Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2005/05/31

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Subject: [Leica] Bald Eagle Photos; proving I'm far lazier than doug herr
From: KCassidy at asc.upenn.edu (Kyle Cassidy)
Date: Tue May 31 06:31:48 2005

In 1980, Pennsylvania had only three pairs of nesting bald eagles. Today,
there are something like 45 pairs, largely due to reintroduction. Hardly a
stellar comeback, but a significant achievement nonetheless.

I knew that to photograph a bald eagle in Pennsylvania would be a challenge,
but one that I felt up for. In late 2003, a pair of bald eagles nested at
the Beaver Run Reservoir in westmorland county. They hatched two babies and
later that year, the father was shot by a turkey hunter but the two babies
survived.

Across from their aerie is a sheer 60 foot rock cliff with no road access
that looks down from about 120 feet -- I knew this would be the vantage
point from which the nest must be photographed. I called
ye-professional-photo palace to rent a 600mm f4 AF-S and a 1.4x
teleconverter, and looked into the proper gear backpack for climbing the
rockface. Then I scheduled climbing lessons at the Centerville Rock Wall
gym. Bob Tukkas was very helpful in teaching me piton and caribeaner skills.
I slated two hours for the climb which left me with a dilema, I wanted to
get there just as the crepuscular light broke over the nest, which would
have me climbing at dark, a dangerous prospect. 

"Ah, what the hell," I figured, and took the lens rental money, bought a
case of burbon and went to the philadelphia zoo and photographed Ritz and
Glory with a 300mm where they sat, ignominiously, with an autographed
(philadelphia eagles) football, looking very bored. 

http://www.asc.upenn.edu/usr/cassidy/lj/2005/eagle.jpg

Then I had ice cream and went home, realizing I'll never be half the
photographer doug herr is, but I do have a case of burbon.


Replies: Reply from douglas.sharp at gmx.de (Douglas Sharp) ([Leica] Bald Eagle Photos; proving I'm far lazier than doug herr)
Reply from max_weisenfeld at verizon.net (Max Weisenfeld) ([Leica] Bald Eagle Photos; proving I'm far lazier than doug herr)