Missed Opportunities

As I said previously, I had so many good shots at Big Beef Creek that I am having a hard time deciding which images to post. So, instead of trying to pick out my best shots, I decided to first post shots I liked but that frustrated me because they were not as good as they should have been. Curiously, all four are shots of immature Bald Eagles. For some reason, my camera had trouble accurately focusing and correctly exposing shots of immature bald eagles though it didn’t have that problem with mature Bald Eagles, Great Blue Heron, or even Crows.

Ironically, the immature eagles flew closer than any of the other birds. As a result, some good shots cut part of the bird off, like this shot.

ImtrEgl4

Although the feet (and head) are sharply focused, the wings aren’t, and, to make matters worse, the wings were underexposed because I was shooting against the sky. Technically, this

ImtrEgl2

is probably the best of these four shots, but naturally the pose is the least interesting. Static shots are always the easiest to get.

This was my favorite action shot of the day of an immature Bald Eagle,

ImtrEgl5

but being backlit again made it impossible to capture the kind of detail that translates into a really good shot.

The detail in this shot seems quite good,

ImtrEgl

but, of course, the pose isn’t nearly as dynamic as the previous shot.

I’ll have to admit, though, that I felt blessed to have had the opportunity to miss shots like these. As much as I enjoy being buzzed by the swallows at Theler, it’s an entirely different feeling having eagles fly over your head.

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