Reflections On Photographing Eagles In Haines AK

Dale Matson

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Dale With Monopod

One of my favorite wildlife photography subjects is the eagle. I must say that much of my local winter wildlife experience is at Millerton Lake. There are many more eagles in the winter who have migrated to Millerton to avoid the harsh winters at Great Slave Lake in Canada. At Millerton Lake, knowing where the eagles congregate has been useful along with where their main food source, the coots, are available. Much of eagle photography for me has been learned by the photos…what works and what does not work. There are also camera and lens limitations and not having the right tool for the job is frustrating.

As someone who was primarily a landscape photographer, I found eagles to be much more challenging. Some things carry over like composing a shot but with eagles, decisions are time limited. I have learned to look for the drama and how a shot tells a story. I have learned to read the body language of eagles and generally know when they are about to fly.

All of this said, if you ever go to Haines AK when the Salmon are spawning, you will have an entirely new experience. There are roughly 4,000 eagles gathered along a short stretch of the Chilkot River. Generally, I had already learned that a perched eagle was less interesting than a flying eagle (BIF). In the morning when the eagles are more active, the light is low and a fast shutter speed makes for a high ISO photograph for most of the lenses in the 100-400mm range which are more affordable than a 400mm F 2.8 prime lens.

Being in a group of four experienced photographers led by a guide who is also a photographer helped me to learn so many things I was previously not aware of. I generally used the “spray and pray” method. The best photographers took less photographs and were careful to compose a shot first.

It was a rare occasion when birds in trees did not have intervening branches and the photographers avoided most of those shots even when the bird was close (less than 20’ away) They wanted the whole bird and they wanted to fill the frame without any part of the bird being out of the frame.

You could tell by the sound of the Nikons and Canons all fired at the same time that the money shot was always when an eagle was eating a salmon and other eagle would occasionally converge on that eagle. My Sony had silent shutter. In those cases, less magnification was better to keep the birds in the frame and taking my teleconverter off meant I also had additional light and could increase my speed to 1/1600. The birds in flight were more likely to be 1/2000. 1/650 was fine for a bird on the ground. I was able to get close enough to birds on the ground (10’) that the eagle to fill the frame.

Shutter speed can be limited by light but also by the speed of the SD card, Jpeg or Raw, using both cards simultaneously, frame rate and buffer size crop or full frame.

I shouldn’t have been surprised but overcast skies were better conditions for even light than sunny skies. This is not the same as ideal landscape ideal conditions.

I’m sure that most of the photographers in the several groups believe that their big lenses held up by big tripods with gimbals was the way to go. But most of the shots were close to very close. I had the Sony A7R3 with the 100-400mm GM lens. I used a monopod for longer shots with the 400 and 1.4 TC for birds on the ground. All the rest of my shots were hand held as I sat on a folding stool with my elbows resting on my knees. At age 74 It was much more comfortable than standing behind a tripod. When other photo opportunities came up, my gear was also the most portable.

Did I get the best photographs? No, but I leaned lots beginning with ordering a Sony A9 which is a better action camera than the high resolution A7R3. 

The Following Photos Were Taken By Sharon 

 Our Group [Back] Guide Carl Tom Sharon [Front] Dale Sharon My Wife