Starting out with Eagles

[Creeker5]

I am a beginner Photographer. Shooting with a Canon T2i and using a Canon EF 100-400 mm F/4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens for these shots. I live along the Mississippi and we get plenty of Eagles visiting during the winter to feed. I went out with my new lens to try to get some shots today and am looking for some feedback.

It was overcast today, I did shoot exclusively in manual mode but I did use AF for all my shots. I also stayed at ISO200, I was nervous to bump down to 100 with the cloud cover. It seemed like a lot of the shots I took came out soft. I was wondering if this is because I used a wide open aperture for all my shots? Should I bump the aperture down some maybe to f11? Also as I was walking a lot I did not use a tripod but I was able to lean against something for most of my shots.

Please any feedback is welcome. I want to learn how to get the perfect shot.

Photo 1.

Photo 2.

Photo 3.

Photo 4.

Photo 5.

 

[spiralout462]

It looks like you run into one of the issues that drives me nuts! Damn tree limbs! I can get a bird in focus at a considerable distance but the out of focus limbs in front of them bother me to no end. Looks like fun on the river. There are some excellent bird photographers on this site who consistently get the results you are after. (Hunter58, JSrecord, MSnowy, etc.....)

 

[Creeker5]

It looks like you run into one of the issues that drives me nuts! Damn tree limbs! I can get a bird in focus at a considerable distance but the out of focus limbs in front of them bother me to no end.

You got it! Tree limbs are the vein of my existence

 

[exkalibur]

One of the first things that jumps at me is your shutter speed : too long for that focal length. I usually try to shoot in manual mode or Tv mode, setting my shutter and aperture and leave the ISO in auto (with a Max of 1600). The fifth one has a good shutter speed for a BIF.