ENTRY DESCRIPTION
By most measures, five hours is hardly a significant amount of time. Five hours in a new location to get an image of a subject flying at speeds up to 100 miles per hour seemed like pure fantasy.
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After a four-hour drive from Anchorage, I arrived in the small city of Homer just before midnight. I set off early the next morning, as I had to start my drive back to the airport by noon. I knew I had to get close enough and low enough to be able to showcase the animals in their environment. An image looking up at an eagle into the sky would lack context, and as with any bird, it is all about the wing position. On a cloudy morning, lighting is scarce, and when you need a shutter speed around a thousandth of a second to freeze the motion, you really push your camera to its limits.

With its dark, speckled feathers, a juvenile bald eagle could easily be mistaken for a hawk or another species of eagle. The talons, beak, and gaze, however, remain distinctly familiar. In my short window of time, I found myself waiting in the wind and rain at low tide along the shore for birds patient enough to cooperate for just a few moments. Most times, even the slightest movement would send the birds off the sand and into the sky. After a few missed opportunities, anticipating takeoff became easier. Around a year and a half old, this young one earning its wings was about three years away from going “bald” and taking on the iconic plumage. Almost biblical in appearance, even a juvenile is something to behold.

AUTHOR
Eric's interest in photography began when his parents gave him an old film camera to use for his course in high school. While the class initially served as an escape from his rigorous biology and chemistry courses, it would eventually become the catalyst for each of his interests and passions melding into one. The film process revealed the "magic" of how science and technology could immortalize a scene in front of him. With this, his creative side would soon be unlocked.

Eric earned a Bachelor's Degree in Biology from Wake Forest University. He enjoyed his courses in physiology, molecular biology, and genetics, but it was ecology that grabbed his attention. The idea that life, across species and geographies, is intertwined resonated with him long after his classes concluded.

This concept has driven much of Eric's travel and work to date. He seeks to explore new cultures, new areas of the world, and unique wildlife with the hope that his images can deliver that same empowering idea to others that he felt in his studies — that we can all share some connection and hold interest in other people and living things, even when the link might not be apparent.

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