My stock agency in New York was eager to receive and market the results of any of my life-history projects. For example, I worked assignments from Natural History Magazine to document the life histories of monarch butterflies, least terns, Belding’s ground squirrels and Yosemite toads, to name a few. In addition to traditional scientific publication, the work was often featured in popular magazines, which published lavish photographic spreads. In that era, professional photographers worked with scientists in the field to document and depict the life cycles of subjects of scientific importance due to their biology, behavior, environment or endangered status. While I’m now known as a specialist in outdoor, nature, landscape and/or wildlife photography, I started my career some 40 years ago as a natural history photographer. It was a perfect spot for him to bring his long lenses to bear on the nest over time without disturbing the raptors in any way. This photo was taken from Lepp’s vantage point above the nesting eagles with a 15mm fisheye lens. It was late February and the eggs were not yet laid, so this was a project that would take me through the spring and into early summer. From this location, along a popular trail, we could easily come and go without causing harm, the light was right, and the main problem to be solved was technical: reaching out to accomplish meaningful photography of the nest’s progression. It would have been much easier to photograph if not so far away, but we would have needed to work from blinds, and public access would have been restricted to protect the birds. The eagles were clearly aware of our presence, even at that distance, but they appeared undisturbed. We had an unobstructed line of sight into the nest. Eagle nests are deliberately designed and located for privacy we humans usually see them from a grounded perspective, looking up into tree branches and catching only “rear-end shots.” I was immediately intrigued by the idea that we actually might be able to see directly into a nest, so we headed out to the observation site that very morning.Īnd there they were: a splendid pair of adult bald eagles on the nest, near the top of a massive ponderosa pine situated about 200 feet out from the canyon rim where we stood. About a year ago, my friend and colleague Brent McGregor called to ask if I wanted to check out a bald eagle nest in a pine tree, below a canyon rim, that a pair had successfully used the year before. This is a story about the intersection of observation, patience and photography skills. With a perfect vantage point, long lenses, teleconverters, tripods and meticulous attention to technique, George Lepp was able to create an extraordinary series of images of an eagle nest near his home in Oregon.
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