What’s Up?
Sunday: worked on taxes, took a 2.4-mile flow rope walk, watched US Open Tennis, swam 1/2-mile, napped, and did my bursts.
Today is Monday 5 September 2022. The schedule for today: finish this blog post, watch the Kyrgios/Medvedev US Open Tennis match, take an early flow rope walk, take care of some AirBnB business, work on taxes, swim 1/2-mile, nap, and do my bursts. And watch some more tennis. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about an hour to prepare and makes one hundred sixty-four 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!
Canon 100-400mm EF f/4.5-5.6L IS II Zoom Lens
Price reduced $100.00 on 31 August 2022
Price reduced $50.00 on 5 September 2022
BAA Record-low Price!
Multiple IPT veteran Geri Georg is offering a Canon 100-400mm EF f/4.5-5.6L IS II zoom lens in excellent-plus to near-mint condition for a BAA record-low $1249.00 (was $1399.00). The sale includes the original box, the front and rear lens caps, the carrying case with strap, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-40 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Geri via e-mail or by phone at 1-970-219-4493 (Mountain time zone).
This incredibly versatile zoom lens — with its amazing .98-meter close focus — was my favorite Canon telephoto zoom lens ever. By far. It is easy to hand hold, great for tight portraits, for birds in flight, for quasi-macro stuff, and lots more. For flight, it is fabulous with an EOS R, R5, R6, or R7! This lens sells new for $2399.00 so you can save a handsome $1150.00 by grabbing Geri’s lens right now. artie
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 the insured ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Weekday phone orders only: 863-692-0906. Order yours here while they last.
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This image was created on 22 September 2021 on a DeSoto IPT. I used handheld Sony FE 24-105mm f/4 G OSS lens (at 24mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 500. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/200 second at f/8 (stopped down 2-stops) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the raw file brightness was dead-solid perfect. AWB at 7:27am on a partly cloudy morning not long after sunrise. Tracking: Spot S/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly as it held focus on one of the spoonbills. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #1: Large, Surreal Storm Cloud on the Eastern Horizon |
When to Take the 24-105mm into the Field
On the way to North Beach (or to any seaside photo location) in the morning, I check all four horizons for nice cloud formations. When I see something interesting, I’ll grab my old my X-tra Hand vest from the back of my SUV and stick the Sony 24-105mm lens into one of the large pockets, protected by a woolen watch cap. That move paid off on the morning of 22 September. If we will be in one spot for a while, I put my car keys into one of the small, zippered pockets, take the vest off, and place it on a high spot well above the high tide line. I can’t leave without my car keys, so it is impossible to totally forget the vest.
In the same vein, see how multiple IPT veteran Jim Miller saved the day by having his Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM lens super wide-angle lens in his small photo backpack in the “Rainbow Image Optimization & Color Magic Trick” blog post here.
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This image was also created on 22 September 2021 on a DeSoto IPT. Standing at full height, I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) 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/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the raw file brightness for this image was perfect. AWB at 8:07:03am on partly sunny morning. Tracking: Zone/AF-C Bird/Eye Detection AF was active at the moment exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to view a hi-res version. Image #2: Roseate Spoonbill resting in lagoon
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The Super-telephoto Decision
Whenever I am headed to the beach, I face the same decision: do I bring the 600mm f/4 GM lens with the tripod topped by Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro, or do I go with the lighter, more versatile, closer focusing 200-600? If I opt for the former, I have both the 1.4X TC and the 2X TC in my fanny pack along with a soft paintbrush, an extra card, and two extra batteries. When I opt to be more mobile with “just” the 200-600, I leave the 2X in my vehicle.
When it is cloudy, I will almost always lug the 600 f/4 to save 1 1/3-stops of ISO in the low light. On clear days, I will often go fast and light with the 200-600. Though I did so regularly many years ago, I cannot remember the last time I headed afield with the 600 on a tripod and an auxiliary lens on my shoulder via a Black Rapid Curve Breathe Camera Strap.
If a client or IPT participant is working with a Sony 200-600, a Canon 100-500, or a Nikon 200-500, I will usually opt for my 200-600 so that we are more on the same page. On my recent month-long Long Island trip, I used the 600 f/4 about 75% of the time and the 200-600 about 25% of the time, the latter usually in the afternoon. I did not take the 400mm f/2.8 and the monopod out of my vehicle until the very last morning when we created the Monopod video (coming soon to a theater near you). With all the tame birds at DeSoto, I plan on using the 400mm f/2.8 lens on many if not most mornings. And yes, I am blessed to be able to own all three of these great lenses.
Anyhoo, the 200-600 turned out to be just fine for Image #2. Note that the spoonbill in that image was one of the four birds pictured in Image #1.
Image Questions
#1: Which of today’s two featured images do you like best? Why?
#2: How would Image #2 been different had I sat rather than stood?
#3: Why did I move back to include the complete reflection and the two strips at the top when creating Image #2 when I could have stayed in the same spot and zoomed out? (Note: this is a high-level question.)
Spoonbills at DeSoto
Over the past years, Roseate Spoonbill have been become regular visitors to Fort DeSoto Park. I know when and where to find them and can teach you to approach them successfully. Do consider joining me on a DeSoto IPT.
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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/Openings five.
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.
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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.
For Question #3, you moved back and kept 600mm in order to keep as shallow of DoF as you could to blur the background to the extent possible. (However, I would not have thought this would make that much of a difference at that apperture and distance.)
OK, I should have read the previous response….
No worries. So yes, in part.
with love, a
Hi, Artie. So I came up with my answers before reading David Pugsley’s. Question 1. I prefer image # 2, although I like #1 and the cloud that looks a bit like a bird. But I’m a sucker for roseate spoonbills and for reflections, and #2 is such a good realization of both. Question 2. If you had sat, the bird would have had the strips as background, which probably would have been distracting. Question 3. If you had zoomed out the shorter focal length would have given you a greater depth of field, reducing the blurring of the distant background. I probably wouldn’t have thought about that before this blog post of yours, so thanks for the lesson (even if it’s not the correct answer to your question).
Thanks, David, For #3, you have part of the right answer so good thinking.
with love, artie
Thanks, Artie. I look forward to learning the other part(s).
#1: Image 1 for me. Fantastic birdscape that really captures the feel of DeSoto.
#2: Had you sat the background delineations would have intersected the bird.
#3: You had to change your perspective to bring the background delineations to the bird. Zooming, in or out, does not change your perspective.
Two out of three ain’t bad, I think.
with love, a
ps: I did need to remove one tall white buoy 🙂