What’s Up I?
Conditions were perfect on Monday morning for Misha Voison’s last session. We were joined by multiple IPT veteran Jim Dolgin. Despite cloudy bright and sunny skies and a strong wind from the south we did not have a lot of great chances. Jim made the very best image of an Osprey with his 200-600. The bird was directly overhead looking down and back at an angle. Jim followed my advice: the best images will be made as the bird glides overhead when the underwings are perfectly lit. As below. If the bird had been flapping, there would have been lots of shadows. Learn more in The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight. Scroll down for details.
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This image was created by Jim Dolgin on 27 October 2025 at Sebastian Inlet State Park on a BIRDS AS ART Extended Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). Standing at full height, he used the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and the Sony a-1 (now replaced by the Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 2000: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect. AWB at 7:46:58am on a cloudy morning. Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #1: Osprey overhead |
What’s Up II?
Conditions at Sebastian on Tuesday were not good: it was sunny early on with a fairly strong breeze from the NW. Photographing by myself for the first time in 32 days, After a nice sunrise with some silhouette opportunities, I did quite well on some friendly Wood Stork and a cooperative Great Egret.
Today is Wednesday 29 October with another poor morning forecast. I will get out early and see how I do. Whatever you opt to do, consider choosing to have fun.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro 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.
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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.
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This image was created on 26 October 2025 by yours truly on a Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More Extended IPT. Standing at full height, I used the Robus RC-5570 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 800: 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 9:42:48am on a then partly cloudy morning. Wide/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #1: Ring-billed Gull carrying baby sea turtle in its bill |
Serendipitous Baby Sea Turtle Flight Shot!
Sometimes we press the shutter button when doing flight photography for a variety of inconsequential reasons. We might want to practice our panning skills or learn something about exposure. We might be bored on a slow day. We might be hoping that the bird does something unexpectedly neat like turn upside down. Or dive. I think that when I made a short series of this young Ring-billed Gull that I pressed the shutter button for no reason at all. I was not sure what it had in its bill. I kept two frames from a series of about eight.
When I viewed the image full screen on my laptop in Photo Mechanic I was still not sure what was in the bird’s beak. When I zoomed in I said “OMG!”
As Image #1 represents slightly less than 24% percent of the original frame it is a fairly aggressive crop. The bird was a bit sidelit from my left. I used two masks during the raw conversion in Adobe Camera Raw to lighten the shaded side of the gull’s face. The processing of this image will be detailed in Volume III of the Digital Basics IV Video Series (coming soon).
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Image #2: A tight crop of the Ring-billed Gull carrying baby sea turtle in its bill image |
OMG!
I was quite astounded when I saw the baby sea turtle in the gull’s bill on my MacBook Pro. The hatchling turtle looks very much alive. And shocked. If you know what species of turtle, please leave a comment.
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The title says it all. Purchase your copy here. The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight
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The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight: $99.00
I had long dreamed of becoming a great flight photographer. When using dSLR gear, making sharp images was a huge problem. Most of the time, the camera bodies simply were not up to snuff. Things have changed dramatically with mirrorless technology. The high-end mirrorless camera bodies now feature science fiction-like autofocus systems and frame rates of 30, 40, and even 125 fps. Nowadays, getting the eye sharp is no longer a problem. The problem more often involves selecting the strongest image from a long series of sharp images.
The truth, however, is that there is a lot more than owning a Canon EOS R1, a Nikon Z9, or a Sony a-1 ii to consistently creating great photographs of birds in flight. Some of the biggest factors to success include gear choice, shooting strategies, and understanding the importance of sky conditions and wind speed and direction. Once you have the techniques and technical aspects down pat and can routinely create sharp images, learning the importance of flight poses, wing positions, backgrounds, and subject placement and image design enable you to create and then select superb flight images. And you guessed it, each of those topics and tons more are covered in detail in The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight.
The guide consists of 267 pages and 21,013 words. There are 82 illustrative photos scattered throughout the text, two screen captures, and a 112-image gallery that includes examples created by Canon, Nikon, and mostly Sony gear. As seen above, each of the 194 inspirational photos is labeled with an educational caption.
You can purchase your copy here for $99.00.
Arash Hazeghi
Arash Hazeghi, Ph.D. is a principal electron device engineer. He received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering in 2011, from Stanford University, Stanford, California. His pioneering research on Carbon Nanotubes has been cited many times. In the past decade, Arash Hazeghi has been a major contributor to the research and the development of some of the most cutting-edge technologies introduced by Silicon Valley’s most reputable names including SanDisk, Intel and Apple.
More relevant here is that he is widely recognized as one of the world’s best birds in flight photographers. He specializes in raptors and the technical aspects of bird photography.
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Flight photography is a skill that can be studied, practiced, and learned. Improve your skills by studying The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight |
The Complete and Quintessential Guide to Photographing Birds in Flight
By Arash Hazeghi Ph.D., and Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
What you will learn (about):
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1- Weight and handholding super-telephoto lenses.
2- Weight and handholding intermediate telephoto and telephotos zoom lenses.
3- Choosing the right flight photography lens or lenses for you.
4- The importance of focal length for flight photography.
5- The importance of lens speed (the maximum aperture for flight photography.
6- Choosing between fixed focal lengths and zoom lenses for flight photography.
7- The importance of AF speed and performance for flight photography.
8- Handholding tips and techniques.
9- Shooting flight off a tripod with the Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro.
10- Flight poses and wing positions.
11- Why artie changed his mind about the 400mm f/2.8 lenses for flight and more.
12- The advantages and disadvantages of using teleconverters for flight photography.
13- Why to stay away from off-brand lenses.
14- Understanding the importance of wind direction and speed for flight photography.
15- The relationship between sky conditions and wind direction and how it affects flight photography.
16- Creating flight silhouettes in wind-against-sun conditions.
17- The importance of being on sun angle for flight photography (and avoiding harsh shadows).
18- Tips on doing flight photography in cloudy, foggy, or overcast conditions.
19- About the direction of light in cloudy, foggy, or overcast conditions and how it affects flight photography.
20- How your understanding of bird behavior can dramatically improve your flight photography.
21- Tips on attracting birds for flight photography.
22- What to do when your camera’s AF system is temporarily blind.
23- The vital importance of pre-focusing.
24- How Direct Manual Focus can help you with flight photography.
25- The importance of shooting aggressively when doing flight photography.
26- Everything that you need to know with regards to rest positions for flight photography.
27- The importance of getting low when doing flight in many situations.
28- Getting the right exposure when doing flight photography.
29_ Why to use Manual mode 95% of the time for flight.
30- Tips on finding the bird in the frame, acquiring focus, and tracking the bird in flight.
31- How to set and best utilize your lens’s image stabilization feature (and why).
32- Setting the focus range limiter switch on your flight lens or lenses.
33- To choose the best shutter speed for photographing birds in flight.
34- The vital importance of pre-focusing. And yes, this is so important that it is on the list twice.
You can see four sample pages in the blog post here. And you can purchase your copy here.
Used Canon R & RF Gear Listings Price Drops
Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Camera Body with extras!
Price dropped $200.00 on 28 OCT 2025!
David Graebner is offering a Canon EOS R5 in near mint condition for $1799.00 (was $1999.00). The sale includes the battery grip, four Canon batteries, a Kirk L-bracket for Canon EOS R5MKII, R6MKII, R5 & R6 (a $155.00 value!), LCD protectors, the body cap, the wide strap, the original product box and all that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only.
Please contact David via e-mail.
If you are looking to get into Canon mirrorless without having to sell your home, grab David’s R5 ASAP. The body sells new at B&H for $2999.00 and there is a comparable used one here for $2,578.95. This is the only Canon mirrorless body that I ever used and was quite impressed by the eye tracking. Purchase David’s camera and take 50% off the cost of the BAA EOS R5 Camera User’s Guide. artie
Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens
Price dropped $200.00 on 28 OCT 2025!
David Graebner is offering a Canon RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM in near mint condition for $1299.00 (was $1499.00). The sale includes the lens case, the lens hood, the front and rear lens caps, the original product box and all that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only.
Please contact David via e-mail.
Covering a versatile wide-angle focal length range, the RF 15-35mm f/2.8 L IS USM from Canon is also characterized by its bright f/2.8 constant maximum aperture. This bright design enables working in available light conditions and also affords greater control over depth of field. The range of wide focal lengths suits working in a variety of situations, from landscape to documentary shooting, and this zoom is complemented by an advanced optical design that greatly reduces color fringing and distortion for high clarity and sharpness. An Air-Sphere coating has also been applied to reduce flare and ghosting for improved contrast and color fidelity when working in bright conditions. B&H
This lens sells new for $2,399.00 and there was a used copy here in lesser condition for $1,966.95; amazingly, it sold. Look no further if you have been searching for an ultra wide angle RF scenic lens. artie
Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens
Price dropped $200.00 on 28 OCT 2025!
David Graebner is offering a Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens in near mint condition for $1799.00 (was $1999.00). The sale includes the lens case, the lens hood,the front and rear lens caps, the original product box and all that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only.
Please contact David via e-mail.
The Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS USM is Canon’s workhorse RF zoom lens, a versatile wide-angle to portrait-length lens characterized by its bright, advanced, and intuitive design. The constant f/2.8 maximum aperture suits working in difficult lighting conditions and also enables greater control over depth of field. The optical design incorporates a series of aspherical and Ultra-Low Dispersion elements, which greatly reduce a variety of aberrations throughout the zoom range in order to produce sharp and clear imagery. An Air Sphere Coating has also been applied to suppress flare and ghosting when working in strong lighting conditions. B&H
This lens sells new for $2,399.00 and there is a used copy here in lesser condition for $2,109.95. Look no further if you have been searching for a wide angle RF scenic lens. artie
Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM Lens
Price dropped $200.00 on 28 OCT 2025!
David Graebner is offering a Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM lens in near mint condition for $1799.00 (was $1999.00). The sale includes the lens case, the lens hood,the front and rear lens caps, the original product box and all that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only.
Please contact David via e-mail.
This impressive L-Series lens offers a telephoto zoom focal length for getting closer to faraway subjects. Canon’s lightest and shortest 70-200mm f/2.8 lens ever, the RF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS USM is engineered to make traveling more comfortable, offering a compact and portable design that’s easy to pack and carry wherever you go. B&H
This indispensable lens is another that I have owned with every system I’ve used. It sells new for $2,799.00 and there is a used copy here in similar condition for $2,109.95. artie
Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM Lens
Price dropped $100.00 on 28 OCT 2025!
David Graebner is offering a Canon RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM lens in near mint condition for $699,00 (was $799.00). The sale includes the lens case, the lens hood,the front and rear lens caps, the original product box and all that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only.
Please contact David via e-mail.
Engineered specifically for full-frame EOS R-series cameras, the RF 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM Lens from Canon combines a medium-telephoto field of view with a sleek design and close-focusing performance. Designed for close-up imagery, this autofocus lens is an ideal choice for portraits and macro subjects. Featuring a fixed 100mm focal length, a bright f/2.8 maximum aperture, fast, highly-precise autofocus, and a spherical aberration control ring, this lens elevates the look of portraits and macro shots and gives you the ability to create dreamlike and romantic images with a soft focus look. Its close focus design enables working with subject matter as close as 10.2″ away, and a Super Spectra coating minimizes ghosting and flare when working in strong lighting conditions. The lens also features optical image stabilization, along with Hybrid IS, to suppress up to five stops of camera shake for cleaner, steadier shooting, and imagemakers can expect to see stunning results that enhance their creative and artistic vision. B&H
This great macro lens sells new for $1249.00 and there is a used copy here in lesser condition for $1,023.95 artie
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
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