Clean, Tight, Graphic (and Abstract)

What’s Up?

We had another great long cloudy morning shooting session on Tuesday. And another great working brunch at Vahik Cafe. I am amazed this year by the large percentage of young pelicans. In most years, juvenile pelicans can be hard to find. This year there are dozens and dozens. The brown backed, white bellied juvies make up well more than 80% of the birds we’ve been seeing.

Inexpensive shared lodging is available for the San Diego Mini IPT below. Please contact me via e-mail with any questions.

Today is Wednesday January 19 2022. The forecast for today is for mostly cloudy without much of a breeze in the morning and sunny with a northwest wind in the afternoon. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took more than two hours to prepare and makes 68 consecutive days with a new one.

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This image was created on 16 January 2022 at La Jolla, CA. Standing at full height, I used the no-longer-available Induro GIT 304L/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 2000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/125 sec. at f/8 (stopped down one stop) in Manual mode. AWB at 4:26:01pm on a cloudy afternoon. Tracking: Spot S AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed very well in a difficult situation. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #1: Brown Pelican Pacific-race hind-neck abstract

Let’s Start With Abstract

This beautiful adult pelican was sleeping peacefully high up on the cliff pretty close to the sidewalk. I saw the image I wanted in my mind. I made my tripod as tall as possible to be able to shoot down as much as possible. And I put one leg over the fence to get the angle that I wanted. The pelican slept on. I focused on the tuft of feathers on the top back of the bird’s head. I made many different compositions and kept checking them on the rear screen. I was never happy with any of them until I saw the very last one in the series. That is, of course, Image #1 above. The other thirty-some-odd were deleted. It felt good to finally get it right!

This image was created on 16 January 2022 at La Jolla, CA. Standing at full height, I used the no-longer-available Induro GIT 304L/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 800. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/80 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 4:33:48pm on a cloudy afternoon. Tracking: Spot S AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed very well in a difficult situation. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #2: Brown Pelican Pacific-race adult face portrait

Clean, Tight, and Graphic

I’ve made thousands of images like this over the past decade, but I’d never made one of a bird in the complete shade. Two things make this image very special to me. If you think that you know what they are, please leave a comment.

Take a Crack at This One …

Is the bird in Image #1 the same individual as the bird in Image #2? How did you know?

Your Preference

Which of today’s two featured images do you like best? Why?

San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

The 2022 San Diego Brown Pelicans (and more!) Mini IPT. Monday 24 January thru the morning session on Wednesday 26 January 2022. Three mornings and two afternoons: $1649.00. Deposit: $499.00. Limit: 6 photographers

Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (nesting with eggs and possibly chicks) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Northern Shoveler and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heermann’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others are possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lions. And as you can see by studying the IPT cards, there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Not to mention a ton of excellent flight photography opportunities and instruction.

Please note: where permitted and on occasion, ducks and gulls may be attracted (or re-located) with offerings of grains or healthy bread.

Learning Exposure, Whether You Like It Or Not

Whether you like it or not, we will be beating the subject of exposure like a dead horse. In every new situation, you will hear my thoughts on the exposure situation along with my thoughts on both Nikon and Canon histograms and SONY Zebras. Whether you like it or not, you will learn to work in manual mode and to get the right exposure every time as long as a bird gives you ten seconds with the light constant. (Or two seconds with SONY zebras…) And you will learn what to do when the light is changing constantly. What you learn about exposure is one of the great takeaways on every IPT.

Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT, there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

It Ain’t Just Pelicans

With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography as well, often with 70-200mm lenses! And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You will be guided as to how to make the best of all of those opportunities. Depending on the weather and local conditions and tides, there are a variety of other fabulous photo chances available in and around San Diego.

Did I mention that there are lots of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter? Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

The San Diego Details

This IPT will include five three hour morning photo sessions, four one and one-half afternoon photo sessions, four working brunches that will include image review and Photoshop sessions. On rare cloudy day occasions, we may — at my discretion, stay out in the morning for a long session and skip that afternoon. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. And so that we can get some sleep, dinners will be on your own as well. In the extremely unlikely event that Goldfish Point is closed due to local ordinance (or whimsy) — that has never happened in the past fifty years, I will of course do my very best to maximize our photographic opportunities.

A $499 deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Best would be to call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, is due immediately.

Variety is surely the spice of life in San Diego. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Getting Up Early and Staying Out Late

On all BIRDS AS ART IPTS including and especially the San Diego IPT, we get into the field early to take advantage of unique and often spectacular lighting conditions and we stay out late to maximize the chances of killer light and glorious sunset silhouette situations. We often arrive at the cliffs a full hour before anyone else shows up to check out the landscape and seascape opportunities.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.