total respect for the nature photogs

quiddity · Mar 13, 2011

I have total respect for the nature photogs ... they must have super patience.

I was out and about around the mississippi river today with the kids and eagles galore.
I would get the tripod out and almost setup to shoot and wham ... off they fly.

The pic with 2 eagles was shot across the river with a nikon 300 f4 and a tamron 1.4 extension on a tripod but there was a breeze and I forgot my remote shutter ... hence pretty blurry.

The single eagle is handheld with the nikon 300 f4.

1eagle by tshesse, on Flickr

cropped from

DSC_0185 by tshesse, on Flickr

2 blurry eagles

2eagles by tshesse, on Flickr

cropped from

DSC_0190 by tshesse, on Flickr

JeffieLove · Mar 13, 2011

Hope you don't mind, your thing says it's okay to edit. I just adjusted the white balance and got rid of the chromatic aberration on the first photo and I'd say it looks a ton better

I'd say this is your keeper

GooniesNeverSayDie11 · Mar 13, 2011

Nice shots. Have you ever used a "Better Beamer" flash extender ( about $35 )? If you had a pretty decent flash you could underexpose the ambient a little and hit the eagle with some flash for a nice catch light in the eye.

GooniesNeverSayDie11 · Mar 13, 2011

JeffieLove said:
Hope you don't mind, your thing says it's okay to edit. I just adjusted the white balance and got rid of the chromatic aberration on the first photo and I'd say it looks a ton better I'd say this is your keeper

Looks a lot more noisy to me.

JeffieLove · Mar 13, 2011

Oops, and I missed the green CA as well... I don't see the noise though :/ The white balance made his feathers look COMPLETELY different because instead of looking yellowish brown on the tips, they are white... Could that be what is throwing you off maybe?

dxqcanada · Mar 13, 2011

Wildlife photography requires understanding of the subject ... where they go, what do they do, when do they do it, etc.

A lot of patience is a requirement.

My wife and I have spend much time hunting wildlife with a camera.

... you can ask EricD about his techniques.

GooniesNeverSayDie11 · Mar 13, 2011

Nah, I see it in the original when its enlarged. Just didn't notice at first glance. So disregard that. Definately looks better without the colorcast and most of the CA gone though.

quiddity · Mar 13, 2011

wow that looks awesome thanks!

i saw the CA but was at a loss as to how to remove it

JeffieLove · Mar 14, 2011

Generally with CA, I will use lightroom and just decrease the saturation in those colors... That isn't always possible but it was okay with this image. I had to decrease red, magenta, purple, aqua, and green. It's not that easy with people... The only way I've "won" the battle over CA with a photo of a person is by turning the image black and white :/ Not the ideal way to solve a problem by any means!

GooniesNeverSayDie11 · Mar 14, 2011

There are lens correction options in ACR and PS that allow adjusting for CA as well. Desaturation only works well if you have a relatively monotone portion touching the CA.