Marshall eagle taking off

Birds in flight are usually best photographed when they first takeoff and when then land. It is these times that the wing formations are the most dynamic, and it's also the easiest way to get pictures of fast-moving birds because you can predict where they will be, albeit for only a brief moment. Even large birds of prey, like this marshall eagle from Kenya, that fly relatively slowly are hard to capture well when they are in mid-flight. I used my standard shutter speed -- 1/3200 -- for the eagle because although its wings flap much slower than smaller birds, I just don't like blurred wingtips. Some photographers tell me they like when the wings are somewhat blurred because that implies motion. Well, if a bird in flight -- sharp or otherwise -- doesn't imply motion, I don't know what does. My other settings were f/9 and 500 ISO. I used a 500mm telephoto for the shot.