The Eagle and The Man

[Jun Xiang Goh]

I took this shot few days ago in the old town of Monschau, Germany. This is the daily activity there where some trained eagles will make performance in front of hundreds of visitors.

Due to lack of time and insufficient place to properly set up the camera i have used auto focus and hand held to shoot those pictures, and because of that i have accidentally focused on the eagle instead of on the man. My question is, does it look nice in this way or is it better to focus on the man? Any other comments on how i can improve this shot? I do really appreciate every idea you give


Camera: Canon EOS 450D
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 179 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Off, Did not fire

[zona5101]

i dig it with the focus on the bird...heck i might even blur the man out even more....

[Preacherman]

Absolutely agree.The focus on the bird is essential to this shot. Great capture Jun. Can't wait to see more of your work. PAUL

[DCBarner]

+1 Very cool. It's interesting the man is looking in one direction and the bird in the other.

Dane

[katia]

are you crazy, the focus on the bird is GREAT! it gives us a sense that the bird owns the man, instead of the other way around.

the bird just looks so powerful in this shot, which is not usually the case in a photo with human/wildlife interaction.

great job!

[Jun Xiang Goh]

thanks for your comments. actually the man is looking at the other naughty eagle who is not willing to come down from the blue sky

[Vallie]

I agree with everyone, the eagle is the star in this shot. Fabulous!

[Jun Xiang Goh]

thanks for your comment

[naeno]

Very good capture! Love the focus on the bird, and I also recommend blurring the guy out more.

Just for fun, I tried a vertical crop on it, and like it. It's simply a different feel, not better or worse, just different. Thought you might like to see it.

[FireOpal]

I agree with all of the comments above. That eagle really steals the show.
I love the clarity of the bird and agree that blurring out the man beside him would give appropriate focus to such a gorgeous bird of prey.
Makes me wish I could have been at that event! Great capture!