The One Big Secret to Making Great Bird Photographs
With Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART — Free NANPA Webinar
Yes, boys and girls. There really is just one big secret. It will be revealed at the very end of the webinar. Join me on July 13 from 4:00 to 5:00 pm EDT to learn a ton. Click here to register. This program is free and open to all. Covered topics will include seeing the shot, finding the best perspective, getting close to free and wild birds, the importance of wind direction in bird photography, understanding the direction and qualities of natural light, flight photography tips, getting the right exposure, image composition and design, and lots more.
What’s Up?
Lake Walk-in-water, thanks to continued torrential rains here at ILE. The Green Heron party is over for at least a few days as all but one of the pilings that the small herons use as fishing platforms were underwater on Wednesday morning. I did have some fun at 1200mm from the car off the BLUBB with a wing-flapping Anhinga on the small dock by the boat ramp on the edge of the South Field. But that was about it.
I keep forgetting to mention when it comes to IPTs, more than 70% of the participants are repeat clients. Please consider what that means. And please note that the price of the Fall 2022 Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tours has been reduced by $100.00 from last year. Please shoot me an e-mail if you have any questions.
Speaking of IPTs, see the three new DeSoto IPTs listings below. If you register soon and would like to share an AirBnB with me, shoot me an e-mail. The sooner the better of course. Other possibilities including taking a cab to and from the airport to our AirBnB and riding with me. This saves you both gas and the cost of a rental car.
Today is Thursday 7 July and I will be headed down to the lake the moment I hit Publish. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes one hundred nine days in a row with a new one.
Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!
JAX
If you would like to join me for the July 15-19 Jacksonville IPT, or for some In-the-Field sessions there on those dates, please get in touch via e-mail.
Follow me on Instagram here. I am trying to feature both new and old images, especially images that have not appeared recently on the blog. Or search for birds_as_art.
BIRDS AS ART Image Optimization Service (BAA IOS)
Send a PayPal for $62.00 to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 and put $62.00 on your credit card. Pick one of your best images and upload the raw file using a large file sending service like Hightail or DropBox and then send me the link via e-mail. I will download and save your raw file, evaluate the exposure and sharpness, and optimize the image as if it were my own after converting the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw. Best of all, I will make a screen recording of the entire process and send you a link to the video to download, save and study.
Induro GIT 304L Price Drop
Amazingly, we have two, brand-new-in-the-box Induro GIT 304L tripods in stock. They are $699.00 each (were $799.00) and the price now includes insured ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Weekday phone orders only: 863-692-0906.
|
|
This image was created on 22 OCT 2021 at Fort DeSoto Park in Tierra Verde, FL. While seated on damp sand, I used the Induro GIT-304L/Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:04:06am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Zone/Bird-Face-Eye Detection AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed well. Click on the image to see a high-res version. Image #1: Black-bellied Plover stealing lugworm from Marbled Godwit |
Lugworm Thievery
The lugworm (Arenicola marina), is a large marine worm of the phylum Annelida. Its coiled castings are a familiar sight on a beach at low tide, but the animal itself is rarely seen except by those who, from curiosity or to use as fishing bait, dig the worm out of the sand. It is a favorite food of Marbled Godwit who will often work for minutes extracting the worms from their hole. The Black-bellied Plover and Willet will often attempt to steal a just-captured lugworm from the larger birds. They seem to be successful well more than half the time. On the west coast, the Willets are relentless as they piratize sand crabs (genus Emerita) from the godwits.
|
|
This image, the next frame in a long sequence, was created on 22 OCT 2021 at Fort DeSoto Park in Tierra Verde, FL. While seated on damp sand, I used the Induro GIT-304L/Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:04:06am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Zone/Bird-Face-Eye Detection AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed well. Click on the image to see a high-res version. Image #2: Black-bellied Plover stealing lugworm from Marbled Godwit |
Comparing the Two Images?
Today’s two featured images are my favorites from a 30+-frame sequence that was created in less than two seconds. The AF system on the high-end mirrorless camera bodies borders on science-fiction-like, with the Sony a1 clearly being the best of the lot. If you would like to learn why, shoot me an e-mail with the words Why the Sony a1 is Best cut and pasted into the Subject line.
Anyhoo, each image has a major strength. What is the best thing about Image #1? What is the best thing about Image #2? Overall, which of the two is the stronger image. Why? I have a very clear favorite here and will share it with you here on Saturday.
Photographing Fort DeSoto’s Fall Wading Birds with Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Enjoy this short video. Please consider sharing a link to this blog post and video with a friend or with your photography club.
|
|
|
Fort DeSoto in fall is rife with tame birds. All the images on this card were created at Fort DeSoto in either late September or very early October. I hope that you can join me there this fall. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Caspian Tern, Great Egret, Sandwich Tern with fish, Willet, Black-bellied Plover threat display, Snowy Egret, 2-year old Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron, juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron. |
The Fall 2022 Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tours
Fall 2022 Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tour #1
3 1/2 Days: Tuesday 27 September through the morning session on Friday 30 September 2022. $1899.00 includes three working lunches. Limit six photographers.
Fall 2022 Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tour #2
3 1/2 Days: 7 October through the morning session on Monday 10 October 2022. $1899.00 includes three working lunches. Limit six photographers.
Fall 2022 Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tour #3
3 1/2 Days: Monday 31 October through the morning session on Thursday 3 November 2022. $1899.00 includes three working lunches. Limit six photographers.
Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds and terns in fall. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, night-herons, and gulls that winter on the T-shaped peninsula. With any luck at all, we should get to photograph one of Florida’s most desirable shorebird species: Marbled Godwit. Black-bellied Plover and Willet are easy, American Oystercatcher is pretty much guaranteed. Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, and White Ibis are easy as well and we will almost surely come up with a tame Yellow-crowned Night-Heron or two. And we will get to do some Brown Pelican flight photography. In addition, Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, and Caspian Terns will likely provide us with some good flight opportunities as well. Though not guaranteed, Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork might well be expected. And we will be on the lookout for a migrant passerine fallout in the event of a thunderstorm or two.
On this IPT, all will learn the basics and fine points of digital exposure. Nikon and Canon folks will learn to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and SONY folks will learn to use Zebras so that they can be sure of making excellent exposures before pressing the shutter button. Everyone will learn how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. Most importantly, you will surely learn to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you’re scared of it). The best news is that you will be able to take everything you learn home with you so that you will be a better photographer wherever and whenever you photograph.
There will be a Photoshop/image review session during or after lunch (included) each full day. That will be followed by Instructor Nap Time.
These IPTs will run with only a single registrant (though that is not unlikely to happen). The best airport is Tampa (TPA). Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with Gulfport AirBnB information. If you register soon and would like to share an AirBnB with me, shoot me an e-mail. Other possibilities including taking a cab to and from the airport to our AirBnB and riding with me. This saves you both gas and the cost of a rental car.
A $600 deposit is due when you sign up and is payable by credit card. Balances must be paid by check two months before the trip. Your deposit is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with six folks, so please check your plans carefully before committing. You can register by calling Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand, or by sending a check as follows: make the check out to: BIRDS AS ART and send it via US mail here: BIRDS AS ART, PO BOX 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions, clothing, and gear advice. Please shoot me an e-mail if you plan to register or if you have any questions.
|
|
|
Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, juvenile Tricolored Heron, Marbled Godwits, Great Blue Heron, juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, Wood Stork, smiling Sea Scallop, Ruddy Turnstone scavenging needlefish, Great Blue Heron sunset silhouette at my secret spot, and southbound migrant tern flock blur. |
Up Early, Stay Out Late!
Obviously, folks attending an IPT will be out in the field early and stay late to take advantage of the sweetest light and sunrise and sunset colors (when possible). The good news is that the days are relatively short in early fall. I really love it when I am leaving the beach on a sunny morning after a great session just as a carful or two of well-rested photographers are arriving. The length of cloudy morning sessions will often be extended. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Both are great images, and I like the mouth agape and head position in 1. Obviously, the plover’s wing position in two is more favorable and this image is more of the get away moment rather than the “gotcha” in frame 1. Fantastic light, exposure, sharpness, position, background, etc. did you crop a bit more in the first image?
I’m also going with #2 due to the wing positions.
Nice exposures.
I’d be happy to call either one of them mine.
Thanks.
I think #2 is best. The wings of the plover are angled better to the camera, and more splash/action. I also like that the plover is higher….taking off and clearly getting away with the goods.