Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

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

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

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 :).

Stuff

I woke at 4:30am on Thursday morning and started packing for my flight to Long Island. By 9:30 I was in good shape so I took a nice 48-length swim. Jim and I left the house right on time at 11:30am. He dropped me off for my dental cleaning and had the oil changed in the Sequoia. Then he picked me back up and dropped me at MCO way early for my flight which is currently delayed a bit. I normally remember to bring my Samba hoodie to wear on the plane if needed. Right now I am still in the Orlando airport and it is so cold in the terminal that you could freeze water in a glass!

I am taking just a bit of camera gear: the 600 II, the 100-400 II, one 2X III and two 1.4X III TCs, and two 5D Mark IV bodies. All in my larger Think Tank Roller that weighed a svelte 33 1/2 pounds. My Mongoose and my Induro GIT 304L are in one of my two checked bags.I hope to find a few shorebirds here and there between visiting family, making several scheduled appointments, and enjoying the two planned trips into the city. I fly back to Florida a week from Sunday.

I was glad to learn late on Thursday that the sale of Stephen November’s 200-400mm f/4L IS with the Internal 1.4X TC is pending.

Great IPT News

An amazing nine or ten folks — I need to check carefully — have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There is just one slot left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.

The Streak

Today makes sixty-five days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about 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.

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

September Sales

• Margaret Page sold her Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition along with a $175 value L-Plate for $949 in late September.
• Robert Blanke sold his Canon EOS 5Ds body in like-new condition for $2249.00 in early September.
• Ron Paulk sold his Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for $9,899 with lots of great extras in early September.
• Lisa Tri sold her Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Zoom lens (the original IS version) in near-mint condition for the BAA record low price of $898 in early September.
• IPT veteran Joe Messina sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in excellent plus condition for the BAA record-low price of $7,900 in early September.
• Ivan Kuraev sold his Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $1699 and his Canon EOS 5D Mark IV in excellent near-mint condition for $2499 in early September.
• IPT veteran Mike Ross sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip all in mint condition for $1,099 on the first day it was listed in early September.
• Ray Stranagan sold his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens in excellent condition for $3999 in early September, just three days after it was listed.

Brand New Listings

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body in excellent condition (with slight scratches on top of camera) for a very low and fair $1199. The sale includes the front body cap, a RRS L-plate, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).

Two dependable, rugged 1D Mark IVs served as my workhorse professional bodies for several years; I really enjoyed their 1.3X crop factors, the fast frame rate, and the excellent image quality. artie

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS 5D Mark III digital camera body in excellent condition (with slight scratches on top of camera) for a very low $1299 (recently cleaned and checked by Canon). The sale includes the front body cap, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).

I have used the 5D III for birds on occasion with excellent results, even with the 2X III TC and the 600 II. For man years it was my go-to dSLR for flowers, landscapes, and Urbex photography until I replaced it first with the 5DS R and then with the 5D Mark IV. In my experience, the quality of the image files is superb. artie

Canon EOS 5DS R

Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS 5DS R digital camera body in like-new condition for only $2649. The sale includes the front body cap, a RRS L-plate, a LensCoat BodyBag, the Canon batter grip (with only one battery), the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).

The 5DS R is the premier dSLR for landscape photography and as Patrick Sparkman and I proved, it is a great body for bird, wildlife, and nature photographers who have good sharpness techniques, especially those who make large prints; it’s image quality is unmatched. artie

Canon EOS-1DX Mark II

Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS-1DX Mark II professional digital camera body in like-new condition for only $4899 with only 23,000 shutter actuations.The camera was recently cleaned and checked by Canon. The sale includes the front body cap, a RRS L-plate, a LensCoat BodyBag, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).

The 1DX Mark II is Canon’s rugged, blazingly fast professional digital camera body. It features an amazing AF system and high quality image files with great dynamic range. It is the choice of Arash Hazeghi, one of the world’s premier birds in flight photographers. artie

This image was created alongside my house two days after Irma visited us. I used my favorite flower photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/20 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB. Flexi-Zone Single/Rear Button AF on the center of the white flower. Live View for mirror lock-up with the 2-second timer for sharpness. 3/4 inch wildflower

You Tell Me …

Take a close look at the image caption above and then make an educated guess and let me know what lens, what focal length, and what accessory or accessories you think I used to create today’s featured image of a relatively small (3/4 inch) flower. Trust me, there is a clue, at least to the lens used. After that, you might be able to figure the rest out. But it won’t be easy.

Shepherd’s Needles

Thanks to my right-hand man, Jim Litzenberg, for correctly identifying today’s wildflower as Shepherd’s (or Spanish) Needles. Whether Bidens alba or Bidens pilosa is the correct Latin name is part of a continuing taxonomic debate. The same can be said as to whether the plant in question is native to Florida. Learn more here.

Your Call

Feel free to leave a thoughtful critique of the image. Exposure? Sharpness? Image design? Light? Interest or impact?

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

There were five of us altogether at the Tuesday morning In-the-Field Instructional Meet-up Session: local meet-up repeater Ray Jusseaume, long time friends an many multiple IPT veterans, the fancy free Stokes and Pat Fishburne, and IPT left-over and great new friend Lee Sommie. After lots of sunrise fun and lessons my main goal was to re-find the strange heron that we had been seeing for the four newcomers. Mission accomplished. I will share images of that bird with you here tomorrow.

All but Ray joined for yet another great lunch at the Neptune Grill. During the IPT I had the jambalaya, an amazing spinach salad, and a great burger with absolutely the best sweet potato fires on the planet. Many in the group consistently went for the fish tacos and raved about them. Jim Miller had “the second best Cuban sandwich of my life.” Last year Carlotta Grenier had the pastichio off the Greek menu every day! And Jake Levin from Montreal who has been on several DeSoto IPTs, felt that his day was not complete without the Gyro sandwich, also off the Greek menu. Yesterday I had only a cheeseburger on a plate (no bun) so that I could have room for my first dessert; if you have a sweet tooth and are within an hour’s drive of Gulfport you would be considered legally insane if you did not drop by for a piece of their peanut butter pie … It is not always on the menu but is well worth trying for. And there were some pretty good looking alternatives in the dessert case!

I fly to Long Island on Thursday to visit younger daughter Alissa and her family and to see my two sisters.

Great IPT News

An amazing nine or ten folks — I need to check carefully — have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There is just one slot left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.

The Streak

Today marks sixty-three days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about 45 minutes 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.

This image was created on the Tuesday morning In-the-Field Meet-Up session with the the hand held Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 200. Evaluative metering -3 2/3 stop (not a typo): 1/8000 sec. at f/11. WB= K7500. Manual focus. Great Egret looking down at sunrise

Blasting Sunrise Highlights

It looked as if we might enjoy some relatively soft sunrise colors but once the sun peeked over a large cloud that was the end of those thoughts … Photographing directly into blasting highlights is always a big challenge. If you are not right on your game, you are doomed to failure. You can learn the basics of shooting into blasting hight=lights (including how to get the right exposure in these difficult situations) in the Art of Bird Photography II (ABP II: 916 pages, 900+ images on CD only or via download.) Only the very well prepared should attempt to answer the two questions below …

Why focus manually at 1000mm?

In a blasting highlights situation, why is it usually necessary to focus manually?

Why hand hold at 1000mm?

In a blasting highlights situation, why is it often a good plan to hand hold even when working at an extremely long focal length?

Group Blasting Highlight Photography

When photographing blasting highlights with two others why is it best to have one person sitting, one kneeling, and one standing?

Your Critique …

Do you like this image? If yes, what do you like about it? If not, what don’t you like? Could I have improved it in the field? How? Could I have improved it during post processing? How?

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

We had a great morning at DeSoto on Sunday with flying and diving Brown Pelicans. In addition, our friendly oystercatcher was chowing down in the same spot on the same stuff. After a few hours we were headed back to the hotel when I spotted two handsome Wood Storks. We got really close, talked about exposure, and in the bright sun practiced working right on sun angle. We made lots of head portraits both vertical and horizontal. We saw what happened to the BKGRs when you zoomed out. Eventually the birds flew from the seawall to a nearby beach because a fisherman was throwing his cast net and catching plenty of bait. We made our way down to the beach and created images of the storks walking and preening. I was just about to call the morning and head back to the hotel and lunch when a thin cloud covered the sun. We wound up staying another one and one-half hours. And the fisherman gave us a ton of live bait for our bucket … Whoa, did we have fun.

Great IPT News

An amazing nine folks have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There is just one slot left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.

The Streak

Today marks sixty-one days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about 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

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And 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 first afternoon of the 2017 Fort DeSoto IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 264mm), and my favorite egret photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -2/3 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -1. Upper Large Zone/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The AF system activated three AF points that grabbed the back of the bird’s lower neck. Great Egret, young of the year — aka: hatch-year bird.

It Does Not Get Any Easier …

Sun in the west, dark storm clouds in the east that reflect off the water providing an almost black backgournd. Get on sun angle and make an exposure check. Pick upper large zone AF, acquire focus, frame, check the in-viewfinder level, and fire. With images like this one where I want to darken the background during the RAW conversion, I experiment by moving the Shadow slider one or two to the left. Next I took a bit off the bottom where the reflections petered out and added the same amount to the top using the Crop Tool love handles to expand the canvas and John Haedo Content Aware Fill to fill it in. As I said, this image was a piece of cake.

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 got to DeSoto early on Friday morning for my second pre-IPT scouting session. I found a nice flock of spoonbills and wound up getting so close that I ditched the 500 II and went with the 100-400 II hand held. On the way out of the park I found a nice low Osprey that I photographed with the 600 II and the 2X III-i TC. I met my group of four at 3pm sharp for the introductory session.

We had a great afternoon session with the shorebirds and wading birds, especially when we had some Great Egrets set against the reflections of the black storm clouds in the distance. I am already in love with the group and the group is in love with me. We head back out in twenty minutes — 5:40am. So I gotta go.

Great IPT News

An amazing eight folks have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There are just two slots left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.

The Streak

Today marks fifty-nine days in a row with a new educational blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about 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.

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.

Booking.Com

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And 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 my scouting visit to Fort Desoto Park on the morning of Friday, September 22. I used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 504mm), and my favorite spoonbill photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/800 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -1. A single AF point that was two rows up and one to the left of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the bird’s neck where it meets the back just in front of and below the bend of the wing. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Image #1: Roseate Spoonbill, post-breeding adult foraging

The Situation

I was standing in about six inches of water. I had lots of spoonbills right in front of me. Pink. And blue. I had the 500 II on a tripod with the 1.4X III and my 100-400 II on my shoulder via Black Rapid Curve Breath strap. Both of course with a 5D Mark IV. I was working at 700mm off the tripod. I knew from the first frame that I needed to get lower because the water was not a pure blue mirror. There was lots of floating junk on the surface. Jeez, I thought. Lowering the tripod and sitting in the water would require time and in addition, I would need to walk back to shore to ditch the 100-400 II … In the meantime, the flock kept getting closer and closer.

This image was created on the same morning, also with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens and the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 328mm) with favorite spoonbill photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -2/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +1. Left Large Zone/AI Servo/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system selected four AF points that painted the bird’s body; with the relatively distant, small-in-the-frame subject there was more than enough depth of field to cover the bird’s eye. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Image #2: Roseate Spoonbill, young-of-the-year (hatch year) bird with marsh background

The Solution

Finally it came to me. Mount my 1.4X III-ii TC on the 100-400 II, leave the tripod standing safely where it was, get right on sun angle, and then sit in the water hand holding the 100-400 II. It worked like a charm. I was able to zoom in to create tight portraits like Image #1, or to zoom out a bit to include a strip of the distant marsh as in Image #2. And by zooming out I was far better able to include as much of the pink reflections as I wanted. I wound up creating 99 images at 700mm and had no great desire to keep any of them … All in all, these are lot more reasons to love the 100-400 II.

Your Favorite?

Which of today’s two featured images is your favorite? Be sure to let us know why. What do you like or dislike about each?

BIRDS AS ART In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session (ITF/MWS): $99.

Join me on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for 3-hours of photographic instruction at Fort DeSoto Park. Beginners are welcome. Lenses of 300mm or longer are recommended but even those with 70-200s should get to make some nice images. Teleconverters are always a plus.

You will learn the basics of digital exposure and image design, autofocus basics, and how to get close to free and wild birds. We should get to photograph a variety of wading birds, shorebirds, terns, and gulls. This inexpensive afternoon workshop is designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tour. I hope to meet you there.

Please register by sending me an e-mail and/or by calling me on my cell at 863-221-2372.

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

Early on Wednesday I put the finishing touches on my 2016 taxes and sent them off to my accountant. I got so much work done in the morning that I took an earlier than usual swim. I was feeling so good and the pool was so sparkling and clean and it was so gorgeous and sunny out that I set out to swim a mile, 88 lengths. But when I got to 88 I said what the hey and would up swimming a very slow 100 lengths, 1.14 miles in all. Midday tomorrow I will drive over to Fort DeSoto for an afternoon scouting session follow by another one on Friday morning. I meet my group of five at 2pm on Friday.

Frontier Communications News

If you utilize their services, you would do well to try to find a new provider. Like right now. I’ve had no phone (two lines down) and no DSL service on my Frontier business account since Irma visited on the night of September 10, 2017. First I was told that they would not send a repair technician until September 25. After repeated calls from me ,they said on Tuesday that they would send someone by Wednesday September 20. They lied. At 3:30pm on Wednesday I got a call saying that my phone and internet service were part of a “common problem” and that they were working on it. So I called their customer (dis-) service line and was told that they would not send someone until the common problem was fixed. “We are waiting for a cable and do not know when it will come.” H”ow come it took them five days to figure out that there was a common (major) problem? Silence. “I have phone wires on the ground. They need to send someone to fix those now, as promised.” “We cannot send someone to your home until we fix the common problem.” “Why not?” “I don’t know.” Good bye!

Great IPT News

An amazing seven folks have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There are just three slots left so if you are interested in joining us please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.

The Streak

Today marks fifty-eight days in a row with a new educational blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about one 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.

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

Booking.Com

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And 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 our afternoon landing at Prince Philip’s Steps, Tower Island (Genovesa). I used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens and the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 280mm) with my favorite Happy Camper photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/60 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. Daylight WB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +1. Upper Large Zone/AI Servo/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The AF system activated two AF points that fell on Lauren’s right hand. Loren Waxman with his 600 II on the way back to the Prince Phillips Steps landing site.

A Happy Camper

Above is a grab shot that I made of Loren as we headed back to the Prince Philip’s Steps landing on Tower Island, Genovesa. Even though we had only distant views of our main target, Short-eared Owl, you will notice that Loren has a big smile on his face. That is not unusual as Loren always has a big smile on his face.

I was thrilled the other day to receive a lovely card from Loren by mail with this handwritten note:

Arthur,

I just want to take a moment and thank you. You have taken so much time with me and I can see my photos improving with each trip. If I don’t get a chance to say it, you have given me a priceless gift that will go with me the rest of my life. I want you to know how much I appreciate it. I will think of you and all the lessons with each click! I am looking forward to more good times out there in birdland.

Your roomie, Loren

(Note: Loren was the greatest-ever roommate for me on the Galapagos; not only did he take the upper bunk but the man could sleep through a tornado. Easily for ten hours!)

This image was created on an afternoon landing at Inner Farnes on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 271mm) and the Canon EOS 7D Mark II, the world’s greatest value in a digital SLR. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/160 sec. at f/5 in Manual mode. AWB. Atlantic Puffin on rock

Loren Waxman

I first met Loren Waxman in the parking lot of the San Diego IPT hotel. When he first spotted me, everything in my car was spread out on the ground as I searched for my missing rental car keys … (I am sure that I shared that story on the blog but could not find it after a 30-minute search. If you can find that blog post please leave a link in the comments section.) In any case, Loren was amazingly helpful throughout that whole sordid affair. He learned so much on that IPT that he quickly signed up for the 2017 Galapagos trip. He could not, however, resist the temptation and joined us at almost the last minute for the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. He is signed up for my next Falklands trip and has — along with another participant — committed to returning to the Galapagos on my late-July 2019 trip. As I have been saying, my Galapagos trip is simply the best.

Loren has been involved in construction and real estate development for twenty years. He is and has been the president of Waxman & Associates, Inc. in Portland, OR since 1993. His experience includes construction, management and development of single family, multi-family, commercial and mixed use projects. His firm specializes in environmental cleanup, historic structures, public-private partnerships, and regulatory navigation. You can check out some of his firm’s coolest major projects here.

This image was created on our morning gannet boat trip on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 100mm) with Loren’s favorite gannet photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 stops off the sky: 1/2500 sec. at f/4.5 in Manual mode. AWB. Northern Gannet braking to dive

Loren’s Photographic Evolution

Loren showed up in San Diego intent determined to improve as a photographer. His initial concerns were with sharpness. As you can see in the image that opens this blog post we got him set up with an Induro Tripod, a CRX-5 Low Foot, and a Mongoose M3.6. And then I taught him how to use it. He was a quick study. From the get-go, he realized that to become a good photographer he would need to improve his post-processing skills. He has worked very hard in that area. Whether at lunch or dinner or just hanging out in the cottage in the UK Loren was next to me, asking questions. Always. By the time we got to the UK I started to work on his too-right image designs. He loves what Denise Ippolito calls “man-crops,” crops that leave the bird almost completely filling the frame. “No Loren, you need to give the bird more room in the frame.” He is getting there. For this image he needed to add canvas to make me happy 🙂

Loren shared the gannet image above with me on the Galapagos trip on a long navigation. “Gimme the RAW file” I said, “I can do better than that.” Loren will be thrilled to learn that the JPEG above was created from his optimized version; it was way better than my optimized version!

This image was created at the Iguana Park in Guayaquil with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) and Loren’s favorite iguana photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/125 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB. Young Green Iguana

My Thoughts On Loren’s Improvement

As noted above, Loren is determined to improved and has worked very hard. He stays close to me in the field and asks a ton of questions. Unlike many who join IPTs, he is quick to share his images with me. On many trips when I say to the group, “Pick five of your best images from yesterday for sharing and critiquing,” less than half of the group participates. Loren is always first on line (unless Anita North edges him out).

In a phone conversation with Lauren last night, he said, “I post a ton to social media. I get zillions of great shot! comments. But I never learn anything. When you look at my images I always learn something.” I replied, “Loren, we’ve talked about this before. You need to join BirdPhotographer’s.Net and start posting. Getting your images critiqued by knowledgeable mods and members is the best way to continue to improve. A BPN membership is the best $40 you will ever spend on photography. And whenever you post an image, be sure to comment on five other images. There is tremendous learning involved there too.” “I’ll do it!” he said.

Folks participating on quality photographic tours need to realize that the more questions that they ask the more involved the leader or leaders will become.

This image was created somewhere in the Galapagos 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 Loren’s favorite crab photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +at zero: 1/160 sec. at f/10 in Manual mode. AWB. Sally Lightfoot Crab Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Loren Waxman

Tight Works Too and Comments on Loren’s Image Sharpness Skills

In Loren’s Sally Lightfoot image above, we see that working very tight can also be very effective. Notice also that while working full frame at 1200mm with a relatively slow shutter speed, 1/160 second, Loren is now capable of creating super sharp images when working with long effective focal lengths on a tripod. In addition, if you check out the shooting data for the other images (like the one of the Green Iguana above), he has learned to make sharp images while hand holding at relatively slow shutter speeds as well.

“Loren is rich and can afford to go on multiple IPTs. I can’t do that.”

Do understand that by attending a single IPT, sticking close to me, and asking a ton of questions that you too can dramatically improve your skills. Note also that the $99 Fort DeSoto In-the-field Meet-up Session has only one person registered … Please scroll down for details on that; it is not too late for you to sign up. Please do so by sending me an e-mail and/or calling me on my cell at 863-221-2372.

And please do not forget that Loren has only been on two IPTs … So far 🙂

How’s He Doing?

Please leave a comment and let Loren know how you think he is doing. Which of his images above is your favorite? Be sure to let us know why you made your choice.

Oh, by the way, Loren began photographing birds less than one year ago …

BIRDS AS ART In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session (ITF/MWS): $99.

Join me on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for 3-hours of photographic instruction at Fort DeSoto Park. Beginners are welcome. Lenses of 300mm or longer are recommended but even those with 70-200s should get to make some nice images. Teleconverters are always a plus.

You will learn the basics of digital exposure and image design, autofocus basics, and how to get close to free and wild birds. We should get to photograph a variety of wading birds, shorebirds, terns, and gulls. This inexpensive afternoon workshop is designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tour. I hope to meet you there.

Please register by sending me an e-mail and/or by calling me on my cell at 863-221-2372.

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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.

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Typos

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