Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Stuff

With lots of phone and e-mail help from Michael Tapes over the past few days I finally put the finishing touches on the LensAlign/FocusTune Micro-Adjusting Tutorial e-Guide late on Wednesday. Jim got it into the BIRDS AS ART Online Store after dinner. Learn more below.

I was glad to learn that Dave Williams of Santa Barbara, CA signed up for his first IPT: San Diego IPT #1. That trip is now sold out. There is, however, still lots of room on San Diego #2. If you are considering this trip and might be interested in adding on a free day of instruction before the IPT begins please shoot me an e-mail.

I got back in the pool twice on Wednesday: 48 lengths and 40 lengths made an even mile, with lots of exercise during the day as well. It all felt good.

The Streak

Today makes eighty-four days in a row with a new educational blog post! This blog post took more than two hours to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.

2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….

2018 San Diego 3 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT #2: Sunday, JAN 28 thru and including a morning session on Wednesday, JAN 31, 2018: 3 1/2 days: $1699. Limit: 8: Openings: 7

Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Saturday, Jan 27, 2018.

Click here for details.

Booking.Com

Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

White-breasted Plover chick, Namibia IPT

The Poster Child for the the LensAlign/FocusTune Micro-Adjusting Tutorial e-Guide

I consider the White-fronted Plover chick image above to be the poster child for micro-adjusting; it shows just what can happen when you opt to work with gear that has not been micro-adjusted. I made it to Namibia at great expense both financially and time-wise. This baby plover presented the best avian opportunity of the trip. It was late afternoon and the light was gorgeous. And I got relatively close to this tiny gem of a subject. When I viewed the image on my laptop I quickly realized that sharp focus was on the bird’s legs, not on the eye where I had carefully focused.

In error, I used my back-up 5DS R body with a 2X III TC and the 600 II lens. This combination had not been micro-adjusted. Though the image above might look OK as a small JPEG, it is unusable, i.e., worthless junk: the chick’s eyes are nowhere near sharp. Except as great advertising for this guide. When we got back to the hotel I did a quickie micro-adjustment on this set-up in the hallway of the hotel (near a large window) and obviously without my lighting set-up. The AFA turned out to be -19 … Many times when micro-adjusting you wind up at zero or +1 or -2 and think, “No big deal there.” And you would be correct; tiny AFA values like those will not make a great difference in the final image. But when you wind up at -7 or +11 as frequently happens, the difference in the sharpness of your images can be huge. Not to mention minus 19 … With properly micro-adjusted big lenses folks can begin to routinely create sharp images, even when working with working with 2X teleconverters.

Ordering Info

To purchase the LensAlign/FocusTune package ($124.90) please click here.

Click here to order your copy of the LensAlign/FocusTune Micro-Adjusting Tutorial e-Guide: $50.

The LensAlign/FocusTune Back-story by Michael Tapes (October 2017)

LensAlign was developed as a reliable and repeatable way to test and analyze problems in DSLR autofocus systems, among the bodies, firmware and lenses.

The original LensAlign hardware target was introduced in 2007. It provided a tool that helped photographers to assess the degree of front or back focus with various combinations of their camera bodies and lenses, a problem that was becoming more prevalent. Before then, determining AF accuracy and reliability was hit or miss. The forums were bursting with allegations claiming that photographers did not know how to use their gear, and that front, or back, focus issues were a matter of illusion.
However, with the increases in sensor resolution, and the growing number of photographers shooting DSLR cameras, the complexity and prevalence of AF inaccuracy issues grew.

At the time I invented LensAlign, there was no camera with a user-based provision to adjust for such issues. We needed a reliable tool that could test for, and measure the degree of the AF issues, along with the ability to document them in a repeatable fashion so that the camera makers could acknowledge the problems and fix them. Equally important, when the gear came back from the repair station, the photographers needed a method to verify the repair. In truth, fixes in most cases were not done, or they were inadequate.

Sometime between the LensAlign concept, and the subsequent product release more than a year later, Canon did, in fact, introduce what they called AF Micro-adjustment in the EOS 1D Mark III. I had been in consultation with Canon during my development of LensAlign, but I had no idea if my work influenced the development of this feature or not. However, I was clearly glad they did, since photographers could now “fix” the problem on their own. Of course, this would be a catalyst for LensAlign sales. Although Nikon made no mention of such a feature in their D3 product release, they quickly copied the Canon feature (precisely) and added it to the Nikon D3 calling it AF Fine-Tune. Since that time virtually every mid/high end DSLR camera from all manufacturers have included a provision for AF adjustment, requiring a LensAlign or lesser method to do the actual testing and analysis.

The first LensAlign hardware system (called the Pro Version) sold for $179. It was extremely labor intensive to build and required individual laser calibration (for each unit). I soon discovered that this business model could not be sustained. The price was too high, and the time-and-labor made it impractical to build.

Enter LensAlign MkII, a about 2 years later; it overcame many obstacles:

• It was easier to manufacture (although it required expensive solid steel blanking dies.)
• It could be shipped in a Priority Mail envelope, reducing shipping costs.
• It could be disassembled for travel.
• It was more accurate than the original, and no longer required individual calibration.
• It provided a sensible, and profitable, business model for me and a lower retail price for the end user (then $79.95 and now $84.95)]

With the MkII design established, we concentrated on a companion software solution to couple it with. FocusTune Calibration Software would raise the bar by facilitating the precision (and objectivity) of computer analysis of the test photos, thus eliminating the subjective nature of human analysis. Further, the new software made the AF adjustment task considerably easier and quicker. FocusTune software was designed so that it could be used in conjunction (together with) with any LensAlign hardware (system) or even without LensAlign with a wall mounted target.

Moreover, the FocusTune application actually promoted our development effort that led to additional improvements in both the LensAlign hardware and the FocusTune software! In order for these developments to stretch the envelope of possibilities, we optimized the LensAlign MkII’s Target and Ruler in a series of revisions culminating in the current Generation 4.

The downside was that in order to gain the greatly increased accuracy and speed that the new FocusTune made possible, its utilization necessarily was tied to LensAlign MkII with its new Target and Ruler. This ended FocusTune’s use as a standalone product or its use with older LensAlign designs (the Pro and Lite)

The good news is that we finally have what we wanted were striving for — a unique and phenomenal Hardware + Software solution that aids, enhances, accelerates and improves the task of analyzing and correcting troublesome AF front / back focusing inaccuracies that plague all DSLR cameras. No other commercial system available today is able to explore these issues and offer AF adjustment setting recommendations based on a precision 3-dimensional target that is crucial for accurate calibration. This is what makes the LensAlign/FocusTune system so powerful.

The LensAlign/Micro-Adjusting Tutorial e-Guide: $50 Don’t need to read the sales pitch? Click here to order your copy.

The LensAlign/FocusTune Micro-Adjusting Tutorial e-Guide: $50

For serious photographers using telephoto lenses including the Canon 100-400 II.

Don’t faint. The LensAlign/FocusTune Micro-Adjusting Tutorial e-Guide is finally finished and available for purchase. Before I begin to (briefly) sing its praises — I have to send huge thanks to my brilliant friend Michael Tapes. For the following:

1- Conceiving of, developing, and marketing first the LensAlign hardware and then doing the same with the amazing FocusTune software.
2- Driving down from Orlando to my home at Indian Lake Estates three times over the years to educate me on the use of LensAlign and then finally, FocusTune.
3- Spending many hours on the phone with me over the past few years answering my micro-adjusting questions. And then doing the same thing all over again for the past few months. And the past few days!
4- Skillfully reviewing the final draft of the manuscript and then graciously spending several more hours on the phone with me ironing out the final details.

Thank you Micheal.

Thanks also to dear friend Patrick Sparkman who helped me a lot along the micro-adjusting trail and provided a careful review of the final text.

Note however that any errors in the text are all on me.

The purpose of this guide is to teach you how to use the LensAlign hardware and the FocusTune software to determine an accurate AFA (autofocus adjustment) value for a given gear combination. It is written for users of current Canon camera bodies; folks who use the older Canon bodies and users of Nikon bodies that offer the ability to fine-tune focus will also benefit tremendously.

What can I say about the guide other than “It’s great!” It was about eight months in development. I spent dozens of hours writing it and many hundreds of hours testing and re-testing all of my lenses, teleconverters, and camera bodies, while at the same time fine-tuning the text. I even did some micro-adjusting on IPTs, some of those with the light setup! Most of the many improvements that I made in my techniques over the years were a result of finally listening to and implementing what Michael Tapes had told me in the first place. I can be stubborn, but then again, Michael and I are very much alike in that regard. The problem is that he is smarter than me.

Apologies to the many who were supposed to receive early drafts of this guide but did not. I only sent one to a very few folks as I was never completely comfortable with the contents and the flow and the clarity of the work. I am now. Very much so. I did get a copy to Bill Hill who wrote, “Thanks a ton. As in the past, I rely on you to interpret what the geeks write. Even though the version of the e-guide that you sent was far from complete, I found it much more helpful than anything that I had read online.”

Michael Tapes had this to say about the new guide: “I especially like the second half of the document where you show all of the examples.” He was referring to the many sample graphs in the guide that are accompanied by my illustrative comments:”Here is what I saw. This is what I thought. Here is what I did. And this is why I did it.”

Over the years many have come to value my simple, easy-to-follow instructions, my conversational style, and the clarity of my writing. Many find micro-adjusting to be complicated, time-consuming, and as I did often (and still do on occasion), frustrating. In the new guide, I have worked very hard to take you by the hand and lead through the process step by step. The guide includes camera and lens set-up lists, precise instructions on setting up, positioning, and aiming the gear, and detailed instructions on the testing, the strategies I developed and used, and interpreting the FocusTune graphs (that many find mystifying). Instructions for micro-adjusting zoom lenses at the T (tight or telephoto) end and the W (wide or zoomed out) setting are of course included. Plus dozens of practical tips to make your micro-adjusting experience a lot less frustrating than mine was 🙂

For years many folks have marveled at my ability to create sharp images with Canon 2X teleconverters and long f/4 super-telephoto lenses. Now the secret for much of that success is out of the bag. There is not a single sharp image in the guide; to see those simply surf the blog for the past two years. You will find hundreds of super-sharp images each accompanied by the AFA (autofocus micro-adjustment) that was in play.

Note that micro-adjusting is not for the faint-of-heart. Only serious photographers interested in creating the sharpest possible RAW files with their telephoto lenses (and teleconverters) should apply …

Nuff said.

Ordering Info

To purchase the LensAlign/FocusTune package ($124.90) please click here.

Click here to order your copy of the LensAlign/FocusTune Micro-Adjusting Tutorial e-Guide: $50.

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Really Important Stuff, All Unsolicited

Via e-mail from Jim Miller

I can’t stop thinking about how much fun the DeSoto Fall IPT was, and how much I learned. There were so many things that suddenly made perfect sense after I had been confused for so long. Thank you very much for the wonderful trip, and for being a great teacher. As I worked through the raw files last week, I realized what a fantastic lens the 600 IS is. Thanks for the rental! Maybe some day I will be able to afford one. Some images for critique are attached.

By the way, the plant we were looking at along the sidewalk in Gulfport is Blue Porterweed. It is worth a few minutes on the internet to read about it: native of Florida and the Caribbean, used for medicine in The Bahamas, etc. We have it in a large pot in the front yard and it takes a lot of water, but it blooms Spring through Fall. Thank you again, Artie. It was really wonderful to be with you and learn from you.

Via e-mail from Lee Sommie

I want to thank you for making the Fall 2017 Ft. DeSoto IPT such a fun and educational experience for me. I truly did not want the adventure to end. I now look through the viewfinder with an artist’s mindset. And the real bonus was making new friends with fellow students. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and enthusiasm for wildlife photography. I had a great time with you and look forward to more adventures on future IPTs.

Followed by this one

BTW. I downloaded Photo Mechanic and started using it in my workflow. Since I like using Lightroom for my adjustments, I found a way to incorporate Photo Mechanic and Lightroom together. Lightroom was driving me crazy with how slow it is to import and preview photos. I was impressed with how fast you could preview photos and start editing your photos on the DeSoto Fall IPT. Life is too short to wait for applications to import and preview photos and Photo Mechanic solves that problem.

Thanks again for everything Artie. Your knowledge keeps on giving well after the IPT!

Via e-mail from Muhammad Arif

I had a great time at Fort De Soto. Thank you for all the instruction, for your help and pointers; my photography has already improved tremendously and I’ve never made such good bird photos before. I wish I could’ve joined you on Monday and Tuesday morning as well but work got in the way. It was also nice to meet everyone on the IPT; sorry that I missed you Ray. Thanks again for everything and I hope to join you at a future IPT sometime again.

Stuff

I visited the Social Security office in Winter Haven to start collecting on my money. I had been drawing my SS on my late-wife Elaine’s money. Next was a visit with my chiropractor friend Dr. Scott Pancake for an Atlas Orthogonal treatment. Too soon to tell but you will hear from me soon. Scott advised two days of rest, i.e., no swimming, no exercises.

I am still looking for a few more folks for San Diego #2. If you are considering this trip and might be interested in adding on a free day of instruction before the IPT begins please shoot me an e-mail.

Great Response

After downloading the RAW file, lots of folks have been sending me JPEgs of their version of yesterday’s featured image. If you would like to take a crack at it, see yesterday’s blog post here. I will publish my version on Friday.

The Streak

Today makes eighty-two days in a row with a new educational blog post! This blog post took less than an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.

2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….

2018 San Diego 3 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT #2: Sunday, JAN 28 thru and including a morning session on Wednesday, JAN 31, 2018: 3 1/2 days: $1699. Limit: 8: Openings: 7

Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Saturday, Jan 27, 2018.

Click here for details.

Booking.Com

Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

All four of these images were created on the early morning of Sunday, October 15 well before the sun came onto the birds. I used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) and my favorite skimmer photography camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. The ISOs ranged from 800 to 1250. All at Evaluative metering +2 stops: 1/320 sec. at f/6.3 (except for the last image at f/7.1) in Tv mode. AWB. One AF point to the right of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point fell somewhere on the bird face below the eye in each image. Please click on the image to enlarge it. FocusTune/LensAlign Micro Adjustment: -5. Black Skimmer at water’s edge (four ways)

Black Skimmer Editing Practice

Click on the composite above to view the images larger. Which is the strongest image? Why? Which is the weakest image? Why? What do you think of the two images with the breaking wave included?

For those not blessed with eagle eyes here are the file numbers from left to right, top row first, then the bottom row.

• _P3A3247 (at 7:50am)
• _P3A3248 (five seconds after 3247)
• _P3A3256 (40 seconds after 3248)
• _P3A3270 (4 1/2 minutes after 3256)

Note: I have a 100% best by far choice; I will share it with you here soon.

High Level Exposure Question

Considering that the exposure compensation for each image was +2 stops, why is _P3A3270 considerably brighter than _P3A3256? Please note that it has nothing to do with the fact that the light has increased; remember that I was in an automatic exposure mode, Tv …

More 100-400 II Versatility

On both Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning I never took the 500 f/4L IS II out of my Sequoia. What fun to walk around with a lightweight lens that is great for flight photography; being able to zoom out on close-flying pelicans and gulls can be a huge plus. Once the sun came over the dunes I added the 1.4X III TC for additional reach. We saw yesterday that the 1-4 can be used at the wide end to create scenic-type images (without having to run back to the car for a shorter lens). It’s focal length range (with or without the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III) is fantastic. And its amazing close focus (down to less than one meter) make this the most versatile lens you will ever own. Lastly, as we saw the other day, you can add a few extension tubes and use the 1-4II to photograph very small flowers.

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

It was 8:12am on Saturday morning as I put the finishing touches on this blog post. I am toying with the idea of heading over to Fort DeSoto this afternoon to look for the mystery heron/egret. I would stay over on Saturday night. I will need to swim early today and start driving at about lunch time …

I am still looking for a few more folks for San Diego #2. If you are considering this trip and might be interested in adding on a free day of instruction before the IPT begins please shoot me an e-mail.

The Streak

Today makes eighty days in a row with a new educational blog post! This blog post took less than an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.

2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….

2018 San Diego 3 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT #2: Sunday, JAN 28 thru and including a morning session on Wednesday, JAN 31, 2018: 3 1/2 days: $1699. Limit: 8: Openings: 7

Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Saturday, Jan 27, 2018.

Click here for details.

Booking.Com

Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

This image was created on the 2017 San Diego IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 360mm) and my favorite bird photography camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering probably at zero as famed: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB. One AF point that was two and one-half rows up from and three columns to the right of the center AF point/AI Servo/Manual selection/Shutter Button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. See the DPP 4 screen capture below to see the exact placement of the single (selected) AF point. FocusTune/LensAlign Micro Adjustment: 0. Western Gull, adult breeding plumage preening

Helpful Bird Photography Principles …

• 1- When photographing a bird from behind the best head angle will generally be very close to a perfect 90 degrees with the bird’s head square or close to square to the imaging sensor.
• 2- When photographing a bird from behind be sure to focus on or very near the head.
• 3- When working in horizontal format be sure to select your AF point carefully so as to keep the bird out of the center of the frame (unless you can verbalize a very good reason for putting the subject dead center …)
• 4- Learn to work competently in Manual mode so that the amount of black or white in the frame at a given moment will not affect the exposure. That involves making an exposure check image, checking or blinkies, and evaluating the histogram to make sure that you have exposed well to the right (with at least some data halfway into the rightmost histogram box).
• 5- Even when photographing a bird from behind there is no need to use additional depth of field as long as the distance to the subject provides you will enough depth of field to cover the subject (as with today’s featured image).
• 6- Working with backgrounds that are separated from the subject and relatively distant while using wide apertures will yield pleasingly out of focus canvases for your avian images.

From Chapter Seven, Designing the Image (page 108), of the original The Art of Bird Photography (Amphoto, NY: 1998)

If the subject is positioned against an uncluttered background or if there is a cluttered background well behind the subject, telephoto lenses — with their narrow angles of view — and the shallow depth of field that comes with the use of wide apertures, will produce lovely soft, out-of-focus backgrounds. I’ll take still blue water or well lit green foliage every time.

Shooting wide open (at your lens’ widest aperture heightens this effect; with subject size constant, it is the aperture rather than the length of the lens that determines the depth of field. Large apertures such as f/2.8, f/4, and f/5.6, minimize depth of field and reduce background detail. Conversely, small apertures, such as f/16 and f/22, maximize depth of field and increase background detail.

Note: I changed a single word in the second paragraph above to improve the clarity of the writing.

More 100-400 II Versatility

The hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens is deadly on the cliffs of La Jolla with or without the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III. Its focal length range, its relatively light weight, and its amazing close focus (down to less than one meter) make it my most valuable lens when visiting San Diego. In addition, it is quite an excellent flight lens and being able to zoom out on close-flying pelicans and gulls can save the day.

The DPP 4 Screen Capture for today’s featured image

Understanding the Color of Light/Part I

Note the RGB values for the brightest WHITEs: R=240, G = 233, B = 216. Not the high value for RED and the low value for B despite the fact that I moved the Color fine tune dot toward BLUE. Note also that this image was created at 7:39am. On clear mornings not long after sunrise the light is rich in REDs and YELLOWs; much of the BLUE is filtered out as the light travels obliquely a long way through the earth’s atmosphere. The result is what we call “early” or “sweet” light (as opposed to the colder light later on in the day when the sun is much more directly overhead. As a guideline folks often state that the really “sweet” light occurs on clear days when your shadow is three time longer than your height. I am generally fine with twice my height. Note that the lower the sun in the sky the more comfortable I am working a bit off sun angle.

As I like the look of the rich, warm light in this image I was not at all concerned with having the WHITEs completely neutral, say 235, 235, 235. I could have worked toward that end if I wanted to either during the RAW conversion in DPP 4 or during the image optimization in Photoshop. But I am a firm believer in “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The Lesson

There is no need to work towards having perfectly neutral WHITEs or a perfectly neutral White Balance if you are happy with the colors in an image.

High-Level AF Point Selection Question

Why did I abandon my usual AF Expand for this particular situation and go with Manual selection (i.e., with a single AF point)?

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

I started off Thursday watching the Yankees complete their amazing comeback on Tivo. The plan for Thursday night is to Tivo both the MLB playoff game — the Cubs v.s the Nats, and the NFL Thursday Night game — Philly vs. Carolina, and then watch first one then the other toggling back and forth. I am slightly pulling for the Nationals in the baseball game as they too were down 2 games to nothing and have never won a post-season series. And the Cubs did OK last year. On the NFL channel I will be rooting hard for the Panthers. Again I enjoyed a midday and an early evening swim totaling an even mile, 88 lengths. And lots of exercising and stretching.

With only a single slot open on the San Diego IPT, I added a second San Diego IPT — shorter and less expensive. I was glad to learn that Fort DeSoto Fall IPT participant Lee Sommie was the first to sign up for San Diego #2. See the announcement in the blog post here.

New Listing

Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS w/free 1.4X II TC!

Francois Botha is offering a Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS (with Canon 1.4 extender in excellent condition) for the BAA record low price (for the lens alone!) of $2098. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the front lens cover, both teleconverter caps, LensCoats for both the lens and the TC, the original product box, and insured ground shipping via UPS to US addresses only. Photos are available via email or DropBox.

Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Francois via e-mail or by phone at 1-859-325-1785 (Eastern time).

I used this lens for several years with great success, especially for birds in flight and while working from various type of water craft. In addition, it would make a great prime super-telephoto lens for folks with a 7D II. Gannets in Love was created with the 400 DO. You can see that one and 13 other killer images that I made with my old 400 DO here. The title of that blog post is “The Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO Lens: Fourteen Images that Prove that the Internet Experts are Idiots.” Francois’ lens is priced to sell. artie

Price Drop!

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Zoom Lens

Price dropped $100 on October 12, 2017.

Les Greenberg is offering a used Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM zoom lens in mint condition for a very low $1499 (was $1599). The sale includes a Kirkphoto LP-2 lens plate, the tripod collar, the lens case, the rear lens cap, the hood, the front lens cap, the original product box, and insured ground shipping to US addresses only. The lens was purchased new in 2010 and used less than a dozen times. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Les via e-mail or by phone at 1-216-571-3636 or 1-216-292-7510 after 6:00 PM (Eastern time).

The 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens is amazingly versatile. I still own one and have made zillions of great images with it. It works well with both the 1.4X III and the 2X III TCs, even with the 7D II! It is easily hand holdable. It is great for tame birds, landscapes, urbex, indoor stuff likes concerts and recitals, and just about anything you want to photograph. A new 70-200 II currently sells for $1,949 so you can save a cool $350 by buying Les’s mint copy asap. artie

ps: the 1.4X II TC is optically identical to the 1.4X III TC. The latter has better weather sealing and offers advance AF communication with the new Canon Series II super-telephoto lenses.

2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….

2018 San Diego 3 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT #2: Sunday, JAN 28 thru and including a morning session on Wednesday, JAN 31, 2018: 3 1/2 days: $1699. Limit: 8: Openings: 7

Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Saturday, Jan 27, 2018.

Click here for details.

The Streak

Today makes seventy-eight days in a row with a new educational blog post! This blog post took less than an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.

Booking.Com

Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

This image was created at La Jolla, CA with the hand held Fujifilm XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens with the Fujifilm XF 2x TC WR Teleconverter (at 670mm–effective 1005mm) with the Fujifilm X-T2 Mirrorless Digital Camera Body with the Power Booster Grip. ISO 800. Pattern metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/800 sec. at f/10.8 in Manual mode. AWB. Shutter Button Continuous Autofocus. Additional AF information is unavailable. Sanderling, winter plumage adult

Fujifilm XT-2 Advantages

The huge advantage of using the Fujifilm 100-400//2x/XT-2 combination to get out to effective 1200mm as compared to using the Canon 600mm f/L IS II/2X III TC combo at 1200mm is that the size and weight of the Fujifilm gear is but a fraction of the weight of the Canon gear. This makes it far easier to hand hold, handle, and travel with the Fujifilm stuff. The Fujifilm XF 2x TC WR Teleconverter with the XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens is sharp. In addition, you are able to zoom in an out from 200 to 800 mm (effective 300 to 1200mm).

So why didn’t I include the latest Nikkor 600mm f/4 lens with the latest version of the TCE 20? I do not know of any Nikon shooters who consistently use or create sharp images with this combination.

So Why Do I Stick With Canon?

So why do I continue to use my much heavier, much bulkier Canon gear? For now, at least, the image quality of my 5D Mark IV images is significantly superior to the image quality of the (smaller) XT-2 image files. In addition, I like the more natural color of the Canon images. The latter may be due to the fact that I use DPP 4 to convert my Canon RAW files and my experience with that process. Lastly, the Fujifilm stuff made flight and action photography nearly impossible. As I will be 72 next June, switching to a lighter system might be in my future. But not just yet.

Another Fujifilm X-T2 Mirrorless Digital Camera Body Image

Regular readers will likely remember that I experimented with the Fujifilm X-T2 Mirrorless Digital Camera body on my last trip to San Diego. You can learn more about that experience in the Quite Impressive: First Fujifilm XT-2 Image blog post here and in several blog posts that followed. For more on using the Fujifilm 100-400//2x/XT-2 combo handheld check out the Is the Fujifilm XT-2 Capable of Creating Sharp Images Hand Held at Effective 1200mm? blog post here.

Image Question

There is one thing that really bugs me about this image. What do you think it is? Does anything bug you?

The ACR conversion for today’s featured image Please click on the image so that you can read the fine print.

The RAW Conversion in ACR

As detailed in the The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), I followed these steps for converting the RAW file in Photoshop using ACR:

1: I placed the eyedropper on the brightest WHITEs.
2: I reduced the exposure to -.2 to bring down the WHITE RGB values.
3: I set the White Point at +15 and set the Black Point at +5 (both while holding down the ALT key).
4: I pulled down the Highlights slider to -55 to restore detail to the still very bright WHITEs.
5: I set the Clarity slider to +28.
6: I clicked on Open Object to convert the RAW file to a 16-bit TIF file and open that in Photoshop.

The Image Optimization

First, I cleaned up the white specks on the rocks with the Spot Healing Brush (J). Then I cleaned up a bit of the lower center frame edge in two spots with Content Aware Fill (Shift + Delete). The big job was to eliminate the BLUE cast from the dark rocks. To check for a BLUE cast go to Hue/Saturation, select the BLUE channel from the dropdown menu, and move the Saturation slider to +100. That revealed lots of BLUE in the rocks (and of course in the BLUE sky). Then I moved the Saturation slider to -100. This eliminated the BLUE cast on the dark rocks but left the sky grey. I liked the “grey” look a lot but decided to go with the original blue sky. As I was working on a layer, I simply added a Regular Layer Mask and erased the BLUE desaturation from the sky and the bird using a large, soft, 100% opacity brush.

Noise Reduction

In general, XT-2 images show more noise than 5D Mark IV images. With the basically white subject, I decided to do my NeatImage noise reduction on the whole image. Working on a layer, I wound up applying the noise reduction with the Y-value set to a rather high 85 (to smooth the noise in water and the rocks). This however, affected the fine feather detail so I added a Regular Layer Mask and — using a 50% opacity brush, painted away half the noise reduction on the bird only using a soft brush. To learn everything that there is to know about noise reduction using NeatImage (and lots more!) see the Professional Post Processing Guide by clicking here.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II) will teach you an efficient Mac/Photo Mechanic/Photoshop workflow that will make it easy for you to make your images better in Photoshop (rather than worse). That true whether you convert your images in DPP 4 or ACR. See the blog post here to learn lots more and to read a free excerpt. You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)

Everything mentioned above is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. The new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.

The two most recent and many of the older MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):

• The Wingtip Repairs MP4 Video here.
• The MP4 Crow Cleanup Video here.

Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.

You can learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of their Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. And you can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

On Tuesday I had a lunch appointment at noon with my tax guy in Lakeland. Before and after that it was back to business as usual: answering e-mails and doing blog posts. And a swim and lots of exercise. I was glad to learn that the sale of Stephen November’s Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in near-mint condition for $8399 was finalized.

With only a single slot open on the San Diego IPT, I decided to add a second San Diego IPT — shorter and less expensive. See the announcement in yesterday’s blog post here.

The e-book on CD is available for $20 on CD here or via download here. Studying great images is the best way to learn to improve your bird photography (he said modestly).

Least Tern chick with the 800 f/5.6, the 1.4X II TC, and the 1D Mark IV. A sample page from the Top 100 e-book. The Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS was one of my very favorite super-telephoto lenses. In the original The Art of Bird Photography I advised that it is generally better to choose a longer faster lens over a shorter, slower one …

Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Lens

Steve Cashell is offering a Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM lens in near-mint condition for a very low $8399. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the E-180C front lens cover, the lens trunk with both keys, a Really Right Stuff LCF-51 lens foot, a Camo LensCoat, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only.

Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Steve via e-mail or by phone at 1-734-693-4242 (Eastern time).

I owned and used the super-sharp 800mm f/5.6, often with a 1.4X TC, as my go-to super-telephoto lens for almost five years. If you work with birds that are tough to approach and have trouble making sharp images with the 2X III TC, this lens should have your name on it. The 800/5.6 is great from the car or from a blind. I was astounded when I counted to learn that 15 of the 67 images in my San Diego exhibit were created with my 800 … Note that the 800 and a 7D Mark II get you out to 1280mm. Add the 1.4X III TC and you wind up at 1792mm, almost 36X … They 800s sell new right now for $12,999 from B&H. B&H has a used one in similar condition for the insanely high price of $9,499.95. That gives you a choice: save $4,600 off the cost of a new one or $1,100.95 off the price of a used one … artie

2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….

2018 San Diego 3 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT #2: Sunday, JAN 28 thru and including a morning session on Wednesday, JAN 31, 2018: 3 1/2 days: $1699.
Limit: 8: Openings: 8

Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Saturday, Jan 27, 2018.

Click here for details.

The Streak

Today makes seventy-six days in a row with a new educational blog post! This blog post took less than an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.

Booking.Com

Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

This image was created on the 2017 San Diego IPT with the Induro GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and my favorite pelican photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering -1/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. Daylight WB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: 0. One AF point to the left and two rows up from the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was just behind the bird’s eye. Winter plumage California Gull yawning Please click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper version.

Subject to Sensor-Plane Orientation Considerations

One of the first things that I consider when evaluating a situation is the subject to sensor-plane orientation. Ideal is having the bird perfectly parallel to the back of the camera. On sunny days, the subject to sensor-plane orientation will largely be determined by the wind. If the sun is in the east and the wind is from the north or south the bird will almost always be just right: 90 degrees to the light. Simply get on sun angle and the subject to sensor-plane orientation will be perfect. If the sun is out and behind you and the wind is in your face you will be shooting up the bird’s butt; i.e., not good! On cloudy days it is much easier to get the bird square to the back of your camera simply by changing your position. Understand, however, that on cloudy, somewhat bright days the light will still have direction … When both the light and the wind are behind you the subject will, to varying degrees, be facing you. Best is head-on, dead-on with the subject looking right down the lens barrel. Think getting close and making verticals in those situations. When the bird is angled toward you it is easy to create awkward compositions so be sure to consider the light and your perspective carefully when designing your images.

At times, when the light is relatively soft, a good strategy may be to to work slightly off sun angle — usually no more than 15 degrees for me, so that you can work with the bird perfectly parallel to the back of the camera.

A High Level Question on Choosing Your Perspective Carefully …

For today’s featured image the gull was angled slightly towards me; i.e., the head of the bird is a bit closer to me than the tail. Why didn’t I move a yard to my right to square the bird up perfectly?

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

I am home safely. My flight from Islip to Orlando was the proverbial piece of cake.

Beautiful — the Carole King Musical

Sunday was a day to remember. The show was fabulous. The music, the story, the humor, the staging, all wonderful.

Before She Was Carole King, Superstar-She Was Carol Klein, Teenage Songwriter.

She fought her way into the record business as a teenager and, by the time she reached her twenties, had the husband of her dreams and a flourishing career writing hits for the biggest acts in rock ‘n’ roll. But it wasn’t until her personal life began to crack that she finally managed to find her true voice.

BEAUTIFUL tells the inspiring true story of King’s remarkable rise to stardom, from being part of a hit songwriting team with her husband Gerry Goffin, to her relationship with fellow writers and best friends Cynthia Weil and Barry Mann, to becoming one of the most successful solo acts in popular music history. Along the way, she made more than BEAUTIFUL music, she wrote the soundtrack to a generation.

Click here for the “Beautiful” discography. The number or hits penned by the King/Goffin and Weil/Mann teams truly is astounding. Enjoy a great collection of “Beautiful” sights and sounds here.

Thanks Brendan!

Brendan Quigley has attended several IPTs. I think that his first was a Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge IPT. In the days of film. In any case, we have always stayed in touch. Brendan has been the Lighting Director on various iterations of the Broadway show “Wicked” for a long, long time. When I mentioned that we were going to see “Beautiful” he offered to arrange a backstage tour for us after the show. We accepted. As the theater emptied we were met by Josh Weitzman, the House Head Electrician at the Stephen Sondheim Theater. The main thrust of the tour was to see the behind the scenes stuff, the dressing rooms, the wardrobe, the lighting, the props, and the machinery that moves everything into place. We did all that and enjoyed it.

First we ran into Kara Lindsay who plays Carole King’s good friend, songwriter Cynthia Weil. She was in a robe and had her hair up in curlers. I was a bit non-plussed and unsure of which role she had played. As fate would have it, we ran into her again as she was getting ready to leave for home. By this time I had figured out who she was. We chatted for a bit as we all gushed over her performance. I got to give her a hug. She was 100% gracious, sweet, and appreciative. So who shows up in a robe just before we were going to leave? The amazing Chilina Kennedy, the star of the show as Carole King. We were all amazed at how tiny she is. Again we gushed, and again this Broadway star, a singer/songwriter in her own right, was sweet and nice and gracious and and appreciative. And I got to give her a hug as well. While the show had been fantastic, serendipitously meeting the two female leads really put the icing on the cake.

The Streak

Today makes seventy-five days in a row with a new educational blog post! This blog post took about three hours to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.

Booking.Com

Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

An Elegant End to your BIRDS AS ART Blog-subscription Problems

As some of you know, att and more than a few related e-mail providers (such as sbcglobal and bellsouth) have been black-listing the sending IP address for BirdPhotographer’s.Net for a very long time. Once we moved the blog to the same service provider we inherited the problem. I have tried unsuccessfully for many years to have our IP address de-blacklisted. If you have some pull with att or have a good customer service number and would like to try, that IP address 199.193.247.14.

I forgot who turned me on to this simple and elegant solution but whoever you are, thanks! I have been using it for a month and have been receiving every single BPN Reply to Thread notice and every single BAA Blog Notification in my samandmayasgrandpa@att.net Inbox in a timely fashion from the moment that I tried the work-around. Despite my black-listed att address.

Step I

If you do not have a gmail account, open one. If you do have a gmail account, open it.

Step II

Step II

Click on the Settings icon near the top right of the page. Then, in the drop-down menu, click on Settings.

When the Settings page opens, click on Add a forwarding address and then carefully type your black-listed e-mail address into the empty box that pops up. Click Next and then Proceed and then OK. A verification message will be sent to that address. Click the verification link in that message.

Step III

Step III

Then Go back to the settings page for the Gmail account you want to forward messages from, and refresh your browser. Select Forward a copy of incoming mail to. Choose what you want to happen with the Gmail copy of your emails. As you can see, I choose delete Gmail’s copy.

You will begin receiving your Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART has posted a new item e-mails in the Inbox of the account that you designated. Though the directions might seem a bit complicated they are actually quite simple. If you follow the simple directions the whole process should take a minute or two at most.

This image was created on the 2017 San Diego IPT with the Induro GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and my favorite sitting duck photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering -2/3 stop off the water: 1/1600 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +2. One AF point up and one to the right of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. As seen in the DPP 4 screen capture below, the selected AF point was on the space below the base of the bill and just caught the spot where the base of the neck meets the top of the breast. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Ring-necked Duck drake floating

Ring-necked Duck Drake Exposure Quiz Answer

In the Sitting Ducks blog post here, I wrote, If you were behind the camera at the moment of exposure and were working in Av mode what EC (exposure compensation) would have dialed in? Why?

Many folks responded. Some of the answers were great. Some not so great. Here is what I did. Working in Manual mode I set an exposure that was 1/3 stop darker than the water: 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3. Why? I was was worried about burning the bright WHITEs on the forward flank just behind the breast. I made a test exposure and saw more than a few blinkies on the WHITEs so I went one click faster on the shutter speed to 1/1600 sec. This would likely have worked out to -1/3 or -2/3 stop as framed.

Multiple IPT veteran Kent Downing gave the best answer when he posted (in part):

The overall scene lends itself towards a slightly darker than average mid-tone. It is a difficult image to correctly expose given the high contrast between the whites and blacks. Therefore, I would first start with a slightly negative EC and then check the histogram and the (highlight) blinkies and adjust exposure accordingly. This is a wonderful image. I love the position of the bird, the lighting, and the detail in the blacks and the whites. Well done.

He went on to suggest as I often do that folks who really want to understand exposure should get themselves a copy of his “go-to reference book,” http://birdsasart-shop.com/the-art-of-bird-photography-soft-cover/, and study the section on Exposure Theory.

IPT veteran Krishna Prasad Kotti gave the perfect answer for Nikon-users: Hi Artie, I think I will go with -1 EV.

On Sunday afternoon I responded to all the comments in the original blog post. You might wish to review those by scrolling down here to maximize your understanding.

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

On Friday I visited younger sister Arna again, this time with my younger daughter Alissa. Lissy and I ran some errands; I picked up some protein bars for lunch. As is usual I do not eat too well when I am traveling … I had a great dinner with Lissy, her two autistic boys — Ilyas and Idris, and Erin, one of Ilyas’ many support aides. Carver’s, where we ate, is right around the corner from where my Mom lived for more than ten years. I had never been there. The food was basic but great. Tomorrow Alissa, husband Ajiniyas, and I will be seeing Beautiful, the Carole King musical on Broadway. Fourth row center 🙂

I was pleased to learn that IPT veteran Andrae Acerra sold her barely used Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near mint condition for $924 within two hours of it being listed.

The Streak

Today makes seventy-three days in a row with a new educational blog post! This blog post took less than two hours to prepare (including the short time spent on the image optimization). With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.

Booking.Com

Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

This image was created at the East Pond, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens, NY CA with the Induro GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and my favorite shorebird photography camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB. Center Large Zone/AI Servo/Shutter Button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The system activated three AF points on the side of the bird’s upper breast as seen in the DPP 4 screen capture below. Click on the image to see a larger version. FocusTune/LensAlign Micro Adjustment: zero. Pectoral Sandpiper in fresh juvenal plumage

Celebrating 40 Years in the Mud: Part II

On the morning of Wednesday October 6, Isaac Hayes and I ventured out into the mud on the East Pond. Forty years and a bit ago in August of 1977 I first set foot onto those same South Flats. Though it was prime time for migrant shorebirds, the tide in the surrounding bay was low and there was only a single bird. The young Marbled Godwit had a long upturned bill with a dark tip and an alabaster pink base. Not far behind me, hundreds of vehicles an hour drove north and south on Cross Bay Boulevard. Just beyond the eastern shore of the pond the “A” and “C” trains, part of the New York City subway system, transported hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers each month from their homes in the Rockaways to their jobs in Manhattan and elsewhere. Overhead, huge jetliners landed and took off every few minutes bringing millions of visitors and tons of cargo to the Big Apple from around the world. I remember thinking, none of these folks even know that this beautiful bird is here. At the time, I had no idea that seeing this single bird would change the remainder of the rest of my adult life. But it did just that. And all for the good.

My Target Species …

Understanding the timing of migration for the various shorebird species I had hoped to photograph the handsome juveniles of the following species: White-rumped Sandpiper, Long-billed Dowitcher, Pectoral Sandpiper, and Dunlin. Juvenile Hudsonian Godwit was a wild-assed dream. I knocked off juvie white-rumpeds and the young, molting Dunlin on Tuesday afternoon at the north end. On Tuesday morning we spotted a gorgeous juvenile pectoral that was at first elusive. We carefully approached a small group of shorebirds that included a first-winter Lesser Yellowlegs, two young Semipalmated Plovers, two young Semipalmated Sandpipers, and the highly desired Pectoral Sandpiper. Isaac got in position first and I approached in a crouch. I was sure that we had it made in the shade but as my left knee touched down I spooked the birds. I sat in the mud, apologized to Isaac, and then we both stood stock still. The birds circled the south end of the pond before flying back to us and landing, landing just on the other side of a stand of phragmites in the pond.

“With luck,” I whispered, “they should wind up right in front of us in a few minutes.” And that they did. I photographed while seated for a while, but my hip pain had me lying face down in the mud in short order. The light was still lovely and the backgrounds sweet and distant. We had a good solid hour with the pectoral and the yellowlegs before they were spooked by a Merlin and departed the pond. All in all we were blessed for the second straight session. Though we never did see a long-billed dow I was thrilled both with the experience and with the images I made on my old stomping grounds.

The DPP 4 Screen Capture for today’s featured image

Getting Lucky with Center Large Zone AF …

Both the pectoral and the yellowlegs kept coming closer and closer so I switched my 2X III TC for the 1.4X III TC. Tired of having to move the selected AF Expand point around constantly I went to Large Zone AF. With this image, switching to Right Large Zone AF would have been ideal as I could likely have had the activated AF points on the bird’s face or neck.

Even with this error the bird’s eyelashes are razor sharp. (No, sandpipers do not have eyelashes but that is what the tiny marks on the eye skin look like; and they are a great test of image sharpness. I love that I can easily zoom in when editing my images in Photo Mechanic.)
The question is, “Why are the eyes razor sharp if I screwed up by using the wrong AF Area Selection mode?”

Multiple choice:

a-I had lots of extra depth of field.
b-the bird was relatively far away.
c-the bird was momentarily standing very still.
d-the bird’s body was angled toward me.
e-all of the above are correct.

Before and After Image Clean-up

Lying flat down on the the mud is step one when you are looking to eliminate a majority of potential distractions and enjoy a soft, distant background. But there will almost always be some stuff in the mud that will wind up as distractions. With this image the main culprits were stray feathers, small sticks and stems, and bird droppings (whitewash). I used my usual cadre of clean-up tools: the Spot Healing Brush (J), the Patch Tool (my keyboard shortcut P), and Content Aware Fill (Shift + Delete). Notice that unlike most folks I do not depend on the Clone Stamp Tool for my clean-up work and with today’s image, I did not use it at all.

Then I used my foreground Gaussian Blur technique. I put the whole image on its own layer, applied a 75-pixel Gaussian Blur, and then added an Inverse (Black or Hide-all) mask. Then, using a soft, 100% opacity brush, I painted the blur in only onto the out-of-focus portions of the foreground. I carefully avoided painting the blur onto the narrow strip on the same plane as the bird’s eye <em>that was in sharp focus. In spots where the blur was a bit overdone I hit X and reduced the opacity of the brush to 50% and then painted back in 50% of the original until I was happy with the look.

Note: the posterization that you see in the two images above is a result of the creation of the animated GIF.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II) will teach you an efficient Mac/Photo Mechanic/Photoshop workflow that will make it easy for you to make your images better in Photoshop (rather than worse). That true whether you convert your images in DPP 4 or ACR. See the blog post here to learn lots more and to read a free excerpt. You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)

Everything mentioned above is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. The new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.

The two most recent and many of the older MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):

• The Wingtip Repairs MP4 Video here.
• The MP4 Crow Cleanup Video here.

Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.

You can learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of their Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. And you can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

On Wednesday I woke early and left Ronkonkoma at 5:15am. The navigation system on my phone indicated that I would arrive at Jamaica Bay at 6:21am. Traffic was horrific and I eventually made it at 7:15 am. Isaac Grant who lives in Staten Island arrived a bit after I did but good friend Tom Pfeifer
driving from Northport got slaughtered on the Northern State and did not make it to the pond until 8:30. He left his gear in the car and walked out to visit us. We hung out for a while and then enjoyed brunch at the Cross Bay Diner. Ah, I almost forgot to mention that Isaac and I had lucked out again. On Tuesday there were very few shorebirds but two of them posed in gorgeous habitat in sweet light right in front of us at close range for more than an hour.

There is just one slot open on the San Diego IPT; scroll down here for details.

The Streak

Today makes seventy-one days in a row with a new educational blog post! This blog post took less than two hours to prepare (including the short time spent on the image optimization). With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.

Booking.Com

Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

This image was created at the East Pond, Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, Queens, NY CA with the Induro GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and my favorite shorebird photography camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/10 in Manual mode. AWB. Center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Shutter Button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point just caught the base of the lower mandible. Note the location of the four assist points in the AF Expand image below. Click on the image to see a larger version. FocusTune/LensAlign Micro Adjustment: zero. White-rumped Sandpiper, worn juvenile

Celebrating 40 Years in the Mud: Part I

When visiting the north end of the East Pond on Tuesday afternoon with BirdPhotographer’s.Net regular Isaac Grant I realized that it had been forty years since I first set foot on the shores of the pond, and forty years since I had seen two orange-flagged (color banded) Sanderlings at the north end. I learned soon after that the orange leg flags indicated that the two birds had been banded in Argentina during our winter. And that they flew to their breeding grounds near the Arctic Circle each spring. The ones that I had seen were on their way back to South America. I was amazed, and that sighting (along with several others at JBWR) would influence the remainder of my adult life and spur a forty year love affair with all things Calidrid (related to shorebirds). Memories of birds and flocks and peregrines and friends flooded my mind as we slogged through the mud. Most notable was my discovery of New York State’s first breeding plumage Rufous-necked Stint about 30 years ago. The bird remained on the pond for about three weeks and was seen by visitors from 37 states. It was the last life bird of my friend and shorebird mentor Thomas H.Davis Jr. who was twice carried through the mud on a stretcher to finally “get” the bird through a scope. Tom had suffered a cerebral aneurism at age 39, was completely paralyzed on one side, and died of a series of strokes several years later.

Mission Accomplished (in part)

When I decided to visit family in New York in late/September/early October, I was hoping that the water levels at the East Pond would be conducive for shorebird photography. Initial reports, however, indicated that the pond was pretty much flooded. I learned after I arrived on Long Island the conditions had improved somewhat miraculously. I visited the north end on Tuesday afternoon, October 3 and then visited the south end the next morning. Both days Isaac and I lucked out; there are not a lot of birds but we wound up with a great situation during each session.

One of my targets was juvenal White-rumped Sandpiper. They begin to arrive in the NYC region about four to six weeks after the first influx of juvie shorebirds in mid-August. With the high water levels my hopes were somewhat dashed. But as Isaac and I were photographing a group of nine fairly cooperative Dunlin, six juvenile white-rumps flew in. The one pictured in today’s featured image stopped feeding and posed for me for about one second with it’s tail cocked nicely and a perfect head angle. The Dunlin were much more difficult subjects as they poked their much longer bills into the mud while foraging in about an inch of water. I drove back to Alissa’s house a very happy man.

Juvenal White-rumped Sandpiper ID

White-rumpeds are one of two regularly occurring small shorebirds that at any age have their wings projecting well past the tail (the other being Baird’s Sandpiper). The long wings of both species power them in flight to the bottom of South America each fall where they winter on the Pampas. White-rumpeds always show a bit of pale orange at the base of the lower mandible and a strong eye-line. The greater coverts exhibit rufous fringing that can be seen on this individual even though its feathers are moderately worn. The upperparts’ feathers of young Baird’s are also neatly fringed but always in off-white; this gives the bird a much browner overall appearance.

AF Expand Image Note that I added the four assist points in red in Photoshop and enhanced the selected AF point; there is no software that will allow you to view either the assist points or the active assist points.

Common AF Expand Theme

Note that the placement of the selected AF point in today’s featured image and in the Ring-necked Duck image in the Sitting Ducks blog post here is quite similar. For years I have been using AF Expand (the selected AF point plus four assist points) for much of my whole bird photography. Do understand that I often move the selected point depending on the size and placement of the subject in the frame and the desired image design. And for years I have been teaching folks to try to place the selected AF point on the bird’s neck or upper breast. In both the Ring-necked Duck drake image and the juvie white-rumped image here today this technique worked to perfection. Though we will never know for sure, it is likely that the assist points help us more than we realize; do try AF expand; you just might like it.

I am so confident in AF Expand that I have deselected AF Surround as an available AF Area Selection mode.

Image Design Question

Do you like the cropped version that opens this blog post or the wider version depicted in the AF Expand image?

Selected AF Point Question

After the fact I realized that the image might have been better if I had selected an AF point that was one to the right of center. Why?

Shorebirds; Beautiful Beachcombers

My Shorebirds: Beautiful Beachcombers, written for naturalists and birders, will teach you everything you’ve always wanted to know about the aging, identification, behavior, feeding habits and strategies, and the timing and routes of migration of North America’s sandpipers, godwits, yellowlegs, phalaropes, plovers, avocets, stilts, and oystercatchers.

2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….

2018 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT: Monday, JAN 15 thru and including the morning session on Friday, JAN 19, 2018: 4 1/2 days: $2099.

Limit: 8: Openings: 1

Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Sunday, Jan 14, 2018.

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 (usually nesting and displaying) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Wood Duck and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seal (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lion; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Please note: formerly dependable, both Wood Duck and Marbled Godwit have been declining at their usual locations for the past two years …

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. 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 can do most of your photography with an 80- or 100-400 lens …

Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?

The San Diego Details

This IPT will include five 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, four 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, four lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. Dinners are on your own so that we can get some sleep.

A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at 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, will be due on 9/11//2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

Many of you might remember Roseanne Roseannadanna, one of several recurring characters created by the late Gilda Radner, who appeared on Weekend Update in the early seasons of Saturday Night Live. My favorite line of hers was and is, “It’s always something.” Well, my shoulder has been doing great and my left knee has been getting along just fine. About ten days ago I began having some lower back/hip pain with some pain shooting down my legs on either side. Having had major spinal surgery in 1990, I am hoping not to go that route again and am trying lots of alternative positions and exercises. And mainly avoiding sitting for long periods of time. I am feeling much better today.

I fly home early on Sunday morning.

Young folks might want to enjoy a bit of Gilda Radner’s comic brilliance by clicking here.

The Streak

Today makes sixty-nine days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare (including the time spent on the image optimization). With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.

Booking.Com

Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

Everybody’s Doing It…

Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.

Latest Used Gear Kudos

via e-mail from Robert Blanke

Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert

New Listings

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

IPT veteran Carolyn Peterson is offering a Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera body in excellent condition for $1399. The sale includes a brand new Vello BG-C9 Battery Grip (an $80 value), the front body cap, one battery (with protective cover), the battery charger, the shoulder strap, the original product box and everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only.

Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Carolyn via e-mail or phone at 1-503-730-9262 (Pacific time/evenings best).

I owned and used this superb, full frame, 22mp digital body for several years. It was always my first choice for scenic, Urbex, and flower photography until I fell in love for a while with the 5DS R (for a lot more money!). In addition, I loved my 5D III body for birds with my big lenses and both TCs. I used mine to create many saleable images. artie

Canon GPS receiver GP-E2

Carolyn Peterson is offering a Canon GPS receiver GP-E2 for EOS camera bodies in Near-mint condition for $149. The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only.

Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Carolyn via e-mail or phone at 1-503-730-9262 (Pacific time/evenings best).

This item sells new at B&H for $239.95 so if you are interested it makes sense to grab this one and save more than a few bucks. artie

Canon EF 17-40 f/4L USM Lens

Carolyn Peterson is offering a Canon EF 17-40 f/4L USM lens in near-mint condition for ($499). The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it including the soft lens pouch, the lens hood, the front and rear caps, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only.

Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Carolyn via e-mail or phone at 1-503-730-9262 (Pacific time/evenings best).

The 17-40 is a high quality “L” series wide angle zoom that fits both full frame and APS-C sized DSLRs (and offers 27-64mm coverage with the latter bodies). It focuses down to 11 inches so it is great for both wide angle scenics and tight mini/macro scenics. It conveniently accepts 77mm filters. artie

The DPP 4 Screen Capture for today’s featured image

The DPP 4 Screen Capture

Again, as with Blue-Footed Booby Diving Image #1 in the blog post here, note how far the exposure has been pushed to the right (that despite the fact that I already moved the Brightness slider to -1/3 stop!) After that adjustment, the RGB values for the brightest WHITEs on the upper rear flank were still at 243, 244, 245 (high for me) and all three histogram channels were pushed almost to the highlight axis. Note also that though once again I failed to get the center AF point on the bird’s face, neck, or upper breasts, the image was pretty darned sharp on the eye.

Lastly note that even though this booby was flying towards me (rather than angling away as is typical), that the face was still too dark in the adjusted RAW file (and as it was in the converted TIF as well). If you can remember why that was please leave a comment.

This image was created on the 2017 Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) and my favorite diving booby photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 1/3 stops: 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB. Center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the on center of the upper wing about 1/3 of the way out. See the illuminated-in-red AF point in the DPP 4 screen capture below. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -5. Image #2: Blue-footed Booby diving

Good Fortune

This was one of the very few flight images from that great morning where the bird was flying a bit towards me as it dove. Thus, the head was not as dark as the head of the bird in Blue-footed Booby Diving #1 where the bird was angling away. Nevertheless, after the crop, the image optimization was much the same: quite straightforward. First I ran my NIK 30-30 Detail Extractor/Tonal Contrast recipe on the whole bird. Then I selectively sharpened the bird’s head and face with a Contrast Mask and then lightened the head and face of the bird with a Curves Adjustment and some Tim Grey Dodge and Burn where needed. Then I used the latter to do the digital Eye Doctor work that darkened the pupil and lightened the iris. Same old same old.

Lens Choice for Flight

Note that for Blue-footed Booby diving #1 (again in the blog post here), I chose the 400 DO II to take advantage of the extra stop of speed at f/4. After we returned to the second feeding spree it was much later in the day and the sky was much brighter (though still nicely overcast). There were, however, other factors in play. In fact, on our first panga ride that day I have gone from the 400 DO II (4.63 pounds) to the 100-400 II (3.5 pounds) because of fatigue. In addition, with its smaller size the 100-400 II is simply easier to keep on the subject, easier to handle, easier to maneuver. If you are fortunate enough to own both, you are often faced with a challenging decision: grab the 400 DO II for more light, lower ISOs, and faster shutter speeds, or grab the 100-400 II for lighter weight and ease of handling (not to mention the ability to zoom out as needed for close birds or diving flock images) …

2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….

2018 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT: Monday, JAN 15 thru and including the morning session on Friday, JAN 19, 2018: 4 1/2 days: $2099.

Limit: 8: Openings: 1

Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Sunday, Jan 14, 2018.

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 (usually nesting and displaying) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Wood Duck and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seal (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lion; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Please note: formerly dependable, both Wood Duck and Marbled Godwit have been declining at their usual locations for the past two years …

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. 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 can do most of your photography with an 80- or 100-400 lens …

Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?

The San Diego Details

This IPT will include five 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, four 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, four lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. Dinners are on your own so that we can get some sleep.

A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at 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, will be due on 9/11//2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

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Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

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Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

Saturday was a fun day on Long Island. In the morning I went with younger daughter Alissa to her younger son Idris’s little league game. It was thunder-stormed out when a huge black cloud came in from the north. Next I visited my sister Arna. Then Lissy and I headed into the city on the 5:40 LIRR train out of Ronkonkoma to Penn Station to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden.

The Streak

Today makes sixty-seven days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare (including the time spent on the image optimization). With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.

Booking.Com

Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

This image was created on the 2017 Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime IPT with the hand held Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM lens and my favorite diving booby photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 3200. Evaluative metering +2 1/3 stops off the gray sky: 1/4000 sec. at f/4.5 in Manual mode. AWB. Center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the center of the bird’s far wing, pretty much on the same plane as the bird’s eye. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger version. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -5. The Optimized Image: Blue-footed Booby diving #1

Blue-footed Booby Diving #1

On every Galapagos photo trip you hope that you will get to enjoy at least one Blue-footed Booby feeding/diving spree as they can be spectacular. On the 2017 IPT, we got to enjoy two. On the same day! As always, we were on the water early; today’s image was created at 6:59am. We enjoyed frantic action for more than two hours. Then the skies cleared and the sun came out with a vengeance so we headed back to the Samba. Within an hour it had clouded up again so when my guide, Juan, spotted a second feeding spree with his bins we all got back into the pangas and went to work for another good hour. All BAA IPTs include complete flexibility based on the current local, weather, wind, sky, and tidal conditions.

Note that in the very low light of early morning I went to ISO 3200 (though I could have easily gotten by with ISO 1600). I took the 400 DO II along specifically to use in very low light situations; though it is a lot heavier than the 100-400 II, that decision paid off nicely on several occasions. At f/4, the DO II is one full stop faster than my beloved 100-400 II. Noise in the brown tones was not a problem as the RAW file (see the DPP 4 screen capture below for more on that) was exposed way, way to the right.

The DPP 4 Screen Capture for today’s featured image

What Would You Think?

What would you think of a near-square crop that included the main subject and the two partial boobies in the upper and lower left corners of the frame?

What’s to learn from the DPP 4 screen capture for today’s featured image?

Lots. Note the position of the selected AF point illuminated in red. In an ideal world, I would have gotten that right in the bird’s head, face, or neck. In any case, the bird’s eye is relatively sharp. Notice that I must have really pushed the RAW exposure to the right. How can you tell? Even though I reduced the Brightness nearly 1/3 full stop (as seen) and moved the Highlight slider to -3 (off screen). Note also that although the BLUE histogram is further to the right than the RED and the GREEN histograms, the RGB values for the brightest WHITEs are relatively neutral at 230, 230, 231.

The Image Optimization

Eliminating the three extraneous diving boobies was pretty much a piece of cake; I used a combination of the Clone Stamp Tool, the Patch Tool, and Content Aware Fill. To add the bit of extra canvas needed in front of the bird, I simply pulled out the love handle on the Crop Too and then used John Heado Content Aware Fill to fill in the added canvas. Next I cropped from three sides to position the bird well back in the frame.

Notice how in the DPP 4 Screen Capture that the bird’s face was very dark. There were two reasons for this. As the birds began to dive they were angling slightly away from us so that their heads were angled away from the light (that was properly behind us). In addition — and this is a fine point that folks often miss — when you get the correct exposure for the WHITEs the middle tones are about one stop too dark and the dark tones are close to two stops under-exposed. If this concept seems foreign to you I would strongly advise getting yourself a copy of the original The Art of Bird Photography and studying and mastering the section on Exposure theory.

Whether or not you understand that concept, you still need to bring up (lighten) both the middle and dark tones so that the exposure looks both uniform and natural. To do just that I used a combination of my NIK Color Efex Pro Detail Extractor/Tonal Contrast recipes, Curves adjustments, Tim Grey Dodge and Burn. When needed, each was refined by adding a Regular Layer Mask and painting away the effects with soft brushes of varying opacities. Last was a bit of Eye Doctor work to darken the pupil and lighten the iris.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II) will teach you an efficient Mac/Photo Mechanic/Photoshop workflow that will make it easy for you to make your images better in Photoshop (rather than worse). That true whether you convert your images in DPP 4 or ACR. See the blog post here to learn lots more and to read a free excerpt. You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)

Everything mentioned above is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. The new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.

The two most recent and many of the older MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):

• The Wingtip Repairs MP4 Video here.
• The MP4 Crow Cleanup Video here.

Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.

You can learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of their Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. And you can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).