Big Bird

This is the first picture I ever took where I focused beyond an obstruction. I was walking through the zoo, and this guy was watching me. I wasn't interesting enough to turn around for, but he wanted to keep an eye on me for whatever reason. The eagle enclosure is covered with a net, so I figured there wasn't a picture there. I couldn't get over the way he was watching me, so I chose a small aperture and took one shot. When I got the roll back, this was the keeper.
I never recorded my shooting info when I was using film, but I remember what I did because of that intense stare. An eagle is a very imposing beast when it's attention is focused on you :)
What amazes me, looking it at it now, is how the exposure came out. Bald eagles are really hard to photograph. I mean... to a camera, an eagle is wearing a black coat and a spaghetti pot on it's head. Either the head is over exposed, or just a dozen other things can go wrong. I have some really rotten pics on my computer that I study before I go to the zoo, just thinking of new camera settings to try.