Eagle hunter in Kyrgyzstan

Following our time in Uzbekistan, my photo tour group traveled to neighboring Kyrgyzstan. The tradition of hunting with golden eagles that originated by the Kazakh people was adopted by the Kyrgyz people. Golden eagles can live to be 50 to 60 years old, and the Kyrgyz hunters keep them for 15 years before releasing them back to the wild. We had a private photo session with this eagle hunter with his eagle. I used a 100-400mm lens which meant the background was, by definition, out of focus. To give a sense of environment, I took a picture of the mountains behind my subjects in sharp focus and then composted the two shots together. I selected the hunter and the bird using Topaz Remask 5 because this is the best software to use for selecting fine feathers and the fur-lined hat.