![\"golden-eagle-5969-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/golden-eagle-5969-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nFlawed images can still be of value to the photographer – they can teach us new lessons or remind us of old ones\u00a0previously learned\u00a0but temporarily forgotten in the heat of the moment. This\u00a0photo of a Golden Eagle in flight taken\u00a0about two months ago in Box Elder County is a case in point.<\/p>\n
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1\/1000, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n I had high hopes for the image until I saw it on my screen. I immediately noticed that the head of the bird is just a little bit too soft for a quality presentation so I filed it away and moved on. To be honest I probably would have deleted it if it hadn’t been a Golden Eagle in flight. It isn’t bad but it isn’t very good either.<\/p>\n But last night I noticed something that escaped me on the first pass –\u00a0both wings are much, much softer than the head. I was far enough away from this eagle that I didn’t think depth of field would be an issue but it obviously is since I have plenty of shutter speed to prevent motion blur on this large, slow-flapping species.<\/p>\n It had been a long time since I’d photographed an eagle in flight and I just didn’t think to allow for the incredible depth of their\u00a0wingspan – up to and even exceeding 7 1\/2 ft in Golden Eagles. Since I’m shooting at an effective 1120mm I had no chance to get the wings sharp\u00a0at these\u00a0camera settings\u00a0(even if the head had been sharper) when they’re in this position.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender,\u00a0not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n It might be interesting to compare the first image to this one of the same bird taken 10 frames (one second)\u00a0later in the burst (I’ve posted this photo previously).<\/p>\n The entire bird is sharper but the wingtips are also soft, even though I had slightly higher shutter speed. But because of their position the softness of the wings doesn’t matter nearly so much – we see the entire body length of the bird and it’s sharp and the soft left wing doesn’t drape down in front of the body to take our attention away from the sharper parts of the eagle. I like this photo a lot – the first one, not so much.<\/p>\n So, the next time I’m photographing an eagle\u00a0(of either species) in flight\u00a0I’ll try to remember to allow for the incredible wingspan of these magnificent birds.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Flawed images can still be of value to the photographer – they can teach us new lessons or remind us of old ones previously learned but temporarily forgotten in the heat of the moment.<\/p>\n![\"golden-eagle-5979-ron-dudley\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/09\/golden-eagle-5979-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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