It has been done before. With gear worth more than my car.

[sm4him]

I get what you're saying. How do I get shots that don't look like the approximately 463,972,184 other photos people have taken of bald eagles. And that's just for your area of Canada.
Well, here's my thoughts on that "don't bother because too many other people have already done that shot" mentality:

1. I think about the Olympics. Or a football game. WHY do they have ALL those photographers--and most all of them with expensive, quality gear--all standing in the same place, shooting the same thing, at the same time? Why not just pay, say 6 people, to photograph the whole event and then make all the media use those images?
Because (and I recognize there are actually a LOT more reasons than this, I'm just using an example to make a particular point)--ONE of those photographers, who is standing right NEXT to several other photographers, is going to get THE shot. He/she is going to be just a degree different in the angle, or a millisecond early or late in clicking the shutter, and they are going to manage to capture what none of the dozens standing right by them caught. So why NOT take the chance that *you* just might be that photographer?

2. Okay, let's face it. The reality is, you may NOT get THE shot. You may not be the one to capture the picture of the eagles that nobody else has quite gotten. Your shots may--indeed very likely WILL--look just like all the other thousands of shots of eagles. In fact, they may not even look as good as some of the shots of those particular eagles, because others have better gear, and more time and more access. So the likelihood is you're going to end up with "Just" another photo of an Eagle.
But you know what? I'd MUCH rather have MY photo of an eagle hanging on my wall than someone else's photo of an eagle on my wall.

3. Photos aren't all about whose is best, or how much you can sell it for, or how much attention it can garner. I'd dare to say that MOST of the photos we take serve more simply to remind us of memories.
And dude--YOU are getting to see an incredible, awesome sight. A sight many would LOVE to see. So watch it, enjoy it, and try to get the best photos you can to remember it by.

 

[JacaRanda]

But then there's this:

Photographers and giant lenses in Yellowstone National Park - a photo on Flickriver

I have to kind of wonder wtf these guys think they're doing.

Maybe trying to catch the last of a wild animal that is near extinction. Ya neva know.

 

[snowbear]

Anything you photograph has already been shot thousands of times (except for some hyper-rare extreme subjects like certain mold spores). Don't worry about them - enjoy getting your shots.

 

[robbins.photo]

Anything you photograph has already been shot thousands of times (except for some hyper-rare extreme subjects like certain mold spores). Don't worry about them - enjoy getting your shots.

Over saturated rare mold hdr. Huh. Oh ya, bound to be a huge seller on 500px

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[AlanKlein]

Shoot a great picture of your kid or wife. You won't need a 600mm lens. So you can go on vacation with the money saved. Then print it and frame it nice and hang it where family and guests will say, ooh, aaah, what a great shot.

 

[teishu]

One thing I remember hearing somewhere which applies more to when travelling to a location to shoot however I'm sure you can apply it to this. Don't try and find lots of images of your subject/location by other photographers before hand. It may give you inspiration however it may also limit your creativeness when you're there as you'll subconsciously be looking to capture the images you've already seen instead of seeing it for yourself in your own unique way.

 

[petrochemist]

But then there's this:

Photographers and giant lenses in Yellowstone National Park - a photo on Flickriver

That looks familar spend ages carefully lining up my Supertelephoto on the nest of a rare bird then some ****t parks their car right in my line of sight.

 

[TheUniverse]

[...] It does require you to have excellent technique and skill, but it's really not that hard to learn.

That sentence probably made some sense in your head ... but written down, it really doesnt make that much sense to me.

Either something is easy to learn, OR something requires excellent technique and skill. You cant have it both ways - right ?

Actually, it makes sense to me.

Not everything that requires excellent technique and skill is that hard to learn. To go a bit further, I've studied/learned a few things on my own because of so called pros who couldn't do the work properly... and I'm no genius.

More often than not, I would say, excellent skills and technique come from paying attention to what you're doing after, of course, learning the proper techniques...

 

[robbins.photo]

But then there's this:

Photographers and giant lenses in Yellowstone National Park - a photo on Flickriver

That looks familar spend ages carefully lining up my Supertelephoto on the nest of a rare bird then some ****t parks their car right in my line of sight.

For some reason three letters spring to mind.

R-P-G

Could just be me.. lol

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