An e-Mail From Homer (and Multiple) IPT Participant Jim Dolgin
Artie,
I’m sure I speak for the entire Homer gang: as always, you go above and beyond to teach, cajole, and push us all to get great images. Your hard work and dedication are greatly appreciated. Spending time in Homer with you, Gabe, and the other guys was a true privilege. Now, the biggest issue is to select the very best of so many good images.
Take care and get some rest after a truly great photo experience.
All the best,
Jim Dolgin
What’s Up?
Bob Eastman and I headed early to Joe Overstreet Landing on Saturday morning and came home with some nice images of a very wet Great Horned Owl chick — thanks to Clemens Van der Werf for the tip, a singing Eastern Meadowlark, and a cooperative Burrowing Owl (the latter species is rare in central Florida). I was glad to learn yesterday of the sale of my barely used 400mm f/2.8 GM lens.
Today is Sunday 1 March (can you believe it???) 2026. Bob Eastman and I will be headed down to the lake early. Our plan is to wire a recently defrosted Mottled Duck carcass to The Perch II in hopes of attracting the local Crested Caracara family. The single (so far) Sandhill Crane chick continues at the North Field. Most of the two dozen or so migrant Bonaparte’s Gull have headed for the Far North to breed. Whatever you opt to do today, I hope that you choose to have fun. And please remember that happiness is a choice — Byron Katie, The Work.Com.
Sebastian IPT veteran and good friend Alvin “Red” Stevens is flying in from Birmingham, AL for two days of photography and Photoshop lessons and then joining the first Stick Marsh AirBnB IPT. Jim is picking him up at MCO (Orlando International Airport and he should be here just after lunch. Our plan is to do a scouting session at Stick Marsh on Monday morning and then head over to the Vero Lake Estates AirBnB on Tuesday afternoon.
If an item — a Delkin flash card or reader, a Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro, or a Wimberley lens plate or low foot — 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 or beat any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedford 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 BirdPhotographer’s.Net, 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.
Often Overlooked: Bald Eagle-scapes
On a trip where full frame Bald Eagle head shots can be created at 200mm and frame-filling flight shots are available until you can no longer lift your lens, it is easy to overlook creating wider images that feature the birds and lots of the surrounding habitat. In today’s post, we take a look at some of the options — one by Jim Dolgin, two by Adrian Whitchelo-Scott, and two by yours truly (including a very sweet iPhone photo).
The lessons that you learn here can easily be applied to your local turf.
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This image was created on 14 February 2026 by multiple IPT veteran Jim Dolgin at Kachemak Bay, Homer, AK on the first 2026 Homer IPT. Standing on a snow-covered beach on a spit that borders China Poot Bay, he used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II Lens (at 188mm) and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 2000: 1/4000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 3:08:32am on a cloudy afternoon. Wide/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled worked perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #1: Bald Eagle takeoff-scape |
Pre-capture for Takeoff-scapes!
Kudos to Jim for zooming out enough on this one (to 188mm) so as to include the top of the distant snow-covered mountain in the background. Jim made the trip with the 70-200, the 300mm f/2.8 GM, and both teleconverters. I did the same; like me, he took only one lens when we went ashore. On the morning of the 14th, he had the right lens in his hands!
Setting Pre-capture to 0.2 seconds is a big help even when you are right on the bird. Rather than replacing the eagle’s damaged left eye, I repaired it quickly with the Clone Stamp Tool.
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This image was created on 18 February by 2025 San Diego IPT veteran and good friend Adrian Whitchelo-Scott on the second 2026 Homer IPT. Standing on the deck of our work (eagle) boat in Franklin Flats, he used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 280mm) and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 1000: 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 3:16:51pm on a cloudy-bright afternoon. Wide/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled worked just fine. Click on the image to enjoy the larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #2: Bald Eagle/dead tree-scape |
Necessity; the Mother of Invention
Adrian created more powerful bird-scapes than anyone on the trip in part because he was the only one without a 300mm f/2.8. That plus his creative eye led to many fine wider-than-most images.
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This image was created on 20 February by 2025 San Diego IPT veteran and good friend Adrian Whitchelo-Scott on the second 2026 Homer IPT. Standing on the deck of our work (eagle) boat, he used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II Lens (at 167mm) and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 5000: 1/2500 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:49:37am in the shade on what would become a bright sunny morning. Wide/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled worked just fine. Click on the image to enjoy the larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version. Image #3: Dual Bald Eagle-scape |
Going Wide for Bird-scapes
(Re-run)
As noted above, with only the 70-200 II and a 1.4X TC, Adrian often created some lovely bird-scapes that were not available to those of us using a 300mm f/2.8 lens. He is currently saving for one of those. Adrian is a dear, sweet, pleasant, soft-spoken man. He is a Brit and has been fighting leukemia for many years. Before the Homer trip he received a double-dose of immune system-boosting medication and did very well.
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This image was created on 22 February 2026 by yours truly at Kachemak Bay, Homer, AK on the second 2026 Homer IPT. Standing on the deck of our work (eagle) boat in Peterson Bay, I used the handheld Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 2500: 1/2000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:59:41am in the shade on what would become a cloudy morning. Wide/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Image #4: Four Bald Eagle-scape |
The 300 f/2.8 GM for Eagle-scapes
Longer focal length lenses are often quite effective when used to create bird-scapes. You need to learn to see in 3X2 rectangles so that you can extract pleasing landscape features from the grand scene. Add a few eagles and you’ve got yourself a pleasing eagle-scape.
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This image was created on 21 February 2026 by yours truly at Kachemak Bay, Homer, AK on the second 2026 Homer IPT. Standing on the deck of our work (eagle) boat in China Poot Bay, I used the iPhone 17 Pro Max 6.8mm lens. ISO 64: 1/120 second a f/1.8. Exposure Compensation -1.0 stop. Image #5: iPhone Bald Eagle-scape |
The Ultimate Bird-scape Rig
I sold my Sony 24-105 years ago and am trying to sell my Sony 12-24mm f/2.8 lens right now. I am just not a wide angle kind of guy. But, I almost always have my iPhone with me. It offers super wide angle focal lengths and, for reasons I do not understand, pretty much unlimited depth of field regardless of the aperture. I had lots of good iPhone opportunities on the Homer trip and will be sharing some more of those images with you here soon.
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Click on the composite to view a larger, high res version.
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2027 Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPTs
Anchor Point Songbird Days: WED 10 FEB & TUES 11 FEB 2027. Full day: $500/day.
IPT #1: FRI 12 FEB 2027 through the full day on TUES 16 FEB 2027. Five days/20 hours on the boat: $5900.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 4
IPT #2: WED 17 FEB 2027 through the full day on SUN 21 FEB 2027. Five days/20 hours on the boat: $5900.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 2
IPT #2: WED 17 FEB 2027 through the full day on SUN 21 FEB 2027. Five days/20 hours on the boat: $5900.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 2
Register for the first trip and do both songbird days and I will be glad to apply a $500.00 discount to your IPT. In addition, you might want to consider riding down to Homer with me in a large SUV thus avoiding the flight from ANC to HOM. And taking a convenient bus back to Anchorage. Register for both trips and the two songbird days and apply an additional $500 discount — $1,000.00 off in total. And ride down and back with me in a large SUV.
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, and Glaucous-winged and Short-billed (formerly Mew) Gulls.
In addition, we should see Common Murre, Black Guillemot, Pelagic Cormorant, two 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 father of modern bird photography and the world’s most knowledgeable bird photography trip leader and instructor. He is conversant in Canon, Nikon, and Sony.
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Click on the composite to view a larger, high res version. All images from the 2025 Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT. |
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 where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun and take photos. You will learn to be a better photographer.
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 photographs from tens of thousands of images.
You will enjoy working with the best and most creative boat captain on his sturdy, photography-spacious, seaworthy, open-deck watercraft.
There will be only five photographers (not the usual six), plus the leader.
Small group Photoshop, Image Review and Critiquing sessions are an integral part of the IPT experience.
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Click on the composite to view a larger, high res version. All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK |
What’s Included
One four hour or two two-hour boat trips (session length variable depending on the weather) 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, and small group post-processing and image review sessions.
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 the first mate ($50-$100 each per IPT is recommended).
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Click on the composite to view a larger, high res version. All images from the 2024 Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT |
Important 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 $300.00/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 prior years those included Moose, Sea Otter, a variety of sea ducks in the harbor, and Great Grey and Short-eared Owl.
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Click on the composite to view a larger, high res version. All images from the 2024 Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT. |
Deposit Information
A $3000 non-refundable deposit per IPT 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 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.
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Click on the composite to view a larger, high res version.
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In Closing
I have been going to Homer off and on for well more than 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 both of them. If you have any questions, or are good to go for one or both of these great trips, please let me know via e-mail or give me a call on my cell phone at 863-221-2372.
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Click on the composite to view a larger, high res version.
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I absolultely loved the Songbird images!