We went to Dubuque to Lock & Dam 12 on the Mississippi River to see if there were any Bald Eagles. There weren't a lot maybe 8-10 tops. Biggest problem was lack of access to the birds which were way out....didn't want to walk out on the ice with all my stuff very bad so mostly had to shoot through a barb wire fence and then standing on a picnic table. Anyway, had to crop this waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much but even though I had some with more clarity this was still my favorite picture out of a couple hundred. When it comes to birds I usually end up with a bunch of "close, but no cigar" kinda pictures!! :)
It is fantastic. The processing covers up the fact you lost detail (and clarity) in the crop. I've talked about driving to Dubuque with my dad (also a photographer), but I had surgery the 13th of January and am still not quite up to par. We see a few eagles around here, can drive to Ottumwa to an eagle overlook along the Des Moines river, or drive to Pella's Red Rock Lake to see them. But like you, they are usually so far away that "close, but no cigar" is the norm.
@dejongdd Thanks Deb! :) I lurk on Nikonians website and there are some guys who post there that have some drop-dead-gorgeous eagle pictures...they were taken at Lock & Dam 14 near Davenport (LeClair I think). We started off at L&D 11 yesterday which had even more limited access than 12. Next time I'll try L&D 14 but I've had better luck locally and at Saylorville Reservoir than the lock & dam plus Sayllorville had dozens & dozens of White Pelicans too last time we were there.
@overalvandaan Thank you Saxa, it's just in recent years that they have made a resurgence in this country. They are quite common now but still elusive (for me anyway) to get close enough to get a decent picture!
