What the ??? « Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

What the ???

Stuff

The pool was down to 65 degrees on Saturday morning. No swim for me. I headed over to Brandon to meet the Hooptie group at 7:30pm for a meet and greet. As I typed on Saturday afternoon, I was in the car with Alan and Pat Lillich–where have they not been with me??? headed to Whole Foods in Tampa. First we had some nasty traffic and then two exits in a row were closed. Our 12 minute trip turned into more than a half hour trip.

This post about 90 minutes to prepare. It was published from my hotel room in Brandon, FL at 4:00am.

The Fort DeSoto Spring IPT joined the long list of sold out trips yesterday. And the Swarovski ATS 65 HD Spotting Scope with 20-60x eyepiece sold for the full asking price. As did the 70-300.

South Georgia October 2015

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y8a9473-indian-lake-estates-fl

This image was created at 8:17am on a sunny morning down by the lake near my home from the car with the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the amazing Canon EOS 7D Mark II. ISO 400. I went with the standard 1/2000 sec at f/8 for ISO 400 bright WHITEs in sunny conditions for those using Highlight Tone Priority (HTP) and converting in DPP 4. Otherwise try 1/2500 sec. at f/8 as your best guess in this situation. Note: if you are not using DPP to convert you should never have HTP enabled.

One AF point to the right of the center AF Point (manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. ???? Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

What the ???

Was the image above a mistake, an accidental push of the shutter button? Was I drunk? Was it supposed to show a hunting egret? Or was there some other reason that it was created? If the latter, why?

Answer tomorrow. I will withhold judgement on all comments so that everyone can have a crack at it.


dpp-scrn-capt-gregr

A DPP 4 screen capture for toady’s featured image. Featured why????

Clues?

Can you find any clues in the DPP screen capture that might help you solve the riddle? Maybe….

New Listings and Price Drops

Click on the Used Photography Gear for Sale tab on the lower gold toolbar above to see the complete listings.

Used Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO Lens

Multiple IPT veteran Peter Hawrylyshyn is offering a used Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens in like-new condition for $3899. This is another lowest price ever. The sale includes everything that came in the original box—manual, the lens strap, the rear dust cap, the original front lens cover, etc, as well as the box itself, a hardwood snow LensCoat, a Lens Coat Hoodie, and insured ground shipping. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Peter via e-mail ­­­­­or by phone at 760-689-2434 (eastern time zone).

I used this lens for several years with great success, especially for birds in flight and while working from various type of water craft. Gannets in Love was created with the 400 DO. You can that one and 13 other killer images that I made with my 400 DO here. The title of that blog post is “The Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO Lens: Fourteen Images that Prove that the Internet Experts are Idiots.”

Used Canon 400mm f/2.8L IS II Lens

Price reduced $300 on 2/20/2015!

Melissa Hahn is offering a used Canon 400mm f/2.8L IS II lens in mint condition now for $8699. (Original asking price as $8999.) Original owner. The sale includes the lens hood, the E-180D front lens cover, the 400C lens trunk, the rear lens cap, the wide lens strap, a black LensCoat (an $89.99 value), a TravelCoat (a $59.95 value), and insured ground shipping to US addresses. The lens will ship only after your check clears. Glass and lens immaculate. The lens was very recently cleaned and checked by Canon. Photos are available upon request.

Interested folks can contact Melissa on here cell phone at 1-631-404-2965 (eastern time) or via e-mail.

This fast, super-sharp, relatively lightweight (8.49 pounds) super-telephoto lens (the Nikon version weighs 10.2 pounds) is a versatile lens for wildlife photographers. It creates super-sharp images with both the 1.4X III and the 2X III Extenders. It currently sells new at B&H for $10,499 and they are offering a used one for $9,899.95. You can save some significant bucks by grabbing Melissa’s lens now.

Used Canon EOS-1D X

Gary Meyer is offering a used Canon EOS-1D X in mint condition for $4,950.00. The sale includes an extra battery, the front cap, the original box and packaging along with all manuals, cords and CDs. Also included is insured shipping via UPS Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made. Paypal OK.

Please contact Gary by e-mail or by phone at 612-221-0150 (8am to 10pm Central time).

I currently own two EOS-1D X bodies and will not be selling either one soon. Super-fast frame rate, full frame body, high quality image files, high ISO performance, and the world’s best AF system. The world’s best flight photographers choose and use the 1D X. artie

Used Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens

Jacques Bouvier is offering a used Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in very good condition with clean glass for $4999 US. The sale includes the ET-120 Lens Hood, the Hard Case 300B, Lens Cap E-145C, Rear lens cap, and the wide Lens Strap B. Also included is insured shipping to US addresses via UPS Ground.

You can contact Jacques via e-mail or by phone at 613-524-1154 (home) or 613-677-5140 (cell)–eastern time zone.

The 300 f/2.8L IS II IS is a super-sharp, versatile lens that can be hand held easily by most folks. I use it often with both the 1.4X or 2X Series III teleconverters. It served as my big lens on the recently concluded Southern Ocean trip. In addition I have used it a ton in Japan and at Fort DeSoto. This one is priced to sell instantly.

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Typos

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13 comments to What the ???

  • avatar David Roby

    I don’t think it’s technical; is it about the right angle bend in the bird’s neck?

  • avatar Wayne Lea

    Probably turned his head just as the shutter tripped.

  • avatar Kathy Graff

    I think you were checking out your “standard 1/2000 sec at f/8 for ISO 400 bright WHITEs in sunny conditions” exposure. Also, possibly to see where the red, green and blues fell on the color histogram. The composition itself is completely the opposite of your typical style of shooting.

  • avatar Elinor Osborn

    I think you meant to say If you leave HTP enabled. I went back and read Canon’s description of HTP and I think I now understand what is happening. Thanks

  • avatar David Policansky

    Hi, Artie. I don’t know why you took the photograph. I would delete it if it were on my memory card. I don’t like anything about the image except the exposure. On the topic of deletions, I went to Bosque del Apache yesterday to photograph ducks. The light geese and cranes have left. There were lots of lovely ducks (gadwalls, ruddy ducks, canvasbacks, ring-necked ducks, mallards, green-winged teals, northern pintails, northern shovelers, and others) and the light was good, but I just couldn’t get close enough. And when I stopped and waited, the ducks just wouldn’t come close enough. So i’ve deleted maybe 90% of the photographs I took. I know, I shouldn’t have been pressing the shutter button. 🙁

  • avatar George Cottay

    For use in an upcoming discussion on the importance of head angle.

  • avatar Geoff

    I was thinking just doing an exposure check especially with that bright white bird and fairly dark background.

  • avatar Jim Amato

    Checking out a new light sensor, a different approach for metering light, a new or different auto focus method or device.
    Testing the accuracy of auto focus in a complex scene with objects on/in/near same plane. Check out depth of field capabilities of camera and or lens. Lost in ozone and “What the heck?… this sure is different”

  • avatar Richard Curtin

    histogram exposure check for the whites?

  • “Note: if you are not using DPP to convert you should never have HTP enabled.” Could you elaborate on this please? Thanks

    • avatar Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

      Only DPP will make the needed changes to the file. If you leave HTP enabled you will have a false sense of security as far as the correct exposure for your WHITEs.