I'm proud of this photo. Because it has many meanings to me. The American Bald Eagle has been my favorite animal long before I pledged my allegiance to the football team in Philadelphia. So when I had an opportunity to photograph one in the wild, it was anything but easy.
As mentioned previously, my family goes to Wisconsin every other year. Out in the farm country, you tend to see a lot of wildlife you don't see in the city. Well one sunny afternoon, me and my brother Nathaniel were fishing from a paddle boat in the middle of the lake right next to my Aunt's house. As we were trying to hook some largemouth bass, we looked up and saw three of these beautiful creatures soaring overhead. I watched as they perched in the trees that lined the shore. I told Nathaniel that we had to stop chasing the bass for a moment so I could get a photo.
We paddled the boat ever so slowly, to the point where we lodged it in a sea of lily pads. The great bird held a pose and didn't budge. I zoomed in my shot and pressed the button. I was so thrilled I managed to pull that off because seconds later, the eagle moved to a different part of the tree before taking flight again.
But the story doesn't end there. A day or so later, while fishing from the paddle boat again, I lost my balance standing up and went head first into the lake...with my camera in my pocket. Being a complete noob I tried to turn it on. Yeah that didn't work. I thought it was shot. I let it dry out (didn't know about the rice trick then) and it did eventually turn on, but the memory card showed no data. I was crushed.
About a week after we got home, being the tinkerer that I am, I played with the camera again, hoping for a miracle. As I turned it on, I did not see the blue screen of "No data." Suddenly, all those photos I thought were gone forever came flooding back, including this one. I started hollering so loud, you'd think I won the lottery. This picture was proof of triumph for me and I still see it as one of my best "in the moment" shots. National Geographic ain't got nutin' on me!
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