Hokkaido Photo Tours - Hokkaido’s Photogenic White-tailed Eagles

As many experienced birding photographers will tell you, taking a wildlife photo of an animal coming directly at you is the most challenging photographic capture, but in that respect, technological developments are helping me and all photographers take more dynamic wildlife and birding photos.  For this image I used the Nikon Z7 Mark ll with an amazingly accurate and lighting fast auto focus that allowed me this time and others to capture images of wildlife coming directly at me.  In the field, I use Nikon’s Z9, Z7 Mark ll, D850 and for a telephoto lens, I prefer to use the Sigma 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM Sports with a 2x teleconverter which gives me 240-600mm, and, truth be told, I prefer this lens over the Nikon 180-400mm f/4, which I had for about a year, then I sold it to a colleague, that I work with on photo workshops.  The Sigma is considerably cheaper than its Nikon counterpart, but I consider it a better lens.  The Sigma lens’ versatility is amazing and it’s tack sharp; the vibration reduction is great; the autofocus is a tad slower than Nikon but not by much, and in my opinion it’s a superior lens for photographers who are hard on their gear in the field.  On more than one occasion, my Sigma lens has taken a beating and had to be sent in for repairs.  Sigma is based in Japan, and repairs have always gone so smoothly and return times are fast.  When I break a lens in the field, I only have to wait a few days for my lens to be fixed, or if there is a delay, I am provided with a loaner lens so I can quickly return to chasing the light.  Camera gear has come a long way in just five years, the new technological is outstanding.  Just five to seven years ago myself and other photographers had to calculate where a bird would strike in order to get a tack sharp shot, and we would have to adjust our focus point, anticipating where the bird would strike its prey, and of course we had to rely on our experience.  We couldn’t rely on the camera and the lens' autofocus, because it could be easily fooled.  Now, the lens and cameras are helping carry some of the burden regarding those calculations.  And I was fortunate on the day to have the latest technology, Sigma’s lens and Nikon camera when I took this photo because of the speed with which the White-tailed eagle was coming straight at me.  White-tailed eagles are reported to have a top speed of 70 kph (about 45 mph), but I’ve seen my share of raptors flying all over the world, and I know this eagle was moving faster than that during the dive.  I’d say it was closer to 100 kph (about 60 mph), as it swooped down in front of me, and I took the photo at the precisely correct moment.  I’ve shown this photo to colleagues, and some have actually asked me, “Is this photo real?”  Without missing a beat, I reply, “Are you serious?  Of course it is!”  My colleagues usually change the subject after that or start asking me different questions about photos in my gallery.  Speaking of my gallery, colleagues sometimes tell me, “Haven’t I seen this photo somewhere before?”  Or they ask me if I’ve published the image in a book or online on a photo journal website.  In some occasions, that latter is true, but my photos have been used without my permission on websites, online journals, t-shirts, and on some rare occasions in print.  I always warn photographers, only share a photo online that you are willing to have borrowed, and other birding photographers know how rare the photo attached to this newsletter is, and few birders have a similar shot, but art should be shared, and, of course, I would prefer that an agency or fellow visual artist would ask me before using my photographs for commercial purposes, but it’s much easier to take credit for my photos then learn the craft like I have.  A couple times each year, I share once in a lifetime images from my cross country photo expeditions around Japan.