appeared.

hairy_moth wrote in post #9783353
Cool shots! I too have been frustrated by the limitations of 300mm 4.5/5.6.
Hopefully I will have a better lens by the time eagles return to NJ.

Thanks moth! The lens works fine for me the majority of the time. There are times when I wish for a 500 but for the most part I am currently satisfied with the lens. Something a little faster would be nice, though.