Killer (Graphic!)

Wow, that is just amazing that you caught this. Nature at it's rawest. Congrats.

Awesome action and one great photo.

Great action, pretty graphic to say the least. Nice job.

I love shots that show all aspects of the nature world and this one doesn't disappoint. Great job capturing this event!

Great shot, Oliver! Is this near where I think it is?

Scott

I'll take a great, real-life capture like this any time. You feel bad for the loon, but good for the eagle.

aj

Amazing capture!

Marc, talk about being in the right place at the right time!

This is wonderful, and you certainly made the most of the encounter.

This is what nature photography is all about, and thanks for sharing this image with us

Best,

Chas

Great shot, especially the way the loon is biting back! But in terms of film, you never walk alone with RVP--in addition to ISO 40, there's 80 and even 160 ISO in a pinch (too much sun here for 160, but 80 would be indistinguishable from 40).

Wow, this is excellent! I actually think the Velvia at 40 was a blessing here because pushed it the blacks may have blocked up more IME. Now, had you had provia...The motion in the wings is a plus for me and the rest is plenty sharp! Wonderful job of capturing this!

Marc,

Your timing was impeccable. Great capture.

Jim

This happened very close to where I live (St.Margrets Bay, Nova Scotia - about 25min drive from Halifax & Peggys Cove). We had a fairly sudden freeze and a good portion of the bay was covered with ice during the night. I was making breakfast and kept seeing gulls and crows whizzing by the window - then an eagle went by; well, now I had to investigate...

After lifting my jaw off of the floor I raced for the camera gear. I made a few shots through the windows of the basement door, then I stepped outside and carefully made my way to the water. It didn't take too long for the eagles to notice me and take to the air though. I backed off a little and they quickly came back to finish off the trapped loon. As far as I coulld tell, the male and female were taking turns with the poor thing until it was dead. Suddenly they both flew to chase an immature eagle approaching in the distance. It was then that I noticed the loon's mate come forward from its hiding spot among the rocks and drag itself toward its deceased mate. It almost seemed to kiss its partner goodbye one last time - anyone that tries to tell me that animals go only by instinct is a fool IMO!
It then continued to drag itself toward open water; loons can only take off from water, which in this case was about 1/2 mile away. After about 10 mins. it gave up and stopped, resigned to its fate. In the distance I could see the larger, female eagle swoop down to pluck the loon right from the ice and then disappear behind the trees on one of the bay's islands. Unfortunately this was too far away for photos.

Cliff: I already had shot part of the roll so I couldn't push, though in retrospect, I should've sacrificed those shots. :roll: It didn't cross my mind for the next roll. :roll:

Greg: Thanks for the kind words (everyone actually) but this is a case of where the internet can be deceiving - while this is nearly full frame it only holds up to about 8x10 (great 5x7 though). I'm not sure how much was due to shooting 1200mm@1/60 with the old 2x wide open but these are not the sharpest frames I've shot. I only had the lens for about a week when this happened.

cheers, Oliver

Marc
This is an absolutely awesome shot. The additional information that you gave makes it even more interesting. Outstanding!!!

Hey Oliver,

this is awesome. I have hundreds of bald eagle images, and if I had one that carried the drama of this one I'd be happy.

Great capture.

Cheers

Carl

Excellent. I really like the blur in both of their wings, it shows the struggle and action that was taking place.

stunning action!!!!!!!!!!!

Nature in the raw.
Well done for capturing such brutal action. Excellent job.

YES

Latafat