Video: Bald Eagles of Homer, Winter 2007

As a preface, most people can’t believe how many eagles are in one location… this is untouched footage, no video trickery:) This video was made on a typical morning shoot in Jean Keene’s yard, back in 2007, shot from a point and shoot camera in movie mode. The person with their back to Tim in the opening clip is Jean, as she preps and tosses fish over the wall. I have been in her yard when there have been easily twice this number of Bald Eagles at one time… and yes, they do get that close. Closer at times, I’ve seen them land on abandoned tripods, cameras, and even the occasional human head! This is usually accompanied by a muffled, “Hoooooly, sh!t” It’s a quick clip, but fun. Favorite part? When Tim says, “Too bad there’s not enough eagles here…”

As a side note, Jean usually fed 500 lbs of fish to the eagles, each day. Around 40,000 lbs throughout a winter. Quite a women.

More Bald Eagles of Homer, December 2008

What, you thought I didn’t have any more? HA! In fact I just confirmed my reservations for the end of this month in Homer, goin’ back again for some more fun. And I’m taking some new gear this time… no, not a new camera (out of the budget for now). I was lucky to be able to try a Bushhawk on my last trip to Homer. Only for a short time, but I was quickly hooked. A Bushhawk is a… well, I don’t know exactly how to explain it. It’s a camera stabilization system, configured like an assault rifle stock. Lightweight and comfortable, your camera sits on top of it (secured by an Arca-Swiss style mount) and allows you to pan easier than the standard hand holding of a camera. There is a foregrip with an optional secondary extended vertical grip like you might find on a military submachine gun. I’ll admit I’ve seen these advertised in the back of photo mags for several years, always kind of shrugged them off as more “photo-geekery”, always thought I’d get picked on for using one. But then I tried one for a few minutes… wow, what a difference.

Bald Eagle, Landing

Most of you probably don’t know this about me, but I have a long competitive shooting background. I started shooting Trap, then Skeet since I was around 12. Shot in local, state, regional, and national championships on several occasions – even won a bit of each. So this new Bushhawk felt very natural to me. My panning was smoother, I was able to acquire my target (ahem… I mean subject) much faster, and I was much more steady than simple handholding. I really think this new tool will be invaluable for wildlife/fast action photography. It works much better than a tripod for in-flight bird photography, much quicker. One thing I noticed about my short time with it, was that I was less fatigued and my back didn’t feel nearly as tight using it. It even has an incorporated 2 stage trigger; the first stage is for autofocus, the second is for taking the picture. It is fully customizable as well to each user, very nice. I’ll have a full review up here when I return from Homer around the 26th. I also recently purchased a new pair of winter gloves, specifically for photography. They are relatively thin and stretchy, but have a wind/water proof membrane, and are reportedly good to more than -30F. The key is, they are thin gloves, so I maintain my dexterity. I hate wearing bulky gloves while pursuing photography in the winter, but I also hate frost-bite. Looking forward to seeing how they work out. They are made by SealSkinz, and are distributed in the U.S. by Danalco. I’ll have a review of these as well.

Bald Eagle Profile, Frozen Beak

Anyway, here are a few more photos from Homer a few weeks ago. 

STAY TUNED:)

Bald Eagles, December in Homer, 2008

Well, this is my last morning with the eagles for a couple weeks. I’m just heading out the door to The Spit to wrap up this shoot, and then in a few hours I’ll be heading back up to Wasilla. Here are a couple more images from this weekend. I’ll be posting more images from this shoot everyday (hopefully:). 

The first image is an eagle on one of the many perches set up in Jean Keene’s yard (The Eagle Lady). The sun had just peaked over the mountains (at camera left), and was casting a gorgeous warm side light across the bay… and onto the eagles. The perches are set up for the benefit of both photographers & eagles. The eagles gather by the hundreds in her yard waiting for the fish scraps to be tossed over the wall. Many times, early in the days feeding, a chunk of herring will be thrown over the fence and a huge bald eagle will fly in within seconds, lower it’s massive talons and scoop up it’s prize – all while never touching the ground! It’s a blur of feathers and power.

 

Bald Eagle Staring Intently... They do everything intently!

The second image is part of my detail series, like this close up of “Peaches” the bear in Katmai (the last image in the linked post). I love the detail shots of wild creatures that allow you to get close. The texture and patterns are mesmerizing as a photographer.

 

Immature Bald Eagle Detail

STAY TUNED:)

Bald Eagles of Homer, December 2008

What a way to spend a birthday! Here’s a quadruple post for you, since Santa said you’ve all been more nice than naughty. The first shot is something different, it’s a silhouette of an eagle (of course) against the beautiful sky we had this morning (Saturday the 27th). I think the more abstract form of the bird was a stark contrast to the soft golden/amber glow above the mountains. There seems to be a bug with the software that runs this Journal, so for now there is no way to click on the images to enlarge them… hopefully this will be fixed soon.

Bald Eagle Silhouette Over Kachemak Bay

The next 3 images are a series of shots, a more humorous take on things.

"You could use a mint."

"Hey you with the big camera! You got any Binaca?"

"Yeah, we're not talking till you brush your beak."

One day down, two to go with the eagles… this month. Keep checking back, I’ll post more pics ASAP. Take care and have a happy holidays.