Well, it isn't exactly macro, more of a closeup, but it IS a bald eagle. Just an artificial one made out of silver. But this isn't your typical silver bald eagle. This was part of the Officer's Mess silver service of the battleship USS Oklahoma. It was presented to the crew of the battleship by the state of Oklahoma in 1913, and fortunately, removed from the ship in 1940 as part of preparation for hostilities. As a result, it wasn't on board the Oklahoma when she was sunk in Pearl Harbor next year.
The silver service spent the war in a warehouse in Bremerton, Washington, before being returned to the state. As for Oklahoma, she was raised from the botom of Pearl Harbor and returned to floating condition after a massive effort (the ship had capsized during the attack and had to be returned to upright status, not a small thing to do with a battleship! Alas, after all that effort, the old warhorse sunk while under tow to the West Coast. I think I'd rather see her resting in honor on the bottom of the Pacific than turned into razor blades, though.
For more info on raising of the Oklahoma, see here:
http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/even ... ph-ok9.htm
Pay particular attention to picture #63916, about halfway down, and keep in mind that we are talking about a battleship here....583 feet long (almost two US football fields!).
exposure was a problem here. Next time I try this, I'll give a little more exposure, but it will be hard to do without blowing out the highlights of the eagle!
bald eagle head (sterling silver)
detail of punchbowl from Officer's Mess service of USS Oklahoma
24-105mm lens @ 105mm
handheld, ambient light, Rebel XTi
1/30th second @ f/8
ISO 400
approx .25x + 1.6 crop, effectively roughly .4 life-size
