Why No Sebastian Inlet Osprey IPTs? What Are You Doing Thursday Morning? And On Softening Harsh Shadows!

My Used Canon EOS R5

If you were the one who purchased my Canon EOS R5, please get in touch with me via e-mail. I have lost track of that sale. 🙁

What’s Up?

Not much. I have been editing my October 2021 image folder. I began the second edit with 1774 raw files … Final details to follow. And am still finishing up watching Sunday’s (and Monday night) NFL games on TIVO.

The BAA Used Gear Page went berserk yesterday. Nine of the ten new items listed in yesterday’s blog post sold pretty much instantly. Here is what BAA-Friend Fred Innamorato had to say about the experience via e-mail:

Wow Artie! I am very happy that all my items sold so fast. And am happy with the prices. You definitely are able to connect with lots of trustworthy buyers and sellers. The buyers were from Rhode Island, Utah and North Carolina. I would highly recommend that anyone wanted to buy or sell cameras, lenses, or photographic accessories to work with you. All to the transactions were problem- free. Sincerely, Fred Innamorato

If you would like to learn about selling your used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page, click here or see the Used Gear Page item just below.

Today is Tuesday 9 November. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about an hour to prepare.

Remember that you can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to save 3% at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

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 on items priced at $1,000 or more. 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 is $1000 (or less for a $50 flat-fee). If you are interested, please scroll down here to read the terms. Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice only to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past years, we have sold many hundreds of items. Do know that prices for used gear only go in one direction. Down. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

If you would like to learn about selling your used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page, click here.

New Bedfords BAA Discount Info

Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy free Overnight Fed-Ex Air shipping for orders over $1,000.00 and free Second Day Fed-Ex Air shipping for orders under $1,000.00.

Money Saving Reminder

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would like to enjoy free Fed-Ex Air shipping as above, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and use it qualify for the free Fed-Ex Air shipping. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The wait lists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard to get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a 1, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager-to-please.

Important Note

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the links on the blog (including the logo-link immediately above). My link works with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂

Please Remember Also

Please, if you enjoy and learn from the blog, remember to use one of my two affiliate programs when purchasing new gear. Doing so just might make it possible for me to avoid having to try to get a job as a Walmart greeter and will not cost you a single penny more. And if you use Bedfords and remember to enter the BIRDSASART code at checkout, you will save 3% on every order and enjoy free second-day air shipping. In these crazy times — I am out at least forty to sixty thousand dollars so far due to COVID 19 (with lots more to come) — remembering to use my B&H link or to shop at Bedfords will help me out a ton and be greatly appreciated. Overseas folks who cannot order from the US because of import fees, duties, and taxes, are invited to help out by clicking here to leave a blog thank you gift if they see fit.

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.

This image was created at Sebastian Inlet on 29 October 2021. I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 640. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/3200 sec. at f/7.1 (stopped down 1/3 stop) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that this image was about 1/3 stop under; that info helps me to correctly adjust the Exposure slider during the raw conversion in ACR. AWB at 3:53pm on a sunny afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF-C Bird/Eye Detection AF was active at the moment of exposure and worked just fine. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the hi-res version. Image #1: Fresh Juvenile Osprey wheeling in flight/Version I

When it is Sunny …

When it is sunny, hand holding the Sony 200-600 GM works best for me at Sebastian Inlet. When it is cloudy, I go with the 600 GM though it is more difficult for me to hand hold the much heavier lens. With the sun, however, you will often have some relatively dark shadows on the Ospreys unless they are by chance, directly on sun angle. I originally processed this image more than a week ago. When I revisited it today, the shadow on the bird’s breast really bothered me. So I I brought it back into Photoshop and created a second version. You can see that below.

Sony a1 Image Quality

As regular readers know, sharp a1 image files can stand up to healthy crops. Today’s featured vertical image is a crop from a horizontal original.

Why No Sebastian Inlet Osprey IPTs?

Many folks have asked why I never schedule any Sebastian Inlet Osprey IPTs. While photography there can be great, it is 100% weather dependent. With winds from the north you are pretty much dead in the water. That brings us to this coming Thursday morning: if you can join me at Sebastian this Thursday morning, please get in touch asap via e-mail.. $400 for three plus hours of in-the-field instruction with tame Wood Storks along with some shorebirds and herons and egrets as back-up subjects. With an option for a working lunch or an afternoon session as well.

This image was created at Sebastian Inlet on 29 October 2021. I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 640. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/3200 sec. at f/7.1 (stopped down 1/3 stop) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that this image was about 1/3 stop under; that info helps me to correctly adjust the Exposure slider during the raw conversion in ACR. AWB at 3:53pm on a sunny afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF-C Bird/Eye Detection AF was active at the moment of exposure and worked just fine. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the hi-res version. Image #2: Fresh Juvenile Osprey wheeling in flight/Version II

On Softening Harsh Shadows!

Eliminating shadows on the subject is a very tough chore. With today’s featured image, I was lucky as most of the underwings were well lit by the afternoon sun. But with the sun coming from well over my left shoulder, there was a significant shadow on the bird’s breast and body as well as on the inner portion of the far underwing. So how did I lessen the impact of those shadows?

I brought the image into Photoshop, selected the shadowed areas with the Quick Selection Tool (my keyboard shortcut W), feathered the edges, and placed the selection on its own layer. The I went Control M (Curves on a Layer) and pulled the curve up judiciously. Then I merged that layer. Next I used Tim Grey Dodge and Burn with a 10% Opacity brush of varying sizes to further lighten the still-too-dark areas of the underwing. Last was to blend the edges of the shadow on the underwing artfully using the Patch Tool; Several times, I selected a sliver of the too-dark area and dragged that into the sunlit portion of the wing. Voila!

Last was to do some Digital Eye Doctor work; again, using Tim Grey Dodge and Burn, I lightened the iris and darkened the pupil. That done, I used the Clone Stamp Tool to even out the tonalities in the iris. Be sure to click on the image to view the hi-res version and better see the improvements.

For me, it was well worth the additional effort. What do you think?

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. Be sure to specify Digital Basics II.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)

Everything mentioned above and tons more great Photoshop tips and techniques — along with all of my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts — are 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. 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.

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. Note: all of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.

You can learn how and why I converted all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. More recently, I became proficient at converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw. About two years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One Pro 12 and continue to do so today.

To purchase Capture One, please use this link. Then you can learn more about Capture One in the Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video here. The next step would be to get a copy of Arash Hazeghi’s “The Nikon Photographers’ Guide to Phase One Capture One Pro e-Guide” in the blog post here.

You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.

Typos

Feel free to e-mail me or leave a comment regarding any typos or errors in this blog post.