Wildlife Photography

[mdees88]

I've posted a few eagle pics before but I don't think I've posted these particular two....

These bald eagles are what got me serious about photography. There's a few nests in a creek I fish in and I see the eagles quite often. I pulled up one day and saw an eagle standing in the nest. I took a few pics with my cell phone but I wasn't happy with them because the eagle was so far away.

The next time I went back there was a small tour boat in the creek and they were taking pictures with big telephoto lenses. Seeing them get the shots that I wanted to get motivated me to order my first DSLR and a telephoto lens, I've been taking pics ever since.....

I went back a few weeks later with my new camera gear and was able to some pics of these eagles mating. It was pretty cool....

 

[azurbanclucker]

great shots

 

[Crestcrazy2]

I've posted a few eagle pics before but I don't think I've posted these particular two....

These bald eagles are what got me serious about photography. There's a few nests in a creek I fish in and I see the eagles quite often. I pulled up one day and saw an eagle standing in the nest. I took a few pics with my cell phone but I wasn't happy with them because the eagle was so far away.

The next time I went back there was a small tour boat in the creek and they were taking pictures with big telephoto lenses. Seeing them get the shots that I wanted to get motivated me to order my first DSLR and a telephoto lens, I've been taking pics ever since.....

I went back a few weeks later with my new camera gear and was able to some pics of these eagles mating. It was pretty cool....



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That's awesome!! Great photos!!

 

[My2butterflies]

I've posted a few eagle pics before but I don't think I've posted these particular two....

These bald eagles are what got me serious about photography. There's a few nests in a creek I fish in and I see the eagles quite often. I pulled up one day and saw an eagle standing in the nest. I took a few pics with my cell phone but I wasn't happy with them because the eagle was so far away.

The next time I went back there was a small tour boat in the creek and they were taking pictures with big telephoto lenses. Seeing them get the shots that I wanted to get motivated me to order my first DSLR and a telephoto lens, I've been taking pics ever since.....

I went back a few weeks later with my new camera gear and was able to some pics of these eagles mating. It was pretty cool....



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Amazing! So lucky and skilled to get that shot!

 

[chickinlittles]

I've posted a few eagle pics before but I don't think I've posted these particular two....

These bald eagles are what got me serious about photography. There's a few nests in a creek I fish in and I see the eagles quite often. I pulled up one day and saw an eagle standing in the nest. I took a few pics with my cell phone but I wasn't happy with them because the eagle was so far away.

The next time I went back there was a small tour boat in the creek and they were taking pictures with big telephoto lenses. Seeing them get the shots that I wanted to get motivated me to order my first DSLR and a telephoto lens, I've been taking pics ever since.....

I went back a few weeks later with my new camera gear and was able to some pics of these eagles mating. It was pretty cool....



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Most amazing eagle shots I’ve ever seen!

 

[cooingdove]

I've posted a few eagle pics before but I don't think I've posted these particular two....

These bald eagles are what got me serious about photography. There's a few nests in a creek I fish in and I see the eagles quite often. I pulled up one day and saw an eagle standing in the nest. I took a few pics with my cell phone but I wasn't happy with them because the eagle was so far away.

The next time I went back there was a small tour boat in the creek and they were taking pictures with big telephoto lenses. Seeing them get the shots that I wanted to get motivated me to order my first DSLR and a telephoto lens, I've been taking pics ever since.....

I went back a few weeks later with my new camera gear and was able to some pics of these eagles mating. It was pretty cool....



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holy wow, those are fabulus!! those are like the best, clearest shots i have ever seen. those are good enough to be on like google images or something!

 

[chickinlittles]

Pretty cool having a rabbit den in your backyard. Hey, it's hard enough getting close up shots with a zoom lens, let alone a cell phone camera...

I went out to check on my quail yesterday and found this little guy curled up next to one of the legs of their pen. I thought it was a copperhead at first because of how light tan his body was but it was actually a young water moccasin.

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Wow. Those are pretty poisonous right? Hope he’s not as alive in your hand.

 

[mdees88]

Thank you all

Wow. Those are pretty poisonous right? Hope he’s not as alive in your hand.

I did shoot that one at my quail pen before I grabbed him. I've only picked up one living cottonmouth and let me tell you...... I was 10 times more nervous when it was time to let him go then when I first grabbed him. It's like once you get the perfect grip on a smaller catfish, pull the hook out, then you're scared to throw him back because you know he gunna fin you when you let go, lol...

Amazing! So lucky and skilled to get that shot!

95% luck 5% skill back then, lol. It really was pure luck. I just happened to have my shutterspeed real high before the male flew in, luckily the sun was positioned okay, I never checked the exposure compensation but I had is -2/3rd stop from shooting earlier which kept me from blowing out the highlights in their white heads too bad, etc....

I was taking a few pics of the female sitting on the tree not paying attention to much else.. Then I saw the male flying over. I picked my camera back up, held down the shutter, and just sprayed and prayed. I think I took around 300 pics of them and ended up with around 4 or 5 I really liked.

Since I just held down the shutter I was able to make a gif of them mating from all the pics. I was pretty amazed she kept her balance the whole time. I'll see if I can get it to upload.....

 

[chickinlittles]

Thank you all



I did shoot that one at my quail pen before I grabbed him. I've only picked up one living cottonmouth and let me tell you...... I was 10 times more nervous when it was time to let him go then when I first grabbed him. It's like once you get a small catfish off the hook and you're scared to throw him back because you know he's gunna fin you, lol...





95% luck 5% skill back then, lol. It really was pure luck. I just happened to have my shutterspeed real high before the male flew in, luckily the sun was positioned okay, I never checked the exposure compensation but I had is -2/3rd stop from shooting earlier which kept me from blowing out the highlights in their white heads too bad, etc....

I was taking a few pics of the female sitting on the tree not paying to much else.. Then I saw the male flying over. I picked my camera back up, held down the shutter, and just sprayed and prayed. I think I took around 300 pics of them and ended up with around 4 or 5 I really liked.

Since I just held down the shutter I was able to make a gif of them mating from all the pics. I was pretty amazed she kept her balance the whole time. I'll see if I can get it to upload.....


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Ok first of all the moccasin... I have rattlers where I live and dont let them live in my gardens. They are bad enough but what you have is even worse. I just don't know how you "grab em". I get the catfish fin comment! Don't mess with those anymore either.
the eagle gif is awesome. Your work is beyond words! I enjoy your sense of humor in many of them. You catch the spirit of the moment. To me this is true art and something that is innate in a photographer that cant be taught, it just is.I applaud your work and am in awe of it. this gif makes me think of Margo Channing's quote in All About Eve, "Fasten your seatbelts, its gonna be a bumpy ride"

 

[mdees88]

Ok first of all the moccasin... I have rattlers where I live and dont let them live in my gardens. They are bad enough but what you have is even worse. I just don't know how you "grab em". I get the catfish fin comment! Don't mess with those anymore either.

Lol, that will be the last venomous snake I grab. He was curled up under a window in a burger King drive through. I pinned his head down with a gaff that was in my boat and grabbed him. First snake I had ever grabbed alive. After I got him some people came outside to see him. I was like well.... what do I do now, lol. I literally thew him into a five gallon bucket, it was sketchy.

A couple years later I watched a youtube video of a professional snake handler grab a rattlesnake in a lab to milk him for venom. He had a perfect grip and the snake dislocated his jaw and closed his mouth sideways which let his fang swing around and hit the guys thumb. After that I was like... nope.

The only thing good about the moccasins during duck season is it's usually very cold and they are lethargic. You can poke them with a stick and they rarely even move.....