Bud Strategy. And WDYT? I & II. « Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Bud Strategy. And WDYT? I & II.

What’s Up?

There was not a lot going on on Saturday morning. I saw both two-young crane families, but did not stop to photograph them. I did photograph a goldenrod blossom that I had spotted on an afternoon walk. I headed home and photographed a somewhat strange, green and reddish brown Sea Grape leaf that I picked up off the sidewalk on my trip to Southeast Florida.

I answered a ton of e-mails, got started on e-mail #17 for the SONY a1 Info and Updates Group, did more than a dozen critiques and posted the Least Tern chick Food Fight image here in the Avian Gallery on BirdPhotographers.Net (Honest critiques done gently: It ain’t just birds!) BPN is the best place on the planet to improve your nature photography.

Today is Sunday 20 June 2021. I hope to finish the aforementioned e-mail #17 and will be working on a Photo Mechanic Picking Your Keepers video after I get back from the lake. The forecast is for cloudy with a southwest breeze so it is likely to be a short trip. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

This blog post took more than an hour to prepare and makes 176 consecutive days with a new one. Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords and is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great if you opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to save 3% at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And doing so always earns my great appreciation.

Only at BAA: Levered-Clamp FlexShooters in Stock!

We have just three Levered-clamp Flex-shooter Minis left in stock. They are available in the US only from BAA.

Folks with a big lens should, of course, be working with the Levered-clamp Flex-shooter Pro. This new head on just about any decent tripod like the Induro GIT 304L or the Induro 204L (for travel), is dead-solid-perfect for those whose intermediate telephoto or telephoto zoom lenses are their workhorse lenses for bird and nature photography, for all macro lenses with a tripod collar, and for wide angle lenses with a Wimberley P-5 Plate on the camera body. The levered-clamp is super-fast and secure. Though it weighs only 1lb., 2.4 ozs, this elegantly manufactured head is rock-solid. It takes only seconds to level all FlexShooter heads for smooth, square-to-the-world panning, and these innovative and patented spring-counterbalanced double ballheads will completely eliminate ballhead-flop.

We have lots of Levered-clamp Flex-shooter Pro heads in stock. B&H does not even carry them! I use and rely on mine most ever day that I am out there.

Please Remember

With income from IPTs now close to zero, please, if you enjoy and learn from the blog, remember to use one of my two affiliate programs when purchasing new gear. Doing so just might make it possible for me to avoid having to try to get a job as a Walmart greeter and will not cost you a single penny more. And if you use Bedfords and remember to enter the BIRDSASART code at checkout, you will save 3% on every order and enjoy free second-day air shipping. In these crazy times — I am out at least forty to sixty thousand dollars so far due to COVID 19 (with lots more to come) — remembering to use my B&H link or to shop at Bedfords will help me out a ton and be greatly appreciated. Overseas folks who cannot order from the US because of import fees, duties, and taxes, are invited to help out by clicking here to leave a blog thank you gift if they see fit.

New and Better Bedfords Discount Policy!

You can now save 3% on all of your Bedfords photo gear purchases by entering the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout. Your discount will be applied to your pre-tax total. In addition, by using the code you will get 2nd day air shipping via Fed Ex.

Grab a Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III and save $14.99. Purchase a Canon EOS R5 and your discount will be $116.97. Purchase a Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and save a remarkable $389.94! Your Bedford’s purchase no longer needs to be greater than $1,000.00 for you to receive a discount. The more you spend, the more you save.

Money Saving Reminder

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would enjoy free second-day air shipping, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order to save 3% and enjoy free 2nd-day air shipping. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The wait lists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard to get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a9 ii, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager to please.



Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs (remember those?) and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

This image was created on 11 June 2021 on my pool deck. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Mini-mounted Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens with the Metabones Canon EF/EF-S Lens to Sony E Mount T Smart Adapter (Fifth Generation) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 800. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/3 sec. at f/14 (stopped down 3 2/3 stops) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed this exposure to be dead-solid perfect (as below). AWB at 8:13 on a cloudy morning.

Manual Focus with Magnification and Focus Peaking as detailed in the SONY Alpha a1 Info and Updates group e-mails. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

Image #1: a super-tight view of a Swamp Rosemallow Hibiscus grandiflorus blossom

Bud Strategy …

Last year in the marsh, I tried to photograph down-the-throat of some of the large, somewhat floppy Swamp Rosemallow blossoms. But they would not stay still even on a windless morning. And as soon as they open, they are covered inside and out with all manner of small bugs.

In the Hey Bud, Does Viveza Work? And lots more on exposing to the right … blog post here, I shared an image of a picked and Plamped bud that was improved nicely by Viveza. Anyhoo, I brought the bud home and stuck it in a glass of water. It opened the next day in pristine condition with not a bug anywhere in sight. I placed the glass on the arm of a deck chair and went to work. Zero wind and nice cloud cover made things a pleasure.

It almost goes without saying that you should pick buds (or flowers) only from places where such activity is permitted and then only when the plant is abundant. Or from your own garden.

What Do You Think?

What do you like about this image?

What don’t you like?

Depth-of-Field

Note: I bracketed the exposures here while shooting the bud at f/3.5, f/5, f/7.1, and f/14 without moving the lens. I am still not sure which one I like best … If you’d like to see the four raw files as screen captures, shoot me an e-mail requesting same.

This image was created on 11 June 2021 on my pool deck. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Mini-mounted Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens with the Metabones Canon EF/EF-S Lens to Sony E Mount T Smart Adapter (Fifth Generation) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 800. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/3 sec. at f/14 (stopped down 3 2/3 stops) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed this exposure to be dead-solid perfect (as below). AWB at 8:13 on a cloudy morning.

Manual Focus with Magnification and Focus Peaking as detailed in the SONY Alpha a1 Info and Updates group e-mails. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

Image #1A: This is the unprocessed image converted at the default setttings blossom

What Do You Think II?

Now that you’ve seen what the raw file looked like, what do you think of the image processing (as seen in Image #1 above)? Please be as honest as you wish.

Typos

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

9 comments to Bud Strategy. And WDYT? I & II.

  • avatar James Saxon

    On my computer everything appears out of focus and the highlights are blown out. Hit the delete key for this one.

  • I’ve never had much success myself with shallow DOF on flowers, but I’ve seen many such images that were beautiful, even at f2.8. The problem here, for me, is that the sharp stigma are surrounded by the very soft stamen of similar color. The out-of-focus pink petal I like. So perhaps one frame of the stigma and stamen at f22 or f32 blended with another of the petal at f14 or even wider?

    Love this species. Had one in our backyard at our old house.

  • Artie, I never thought I’d ever say this about any of your (posted) images – but this does nothing at all for me.
    There is no focused point to draw the eye and rest on, and it simply looks like an all-over out-of-focus “miss”. I’m all for unique and interesting Photo-Art-ish images, but this just isn’t it!
    Jim B

  • Howdy Artie
    I’m just not feeling it in this image, your other past images have had 1 small part in focus like the center of the flower and to my eye seeing that tiny part gives it dimension then one can imagine the rest of the flower. This one as pictured i can see all the parts but its just not grabbing me.
    Birds seem to be taking a break here in Wisconsin as our weather has been Hot but finally we had a thunderstorm so i setup and grabbed a nice lightning shot over the Wisconsin Dells Dam for something different, i just love being out in nature and one can open the gates from all aspects of photography. Like you doing Macro to try something different, i try to get a landscape sunrise, sunset, lightning or who knows.
    Always with love b

  • avatar Maggi Fuller

    Don’t do it for me, sorry Artie!

  • avatar Ted

    On my computer everything is in soft focus and for me not a keeper!!

  • avatar Jean-Louis Rousselle

    Birds & Flowers are wonderful. Life is all about people and today is fathers day. Wish you a wonderful day, hope you get to be with you loved ones

  • avatar David J Policansky

    Artie: I am struck by how your experience with rise mallows is similar to mine (note that I am not claiming similar results!). They are abundant here on Nantucket, as are little black bugs in them; and it’s often windy. I spent hours photographing them but didn’t pick any because they’re not mine to pick.

    I don’t see a dramatic difference between the unprocessed and processed files but I think that’s good. I like them.

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