So today I should go out and buy a lottery ticket. Last week I took advantage of Nikon’s 10% off sale on refurbished gear to get a great deal on their 500mm f/5.6 PF lens. Did I need it? No. But I’ve been lusting over its compact size and light weight since it came out, so finally pulled the trigger and bought one.
This afternoon I wanted to try it out with my two Nikon teleconverters, the 1.4X and 2X (which would give me 700mm at f/8 and 1000mm at f/11), so headed to a nearby lake to see if I could find some birds. And while sitting there waiting for a comorant to do something, this happened – an adult bald eagle swooped in a grabbed a ring-necked duck from the water. I can’t tell you how many miles and hours I put into photographing eagles last year, and this was 20-minutes from my house. Nothing like being lucky!
I was using my Nikon D500 and that lens with the Nikkor TC-14e III teleconverter for this photo, which gave me 700mm of focal length. As usual, I was in Aperture Priority with an ISO of 250, and 1/800 second at f/8 and EV 0.0. If I’d had any idea I’d be shooting fast action, I would have raised my ISO for a higher shutter speed (the shots of it grabbing the duck from the water were blurred). I guess I’ll have to get the eagle to come back and do it again! Of course, finding another duck to play the same role will probably be more difficult.
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