Birds in Nature - images of wild birds by Richard Ditch

Subject: Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus)
Place: Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, MD, USA
Date: April 1982
Equipment: Nikon FE, Nikkor 300/4.5
Film: Kodachrome 64
Exposure: Aperture priority center weighted meter
Scan: Minolta Dimage, 90% of frame

Commentary: Seeing any eagle in the mid Atlantic states is a thrill, and seeing one back in 1982 when their numbers were much lower than they now was a real treat. I had only seen my first one two years prior to this image, at this same Refuge.
My longest lens those days was a modest aperture 300/4.5, so I learned to use habitat and graphic design to support the birds in my photos. Twenty years later I still like this image for the simple graphics and look of a much more wild place than the overdeveloped eastern seaboard.

This is one of the oldest images on this site.