Sony Price Increases
Sony has raised the prices of the a-1 and a-1 II cameras in the US by $400.00 and $500.000 respectively (along with the prices of many other cameras, lenses, and accessories), seemingly in response to increased import tariffs. I was unable to find any details regarding the import tariffs.
Sony a-1 Mirrorless Camera Body with Extras!
Tom Redd is offering a Sony a-1 camera body in mint condition for $3498.00. The sale includes a mint condition Sony VG-C4EM Vertical Battery Grip, a $438.00 value, the original product box, the manuals, the USB cable, the front body cap, the original camera strap, the original Sony battery and one extra Sony battery (an $86.00 value), the battery charger, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Tom via e-mail.
I used Sony a-1 bodies as my workhorse cameras for more than three years. They produce stunning 51MP files with vivid natural colors. The AF system is superb. They are rugged and dependable and 30 frames per second is nothing to sneeze at. With a brand new a-1 now selling for $5898.00 and the a-1 ii going for $6998.00, you can save an even $3400.00 by grabbing Tom’s as good as new a- copy ASAP. Right now, B&H is offering a used Sony a-1 in the same condition, 10, for a ridiculously high $5,189.95! Don’t believe me? Click the link here. artie
Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore/John Prine
Enjoy the (relatively) mellow voice of a young John Prine before his 1998 throat cancer surgery. Prine, a beloved American singer/songwriter, passed away in 2020, several years before I ever heard of him. Hard to believe.
Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore © John Prine
Lines that strike me a particularly humorous have been bold-faced by yours truly.
While digesting Reader’s Digest
In the back of a dirty book store,
A plastic flag, with gum on the back,
Fell out on the floor.
Well, I picked it up and I ran outside
Slapped it on my window shield,
And if I could see old Betsy Ross
I’d tell her how good I feel.
Chorus:
But your flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven any more.
They’re already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don’t like killin’
No matter what the reason’s for,
And your flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven any more.
Well, I went to the bank this morning
And the cashier he said to me,
“If you join the Christmas club
We’ll give you ten of them flags for free.”
Well, I didn’t mess around a bit
I took him up on what he said.
And I stuck them stickers all over my car
And one on my wife’s forehead.
Repeat Chorus:
Well, I got my window shield so filled
With flags I couldn’t see.
So, I ran the car upside a curb
And right into a tree.
By the time they got a doctor down
I was already dead.
And I’ll never understand why the man
Standing in the Pearly Gates said…
“But your flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven any more.
We’re already overcrowded
From your dirty little war.
Now Jesus don’t like killin’
No matter what the reason’s for,
And your flag decal won’t get you
Into Heaven any more.”
What’s Up?
On the morning of the Fourth of July it was foggy, hot, and humid. Once the sun came out, it was as if we were photographing in a very hot sauna. Anyhoo, we did very well. That afternoon, we wound up at the far north end of the colony and did fantastically well. On the morning of 5 July 2025, there was a strong and refreshingly cool breeze from the north by slightly east. It was hard to believe we were at the same location. With alternating clouds and sun, we headed back to the north end and enjoyed another great session. And the north end provided lots of action at high tide in the afternoon once the light clouds rolled in.
The first two screen captures in today’s post are reruns from the previous post. Scroll down to see my optimized version and learn something.
Today is Sunday 6 July 2025. Vasili Chernishof is heading back to LA early this morning after “another home run of a trip.” Stan DeTurris and I will of course, be heading to the beach early. After brunch, Stan and Saloni will be driving back to Gainesville and I will be headed down to Indian Lake Estates. Whatever you opt to do, I hope that you too choose to have a wonderful and productive day and that you have fun too. Do remember that happiness is a choice — Byron Katie, The Work.Com.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, a Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro, or a Wimberley lens plate — 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.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs 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. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.
Don’t Just Shoot: Learn
If, like Stan DeTurris and Abe Curland most recently, you are interested in changing your life and becoming a better photographer by joining me somewhere in the field, consider the Extended IPT at Sebastian Inlet for Ospreys and more (SEPT 25 to NOV 24, 2025), a San Diego IPT for Pacific-race Brown Pelicans and more (JAN 6 to FEB 2, 2026), or for Roseate Spoonbills at Stick Marsh mid-March 2026, please e-mail for dates, rates, terms, and additional information. Or shoot me a text to 863-221-2372. All offerings include options for shared AirBnB lodging. Ground transportation during your stay is a possibility on most trips.
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This is the Photo Mechanic screen capture for an image was created on 27 June 2025 on the Huguenot Memorial Park/Jacksonville Royal Terns and Chicks and More Extended IPT by many multiple IPT veteran Vasili Chernishof. Standing at full height he used the handheld Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens with the Canon Extender RF 2x and the remarkable Canon EOS R1 Mirrorless Camera. ISO 4000: 1/3200 sec at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 6:33:21pm on a mostly cloudy afternoon. Image #1: Royal Tern in flight
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Why the Over-Exposure?
Vasili and I talked about getting the right exposure for the birds flying or landing in front of the vegetated dune. And we got some very nice ones. He did not realize that if he pointed his lens above the dune into the fairly bright northwestern sky that he would need to at least double his shutter speed or halve the ISO to avoid severely over-exposing the sky.
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The RawDigger screen capture for the image above. Image #1A: Royal Tern in flight
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Keep or Delete?
With 11,000,000 OvExp pixels, would you keep this image or delete it? If this is an insta-delete for you, why did you make that decision. If you would keep it, leave a comment letting us know why and detailing your image optimization plans. My decision will follow in the next blog post.
New Comments by artie
The very few folks who left a comment all stated that they would keep the image but did not detail why they would not trash it nor did they detail their plans for the image optimization. East Bobman suggested making the sky blue but with the entire sky totally over-exposed at 255, 255, 255, there would be nothing in the sky to work with (even though no part of the bird was over-exposed).
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This is the Photo Mechanic screen capture for an image was created on 27 June 2025 on the Huguenot Memorial Park/Jacksonville Royal Terns and Chicks and More Extended IPT by many multiple IPT veteran Vasili Chernishof. Standing at full height he used the handheld Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens with the Canon Extender RF 2x and the remarkable Canon EOS R1 Mirrorless Camera. ISO 4000: 1/3200 sec at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 6:33:21pm on a mostly cloudy afternoon. Image #1B: Royal Tern silhouetted in flight
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Nobody Had a Clue …
Nobody but me had a clue as to how to create a strong image from a raw file with about half the pixels drastically over-exposed. Hopefully, those who have read this far may have learned something. The key was realizing that late in the day there was gold in the western sky. Though we could not see the gold in the raw file because of the over-exposure, I knew that we could bring up some of the color on the sea oats atop the dunes. And as no part of the bird was over-exposed, creating a silhouette of the bird would be a piece of cake.
Your Call?
What do you think of the optimized version?
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The Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) Light tab sliders for the Royal Tern silhouetted in flight image.
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The Adobe Camera RAW (ACR) Light Tab Sliders for Today’s Featured Image
After increasing the color temperature to 9200 K to bring up the gold tones, I adjusted the sliders as above to produce the silhouette that I knew was there. Once in Photoshop, I added canvas above, used a Levels adjustment to blacken the blacks, removed the extraneous sea oats from the sky, and cleaned up some of the bright specks on the bird. The incredible sharpness of the fish makes the image for me. Along with my skillfully creative use of Photoshop — he said modestly 🙂
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Sure I’d be glad to give the raw file a try.
I liked the original far better than the silhouette. I would do the same I mentioned on the previous post (and so did Bob) which was adding sky above and getting rid of the blob. I would also have made a layer of the bird and experimented on it with highlights in RAW. maybe even checked out white balance some on the bird.
Hi Elinor,
Hard to believe. Some comments on the blog leave me baffled; this is one of those. LMK if I can send you the raw file to see what you can do with it.
a
Typo: “seemingly in response”
Picture: I really like the silhouette. That said, I would get rid of everything in the foreground.
Thanks for leaving a comment and catching the typo. For me, the sea oats make the image; different strokes!
with love, artie