Yesterday was a beautiful day, with blue skies and temperatures soaring above 60 degrees (16 degrees C). I visited Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge and was thrilled to have multiple sightings of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).
One eagle seemed particularly vigilant, keeping careful watch over the entire area. Initially the eagle was mostly hidden from view by the heavy vegetation, but eventually I found a visual tunnel that gave me a mostly unobstructed view of the majestic eagle.
Photographing bald eagles can be quite challenging—the extreme contrast between the bright white heads and the dark bodies means that I have to choose the exposure for the image carefully to avoid blowing out the highlights in the head or losing the details of the body in the shadows.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Absolutely superb photo, Mike.
Thanks, Jet. I know that you enjoy my eagle photos. It was close to midday, but the lighting was coming from a good direction and did a nice job in illuminating the eagle.
Stunning portrait. I had not thought about the challenge of capturing detail in the darker feathers without blowing out the whites. You’ve definitely accomplished finding the right balance in this shot.
Thanks, Laura. Software helps a bit when a shot is not exposed properly. If the white details are pushed to pure white, you can’t recover any details and similarly if the dark details are pushed to black, you can’t pull out any details. It’s a bit of a balancing act and you can’t rely on the camera’s auto exposure modes to get it right.
You found the perfect angle Michael, I know it’s sometimes difficult to find :-) Also your light balance is realy good.
Nice shot !
Thanks. I was fortunate that things came together for this. I had to move around a bit to find a good angle and I was afraid that my movement would scare off the eagle, even though I was trying to move as stealthily as I could.
Stunning photo, Mike. The eagle’s eyes are so piercing.
Thanks, Michelle. I think that it was the intensity of the look in the eyes that caused me to characterize the eagle as “vigilant.”
A sensational photo, Mike, and such a majestic subject!
Magnificent bird.