Subject: [Tweeters] Edmonds Eagles
Date: Jan 31 20:58:06 2010
From: Bill Anderson - billandersonbic at yahoo.com


I had planned on going up to Fir Island for a feathered photo session after breakfast in Marysville with members of my motorcycle group.? The farther north I drove the worse the weather and visibility became, so after breakfast I returned to Edmonds and?drove down to Sunset Ave.? As soon as I arrived, I noticed a pair of adult bald eagles on the tops of?two tall firs at the end of the street.? I walked down to Hannah Park Rd,?a lane which leads to the trees. While I was there I ran into our mayor, who was out for a walk with his camera and telephoto lens.? He stopped to take some photos of the eagles as well.

The eagles took off and landed several times over the next hour, giving me ample opportunity to practise my "takeoff shot" techniques. You cannot constantly train the camera on the eagles while they remain perched for who knows how long. The trick is to watch for slight movements which may indicate they are ready to fly away, get your camera up (ready), focus (aim), and start snapping (fire), preferably a fraction of a second before they are airborn.

At one point I took several photos of the two eagles?flying together. Is romance (quite literally) in the air ??? One eagle returned and perched on top of a fir tree adjoining the lane, facing south.?We were both in perfect position.?? The owner of one of the houses on the lane is also a?motorcyclist. We chatted while I waited for the eagle to take off .

It is very tricky photographing these dark birds in poor light. This time around I went 2/3 manual, setting the shutter speed at 1/1,000, the aperature at f/8.0, and leaving the ISO on automatic. I set the shooting mode to continous high speed (rapid fire).

While the eagle was perched in the tree, I popped in a fresh battery and memory chip.?I was ready .............? and in time, so was the eagle.?? I got some very good shots of the eagle just as it rose up and flew off the tree top.
Bill Anderson;?Edmonds, WA.