Call: 1.863.692.0906 4041 Granada Drive | P.O.Box 7245 | Indian Lake Estates, FL33855 e-Mail: birdsasart@verizon.net or birdsasart@att.net   Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART CommentsPosts   The blog of bird photographer Arthur Morris   Home About Arthur Morris Artist’s Reference & Rendering BAA Bulletins Birds As Art Bulletin Archives Recent Bulletin List BAA Galleries BAA Home BAA IPTs BAA Online Store Image Critiques BirdPhotographers.net e-Mail artie Fine Art Prints Great (Photographic Accessory) Stuff Items for Sale Info Lens Chart Canon Lens Chart Nikon Lens Chart Postlist by Year 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 Subscribe Think Tank Used Photo Gear

Sebastian Inlet — It’s Not Just Ospreys Part II » Vasili Willy EOS R1/600mm f/4 RF Brown Pelican Images Goodbye Photoshop/ACR DeNoise AI See my comments beneath the screen capture below for the bad news for folks who use Photoshop. In the Last Blog Post In the last blog post, the three folks who picked their best image went with #1, the Willet flapping after its bath. That was my least favorite. My top picks were the Caspian Tern breaking to land because they are not easy to photograph anywhere in Florida and the displaying Snowy Egret for the neat pose and the sweet tan sand background. Your Call? Which of today’s three featured images do you like best? Why? Change Your Life Join me in San Diego next January and learn to up your photographic game both in the field and at the computer. Scroll down for details. Photo Mechanic screen capture: the originals for today’s featured images Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Vasili Chernishof Image Optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART Vasili’s Three Originals Vasili Chernishoff is a relatively young doctor from near LA. For whatever reason, I have nick-named him “Vasili-Willy.” He and his wife are expecting their first child early next year so join me in sending love, strength, and energy to the family. Compare the originals immediately above with the three optimized photos below. The last two raw files were processed in Adobe Photoshop 26.10.0 Release with Camera Raw 17.5 (both updated yesterday). If you have been using DeNoise AI under the ACR/Detail tab (in either Photoshop of Lightroom), you are in for a really big surprise; the fabulous DeNoise AI Enhance feature has been eliminated. Noise Reduction in ACR must now be done manually. I am working on exactly how to do that effectively. Don’t you just love it when a program is updated and one of the most valuable features is done away with? Not to mention that when I updated Photoshop to 26.10 I lost all of my Keyboard Shortcuts, Actions, and more. That is not how it is supposed to work. I did spend more than two mostly waste-of-time hours on the phone with several folks on the Adobe Help Line (1-800-833-6687). Part of that was after my promised 3:00pm ET callback came nearly four hours late. It ended when the senior advisor promised to call me right back, disconnected the call, but never did 🙂 This image was created on 21 January 2025 by student/friend/multiple IPT veteran Vasili Chernishof on a San Diego Extended IPT. Seated on a low stone wall, he used the handheld Canon RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM lens and the remarkable Canon EOS R1 Mirrorless Camera. ISO 250: 1/5000 sec at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:14:01am on a sunny morning. Image #1: Brown Pelican Pacific race breeding plumage adult Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Vasili Chernishof Image Optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART The Distended Bill Pouch When I saw the distended bill pouch on Vasili’s resting pelican, I knew that I needed an aggressive crop and some fancy clean-up work to optimize the picture within the picture. Adding the 1.4X TC for this one would likely have helped quite a bit. Despite having “only” 24 MP, this Canon .CR3 files stood up beautifully to the large crop. This image was created on 22 January 2025 by student/friend/multiple IPT veteran Vasili Chernishof on a San Diego Extended IPT. Seated on a sandstone cliff, he used the handheld Canon RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM lens, the Canon Extender RF 2x, and the remarkable Canon EOS R1 Mirrorless Camera. ISO 1600: 1/1000 sec at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:16:45am on a sunny morning. Image #2: Brown Pelican Pacific race juvenile with bill open Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Vasili Chernishof Image Optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART Tight When working at 1200mm, you often wind up with the subject just a bit too large in the frame. Adding canvas above and right was easy using Content-Aware Crop. I am not sure what this young pelican was laughing about but it sure seems to be enjoying itself. This image was created on 24 January 2025 by student/friend/multiple IPT veteran Vasili Chernishof on a San Diego Extended IPT. Standing on a sidewalk, he used the handheld Canon RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM lens, the Canon Extender RF 2x, and the remarkable Canon EOS R1 Mirrorless Camera. ISO 2000: 1/2000 sec at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:16:45am on a sunny morning. Image #3: Brown Pelican Pacific race adult — tight flight Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Vasili Chernishof Image Optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART EOS R1 1200mm Flight While viewing Vasili’s EOS R1 1200mm flight images in San Diego last January, I was super-impressed with the camera’s eye-tracking AF. I’d have to say when matched up to Sony a-1 ii AF performance it was just as impressive. Of course, I love my 51 MP. When friend and experience Canon shooter Steffen Foerster tried an R1 at Nickerson this summer, he stated that the AF performance was “magnitudes better than the AF performance of the R5 II.” If you are using Canon and purchase an R1, please remember to use one of my affiliate links. Under-exposed This image was 2/3-stop too dark. After lightening it in ACR, I worked on the BLUEs with Color Mixer and then applied NR manually. My final step in Photoshop was a 50% layer o Image > Color Tone. Learn a ton in Digital Basics II and the DB III Video series.

San Diego offers an incredible variety of attractive avian subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of Brown Pelican. Clockwise from top left back to center: juvenile and sub-adult Brown Pelicans; Heermann’s Gull; Western Gull; Allen’s Hummingbird; Brandt’s Cormorant; Gadwall hen; Wood Duck drake; Willet; Brown Pelican tight flight. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

The 2026 San Diego Brown Pelicans (and more!) IPTs

San Diego IPT #1: 4 1/2 DAYS: THURS 8 JAN thru the morning session on MON 12 JAN 2026: $2599.00. Deposit: $699.00. Limit: 6 photographers.

San Diego IPT #2: 4 1/2 DAYS: FRI 16 JAN thru the morning session on TUES 20 JAN 2026: $2599.00. Limit: 6 photographers.

Morning BAA In-the-Field Instructional Sessions (ITFIS) followed by brunch and an Image Review & Photoshop session: $449.00/per session

Available dates: JAN 14 & 15, 2026. Please get in touch with questions or to register with an e-mail to samandmayasgrandpa@att.net and please shoot me a text to 863-221-2372.

AirBnB accommodations and ground transport with the leader are available for both IPTs and for In the Field Instructional Sessions on a first come, first served basis. Please e-mail for details and information on personalized pre- and post-IPT morning sessions.

Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (nesting) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Ducks; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Northern Shoveler and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heermann’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others are possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions (both depending on the current regulations and restrictions). And as you can see by studying the IPT cards, there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Not to mention a ton of excellent flight photography opportunities and instruction.

Please note: where permitted and on occasion, ducks and gulls may be attracted (or re-located) with offerings of grains or healthy bread.

San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Learning Exposure, Whether You Like It Or Not

Whether you like it or not, we will be beating the subject of exposure like a dead horse. In every new situation, you will hear my thoughts on exposure along with my thoughts on both Nikon and Canon histograms and SONY Zebras. Whether you like it or not, you will learn to work in manual mode so that you can get the right exposure every time (as long as a bird gives you ten seconds with the light constant). Or two seconds with SONY zebras … And you will learn what to do when the light is changing constantly. What you learn about exposure will be one of the great takeaways on every IPT.

Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT, there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

It Ain’t Just Pelicans

With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning, there is usually some excellent flight photography, at times with 70-200mm lenses! And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You will be guided as to how to make the best of those opportunities. Depending on the weather, the local conditions, and the tides, there are a variety of other fabulous photo chances available in and around San Diego. Each IPT will include one or two duck sessions.

The San Diego Details

These IPTs will include four or five 3-hour morning photo sessions, three or four 1 1/2-hour afternoon photo sessions, and three or four working brunches that will include image review and Photoshop sessions. On rare cloudy days, we may — at the leader’s discretion, stay out in the morning for a long session and skip that afternoon shoot. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. And so that we can get some sleep, dinners will be on your own as well. In the extremely unlikely event that Goldfish Point is closed due to local ordinance (or whimsy) — that has never happened in the past fifty years, I will of course do my very best to maximize our photographic opportunities.

San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Deposit Info

A $699 deposit is required to hold your slot for one of the 2024 San Diego IPT. You can send a check (made out to “BIRDS AS ART”) to us here: BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855, or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, is due three months before the trip.

Getting Up Early and Staying Out Late

On all BIRDS AS ART IPTS including and especially the San Diego IPT, we get into the field early to take advantage of unique and often spectacular lighting conditions and we stay out late to maximize the chances of killer light and glorious sunset silhouette situations. We often arrive at the cliffs a full hour before anyone else shows up to check out the landscape and seascape opportunities.