This Bald Eagle was making a turn over Charleston Lake in Charleston, Arkansas. I took this photo back in January 2014. This was a great year for seeing and photographing Bald Eagles on this lake. They were diving for large shad. I counted over 10 Eagles on this day.
How I Got The Shot – Bald Eagle Making A Turn
Charleston Lake is at the end of South School Street in the city limits of Charleston. I’m not sure what the size of this lake is but it’s small. A lot of people fished this lake at one time because someone caught a 13-pound, 4-ounce Largemouth Bass. This was the record here in Arkansas for a short time. I don’t see a lot of people fishing it anymore. Most of the time you can have this place to yourself.
This lake has a nice parking lot near the water which allowed me to photograph this Bald Eagle from my pickup. I had my Canon EOS 7D camera with a Canon EF500mm f/4L IS USM lens attached and resting on a bean bag draped over the open window. This was around 6:30 in the morning.
Camera Settings
- AV Mode
- Back-button Focus
- Aperture f5.6
- ISO 640
- Shutter speed – 1/800 of a second
- Auto White Balance
- Single Point, Continuous Auto Focus
- Spot Metering
- Focal Length – 500 mm