The Streak Continues: 264
This blog was published at about 5:30am from my Mom’s home at Holbrook, Long Island, NY. It took me about 2 hours to assemble this post which makes 264 consecutive days with a brand new blog post. I am in NY for a week of visiting my elderly (gonna be 92 soon) Mom, my younger sister Arna, my younger daughter Alissa and her wonderful family, and doing some late summer bird photography.
As always, I would appreciate your using the BIRDS AS ART B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases, using our Amazon logo-link for all of your household purchases, and visiting the BAA Online Store for your tripod, tripod head, LensCoat, miscellaneous, accessories, and eGuide purchases as well.
The 2015 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT
There are now just 2 slots left on the 2015 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT; if you are seriously interested in joining us on this truly wonderful trip it would be best not to tarry…. Scroll down here for complete details. artie and denise
Nickerson Beach Update
From Greg Gulbransen: Lots of skimmers feeding chicks out front in the open at Nickerson. Lots of photo ops. Next week will be perfect. For info on my 2-DAY IPT next Monday and Tuesday scroll down here. Call 1-863-692-0906 and ask Jim about the very late registration discount.
2015 Palouse IPT #2
The first 2015 Palouse IPT is sold out with a long waiting list. There are now just 4 slots left on the Palouse IPT #2. Scroll down in this blog post for complete details.
Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART
Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charges a minimum of 20% plus assorted fees! Yikes. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. You can see the additional listings here. Immediately below is today’s featured listing.
Used Canon EF 100-400 f 4.5-5.6 L IS Lens
Bruce Boswell is offering a used Canon EF 100-400 f 4.5-5.6 L IS lens in very good condition for $999 plus insured shipping via UPS Ground to US Continental addresses only. The tripod and zoom rings have a few minor blemishes. The sale includes: the original case, the front and rear caps, the lens hood, and the lens manual. Your gear will be shipped only after your check clears.
Please contact Bruce via e-mail or by phone at (309) 451-1506 or (309) 530-8493 (cell) (Central).
The 100-400 is a versatile intermediate telephoto zoom lens with 1,000+ uses. It makes a great starter lens especially for folks who do general nature and wildlife in addition to birds. I’ve sold 100s of images made with a 1-4 and denise loved hers for many years forsaking it only recently for the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens. Bruce’s 100-400 is priced to sell.
Your Help Is Needed
Sales for the first half of August, 2014 via our BIRDS AS ART B&H affiliate links have been microscopically abysmal at best. If you need to purchase some new camera gear, please remember to use either our B&H logo link below or one of the product-specific links in the blog or the Bulletins. All should feel free to write me via e-mail
This image was created at 11:04am on a very cloudy day on last July’s Nickerson Beach IPT with the hand held Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens , the Canon Extender EF 2X III (at 140mm), and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop as framed: 1/250 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual Mode. Color Temperature 9100K; what was I thinking? But with RAW capture it was easy to cool down the image with the Color Temperature slider in DPP 4.0.
Central Sensor Surround/AI Servo Rear Focus AF on Dave’s neck and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
When I asked:
“Why is the arrangement of the birds slightly less than perfect?
Is there anything else about the image that bothers you?”
I was actually thinking of another one of Mr. Dave’s images. Here I think that the arrangement of the two young birds is perfect; I love that the head of rear juvie is set against the white underparts of its nest-mate. Had it merged with the dark upperparts that would have been a major problem. And I like the juxtaposition of the two young birds and have zero problems with the bill of the rear bird crossing with the leg of the front juvenile.
The only thing that bothers me about the image is that I did not create it :). Lots Mr. Dave images more coming on Saturday.
I like Mr. Dave’s image. In a perfect world, I’d like the middle bird to be clear of the right-most bird. Perfect worlds are rare where I live. Interesting that the juvies both are banded, while the adult is not. On Nantucket, where I often see AMOYs, it’s rare to see an unbanded adult.
Typo: In the paragraph titled “What Did Mr. Dave Do Right?” you have a greengrocer’s (unnecessary) apostrophe in the word “birds” (“bird’s”).
Thanks for the catch of my typo. Do you know the derivation of the term greengrocer???
Never mind. I find it online: “apple’s and pear’s for sale.” That put a smile on my face. But not the definition: “out of ignorance.” No mention of the possibility of a brain typo by someone who knows how to use them 🙂 a
Yes, exactly. And it’s from England, although it happens here too. I agree, the definition should also include brain-typo. 🙂
Artie: Not to harp, but I don’t see an Amazon link to the right of the page(s) and the Amazon link at the bottom of the post isn’t there….
(I want to see you get as many “referrals” to Amazon as possible!!)
Tom
Thanks and appreciated. I see them both here on every post. Best to try a different browser. Or, it could possibly be your security settings. artie
lovely pics
After looking at the picture again would like to see a few more degree of head angle on the adult. Good morning Artie and have a great day.
One or two more degrees toward us would be great but it is pretty good as is: square to the back of the camera….
I would like to see the juvenile birds offset more .Also the closer juvenile is in a position with his bill down that it intersects the leg on the other bird. I also noticed both juveniles were banded.
A somewhat better arrangement of the birds would have a bit of space between the tails of the 2 birds that are closest together. I would like to see the bills of all the birds. I would also like to be there! Photo ops look fabulous!