Portrait of the King
When I started wild bird photography back in 2014, I listed all the birds that I wanted to photograph in the wild. The Philippine Eagle is at the top of the list.
Aside from being our national bird, the Philippine Eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi) is the largest bird of prey here in our country—and the most beautiful, if I may say.
No wonder wild bird photographers, both local and foreign, desire to have a photograph of the “Haring Ibon” in the wild.
In 2017, I went to Davao specifically to get a portrait of the Philippine Eagle.
My fellow photographers mentioned that seeing the "Haribon" in the wild for the first time could mesmerize you with its beauty. They added, you'll be in so much awe that you might end up just staring and forget to use your camera to capture its beauty. So it made sense to visit the Philippine Eagle Center, run by the Philippine Eagle Foundation, to familiarize myself with this majestic creature before I get the chance to photograph it in the wild.
Accompanied by my birder friends from Davao, we went to the Philippine Eagle Center as early as possible to avoid the crowd.
There are about 4 Philippine Eagles that are out of their enclosures, but I stayed with “Imbulog” because, for me, he is the most photogenic. Imbulog, which means “to soar”, is one of the captive bred Philippine Eagles at the Center.
Before I went to Davao, I did some research about the Philippine Eagle on how it behaves because I wanted to photograph it with its crest up. I also checked the photos of other photographers for inspiration and to plan how I could present mine differently.
I learned that Philippine Eagles raise their crests when they are excited. In captivity, they get excited when they see their handlers bringing food. So whenever I would notice a handler about to walk in front of the eagle, I would prepare to get the shot that I wanted.
As an artist, I envision the shot that I want before I went out in the field. For the Philippine Eagle, I wanted to portray it as a fierce hunter but at the same time a gentle creature of God. I wanted it to have a crest that is slightly raised, looking a bit down and a little to the right of my lens.
I stayed with Imbulog for about 2 hours until I was satisfied with my photograph of the most critically endangered eagle in the world.
In those moments, I kept looking at his beautiful blue eyes and wondered why someone would harm such a wonderful creature. Why they would ever want to destroy its kingdom.
It was then that I promised myself to do whatever I can to save our national bird from all kinds of threats.
Through my photographs, I hope people would be aware that we have so many marvelous endemic species that need protection from extinction.
