Rainy Lake Wildlife photos

[Prior Laker]

Voyagers National Park is my favorite place to fish as I enjoy all of the wildlife sightings in addition to the great fishing. I am new to using a DSLR and used it for the first time on a recent trip. Please critique these photos as I want to learn how to get better photos. The eagle in the tree is the one I would really like to know how to improve. I took about 50 shots but since it was overcast none really looked that good. Is there a way to account for the poor lighting?

[finnbay]

With birds against the sky, your DSLR will allow you to "overcompensate" the exposure. The sky is fooling your camera to expose for the sky leaving the eagle very dark. By overcompensating the exposure you tell the camera to over expose the sky which will bring the eagle closer to where you can see some detail. Most DSLR's will allow you to over/under expose to 2 full stops of exposure in 1/3 stop increments. I've sometimes gone the full 2 stops and still not had enough. It's easy to do. Check your manual for your particular camera.

[MN Shutterbug]

In the case of the deer photos, your camera had mid tones to work with so the exposures were right on. They are also sharp. As Ken said, the light background on the eagles is fooling your camera meter. In these shots you'd have been wise to use the exposure compensation feature and over exposed these by around 2/3 automatically. Then, look at your histogram and maybe make further adjustments. Also, light overcast days are much better for shooting than bright clear days.

Good luck and have fun.