Photographing Eagles

I am organizing and cataloging my digital files using Lightroom. I had no idea how many photos I had or that I had so many of certain subjects.
One of my favorite subjects to photograph is the bald eagle. Living in Alaska gives me that opportunity, but it is not as easy as you think. A lot of things have to happen to get a "keeper" image. I have thousands of eagle images, but only a handful I would rate 5 stars.

This image taken in Juneau combines light, wind direction and background into a good eagle image. Once I found these conditions and the eagles, it was very hard to pull myself away. I came across a group of them feeding on something near the shore and scared them off when I got out of the car. After sitting quietly for 30 to 40 minutes they started to come back and I was able to take hundreds of photos.
I had positioned myself so the light and wind would give me the best chance of getting good shots. Even if I can't photograph eagles, I will watch them and try to learn their characteristics.
You need to take advantage of wind direction to help your photos. The light on the above image shows detail in the wing feathers. This is not always easy.
Catching eagles as they land can give you striking poses. This is a Juneau eagle landing on the rocks next to the shore.
This eagle put his head under water and pulled this out. Not sure what it was, but he was really serious about getting his food.

The above eagle photograph was taken in Valdez last year. It was a beautiful, cold day and the eagles around town were active. I have been to Valdez dozens of times and only once did I get some good eagle pictures. A lot of it has to do with weather and with it, lighting.
Another picture from Valdez. Nothing like a mountain and another eagle for a background!

Homer is my favorite places to photograph eagles. The image above was taken while walking the beach. This eagle was not bothered by humans at all and cruised up and down the beach for a couple hours feeding on minnows at low tide.
Another shot on the beach at Homer. If you have never been to Homer, you owe yourself a trip. It is a beautiful place.
A young eagle cruising the beach in Homer. This one was a little more shy around humans.

I have been very fortunate to have solitude in most of my endeavors to photograph eagles. There are times, however, where an eagle will pose just off a busy road in the middle of summer. This is what you get:
A lot of glass on this hillside in Homer. There was an eagle sitting on a piece of driftwood along the road.

Hope you enjoyed my eagle photography.

Mike