Squamish Eagles

When we arrived in Squamish (actually, Brackendale) on Friday afternoon, about eight eagles perched in a distant tree, on and off misty rain, and fast-fading light welcomed us. I put my camera rain cover on, hoping that Saturday's "cloudy with sunny periods" forecast would be accurate. The eight eagles were just specs on the tree, but I decided to walk along the riverside in search of others that might be closer. That wasn't to be, but this heron suddenly appeared at the bottom of the rocks. The camera caught it amazingly well, given the conditions.

I have been reading up on my camera through what I think is a very good site, and though I'm beginning to understand F stops, shutter speed, and even iso, changing them, especially when outdoors, is still mostly boggling my brain. My big breakthrough for the weekend (thanks to encouragement from Bill who spent time sitting with me, going over instructions, and explaining things as non-technically as he possibly could), was to stop using autofocus on the exposure selection dial. The camera was still giving me lots of help autofocusing most elements, but at least a tiny bit of input was my decision. I tried a couple of options. Now, my question is how to figure out the information on my pictures. I can see it if I put my pictures on Flickr, something I mostly do only if I think they are at least half decent, but in iphoto, I can't seem to find it. I can see the information on my camera, but I always delete pics as soon as they are downloaded. Anyhow, here is the same heron, with possibly a different iso setting.
Bill had been entertaining Black Jack by running back and forth along the rocks, and was ready for a nap when we checked into our motel room. Black Jack lay down on his stomach, one of her favorite places to be. Here, she is staring at the fridge, trying to let me know that she believes it is time for supper.
I was playing with the camera, and discovered a new setting called "vivid" so I tested it out by taking a picture of a picture on the wall. Bill and I agreed it turned out better than the original.
Bill is the champion of all nappers. He can nap for under ten minutes, and awake refreshed. When I nap, I sleep for way too long and emerge grouchy. When he woke, I fed Black Jack, and she snuggled into her bed while we went out for supper. A great supper that we both enjoyed, and for the life of me, I cannot remember, nor find, the name of the restaurant. I can tell you it is a two-minute walk (even hobbling on my still weak ankle) from the modest, but very comfortable and clean August Jack Motor Inn, where we stayed. An added note, we had taken along a rented dvd to watch Friday evening, and when we didn't see a dvd player, we asked about renting one from the motel owners. The lady was so kind, she was ready to give us her own personal one. Then, we remembered we could watch it on my laptop.

Saturday morning, we tried a different eagle viewing spot that had been recommended. It was alongside the golf course, but wasn't very successful. We did see this one - the only one in the area - at the top of a very tall tree.
Poor Bill. I was hobbling along the trail, grouchy because my fingers were cold (I had left my gloves and hat in the truck), my ankle was hurting and because photo ops seemed few and far between. He ran back to the truck for me, brought the hat and gloves, kept Black Jack safe and happy, and maintained his good humour in spite of me. Thank you, Bill!

Thinking eagles might not appear, I looked for other things to photograph. Just a branch with some lacy tendrils.
Black Jack got a lift over some icy terrain.
We finally gave up on the new trail, and went back to Brackendale. There were more eagles than either of the last two weekends, and the weather was cooperating. I used my monopod, and tried out that "vivid" setting. I didn't get any flying shots that I was happy with, but had lots of chances to see eagles sitting on logs and in the water. Here was the only flying shot I kept.
These two eagles had been sitting quietly on their log, but when they saw another land in the water, they called out a greeting. Or, was it a warning?
This eagle, perched on a tree root, looked to me like a nun saying her prayers.
I have yet to figure out how to photograph mountains. Here was one attempt, de-shadowed and definition added, with seagulls in formation flying over the top.
These three eagles lined up to bathe.
Then, two of them settled on a log to dry their wings. I thought they might be telling the third eagle to get out of the water before it caught its death of cold.
Wingspread and awesome patterns here. I was hoping for a glimpse of this eagle's face..
..and it obliged as it settled on the corner of the log.
I just caught this beautiful smile, as Bill rock-hopped with Black Jack, way down at the water's edge. That zoom lens is amazing, and so is Bill.
Eagles don't seem to hop as other birds do. This one took purposeful strides..
..as it made its way..
..to a step-up spot.
I think the eagles were enjoying the intermittent sun as much as we were. I know they were drying out their wings, but sometimes, they seemed to use them like cloaks.
I quite liked the vivid mode. I was using P on the exposure selection dial, and only realized after going through the photos, that there was no blurring behind my subjects. Sometimes, I guess the background almost outshone the eagles. This tree root is beautiful, but I wonder if the overall image has a bit of a "fake" feel to it. For now, I'm happy to see more detail, especially considering that all of the action was on the other side of the river. I guess time will tell whether "vivid" is a setting I'll be happy with over the longterm. If anyone is feeling like commenting, do not worry about hurting feelings. I really appreciate other opinions to guide this rather slow but most enjoyable learning process.
Just one un-zoomed shot at the other end of the dyke. We counted well over 20 eagles in that area.
This is a fully zoomed shot of a section of the above photo. That slanted log seemed to me like a seesaw. To get any closer, I would have had to clamber down on the rocks, something I'm not ready for yet, but I think my ankle is finally starting to feel stronger. It has seemed like a very slow and frustrating healing process, but I have great hope that another week will do it.
Today, we are really looking forward to a Pacific Baroque Orchestra concert. Bill's niece, Glenys, her husband, Paul, and his sister, Angela, are all performing. We also get to visit with Phyllis, Bill's sister, her husband, Barrie, and maybe even Oscar, their grandchild. A perfect weekend, with nature, music, friends and family.