Purchasing Robert’s new Nikon DSLR User’s [...]]]>

Bald Eagle Striking, near Homer, AK. Image courtesy of and copyright 2010: Robert O’Toole Photography. Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon handheld at 350mm with the Nikon D700. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/1600 sec. at f/8 in Manual mode.

Purchasing Robert’s new Nikon DSLR User’s Guide will not guarantee that you will make images as good as the one above but you will learn how to get the most out of your gear for nature and action photography. (Sports photographers take note.) Or, purchase the guide and join us in Homer–see $1000 DISCOUNT OFFER below–for personal lessons from Robert!

Nikon DSLR User’s Guide for the D300s/D700/D3S/d3x

Well, it took long enough–at least two years from concept to the final PDF–but Robert O’Toole has out-done himself by creating a masterpiece user’s guide for using Nikon gear. I just had my first look at the finished document and all that I can say is “Wow! Many Nikon folks show up on IPTs knowing little about properly setting up their cameras. “How do you see the histogram?’ “Don’t know….” “Can you set your camera so that we see the RGB histogram and blinkies in the same frame? “I once saw it done but don’t know how….” For me, it has long seemed that operating a Nikon camera required degrees in Physics, Language, and Logic. With Robert’s new guide those days are over.

You will learn when, how, and why to work in Manual mode and when, why, and how to work in one of the auto-modes (by setting exposure compensation). You will learn the various camera control options and custom settings so that you can fine-tune your camera to suit your shooting style. You will learn how and why many top pros works at higher ISOs than the regular Joes. And you will learn how Robert uses both Auto-ISO Control and Exposure Compensation while working in Manual Mode to routinely create perfectly exposed action photographs. He explains exactly how he sets the important camera controls. And why. Those include Release Mode, Focus Mode, and Rear Button Focus. You will learn how to set your camera and your flash to create flash blurs. You will learn which AF Mode Robert uses 90% of the time and how he sets it up using Menu/Custom Settings Menu.

He will teach you how and why to set a variety of buttons and dials. How and why to use Live View. About the only metering mode he uses. How, why, and when to switch AF points with the Multi-Selector. How and why to use the often-overlooked Info Button and the often over-looked My Menu feature. Then he takes you through the Camera Menus while dealing with the hows and whys of how he sets up the important items.

If you use Nikon gear then you simply cannot live without Robert’s great new guide. You owe it to yourself to make your life easier, to learn to make better images, and to learn exactly how a top professional does things. The Nikon DSLR User’s Guide is a comprehensive 45-page PDF that is sent by e-mail. There are dozens and dozens of diagrams and screen captures and even a few photos to illustrate key points. Your best bet is to save $2 by ordering your Nikon dSLR User’s Guide through the BAA On-line Store here for only $30. Or you can purchase your copy for $32 by calling BIRDS AS ART at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand, by sending a PayPal for $32 to us at birdsasart@att.net, or by sending a check for $32 made out to “Arthur Morris” to us at Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL. If by check be sure to include your e-mail address. (Please remember: no sharing digital files please )

Bald Eagle at sunset, talons out, near Homer, AK. Image copyright 2010: Robert O’Toole Photography. Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon handheld at 350mm with the Nikon D700. ISO 640. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/2000 sec. at f/8 in Manual mode. In Robert O’Toole’s Nikon DSLR User’s Guide for the D300s/D700/D3S/d3x he shares with you the AF and metering settings that he uses to create sharp, perfectly exposed images. In addition he details his entire camera set-up from soup to nuts. Learn to use your Nikon camera like a top professional.

Bald Eagle stare-down approach, near Homer, AK. Image copyright 2010: Robert O’Toole Photography. Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon handheld at 200mm with the Nikon D700. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/2000 sec. at f/8 in Manual mode.

Bald Eagle against mountains, near Homer, AK. Image copyright 2010: Robert O’Toole Photography. Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon handheld at 290mm with the Nikon D700. ISO 640. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/1600 sec. at f/8 in Manual mode.

Earn Free Contest Entries and Support both the Bulletins and the Blog by making all your B & H purchases here.

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Shopper’s Guide

Below is a list of the gear used to create the images in today’s blog post. Thanks a stack to all who have used the Shopper’s Guide links to purchase their gear as a thank you for all the free information that we bring you on the Blog and in the Bulletins. Before you purchase anything be sure to check out the advice in our Shopper’s Guide.

Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Nikon. I’ve seen the great images that Robert has created with this lens on his laptop at full resolution…. This lens is also available in Canon mount. See item next.
Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM APO Autofocus Lens for Canon. This is the Canon version of one of Robert’s favorite Sigma lenses.
Nikon D700. This is Robert’s favorite camera body.

I was walking around the house in my stocking feet this afternoon as I always do–tile floor throughout–getting ready for my nap and feeling jet-lagged-out-of-it, practically out on my feet. I was way [...]]]> Too Funny

You just gotta love getting old. As they say often, “It beats the alternative.” (I agree on that.)

I was walking around the house in my stocking feet this afternoon as I always do–tile floor throughout–getting ready for my nap and feeling jet-lagged-out-of-it, practically out on my feet. I was way past ready for my nap but had to use the facilities. I made the right turn from the hallway into the john, stepped on the edge of a small rug, and went down like the proverbial ton of bricks putting out my right hand to stop myself. On the way down I thought, “Don’t break your right wrist; you fly to Quito on Sunday.” The fall was nowhere near as bad as the one I took in the motel bathroom in Fort Myers a few years ago but as I got up, I saw that I had somehow gouged my left arm just above the wrist; it looked as if I had taken one of those rounded wood chisels to it with a vengeance. I cleaned it up nicely, bandaged it–I have lots of supplies left over from my second surgery, and–though it took me a while to fall asleep after a surge of adrenalin, took a short nap. I am now none the worse for wear.

I chuckled when I thought of how careful I was up on that mountain just a few days ago, taking great care with every step, aware that I might slip and fall and seriously injure myself or destroy my gear. Then take a turn into the bathroom and go down hard (but not for the count!) You gotta love getting old.

Abstract. See below.

What is It?

What is it? What focal length was used to create the image? Answer in two days.