I just got my first digital SLR one week before the Alaska trip, a Nikon D-7000. ; I was previously using an Olympus C-60, point and shoot. ; I have an old Nikon 70-300mm zoom from my old film shooting days and a Nikon 400mm. ; I was using the 400mm for the eagle shots on a ball head tripod for rapid following of the bird in flight. ; The woods there are very high and dense with low available light. ; Also, it always seems to be overcast and/or raining in Alaska. ; There is a reason the Tongass national forest is called a RAIN forest. ; I was shooting ISO 1000 at 1/1000 sec. ; In some of the shots the tips of the wings are slightly blurry.