Thanks for your comments on my last photo. We stopped at a roadside pond in Baxter State Park, and I liked the look of this island way across the pond. I put on the long lens and was excited to see a bald eagle perched in a tree. It doesn’t do much for the image, but it was cool to see something I didn’t notice without the zoom.
5D2, 100-400 @ 400
f/8, 1/30s, ISO100
TK curves adjustments, desaturated background trees to emphasize the island.
Well that is pretty cool, fall color and an eagle to boot. This scene has Maine written all over it, with the red blueberry bushes, the birches, and lots of spruce trees. All of these elements work very well together, and the eagle is the icing on this cake. In terms of composition, I think you included just the right amount of water. Enough to define the shoreline, but an amount that doesn’t show too much of the gray water from an overcast sky. I like this image a lot Craig, it tells a nice nature story.
My only suggestion would be to make a slight crop from the right. The color there is not that strong, and I think it would place the eagle in a slightly better position. This is a matter of personal taste, and I think the image works fine as presented.
It looks like you came away with several keepers from your autumn trip to Maine, Craig. That sure was nice of the eagle to sit there and pose for you as it makes for another nice element in this scene. I always enjoy the whites of the birch surrounded by the deep reds of the lowbush blueberry. I just have a couple of small suggestions as this is lovely as is. I would clone that downed birch by the water’s edge along with a little crop from the right as @Ed_McGuirk suggested. This is just a personal preference, but I would boost the saturation of the reds and yellows by five points. I hope you do not mind, but here is a repost with what I was thinking.
Thanks @Ed_Lowe. I did get a number of images that I’m pretty happy with on this trip, and there will be others coming. I like your edits, thanks for taking the time!
