Workshop with Brutus Östling day 3

Posted by Sven on December 16, 2012 in Blog | 0 comments

Day 3 we went back to the eagle hide, this time with a bit more refined strategy. We really tried to sit still and keep quiet since we suspected that we had frighten the eagle the other day. Armed with binoculars we scanned the mountain side for activity. We saw a few eagles passing on high altitude but now one ventured close to the hide. Then all of a sudden a Golden Eagle swept past and decided the now pretty mauled fox was worth a closer look. If anything it was even darker this day and ISO 1600 was a minimum at f/2.8. Luckily 300 mm turned out to be almost optimal since the Golden Eagle has enormous wings.

Golden Eagle, Canon 1d mark3, 300 f/2.8 IS, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/250 s.

This time the eagle stayed almost 40 minutes so there was plenty of time adjusting exposure and composition. Despite the time for adjustment, nothing could be done about the lack of contrast due to the low light. Fortunately there are tools that can adjust that in post. I use Lightroom, which I find excellent when it comes to manage a great number photos in a short time. All photos shown from this workshop have been adjusted in regards of contrast and saturation, and coming tutorials will cover some tricks and tips to make your photos look better.

I am really impressed with the amount of meat a Golden Eagle can eat at one time. Look at that crop! My guess is there is almost a kilo of meat in there.

Golden Eagle, Canon 1d mark3, 300 f/2.8 IS, ISO 1600, f/2.8, 1/320 s.

Unfortunately no more eagles came that day, and we left the hide being watched by an eagle that sat for almost 1.5 h on top of the opposite mountain.

Day 4 we went out to sea to try our luck with Sea Eagles (coming soon).

/Sven