'Up close and personal' with eagles as they fly? Is such photography possible?
Yes it is. We do not need an aircraft, hang glider or a helicopter either 😀 All we need is a pair of sturdy legs and lots of stamina!
I am never happy with taking pictures of high flying eagles of various types just from below as the float past - high overhead. Mostly such photos turn out to be silhouettes. Though they do show the wing span and that has it's own beauty, I always feel like taking pics of the eagles more 'eye-to-eye with eagles!
Let me show you what I mean - here is a picture of the crested hawk eagle as it flew past - high overhead
The sky background though, is not so appealing in such pictures. After taking scores of such shots, I began wondering if it was possible to actually take shots of eagles more at eye level and with some nice background.
I was a few million HIVE short for buying a fancy plane, hot air baloon or helicopter (I know I will get there with HIVE platform one day but that is far off! 🤣). In any case, even if I had one of those appliances, would the eagles not fly rapidly away when such contraptions approached them? Of course!
The solution presented itself and it was a solution granted by mother nature.
I happened to visit a sanctuary where I was on a high cliff and there was a sheer drop into a valley below at one end of the sanctuary. Guess my delight when I found mighty Bonelli's eagles at almost eye level!!
I now knew how to get up close and personal with eagles! I started climbing hills where there were valleys nearby that had eagles around them.
It is sometimes an easy exercise because on some hills, roads exists to the top (for access to some telephone towers, power lines, light houses etc.) but mostly it is an arduous task to climb hills on foot paths fit only for mountain goats. I am no spring-chicken and my bones creak as I plod uphill with my heavy (4 pounds+) camera gear.😀 However, I managed to get some nice clicks.
Apart from the Bonelli's eagle, I also got two other species of eagles -
Crested hawk eagle -
Here is one more of a crested hawk eagle in a different location...
These eagles were a joy to watch at eye level but even more thrilling was the black eagle. I imagine very few people would have eye level flight clicks of this rare type of eagle
Black eagle - A rare sighting in our parts
While it is exciting to click eagles like this, as they are flying high above ground, it is even more exciting to click them as they look at me.
Sometimes the eagles floated past so close that they could hear the shutter clicking and turned to look at me!
Do not believe me? See these two clicks of two separate types of eagles, looking straight at me as they fly past...
Here is the mighty Bonelli's eagle looking at me with a surprised expression 😃
Here is a crested hawk eagle as it took a good look at me!
It took patience, physical stamina, equipment with correct technology (high frame rate camera and a telephoto lens or preferably a prime lens (which is faster to focus)) to capture these pictures.
I think all the exertion and hassle of climbing hills to capture these photos was worth it. It was immensely satisfying. What do you think ? Do you think it was worth it? Have you attempted or would you attempt anything like this in photography?
Please comment freely and let me know your opinion. I will try to bring many different types of wildlife photos/macro/Astro posts to the community. Feedback and comments are welcome,. I am still learning many techniques and always value feedback from experts in this community.
Have a nice day everyone. Cheers!
