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.

More and more folks are earning multiple contest entries with their B & H purchases. See here for details on that. Eleven great categories, 34 winning and honored images, and prize pools valued in excess of $20,000. Click here to visit the competition home page.

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.

The 800 was supported by a BLUBB resting on the raised window [...]]]>

This image was created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/8 set manually.

The 800 was supported by a BLUBB resting on the raised window of my SUV. BLUBB stands for Big Lens Ultimate BeanBag. I custom-designed this large beanbag for use with super-telephoto lenses. The non-slip concave top of this great beanbag makes it easy to keep your lens perfectly still. Nothing out there compares with the BLUBB, especially the cheap knock-offs that cost half the price. A peek at the Bubble Level in the hot shoe ensured that the lens was square to the world.

Lens micro-adjustment: -4. Central sensor AI Servo/Rear Focus AF and recompose….

For a greater appreciation of the image, click on the photo. Then click on the enlarged version to close it.

Beanbag Sharpness Issues

Most folks with long lenses realize the benefits of using their cars as a blind in a variety of situations. If you are not in that group, see “Using Your Car as a Blind” on pages 120-121 of the original “The Art of Bird Photography.” In addition, if you search for the word “vehicle” in ABP II (916 pages on CD only) you will turn up 58 occurrences; many of those relate to tips for using your car as an effective and movable blind.

This afternoon I received the following e-mail from Assaf Gavra:

Hi, I am using a homemade beanbag made from two pillow cases and filled with 5kgs of beans. I have seen that many of your tack sharp images have been created with a big lens and the 1.4X III tele-converter. So I lost my fear of using it on my 500mm f/4L IS but some of the images (most of them in fact) are not in focus. Considering that I have this top equipment I really don’t know what to do…. Can you help? Assaf

Needing more info I wrote back asking “Have you ever made one sharp image with the 500 and the 1.4X TC??

He wrote back and attached two nice images asking if they were sharp. Each was quite sharp. I wrote him back as follows:

Assaf, Yes, they are razor sharp. That means that the lens and camera and TC are fine. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I now know why many of the images that you make are unsharp: operator error. That means you. I will address the question of beanbag work and image sharpness in tonight’s blog post. In the meantime I would recommend that you get yourself a copy of ABP II and study the section on advanced sharpness techniques so that you can learn to create sharp images while working on a tripod. There is also lots of info on using your car as a blind in ABP II.

Assaf’s e-mail got me thinking: there are some complex issues involved when using a big lens from the vehicle and working on a big beanbag, issues that I had never written about specifically until now. Consider the BreezeBrowser screen capture below and we will get started.

I would advise that you read the following material very carefully if you wish to learn to make a higher percentage of sharp images when photographing from your vehicle. In the screen capture above you will note that none of the AF squares are lit up red. That indicates that AF (in this case, AI Servo AF) was not active at the moment of exposure. I focused on the bird’s eye (using rear focus and the central sensor). Then I released the rear focus button effectively locking or setting sharp focus on the Turkey Vulture’s eye. If you have no idea what I am talking about, it means that that you missed the rear focus tutorial; you can find it here. If you know what I am talking about but do not use rear focus, then for this section assume that you are using One-Shot AF and recompose. (That would be Single Servo and recompose with Nikon.)

OK, here we go. Whether you use rear focus and recompose as I did to create the image above or One-Shot (or Single Servo) and recompose as I used to do, you will have arrived at the critical moment. Either way you have set focus. But whatever system and method you are using, focus is never actually locked. It is set. If you turn the manual focusing ring at this point you will change the focus. What most folks do not realize is that when they move the lens up or down or left or right to recompose there is a huge danger of inadvertently turning the manual focusing ring. If you are aware of this possibility and take care not to rotate the lens at all the problem can easily be avoided. So, after focus is set, take great care to ensure that the focusing ring does not turn even a hair else you will throw off accurate focus.

Conclusion: if you are using rear focus and recompose or One-Shot (or Single Servo and recompose) with relatively fast shutter speeds and many of your images are not sharply focused it is likely that you are accidentally turning the manual focusing ring after focusing.

In the BreezeBrowser screen capture above, note that that the AF sensor in the upper left corner of the array was not only selected but was active at the moment of exposure; you know that because it is illuminated in red. That indicates that I was holding down the rear focus button (with AI Servo engaged) at the moment of exposure. If I had been using the shutter button to focus it would have meant that I was in AI Servo AF (C or Continuous with Nikon) and that focus was active at the moment of exposure. In either case, accurate focus would be pretty much guaranteed for several reasons:

1-The system was focusing when the image was created.
2-Accidentally turning the manual focusing ring (with Canon for sure…) would not have affected accurate focusing as electronic manual focusing is disabled when AI Servo is active.
3-The chance of inadvertently turning the manual focusing ring would be virtually eliminated as you would be happy with the composition created with the active focusing sensor right on the bird’s eye, face, or neck; there would be no need to recompose.

This Black Vulture image was also created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/8 in Av mode. As above, the big lens was supported by a BLUBB resting on the raised window of my SUV. BLUBB stands for Big Lens Ultimate BeanBag. I custom designed this large beanbag for use with super-telephoto lenses. Nothing out there compares with the BLUBB, especially the cheap knock-offs that cost half the price. A peek at the Bubble Level in the hot shoe ensured that the lens was square to the world. Lens micro-adjustment: -4. Upper left corner AI Servo/Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure. For a greater appreciation of the image, click on the photo. Then click on the enlarged version to close it.

Conclusion: if you are able to select a sensor that falls on the subject’s eye, face, or neck and you work with AI Servo AF (or Continuous with Nikon) active at the moment of exposure, you will be virtually assured of an accurately focused image.

Additional Tips

1: When using a Bubble Level (I always do) be sure to point the lens at the subject first. Now set the camera body square to the world and then focus. If you focus first and then square your rig to the world you will turn the focusing ring and screw up the accurate focus that you had set.

2: All else being equal, images made with lens/camera and lens/TC/camera combinations that have been micro-adjusted with the Lens Align Mark II will always be sharper than those those made with rigs that have not been focus calibrated.

3-If time permits, shut off your vehicle’s engine before making a photograph. While this seems obvious, there are times when it is best to take an image or two with the motor running. If you think you know when it is proper to do this, please leave a comment. Hint: there are two qualifications. Only one is obvious .

4- Leave your pillows on your bed; the BLUBB is the bomb and was designed to help you make sharp images with big lenses when working from a vehicle. We ship them all over the world every week.

Which Image Do You Like Best?

Take a moment to leave a comment and let us know which image you like best, the Turkey Vulture image or the Black Vulture image. And be sure to let us know why.

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

More and more folks are earning multiple contest entries with their B & H purchases. See here for details on that. Eleven great categories, 34 winning and honored images, and prize pools valued in excess of $20,000. Click here to visit the competition home page.

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.

Canon 800mm f/5.L IS lens. Right now this is my all time favorite super-telephoto lens.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body. My two Mark IVs are my workhorse digital camera bodies.

And from the BAA On-line Store:

LensCoats. I have a LensCoat on each of my big lenses to protect them from nicks and thus increase their re-sales value. All my big lens LensCoat stuff is in Hardwood Snow pattern.
LegCoat Tripod Leg Covers. I have four tripods active and each has a Hardwood Snow LegCoat on it to help prevent further damage to my tender shoulders
Gitzo GT3530LS Tripod. This one will last you a lifetime.
Mongoose M3.6 Tripod Head. Right now this is the best tripod head around for use with lenses that weigh less than 9 pounds. For heavier lenses, check out the Wimberley V2 head.
CR-80 Replacement Foot for Canon 800. When using the 800 on a Mongoose as I do, replacing the lens foot with this accessory lets the lens sit like a dog whether pointed up or down and prevents wind-blown spinning of your lens on breezy days by centering the lens directly over the tripod.
Double Bubble Level. You will find one in my camera’s hot shoe whenever I am not using flash.
Be sure to check out our camera body User’s Guides here.
The Lens Align Mark II. I use the Lens Align Mark II pretty much religiously to micro-adjust all of my gear an average of once a month and always before a major trip. Enjoy our free comprehensive tutorial here.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV User’s Guide. Learn to use your Mark IV the way that I use mine. Also available for the 7D and the Mark III here.

On my two-week Midway visit in 2010 I visited Rusty Bucket many [...]]]>

This image was created at Rusty Bucket on Sand Island, Midway with the Canon 800mm f/5.L IS lens and the
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 200. Evaluative metering -1/3 stop: 1/2000 sec. at f/8 in Av Mode.

Spectacular Midway Silhouette

On my two-week Midway visit in 2010 I visited Rusty Bucket many times but the sunset possibilities there never struck me. This year the light bulb came on in my head early in the visit and we visited almost daily as long as there was a hint of color in the western sky. Bird photography is most often about recognizing a potentially good situation. (See the Rusty Bucket silhouetted head portrait here.)

To see a somewhat darker version and what the folks on BPN had to say about this image, click here.

To create the strongest silhouettes place the subject right in front of the most brightly colored patch of sky. This can be a challenge with a large group especially when you have taught them too well

This is the properly exposed original image. I moved the BLACK Slider well to the right for the RAW conversion as I like my silhouettes blacker than black.

Note the big dust spot in near the top of the image above the center of the bird’s back; I made the Midway trip without my Delkin Sensor Scope and my Lens Pen to save weight and paid the price… To learn how I keep my sensor clean click here. And for additional tips on making your silhouettes pop in post processing, see my Enhancing Silhouettes blog post.

Stay tuned for the Silhouette Flash Lessons post tomorrow.

Shopper’s Guide

Below is a list of the gear that I used to create the images above. 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.

Canon 800mm f/5.L IS lens. Right now this is my all time favorite super-telephoto lens.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body. The very best professional digital camera body that I have ever used.

And from the BAA On-line Store:

Gitzo GT3530LS Tripod. This one will last you a lifetime.
Mongoose M3.6 Tripod Head. Right now this is the best tripod head around for use with lenses that weigh less than 9 pounds. For heavier lenses, check out the Wimberley V2 head.
Sensor cleaning supplies. I spent way too much time on Midway cleaning dust bunnies because I did not have my sensor cleaning kit with me. Never again.

Delkin 32gb e-Film Pro Compact Flash Card. These high capacity cards are fast and dependable.

I pack my 800 and tons of other gear in my ThinkTank Airport SecurityTM V2.0 rolling bag for all of my air travel and recommend the slightly smaller Airport InternationalTM V2.0 for most folks. These high capacity bags are well constructed and protect my gear when I have to gate check it on short-hops and puddle jumpers. Each will protect your gear just as well. By clicking on either link or the logo below, you will receive a free gear bag with each order over $50.

Think Tank Free Offer

BIRDS AS ART Books is proud to announce the release of “A [...]]]>

We debated long and hard whether to use a single image on the cover or to create a montage. As the subject matter of the book is so, so diverse, we opted for a montage.

A Guide to Pleasing Blurs

BIRDS AS ART Books is proud to announce the release of “A Guide to Pleasing Blurs” by Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito. This 20,585 word, 271 page PDF is illustrated with 144 different, exciting, and artistic images. The guide covers the basics of creating pleasingly blurred images, the factors that influence the degree of blurring, the use of filters in creating pleasing blurs, and a great variety of both in-the-field and Photoshop techniques that can be used to create pleasingly blurred images.

Artie and Denise will teach you many different ways to move your lens during the exposure to create a variety of pleasingly blurred images of flowers and trees and water and landscapes. They will teach you to recognize situations where subject movement can be used to your advantage to create pan blurs, wind blurs, and moving water blurs. They will teach you to create zoom-blurs both in the field and during post-processing. Artie shares the techniques that he has used and developed for making blurred images of flocks of geese in flight at his beloved Bosque del Apache and Denise shares her flower blur magic as well as a variety of creative Photoshop techniques that she has developed.

With the advent of digital capture creating blurred images has become a great and inexpensive way to go out with your camera and have fun. And while many folks think that making successful blurred images is the result of being a sloppy photographer nothing could be further from the truth. In “A Guide to Pleasing Blurs” Artie and Denise will help you to unleash your creative self.

The book is laid out in landscape format to make for easy viewing and easy reading on any decent computer monitor.

You can order your copy of “The Guide to Pleasing Blurs” PDF now for only $33 by PayPal , by phone: 863-692-0906, or from the BAA On-line Store here. A download link will be delivered to you via e-mail. Please note: this book is available only as a digital file in PDF form. You will need either Adobe Acrobat Reader or Fox-it to read the file. Both are free downloads. Instructions will be included with your purchase.

When you visit, be sure to check out my Explorer of Light Gallery and to surf around on the site. There is lots of interesting stuff there: I just had 30 minutes of [...]]]> A BIRDS AS ART image is currently being featured on the Canon Digital Learning. You can check it out here: http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=3446

When you visit, be sure to check out my Explorer of Light Gallery and to surf around on the site. There is lots of interesting stuff there: I just had 30 minutes of my life disappear while following various links

Here are the [...]]]> Brown Pelican, La Jolla, CA. Image copyright 2010: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. The image was created with Fractalius, a Photoshop plug-in filter. See lots more below. And be sure to click on the image to see a larger version.

 BIRDS AS ART Bulletin #315 is now available on-line here:  http://www.birdsasart.com/2010/02/02/birds-as-art-bulletin-315.

Here are the featured items:

• SAN DIEGO IPT FOLLOW-UP
• ONE IMAGE: MANY LESSONS
• ANNOUNCING THE JANUARY 2011 SAN DIEGO IPT 
• FRACTALIUS: IMAGES & TUTORIALS BY DENISE IPPOLITO
• SARASOTA FLORIDA AUDUBON PROGRAM 
• BOK TOWER EXHIBIT OPENING
• CANON GEAR FOR SALE
• KUDOS
• IPT UPDATES

A while back, BPN Out of the Box moderator Denise Ippolito, a talented, creative photographer, introduced me to Fractalius, a Photoshop  plug-in that can be used to create unusual, eccentric artwork from a photograph in a single step.  The effects are based on the extraction of an image’s hidden fractal textures.  It can also be used to simulate various types of exotic lighting  and ultra-realistic pencil sketches.   I was so excited by the look and feel of the images that I asked Denise to create a tutorial for her favortie Fractalius setting, Glow 100.  Click here: http://www.birdsasart.com/bn315.htm and scroll down to see four of Denise’s fabulous Fracted images and to read the Glow 100 tutorial.  You can check out both of her Fractalius tutorials and learn more about Denise by clicking here: http://deniseippolito.smugmug.com/ and scrolling down.  Be sure to visit some of her galleries too.

If you are sold on Fracting after seeing the killer pelican image above, you can purchase a copy of Fracalius by clicking here:  https://www.plimus.com/jsp/buynow.jsp?contractId=1720292&referrer=birdsasart.  Please be sure to use this link to purchase; doing so will enable us to bring you more tutorials <smile> You can see the original pelican image here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=55949.

I will be on the road for 2 1/2 weeks for the Sarasota Audubon Program (see in the Bulletin), the SW FLA IPT, and the NANPA Summit in Reno, NV.  Then it’s home for a few days and off to Midway!  I will be posting here regularly.