Got to the lake about 4PM and hung around waiting for the eagles to show. It was the first really nice day we've had this year, so the lake was busy with fisherman, including two couples near me with kids who screamed and cried the entire time I was there. But I digress.
The eagle showed up at about the same time as the last time I was at the lake, right around 5PM. I took other shots of loons and gulls and so on, but I wasn't happy with them at all. I have to say my technique with the 7D/400-5.6 combo needs work. I'm quite disappointed in my captures. The 7D does not lend itself to major cropping like the 6D does. And sadly, I was pretty far away from all the action, like 1/3 to 1/2 mile. I'm also not getting the hang of auto modes. I started with AV mode and set +1-1/3 EV, but when I was shooting the eagles landing in a tree, the shutter speed dropped to 1/150 and then down to 1/80 without my noticing it. Needless to say on a 400 5.6 with no IS, this didn't work out. Then I switched to TV mode and set the shutter at 1/1000. Many of my shots then were underexposed. None of my shots today were really crisp. Overall, a big letdown. I was using the tripod and gimbal head, so I can't blame hand-holding. I probably should have taken the time to switch to the 6D just for comparison.
Anyway, here are some shots. The big culprit in all of these was the lack of reach. Most are crops in the 80-90% range.
