Some views from my drive

[2naSalit]

to southern Idaho this week...

Mt Moran from the Idaho side


Teton River eagle in tree, Tetons in background


The eagle... likely 3+yo - feathers changing to white head (I never get pictures of them at this stage and I have never, in over 20 years, seen one here.


Foothills in upper eastern Snake River Plain- east of IF


Was beautiful but chilly couple days.

[jonno99]

1. Beautiful country, beautiful pics - thanks for sharing! nt

[Hoppy]

2. Nice.

[mnhtnbb]

3. Great catch on the eagle!

Nice winter shot.

That contest is coming up, soon, isn't it?

[2naSalit]

4. Thanks!

It was a very lucky shot. I've said before that it kind of feels like cheating when I get some of my shots right along the highway, probably a quarter of them.

I was cruising in a 65mph zone but always slow down to catch a glimpse up the river when I get to the bridge - I do this at all the rivers along my route, I see a lot of animals that way - and I saw this silhouette of an eagle way out there on the tree. It's a rural part of a USHWY so it has left turns as well as entrance/exit ramps, I took the conveniently located left about a quarter mile up then took the overpass about a half mile in the other direction and parked just before the guardrail for the bridge, walked the rest of the way. I was able to stand on the bridge to get these but I had to really stretch my camera to get that close with the eagle, had to be almost a thousand feet away. I'm very pleased that I got a "clean" shot while standing in freezing temps with semis whizzing by a whole fifteen feet behind me... totally worth it.

It's a three hour drive to where I went so I try not to stop too many times along the way, makes it an all day event otherwise. Then there are times when I go out with friends and engage in "picture huntin'" in which case we intend to be out all day.

[mnhtnbb]

5. Wow! You were lucky he stayed put long enough for you to get there!

[Curmudgeoness]

6. Really nice scenery.

The eagle is a great catch. That last one looks cold and desolate, but wonderful.

Did you try to edit the color in the first photo, or were you going for that look? I would try to change the lighting/color...not that I can do a very good job with that. But I try.

[2naSalit]

7. That's the way it came out

All I did was lessen the fade effect that is natural when trying to get a clean looking shot of something that's over fifty miles away. I had considered changing the hue some since it looks less impressive than it seemed while I was looking at it. If I do anything with/use that image in the future I will do that.

[Elessiana]

8. The eagle is very special.

I like its feather and eye. Its eyes are brimming with vigour. You're so lucky to get so beautiful photo!