Eagles in flight are always a challenge for me to photograph, so I was really happy when I managed to capture this image of a bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) that flew by me on Monday morning at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge as rays of sunlight illuminated different parts of its body.
Quite often when I spot eagles in flight, they are really high up in the sky and it is difficult to capture details of the majestic birds. As you can probably tell from the angle of view in this shot, this eagle was flying at a relatively low angle when I took this shot. Additionally, the eagle was pretty close—I cropped some from the top of the original image, but not much at all from side to side. In fact, one of the biggest problems I had was keeping the eagle within the frame. On several other images I took, I cut off portions of the wings or of the body.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
What a majestic image!
Very nice picture. Majestic indeed!
Nice!
Great composition. It really captures the fluid lines and grace of an eagle in flight.
Thanks, Laura. I’d love to say that the composition was intentional, but as I recall, I was mostly struggling to keep the eagle in focus and in the frame at that time. It was a pleasant surprise to see how well the shot turned out, though I did have to make a few adjustments to try to pull some additional details out of the shadows of the wings.
I suspect you probably compose the shot without even thinking about it, understanding you have to give the subject space within the frame etc.
Nice Mike! Eagles are always fun to photograph! My favorite place for Eagles is the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in Maryland. But it is 4 hours away! The closest large concentration of Eagles in the Northeast. Great sunrises and sunsets also.