While disorder and confusion was taking over the lower 48 due to the Coronavirus, my tour participants and I spent two weeks safely holed up in a small photogenic corner of Alaska tirelessly photographing eagles. Frankly, I was glad to be in Alaska with all the surreal events taking place at home, but thankfully both tours finished right before any shelter-in-place or travel bans caused any issues returning home. With all that was going on, my group participants and I really enjoyed each and every minute of our time together on the tour. A special thanks to the people that were able to join our tour and make it all possible.
First light midair stall above Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 140mm and 1/2500 sec. at f/4.5 and ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.
The real colors in the image above are impossible to reproduce accurately on a screen, I tried believe me, they were just too intense and saturated. Even though this image is not on the same level as the real-world , I can still see people saying the image is oversaturated, and that’s okay, I’m just thankful that I was there to share the experience shooting in this kind of light with the others in my photo group. Light just doesn’t get any better than this.
When I made this image my group and I had absolutely perfect conditions, eagles in beautiful light set against dark storm clouds with perfect winds! Realistically we could not have done any better with the conditions we enjoyed on both tours with bright diffused light almost everyday. Surprisingly we had enough light to routinely use 1/4000 of a second and higher at ISO 400. Take a look at the tech info below each image to the settings I used to make each image.
Eagle photobombing in Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 110mm and 1/1250 sec. at f/5.6 with ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.
Portrait sessions are really fun when you have tame birds, like the one above, to work with. The sub-adult birds are especially cooperative and extremely easy to work around, for example, to make this image above I needed just 110mm to fill the frame. This image was a big surprise; I was working with a f/2.8 lens and I failed to check the DOF preview, so I honestly didn’t see the adult eagle on the right, when I made the image. Can you imagine my surprise when I processed the RAW file and the second eagle popped up out of nowhere!
Collision course over Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 120mm and 1/5000 sec. at f/5.6 and ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.
This year we enjoyed more amazing eagle interactions than I’ve ever seen. It takes luck, a lot of patience and local knowledge to anticipate the action. But usually the results are easily worth the wait. The immature birds are usually more prone to react to show dominance and aggression, knowing this fact can really help you anticipate images like the one above. Some of the actions of the birds this year were hard to believe! Some immature birds switch from completely calm to kill mode in a just milliseconds.
Eagle warning call over prey in Kachemak Bay Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 300mm and 1/4000 sec. at f/4 and ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.
You can’t beat perfect soft light, snow on the ground, friendly habituated eagles all around, and a couple of friends to share the experience. Special thanks to our local guide Gabe for going the extra mile for us everyday! My tours wouldn’t be possible without our teamwork.
Eagle sub-adults eye-to-eye in Kachemak Bay Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 120mm and 1/2500 sec. at f/3.5 and ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.
The actions of some immature eagles are just outrageous. We almost couldn’t believe our eyes as we watched one eagle pounce on another without any provocation whatsoever. On the other hand, the actions of the adult birds were much more calm and calculated but still fascinating at the same time.
To make the image below I used a technique where I held the camera vertically by the battery grip. This method is a personal favorite of mine and it really works to help prevent inadvertent wing clipping.
Hard bank under perfect cloudy skies in Kachemak Bay Alaska. Nikon D500 with Sigma Sports 120-300 f/2.8 at 180mm and 1/5000 sec. at f/4 and ISO 400 in manual mode and handheld.
If you enjoy the images in this post, think about joining us next year. I’ve led no less than 42 eagle tours in Alaska and there are a lot of new group leaders offering similar tours now, but none have as much experience as I do leading successful eagle tours in this area. These new operators try as hard as they can to copy what we do, some have even hired the same local guide as I do. Do yourself a favor and don’t settle for a leader with less experience and local knowledge, as they will never be able to get you the same level of results that I can. I will be shooting with you, and my team and I will make sure you get the results you want. Compare the level of the images you see here to work from other eagle tour leaders to see the difference.
Join us in 2021, email me right away if you are interested or if you have any questions, you can also find more information here: https://www.robertotoole.com/eagle-tour