African fish eagle

perylousdemon · Mar 7, 2007

I took these pictures yesterday at the National Aviary in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, but I felt that she deserved her own thread. This gorgeous girl was just sunning herself on a branch right next to the window, pretty as you please. I took about fifteen shots of her (unfortunately, I had no film left by this point, so they were all digital); these are the five that I liked the best. C&C greatly appreciated. Enjoy!

1)

2)

3)

4) Close crop to emphasize that razor-sharp beak.

5) Slight noise reduction using Neat Image (God, I'm already in love with that program :lol:

).

LaFoto · Mar 7, 2007

How could you thus crawl almost right into her?
The last two are SOOOO close-up! :shock: Wow! The last one is quite impressive, close as you are taking us up to this magnificent bird!

lostprophet · Mar 7, 2007

flaming hell they are gorgeous

perylousdemon · Mar 7, 2007

She was less than a foot from the glass, and I do have a 3x optical zoom on my digital camera, crappy as it is. :lol:

Thank you for the feedback.

perylousdemon · Mar 7, 2007

Thanks! I enjoyed photographing her. She wasn't at all inclined to move from that sunny spot.

Antarctican · Mar 7, 2007

Wow, 'extreme closeup'....guess that last pic is the last sight the fish sees before being scooped up.

perylousdemon · Mar 7, 2007

Guess so.

Thanks!

I love your avatar, by the way. That movie was so adorable.

lostprophet · Mar 7, 2007

perylousdemon said:
Guess so. Thanks!

I love your avatar, by the way. That movie was so adorable.

don't encourage her :lol:

perylousdemon · Mar 7, 2007

Haha. Okay, I'll take your word for it.

Antarctican · Mar 7, 2007

(

Ignore him... I need all the encouragement I can get. He's just jealous that there isn't an otter movie out. Penguins rule...they absolutely stole the show in Madagascar too)

perylousdemon · Mar 7, 2007

:lmao: They did, but I must say that I enjoyed Happy Feet much more.

ShootHoops · Mar 8, 2007

Is that thing really real!? lol

flyingseale · Mar 8, 2007

Wow. You say she was sunning herself by the window. This implies you were shooting through glass. I can't believe there are no reflections and no dirt in the way. Well done.

perylousdemon · Mar 8, 2007

Thank you. I literally had to put my camera right against the glass to avoid that, and even then I had shots with dirt, fingerprints, and whatnot in them. I finally found a nice clean spot on the glass and went from there.