Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

What’s Up?

I have been without internet access since 8 AUG. I should be back online late today. I look forward to re-connecting with y’all soon.

Please call the office at 863-692-0906 on weekdays and speak to Jim and Jennifer about all things BAA Online Store- and IPT-related. And anything else that you might need help with or would like to chat about.

Please continue to patronize the BAA Online Store and to use my B&H affiliate links. Both are hugely appreciated.

with much love, artie

The Streak

Today marks twenty-nine days in a row with a new educational blog post. This blog post took about two hours to create.

Booking.Com

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for the 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.

Revamped

I finally updated the IPT page to properly reflect the recently completed trips. If you doubt that I am really slowing down do click here to see the meager IPT schedule. Right now there are only two US-based IPTs on the schedule. Best news is that I turned up the missing registrant for the Fort DeSoto IPT so that will run. Do consider joining us if you would like to learn from the best.

Photographers Wanted

If you would like to learn to be a better bird photographer, consider joining me on either the Fort DeSoto IPT in late September or the San Diego IPT in January, 2018. With just one person signed up, DeSoto will offer practically private instruction. And you can tack on the In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for free. Click here for IPT info and the current but abbreviated schedule.

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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use the BAA B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

Guayaquil: DAY 1

A Fabulous DAY 1 in Guayaquil, Ecuador

IPT veterans Frank and Laurie Sheets arrived several days early, did some photo scouting, and shared what they found much to the groups benefit. The Sheets had spotted a hillside right behind the hotel covered with colorful houses. They thought that we might have been able to photograph it from the pool level but the great view was blocked completely by a slatted glass wall. Then hotel staff member Charles came to the rescue. He showed me a wide open sub-roof one floor up from the swimming pool with a completely clear view. The group — all but Merle Greenway that is — assembled there at 9:30am for an introductory session. Wow, did we have fun. Kathy Tyson looked behind us and inspired us with her architectural images.

After lunch — the food at your hotel was consistently superb — we grabbed a few cabs and headed to the Parque de las Iguanas to photograph the iguanas. Again we had a blast. Though we were the only photographers getting a few good images was a challenge for three main reasons: the environment was cluttered, hundreds of local families were out enjoying the iguanas (most feeding them lettuce leaves), and the animals did not stay in one spot for very long.

The images above, just nine of my 71 keepers, were all made on our layover day, Monday August 6th, with one of my three Canon EOS 5D Mark IV bodies with the following lenses: the Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS, Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM and the amazingly versatile Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II (that was used for all of the iguana images).

We flew to the archipelago on Tuesday, August 8 to begin our great adventure.

The story of Miracle Merle …

IPT newbie Merle Greenway was one of the very first to sign up for the trip nearly two years ago. He was supposed to be on the last flight out of Miami on Sunday August 6. That evening I received this e-mail from him at 10:49 that day.

Hi, It’s now 11:45 p.m. And I’m stuck in Miami. Flight AA927 has been delayed repeatedly since 6:05 p.m and they just announced another 2-hour delay. Any advice? Next one is tomorrow evening, and I am not sure I can get on it. Merle

And then the next one at 3:16am on the 7th:

They stuck me in a Sheraton. Yesterday’s flight is supposed to be go at 11:00am this morning. Merle

And then at 11:00am on Tuesday AUG 7:

During the hours-long delay last night, it appears my passport was stolen, along with my other ID, credit cards, cash, etc. The Miami passport office is closed due to flooding. It’s doubtful I’ll be joining you. Merle

That seemed to be about the end of the line for Merle. The key phrases being “appears my passport was stolen …” and “seemed to be.”

Then, at 2:39pm that day:

New news. I’m on AA933 arriving this evening and my bag is on the next flight this evening, I believe AA927 (not sure of number), arriving at 9:30- something. Will explain later. Merle

Merle made it. His bags made it. How? He was on his way to the airport to get tickets for his flights home. Then he decided to make one last-ditch effort to find his passport. He made a list of all the possibilities. He had already asked at the Sheraton if they had found his passport. “Nope.” After all the other possibilities were exhausted, he called the Sheraton back. “Yes, we have your passport. It was in the manager’s office. Sorry.”

And thus began the tale of Miracle Merle.

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. 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 :).

What’s Up?

I will be without internet access from 8 AUG through late in the day on 22 AUG. There will be a brand new educational blog post every day in my absence. I toiled long and hard on August 6th and 7th to make that happen 🙂

Please call the office at 863-692-0906 on weekdays and speak to Jim and Jennifer about all things BAA Online Store- and IPT-related. And anything else that you might need help with or would like to chat about.

Please continue to patronize the BAA Online Store and to use my B&H affiliate links. Both are hugely appreciated.

with much love, artie

The Streak

Today marks twenty-seven days in a row with a new educational blog post. This blog post took about two hours to create.

Booking.Com

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for the 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.

Revamped

I finally updated the IPT page to properly reflect the recently completed trips. If you doubt that I am really slowing down do click here to see the meager IPT schedule. Right now there are only two US-based IPTs on the schedule. Best news is that I turned up the missing registrant for the Fort DeSoto IPT so that will run. Do consider joining us if you would like to learn from the best.

Photographers Wanted

If you would like to learn to be a better bird photographer, consider joining me on either the Fort DeSoto IPT in late September or the San Diego IPT in January, 2018. With just one person signed up, DeSoto will offer practically private instruction. And you can tack on the In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for free. Click here for IPT info and the current but abbreviated schedule.

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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use the BAA B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This image was created from two images made on the on the 2017 Palouse IPT with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2 stops: one was t f/2.8, the other at f/16. Both in Av mode with Daylight WB. I used my still flower technique: Live View (for mirror lock-up) and the 2-second timer. Flexi-zone AF with the square right on the KS. The Soft/Sharp Nut Combo(I think it’s a nut …) on old farm machinery

A Soft/Sharp Combo

In a recent blog post I shared an f/2.8 version of this image and an f/16 version of this image and asked if anyone had any ideas as far as combining the the two. Above is what I came up with. (Note: I forgot to mention that the two original images were in-camera Art Vivid JPEGs.)

How I Did It

For those familiar with layer masking this is pretty much easy-peasy. I opened both images in Photoshop and hit my Command F to separate the two and put them in framed view. Working with the soft image I hit Command J to duplicate it. Then I used the Move Tool to place it on top of the sharp image. Lining up the two images was more difficult than I thought that it would be; my usual trick of reducing the opacity of the top layer did not work very well as the soft image was so defocused that nothing lined up very well. So I resorted to going back to 100% opacity and then nudged the soft image while clicking the eyeball for the soft image on and off and on again. After about twenty attempts I was happy with the alignment. Next I added a Regular Layer mask and after hitting BDX to erase, I painted in the sharp stuff below with a large brush. Once I had revealed the detail that I wanted I merged the two layers and then using the Spot Healing Brush and the Patch Tool I eliminated most of the sharp specks and left the cracked paint lines.

What Do You Think?

What do you think of my soft/sharp creation? Do you have any suggestions for improvement during the post processing?

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.

Everything mentioned above plus tons and tons more is detailed in the new 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. Just so you know, 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.

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. 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 :).

What’s Up?

I will be without internet access from 8 AUG through late in the day on 22 AUG. There will be a brand new educational blog post every day in my absence. I toiled long and hard on August 6th and 7th to make that happen 🙂

Please call the office at 863-692-0906 on weekdays and speak to Jim and Jennifer about all things BAA Online Store- and IPT-related. And anything else that you might need help with or would like to chat about.

Please continue to patronize the BAA Online Store and to use my B&H affiliate links. Both are hugely appreciated.

with much love, artie

The Streak

Today marks twenty-five days in a row with a new educational blog post. This blog post took about two hours to create.

Booking.Com

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for the 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.

Revamped

I finally updated the IPT page to properly reflect the recently completed trips. If you doubt that I am really slowing down do click here to see the meager IPT schedule. Right now there are only two US-based IPTs on the schedule. Best news is that I turned up the missing registrant for the Fort DeSoto IPT so that will run. Do consider joining us if you would like to learn from the best.

Photographers Wanted

If you would like to learn to be a better bird photographer, consider joining me on either the Fort DeSoto IPT in late September or the San Diego IPT in January, 2018. With just one person signed up, DeSoto will offer practically private instruction. And you can tack on the In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for free. Click here for IPT info and the current but abbreviated schedule.

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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use the BAA B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This in-camera Art Vivid HDR image (Auto Dynamic range)was created on the 2017 Bear Boat IPT with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and my favorite looks like a horse’s head photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops around a base exposure of 1/1000 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode. Daylight WB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -2. One row above and two to the left of the center AF Point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. I picked that AF point so that it would be right on the spot where the horse’s eye might have been, if it were in fact a horse’s head. Click on the image to see a larger version Mountain-top and snow patterns resembling a horse’s head. Or not?

Art Vivid at its Best

I first spotted this “horse’s head” from the ship. It is part of the top of a mountain high above the meadow at Hallo Bay, a meadow that is pretty much filled with bears in mid-July. We saw 21 bears one day. In any case, I photographed the horse’s head with a variety of lenses on several occasions both hand holding and off the tripod. I am not sure why I decided to create an in-camera Art vivid image but I am glad that I did. All in all I created about 100 images of the alleged horse’s head. I deleted all but this one as the mountain was simply too black with almost no detail. Being on the tripod (with Auto align properly disabled) the image quality is quite good.

I am pretty sure that most of the snow that you see in the image is part of a glacier. And heck, there is a lot of geology going on up there. If you are knowledgeable in that area, please do share.

Your Thoughts?

Feel free to critique this image. Let us know what you like and what you don’t like. Could it have been improved in the field? Could it have been improved in post-processing?

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. 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 :).

What’s Up?

I will be without internet access from 8 AUG through late in the day on 22 AUG. There will be a brand new educational blog post every day in my absence. I toiled long and hard on August 6th and 7th to make that happen 🙂

Please call the office at 863-692-0906 on weekdays and speak to Jim and Jennifer about all things BAA Online Store- and IPT-related. And anything else that you might need help with or would like to chat about.

Please continue to patronize the BAA Online Store and to use my B&H affiliate links. Both are hugely appreciated.

with much love, artie

The Streak

Today marks twenty-four days in a row with a new educational blog post. This blog post took about two hours to create.

Booking.Com

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for the 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.

Revamped

I finally updated the IPT page to properly reflect the recently completed trips. If you doubt that I am really slowing down do click here to see the meager IPT schedule. Right now there are only two US-based IPTs on the schedule. Best news is that I turned up the missing registrant for the Fort DeSoto IPT so that will run. Do consider joining us if you would like to learn from the best.

Photographers Wanted

If you would like to learn to be a better bird photographer, consider joining me on either the Fort DeSoto IPT in late September or the San Diego IPT in January, 2018. With just one person signed up, DeSoto will offer practically private instruction. And you can tack on the In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for free. Click here for IPT info and the current but abbreviated schedule.

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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use the BAA B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This in-camera Art Vivid image was created from the boat in Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park on the Bear Boat Cubs IPT with the hand held Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens (at 11mm) and my favorite sky photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. Auto Dynamic Range. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop as framed yielded a base exposure of 1/200 second at f/4.5 in Manual mode. Center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Rear button focus and recompose. I focused on the water about 1/3 of the way into the frame, made sure the image was square to the world by looking at the electronic, in-viewfinder level, and made sure to hold the camera as still as possible. Auto align was enabled. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Two rows down from the center AF Point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. Do click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Early morning Art Vivid sky

Getting Up Early … Part III

This image was made well after dawn on July 22, the same morning that I created the Tufted Puffins flock silhouette image. Anita North kindly loaned me her 11-24 so I went to work quickly so that I could return it so she could try some ART VIVID HDRs. I use the Artist’s Brush button to access HDR. I am begging to refer to the 11-24 as the “big sky” lens because I love it when there are clouds up the kazoo.

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.

Everything that I do to optimize all of the images that you see here on the blog plus tons and tons more is detailed in the new 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. Just so you know, 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.

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. 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 :).

What’s Up?

I will be without internet access from 8 AUG through late in the day on 22 AUG. There will be a brand new educational blog post every day in my absence. I toiled long and hard on August 6th and 7th to make that happen 🙂

Please call the office at 863-692-0906 on weekdays and speak to Jim and Jennifer about all things BAA Online Store- and IPT-related. And anything else that you might need help with or would like to chat about.

Please continue to patronize the BAA Online Store and to use my B&H affiliate links. Both are hugely appreciated.

with much love, artie

The Streak

Today marks twenty-two days in a row with a new educational blog post. This blog post took about two hours to create.

Booking.Com

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for the 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.

Revamped

I finally updated the IPT page to properly reflect the recently completed trips. If you doubt that I am really slowing down do click here to see the meager IPT schedule. Right now there are only two US-based IPTs on the schedule. Best news is that I turned up the missing registrant for the Fort DeSoto IPT so that will run. Do consider joining us if you would like to learn from the best.

Photographers Wanted

If you would like to learn to be a better bird photographer, consider joining me on either the Fort DeSoto IPT in late September or the San Diego IPT in January, 2018. With just one person signed up, DeSoto will offer practically private instruction. And you can tack on the In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for free. Click here for IPT info and the current but abbreviated schedule.

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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use the BAA B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This image was created from the boat in Hallo Bay, Katmai National Park on the Bear Boat Cubs IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens with the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 318m) and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering -1/3 stop as framed: 1/320 sec. at f/9 in Av mode. WB: K8000. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: zero. Two rows down and three AF points to the left of the center AF Point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point just caught the forward part of the Orca’s fin and was the key to the success of this image. Do click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Tufted Puffins, small flock at dawn

Getting Up Early Part I

Getting up early whenever you are sleeping on a boat on a photography trip can often pays dividends. I always make sure to ask my group, “Who wants to sleep, and who wants to be roused very early in case of a nice pre-dawn sky?” On the bear boat 3 out of five opted for sleep 🙁 Though I never set my alarm and though the weather overall was not great, I did get lucky more than once.

On the morning in question, July 22, we were anchored in Hallo Bay. I was glad to see the red skies and its reflection in the still waters of the bay. I was thrilled when I moved towards the bow of the Coastal Explorer III and saw a string of puffins in a pretty darned good spot.

I almost always set a high color temperature like K7500 or K8000 to enhance the colors of nice sunrises and sunsets. For this image the colors were so rich that I toned them down by working with the slider in the Adjust image tab reducing both Saturation and Luminosity in the REDs and ORANGEs. I also used a Curves adjustment to lighten the water.

Exposure Question

Why was -1/3 stop needed for this image?

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.

Everything that I do to optimize all of the images that you see here on the blog plus tons and tons more is detailed in the new 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. Just so you know, 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.

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. 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 :).

What’s Up?

I will be without internet access from 8 AUG through late in the day on 22 AUG. There will be a brand new educational blog post every day in my absence. I toiled long and hard on August 6th and 7th to make that happen 🙂

Please call the office at 863-692-0906 on weekdays and speak to Jim and Jennifer about all things BAA Online Store- and IPT-related. And anything else that you might need help with or would like to chat about.

Please continue to patronize the BAA Online Store and to use my B&H affiliate links. Both are hugely appreciated.

with much love, artie

The Streak

Today marks twenty-one days in a row with a new educational blog post. This blog post took about two hours to create.

Booking.Com

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for the 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.

Revamped

I finally updated the IPT page to properly reflect the recently completed trips. If you doubt that I am really slowing down do click here to see the meager IPT schedule. Right now there are only two US-based IPTs on the schedule. Best news is that I turned up the missing registrant for the Fort DeSoto IPT so that will run. Do consider joining us if you would like to learn from the best.

Photographers Wanted

If you would like to learn to be a better bird photographer, consider joining me on either the Fort DeSoto IPT in late September or the San Diego IPT in January, 2018. With just one person signed up, DeSoto will offer practically private instruction. And you can tack on the In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for free. Click here for IPT info and the current but abbreviated schedule.

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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use the BAA B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This image was created in Iceland on July 21, 2017 by UK Puffins and Gannets IPT participant Tony Zielinski. He used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) and the greatest value ever in a digital camera body, the Canon EOS 7D Mark II. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/500 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode. Cloudy WB. The center AF Point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point fell on the front of the bird’s breast. This image is a healthy crop from the original. Black-tailed Godwit, fresh juvenile, Iceland. Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Tony Zielinski

I Would Love to Find One of These at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge … Heck, it would be possible.

There is at least one record of adult Black-tailed Godwit in the northeast. My late friend, bird photography inspiration, and shorebird ID mentor, Thomas H. Davis, once saw all four godwit species at Forsythe NWR (then Brigantine NWR) on a single day: Marbled, Hudsonian, Bar-tailed, and Black-tailed. Tom used to say, “If you live long enough all of the world’s migrant shorebirds will show up at the refuge (meaning Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, NY). The following mega rarities have occurred at JBWR, most on the East Pond: Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Little Stint, Red-necked Stint (then Rufous-necked Stint), and Broad-billed Sandpiper. In addition, the following rare species are seen once every few years: Curlew Sandpiper and Ruff.

Tom wound up hemi-plegic after suffering a cerebral aneurism in his doctor’s office at age 39. He was twice taken to the East Pond to try for his last lifebird and was successful on the second attempt when he saw New York State’s first-ever Rufous-necked Stint, the very bird that I had found and identified two weeks before. He died shortly after that at age 41 I believe.

Juvenile Shorebirds

Juvenile shorebirds, especially those in fresh plumage, i.e., really young birds about four weeks or less out of the nest, always exhibit neatly fringed feathers with rufous or buff edgings. This gives them a warm, evenly patterned look, just as seen on the bird in Tony’s image. The same is true of juvenile gulls and terns, and of juvenile raptors (to mention only a few bird families). Hey, the bill on Tony’s bird is not fully grown; in another six weeks it will be about 5-6 inches long, just like the bill of its parents. Actually, the adult males of this species have bills that average well shorter than the bills of the females. This is typical of most shorebirds. To learn more about aging and identify the shorebirds of North America, check out my Shorebirds, Beautiful Beachcombers here.

The Sibley Guide to Birds

When Tony asked me to ID the bird in his images, I first turned to my Sibley. I was not sure if the bird was a young bar-tailed Godwit or a young Black-tailed Godwit. The Sibley Guide enabled me to make an accurate ID simply by looking at his paintings and comparing the two. Simply put, this is the gold standard for identification guides to the birds of North America. I consult mine often. Sibley’s artwork is fantastic on its own, and paintings are alway more consistently accurate for ID purposes than photographs.

Shorebirds: An Identification Guide to the Waders of the World (in paperback): Prater, Hayman, & Marchant

This great and immensely detailed guide has been my shorebird bible since 1986. My hard copy is worn and frayed and the binding has come loose. This book is only for seriously addicted shorebird loonies like me. New and entry-level students are directed instead to my Shorebirds, Beautiful Beachcombers to learn the basics of identifying and aging North American shorebirds.

More e-mail conversations with Tony

TZ: Wow! Those 3 Whimbrel shots are fantastic.

am: They are my best in 34 years 🙂

TZ: They are way better than the ones i captured on a hike (hand-held at 400mm while walking, very cloudy day; unfortunately camera shake made them less-than-sharp, and standing while shooting made the background rather busy. Had I stopped and squatted or laid down i could have got some separation with the background as well as getting a steadier hand. See, I did learn something 🙂

am: Getting low is almost always a good plan.

TZ: And Thanks Artie, that is very kind of you to say. I really enjoyed meeting you too and spending time with you.

am: kind but true 🙂

TZ: Galapagos 2019 with my family, eh? That would be awesome. Give me time to get my wife on board (pun not intended). I am not sure if I mentioned this, but I gave my wife my backup camera (a 7D) for the Iceland trip and she discovered a real love of photography! And her trip pictures were quite good. My daughter is the bird lover, but so far not she is not interested much in photography. Anyway, I’ll be trying to get at least one of them interested in going to the Galapagos!

am: That would be beyond awesome.

(Note: I first heard from Tony in May of 2016 when he wrote asking for gear advice. He kindly used my B&H affiliate link to purchase the 100-400 II and the 7D II that I recommended. And as they say, the rest is history.)

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. 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 :).

What’s Up?

I will be without internet access from 8 AUG through late in the day on 22 AUG. There will be a brand new educational blog post every day in my absence. I toiled long and hard on August 6th and 7th to make that happen 🙂

Please call the office at 863-692-0906 on weekdays and speak to Jim and Jennifer about all things BAA Online Store- and IPT-related. And anything else that you might need help with or would like to chat about.

Please continue to patronize the BAA Online Store and to use my B&H affiliate links. Both are hugely appreciated.

with much love, artie

The Streak

Today marks nineteen days in a row with a new educational blog post. This blog post took about two hours to create.

Booking.Com

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for the 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.

Revamped

I finally updated the IPT page to properly reflect the recently completed trips. If you doubt that I am really slowing down do click here to see the meager IPT schedule. Right now there are only two US-based IPTs on the schedule. Best news is that I turned up the missing registrant for the Fort DeSoto IPT so that will run. Do consider joining us if you would like to learn from the best.

Photographers Wanted

If you would like to learn to be a better bird photographer, consider joining me on either the Fort DeSoto IPT in late September or the San Diego IPT in January, 2018. With just one person signed up, DeSoto will offer practically private instruction. And you can tack on the In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for free. Click here for IPT info and the current but abbreviated schedule.

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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use the BAA B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This image was created from the skiff in Kukak Bay in Katmai National Park on the Bear Boat Cubs IPT with the hand held 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens (now replaced by the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II (at 24mm) and my favorite seal photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop as framed: 1/1250 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode. Cloudy WB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +2. (Yes, for the first time I MA-ed a short lens while working on the new guide. There is one mandatory trick.) Two rows down and one to the right of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Harbor Seals hauled out on rock, Kukak Bay

As Promised … Part III

I have photographed single Harbor Seals many times before so I opted to try photographing them on this little rocky outcrop with two short lenses, the “circle” lens as I call it, the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM , and the reliable old 24-105, my all-time favorite b-roll lens. I shot mostly fish-eye with the circle lens but I liked the images at 24mm much better.

How Many Seals?

Before attempting to count the individual Harbor Seals be sure to enlarge the image. And then leave a comment with your answer.

The Image Optimization

With the yellow seaweed on the rocks, Cloudy WB was not a good choice so I converted the RAW file with Daylight WB. That helped but everything still looked too yellow to me. Th first thing I did to the image after leveling it was to increase the Vibrance 50 points on its own layer. This brought up the color in the distant trees nicely but made the seaweed and the seals even more yellow. To eliminate that problem I reduced the Saturation of the YELLOWs 20 points with a Hue-Saturation adjustment also on a separate layer (Command + J). Then I added a Regular Layer Mask and painted away the island and the two seals in the water (working large on those). Here’s a great tip to make sure that your masks are accurate: when you are painting your mask, toggle off the visibility eyeballs for the layers below; when you paint, you can accurately see what you are painting away. If you paint outside the lines, simply hit X to restore and then hit X again to continue painting.

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.

Everything that I do to optimize the image above and all of the images that you see here on the blog plus tons and tons more is detailed in the new 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. Just so you know, 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.

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. 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 :).

What’s Up?

I made it safely to Guayquil on Sunday evening.

I will be without internet access from 8 AUG through late in the day on 22 AUG. There will be a blog post every day in my absence.

Please call the office at 863-692-0906 on weekdays and speak to Jim and Jennifer about all things BAA Online Store- and IPT-related. And anything else that you might need help with or would like to chat about.

Please continue to patronize the BAA Online Store and to use my B&H affiliate links. Both are hugely appreciated.

with much love, artie

The Streak

Today marks seventeen days in a row with a new educational blog post. This blog post took about two hours to create.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog 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 went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to my terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, 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. You can see all of the current listings here.

New Used Gear Listings

Canon EOS-1D X

Multiple IPT veteran Carlotta Grenier is offering a used Canon EOS-1DX camera body in excellent condition for the BAA record low price of $2358. The sale includes the original box, the front lens cover, one extra battery, the cables, the strap, 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 Carlotta via e-mail.

Two 1DX bodies served as my workhorse camera bodies for more than three years. It is fast and rugged with a great AF system. And more than a few folks who purchased a 1DX Mark II are wishing that they never sold their 1DX … artie

Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens for Canon EF

Multiple IPT veteran Carlotta Grenier is offering a never used Sigma 50-500mm lens F 4.5-6.3 APO DG OS Sports lens for Canon EF in better than like-new condition for the BAA record low price of $998. The sale includes the original box, the front cover, the rear cap, the protective case, 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 Carlotta via e-mail.

Lots of folks on recent IPTs have been using this relatively new Sigma lens with excellent results. artie artie

Sigma 50-500mm lens F 4.5-6.3 APO DG OS Sports lens for Canon EF

Multiple IPT veteran Carlotta Grenier is offering a new in the box Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS (optical stabilizer) lens for Canon EF in new condition for the BAA record low price of $748. The sale includes the original box, the front cover, the rear cap, the protective case, 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 Carlotta via e-mail.

I have seen many sharp images made with this popular lens on several IPTs. This item sells new for $1659 at B&H so you can save more than $900 by grabbing Carlotta’s lens. artie

artie

Booking.Com

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for the 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.

Revamped

I finally updated the IPT page to properly reflect the recently completed trips. If you doubt that I am really slowing down do click here to see the meager IPT schedule. Right now there are only two US-based IPTs on the schedule. Best news is that I turned up the missing registrant for the Fort DeSoto IPT so that will run. Do consider joining us if you would like to learn from the best.

Photographers Wanted

If you would like to learn to be a better bird photographer, consider joining me on either the Fort DeSoto IPT in late September or the San Diego IPT in January, 2018. With just one person signed up, DeSoto will offer practically private instruction. And you can tack on the In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for free. Click here for IPT info and the current but abbreviated schedule.

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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use the BAA B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This image was created in Kukak Bay in Katmai National Park on the Bear Boat Cubs IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 148mm) and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops off the water: 1/2000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Daylight WB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -2. Two rows down and three AF points to the left of the center AF Point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point just caught the forward part of the Orca’s fin and was the key to the success of this image. Do click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Orca in habitat

As Promised … Part I

I’ve been talking about the great luck with had with several Orcas so I figured that I might as well post my best one. I have seen Orcas on many occasions but never really had a good chance to photograph them in this hemisphere. I did get some great images of the Gerlach-straight eco-type Orcas down in the Southern Ocean a few years ago. That race had grey backs, not black.

Anyway, it is rare to see Orcas in a bay — usually they would be cruising outside in the Shelikof Strait. We were in the big skiff when our guided spotted them and he deftly put us in great position time after time. Thanks to participant Anita North who came up with the idea of zooming wide for an environmental type portrait. As noted above, the key to getting the image design that I wanted was my choice of AF points. Since I wanted the Orca down and to the left I selected and AF point in that area. When the animal surfaced close to us, I was ready and made the shot. They are so big that they are much slower than dolphins. The dolphins are so sleek and fast that I usually feel as if I have zero chance of making a good image of them.

Exposure Note

Plus 1 2/3 stops off the water resulted in a very few blinkies on the white patch on the side of the Orca. With all those BLACKs, that was a perfect exposure. Restoring the detail in the bright whites was easily dealt with during the RAW conversion in DPP 4 by lowering the exposure by 1/3 stop and then moving the Highlight slider to -1.5.

Image Design Question

Why was it important for me to be relatively tall and to get as tall as possible when creating this image?

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.

Everything that I do to optimize all of the images that you see here on the blog plus tons and tons more is detailed in the new 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. Just so you know, 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.

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. 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 was busy on Friday (when I worked on this blog post) but as darkness approached I was not quite sure what I had gotten done 🙂 I did enjoy my easy half-mile swim. With one day to go I have not packed a thing. I fly to MIA midday on Sunday and then continue on to Guayaquil to meet the Galapagos IPT group. If you would like to join me next time, likely in August 2019, please shoot me an e-mail.

On Saturday I spent most of the day packing. I have two 50.0 pound checked bags (with my lens hoods, my Induro GIT 304L, my Mongoose, and a ton of other photo gear in them), my 43.5 pound Think Tank Roller, my Think Tank Urban Disguise Laptop bag filled with 17.5 pounds of stuff, and my Xtra-hand vest (at a mere 12 pounds …). At the last moment I decided to stick my lightweight Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens into the rear pouch of my vest, being sure to pad it well. I will use it on the one or two landings where landscape photography is our main focus. The car service will be here at 7:30am on Sunday. I am scheduled to land in Guayaquil a bit after 7pm local time.

The Streak

Today marks fifteen days in a row with a new educational blog post. This blog post took about two hours to create.

Revamped

I finally updated the IPT page to properly reflect the recently completed trips. If you doubt that I am really slowing down do click here to see the meager IPT schedule. Right now there are only two US-based IPTs on the schedule. Best news is that I turned up the missing registrant for the Fort DeSoto IPT so that will run. Do consider joining us if you would like to learn from the best.

Photographers Wanted

If you would like to learn to be a better bird photographer, consider joining me on the Fort DeSoto IPT in late September. Scroll down for details. With just one person signed up, you will be enjoying practically private instruction. And you can tack on the In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for free.

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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use the BAA B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

Galapagos Gear Bag Overview

In recent months, having forsaken the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens for most air travel, my basic kit has looked like this: Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens,, the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, and the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. And I can add in the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens fish eye for super-wide coverage (and for fun) if I have room.

The 500 II

I have done this trip with either the 300mm II or the 400mm DO II as my big glass, usually to be used on a tripod with either the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III or the Canon Extender EF 2X III. But recently I have been going to the 500mm II, — much lighter, smaller, and easier to travel with than the 600 II — as my big lens. With the 2X TC it gives me a much more comfortable 1000mm to work with. That really fits my style better than either 800 or 600mm as my max. I carry the lens either by the wide lens strap on my shoulder or by the CR-X5 low foot that I use (there is plenty of room for me to grip that). I carry the tripod in my opposite hand. For long walks I can put the 500 iI over my head and carry it bandolier style.

The 100-400 II

I rarely make a trip with without what is probably my favorite and certainly my most versatile lens, the 100-400mm II. It gives me more than enough reach for tame birds and animals, and there are plenty of those in the Galapagos. I can add the 1.4X III TC when I need additional reach, and it serves as a fabulous telephoto macro lens from medium sized subjects and extreme close-ups. Lastly, since I am hand holding it most of the time it offers me a ton of freedom. On this trip, the plan is to to lots of video …

The 400 DO II

While both the 500 II and the 100-400 II counterfeit the focal length of the the 400 DO II, I am taking the Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM lens
for several reasons. It is great on panga (zodiac) rides, it is easy to hand hold, and it does great with either TC. On selected landings I can go light by taking this lens and leaving the 500 II on the boat. On such occasions I might go to 100% hand holding on a landing or two. Or not …

The 24-105mm

The Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens will be in my X-trahand vest on every landing. I use it often for scenics, for photographing the group in action, and for mini-landscapes and plants as well.

The Circle Lens

I have gotten in the habit of taking the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens along on trips whenever the chances for cloudy conditions exist. Mostly because it is a difficult but fun lens to work with, and because I enjoy the challenge of finding and making new and different images with it.

Camera Bodies

It should come as no surprise that I am taking three Canon EOS 5D Mark IV bodies. The 5D IV is my very favorite nature photography body as it offers high quality image files, superb crop-ability, a fast-enough frame rate for me, and most importantly, AF with all AF points and all AF Area Selection modes available at f/8. As in the 500mm f/4L IS II or the 400mm f/4 IS DO II with the 2X III TC or the 100-400II with the 1.4X III TC. Yikes. I almost forgot its delightfully small size, light weight, and quiet operation.

I am not taking my Canon EOS-1D X Mark II with its never-ending oil spatter on the sensor problem. I am in the process of being a good consumer and am attempting to have Canon USA replace it with a brand new one that I will sell. If that fails, I will try to get B&H to either replace it with a new one (to be sold) or refund my original purchase price. If that too fails I will sell it cheap.

TCs

I am making this trip with two Canon 1.4X III TCs and two 2X III TCs. Why? They are so valuable to me that I simply cannot afford to be without one should a failure occur. In addition, I often have one 1.4X TC on my big lens and another on the 100-400 II.

Questions Welcome

If you have a question about any of my gear choices above, please feel free to leave a comment. Do you disagree with any of my choices? What would you be brining to the Galapagos? Why? Understand that I will be offline for the very great part of two full weeks from August 8 through 21.

Delkin Flash Cards

As always, I will have an ultra-dependable 128gb Delkin e-Film Pro Flash Card in each camera body so that I never have to change cards in the field, thus reducing the risk of losing a card…. Please note the new lower prices here. I do have a few extra 64gb cards in a Delkin CF Memory Card Tote, mostly to protect against operator error ….

Singh-Ray 77mm Filters

I regularly travel with my two Singh-Ray 77mm Warming Circular Polarizers and both a Singh-Ray 5-stop and 10-stop Mor-Slo Neutral Density filter. All but one of the circular polarizers is fitted with s Xume ring. See below for details. I can screw the one without the Xume ring onto my 24-105 when needed for rainbows or ???. With the opposite Xume ring on my 100-400 II, I can mount any of the filters in nothing flat to get a slower shutter speed either for blurs or for video. The ND filters help you avoid tiny apertures and the accompanying problems of dust spots.

With the intermediate telephotos I always use the Xume magnetized mounting system; this system makes it easy to mount the filters in just a second rather than having to struggle to get them properly threaded. (See more on these below). Do not use the Xume system with your wide angle lenses as it will cause serious vignetting at the wider settings. I will also have the Singh-Ray 3-stop and 5-stop 52mm Mor-Slo Neutral Density filters with me to use in the 500 II and the 400 DO II.

For info on the 52mm filters, the drop-in filter holders, and the blend blur effect, click here and here.

Singh-Ray Filters

Singh-Ray filters have been used by the world’s top photographers for many decades. Singh-Ray is and has been the name in quality filters. I own several of the 77mm filters so that I can attain slow shutter speeds in bright conditions. No other filter manufacturer comes close to matching the quality of Singh-Ray’s optical glass that is comparable to that used by NASA. And they continue to pioneer the most innovative products on the market like their ColorCombo polarizer, Vari-ND variable and Mor-Slo 15-stop neutral density filters. When you use their filters, you’ll create better, more dramatic images and, unlike other filters, with absolutely no sacrifice in image quality. All Singh-Ray filters are handcrafted in the USA.

Best News: 10% Discount/Code at checkout: artie10

To shop for Singh-Ray’s most popular solid ND filter, the 10-Stop Mor-Slo Glass Filter liter (for example), click on the logo link above, click on “Neutral and color Solid Neutral Density Filters (glass), then click on “Mor-Slo™ 5, 10, 15 and 20-Stop Solid Neutral Density Filters (glass),” choose the size and model, add to cart, and then checkout. At checkout, type artie10 into the “Have a coupon? Click here to enter your code” box and a healthy 10% discount will be applied to your total. In addition to enjoying the world’s best filter at 10% off you will be supporting my efforts here on the blog.

The 10- and 15-stop Mor Slo filters are great for landscapes with water and moving clouds. With the 10-stop, 1/125th becomes 8 seconds and with the 15-stop, 4 minutes.

Xume Stuff!

Here is how I use the magnetized Xume system with my intermediate telephoto lenses:

First I screw one XUME 77mm Lens Adapter onto the front of my 100-400 II and another onto the front of the 70-200 f/2.8 L IS II.

Next I screw my Singh-Ray 77mm 3-Stop Resin Mor-Slo Neutral Density Filter, my Singh-Ray 77mm 5-Stop Glass Mor-Slo Neutral Density Filter, and my Singh-Ray 77mm LB Warming Circular Polarizer into their own individual XUME 77mm Filter Holders. Be sure not to screw the filters on too tightly to the Filter Holders. If you do, it can be a real challenge to remove the filter when you need it for a wide angle lens. Light pressure is fine.

The lens adapters stay on the lenses. The ND filters and the polarizer stay screwed into their own filter holders as noted above. The filter/filter holder combos are stored in the lovely labeled leather pouches that come with each Singh-Ray filter purchase. The three of them fit perfectly into the small upper left zippered pocket of my Xtrahand vest. When I wish to mount a filter onto the front of one of my intermediate telephoto lenses I simply remove the lens hood, grab the filter that I need, and pop it securely into place in less than an instant. Ah, it’s the magnetic thing!

Be sure to replace the lens hood so that you do not accidentally dislodge the filter by whacking it against some shrubbery when you are walking about. To remove the filter simply remove the lens hood, pop the filter off instantly, place it back in its leather case, and stow it. With the Xume system there are no more tears. You do not have to screw and unscrew the filters onto the front of the lens. There are no more jammed threads. The Xume lens adapters and the filter holders are precision-machined to guarantee fast and secure filter attachment every time.

It is an elegant system but I can recommend it only for intermediate telephoto lenses: when used with short lenses and short zoom lenses some serious vignetting will occur at the wider focal lengths. As noted above, you must use the Xume system when working with the 10-stop ND so that you can snap the filter in place after setting the focus without messing up either the framing or focus as you might if you needed to screw the filter on.

If you own only one lens and two filters I would recommend the XUME 77mm Lens Adapter and Filter Holder Starter Kit. It contains one lens adapter and two filter holders.

The next step up is the XUME 77mm Lens Adapter and Filter Holder Pro Kit. It offers two lens adapters and four filter holders. That one was perfect for me.

If you need Xume stuff for front element sizes other than 77mm please use this link; you will find two pages of good stuff!

For info on using the 10-stop ND with the Xume rings see the Stationary Helicopter blog post here.

Think Tank Rolling Bags

I will be using the larger of my two Think Tank rolling bags, the Airport Security™ V 2.0 Rolling Camera Bag. I used the slightly smaller Airport International™ LE Classic on the recent Bear Boat trip. As I have not packed yet, I am not sure if the both the 400 DO II and the 100-400 II will go in my Think Tank bag , or if one of them will be relegated to the large back pocket of my vest. Either way, this bag will surely be well over the 40 pound US limit … The 70-200 f/4 will likely make the trip in one of my two checked bags. Nearly all countries in the world give you slack as far as the 40+ pounds goes on the way back to the US. I have only been hassled for excess carry-on weight once in more than three decades of flying around the world…. I hope that I do not give myself a kine-ahora.

Think Tank Urban Disguise Laptop Shoulder Bag

I use and love this amazing bag as it has tons of room and enables me to bring tons of extra stuff.

Please click on my Think Tank affiliate link here to earn a free gift when you purchase a Think Tank product.

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. 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 :).

If …

If you are having any problems at all with regards to receiving blog notices via e-mail or problems viewing the blog, please let us know by e-mail. Many thanks.

A Wonderful e-Mail

From Multiple IPT Participant Greg Ferguson of Atlanta

Artie, I’m writing to thank you for everything you did to make the Bosque IPT a photographic success. As Dizzy Dean said about his pitching performance “It’s not bragging if you can do it”, and you can say the same thing about your IPTs. On your recent IPT you certainly demonstrated that you can put your students in the right place at the right time for outstanding shooting opportunities. We were in perfect position to catch a snow geese blast-off silhouetted against the pre-dawn glow. After only about two minutes of continuous shooting you yelled “We have one minute before we leave for our next location.” Warren Hatch and I started laughing because we thought you were kidding. Why leave when we were getting good shots? Well, much to our surprise, we left and found out why. At the next location we were much closer to the geese and got them blasting off directly toward us right over our heads.

So you aren’t bragging about getting people in the right position at the right time because you can do it. Thanks for the wonderful shooting opportunities and the personal care and attention from both you and Denise. Greg

What’s Up?

On Thursday I spent most of the day working on the LensAlign/FocusTune Micro-adjusting e-Guide and getting some image files off my laptop.

I recently shared an early draft of the new guide with Bill Hill who wrote via e-mail:

Artie, Just a note as a progress report and thanks again. I got my 500 f4 back from Canon, a very good experience, and focus-tuned it with my 2x III converter. AWESOME. It came out to -3; I have never gotten such sharp images at 1000mm. Thanks to MT, AM and Canon! The info in your guide is essential to anyone who wants to use learn to use Focus Tune. Bill

The guide will likely be published no later than early September. Pricing will be as follows: for folks who purchases LensAlign/FocusTune through BIRDS AS ART and can provide proof of purchase in the form of a receipt from the BAA Online Store, the price will be $40. For those who purchased elsewhere, the price will be $50.00.

Booking.Com

I could not secure the lodging that I needed for the 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.

The Streak

Today marks thirteen days in a row with a new educational blog post. This blog post took less than an hour to create.

Revamped

I finally updated the IPT page to properly reflect the recently completed trips. If you doubt that I am really slowing down do click here to see the meager IPT schedule. Right now there are only two US-based IPTs on the schedule. Best news is that I turned up the missing registrant for the Fort DeSoto IPT so that will run. Do consider joining us if you would like to learn from the best.

Photographers Wanted

If you would like to learn to be a better bird photographer, consider joining me on the Fort DeSoto IPT in late September. Scroll down for details. With just one person signed up, you will be enjoying practically private instruction. And you can tack on the In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for free.

Best Advice for Improving Your Bird Photography

1-Subscribe to the blog and read and study it here.

2-Purchase and study the information in the two-book bundle here; these two will become your bird photography bibles.

3-Sign up for an Instructional Photo Tour (IPT) by clicking here.

4- Join BirdPhotographers.Net and start posting your images either in the Avian Forum or the Eager to Learn Forum.

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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use the BAA B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This image was created on the 2017 Japan IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 312m) and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 stops off the grey clouds: 1/500 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +1. Two rows down and one AF point to the right of the center AF Point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point fell on the tip of the bill of the bird on our right. The assist points surely helped in this low light/low contrast situation. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, more dramatic version. Red-crowned Cranes taking flight late in the day

When Everything Goes According to Plan …

It was late in the day and most of the photographers and most of the cranes had already left Tsurui Itoh Sanctuary. Heck, most of my group had given up and was already back at the lodge. I saw these two birds near the top of the ridge so I moved away from them by walking to my left to get a bit lower. With the wind from my left, I knew that the birds would be taking off toward me. I had already metered plus two stops off the sky and set that exposure manually. Unlike most folks I am fine with 1/500 second for flight. I saw the pink sky and I saw the trees. Heck, I saw the final image in my mind’s eye. Since I wanted the birds in the lower right part of the frame I selected an AF point two rows down and one to the right. This was an estimate. All of the decisions above were made and carried out in less than ten seconds. Then the birds leaned forward and took flight right at me. I acquired focus, and, as is my usual style, fired off only two frames. Today’s featured image was my favorite.

I love that in bird photography you often have to make several important decisions –focus, exposure, shutter speed, and framing for starters — in just a few seconds and do everything right to have any chance of success. What a challenge and what a thrill when everything goes according to plan. Learn to see and think like a pro by joining me on the Fall DeSoto IPT or on the January 2018 San Diego IPT.

Your Call

What are your thoughts on this image? What do you like about it? What don’t you like about it? Could I have done anything better in the field to make it better? Could I have done anything better during the image optimization to make it better? Your honest thoughts are appreciated.

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. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

The Fort DeSoto 2017 Fall IPT/September 22 (afternoon session) through the full day on September 25, 2017. 3 1/2 FULL DAYs: $1649. Limit 8.

Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds and terns in fall. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, night-herons, gulls, and terns who winter on the T-shaped peninsula that serves as their wintering grounds. With luck, we may get to photograph two of Florida’s most desirable shorebird species: Marbled Godwit and the spectacular Long-billed Curlew. Black-bellied Plover and Willet are easy, American Oystercatcher almost guaranteed. Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, and Tricolored Heron are easy as well and we will almost surely come up with a tame Yellow-crowned Night-Heron or two. We should get to do some Brown Pelican flight photography. And Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, and Caspian Terns will likely provide us with some good flight opportunities as well. Though not guaranteed Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork would not be unexpected.

Folks who sign up for the IPT are welcome to join us on the ITF/MWS on the morning of Tuesday, September 26 as my guest. See below for details on that.

On the IPT you will learn basics and fine points of digital exposure and to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you’re scared of it).

There will be a Photoshop/image review session after lunch (included) each day. That will be followed by Instructor Nap Time.

This IPT will run with only a single registrant (though that is not likely to happen). The best airport is Tampa (TPA). Though I have not decided on a hotel yet — I will as soon as there is one sign-up — do know that it is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel (rather than at home or at a friend’s place).

A $500 deposit is due when you sign up and is payable by credit card. Balances must be paid by check after you register. Your deposit is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with ten folks so please check your plans carefully before committing. You can register by calling Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand or by sending a check as follows: make the check out to: BIRDS AS ART and send it via US mail here: BIRDS AS ART, PO BOX 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions, gear advice, and instructions for meeting on the afternoon of Friday, September 22.

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.

To register please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand to pay the nominal non-refundable registration fee. You will receive a short e-mail with instructions, gear advice, and meeting place at least two weeks before the event.

Fort DeSoto Site Guide

Can’t make the IPT? Get yourself a copy of the Fort DeSoto Site Guide. Learn the best spots, where to be when in what season in what weather. Learn the best wind directions for the various locations. BAA Site Guides are the next best thing to being on an IPT. You can see all of them here.

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

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