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Registered: 03/20/06
Posts: 748
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| | 01/07/10 at 09:56 PM | Reply with quote | #1 |
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The selection has been made!
The 2009 Seagull Canoe Outfitters Annual Photo Contest Winner is
******** Wallidave ******** "Majestic eagle coming in for a landing on Saganagons Lake in the Quetico Provincial Park." Congratulations goes to Dave Brandes of Chicago, Illinois for his Quetico Eagle in flight. Anyone who has ever tried to catch a shot close up of an eagle and get it in flight knows the difficulty of capturing such a shot - Nice work! You have won a $100 gift certificate to be used at Seagull Outfitters! Join us here at Seagull Outfitters in congratulating Dave on his winning photo - there was a great deal of solid competition for the prize! Thanks to all of you for participating in this years contest. Don't forget... The 2010 Monthly Contests are under way! All you have to do is enter the monthly contests with your best picture and you are automatically in the hunt for the best of 2010! 
__________________
Tom |
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Wallidave
Stern Paddler
Registered: 05/04/07
Posts: 243
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| | 01/09/10 at 12:22 AM | Reply with quote | #2 |
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Who me?! WOW, Thank you very very very much, Seagull Outfitters  
Alex and I will never forget this experience. I owe a lot of it to my son Alex for he was the one that spotted the eagle first, watching me fillet our
shore lunch.
It was the third day into our base camping trip on Saganagons lake in June.
I had stepped back only a few feet from the fish to stretch after being hunched over from the cleaning which immediately triggered the eagle
to lift off from the tree top. At first I thought he had me in his sights for lunch but aborted his attempt within feet and decided to watch from a better vantage point directly above us. Not having the camera out yet, I thought I just blew our only chance. I had Alex get the SLR camera out since I knew I would be able to capture multiple images when he tried again. We were ready for part 2 but the eagle just waited patiently watching from the tree top. We decided to get in the canoe and shove off a short distance from the shore hoping a little distance would make him more comfortable. Almost immediately he lifted from the tree and came swooping down to a perfect bulls eye landing on the fish carcass. Less then thirty seconds later he lifted off again this time with the fish remains and headed down the shoreline to eat where he felt safer. I had the camera setting on "sport" pressed and held the shutter button and hoped for the best 
My son and I immediately cheered and whooped it up, giving each other high fives knowing what a special experience we had just witnessed together.
We couldn't wait to see how the pictures turned out. So many looked good we had a hard time choosing which one to submit. Finally, we both came to an agreement on the winning photo.
That's another great thing about these trips, even though the actual trip is over the special memories made on them will last forever.
Thanks again Seagull, cya in June!
Dave and Alex
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24KGold
Trip Leader
Registered: 07/19/06
Posts: 601
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| | 01/09/10 at 03:31 PM | Reply with quote | #3 |
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Congrats Dave...that was an awesome shot. Not too many people get a picture of an Eagle that close and especially getting it so focused. You deserve the win.
Terry
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KipOrby
Trip Leader
Registered: 03/24/07
Posts: 430
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| | 01/09/10 at 03:35 PM | Reply with quote | #4 |
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Great picture Dave! Congrats!
The prize will go well towards your yearly Quetico trip, eh? Where ya headed this time?
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Wallidave
Stern Paddler
Registered: 05/04/07
Posts: 243
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| | 01/10/10 at 07:27 AM | Reply with quote | #5 |
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Thanks guys!
Sent in my reservation request the other day and Deb confirmed it.
We'll be going to Saganagons again, I really want to see the eastern half of the lake this trip...going in on the 7th of june I believe. We may have tried for the Falls chain, however at work I was unable to guarantee securing two weeks vacation together in June. So we may not have the time needed.
I requested 12 days on the water in my reservation but that will only happen if work lets me move a vacation week from July to follow the week I have in June. It worked last year but who knows this year...
When I get a chance I'll post more pictures from the eagle series.
Thanks again,
Dave
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plexmidwest
Bow Paddler
Registered: 09/29/06
Posts: 52
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| | 01/13/10 at 11:28 AM | Reply with quote | #6 |
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Dave,
What an impressive photo. It has inspired me to look into an SLR. Can you tell me what brand / model of camera you have?
I was in Eagle River, WI a few years ago and was fortunate enough to capture a really unusual sequence of video. There was this loon who followed our canoe looking for anything we may discard. Apparently, he had luck doing this before, and I caught a bluegill and it swallowed my hook - DEEP, so it died when I removed the hook. I tossed it over and saw that the loon scooped it up & thanked us very loudly.
That loon followed us around on this tiny, remote lake (we were the only ones there), and after a while an osprey appeared. I threw out another dead bluegill later, and the loon was trailing, but the osprey must have seen this routine before, because he beat the loon to the meal.
It gets better. We threw one out again, and an eagle appeared and figured this out, and just as the loon was 20 feet from the fish, the eagle stole the meal from him. That loon was so mad and was squawking up a storm! He stayed about 10 yards from shore griping at the eagle so much that the eagle flew further down the bank to enjoy the fish. The darn loon paralleled him and continued to give that eagle a piece of his mind until he finished the fish and flew away.
We caught all the highlights on video.
I see you're from Chi-town, I'm 2 hrs west in Sterling.
John plexmidwest
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Wallidave
Stern Paddler
Registered: 05/04/07
Posts: 243
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| | 01/14/10 at 03:15 AM | Reply with quote | #7 |
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Thanks John,
I have a Canon Rebel XSI SLR. Purchased back in the fall of 2008. Currently I only have the basic 18-55 mm lens that it came with. There's of course better cameras out there, I believe there is a newer version of the one I have called the T1. I really like mine and I'm looking forward to learning more about it and trying new lenses.
You can pick up the one I have with the lens these days for under $600. I'm looking into getting a better lens since everyone says the lens and the photographer are what really are behind producing good photos. I need to take some classes I don't know much about the hobby but enjoy it a lot. Some of the lenses I've been looking at run twice as much then the camera body and lens kit I bought but you get what you pay for and I've seen shots of what they can produce with the camera body I have.
I wouldn't have been able to capture that eagle picture without the SLR. My son was taking pictures with the other camera and was only able to get off a few shots in the few seconds I took around 15.
That's a great story about the loon, osprey and eagle, I bet the video is priceless.
Before our eagle came down to get the fish he was being pestered by some tiny looking bird that probably had a nest nearby. The eagle looked annoyed like we humans do when being harassed by bees like get the heck out of here
Yes, we're from Illinois also. Grew up in Cicero, moved to Aurora now in Channahon. We drive through your area on the way up north on 39...nice way to bypass traffic.
Dave
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