Bald Eagle

what do i need to work on to make it look better

Keep shootin, nohting like good ole practice. I like the shot BTW.

Try not to always center your subject and get as close as possible of course. I'm sure you did.

Keep em coming, this with your new camera?

looks great to me!!!

sure take away from my pic of the bald eagle. Just kiding, nice pic. What camera do you have.

9er
YOu really just need to learn the differnt modes you have and what they do. and just swtch it back and forth while taking pictures and then put them on your computer to determine how and what looks best in certain lighting conditions.

Shoot, shoot, shoot, and keep shooting I take my camera everywhere and takje pics of anything. And take A LOT I was out shooting last week for about a hour and I shot 360 pics.

BTW- What cam did u end up Getting?

Good luck with it and just shoot a lot!

Very cool!

I agree with what has been said already, shoot LOTS of pictures! For every subject you want to capture take at least three pictures from different angles. The more the better because the chances of you getting that "perfect shot" on just one try isn't likely. With that said, wildlife are difficult to shoot because many times you can't move around and get different angles because the animals will run off so just do your best. Also, once you capture the image on film, you will probably want to crop any undesireable areas. This can really enhance the effect of the photo.

For your eagle pic I would have cropped the image closer to the bird because your background is very "busy". By that I mean the branches are confusing for the eyes and take the focus off the eagle. Don't forget to pay attention to the composition of your subject. The eagle is taller than he is wide so I cropped the pic to enhance those features...

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k124/fithall/fixedeagle_edited.jpg" alt="" />

I probably could have cropped it a little tighter but hopefully you get the idea. Be careful how you crop your pics though because if I had cropped wider, you loose the focus on the bird and the back ground becomes distracting...

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k124/fithall/eagleedited.jpg" alt="" />


Hope that helps.

THANKS FOR ALL YOUR HELP
and sorry to you deadi, for robbing your eagle post,

i will keep taking pics and hopefully someday ill get a good shot


9er

:thumb was just playing with ya. Nice pic.

cNice picture. You might also try a faster lense and use a very open aperture for a narrow field of focus. Go to Coopers photo's and notice how the background and foreground is not in focus. Then notice the eye, his best always have the eye in focus. Someone already mentioned not centering the bird. Good point, move it down and to the right and it tells a better story and as was also said, crop tighter to rid the busy background.

Birds and wildlife are impossible to pose, well almost, so take a whole bunch of shots looking for the one that jumps at you. Go back to Coopers photo's and you see , was it two or three, mallards. I can assure you that those are the result of many more shots that that. Now look at the wood duck. You recall how he said they are hard to do? He didn't get near as many shot's at it and still got a really good one. The first mallard photo drew the most comments but the wood duck was certainly hardest to get.
Why do you think that is? Look at the eyes, the wood duck is just a shade soft and the bird just doesn't jump like the first mallard. The one with the mallard in the flight, is also a great photo but had he used an aperature opening that gave to much depth of focus, the flight would have distracted from the individual and it would have been just another photo of a bunch of ducks. Go back in his photo's and you'll find a photo of a red fox he did. Again look at the eye and the depth of focus (depth of field).

The shot in that series that Cooper did of ducks that most liked the best was actually probally the easiest to shoot. And this is to take nothing away from any of these shots. That guy is good!!!!!!!

Another thing worth mention is the position of the animal/bird. Generally the subject should always be entering the photo, not leaving. In the group photo of mallards, the focused bird is actually leaving but the flock behind suggest's the front bird is not leaving but rather leading. Notice all the other ducks and go find the coyote's. The majority of the body in each case appears to be entering the photo and the majority of mty space is to the front of the animal or bird. View your view finder in thirds, up and down. Don't center the oject if you can help it. txhunter cropped your eagle. Notice where he put it? The majority of nothing to the front and the bird off center.

You still got a nice photo, I've never gotten that close to an eagle. :thumb