Stuff
I’ve cut back a bit on my long walks to give my knee a chance to calm down. On Thursday, I finally got some solid work done on my A Bird Photographer’s Story Memphis keynote program.
Long Island Small Group Instruction
I will be returning to my old haunts on Long Island from 15-27 August, prime time for bird photography. The schedules below may be expanded based on demand.
Skimmer Sessions
Join me at Nickerson Beach to photograph Black Skimmers and lots more. Gull predation of young skimmers is likely. With full frame bodies, a minimum of a 500mm lens with TCs is recommended. 400mm OK with crop factor bodies.
Skimmer Mornings: AUG 16 & 17, 2018. 5:30 – 9:00am plus a working brunch: $375/session. Limit 4.
Skimmer Afternoons (usually best for flight): AUG 16 & 17, 2018. 5:00pm till sunset: $250/session. Limit 4.
Please inquire e-mail for multiple session discounts.
Shorebird Sessions
Join me at the East Pond at Jamaica Bay WR on the ideal tides to photograph southbound migrant juvenile shorebirds. With full frame bodies, a minimum of a 500mm lens with TCs is recommended. 400mm OK with crop factor bodies.
Important note: The Shorebird Mornings are dependent on suitable water levels at the East Pond. If the pond is flooded, the sessions will be conducted at Nickerson Beach.
Shorebird Mornings: AUG 24 & 25, 2018. 6:00 – 9:30am plus a working brunch: $375/session. Limit 4.
Please inquire via e-mail for multiple session discounts.
To register, please call Jim or Jen with your credit card in hand: 863-692-0906. I hope that you can join me.
PHOTOEXPO 2018
If you missed the PHOTOEXPO 2018 announcement and live anywhere within driving or flying distance of Memphis, TN, click here for the info. I have rides to Beale Street for both nights. If you are attending, please stop by the BAA table for a handshake and a hug.
BIRDS AS ART
BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART
Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.
Recent Sales
NANPA President Don Carter sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens in excellent condition for the BAA record-low-by-far price of $525 the first day it was listed. Yours truly sold his like-new Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens for $699 in late June.
Ray Maynard sold his Canon 300mm f/2.8 L IS lens (the original version) in near-mint condition for the BIRDS AS ART record-low price of $2349.000 and a Canon 2X III teleconverter in near-mint condition for $285.00 both in mid-July.
Bill Ketterer sold his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens in excellent condition for the lowest ever BAA price of $3399.00 in early June.
Jim Keener sold his Canon EOS-1DX Mark II in near-mint condition for $3,999.00 the first day it was listed.
Ray Maynard sold his Canon 1.4X III teleconverter in near-mint condition for the low price of $299.00 in late June, 2018.
Randall Ennis sold his Canon EOS-1D Mark IV in excellent condition for $849.00 in late June.
Joel Williams sold his Sony Vario-Tessar T FE 16-35 f/4 ZA OSS lens in like-new condition for $629 (was $749) in late June, 2018.
Joel Williams also sold his Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR lens in like-new condition for $749 (was $949) in April 2018.
Pierre Williot sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II in like-new condition for a very fair $848.00 in late June, 2018.
Top BAA used gear seller Jim Keener sold his Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L IS III USM Lens in like-new condition for the BAA record low price of $1349.00 the first day it was listed in late June.
Jim Keener sold a Canon EOS 5D Mark III body in excellent condition for the BAA record-low price of $999.00 (was $1149.00) in mid-June.
Jim Keener sold a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for the BAA record low price of $1099.00 in early June.
Not-So-New Listing
Canon EF Canon 100-400 L IS II USM Lens
I am offering a used Canon 100-400 L IS II in very good plus (almost excellent) condition and in perfect working order — I had to send it to Canon twice to restore smooth zooming — for $1399.00. The sale includes the original product box, the front and rear lens caps, the carrying case and strap, the manual, and insured ground shipping via UPS to US addresses. Your new lens will not ship until your check clears.
Please get in touch with artie via e-mail or on his cell phone at 863-221-2372 (Eastern time). Please leave a message if no answer.
Y’all know how much I loved and now miss this amazingly versatile lens. artie
Price Drops
Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM Lens
Price Reduced $200 on July 27, 2018.
Pierre Williot is offering a Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS USM lens (the original 600 IS) in very good to excellent condition in perfect working order with just a few blemishes for the BAA record-low-by-$1000 price of $$3999.00 (was $4199.00). The sale includes a LensCoat, the lens trunk, a low foot, the Canon 52mm Drop-In Circular Polarizer Filter (PL-C 52), the leather front lens cover, the rear cap, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses.
Please get in touch with Pierre via e-mail.
The 600 f/4 lenses are ideal for those who do birds and wildlife. This lens is the original (heavier) version of the Canon 600 IS. The lighter 600mm f/4L IS sells new at B&H for $11,499.00. Pierre’s lens is a great buy for a young, eager, relatively strong nature photographer who would like to save $7,300.00. The original 600 IS served as my workhorse super-telephoto lens for more than a decade. artie
Canon EOS 5DS R mega mega-pixel dSLR
Price Reduced $200 on July 8, 2018 and another $200 on July 27.
Pierre Williot is offering a Canon EOS 5DS R in like-new condition for a BAA record-low by far $1999.00 (was $2399.00). A screen protector was applied to the rear LCD as it came out of the box. The sale includes the front cap, the camera strap, a Vello Battery Grip, the battery charger, USB cable,the Instruction Manual, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only is included. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Pierre via e-mail or by text message to 1-716-481-7158 (Eastern Time Zone).
Without an anti-aliasing filter, the 5DS R will–for those with good sharpness techniques–produce large high-quality image files that feature hard to believe detail. You have seen the amazing 100% crops showing fine-feather detail in many older blog posts. And it is not bad for flight photography either! artie
Money Saving Reminder
If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!
Hard to Find Nikon Stuff Available Now
Steve Elkins has several Nikon D850s in stock right now. In addition, he just received a Nikkor AF-S 180-400mm f/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR Lens! E-mail Steve about a special deal on the big Nikon zoom lens that — like its Canon counterpart, the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM with Internal Extender 1.4x lens — is especially great for trips to Africa, the Southern Ocean, or the Galapagos.
Booking.Com
Several folks on the UK IPT used the Booking.Com link below for there Edinburgh hotels, got great rates, and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.
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This image was created on July 25 at Indian Lake Estates with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens (at 155mm) and my back-up Nikon D850. ISO 6400. Matrix metering at zero: 1/160 sec. at f/8. NATURAL AUTO WB at 7:50pm. D-25/Continuous (AI Servo in Canon)/Shutter button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the leaf that intersected with the top of the piling. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +5. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image #1: Plant growing on pier piling with sky reflections |
Tenacity. Simplicity.
I first noticed this plant about two weeks ago on one of my many health walks. I like walking on and near the pier as there are lots of birds around. I thought that it was neat that the plant had taken root on a piling that was left over from the old pier that was destroyed by a hurricane several years ago. I photographed the scene on several occasions experimenting with both horizontal and vertical motifs but the whitish sky reflections ruined all of the images. While walking right at sunset on Wednesday past (there was some heavy clouds on the western horizon) I noticed that the water was mostly black with just a smattering of sky reflections. So I made a few images. Image #1, with the red base of the stem and the single red leaf showing well was my favorite.
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This image was created on July 25 at Indian Lake Estates with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens (at 155mm) and my back-up Nikon D850. ISO 6400. Matrix metering at zero: 1/160 sec. at f/8. NATURAL AUTO WB at 7:50pm just after sunset (I believe). D-25/Continuous (AI Servo in Canon)/Shutter button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the leaf that intersected with the top of the piling. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +5. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image #2: Plant growing on pier piling with sky reflections removed and the water darkened |
Plant ID?
If you can identify the plant, please do leave a comment.
Image #2
The NEF (RAW) file for Image #1 was converted in ACR. I cleaned-up a bit of bird poop and a dead insect on the piling and then ran Neat Image Noise Reduction on the whole image. After I saved the master file, I decided to create a second version. For Image #2 I cleaned up all but one of the sky reflections in the water using the Patch Tool, the Spot Healing Brush, Content Aware Fill, and finally the Clone Stamp Tool. Then I darkened the water with a Curves adjustment on a Layer first being sure to pin the Curve for the mid-tones and the highlights and pulling the dark tones down. I left the single reflection so that folks would know for sure that the background was still water and not black velvet. 🙂
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The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II).You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand. |
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)
Your guessed it, everything mentioned above and tons more is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. While the new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow, folks using a PC and/or BreezeBrowser will also benefit greatly by studying the material on DB II. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.
The two most recent and many of the older MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):
Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.
Though I have become more proficient converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw, I continue to optimize my Canon image in DPP 4. You can learn how and why I converted (and still convert) nearly all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. And, yes, I still have many Canon images to work on. 🙂 The RAW conversions for all three of today’s featured images was straightforward once I entered my camera/ISO specific recipes (as detailed in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide). You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
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Neat Image Noise Reduction
Next I duplicated the Background layer and ran a quick and dirty Neat Image noise reduction on the whole image. I still use the original version not V8.
D850 High ISO Noise
As with my 5D Mark IV bodies, the high ISO noise with the D805s is not bad at all and quite manageable as you can see by taking a close look at the animated GIF above. You can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
Your Favorite?
Which of today’s two featured images do you like best, Image # 1 or Image #2? Be sure to let us know why.
Help Support the Blog
Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.
As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.
Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.
Typos
In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).
