Eagle diving sequence with the EM5-iii (1 bird, 2 fishes!)

Skeeterbytes wrote:

Dazzling sequence! You were pretty close, given how much the bird fills the frame.

Cheers,

Rick

Thanks! I was lucky - the bird was perched on the opposite river bank but dived down pretty near me. These were cropped in but still pretty close to begin with.

anupamkatkar wrote:

I do not know if you know this, but this is a gray-headed fish eagle, and they are relatively rare. I photographed them a couple of years ago, but despite waiting for a while, I didn't get any pics of them diving. So that makes you doubly lucky! Great job on your part making the most of it, and getting such excellent shots!

Thanks a lot, I'm aware that this is a grey-headed fish eagle. We are very lucky to have a couple of them in Singapore which dive on a pretty regular basis.

CalNature wrote:

Great capture...I've been trying to get one something like that for some time...patience, luck and good gear!

Thanks a lot! And yes, patience, luck and good gear are all equally important in situations like this.

XVOYAGERX wrote:

The clarity and detail of these shots are incredible, very well done!!

Thanks a lot! A testament to the EM5-iii's AF and the sharpness of the 40-150/MC20 combination.

ColinOatley wrote:

How useful was the dot sight? Do you think you could have captured the sequence without it?

Very useful. For a large bird like this I think using the viewfinder (with REC view switched off) might still be possible but my hit rate is a lot higher with the dot-sight, especially since the eagle dives quite suddenly.

For smaller birds the dot-sight is essential.

1st Fish: The Inland Revenue?

2nd Fish: Yes, the Inland Revenue. They said I overpaid tax for 5 years straight.

1st Fish: So you're getting a full rebate?

2nd Fish: Yes, and not only that, they pay me interest too, and compensation

1st Fish: You luck bas.....

SPLASH!

What an incredible creature, and a great series of images. The quality of that zoom with the 2X attached is surprising, so these are useful in that way as well. Thanks!

Rgds,

Jan

Hi Adam,

excellent pictures!!!  Very impressed with your shots!

Would you mind sharing where exactly you took these pictures and what time of the day?  I have never seen the Grey Headed Sea Eagle here on the island and would love to see one. Thanks!

Best,

Lars

lightnchade wrote:

1st Fish: The Inland Revenue?

2nd Fish: Yes, the Inland Revenue. They said I overpaid tax for 5 years straight.

1st Fish: So you're getting a full rebate?

2nd Fish: Yes, and not only that, they pay me interest too, and compensation

1st Fish: You luck bas.....

SPLASH!

Great commentary!

PhotoguyCanada wrote:

That's great 👍

Thank you!

Jan Chelminski wrote:

What an incredible creature, and a great series of images. The quality of that zoom with the 2X attached is surprising, so these are useful in that way as well. Thanks!

Rgds,

Jan

Thanks! The only real downside to the combo is the need to stop down to F/8 to get very sharp results. Other than that, it's great!

LarsPolarBear wrote:

Hi Adam,

excellent pictures!!! Very impressed with your shots!

Would you mind sharing where exactly you took these pictures and what time of the day? I have never seen the Grey Headed Sea Eagle here on the island and would love to see one. Thanks!

Best,

Lars

Thank you very much!
These were taken at Pandan River. You can park near 74 Faber Heights and walk down to the river. Look for all the photographers and that's where the bird will be.

Wallybipster wrote:

Excellent shots, super cool!

I really gotta figure out how to get my hands on that 2x converter.

Thank you! And yes the MC20 and 40-150 work well together.

adammaniam wrote:

softmarmotte wrote:

Just brilliant. Thanks. How amazing to be able to capture this with so much detail

OK the silly question time : CAF ? High burst mode ? Pro capture ?

How long were you waiting for that ?

Thanks a lot!
Questions aren't silly, they are what I used to ask others. CAF (no tracking). Sequential shooting LO (so that CAF continues between frames), electronic shutter. No pro capture.
I waited for about an hour for the bird to turn up and then another hour for it to dive!

Cool, what size af box do/did you use and just to confirm this was with the rds?

And-roid wrote:

adammaniam wrote:

softmarmotte wrote:

Just brilliant. Thanks. How amazing to be able to capture this with so much detail

OK the silly question time : CAF ? High burst mode ? Pro capture ?

How long were you waiting for that ?

Thanks a lot!
Questions aren't silly, they are what I used to ask others. CAF (no tracking). Sequential shooting LO (so that CAF continues between frames), electronic shutter. No pro capture.
I waited for about an hour for the bird to turn up and then another hour for it to dive!

Cool, what size af box do/did you use and just to confirm this was with the rds?

I used 5 x 5 and yes, with the red dot sight.

Spectacular!  [applause]

adammaniam wrote:

And-roid wrote:

adammaniam wrote:

softmarmotte wrote:

Just brilliant. Thanks. How amazing to be able to capture this with so much detail

OK the silly question time : CAF ? High burst mode ? Pro capture ?

How long were you waiting for that ?

Thanks a lot!
Questions aren't silly, they are what I used to ask others. CAF (no tracking). Sequential shooting LO (so that CAF continues between frames), electronic shutter. No pro capture.
I waited for about an hour for the bird to turn up and then another hour for it to dive!

Cool, what size af box do/did you use and just to confirm this was with the rds?

I used 5 x 5 and yes, with the red dot sight.

Thanks, last question, promise! Scanner and sensitivity settings do you use for bif, thanks.