The Edge of Innovation Podcast-- Part II: Living the Dream as a Bird Photographer. A Barely Used Canon 500 II. And BPN Is Rocking!

BAA Online Store

The BAA Online Store was down for most of Sunday. By Sunday evening, it was back up.

Stuff

I had 34 species on my walk on Sunday morning. I saw a bird jumping around at the base of some reeds so I got out of the car, raised my bins, and was amazed to see a stunning pair of Purple Gallinules, the first I have ever seen at Indian Lake Estates. Then something else caught my eye, a fly-by Least Bittern, a species that I had seen just once before. I have not said this in several decades but I am actually enjoying birding (aka bird watching) on my morning walk/drive arounds.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

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. 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 here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. 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.

Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM Lens

Brian Anderson is offering a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for only $7,699.00. There is not a single mark on the lens, the glass, or the paint. The sale includes the accessories that came with the lens: the lens trunk with keys, the hood, both feet, the front lens cover, the rear lens cap, the lens strap, the product box, an Aquatech silicone front lens cover, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Brian via e-mail or by phone at 1-715-278-3223 (Central time zone).

The 500 f/4 super telephoto lenses have long been the world’s most popular for birds,nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. Canon’s
Series II version is light, fast, super-sharp, and produces amazing images with both the 1.4X and 2X III TCs. The 500 II is relatively small, easily hand holdable for some folks, and is much easier travel with, focuses closer than, and costs a lot less than the 600 II. Lastly, and you might find this amazing, the magnification for the 500 II is the same as it is for the 600 II: .15X. How is that possible? Magnification is calculated at the minimum focusing distance of the lens — 12.14 feet (3.7 meters) for the 500 II and 14.77 feet (4.5 meters) for the 600 II. Simply put, the 500 II focuses more than two feet closer than the 600 II. The seller for the last one that sold here had five calls the first day; the first four folks quibbled on price. The fifth one jumped right on it … Please do not tarry if you are seriously interested in Brian’s lens as it too should sell almost instantly. Or not 🙂 As the 500 II goes for $8999 new you will be getting a pretty much new lens while saving $1300.00. I loved my 500 II 🙂 artie

The Edge of Innovation Podcast

Episode 75 — Living the Dream as a Bird Photographer (with Arthur Morris)

Apologies (again) for being a bit late in publicizing Part II. I enjoyed listening to this one as much as I enjoyed the first one. You can learn how I got started in the business of nature photography, how BIRDS AS ART was named, and how I have managed to avoid becoming a greeter at WalMart … And lots more.

Thanks again to IPT veteran Paul Parisi of Savior Labs who skillfully conducted the podcast interview; he is blessed with a great voice. The whole thing is only 22 minutes; many of you might enjoy it. Info on the last episode will follow. Your questions or comments are of course welcome.

BPN Is Rocking!

I have commented on almost every image posted in the Avian Forum at Bird Photographers.Net since August 8, 2018. I should be all caught up by tonight. I do not know of a better way to improve your nature photography than to participate regularly at BPN. Honest critiques done gently, and, it ain’t just birds! Below are some links to recent thought-provoking and educational posts.

Dorian Anderson’s Young Black Skimmer bank shot post here inspired a (mostly civil) 32-comment thread with lots of disagreements among the moderators. If you want to learn about Canon vs. Nikon AF from some of the world’s best flight photographers (don’t look at me!) do give this post a thorough read.

Check out Alex Becker’s beyond superb Chickadee image here. It shows that simple, small-in-the-frame images of a common species can win the day.

Avian Forum super-Moderator Daniel Cadieux has been killing for years, first with the 7D and more recently with the 7D II. His killer Lapland Longspur image here shows just what the 7D II can do in the right hands.

One of the beautiful things about BPN is that you get to see quality images of birds from around the world, especially from India and Australia. Check out Debapratim Saha’s spectacular Great Indian Hornbill image here to see how even excellent posted images can be improved.

I often re-hash lessons from the blog as I did with Ann Pacheco’s Spooked Northern Cardinal image here. If you struggle dealing with too-hot red birds, you will surely want to visit.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

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Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).