{"id":51678,"date":"2018-04-16T06:34:49","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T12:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=51678"},"modified":"2026-02-02T06:04:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T12:04:27","slug":"more-frustrations-with-photographing-golden-eagles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/04\/16\/more-frustrations-with-photographing-golden-eagles\/","title":{"rendered":"More Frustrations With Photographing Golden Eagles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>I get absolutely tired of the frustrations I have had trying to photograph Golden Eagles, it seems that something or someone nearly always messes with my chances of getting the images I want of them. A few of the things that happen are listed below:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Low light or the wrong angle of light is often a big issue;<\/li>\n<li>a vehicle comes along and scares the eagle away, this happens a lot;<\/li>\n<li>the eagle is in great light but is in a location where it isn&#8217;t safe to stop and photograph it;<\/li>\n<li>the eagle is on the wrong side of the road and by the time you get turned around the eagle is gone;<\/li>\n<li>not getting to the best location quickly enough to take the shot, this also happens too frequently;<\/li>\n<li>or the eagle takes flight away from me so all I get is a butt shot or some other poor angle.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This list could go on and on but I think my point has been made.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-51676 size-full\" title=\"Golden Eagle lift off - poor angle\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7826.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7826.jpg\" alt=\"Golden Eagle lift off - poor angle\" width=\"640\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20640%20800%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27640%27%20height%3D%27800%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7826-200x250.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7826-240x300.jpg 240w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7826-400x500.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7826-600x750.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7826.jpg 640w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Golden Eagle lift off &#8211; poor angle &#8211; Nikon D500, f5.6, 1\/1600, ISO 1600, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Two days ago the radar\/satellite looked good at my destination but once again it was wrong, there were heavy clouds and the light sucked for most of the morning and guess what? I had crappy light when my only opportunity with a Golden Eagle happened that morning.<\/p>\n<p>I spotted a Northern Harrier chasing the Golden Eagle in flight and then I saw the eagle land just out of sight on a rocky hillside just a little bit north of where I was and guess what?<\/p>\n<p>I couldn&#8217;t get into a good position where the eagle would have been visible fast enough to photograph it on the hillside before it took off and the shots I did get of it right after lifting off were disappointing because the eagle was mostly facing away. I like everything about this image except the angle of the eagle&#8217;s head and eye.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-51677 size-full\" title=\"Low light Golden Eagle in flight - large crop\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7883.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7883.jpg\" alt=\"Low light Golden Eagle in flight - large crop\" width=\"850\" height=\"607\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20850%20607%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27850%27%20height%3D%27607%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7883-200x143.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7883-250x179.jpg 250w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7883-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7883-400x286.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7883-600x428.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7883-768x548.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7883-800x571.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7883.jpg 850w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Low light Golden Eagle in flight &#8211; large crop &#8211; Nikon D500, f5.6, 1\/2000, ISO 1600, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light, not baited<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Then the Golden Eagle flew way up on a hillside and walked around on the sagebrush slope for a bit way in the distance, my only hope was that when the bird lifted off it would fly in my direction close enough to get a decent flight shot without having to crop too much, for me too much is more than a 50% crop.<\/p>\n<p>After a few minutes the Golden Eagle did lift off from the sagebrush-covered hillside but it sure didn&#8217;t fly as close to me as I had hoped for, this photo is only 37% of the original frame and that combined with the low light, high ISO and visible noise produced an image that looks okay at web sized resolution but isn&#8217;t of high enough quality for printing or publication.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll just have to keep on trying and maybe one day I&#8217;ll finally get the images I want of Golden Eagles that I dream off.<\/p>\n<p>Yeah, I know I probably sound disappointed and I am, but sometimes it helps to let off steam and this morning I decided to do that publicly because once again for a variety of reasons I didn&#8217;t get the photos of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/Golden_Eagle\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Golden Eagle<\/span><\/a> that I have hoped for.<\/p>\n<p>Those who follow my blog regularly know that I don&#8217;t make a habit of grumbling, bellyaching, groaning or whining and I promise that I won&#8217;t change and start to be a grumbler or a &#8220;Negative Nelly&#8221; here on my blog. That just isn&#8217;t part of who I am.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the challenges and frustrations life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/golden-eagle-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Golden Eagle photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I get absolutely tired of the frustrations I have had trying to photograph Golden Eagles, it seems that something or someone always messes with my chances of getting the images I want of them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":51677,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1148,1200,26],"tags":[4345,2663,3903,3133,4052,4122,1023,1201,751,4282,156,8300,153,4057,6455],"class_list":["post-51678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-golden-eagles","category-utah","tag-aquila-chrysaetos","tag-birds-of-prey","tag-eagle","tag-eagles","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-frustrations-in-bird-photography1","tag-golden-eagle","tag-hillside","tag-lift-off","tag-low-light-2","tag-photographing","tag-raptors","tag-sagebrush","tag-slope"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/golden-eagle-flight-mia-mcpherson-7883.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-drw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19213,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/01\/30\/a-failed-quest-for-gold\/","url_meta":{"origin":51678,"position":0},"title":"Failed Quest for Gold &#8211; Golden Eagles That Is","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 30, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"It never, ever fails that when I have an opportunity to photograph Golden Eagles something always goes wrong.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Antelope Island State Park&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Antelope Island State Park","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/antelope-island-state-park\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Golden Eagles on Lady Finger Point at Antelope Island State Park, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-pair-mia-mcpherson-7688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-pair-mia-mcpherson-7688.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-pair-mia-mcpherson-7688.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/golden-eagle-pair-mia-mcpherson-7688.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100203,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/25\/the-golden-eagle-utahs-official-state-bird-of-prey\/","url_meta":{"origin":51678,"position":1},"title":"The Golden Eagle &#8211; Utah&#8217;s Official State Bird Of Prey","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I would like to celebrate the State of Utah's newly designated official state bird of prey, the Golden Eagle.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Close up Golden Eagle in flight, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9218.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9218.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9218.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/golden-eagle-flight-close-up-mia-mcpherson-9218.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109995,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/02\/04\/leaning-post-bald-eagle\/","url_meta":{"origin":51678,"position":2},"title":"Leaning Post Bald Eagle","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 4, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"After my recent visit to Bear River MBR I wanted to share photos of a Bald Eagle on a leaning post that can be seen from the road leading to the auto tour loop.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stern looking Bald Eagle on a leaning post, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-1917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-1917.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-1917.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/bald-eagle-adult-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-1917.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7189,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2013\/01\/20\/small-in-the-frame-bald-eagle\/","url_meta":{"origin":51678,"position":3},"title":"Small in the Frame &#8211; Bald Eagle","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 20, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday Ron, Brian Gatlin and I went to Bear River National Wildlife Refuge and the Golden Spike National Historic Site area in bad light, falling snow and lake fog looking for birds to photograph and we came up pretty much empty-handed but we did find this adult Bald Eagle perched\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bald Eagle \u2013 Small in the frame, Golden Spike National Monument, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bald-eagle-snow-mia-mcpherson-2740.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bald-eagle-snow-mia-mcpherson-2740.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bald-eagle-snow-mia-mcpherson-2740.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/bald-eagle-snow-mia-mcpherson-2740.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101302,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/02\/young-golden-eagle-on-a-cliff\/","url_meta":{"origin":51678,"position":4},"title":"Young Golden Eagle On A Cliff","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I found and pointed out quite a few birds yesterday but my favorite was this young Golden Eagle on a cliff in morning light because it was so beautiful.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Golden Eagle's \"crown\", Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/golden-eagle-immature-spring-mia-mcpherson-8463.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/golden-eagle-immature-spring-mia-mcpherson-8463.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/golden-eagle-immature-spring-mia-mcpherson-8463.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/golden-eagle-immature-spring-mia-mcpherson-8463.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119372,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/28\/just-a-simple-bald-eagle-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":51678,"position":5},"title":"Just A Simple Bald Eagle Post","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I'm writing a simple Bald Eagle post about a well-known Bald Eagle post at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge near Brigham City, Utah.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Bald Eagles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Bald Eagles","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/diurnal-raptors\/bald-eagle\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Bald Eagle post, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/bald-eagle-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-1890.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/bald-eagle-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-1890.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/bald-eagle-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-1890.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/bald-eagle-leaning-post-mia-mcpherson-1890.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51678","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51678\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}