Natural Art: The Photography of Brad Hill

 
Rehearsing the Kill

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In the Field

Rehearsing the Kill. Khutzeymateen Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. June 21, 2024.

Bald Eagles aren't uncommon in the Khutzeymateen Inlet and Estuary, and I'm always looking for opportunities to capture novel images of them. In my view, between their eyes and sharply hooked bill, Bald Eagles have a way of looking on the nasty or almost "evil" side, or often just plain pissed-off. For whatever reason, this particular Bald Eagle repeatedly raised its foot and gave us this almost "sideways" look...almost like he/she was rehearsing what it was going to do the next time it pounced on a salmon (or a merganser chick, or...). Definitely made me chuckle and raise may camera!

I captured this image with my Z9 paired with a Z 800mm f6.3S PF during one of my "Grizzlies of the Khutzeymateen" photo tours in June of 2024. My Khutzeymateen photo tours feature, on average, the shortest "distance-to-subject" of all my photo tours, and in most cases an 800mm lens is overkill for photographing the bears (you rarely need more than a 400mm lens for capturing bear photos - including intimate portraits - in the Khutzeymateen). Yes, on some occasions an 800mm lens will deliver just want you want while photographing bears in the Khutzeymateen (or of eagles or possibly even the odd wolf), but more often than not it's just too much lens (unless you're looking for eyeball shots!).

Here's a larger version (4800 pixel) of this grumpy-looking Bald Eagle for your viewing pleasure:

Rehearsing the Kill: Download 4800 pixel image (JPEG: 4.9 MB)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. These images - in all resolutions - are protected by copyright. I'm fine with personal uses of them (including use as desktop backgrounds or screensavers on your own computer), but unauthorized commercial use of the image is prohibited by law. Thanks in advance for respecting my copyright!

2. Like all photographs on this website, these images were captured following the strict ethical guidelines described in The Wildlife FIRST! Principles of Photographer Conduct. As such, no baiting or any form of attractant was used and, as always, we attempted to minimize our impact on the ongoing behaviour of the subjects. I strongly encourage all wildlife photographers to always put the welfare of their subjects above the value of their photographs.

3. This image was captured during one of my Grizzlies of the Khutzeymateen photo tours in June of 2024. Each year I offer trips into the Great Bear Rainforest as well as tours into the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary (to photograph grizzlies, of course!). Details about these trips can be found on the Photo Tours page of this website.

Behind the Camera

Rehearsing the Kill. Khutzeymateen Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. June 21, 2024.

High Efficiency* Compressed RAW (NEF) format; ISO 720.

Nikon Z9 paired with Z Nikkor 800mm f6.3S. Hand-held from a floating Zodiac inflatable boat. VR on in Sport mode. Wide-area (13x7) AF area mode with subject detection set to "Birds" mode.

1/6400s @ f6.3; -1.0 stop compensation from matrix-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Rehearsing the Kill. Khutzeymateen Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. June 21, 2024.

Initial noise reduction and capture sharpening on the .nef (raw) file using the DeepPRIME XD2S algorithm of DXO PhotoLab 8.1 Elite (using the appropriate lens/camera optical module).

Subsequent adjustments to the adjusted linear DNG file (exported from PhotoLab) and conversion to 16-bit TIFF file (and JPEG files for web use) - including all global and selective adjustments - made using Phase One's Capture One Pro (build 16.4.6). In the case of this image the only global adjustments were an overall contrast tweak (using the Levels tool) and a slight reduction in highlights. Selective local adjustments performed using Capture One Pro's layers and masking tools. In this case numerous small adjustments and minor tweaks were made on 7 separate layers, with most of the tweaks being associated with "exposure balancing" and contrast adjustments (such as adjustments to clarity, highlights, shadows, etc.).

Photoshop modifications included insertion of the watermark and/or text.

Conservation

Rehearsing the Kill. Khutzeymateen Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. June 21, 2024.

Species Status in Canada*: This species is not designated as at risk. The Bald Eagle was listed as "Endangered" in the contiguous US states from 1967 to 1995. In 1995 it was downlisted to "Threatened". On June 28, 2007 Bald Eagles were removed from the list of endangered and threatened species - a true American conservation success story.

The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is a very large bird of prey with broad wings. Adults possess characteristic white ("bald") heads. It takes Bald Eagles a full five years to attain their characteristic adult plumage (including their nearly pure white head and tail). In the years prior to the development of their adult plumage they are easy to confuse with Golden Eagles. Being very broad-winged Bald Eagles are able to use an energy-efficient flapping-soaring style of flight. While many people like to think of the Bald Eagle as a fierce hunter, in reality they hunt only as a last resort. More commonly they scavenge for their prey. Additionally, they often klepto-parasitize other weaker species such as Osprey, commonly stealing the other species hard-earned prey items. The Bald Eagle is, of course, the national emblem of the United States (Benjamin Franklin argued against this - his preference was for the Wild Turkey).

*as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada