Is it Possible to Design Pleasing Flight Images In-Camera?

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

2024 Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPTs

IPT #1: WED 21 FEB 2024 through the full day on SUN 25 FEB 2024. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

IPT #2: MON 26 FEB 2024 through the full day on FRI 1 MAR 2024. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

Register for both trips to maximize your travel dollars and enjoy a $1000 discount while you are at it.

This trip features non-stop flight photography as well as many opportunities to create both environmental and point-blank portraits of one of North America’s most sought-after avian subjects: Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Other reliable subjects will include Sea Otter, Glaucous-winged and Short-billed (formerly Mew) Gulls.

In addition, we should see Common Murre, Black Guillemot, Pelagic Cormorant, two or three species of loons, and a smattering of ducks including two species of merganser, all three scoters, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, Harlequin, and Long-tailed Ducks. Close-range photographic chances for these species will require some good luck. Some of these species, especially when in flocks, can, however, often be used effectively when pleasing creating bird-scapes.

If we need to be out early, we will be the first boat out. If the conditions are great, we will stay out. And when there is a chance for sunset silhouettes, we will be in the right spot.

We will be traveling through gorgeous wilderness country; landscape and scenic opportunities abound.

Also featured is a professional leader, often referred to as the world’s most knowledgeable bird photography trip leader and instructor. He is conversant in Canon, Nikon, and Sony. You will learn practical and creative solutions to everyday photographic problems. You will learn to see the shot, to create dynamic images by fine-tuning your compositions, to best utilize your camera’s AF system, and how to analyze the wind, the sky conditions, and the direction and quality of the light. This is one of the very few trips Homer trips available where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun. You will learn to be a better photographer. But only if that is what you want.

Homer 2022 Bald Eagle Highlights and Handholding Compositional Tips by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Enjoy and be inspired by just a few Homer Bald Eagle highlight images. Hand holding intermediate telephoto lens will always yield slightly different compositions. Learn more about that topic in this short (3:14) video.

All images from Kachemak Bay in 2022!

What You Will Learn

You will learn practical and creative solutions to everyday photographic problems. You will learn to see the shot, to create dynamic images by fine-tuning your compositions, to best utilize your camera’s AF system, and how to analyze the wind, the sky conditions, and the direction and quality of the light. This is one of the very few trips Homer trips available where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun. You will learn to be a better photographer. But only if that is what you want.

You will learn to get the right exposure when it is sunny, when it cloudy-bright, when it is cloudy, when it is cloudy-dark, or when it is foggy. Not to mention getting the right exposure when creating silhouettes.

You will learn to make pleasing blurs working in manual mode and to create silhouettes working in Shutter Priority mode.

Most importantly you will learn to pick your best flight images from tens of thousands of images.

You will enjoy working with the two best and most creative boat captains on their sturdy, photography-spacious, seaworthy, open-deck crafts.

The second and third IPTs are the only Bald Eagle workshops that feature an incredibly helpful first mate.

Only five photographers (not the usual six), plus the leader.

Small group Photoshop, Image Review, and Image Critiquing sessions.

Only five photographers (not the usual six), plus the leader.

Small group Photoshop, Image Review, and Image Critiquing sessions.

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

What’s Included

One four hour or two two-hour boat trips every day (weather permitting), all boat fees and boat-related expenses (excluding tips), ground transportation to and from the dock and back to the hotel each day, in-the-field instruction and guidance, pre-trip gear advice, small group post-processing and image review sessions, and a thank you dinner for all well-behaved participants.

What’s Not Included

Your airfare to and from Homer, AK (via Anchorage), the cost of your room at Land’s End Resort, all personal items, all meals and beverages, and tips for the boat captain and/or the first mate.

Please Note

On great days, the group may wish to photograph for more than four hours. If the total time on the boat exceeds 20 hours for the five-day trips the group will share the additional expense at a rate of $225/hour. The leader will pay for the bait.

Some folks may wish to rent their own vehicle to take advantage of local photographic opportunities around Homer. In 2023 those included Moose, Great Grey, and Short-eared Owls.

Deposit Information

A $3000 non-refundable deposit/trip is required. You may pay your deposit with credit card or by personal check (the latter made out to BIRDS AS ART) and sent via US mail only to Arthur Morris. PO Box 7245. Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Your balance, due 90 days before the date of departure, is payable only by check (as above).

In Closing

I have been going to Homer off and on for close to two decades. Every trip has been nothing short of fantastic. Many folks go in mid-March. The earlier you go, the better the chances for snow. The only way to assure that you are on the best of these two trips is to sign up for all of them. Can you keep up with me? If you have any questions, or are good to go for one, or two of these great trips, please let me know via e-mail or give me a call on my cell phone at 863-221-2372.

An Incredible Game and a Crushing Loss

I generally am not a big fan of college football, at least until the FBS Playoffs. But last night, I happened across the Notre Dame/Ohio State games at halftime. The Fighting Irish were down 10-0. In the second half, they drove the ball the length of the field but the drive fizzled as they came away with no points. They stopped OSU on several drives and twice drove the length of the field for a touchdown: Notre Dame 14, OSU 10.

After ND had completely dominated the second half, Ohio State went on a gritty 85-second, 65-yard drive that got them down to the 1-yard line with three seconds left. With the Notre Dame defense a man short, having only ten players on the field was fatal as DeaMonte Trayanum ran for the winning score with one second left by barely getting the ball to the goal line. And yes, I had been rooting for ND 🙂

Your Calls/My Call

In the last blog post here, very few were impressed with either my vision or with the results. Multiple IPT veteran, a fellow Brooklyn Technical High School graduate, trashed the image by suggesting that I delete it. I loved the optimized image and thought that creating it was pretty cool. But you need to remember to ask yourself, “What the hell does he know?” The “he” of course, being me, with only 40 years of bird photography experience.

I must at this point, however, quote my good friend Anita North, who says to me often, “Self appraisal is no recommendation.”

Your Call?

Which of today’s two featured Bald Eagle images do you prefer? Please leave a comment letting us know why you made your choice.

What’s Up?

Huge thanks to Anita North who suggested after my $4500.00 data loss fiasco, that I use Time Machine to back up my 2022 16-inch MacBook Pro M1. It took me only minutes to begin the process of replicating the M1 on the new Apple 16″ MacBook Pro (M2 Max, Silver). Transferring the 2.52 TBs of data took about two hours. Most amazingly, all of my Apps, including and especially Photoshop, Photo Mechanic, Topaz AI, and Raw Digger, were up and running smoothly with all Actions, Keyboard Shortcuts, plug-ins performing perfectly.

In the past, setting up a new laptop and been a time consuming, frustrating chore. This is the last blog post that was prepared on the (not-so-) old M1 machine. I will be sending the M1 to Apple to be refurbished this week.

Today is Sunday 24 September 2023. Wherever you are an whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

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!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

This image was created on 20 February 2023 on a Bald Eagles and More Instructional Photo-Tour at Kachemak Bay, Homer, AK. I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 242mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras. ISO 800: 1/3200 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 10:18.38am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Incoming Bald Eagle in habitat

Zooming Out for a Bird-scape

I acquired focus at 280mm, the long end of the short zoom lens with the 1.4X TC. Noting some pleasing landforms in the image, I zoomed out to 242mm so as to include the sandbar, the distant headland, and a strip of sky. The last thing that you want in a bird-scape is a centered subject. Avoiding that for flight shots is child’s play when using Tracking: Zone with the Sony a-1.

a-1 Tracking: Zone AF-C

The great beauty of Tracking: Zone AF-C with the Sony a-1 is that you can acquire focus near the center of the zone brackets (recommended) and then shift the camera left or right or up or down to meet your compositional framing needs. The camera will continue track the subject accurately. For best results, place the bird’s head dead-center in the brackets when acquiring focus.

To create image #1, I shifted the lens slightly up and to the left to place the bird very close to if not right on the lower-right rule-of-thirds spot. Some mirrorless cameras may be able to come close to duplicating the ease and efficiency of Sony’s Tracking: Zone. The best news? Tracking: Zone performs just as well when you are photographing relatively static subjects — you simply acquire focus and then recompose to put the bird anywhere in the frame!

Click on the image to better see the green eye-AF boxes in action. Sony Alpha 1 Flight Photography AF Points!

The SONY Alpha a1 Set-up Guide and Info Group: $150.00 (or Free)

The SONY Alpha a1 Set-up Guide and Info Group is going great guns as more and more folks chime in with thoughtful questions and experience-based answers. As the a1 is becoming more readily available, more and more folks are getting their hands on this amazing body. By September 2023, the group was up to an astounding 148 lucky and blessed folks. And more than a few folks own two or more a1 bodies! Early on, we discussed the myriad AF options. I gave my opinion as to the best one for flight and general bird photography. The best news is that everyone in the group receives an e-mail that includes a .DAT file with my a1 settings on it, and explicit directions on how to load my settings onto your a1; talk about convenience! I am now offering a .DAT file compatible with firmware update 1.32. Your entry into the group includes a consolidated Sony a1 CAMSETA2 INFO & GUIDE. New a1 folks will now receive eight e-mails instead of the previous 28! You will receive new e-mails as they are published. Simply put, this e-mail guide is an incredible resource for anyone with an a1.

All who purchased their Alpha 1 bodies via a BAA affiliate link — B&H or Bedfords — will receive a free Sony Alpha a1 Set-Up Guide and free entry into the Info Updates group after shooting me their receipts via e-mail. (Note: it may take me several days to confirm B&H orders.). Others can purchase their guide here in the BAA Online Store.

This image was created on 20 February 2023 on a Bald Eagles and More Instructional Photo-Tour at Kachemak Bay, Homer, AK. I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 280mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras. ISO 800: 1/3200 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 10:18.47am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Incoming Bald Eagle/three-quarter frame

Zooming in to Put More Pixels on the Bird

As the adult eagle continued on the same path, flying just to my left, I zoomed in to the max — 280mm, and kept firing. Having made only 30 images in the nine seconds between the two images shows that I had been quite conservative with the shutter button; if I had kept the pedal to the metal, I would have made about 270 images in nine seconds. Every image was, of course, razor sharp on the face.

Zooming in and going for the gusto is a far better choice for me than zooming out to be safe and executing a large crop.

Click on the composite to view a larger version and be even more impressed. The Art & Science of Photographing Birds in Flight with the Sony α-1 e-Book/PDF link sent via e-mail: $150.00

The Art & Science of Photographing Birds in Flight with the Sony α-1

by Arash Hazeghi and Arthur Morris

First of all, if you use Nikon or Canon (or Olympus or Fuji) gear, do not be put off by the title. While a portion of the guide deals with the Sony α-1, there is a ton of priceless information, tips, and techniques that can help you become a better flight photographer. No matter what system you are using. If you do not use an α-1, be sure to read down to the bottom to save a few bucks.

Arash Hazeghi and Arthur Morris have created the definitive and most comprehensive ever treatise on photographing birds in flight. With more than sixty years of experience photographing birds, they know what you need to know but have not figured out yet! You will be astounded by the depth of their knowledge and the tips they have to offer. More than six months in the making, the guide contains 229 pages, 24,321 words,97 exceptional and inspirational flight images — each with a legendary, enlightening BIRDS AS ART caption, and 22 screen captures. The guide contains a wealth of useful, practical, and for the most part — never-before-available information.

Purchase

Click here to purchase your copy in the BAA Online Store.

What Everyone Will Learn

We will teach you the basic concepts that you need to master to become a great flight photographer along with the techniques used by the world’s best flight photographers.

You will learn that most any telephoto lens can be perfect for flight photography in a given situation; focal lengths for the images in the book range from 200mm to 1200mm and everywhere in between.

We discuss the merits of various lenses in depth, including and especially comparing the 400mm f/2.8 lenses with the 600mm f/4s.

We guide you in getting your hands on the flight photography lens that will best meet your needs. We offer a variety of handholding and rest position tips and include tips on working with a big lens on a tripod when working with a flight lens that is otherwise too heavy for you.

Both authors offer their thoughts on getting the right exposure when photographing birds in flight. You will learn to get the right exposure on foggy days and even when photographing black birds in white sky conditions.

You will learn the tremendous importance of pre-focusing, of finding the bird in the viewfinder quickly, acquiring focus almost instantly (with tips on doing all three).

You will learn the role of image stabilization in flight photography and the best settings.

Both authors share their thoughts on using the focus range limiter switch. In the same vein, you will learn to use Direct Manual Focus to make your flight photography life easier.

All will learn about the best wing positions and the importance of the background with images of birds in flight. With lots of examples.

You will learn about the best shutter speeds (and the best aperture) to use when photographing flying birds.

You will learn to photograph flight while seated and the many advantages of doing so.

You will learn the best methods of controlling high ISO noise.

All will learn to format their flash cards properly and safely.

You will learn what to do when your AF system is temporarily blinded.

All will learn the huge effect that wind strength and direction has on flight photography and to evaluate the quality and direction of the light on both sunny and cloudy days.

You will learn why it is vitally important to shoot aggressively when photographing birds in flight.

You will learn to carefully observe and evaluate a variety of bird behaviors that may shine light on some excellent opportunities for photographing birds in flight. And about getting into the best position from which to photograph.

You will learn to be a much better flight photographer.

What Sony Folks Will Learn

Exactly how Artie uses Zebras to come up with perfect exposure after perfect exposure.

The fine points and recommended settings for Optical Steady Shot (OSS).

The concept of Auto-Focus (AF) tracking in the α-1.

Everything there is to know about the complex Sony autofocus system.

About all the AF patterns, how to quickly switch them, and about those favored by each author. And why.

The Tracking and Non-tracking AF patterns. When and why Arash uses Non-Tracking Zone. And why Artie uses only two AF patterns.

How to set and use Bird Face-Eye detection for flight photography.

How and why to assign various custom functions to the various programmable buttons on the α-1 body.

The perfect settings for the many, many Menu items that are vitally related to flight photography.

How and why the Sony α-1 uses both contrast and phase detection AF to determine focus (and the benefits thereof).

Which are the best memory cards for the Sony α-1.

To quickly access frequently used menu items.

Non-Sony α-1 Discount

Using the honor system, folks who do not use a Sony α-1 body are invited to click here to save $25.00 on the purchase price of the guide.

Typos

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