Occoquan River Rowing

My son's last race of the season was on a beautiful Fall day. I think I've finally gotten the hang of this:

1. Get to a spot where the boat will pass close by.
2. Select that spot to have the rowers front-lit, or at least not back-lit.
3. Catch them as they go by to the starting line. They're warming up, and in a good mood as they BS with each other.
4. During the race get a few shots as they approach, but that's not the main event.
5. Fire away when they pass. You'll get their faces in the shot.
6. Time the shots for the catch, when the paddle hits the water. Flying water and grimaces of effort make for great shots. Don't fill that buffer!

Warming Up

Fall Colors

Getting Closer

Close Pass

Pulling Hard

Conowingo Dam

If it's November, it's time for Conowingo Dam eagles.

Unfortunately the weather has been relatively warm and wet, which means the lakes aren't freezing yet, which means the northern eagles aren't migrating yet. The wet weather means the Susquehanna River is really high. The water is moving very swiftly as the dam spillways are open. This is not good for photography.

Nevertheless, I visited the dam, and managed a few keepers. The first sequence here is a juvenile, probably 1st year, given the feather colors, and it caught a fish in the morning gloom and perched in a tree very close by my position, so close in fact that it was possible to fill the frame. It would have been great, except it was so dark and back-lit.

Juvenile Bald Eagle Eating a Fish

Slimy Beak after Eating

Fluffy

This eagle above perched in first one, then another nearby tree all morning. Dozens of photographers shot what must have been thousands of photographs of it just sitting there. He/she is responsible for lots of consumed storage.

All day long, there were flyovers of a pair of eagles taking sticks to a nest on one of the electrical towers. This seems WAY early to be nest building, but there they were.

One on the Rail and One on the Nest

And the last sequence was far away, near the island, as an adult attempted to snatch something from the water. I missed photographing the first part of the sequence, but watched as it seemed to crash into the water. It then floated along in the swift current until it managed to fly away. I've seen this happen only a couple of times where the bird winds up floating/swimming. The shots kind of suck because I had neglected to change my exposure settings as the sun got really bright, so I washed the whites out. And it was quite far away. But here's the sequence.

Splashed Down

Floating Along

Finally Got the Wings Out

And Liftoff

So overall it was a very disappointing day with very little activity. Even the cormorants and gulls were scarce. I only go when the forecast is for sunny weather. I think I'll also start checking for the river water level and go only when the level is low.