Bald Eagles Photography and settings
The Bald Eagle is such a big powerful bird and there is nothing like capturing a photo of a Bald Eagle with its white head and tail.
First of all here are a few tips even before heading out with your camera –
- The biggest tip is patience. Just because you have a camera doesn’t anything will happen as soon as you turn up.
- Read about habits of the Bald Eagles. Find out where and when they feed and find a place to set up.
- Fast shutter speeds. You don’t want blurry wings when the Bald Eagle is in flight.
Living in Squamish BC we get hundreds of Bald Eagles arriving as early as November and stay as late as March – Squamish Bald Eagle Info
Bald Eagle Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm @ 600mm f7.1 1/1000 ISO 500
BASIC EQUIPMENT
Camera with Manual mode – M on the dial so will need to be able to set the shutter speed and Aperture
Telephoto Lens – Ideally bigger the better but the minimum would be 200mm if you can get close but the chances are you’ll shooting from a distance so something like 500-600mm.
Tripod – This one is optional, but a good sturdy tripod and a gimbal head. You can use a ball head but it’s not easy when a Bald Eagle is in flight.
Here is a link to the gear I use My Gear List
Bald Eagles Settings
- For a Bald Eagle in flight a fast shutter speed such as 1/1000 or quicker
- For a Bald Eagle perch then a slower shutter can be used
- ISO depending on your camera and how good the low light capabilities you can set it but I wouldn’t go over 3200. Take a couple of test shots and see if you can drop the ISO down.
- Another way is to set your ISO to auto so if you are tracking a Bald Eagle in flight and its going through different light levels the Auto ISO will select the ISO needed.
- Aperture – as wide open as you can to get the fast shutter speed
Bald Eagle Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm @ 400 f6 1/80 ISO 1600
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