In this blog, I review the boat trip on the Isle of Mull, specifically to photograph sea eagles.
I couldn’t resist the title of this blog, apologies…
Boat trip
This boat trip was booked specifically to witness sea eagles at close quarters. It was something of a bucket list item for me.
When I booked it, I knew from the website that reasonable weather and accommodating tides were needed. You have to phone up the day before to check-in and be advised if the trip can go ahead or not.
A contingency day was in the calendar should the day itself bring unfavourable conditions to trigger a cancellation.
As the holiday and this trip got closer, the forecast remained favourable and the puffin boat trip the day before was amazing, so we were excited to know the eagle trip was coming up next.
As it turned out, the forecasts were good and on the day, the weather looked great for photography with the sun being subdued and it being overcast – perfect.
With my wife getting more into photography and having a new camera in her hand, and currently learning, I set her camera up for optimal settings having double-check online for myself as well.
This was one of those once-only trips so I wanted to do everything to ensure we got some good shots.
Photography geek out
On the boat, having paid extra for a six person “photography” trip rather than the standard twelve person eagle trip, I had a chance to chat to one or two fellow photography geeks en route.
Once guy (Harrison) is a regular wildlife shooter and showed me some awesome pics of owls he’s taken in his home area of Yorkshire.
He also had a D500 but had a 70-200mm lens on it, and we shared tips on settings.
Our choice of settings were pretty similar apart from his focus setting was single point whereas I prefer group. I had a sudden thought that my 150mm (or 225mm equivalent) minimum zoom might be too close, but I need not have worried.
Harrison said he’s pre-ordered his Nikon Z9 and been waiting for months, and said he’s looking forward to having 20fps at his disposal but more importantly the silent shutter will be incredibly useful particularly when he’s trying to catch owls.
As the crew were now scouting to spot eagles, the captain threw some bread out for the gulls which was a great chance to try out shots with the ambient light and get a sense of whether or not most settings were in the right ball-park.
As it would turn out, the 1/1000-1/2000 shutter speed mentioned online needed to be faster to catch the birds in motion or at least be sure not to end up with a blurry shot.
The shoots
We reached the first spot ready to lure a sea eagle down and the crew threw a fish overboard. It wasn’t long before a sea eagle hovered high above getting lower and lower before starting to swoop in to pick up the fish.
It’s the first shoot of this scene that is the most nerve-racking. It’s the test run, anything you don’t get right here, you need to ignore the disappointment, adjust settings and get ready for the next fly-by.
Having said that, the boat staff pause after luring the eagle in then move on to a different area so there’s plenty of time to review images, think about any settings you want to change, and generally relax and enjoy the trip.
There were four individual eagle fly-by’s and we were on the boat for approx three hours with a welcome cuppa and biscuit being provided.
In readiness for the next shoot, I moved my shutter speed up again slightly, tried to adjust aperture a little narrower for more detail and a small amount of negative exposure compensation as I was worried about blown highlights in the whites of the tail feathers.
Preview of the images looked great and it was amazing to know I had a couple of keepers.
Reviewing images
The captain laughed as everyone was busy “chimping” at their shots.
Kathryn had got some awesome shots as well on her camera which made me wonder, could I have brought my Z7 after all and still got something good? With 45MP instead of the 20MP, I would certainly be able to crop more, and wouldn’t need to enhance the shots so much in post.
As usual, I was over-thinking far too much about that, when in reality, I didn’t have the other camera so would make the most of the one I did have.
The reason my Z7 had been put to one side for the D500 was the speed of obtaining and keeping focus. Something my practice sessions back home had proven was a good decision. Plus, the young guy Harrison who seems to specialise in wildlife had the same camera, so my choice was right, certainly good enough.
I had a chat with another guy from Canada who also shoots wildlife, and he showed me some amazing shots from his collection of owls, deer and other wildlife which were awesome.
Brand brethrens
From a not so casual eyeball on the boat, we had two Canon shooters (one had a 1DX and had done lots of these trips), two Nikon shooters (Harrison and I both possessing the D500), and a Sony A1 shooter (the guy from Canada).
It was quite funny that by chance, or subliminal natural selection, the Canon shooters sat one side of the boat, and the Nikon shooters the other side, and the Sony guy on the end!
I wish I had swapped Instagram handles with these guys as I would like to follow them but we didn’t do that, and searching later without knowing full names proved fruitless.
The crew did another couple of eagle shoots before we headed back to shore. I got some good shots again but on these later runs the sun was bright and the light wasn’t quite so favourable.
They were still good though and all shots will need some post-production processing back at home to bring the quality to the level I want.
I got some good shots of gulls chasing the boat for scraps.
Are these trips cheating?
There’s some reflection now as to whether or not trips like this are cheating, I.e. I only got these shots as I paid for a trip for the chance to get them.
I’ve read articles online about photographers who set up garden areas specifically to tempt wildlife in, or those who photograph owls at sanctuaries. Perhaps that’s being a little snobbish by those that criticise?
For me, there was a thrill in seeing the sea eagles that close, and to have the opportunity to photograph them. They are still wild, and want to grab the fish in the sea for food, so no problems here as far as I’m concerned.
Photography and commercial perspective
“These are incredible photos, might even say award winning especially the bird in flight” (Friend).
“Now that pic has to be published world wide and watch the awards come in…” (Friend).
From a photography and commercial perspective, and something that’s made me think when receiving compliments from family and friends about the eagle shots, is that these shots are very common, and yet not that popular online to the wider masses.
I expect this is because boat trips such as this one are available all year round, and are clearly popular. These shots have been done so much, all by regular folks like me paying for trips to see the birds, take images and posting them online.
If you’ve seen one sea eagle catching a fish, you’ve seen them all right?
I will in due course re-edit, and make my best shot available on my shop, and print a copy for mounting and framing at home.
I will also undoubtedly consider one of these shots for a club competition.
The other reflection is that, in the case of these sea eagles, the challenge of getting a good shoot was much easier than I had imagined.
The eagles swoop in relatively slowly if you compare to general birds in flight.
You also don’t need a huge zoom lens, but it looks like anything in the 100-300 range will be most useful. and if you’ve the resolution to crop, all the better.
This means it’s more likely many folks on such a boat trip are quite likely to get a decent shot even with a modest camera, and flexible zoom ranges.
Nevertheless, all in all, a superb trip and a special and exhilarating experience.
If the awards do come in, I will of course accept with zero hesitation!
I would highly recommend Mull Charters run by Martin, all the info on his website.
We ended our day by another drink and meal at the Craignure Inn. Making the most of our visit, I selected a local whisky (Tobermory) to enjoy, and in a fit of ‘I probably won’t come back here’ thinking, I shouted out to make it a double. £16 thank you very much!
To be fair, it was nice, and I was enjoying the aniseed tones (that’s what my palate was feeding back to me anyway), and Kathryn said she’s seen this whisky in the supermarket back home!
Onwards and upwards…