On Wednesday I woke early and left Ronkonkoma at 5:15am. The navigation system on my phone indicated that I would arrive at Jamaica Bay at 6:21am. Traffic was horrific and I eventually made it at 7:15 am. Isaac Grant who lives in Staten Island arrived a bit after I did but good friend Tom Pfeifer
driving from Northport got slaughtered on the Northern State and did not make it to the pond until 8:30. He left his gear in the car and walked out to visit us. We hung out for a while and then enjoyed brunch at the Cross Bay Diner. Ah, I almost forgot to mention that Isaac and I had lucked out again. On Tuesday there were very few shorebirds but two of them posed in gorgeous habitat in sweet light right in front of us at close range for more than an hour.
There is just one slot open on the San Diego IPT; scroll down here for details.
The Streak
Today makes seventy-one days in a row with a new educational blog post! This blog post took less than two hours to prepare (including the short time spent on the image optimization). With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Shutter Button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point just caught the base of the lower mandible. Note the location of the four assist points in the AF Expand image below. Click on the image to see a larger version.
FocusTune/LensAlign Micro Adjustment: zero.
White-rumped Sandpiper, worn juvenile
Celebrating 40 Years in the Mud: Part I
When visiting the north end of the East Pond on Tuesday afternoon with BirdPhotographer’s.Net regular Isaac Grant I realized that it had been forty years since I first set foot on the shores of the pond, and forty years since I had seen two orange-flagged (color banded) Sanderlings at the north end. I learned soon after that the orange leg flags indicated that the two birds had been banded in Argentina during our winter. And that they flew to their breeding grounds near the Arctic Circle each spring. The ones that I had seen were on their way back to South America. I was amazed, and that sighting (along with several others at JBWR) would influence the remainder of my adult life and spur a forty year love affair with all things Calidrid (related to shorebirds). Memories of birds and flocks and peregrines and friends flooded my mind as we slogged through the mud. Most notable was my discovery of New York State’s first breeding plumage Rufous-necked Stint about 30 years ago. The bird remained on the pond for about three weeks and was seen by visitors from 37 states. It was the last life bird of my friend and shorebird mentor Thomas H.Davis Jr. who was twice carried through the mud on a stretcher to finally “get” the bird through a scope. Tom had suffered a cerebral aneurism at age 39, was completely paralyzed on one side, and died of a series of strokes several years later.
Mission Accomplished (in part)
When I decided to visit family in New York in late/September/early October, I was hoping that the water levels at the East Pond would be conducive for shorebird photography. Initial reports, however, indicated that the pond was pretty much flooded. I learned after I arrived on Long Island the conditions had improved somewhat miraculously. I visited the north end on Tuesday afternoon, October 3 and then visited the south end the next morning. Both days Isaac and I lucked out; there are not a lot of birds but we wound up with a great situation during each session.
One of my targets was juvenal White-rumped Sandpiper. They begin to arrive in the NYC region about four to six weeks after the first influx of juvie shorebirds in mid-August. With the high water levels my hopes were somewhat dashed. But as Isaac and I were photographing a group of nine fairly cooperative Dunlin, six juvenile white-rumps flew in. The one pictured in today’s featured image stopped feeding and posed for me for about one second with it’s tail cocked nicely and a perfect head angle. The Dunlin were much more difficult subjects as they poked their much longer bills into the mud while foraging in about an inch of water. I drove back to Alissa’s house a very happy man.
Juvenal White-rumped Sandpiper ID
White-rumpeds are one of two regularly occurring small shorebirds that at any age have their wings projecting well past the tail (the other being Baird’s Sandpiper). The long wings of both species power them in flight to the bottom of South America each fall where they winter on the Pampas. White-rumpeds always show a bit of pale orange at the base of the lower mandible and a strong eye-line. The greater coverts exhibit rufous fringing that can be seen on this individual even though its feathers are moderately worn. The upperparts’ feathers of young Baird’s are also neatly fringed but always in off-white; this gives the bird a much browner overall appearance.
AF Expand Image
Note that I added the four assist points in red in Photoshop and enhanced the selected AF point; there is no software that will allow you to view either the assist points or the active assist points.
Common AF Expand Theme
Note that the placement of the selected AF point in today’s featured image and in the Ring-necked Duck image in the Sitting Ducks blog post here is quite similar. For years I have been using AF Expand (the selected AF point plus four assist points) for much of my whole bird photography. Do understand that I often move the selected point depending on the size and placement of the subject in the frame and the desired image design. And for years I have been teaching folks to try to place the selected AF point on the bird’s neck or upper breast. In both the Ring-necked Duck drake image and the juvie white-rumped image here today this technique worked to perfection. Though we will never know for sure, it is likely that the assist points help us more than we realize; do try AF expand; you just might like it.
I am so confident in AF Expand that I have deselected AF Surround as an available AF Area Selection mode.
Image Design Question
Do you like the cropped version that opens this blog post or the wider version depicted in the AF Expand image?
Selected AF Point Question
After the fact I realized that the image might have been better if I had selected an AF point that was one to the right of center. Why?
Shorebirds; Beautiful Beachcombers
My Shorebirds: Beautiful Beachcombers, written for naturalists and birders, will teach you everything you’ve always wanted to know about the aging, identification, behavior, feeding habits and strategies, and the timing and routes of migration of North America’s sandpipers, godwits, yellowlegs, phalaropes, plovers, avocets, stilts, and oystercatchers.
2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….
2018 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT: Monday, JAN 15 thru and including the morning session on Friday, JAN 19, 2018: 4 1/2 days: $2099.
Limit: 8: Openings: 1
Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Sunday, Jan 14, 2018.
Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (usually nesting and displaying) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Wood Duck and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seal (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lion; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Please note: formerly dependable, both Wood Duck and Marbled Godwit have been declining at their usual locations for the past two years …
San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects. With annual visits spanning more than three decades I have lot of experience there….
With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography. And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You can do most of your photography with an 80- or 100-400 lens …
Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?
Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings.
The San Diego Details
This IPT will include five 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, four 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, four lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. Dinners are on your own so that we can get some sleep.
A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. Or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 9/11//2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
I have an appointment with my financial guy in Lake Success this afternoon and will likely drop into the East Pond this afternoon. It has been a while.
The Streak
Today makes seventy days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about two hours to prepare (including the time spent on the image optimization). With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
The DPP 4 Screen Capture for today’s featured image
The DPP 4 Screen Capture/Another Lying Histogram
A quick glance at the DPP 4 screen capture seems to indicate a big underexposure. But by checking the RGB values with the cursor placed on the brightest WHITEs on the extraneous pelican’s head, we see R=242, G=227, B=206. Why such warm light? This image was created in sweet early morning sunlight. Do note that the RAW file was originally too dark as I had to move the Brightness slider to +.67 stops. As far as the RGB histograms go, the BLUE histogram simply shows that the there is lots of blue Pacific in the image.
The Extraneous Pelican Question
If this image were yours, would you keep or eliminate the extraneous pelican in the lower left corner? Why or why not?
This image was created on the 2017 San Diego IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 321mm) and my favorite pelican flight photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/3200 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB.
Center AF point/Manual selection/AI Servo/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. See the placement of the selected AF point (illuminated-in-red) in the DPP 4 screen capture below. Note that it is right on the same plane as the pelican’s eye. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: 1.
The Optimized Image: Brown Pelican incoming flight
Universal Advice for Better Flight Photography with a Zoom Lens
Here is my simple universal advice for better flight (or action) photography with a zoom lens: don’t be so greedy: zoom wider!
The Image Optimization
The obvious problems with the original image were the two clipped wingtips. First, I expanded canvas with the Crop Tool’s love-handles. John Haedo Content Aware Fill dealt nicely with the extraneous pelican and did not do too bad a job with the missing wingtip stuff on the right frame-edge. I fine-tuned that with the Clone Stamp Tool and a small Quick Mask or two (refined by Regular Layer Masks). For the missing primary tips I used a series of small Quick Masks, each fine-tuned with the addition of a Regular Layer Mask. These techniques are detailed in APTATS I.
Image Design Question
Would you have added and filled in a bit more canvas on the right frame-edge? Why or why not?
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II) will teach you an efficient Mac/Photo Mechanic/Photoshop workflow that will make it easy for you to make your images better in Photoshop (rather than worse). That true whether you convert your images in DPP 4 or ACR. See the blog post here to learn lots more and to read a free excerpt.
You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand.
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)
Everything mentioned above (and tons more) is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. The new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.
The two most recent and many of the older MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):
Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.
You can learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of their Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. And you can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….
2018 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT: Monday, JAN 15 thru and including the morning session on Friday, JAN 19, 2018: 4 1/2 days: $2099.
Limit: 8: Openings: 1
Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Sunday, Jan 14, 2018.
Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (usually nesting and displaying) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Wood Duck and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seal (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lion; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Please note: formerly dependable, both Wood Duck and Marbled Godwit have been declining at their usual locations for the past two years …
San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects. With annual visits spanning more than three decades I have lot of experience there….
With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography. And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You can do most of your photography with an 80- or 100-400 lens …
Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?
Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings.
The San Diego Details
This IPT will include five 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, four 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, four lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. Dinners are on your own so that we can get some sleep.
A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. Or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 9/11//2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
Many of you might remember Roseanne Roseannadanna, one of several recurring characters created by the late Gilda Radner, who appeared on Weekend Update in the early seasons of Saturday Night Live. My favorite line of hers was and is, “It’s always something.” Well, my shoulder has been doing great and my left knee has been getting along just fine. About ten days ago I began having some lower back/hip pain with some pain shooting down my legs on either side. Having had major spinal surgery in 1990, I am hoping not to go that route again and am trying lots of alternative positions and exercises. And mainly avoiding sitting for long periods of time. I am feeling much better today.
I fly home early on Sunday morning.
Young folks might want to enjoy a bit of Gilda Radner’s comic brilliance by clicking here.
The Streak
Today makes sixty-nine days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare (including the time spent on the image optimization). With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Latest Used Gear Kudos
via e-mail from Robert Blanke
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert
New Listings
Canon EOS 5D Mark III
IPT veteran Carolyn Peterson is offering a Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera body in excellent condition for $1399. The sale includes a brand new Vello BG-C9 Battery Grip (an $80 value), the front body cap, one battery (with protective cover), the battery charger, the shoulder strap, the original product box and everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only.
Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Carolyn via e-mail or phone at 1-503-730-9262 (Pacific time/evenings best).
I owned and used this superb, full frame, 22mp digital body for several years. It was always my first choice for scenic, Urbex, and flower photography until I fell in love for a while with the 5DS R (for a lot more money!). In addition, I loved my 5D III body for birds with my big lenses and both TCs. I used mine to create many saleable images. artie
Canon GPS receiver GP-E2
Carolyn Peterson is offering a Canon GPS receiver GP-E2 for EOS camera bodies in Near-mint condition for $149. The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only.
Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Carolyn via e-mail or phone at 1-503-730-9262 (Pacific time/evenings best).
This item sells new at B&H for $239.95 so if you are interested it makes sense to grab this one and save more than a few bucks. artie
Canon EF 17-40 f/4L USM Lens
Carolyn Peterson is offering a Canon EF 17-40 f/4L USM lens in near-mint condition for ($499). The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it including the soft lens pouch, the lens hood, the front and rear caps, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only.
Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Carolyn via e-mail or phone at 1-503-730-9262 (Pacific time/evenings best).
The 17-40 is a high quality “L” series wide angle zoom that fits both full frame and APS-C sized DSLRs (and offers 27-64mm coverage with the latter bodies). It focuses down to 11 inches so it is great for both wide angle scenics and tight mini/macro scenics. It conveniently accepts 77mm filters. artie
The DPP 4 Screen Capture for today’s featured image
The DPP 4 Screen Capture
Again, as with Blue-Footed Booby Diving Image #1 in the blog post here, note how far the exposure has been pushed to the right (that despite the fact that I already moved the Brightness slider to -1/3 stop!) After that adjustment, the RGB values for the brightest WHITEs on the upper rear flank were still at 243, 244, 245 (high for me) and all three histogram channels were pushed almost to the highlight axis. Note also that though once again I failed to get the center AF point on the bird’s face, neck, or upper breasts, the image was pretty darned sharp on the eye.
Lastly note that even though this booby was flying towards me (rather than angling away as is typical), that the face was still too dark in the adjusted RAW file (and as it was in the converted TIF as well). If you can remember why that was please leave a comment.
This image was created on the 2017 Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) and my favorite diving booby photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 1/3 stops: 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB.
Center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the on center of the upper wing about 1/3 of the way out. See the illuminated-in-red AF point in the DPP 4 screen capture below. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -5.
Image #2: Blue-footed Booby diving
Good Fortune
This was one of the very few flight images from that great morning where the bird was flying a bit towards me as it dove. Thus, the head was not as dark as the head of the bird in Blue-footed Booby Diving #1 where the bird was angling away. Nevertheless, after the crop, the image optimization was much the same: quite straightforward. First I ran my NIK 30-30 Detail Extractor/Tonal Contrast recipe on the whole bird. Then I selectively sharpened the bird’s head and face with a Contrast Mask and then lightened the head and face of the bird with a Curves Adjustment and some Tim Grey Dodge and Burn where needed. Then I used the latter to do the digital Eye Doctor work that darkened the pupil and lightened the iris. Same old same old.
Lens Choice for Flight
Note that for Blue-footed Booby diving #1 (again in the blog post here), I chose the 400 DO II to take advantage of the extra stop of speed at f/4. After we returned to the second feeding spree it was much later in the day and the sky was much brighter (though still nicely overcast). There were, however, other factors in play. In fact, on our first panga ride that day I have gone from the 400 DO II (4.63 pounds) to the 100-400 II (3.5 pounds) because of fatigue. In addition, with its smaller size the 100-400 II is simply easier to keep on the subject, easier to handle, easier to maneuver. If you are fortunate enough to own both, you are often faced with a challenging decision: grab the 400 DO II for more light, lower ISOs, and faster shutter speeds, or grab the 100-400 II for lighter weight and ease of handling (not to mention the ability to zoom out as needed for close birds or diving flock images) …
2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….
2018 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT: Monday, JAN 15 thru and including the morning session on Friday, JAN 19, 2018: 4 1/2 days: $2099.
Limit: 8: Openings: 1
Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Sunday, Jan 14, 2018.
Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (usually nesting and displaying) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Wood Duck and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seal (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lion; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Please note: formerly dependable, both Wood Duck and Marbled Godwit have been declining at their usual locations for the past two years …
San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects. With annual visits spanning more than three decades I have lot of experience there….
With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography. And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You can do most of your photography with an 80- or 100-400 lens …
Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?
Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings.
The San Diego Details
This IPT will include five 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, four 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, four lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. Dinners are on your own so that we can get some sleep.
A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. Or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 9/11//2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night was beyond amazing. At 68 he still has his voice and more energy than you could possibly imagine. And he really knows how to connect with a New York audience. He was funny and humble and ever-appreciative of the skilled musicians in his band. What I loved most about the concert was the Billy Joel was obviously having a ton of fun. There were two guests on stage, Paul Simon (The Boxer) and Miley Cyrus; what a voice she has! He did 25 songs in all, most of them his monster hits. Those included Scenes from an Italian Restaurant and Piano Man before the encore break. To say that I was quite emotional for those two would be a huge understatement. After the short break he finished off with You May Be Right, We Didn’t Start the Fire, Uptown Girl, It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me, Big Shot, and Only The Good Die Young. For the last set the 20,000 plus sellout crowd stood and danced, screamed with happiness, and clapped till their hands were numb for about 40 minutes straight.
Lissy and I were completely exhausted but still exhilarated when we finally arrived at her home at about 1:30am.
I slept late for me, until 7:30am and played a lot of catch with grandson Idris for the rest of the day 🙂
With just one slot left on the San Diego IPT, you might wish to act quickly if you would like to join me in January 2018.
The Streak
Today makes sixty-eight days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare (including the time spent on the image optimization). With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Latest Used Gear Kudos
via e-mail from Robert Blanke
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert
September Sales
Margaret Page sold her Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition along with a $175 value L-Plate for $949 in late September.
Robert Blanke sold his Canon EOS 5Ds body in like-new condition for $2249.00 in early September.
Ron Paulk sold his Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for $9,899 with lots of great extras in early September.
Lisa Tri sold her Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Zoom lens (the original IS version) in near-mint condition for the BAA record low price of $898 in early September.
IPT veteran Joe Messina sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in excellent plus condition for the BAA record-low price of $7,900 in early September.
Ivan Kuraev sold his Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $1699 and his Canon EOS 5D Mark IV in excellent near-mint condition for $2499 in early September.
IPT veteran Mike Ross sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip all in mint condition for $1,099 on the first day it was listed in early September.
Ray Stranagan sold his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens in excellent condition for $3999 in early September, just three days after it was listed.
Brand New Listings
Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Lens
Steve Cashell is offering a Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM lens in near-mint condition for a very low $8399. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the E-180C front lens cover, the lens trunk with both keys, a Really Right Stuff LCF-51 lens foot, a Camo LensCoat, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only.
Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Steve via e-mail or by phone at 10734-693-4242 (Eastern time).
I owned and used the super-sharp 800mm f/5.6, often with a 1.4X TC, as my go-to super-telephoto lens for almost five years. If you work with birds that are tough to approach and have trouble making sharp images with the 2X III TC, this lens should have your name on it. The 800/5.6 is great from the car or from a blind. I was astounded when I counted to learn that 15 of the 67 images in my San Diego exhibit were created with my 800 … They sell new right now for $12,999 from B&H. BB&H has a used one in similar condition for the insanely high price of $9,499.95. That gives you a choiceL save $4,600 off the cost of a new one or $1100.95 off the price of a used one … artie
Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Price reduced $349 on September 16, 2017!
IPT veteran Jack Nevitt is offering a Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM lens in mint condition for $1150 (was $1499!) The sale includes the lens case LP 1016, the, original box, the front and rear lens caps, the instruction booklet and CD, 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 Jack via e-mail or by phone at 703-966-3343 (eastern time).
This lens is ideal for serious landscape photographers and for architectural, wedding, and night-sky star photography. It sells new for $2099. artie
One AF point up and one to the right of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. As seen in the DPP 4 screen capture below, the selected AF point was on the space below the base of the bill and just caught the spot where the base of the neck meets the top of the breast. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Ring-necked Duck drake floating
Sitting Duck
Ring-necked Ducks — including both the handsome drakes (like the one above) and the more modest hens — have continued to be cooperative and dependable subjects on the San Diego IPT. Sitting behind your lowered tripod offers a sweet perspective without your having to get down on your belly on either asphalt or a downhill slope. The former is much more comfortable 🙂 You can see a hint of the mahogany/burgundy neck ring that gives this species its name.
Exposure Question
If you were behind the camera at the moment of exposure and were working in Av mode what EC (exposure compensation) would have dialed in? Why?
The DPP 4 screen capture for today’s featured image
Be sure to click to enlarge so that you can read the small numbers and see the fine print.
The DPP 4 Screen Capture
Note the position of the selected AF point that is illuminated in red; it is right on the same plane as the drake’s eye.
The WHITEs in the original had way too much RED. I tried moving the Color Fine tune dot towards BLUE but did not like the result so I tried something new. I used Click White Balance and then moved the Color Fine tune dot away from BLUE and a bit towards RED. Perfect. Then I moved the Shadow slider to +1 to reveal a bit more detail in the dark tones and the Highlight slider to -1 to reveal a bit more detail in the whites on the side of the duck’s breast.
Once I brought the converted TIFF into Photoshop I eyeball-leveled it 1/2 degree counter-clockwise and filled in the added skinny triangles using John Haedo Content Aware fill. Then I used the Spot Healing brush to remove a very few specular highlights from the black plumage. Last, working very large, I removed the “extra” eye highlight from the lower edge of the pupil using a 70% hardness Clone Stamp Tool brush. Explanation: when photographing birds on the water on sunny days you will often see one highlight from the sun and an extra highlight from the sun’s reflection off the water.
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II) will teach you an efficient Mac/Photo Mechanic/Photoshop workflow that will make it easy for you to make your images better in Photoshop (rather than worse). That true whether you convert your images in DPP 4 or ACR. See the blog post here to learn lots more and to read a free excerpt.
You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand.
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)
Everything mentioned above (and tons more) is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. The new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.
The two most recent and many of the older MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):
Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.
You can learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of their Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. And you can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….
2018 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT: Monday, JAN 15 thru and including the morning session on Friday, JAN 19, 2018: 4 1/2 days: $2099.
Limit: 8: Openings: 1
Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Sunday, Jan 14, 2018.
Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (usually nesting and displaying) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Wood Duck and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seal (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lion; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Please note: formerly dependable, both Wood Duck and Marbled Godwit have been declining at their usual locations for the past two years …
San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects. With annual visits spanning more than three decades I have lot of experience there….
With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography. And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You can do most of your photography with an 80- or 100-400 lens …
Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?
Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings.
The San Diego Details
This IPT will include five 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, four 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, four lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. Dinners are on your own so that we can get some sleep.
A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. Or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 9/11//2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
Saturday was a fun day on Long Island. In the morning I went with younger daughter Alissa to her younger son Idris’s little league game. It was thunder-stormed out when a huge black cloud came in from the north. Next I visited my sister Arna. Then Lissy and I headed into the city on the 5:40 LIRR train out of Ronkonkoma to Penn Station to see Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden.
The Streak
Today makes sixty-seven days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare (including the time spent on the image optimization). With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
This image was created on the 2017 Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime IPT with the hand held Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM lens and my favorite diving booby photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 3200. Evaluative metering +2 1/3 stops off the gray sky: 1/4000 sec. at f/4.5 in Manual mode. AWB.
Center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the center of the bird’s far wing, pretty much on the same plane as the bird’s eye. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -5.
The Optimized Image: Blue-footed Booby diving #1
Blue-footed Booby Diving #1
On every Galapagos photo trip you hope that you will get to enjoy at least one Blue-footed Booby feeding/diving spree as they can be spectacular. On the 2017 IPT, we got to enjoy two. On the same day! As always, we were on the water early; today’s image was created at 6:59am. We enjoyed frantic action for more than two hours. Then the skies cleared and the sun came out with a vengeance so we headed back to the Samba. Within an hour it had clouded up again so when my guide, Juan, spotted a second feeding spree with his bins we all got back into the pangas and went to work for another good hour. All BAA IPTs include complete flexibility based on the current local, weather, wind, sky, and tidal conditions.
Note that in the very low light of early morning I went to ISO 3200 (though I could have easily gotten by with ISO 1600). I took the 400 DO II along specifically to use in very low light situations; though it is a lot heavier than the 100-400 II, that decision paid off nicely on several occasions. At f/4, the DO II is one full stop faster than my beloved 100-400 II. Noise in the brown tones was not a problem as the RAW file (see the DPP 4 screen capture below for more on that) was exposed way, way to the right.
The DPP 4 Screen Capture for today’s featured image
What Would You Think?
What would you think of a near-square crop that included the main subject and the two partial boobies in the upper and lower left corners of the frame?
What’s to learn from the DPP 4 screen capture for today’s featured image?
Lots. Note the position of the selected AF point illuminated in red. In an ideal world, I would have gotten that right in the bird’s head, face, or neck. In any case, the bird’s eye is relatively sharp. Notice that I must have really pushed the RAW exposure to the right. How can you tell? Even though I reduced the Brightness nearly 1/3 full stop (as seen) and moved the Highlight slider to -3 (off screen). Note also that although the BLUE histogram is further to the right than the RED and the GREEN histograms, the RGB values for the brightest WHITEs are relatively neutral at 230, 230, 231.
The Image Optimization
Eliminating the three extraneous diving boobies was pretty much a piece of cake; I used a combination of the Clone Stamp Tool, the Patch Tool, and Content Aware Fill. To add the bit of extra canvas needed in front of the bird, I simply pulled out the love handle on the Crop Too and then used John Heado Content Aware Fill to fill in the added canvas. Next I cropped from three sides to position the bird well back in the frame.
Notice how in the DPP 4 Screen Capture that the bird’s face was very dark. There were two reasons for this. As the birds began to dive they were angling slightly away from us so that their heads were angled away from the light (that was properly behind us). In addition — and this is a fine point that folks often miss — when you get the correct exposure for the WHITEs the middle tones are about one stop too dark and the dark tones are close to two stops under-exposed. If this concept seems foreign to you I would strongly advise getting yourself a copy of the original The Art of Bird Photography and studying and mastering the section on Exposure theory.
Whether or not you understand that concept, you still need to bring up (lighten) both the middle and dark tones so that the exposure looks both uniform and natural. To do just that I used a combination of my NIK Color Efex Pro Detail Extractor/Tonal Contrast recipes, Curves adjustments, Tim Grey Dodge and Burn. When needed, each was refined by adding a Regular Layer Mask and painting away the effects with soft brushes of varying opacities. Last was a bit of Eye Doctor work to darken the pupil and lighten the iris.
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II) will teach you an efficient Mac/Photo Mechanic/Photoshop workflow that will make it easy for you to make your images better in Photoshop (rather than worse). That true whether you convert your images in DPP 4 or ACR. See the blog post here to learn lots more and to read a free excerpt.
You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand.
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)
Everything mentioned above is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. The new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.
The two most recent and many of the older MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):
Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.
You can learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of their Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. And you can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
Aside from the one-hour delay, my flight to Islip went smoothly. Younger daughter Alissa picked me up right on the button. I never cease to marvel at how Lissy deals with the daily challenges of raising two autistic sons (and those feelings are of course punched up whenever I visit). I see Dr. Dan Holland this afternoon. Dan, of True Sports Care in Nesconset, is my Long Island chiropractor; the guy is great.
The Streak
Today makes sixty-six days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare (including the time spent on the image optimization). With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
One AF point down and three to the left of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the center of the pinniped’s neck.
Click on the image to enjoy a larger, borderline spectacular version.
Galapagos Sea Lion playing
Serendipitous Sea Lion Perfection Part I
Even more so than with birds, I find photographing sea lions a big challenge. Getting the right exposure on very dark, very wet creatures can be a challenge. Soft light — cloudy bright in this case — is ideal. As with today’s featured image, a zoom lens is a huge help with framing. And as always, picking the right AF point is both challenging and, when you get it right, rewarding. The last piece to the puzzle is capturing the right moment. With today’s image the animal was playing, rolling in the surf as the gentle waves came in and receded. Once I had the framing right, I created a series of nine images. The pose in this frame, _P3A5051, was beyond perfect. The beautiful curve of the body, and the positions or the head, the tail, and the flippers could not have been better. Did I see this perfect serendipitous arrangement as I held down the shutter button? Of course not. But by having the right exposure, by selecting the right AF point, and by varying the focal length and the framing, I was ready to cash my ticket when the magic moment occurred. Heck, even the diagonal line of the breaking wave above the sea lion was perfectly placed (as a framing element).
“Good luck happens when preparedness meets opportunity.” This quote, often attributed to the Roman philosopher Seneca, is especially applicable to all facets of nature photography.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
I woke at 4:30am on Thursday morning and started packing for my flight to Long Island. By 9:30 I was in good shape so I took a nice 48-length swim. Jim and I left the house right on time at 11:30am. He dropped me off for my dental cleaning and had the oil changed in the Sequoia. Then he picked me back up and dropped me at MCO way early for my flight which is currently delayed a bit. I normally remember to bring my Samba hoodie to wear on the plane if needed. Right now I am still in the Orlando airport and it is so cold in the terminal that you could freeze water in a glass!
I am taking just a bit of camera gear: the 600 II, the 100-400 II, one 2X III and two 1.4X III TCs, and two 5D Mark IV bodies. All in my larger Think Tank Roller that weighed a svelte 33 1/2 pounds. My Mongoose and my Induro GIT 304L are in one of my two checked bags.I hope to find a few shorebirds here and there between visiting family, making several scheduled appointments, and enjoying the two planned trips into the city. I fly back to Florida a week from Sunday.
I was glad to learn late on Thursday that the sale of Stephen November’s 200-400mm f/4L IS with the Internal 1.4X TC is pending.
Great IPT News
An amazing nine or ten folks — I need to check carefully — have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There is just one slot left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.
The Streak
Today makes sixty-five days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about two hours to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Latest Used Gear Kudos
via e-mail from Robert Blanke
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert
September Sales
Margaret Page sold her Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition along with a $175 value L-Plate for $949 in late September.
Robert Blanke sold his Canon EOS 5Ds body in like-new condition for $2249.00 in early September.
Ron Paulk sold his Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for $9,899 with lots of great extras in early September.
Lisa Tri sold her Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Zoom lens (the original IS version) in near-mint condition for the BAA record low price of $898 in early September.
IPT veteran Joe Messina sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in excellent plus condition for the BAA record-low price of $7,900 in early September.
Ivan Kuraev sold his Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $1699 and his Canon EOS 5D Mark IV in excellent near-mint condition for $2499 in early September.
IPT veteran Mike Ross sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip all in mint condition for $1,099 on the first day it was listed in early September.
Ray Stranagan sold his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens in excellent condition for $3999 in early September, just three days after it was listed.
Brand New Listings
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body in excellent condition (with slight scratches on top of camera) for a very low and fair $1199. The sale includes the front body cap, a RRS L-plate, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).
Two dependable, rugged 1D Mark IVs served as my workhorse professional bodies for several years; I really enjoyed their 1.3X crop factors, the fast frame rate, and the excellent image quality. artie
Canon EOS 5D Mark III
Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS 5D Mark III digital camera body in excellent condition (with slight scratches on top of camera) for a very low $1299 (recently cleaned and checked by Canon). The sale includes the front body cap, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).
I have used the 5D III for birds on occasion with excellent results, even with the 2X III TC and the 600 II. For man years it was my go-to dSLR for flowers, landscapes, and Urbex photography until I replaced it first with the 5DS R and then with the 5D Mark IV. In my experience, the quality of the image files is superb. artie
Canon EOS 5DS R
Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS 5DS R digital camera body in like-new condition for only $2649. The sale includes the front body cap, a RRS L-plate, a LensCoat BodyBag, the Canon batter grip (with only one battery), the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).
The 5DS R is the premier dSLR for landscape photography and as Patrick Sparkman and I proved, it is a great body for bird, wildlife, and nature photographers who have good sharpness techniques, especially those who make large prints; it’s image quality is unmatched. artie
Canon EOS-1DX Mark II
Mansoor Assadi is also offering a used Canon EOS-1DX Mark II professional digital camera body in like-new condition for only $4899 with only 23,000 shutter actuations.The camera was recently cleaned and checked by Canon. The sale includes the front body cap, a RRS L-plate, a LensCoat BodyBag, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).
The 1DX Mark II is Canon’s rugged, blazingly fast professional digital camera body. It features an amazing AF system and high quality image files with great dynamic range. It is the choice of Arash Hazeghi, one of the world’s premier birds in flight photographers. artie
This image was created alongside my house two days after Irma visited us. I used my favorite flower photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/20 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB.
Flexi-Zone Single/Rear Button AF on the center of the white flower. Live View for mirror lock-up with the 2-second timer for sharpness.
3/4 inch wildflower
You Tell Me …
Take a close look at the image caption above and then make an educated guess and let me know what lens, what focal length, and what accessory or accessories you think I used to create today’s featured image of a relatively small (3/4 inch) flower. Trust me, there is a clue, at least to the lens used. After that, you might be able to figure the rest out. But it won’t be easy.
Shepherd’s Needles
Thanks to my right-hand man, Jim Litzenberg, for correctly identifying today’s wildflower as Shepherd’s (or Spanish) Needles. Whether Bidens alba or Bidens pilosa is the correct Latin name is part of a continuing taxonomic debate. The same can be said as to whether the plant in question is native to Florida. Learn more here.
Your Call
Feel free to leave a thoughtful critique of the image. Exposure? Sharpness? Image design? Light? Interest or impact?
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
I miss DeSoto already 🙂 If you are interested in an early winter DeSoto IPT sometime between mid-November and mid-December, shoot me an e-mail with your date preferences. I will check the tide tables and do my best to accomomdate folks’ preferences.
I fly to Long Island tomorrow to visit younger daughter Alissa and her family and to see my two sisters. And Billy Joel at the Garden on Saturday evening 🙂
Great IPT News
An amazing nine or ten folks — I need to check carefully — have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There is just one slot left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.
The Streak
Today marks sixty-four days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about 45 minutes to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Upper Large Zone/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The AF system activated a cluster of three AF points on the bird’s chin right on the same plane as the bird’s eye.
Image #1: Mystery egret …
Mystery Egret …
When I first saw this bird it struck me as an unusually light or bleached young (hatch-year) Reddish Egret. But the yellow lores threw me for a loop. It was well smaller than a Great Egret, pretty much right for Reddish Egret. After some pondering I started thinking that it might be a Reddish Egret X Great Egret hybrid; that would explain the yellow lores. The bird had mostly all black legs; the legs of young Reddish Egrets are gray. A leucistic (partial albino) dark morph Reddish Egret might make sense, again but for the yellow lores.
I sent the images to Julian Hough who knows a thing or two about birds –heck, it’s genetic — he’s a Brit, and he reminded me that white morph Reddish Egret might be in the mix somewhere. I had totally forgotten about the white morphs …
Upper Large Zone/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The AF system activated a cluster of three AF points on the bird’s chin right on the same plane as the bird’s eye.
Image #2: Mystery egret/head and neck
More on the mystery bird …
We did see the mystery bird in the shallow surf. At no time did it exhibit the the drunken sailor fishing dance behavior that is characteristic of Reddish Egret. There is no sign of any of the neck plumes seen on all adult Reddish Egrets but that would make sense for young birds. A genetically screwed up Great Egret makes sense but for the small size. If you have any ideas, or know someone who might, please leave a comment.
This Just In …
I just got an e-mail from Rosemary Harris who said that photos of this same bird were sent to the e Cornell Lab of Ornithology last year and that they called it a Great Blue Heron X Great Egret hybrid. They even gave it a Latin name: Ardea herodias x alba. The patterning on the neck does suggest that there is some GBH in the mix but I am curious as to why the bird was well smaller than a Great Egret that is in turn, well smaller than a great blue … That said, I do not know much about hybridism in birds, especially in the heron family. I have written the folks at the Lab.
Upper Large Zone/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The AF system activated four AF points that painted the bird’s eye and lores to perfection!
Image #3: Mystery egret/head portrait …
Large Zone AF
I continue to preach the benefits of Large Zone AF for tight horizontal head portraits (like Image #3) and for vertical head and neck portraits of long-necked birds (as in Image #2). If you are currently using any other AF Area selection mode you will find it much easier to create perfect image designs in these situations simply by choosing Large Zone … In Image #2 note that I was able to place the bird’s neck well back in the frame while maintaining sharp focus on the eye. With image #3 note that I was able to place the bird’s head well back in the frame while keeping the eye well above the horizontal centerline.
Your Favorite?
Which of today’s featured images is your favorite? Why?
DPP 4 Screen Capture
DPP 4 Screen Capture
Note the activated cluster of AF points illuminated in red. Could you ask for anything better?
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
There were five of us altogether at the Tuesday morning In-the-Field Instructional Meet-up Session: local meet-up repeater Ray Jusseaume, long time friends an many multiple IPT veterans, the fancy free Stokes and Pat Fishburne, and IPT left-over and great new friend Lee Sommie. After lots of sunrise fun and lessons my main goal was to re-find the strange heron that we had been seeing for the four newcomers. Mission accomplished. I will share images of that bird with you here tomorrow.
All but Ray joined for yet another great lunch at the Neptune Grill. During the IPT I had the jambalaya, an amazing spinach salad, and a great burger with absolutely the best sweet potato fires on the planet. Many in the group consistently went for the fish tacos and raved about them. Jim Miller had “the second best Cuban sandwich of my life.” Last year Carlotta Grenier had the pastichio off the Greek menu every day! And Jake Levin from Montreal who has been on several DeSoto IPTs, felt that his day was not complete without the Gyro sandwich, also off the Greek menu. Yesterday I had only a cheeseburger on a plate (no bun) so that I could have room for my first dessert; if you have a sweet tooth and are within an hour’s drive of Gulfport you would be considered legally insane if you did not drop by for a piece of their peanut butter pie … It is not always on the menu but is well worth trying for. And there were some pretty good looking alternatives in the dessert case!
I fly to Long Island on Thursday to visit younger daughter Alissa and her family and to see my two sisters.
Great IPT News
An amazing nine or ten folks — I need to check carefully — have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There is just one slot left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.
The Streak
Today marks sixty-three days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about 45 minutes to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me once again with both my DeSoto IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
This image was created on the Tuesday morning In-the-Field Meet-Up session with the the hand held Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 200. Evaluative metering -3 2/3 stop (not a typo): 1/8000 sec. at f/11. WB= K7500.
Manual focus.
Great Egret looking down at sunrise
Blasting Sunrise Highlights
It looked as if we might enjoy some relatively soft sunrise colors but once the sun peeked over a large cloud that was the end of those thoughts … Photographing directly into blasting highlights is always a big challenge. If you are not right on your game, you are doomed to failure. You can learn the basics of shooting into blasting hight=lights (including how to get the right exposure in these difficult situations) in the Art of Bird Photography II (ABP II: 916 pages, 900+ images on CD only or via download.) Only the very well prepared should attempt to answer the two questions below …
Why focus manually at 1000mm?
In a blasting highlights situation, why is it usually necessary to focus manually?
Why hand hold at 1000mm?
In a blasting highlights situation, why is it often a good plan to hand hold even when working at an extremely long focal length?
Group Blasting Highlight Photography
When photographing blasting highlights with two others why is it best to have one person sitting, one kneeling, and one standing?
Your Critique …
Do you like this image? If yes, what do you like about it? If not, what don’t you like? Could I have improved it in the field? How? Could I have improved it during post processing? How?
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
We had another great morning at DeSoto on Monday. We enjoyed making lots of tight head portraits of various herons and egrets and enjoyed some great flight photography as well. I am looking forward to finishing up teaching and getting back home on Tuesday afternoon. I fly to Long Island on Thursday to visit younger daughter Alissa and her family and to see my two sisters.
Great IPT News
An amazing nine folks have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There is just one slot left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.
The Streak
Today marks sixty-two days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about 45 minutes to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Upper Large Zone/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The AF system activated four AF points in the vicinity of bird’s right eye and the base of the bill.
Great Blue Heron, from below.
Here’s Looking Down at You!
If you find yourself looking up at a heron or an egret from below, you can make some dramatic images by stopping down, focusing as near to the eyes as possible, and doing your best to design a pleasing image. You need to be patient and wait until the bird is looking right down the lens barrel with both eyes visible. I first came up with this idea about 20 years ago while lying down on the Sanibel Fishing pier and looking up at a Great Egret that was on the railing.
If you were a baitfish and looked up to see the view above, your time might be short …
Depth of Field Note
Note: even at f/16 the distal 1/2 inch of the bill is not even close to being in sharp focus. When do you need to stop down? When you are relatively close to the subject and working near the minimum focusing distance of the lens. Depth of field decreases as the camera to subject distance decreases. And it increases as the camera to subject distance increases. Working at 560mm at about 10 feet with a full frame body the total depth of field is less than 7/8 inch …
Upper Large Zone/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The AF system activated three AF points that grabbed the back of the bird’s lower neck.
Great Blue Heron, 100% crop of eyes.
Sharpness Question
How does the sharpness of this unsharpened 100% crop look to you?
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
We had a great morning at DeSoto on Sunday with flying and diving Brown Pelicans. In addition, our friendly oystercatcher was chowing down in the same spot on the same stuff. After a few hours we were headed back to the hotel when I spotted two handsome Wood Storks. We got really close, talked about exposure, and in the bright sun practiced working right on sun angle. We made lots of head portraits both vertical and horizontal. We saw what happened to the BKGRs when you zoomed out. Eventually the birds flew from the seawall to a nearby beach because a fisherman was throwing his cast net and catching plenty of bait. We made our way down to the beach and created images of the storks walking and preening. I was just about to call the morning and head back to the hotel and lunch when a thin cloud covered the sun. We wound up staying another one and one-half hours. And the fisherman gave us a ton of live bait for our bucket … Whoa, did we have fun.
Great IPT News
An amazing nine folks have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There is just one slot left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.
The Streak
Today marks sixty-one days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Upper Large Zone/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The AF system activated three AF points that grabbed the back of the bird’s lower neck.
Great Egret, young of the year — aka: hatch-year bird.
It Does Not Get Any Easier …
Sun in the west, dark storm clouds in the east that reflect off the water providing an almost black backgournd. Get on sun angle and make an exposure check. Pick upper large zone AF, acquire focus, frame, check the in-viewfinder level, and fire. With images like this one where I want to darken the background during the RAW conversion, I experiment by moving the Shadow slider one or two to the left. Next I took a bit off the bottom where the reflections petered out and added the same amount to the top using the Crop Tool love handles to expand the canvas and John Haedo Content Aware Fill to fill it in. As I said, this image was a piece of cake.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
With a tame oystercatcher feeding in an atypical food-rich setting, we had a great morning on the DeSoto Fall IPT; we followed that with a long — 2 1/2 hours — and great image review/Photoshop working lunch session, Instructor Nap Time, and a lousy afternoon. The latter was caused by very strong southeast winds that left the birds facing directly away from us. As one participant, Muhammed Arif, is leaving a day early, we enjoyed our thanks for coming dinner at Good Times Continental Restaurant on Tierra Verde on Saturday evening.
Great IPT News
An amazing nine folks have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There is just one slot left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.
The Streak
Today marks sixty days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took close to two hours to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Latest Used Gear Kudos
Via e-mail from Robert Blanke
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert
Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender with a ton of extras!
Stephen November is offering a Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in near-mint condition with a slew of extras for the great price of $8399. The extras include a LensCoat in digital camo (installed since day 1), a LensCoat digital camo Hoodie, the Kirk replacement lens foot with KES Sure Grip for Canon 200-400mm lens — part #LP-55SG (a $118 value), a Woodland camo rain sleeve — a British product from Wildlife Watching Supplies (a $66 value), and a Canon drop-in polarizer filter (a $229 value). Also included in the sale are the original product box, E-145C lens cover, the rear lens cap, the wide lens strap, the lens trunk with keys, the original tripod and monopod feet, 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. Photos are available upon request.
This is the world’s best lens for a trip to Africa. It kills also in the Galapagos and in South Georgia, the Falklands, and Antarctica. And I use mine a lot at Bosque and other dusty places where the built-in TC helps to keep your sensor clean. And I love it in the Palouse for its versatility. Most recently, I often found myself wishing that I had taken the 200-400 rather than my 500 II on the Bear Boat Cubs IPT. Many nature photographers use it as their workhorse telephoto lens as it offers 884mm at f/8 with an external 1.4X TC added. As you can see below, it is pretty good whenever you are working around relatively tame birds. The lens sells new at B&H right now for $10,999. You can save a slew of dollars by grabbing Stephen’s lens along with all the extras right now. artie
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Left Large Zone/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system worked to perfection selecting an L-shaped array of three sensors with one AF point right on the bird’s eye and the other two below and in front of the eye.
Snowy Egret and sun — this JPEG represents the converted TIF.
My Very Favorite Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender Fort Desoto Image
In the Which is your favorite Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender Fort Desoto image?here, I asked:
Which of the images is your favorite? Why?
Which one of the images is my favorite? Why?
My very favorite image was and is Snowy Egret Sunset. Why? I love the out-of-focus sun. I love the fact that I went for the image in exceedingly difficult circumstances. And succeeded. Up until about 7:26pm I had managed to stay clean and dry. In order to get low enough to get the snowy’s head and the sun in the same frame, I had chosen to lie down flat in the very wet sand. Yuck. But Yeah! (Note: the difficulty we had in capturing an image should not matter; it is best only to judge the image itself without considering the circumstances …)
Kudos to Anthony who commented I’d like to see what you can do with the lower right image. Processed, I bet it’d look great! and to Jake who wrote, My favourites are the first and last images. Hazarding a guess … Is your favourite the last image? Stunning images.
My second favorite was the first image, Great Egret Squawking, so kudos again to Jake (above) and to David Policansky who wrote, My favorite is the first image, the great egret squawking.
Great analysis of the mystery bird by IPT veteran Scott Borowy who left this comment:
My first instinct for the silhouetted image was to call it a gull species, however, the large, webbed feet made me instantly question that. I think it is a Double-crested Cormorant, though it’s tough to tell in the shadows what specific cormorant it may be. The overall shape of the head, hooked tip of the bill, shape of the throat, (both which threw me as it is facing slightly toward the setting sun) the webbed feet, and rough, yet rounded ends to the feathers are what I’m basing this on.
My Favorite DeSoto Sunset Spot
To learn the location of my favorite Fort DeSoto sunset spot, you need to do one of two things:
Left Large Zone/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system worked to perfection selecting an L-shaped array of three sensors with one AF point right on the bird’s eye and the other two below and in front of the eye.
Snowy Egret and sun — the optimized version
The Image Optimization
I converted the image pretty much straight up in DPP 4. Once I took it into Photoshop, the first thing that I did was to level the image using the Ruler Tool on the horizon. My next thought was to make the bird black with a Levels adjustment to create a dramatic silhouette. That attempt failed miserably as the image became terribly posterized and incredibly noisy. So then I went to a lighter look which is actually how things looked in life — everything was very soft. But when I lightened the bird to white, the sun became completely washed out. To fix that problem I went to Tim Grey Dodge and Burn, reduced the brush size to just smaller than the sun, and reduced the opacity of the darkening brush to 20% by hitting “2” using Denise Ippolito’s Brush Opacity Magic technique. Two slightly swirling clicks left me as a Happy Camper with a dramatic sun.
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II) will teach you an efficient Mac/Photo Mechanic/Photoshop workflow that will make it easy for you to make your images better in Photoshop (rather than worse). That true whether you convert your images in DPP 4 or ACR. See the blog post here to learn lots more and to read a free excerpt.
You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand.
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)
Everything mentioned above is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. The new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.
The two most recent MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):
Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.
You can learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of their Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. And you can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
BAA Site Guides are the next best thing to being on an IPT.
Fort DeSoto Site Guide
Can’t make a DeSoto 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.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
I got to DeSoto early on Friday morning for my second pre-IPT scouting session. I found a nice flock of spoonbills and wound up getting so close that I ditched the 500 II and went with the 100-400 II hand held. On the way out of the park I found a nice low Osprey that I photographed with the 600 II and the 2X III-i TC. I met my group of four at 3pm sharp for the introductory session.
We had a great afternoon session with the shorebirds and wading birds, especially when we had some Great Egrets set against the reflections of the black storm clouds in the distance. I am already in love with the group and the group is in love with me. We head back out in twenty minutes — 5:40am. So I gotta go.
Great IPT News
An amazing eight folks have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There are just two slots left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.
The Streak
Today marks fifty-nine days in a row with a new educational blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
This image was created on my scouting visit to Fort Desoto Park on the morning of Friday, September 22. I used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 504mm), and my favorite spoonbill photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/800 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -1.
A single AF point that was two rows up and one to the left of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the bird’s neck where it meets the back just in front of and below the bend of the wing. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
I was standing in about six inches of water. I had lots of spoonbills right in front of me. Pink. And blue. I had the 500 II on a tripod with the 1.4X III and my 100-400 II on my shoulder via Black Rapid Curve Breath strap. Both of course with a 5D Mark IV. I was working at 700mm off the tripod. I knew from the first frame that I needed to get lower because the water was not a pure blue mirror. There was lots of floating junk on the surface. Jeez, I thought. Lowering the tripod and sitting in the water would require time and in addition, I would need to walk back to shore to ditch the 100-400 II … In the meantime, the flock kept getting closer and closer.
Left Large Zone/AI Servo/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system selected four AF points that painted the bird’s body; with the relatively distant, small-in-the-frame subject there was more than enough depth of field to cover the bird’s eye. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Finally it came to me. Mount my 1.4X III-ii TC on the 100-400 II, leave the tripod standing safely where it was, get right on sun angle, and then sit in the water hand holding the 100-400 II. It worked like a charm. I was able to zoom in to create tight portraits like Image #1, or to zoom out a bit to include a strip of the distant marsh as in Image #2. And by zooming out I was far better able to include as much of the pink reflections as I wanted. I wound up creating 99 images at 700mm and had no great desire to keep any of them … All in all, these are lot more reasons to love the 100-400 II.
Your Favorite?
Which of today’s two featured images is your favorite? Be sure to let us know why. What do you like or dislike about each?
Fort DeSoto in fall is rich with tame birds. All of the images in this card were created at Fort DeSoto in either late September or early October. I hope that you can join me there this October. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
BIRDS AS ART In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session (ITF/MWS): $99.
Join me on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for 3-hours of photographic instruction at Fort DeSoto Park. Beginners are welcome. Lenses of 300mm or longer are recommended but even those with 70-200s should get to make some nice images. Teleconverters are always a plus.
You will learn the basics of digital exposure and image design, autofocus basics, and how to get close to free and wild birds. We should get to photograph a variety of wading birds, shorebirds, terns, and gulls. This inexpensive afternoon workshop is designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tour. I hope to meet you there.
Please register by sending me an e-mail and/or by calling me on my cell at 863-221-2372.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
I spent a good two hours on the phone (with help from Jim) setting up an account with our new phone and internet provider; HughesNet satellite. We should have internet by this after, Friday, SEPT 22, but will not have regular phone service for about ten days as I want to keep the current numbers for our two lines. HughesNet needs to file paperwork to “get” the number from Frontier. Frontier doesn’t quite know it yet but they are toast. Then I finished packing and headed over to Fort Desoto stopping by the Ruby Tuesdays on SR 60 in Brandon for lunch along the way. As you will see below, there are lots of birds at the park. There are barely any signs of Irma but for lots of palm tree debris that has neatly been piled up.
Great IPT News
An amazing eight folks have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There are just two slots left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.
The Streak
Today marks fifty-eight days in a row with a new educational blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Latest Used Gear Kudos
via e-mail from Robert Blanke
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert
Brand New Listing
Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender with a ton of extras!
Stephen November is offering a Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in near-mint condition with a slew of extras for the great price of $8399. The extras include a LensCoat in digital camo (installed since day 1), a LensCoat digital camo Hoodie, the Kirk replacement lens foot with KES Sure Grip for Canon 200-400mm lens — part #LP-55SG (a $118 value), a Woodland camo rain sleeve — a British product from Wildlife Watching Supplies (a $66 value), and a Canon drop-in polarizer filter (a $229 value). Also included in the sale are the original product box, E-145C lens cover, the rear lens cap, the wide lens strap, the lens trunk with keys, the original tripod and monopod feet, 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. Photos are available upon request.
This is the world’s best lens for a trip to Africa. It kills also in the Galapagos and in South Georgia, the Falklands, and Antarctica. And I use mine a lot at Bosque and other dusty places where the built-in TC helps to keep your sensor clean. And I love it in the Palouse for its versatility. Most recently, I often found myself wishing that I had taken the 200-400 rather than my 500 II on the Bear Boat Cubs IPT. Many nature photographers use it as their workhorse telephoto lens as it offers 884mm at f/8 with an external 1.4X TC added. As you can see below, it is pretty good whenever you are working around relatively tame birds. The lens sells new at B&H right now for $10,999. You can save a slew of dollars by grabbing Stephen’s lens along with all the extras right now. artie
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
left to right from top to bottom: Great Egret squawking; Great Egret vertical; immature Laughing Gull; Adult White Ibis; adult Tricolored Heron; 1st year Roseate Spoonbill; 1st year Snowy Egret; backlit American Flag; can you identify this bird?; Snowy Egret sunset
Clicking on the composite image will make it smaller so view the images simply by scrolling down.
Questions
Which of the images is your favorite? Why?
Which one of the images is my favorite? Why?
What bird is shown in the lower left image, _P3A0524?
I will be optimizing my favorite image right after I publish this blog post early on the morning of Friday,September 22, 2017.
Fort DeSoto in fall is rich with tame birds. All of the images in this card were created at Fort DeSoto in either late September or early October. I hope that you can join me there this October. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
BIRDS AS ART In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session (ITF/MWS): $99.
Join me on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for 3-hours of photographic instruction at Fort DeSoto Park. Beginners are welcome. Lenses of 300mm or longer are recommended but even those with 70-200s should get to make some nice images. Teleconverters are always a plus.
You will learn the basics of digital exposure and image design, autofocus basics, and how to get close to free and wild birds. We should get to photograph a variety of wading birds, shorebirds, terns, and gulls. This inexpensive afternoon workshop is designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tour. I hope to meet you there.
Please register by sending me an e-mail and/or by calling me on my cell at 863-221-2372.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
Early on Wednesday I put the finishing touches on my 2016 taxes and sent them off to my accountant. I got so much work done in the morning that I took an earlier than usual swim. I was feeling so good and the pool was so sparkling and clean and it was so gorgeous and sunny out that I set out to swim a mile, 88 lengths. But when I got to 88 I said what the hey and would up swimming a very slow 100 lengths, 1.14 miles in all. Midday tomorrow I will drive over to Fort DeSoto for an afternoon scouting session follow by another one on Friday morning. I meet my group of five at 2pm on Friday.
Frontier Communications News
If you utilize their services, you would do well to try to find a new provider. Like right now. I’ve had no phone (two lines down) and no DSL service on my Frontier business account since Irma visited on the night of September 10, 2017. First I was told that they would not send a repair technician until September 25. After repeated calls from me ,they said on Tuesday that they would send someone by Wednesday September 20. They lied. At 3:30pm on Wednesday I got a call saying that my phone and internet service were part of a “common problem” and that they were working on it. So I called their customer (dis-) service line and was told that they would not send someone until the common problem was fixed. “We are waiting for a cable and do not know when it will come.” H”ow come it took them five days to figure out that there was a common (major) problem? Silence. “I have phone wires on the ground. They need to send someone to fix those now, as promised.” “We cannot send someone to your home until we fix the common problem.” “Why not?” “I don’t know.” Good bye!
Great IPT News
An amazing seven folks have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There are just three slots left so if you are interested in joining us please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.
The Streak
Today marks fifty-eight days in a row with a new educational blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about one hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Latest Used Gear Kudos
via e-mail from Robert Blanke
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
This image was created on our afternoon landing at Prince Philip’s Steps, Tower Island (Genovesa). I used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens and the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 280mm) with my favorite Happy Camper photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/60 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. Daylight WB.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +1.
Upper Large Zone/AI Servo/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The AF system activated two AF points that fell on Lauren’s right hand.
Loren Waxman with his 600 II on the way back to the Prince Phillips Steps landing site.
A Happy Camper
Above is a grab shot that I made of Loren as we headed back to the Prince Philip’s Steps landing on Tower Island, Genovesa. Even though we had only distant views of our main target, Short-eared Owl, you will notice that Loren has a big smile on his face. That is not unusual as Loren always has a big smile on his face.
I was thrilled the other day to receive a lovely card from Loren by mail with this handwritten note:
Arthur,
I just want to take a moment and thank you. You have taken so much time with me and I can see my photos improving with each trip. If I don’t get a chance to say it, you have given me a priceless gift that will go with me the rest of my life. I want you to know how much I appreciate it. I will think of you and all the lessons with each click! I am looking forward to more good times out there in birdland.
Your roomie, Loren
(Note: Loren was the greatest-ever roommate for me on the Galapagos; not only did he take the upper bunk but the man could sleep through a tornado. Easily for ten hours!)
This image was created on an afternoon landing at Inner Farnes on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 271mm) and the Canon EOS 7D Mark II, the world’s greatest value in a digital SLR. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/160 sec. at f/5 in Manual mode. AWB.
Atlantic Puffin on rock
Loren Waxman
I first met Loren Waxman in the parking lot of the San Diego IPT hotel. When he first spotted me, everything in my car was spread out on the ground as I searched for my missing rental car keys … (I am sure that I shared that story on the blog but could not find it after a 30-minute search. If you can find that blog post please leave a link in the comments section.) In any case, Loren was amazingly helpful throughout that whole sordid affair. He learned so much on that IPT that he quickly signed up for the 2017 Galapagos trip. He could not, however, resist the temptation and joined us at almost the last minute for the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. He is signed up for my next Falklands trip and has — along with another participant — committed to returning to the Galapagos on my late-July 2019 trip. As I have been saying, my Galapagos trip is simply the best.
Loren has been involved in construction and real estate development for twenty years. He is and has been the president of Waxman & Associates, Inc. in Portland, OR since 1993. His experience includes construction, management and development of single family, multi-family, commercial and mixed use projects. His firm specializes in environmental cleanup, historic structures, public-private partnerships, and regulatory navigation. You can check out some of his firm’s coolest major projects here.
This image was created on our morning gannet boat trip on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 100mm) with Loren’s favorite gannet photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 stops off the sky: 1/2500 sec. at f/4.5 in Manual mode. AWB.
Northern Gannet braking to dive
Loren’s Photographic Evolution
Loren showed up in San Diego intent determined to improve as a photographer. His initial concerns were with sharpness. As you can see in the image that opens this blog post we got him set up with an Induro Tripod, a CRX-5 Low Foot, and a Mongoose M3.6. And then I taught him how to use it. He was a quick study. From the get-go, he realized that to become a good photographer he would need to improve his post-processing skills. He has worked very hard in that area. Whether at lunch or dinner or just hanging out in the cottage in the UK Loren was next to me, asking questions. Always. By the time we got to the UK I started to work on his too-right image designs. He loves what Denise Ippolito calls “man-crops,” crops that leave the bird almost completely filling the frame. “No Loren, you need to give the bird more room in the frame.” He is getting there. For this image he needed to add canvas to make me happy 🙂
Loren shared the gannet image above with me on the Galapagos trip on a long navigation. “Gimme the RAW file” I said, “I can do better than that.” Loren will be thrilled to learn that the JPEG above was created from his optimized version; it was way better than my optimized version!
This image was created at the Iguana Park in Guayaquil with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) and Loren’s favorite iguana photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/125 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB.
Young Green Iguana
My Thoughts On Loren’s Improvement
As noted above, Loren is determined to improved and has worked very hard. He stays close to me in the field and asks a ton of questions. Unlike many who join IPTs, he is quick to share his images with me. On many trips when I say to the group, “Pick five of your best images from yesterday for sharing and critiquing,” less than half of the group participates. Loren is always first on line (unless Anita North edges him out).
In a phone conversation with Lauren last night, he said, “I post a ton to social media. I get zillions of great shot! comments. But I never learn anything. When you look at my images I always learn something.” I replied, “Loren, we’ve talked about this before. You need to join BirdPhotographer’s.Net and start posting. Getting your images critiqued by knowledgeable mods and members is the best way to continue to improve. A BPN membership is the best $40 you will ever spend on photography. And whenever you post an image, be sure to comment on five other images. There is tremendous learning involved there too.” “I’ll do it!” he said.
Folks participating on quality photographic tours need to realize that the more questions that they ask the more involved the leader or leaders will become.
Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Loren Waxman
Tight Works Too and Comments on Loren’s Image Sharpness Skills
In Loren’s Sally Lightfoot image above, we see that working very tight can also be very effective. Notice also that while working full frame at 1200mm with a relatively slow shutter speed, 1/160 second, Loren is now capable of creating super sharp images when working with long effective focal lengths on a tripod. In addition, if you check out the shooting data for the other images (like the one of the Green Iguana above), he has learned to make sharp images while hand holding at relatively slow shutter speeds as well.
“Loren is rich and can afford to go on multiple IPTs. I can’t do that.”
Do understand that by attending a single IPT, sticking close to me, and asking a ton of questions that you too can dramatically improve your skills. Note also that the $99 Fort DeSoto In-the-field Meet-up Session has only one person registered … Please scroll down for details on that; it is not too late for you to sign up. Please do so by sending me an e-mail and/or calling me on my cell at 863-221-2372.
And please do not forget that Loren has only been on two IPTs … So far 🙂
How’s He Doing?
Please leave a comment and let Loren know how you think he is doing. Which of his images above is your favorite? Be sure to let us know why you made your choice.
Oh, by the way, Loren began photographing birds less than one year ago …
Fort DeSoto in fall is rich with tame birds. All of the images in this card were created at Fort DeSoto in either late September or early October. I hope that you can join me there this October. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
BIRDS AS ART In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session (ITF/MWS): $99.
Join me on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for 3-hours of photographic instruction at Fort DeSoto Park. Beginners are welcome. Lenses of 300mm or longer are recommended but even those with 70-200s should get to make some nice images. Teleconverters are always a plus.
You will learn the basics of digital exposure and image design, autofocus basics, and how to get close to free and wild birds. We should get to photograph a variety of wading birds, shorebirds, terns, and gulls. This inexpensive afternoon workshop is designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tour. I hope to meet you there.
Please register by sending me an e-mail and/or by calling me on my cell at 863-221-2372.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
We got lots done yesterday as I started packing for the DeSoto Fall IPT. Midday on Thursday I will drive over a day early for an afternoon and morning scouting session. I did have time for a relaxing 48-length swim on Tuesday afternoon.
Great IPT News
An amazing seven folks have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There are just three slots left so if you are interested in joining us please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip and learn more here.
With help from regular blog readers Gloria Matyszyk and Keith Swindell, Jim was able to get back on line with the Mobile Hotspot on my Verizon Droid. Gloria suggested a wi-fi stick; I was able to grab the last one at our local Walmart’s. And Keith suggested via e-mail that the stick might not be working because the (dead) router was still plugged in. As soon as we removed that cable we were online! Thanks again to Gloria and Keith.
As a result, Jim was successfully able to fulfill a slew of orders that had been backed up in the BAA Online Store for more than a week in a single day. Thanks to all who waited patiently to hear from us as we recovered from Hurricane Irma. I did call Frontier back yesterday and was able to get my repair visit moved up from Monday to today, Wednesday, September 20. If you have been holding off on placing your order, today is the day.
The Streak
Today marks fifty-seven days in a row with a new educational blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about one hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Latest Used Gear Kudos
via e-mail from Robert Blanke
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert
Used Gear Sale from the past month
Robert Blanke sold his Canon EOS 5Ds body in like-new condition for $2249.00 in early September.
Ron Paulk sold his Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for $9,899 with lots of great extras in early September.
Lisa Tri sold her Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Zoom lens (the original IS version) in near-mint condition for the BAA record low price of $898 in early September.
IPT veteran Joe Messina sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in excellent plus condition for the BAA record-low price of $7,900 in early September.
Ivan Kuraev sold his Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $1699 and his Canon EOS 5D Mark IV in excellent near-mint condition for $2499 in early September.
IPT veteran Mike Ross sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip all in mint condition for $1,099 on the first day it was listed in early September.
Ray Stranagan sold his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens in excellent condition for $3999 in early September, just three days after it was listed.
IPT veteran Richard Bohnet also sold his Canon EOS 5D MK III (with an L-bracket) in near-mint condition for $1350 and his Canon EOS 7D in excellent condition for $279 in late August.
IPT veteran Richard Bohnet sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the “old” 1-4) in excellent condition for an even $500 in mid-August.
Multiple IPT veteran Carlotta Grenier sold her Canon EOS-1DX camera body in excellent condition for $2358 and a never used Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens for Canon EF in better than like-new condition for the BAA record low price of $998.
Eric Karl sold his Canon EOS 5D Mark III body in very good plus condition with extras for $1,300 in mid-August.
Tamron SP 150-600 f/5.6-6.5 Di VC USD
Margaret Page is offering a Tamron SP 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD lens for Canon in like-new condition (used only once) for the ridiculously low price of $699. The sale includes the lens hood, the soft case, the front and rear caps, the instruction sheet, the original box are included, and insured ground shipping via UPS. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Margaret via e-mail or by phone at 706-761-5555 (Eastern time).
Several folks on IPTs have used this lens and made lots of sharp images. A telling factor is that there are no used copies of this lens available on eBay or in the B&H Used Gear listings. artie
Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Margaret Page is also offering a used Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition along with a Really Right Stuff B7D2-L Set L-Plate (a $175 value) for the very low price of $949. The body was recently cleaned and checked by Canon. The sale includes the front body cap, the camera strap, and insured ground shipping via UPS. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Margaret via e-mail or by phone at 706-761-5555 (Eastern time).
Both Patrick Sparkman and I used and loved the 7D Mark II until about two years ago when we both committed to using full frame Canon bodies. We both made some truly great images with it. Two of my three 2016 Nature’s Best honored entries were created with the 7D II, one still, and one video. artie
Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM Lens
Margaret Page is also offering a used Canon EF-S 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5 USM lens in near-mint condition for the great low price of $425. The sale includes the front and rear lens caps, the hood, and insured ground shipping via UPS. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Margaret via e-mail or by phone at 706-761-5555 (Eastern time).
This lightweight versatile wide angle zoom lens fits only Canon crop factor bodies like the 7D II, the 7D, the 50D, and the 40D. The 1.6 crop factor turns it into an effective 16-35mm zoom lens. As it sells new for $649, you can save a bundle while completing your kit with the great wide angle by grabbing Margaret’s lens now. artie
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was placed on the upper center of the young gull’s breast. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper version.
Black-headed Gull in fresh juvenile plumage
Simple Yet Perfect ???
There is a very small pond on the middle path that leads up to the lighthouse on Inner Farnes. I alway make a point to check it several times each afternoon. Twice in the past three years I have found a baby puffin there. Last July there were lots of baby Black-headed Gulls swimming around. I made many images of them both last July and on previous trips. Today’s featured image is my favorite by far. Why? I think that the soft light and the fact that I gave the bird lots of room in the frame made this one special for me.
The tendency with images like this it to want to make the bird large in the frame. I have, however, long said this, “For photos that include the whole bird , the general guideline is not to go larger than 75% of either dimension.” As I have aged (or perhaps mellowed a bit if you will), that percentage keeps dropping, often down to 50 (or to well less than that with this image).
Still More 100-400 II Versatility
By adding a 1.4X TC to your 100-400 II you can get out to 560mm. And even in relatively low light, the amazing 4-stop image stabilization system allows you to hand hold at reasonable shutter speeds without having to jack the ISO up too high. You could do every landing on the UK Puffins IPT with just the 100-400 II and a TC in your pocket and go home with lots of great images.
The Image Optimization
During the RAW conversion in DPP 4 I moved the Brightness slider to +.6 as I did not add nearly enough light when I was in the field. Once I had the image in Photoshop I leveled it and then ran RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing on a layer. While this eliminated a slight CYAN color cast it made the image just a bit too contrasty for me so I applied my Reduced Contrast preset. This gave me the softer look that I was after. Last I selected the face and the bill with the Quick Selection Tool, put that on its own layer, and applied a Contrast Mask.
Image Design Question
With regards to the size of the bird in the frame in today’s featured image”
a- The bird is too small in the frame
b- The bird is too large in the frame.
c- The bird is just right.
In addition, your comments are welcome.
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II) will teach you an efficient Mac/Photo Mechanic/Photoshop workflow that will make it easy for you to make your images better in Photoshop (rather than worse). That true whether you convert your images in DPP 4 or ACR. See the blog post here to learn lots more and to read a free excerpt.
You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand.
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)
Everything mentioned above is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. The new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.
The two most recent MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):
Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.
You can learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of their Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. And you can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
We are re-adjusting to life with electricity and lights. Yesterday we cleaned our main fridge/freezer — it really needed the Clorox spray! — and defrosted the stand alone freezer. We hope to get Jim into the BAA Online Store this morning though we will likely not have phone or DSL service until at least September 25. If you have Frontier providing you any services, do your best to find someone else. They are beyond pathetic.
If you missed the announcement of the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip in yesterday’s blog post, please click here.
The Streak
Today marks fifty-six days in a row with a new blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about ninety minutes to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Latest Used Gear Kudos
via e-mail from Robert Blanke
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert
Used Gear Sale from the past month
Robert Blanke sold his Canon EOS 5Ds body in like-new condition for $2249.00 in early September.
Ron Paulk sold his Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for $9,899 with lots of great extras in early September.
Lisa Tri sold her Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Zoom lens (the original IS version) in near-mint condition for the BAA record low price of $898 in early September.
IPT veteran Joe Messina sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in excellent plus condition for the BAA record-low price of $7,900 in early September.
Ivan Kuraev sold his Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $1699 and his Canon EOS 5D Mark IV in excellent near-mint condition for $2499 in early September.
IPT veteran Mike Ross sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip all in mint condition for $1,099 on the first day it was listed in early September.
Ray Stranagan sold his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens in excellent condition for $3999 in early September, just three days after it was listed.
IPT veteran Richard Bohnet also sold his Canon EOS 5D MK III (with an L-bracket) in near-mint condition for $1449 and his Canon EOS 7D in excellent condition for $279 in late August.
IPT veteran Richard Bohnet sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the “old” 1-4) in excellent condition for an even $500 in mid-August.
Multiple IPT veteran Carlotta Grenier sold her Canon EOS-1DX camera body in excellent condition for $2358 and a never used Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens for Canon EF in better than like-new condition for the BAA record low price of $998.
Eric Karl sold his Canon EOS 5D Mark III body in very good plus condition with extras for $1,300 in mid-August.
Canon EOS 7D Mark II
BPN member Isaac Grant is offering a used Canon EOS 7D Mark II DSLR camera body in near-mint condition for $879. The sale includes an extra Canon battery (a $64 value), the front body cap, the camera strap, all the CDs and cords, the original box with everything that was in it, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made. Photos of the body are available upon request.
Please contact Isaac via e-mail or by phone at 914-629-3820 (Eastern time).
Both Patrick Sparkman and I used and loved the 7D Mark II until about two years ago when we both committed to using full frame Canon bodies. We both made some truly great images with it. Two of my three 2016 Nature’s Best honored entries were created with the 7D II, one still, and one video. artie
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
This image was created on the morning boat trip to Staples Island on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. I used the hand held Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and my favorite puffin hotel photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Daylight WB.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: zero.
The center AF point/AI Servo/Expand shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was placed on the roof of the shack. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper version.
Image #1: The (optimized) Puffin Hotel
Photographing from the Boat
Photographing from the boat on the way to the morning landing is not easy. Some days it is rough. Some days the boat is crowded. If you know the ropes, you can get a good spot somewhere along the railing. The captain almost always will give one side of the boat a chance, and then, by turning the boat around, the other. I’ve made some nice scenic images, some nice images of the bird cliffs, some nice images of various structures on the islands, and rarely, some nice images of single birds either in flight or on the water. On rare occasion when the captain pulls the boat into a small cove, you can even get good photographs of Black-legged Kittiwakes on the nest, sometimes with chicks. These pre-landing sight-seeing cruises average about 30 minutes as we wait for the tide and sea conditions to be good for landing or as we wait for the researchers to open the island.
The Puffin Hotel
Sometimes we look but we do not see. I’d been noticing this little wooden shelter for years before finally doing something about it last July. Why? Perhaps because I rarely have anything more than the 100-400 II in my hands. But at 700mm, I saw the chance for something interesting. When I shared this with the group at dinner, folks said, “Oh, that’s so cute.” Everyone asked, “Where did you get that?” The next morning I got to point out the little shack as we circled Staples Island.
The Image Processing
The image processing was fairly straight-forward. First I leveled the roof using the Ruler Tool. The puffin standing on the rock with the blue hose on it was headless as it was preening its back so I decided to give him a head borrowed from another puffin. I ran my NIK Color Efex Pro 30/30 recipe on the whole image. That is something that I rarely do.
Image #2:The Puffin Hotel
This is an unsharpened tight crop of the converted TIF.
Image #3: The Puffin Hotel
This is an unsharpened tight crop of the optimized TIF.
Sharpness Help Needed
Here is how I prepared the two JPEGs above:
Working at 100% I set the Crop Tool to 2×3 proportion and cropped the images as you see above.
Next I cropped the images to 900 pixels high.
Then I sized them to 450 pixels tall in Word Press. That is how they are presented above. Neither image has been sharpened.
Question #1: Comparing Image #2 with Image #3 are you seeing one as discernably sharper than the other?
Question #2: How would you rate the sharpness of the image that you see as the sharpest. If you see a difference between the two, be sure to specify which image you are referring to.
Question #3: How would you rate the overall sharpness of Image #1, the sharpened optimized image. Best to click on the image to enlarge it first …
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
Why start today’s blog post with this feature that is included in most every post? Because most folks do not realize that if they use my B&H links for stuff like Wimberley Heads and plates that they are costing me a pretty penny (while at the same time thinking that they are doing their best to help me and help BAA). Not only will we match B&H’s great low prices, but if they offer free shipping to your location we will do the same provided that you place your order by phone.
As always–and many 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.
Stuff
Jim and I drove into town yesterday. At Lowe’s I picked up three more 5-gallon gas cans and four 50-foot extension cords. I was finally able to get spring water at Publix. Then we filled all seven of our gas cans and topped off my Sequoia. We were preparing for the long hall, perhaps a week or two more without electricity. As we got close to home I joked, “Wouldn’t it be a pisser if the utility trucks had arrived and were repairing the downed utility poles and lines?” (There were actually two poles on the ground, not one as we had previously thought.) When we turned onto Orange Avenue we saw many utility trucks in the vicinity of the drainage ditch that runs past my backyard.
After a short visit we learned that the crew was from Mississippi and that we would have our power restored within a few hours. And that is just what happened. Clemens Vanderwerf and his wife arrived at 1pm for a “Power’s Back On” pool party and barbecue. We enjoyed Sockeye Salmon with barbecued Brussels sprouts and goat cheese and fresh blueberries for dessert.
After lunch Clemens fired up his chain saw and — in a matter of moments — polished off some of the six-to nine-inch thick branches that were impeding our backyard clean-up progress. We estimated that if Jim and I had done what he did with a two man saw it would have taken us about ten hours … After piling up the logs — anybody need some free firewood? — we removed and packed up Clemens’ air conditioner and got it into his car. After a short swim, Clemens took off and headed back to West Palm. They had learned while they were visiting their daughter in Tampa that their power had been restored.
It is good to have wonderful friends.
I drove around the corner to thank the Mississipi crew. I offered them two hundred dollar bills to pay for a nice dinner for the guys. They politely refused saying that they were not permitted to take any tips.
The Bad News and Computer Help Needed
When I asked about the phone lines one of the guys on the crew said that they had needed to cut the phone lines to restore power as the phone lines had been all tangled up with the power lines. So I called our phone company, Frontier — they had taken over from Verizon about a year and a half ago, to let them know that we had no phone service for a week and that we currently have no phone service. After eventually speaking to a supervisor I was told that business account or not, they could not have a repairperson here until September 25. Two things are pretty clear:
1-It is likely that we will not have any phone or internet (we have DSL through the phone lines) until at least September 25.
2-If you have choice of phone service providers, avoid Frontier at all costs.
Computer Help Needed
I had never realized until Jim informed me this morning that our two Windows desk top office computers are not wi-fi enabled … I had hoped that we could get both of the office computers online via my Verizon Mobile Hotspot on my cell phone. If anyone knows a workaround, please leave a comment asap. with love, artie
The Streak
Today marks fifty-five days in a row with a new blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about ninety minutes to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Latest Used Gear Kudos
via e-mail from Robert Blanke
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert
Used Gear Sale from the past month
Robert Blanke sold his Canon EOS 5Ds body in like-new condition for $2249.00 in early September.
Ron Paulk sold his Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for $9,899 with lots of great extras in early September.
Lisa Tri sold her Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Zoom lens (the original IS version) in near-mint condition for the BAA record low price of $898 in early September.
IPT veteran Joe Messina sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in excellent plus condition for the BAA record-low price of $7,900 in early September.
Ivan Kuraev sold his Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $1699 and his Canon EOS 5D Mark IV in excellent near-mint condition for $2499 in early September.
IPT veteran Mike Ross sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip all in mint condition for $1,099 on the first day it was listed in early September.
Ray Stranagan sold his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens in excellent condition for $3999 in early September, just three days after it was listed.
IPT veteran Richard Bohnet also sold his Canon EOS 5D MK III (with an L-bracket) in near-mint condition for $1449 and his Canon EOS 7D in excellent condition for $279 in late August.
IPT veteran Richard Bohnet sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the “old” 1-4) in excellent condition for an even $500 in mid-August.
Multiple IPT veteran Carlotta Grenier sold her Canon EOS-1DX camera body in excellent condition for $2358 and a never used Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens for Canon EF in better than like-new condition for the BAA record low price of $998.
Eric Karl sold his Canon EOS 5D Mark III body in very good plus condition with extras for $1,300 in mid-August.
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All images were created on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT
Please click on the card to see a larger and inexplicably sharper version.
The new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT. Monday July 2 through Tuesday July 10 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 11.): $7,499. Limit 10 photographers/openings 5, all sign-ups are in for the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip; please see the info below. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
Join me in the UK next July to photograph Atlantic Puffin, Common Murre, Razorbill, Shag, and Northern Gannet, all at close range. We will also enjoy great chances with Arctic and Sandwich Terns, both with chicks of all sizes; Black-headed, Lesser-Black-backed, and Herring Gulls, many chasing puffins with fish; Black-legged Kittiwake with chicks; plus Grey Seal. Not to mention lots of great flight photography. As on all IPTs, if you pay attention, you will learn a ton.
Why go all the way to Machias Seal Island in Maine, endure a two hour boat ride, and have to photograph Atlantic Puffins from a cramped blind usually in bright sun (and well off sun angle) when you can hop a red-eye flight from Newark, NJ and be in Edinburgh, Scotland early the next morning, get driven down to Seahouses, and have hundreds of puffins posing at close range all day, every day (usually in cloudy bright conditions) after only a short boat ride?
While we are in Seahouses we will do six planned puffin/seabird trips, all weather permitting of course. In four years we have averaged losing ½ day per year to bad weather. We land at Staple Island in the morning and then sail over to Inner Farnes for our afternoon session. In addition, we may enjoy a session or two of photographing nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes at eye level from a rocky beach in Seahouses.
On the morning of Monday, July 9, 2018, we will finish packing, sleep late, and head up to Dunbar Harbor for lunch and an afternoon gannet boat chumming trip: flight photography until you cannot lift your camera. The next morning, Tuesday July 10, we will enjoy our second gannet boat chumming trip. On both trips we will enjoy great views of Bass Rock, a huge gannetry. Included will be two nights lodging at the Pine Martin by Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. Early on the morning of Wednesday July 11, we will leave early and drive up to Edinburg Airport so that everyone can make their flights home in time. We will need to leave as early as need be to get those on early flights there on time. No moaning please. Try for a flight that leaves no early than 8:30am if possible.
The Details
This IPT is all-inclusive except for your airfare and alcoholic beverages. All lodgings, all meals, your National Trust membership, and all boat, entry, and landing fees are included. Weather permitting we will enjoy six full days on the puffin boats, one amazing afternoon gannet chumming trip, and one spectacular morning gannet chumming trips. Plus an afternoon castle and perhaps some nesting kittwakes in the town of Seahouses (if ya’ll are not too, too tired.)
The trip cannot be finalized until I have at least six deposits as I will be renting a lovely 15-passenger bus with our private professional driver who happens to be my web-master, Peter Kes, who is also a skilled photographer 🙂
In Seahouses, we stay 7 nights in gorgeous, modern, upscale, country cottages with Wi-fi. They are beyond lovely with large living areas and lots of open space for the informal image sharing and Photoshop sessions. The shared rooms are decent-sized, each with a private bathroom. See the single supplement info below.
We cook our own breakfasts each morning and prepare our own lunches to be brought on the five boat trips. On our mid-IPR gannet day we will enjoy lunch at the wonderful Dunbar Garden Center. We will do a barbeque or two at the cottages but most dinners will be in excellent local restaurants. We stay two nights at the Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. We will enjoy a fine-dining Thank You dinner at the Dunbar Hotel on the Tuesday evening before we fly home.
Incoming Northern Gannet, Bempton Cliffs, UK. Image copyright and courtesy of Mike Poole
Please click on the card to see a larger and inexplicably sharper version.
The UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 Bempton Cliffs Pre-trip. Free Instruction with cost sharing (from Edinburgh, Airport). Wednesday June 27 (from EDI) through the morning of Monday, July 1 (ending in Seahouses, UK). Limit 10 photographers. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
This is an offer that you might not be able to refuse … Why travel to Europe and not add on five great days of photography and photographic instruction for barely more than the cost of your food and your room?
I have been hearing about Bempton Cliffs for years. It is about 3 hours by car south of Seahouses, less than five hours from Edinburgh Airport. It hosts the only mainland gannetry in England and also the largest kittiwake colony in mainland Britain. In addition to the gannets and kittiwakes we will get to photograph Razorbill. Much of the photography will be of birds in flight with both incoming birds and top shots (dorsal views of birds flying below us) being especially attractive. My understanding is that sunny afternoons are best; with the right winds, they can be mega. There is a good chance that we can get in a short photo session on our first afternoon.
Northern Gannet with nesting material, Bempton Cliffs, UK. Image copyright and courtesy of Mike Poole
Please click on the card to see a larger and inexplicably sharper version.
We will be staying at the Lobster Pot by Marston’s Inn in Bridlington, just ten minutes from Bempton Cliffs. Marston’s Inn properties are both fine and economical: $316.42 for the four nights (possibly plus 20% VAT).
Morning options may include one or two (optional) gannet chumming trips, a visit to the North Yorkshire Moors, about an hour’s drive away, to look for Red Grouse and possibly Red-legged Partridge if we are lucky., or, on cloudy or foggy days, photographing at Bempton Cliffs. I am looking to hire a local guide for one day (with that cost shared by all on the pre-trip).
Incoming Razorbill, Bempton Cliffs, UK. Image courtesy of and copyright Rich Steel
Please click on the card to see a larger and inexplicably sharper version.
After our last afternoon session on Sunday July 1 we will drive up to Newcastle where we will be staying at the again economical Holiday Inn Express Newcastle Metro Centre — $116.02 (possibly plus 20% VAT). We will likely do a morning puffin boat trip that Monday after which we will meet the rest of the group (if any) at the cottages in Seahouses.
I am hoping that everyone who joins the IPT will fly over early to join the pre-trip. Those who opt to fly over only for the IPT will need to arrive at Edinburgh International Airport (EDI) on the early morning of Monday, July 2. (There are lots of red-eye flights arriving from around the world at that time). There, they will be met by a 100% reliable, professional driver from Executive Transfers for their transfer to our cottages in Seahouses; I have used their services several times before and they are simply fantastic.
Those who will be making both the pre-trip and the IPT will need to arrive at EDI on the early morning of Wednesday June 27, 2018. (Again, there are lots of red-eye flights arriving from around the world at that time). Interested folks from the UK who are considering driving their own vehicles are asked to e-mail for details.
IPT Details
If you are good to go sharing a room–couples of course are more than welcome–please send your non-refundable $2,000/person deposit check now to save a spot. Please be sure to check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below. Your balance will be due on February 29, 2018. Please make your check out to “Arthur Morris” and send it to Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855.
Please shoot me an e-mail if you are good to go or if you have any questions.
Single Supplement Deposit Info
Single supplement rooms at the cottage are available on a limited basis. To ensure yours, please register early. The single supplement fee is $1575. If you would like your own room, please request it when making your deposit and include payment in full for the single supplement; your single supplement deposit check should be for $3,575. As we will need to commit to renting the extra space, single supplement deposits are non-refundable so please be sure that check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below.
Pre-trip Cost Sharing
Enjoy free instruction for five days by agreeing to share the following pre-trip costs equally (by all particpants and artie):
The cost of our vehicle pro-rated for five days.
The cost of gas from EDI to Bridlington and then back up to Seahouses.
The cost of Peter Kes’s food and lodging.
The cost of one or two gannet chumming trips (optional).
You will also be responsible for the following costs in full:
Four night’s lodging in Bridlington as above.
One night’s lodging in Newcastle.
All of your food and beverages.
The cost of your park entry fees.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance for big international trips is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality insurance. Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options you can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. My family and I use and depend on the great policies offered by TIS whenever we travel. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check of running your credit card. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print careful even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.
I truly hope that you can join me on this exciting venture.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
With our clean-up work done, Saturday was a relaxing day of enjoying our new living room air conditioning. Next in line is waiting for the insurance claims folks to call and visit. We still have not seen a Peace River Coop utility truck in the backyard so we will be without power for at least another day or two or three or … That means that the BIRDS AS ART Online Store is currently out of business. The forecast for Sunday is hot and still.
The Streak
Today marks fifty-four days in a row with a new educational blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about two hours to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Used Gear Sale from the past month
Robert Blanke sold his Canon EOS 5Ds body in like-new condition for $2249.00 in early September.
Ron Paulk sold his Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for $9,899 with lots of great extras in early September.
Lisa Tri sold her Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Zoom lens (the original IS version) in near-mint condition for the BAA record low price of $898 in early September.
IPT veteran Joe Messina sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in excellent plus condition for the BAA record-low price of $7,900 in early September.
Ivan Kuraev sold his Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $1699 and his Canon EOS 5D Mark IV in excellent near-mint condition for $2499 in early September.
IPT veteran Mike Ross sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II with the Canon BG-E16 Battery Grip all in mint condition for $1,099 on the first day it was listed in early September.
Ray Stranagan sold his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens in excellent condition for $3999 in early September, just three days after it was listed.
IPT veteran Richard Bohnet also sold his Canon EOS 5D MK III (with an L-bracket) in near-mint condition for $1449 and his Canon EOS 7D in excellent condition for $279 in late August.
IPT veteran Richard Bohnet sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the “old” 1-4) in excellent condition for an even $500 in mid-August.
Multiple IPT veteran Carlotta Grenier sold her Canon EOS-1DX camera body in excellent condition for $2358 and a never used Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Lens for Canon EF in better than like-new condition for the BAA record low price of $998.
Eric Karl sold his Canon EOS 5D Mark III body in very good plus condition with extras for $1,300 in mid-August.
New Listing
Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM Lens
Australia and New Zealand Sale Only
IPT veteran Barry Barfield from Down Under is offering a used Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in excellent condition for $5015 AUD ($4050 USD). The sale includes the lens trunk with keys, the front leather cover, the rear lens cap, a Max 4 LensCoat, a Forest Green Hoodie, and insured ground shipping to Australia and New Zealand. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made. Photos are available upon request.
Please contact Barry via e-mail or by cell phone at +61.418780575.
The 500 f/4s have been the world’s most popular telephoto lenses for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. I owned and used and loved my “old five” for many years. If you live Down Under and don’t have the cash for the 500 II and can handle the additional 1 1/2 pounds (exactly), then this is your next best option. artie
Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM Lens
Price reduced $100 on September 16, 2017.
Multiple IPT veteran Duncan Douglas is offering a lightly used Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in like-new condition (but for some small scratches on the bottom of the original lens foot) for $4099 (was $4199). The sale includes the original box, lens trunk, the lens strap, the front leather cover, the rear lens cap, a 4th Generation Designs CP-51b replacement foot with all the wrenches, the original Canon lens foot, 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. The lens was cleaned and checked by Canon in May, 2017.
Please contact Duncan via e-mail or by phone at 201-400-3804 (Eastern time).
The 500 f/4s have been the world’s most popular telephoto lenses for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. I owned and used and loved my “old five” for many years. We have sold more than a few recently for $3999 and even two for $3799. Duncan’s lens is priced just a bit higher as it is in pristine condition. If you don’t have the cash for the 500 II and can handle the additional 1 1/2 pounds (exactly) then this is your next best option. The 500 II goes for $8999 so you will be saving a cool $4,900 and getting a virtually brand new lens to boot. artie
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
Please Don’t Forget …
As always–and many 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 morning of Monday, September 12, 2017 after Irma had visited the long night before. I used the hand held 24-105mm f/4L IS lens (now replaced by the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II) at 24mm, and my favorite post-hurricane camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/40 sec. at f/11 in Av mode. AWB.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: zero at W.
Center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Rear button focus on one of the upper support struts on the left and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial.
A: The “Before” view of the kiddie corner of my lap pool from inside the pool cage
The Before
As detailed in the recent My Personal Pool Cage Miracle Times Two! blog post here, this is what I woke to on the early morning of Sunday September 10, 2017 after Irma had visited that night. A good part of the crown of the fallen oak tree had landed atop the pool cage while another substantial section occupied Jim’s wildflower/butterfly garden — you can just see part of the split rail fence on the right side of the frame.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: extrapolated to +1.
Center Flexi-zone Rear button AF (in Live View for mirror lock-up and 2-second timer) with the AF box on on the blade of the hand saw and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial.
B: the two Corona tools that Jim and I used for the initial clean-up
The Clean-up Tools
While we could have just waited around a week or so for the insurance claims folks to come by, Jim and I decided to start the clean-up work. I remember saying to Jim, “The best way to approach large, seemingly impossible tasks is one branch at a time.” And that is exactly what we did. We only had what looks like a meager set of tools, one ten-inch hand saw and a set of loppers. But boy oh boy, those two tools were both rugged and efficient. Amazingly, we used the loppers on branches up to about 2 1/2 inches in diameter; the larger stuff fell to the hand saw. With the latter a three-inch branch was a piece of cake even for me. A four-inch branch required a minute or three of effort. And a five-inch branch, about the largest we tackled, might take as long as five minutes. Jim was a lot faster than I was. Many times with the larger branches, it would be impossible to keep the saw moving once you got half-way through. The trick there was to extricate the saw blade and start from the opposite side of the first cut. The hand saw only cut on the back stroke. Once you got the hang of it it really did cut like the proverbial hot knife through butter. You can check out Corona Loppers here and Corona hand saws (and more) here.
Center Flexi-zone Rear button AF (in Live View for mirror lock-up and 2-second timer) with the AF box on one of the upper support beams and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial.
C: The “After” view of the kiddie corner of my lap pool from inside the pool cage
The After
I’d guess that Jim put about twenty hours into this project, with about 15 for me. The hard work felt really good despite the hot, still days. We did most of our work in the early mornings or late afternoons. Most sessions were followed by a cooling visit to the pool. We both wound up napping for too long in the afternoons. You can see one of our two huge brush piles just beyond the split rail fence on the right. Each measures something in the vicinity of 50-60 feet long, four – five feet high, and eight to ten feet deep.
Why did we do it? I guess that our main reason was that there was not much else to do. It did not hurt that we wound up removing several hundred pounds of the crown of the downed tree from atop the pool cage. And Jim can now get back to work on his garden. There are still some large branches on top of the pool cage including one e three that split off the large tree that still stands. You can clearly see the trunk of that tree in the left center of the frame about ten feet from the pool cage. If it had fallen onto the pool cage, the damage would have been measured at least in thousands of dollars …
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
Friday was stiflingly hot and still. Jim and I pretty much finished up our yard clean-up work in an early morning and a late afternoon session. Again, I swam twice totaling one mile. Jim got in the pool twice, something that he rarely does even once. In addition, he has taken up one of my favorite activities, afternoon napping. With no power there is not a lot to do.
It is just before 9:30am on Saturday September 16, sitting in front of a working fan in my air conditioned living room. Super-skilled photographer, many, many multiple IPT veteran, and long-time friend Clemens Vanderwerf, stopped at ILE yesterday afternoon on his way to Tampa with his wife and three big Golden Retrievers. He brought along a five-gallon tank of gas, a chain saw, and a portable window mount air conditioner 🙂 They will be stopping by for lunch on their way back to West Palm on Sunday.
On the power outage front we have much more hope than we did yesterday morning. Late in the day, all of our neighbors on the north side of Granada Drive had their power restored. That meant that the Preco (Peace River Cooperative) sub-station at ILE had gotten power from Duke Energy. Once the downed power pole and lines in our backyard are repaired, we should get our power back.So far nobody from Preco has been seen in the vicinity of the damaged pole and lines. The top of the pole along with the transformer is lying in a drainage ditch. Time will tell, but at least now we have hope.
The Streak
Today marks fifty-three days in a row with a new educational blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about two hours hours to prepare over the course of two days. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Revamped
I recently updated the IPT page. If you doubt that I am really slowing down, click here to see the meager IPT schedule. Right now there are only two US-based IPTs on the schedule. Best news is I now have two folks registered 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 become a much better bird photographer, consider joining me on either the Fort DeSoto IPT in late September or the San Diego IPT in January, 2018. With four folks 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. Scroll down for details. Click here for complete 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 many 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 BAA Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime IPT on our second Darwin Bay landing. I used 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 420mm) and my favorite baby booby camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering at about -1 1/2 stops (!): 1/800 second at f/8 in Manual mode. AWB.
Two AF points left of the center AF point AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was active at the moment of exposure and fell on the middle of the lower mandible.
3-day old Red-footed Booby chick
I was so excited that …
First of all, note the huge amount of space from the end of the histogram data to the the highlight axis on our right. If your histograms consistently look like this then your images are consistently underexposed.
Darwin Bay, one of the most productive photographic locations on the avian planet, is my single favorite morning landing in the Galapagos archipelago. It is always overcast for an hour or two at least; there is almost always fabulous flight photography in the early mornings with all three morphs of Red-footed Booby, both species of frigatebirds, Nazca Booby, and Swallow-tailed Gull literally filling sky. When the flight action dies down, all of the species above can be found and photographed on the ground or in low bushes, most often at their nests. And often with chicks in the nests, chicks of varying sizes. That only my trip gets to visit Darwin Bay (and Hood Island and North Seymour) twice each is a huge plus. Dates and details for the late-July BAA 2019 Galapagos Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT will be announced here on Monday.
We had been photographing several large Red-footed Booby chicks and the occasional adult in their eye-level nests in Red-Mangroves with hand held intermediate telephoto lenses. Hand holding in this situation is a must as you sometimes need choose your perspective very carefully in order to find a clear shooting slot through mangrove leaves. As there were lots of nests the group was spread out. I was standing next to participant Dietmar Haenchen when the handsome adult intermediate morph bird stood up to show off its three-day old chick. We got off a few snaps when the adult bird sat down as quickly as it had stood up. We called over the folks in the group who were within earshot so that they could at least see the tiny chick. Then the adult stood up and stayed up for about ten minutes. There were maybe three good shooting slots so I rotated folks in and out, taking a turn myself every few minutes. The huge problem was that the tiny chick was begging for food the whole time, shaking its head from side to side constantly like a bobblehead doll on crack.
I am not so sure how I wound up so underexposed but I suspect that because I was so excited by the sight of the tiny, too cute, too pink chick, I accidentally raised the shutter speed when I wanted to raise the ISO (to 1600). In any case, the frame above — though seriously underexposed — was the best in the series. So I went to work.
This image was created on the 2017 BAA Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime IPT on our second Darwin Bay landing. I used 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 420mm) and my favorite baby booby camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering at about -1 stop (!): 1/800 second at f/8 in Manual mode. AWB.
Two AF points left of the center AF point AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was active at the moment of exposure and fell on the middle of the lower mandible.
3-day old Red-footed Booby chick
Saving the Underexposure
After loading my 5D IV ISO 1600 recipe — I knew that I would need the extra noise reduction — the only two changes I made were to move the Brightness slider to the right to +1 1/2 and move the Highlight slider to the left to -2. Then it was a crop from our right and below and a bit of bill clean-up. Next was a Layer of my NIK 30/30 Color Efex Pro recipe painted onto the chick only via a Hide-all (Inverse, or Black) Layer Mask. Last was a quick and dirty NeatImage Noise reduction on the whole image; the only visible noise was in the background shadows. The dynamic range of the 5D Mark IV is quite excellent.
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
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 :).
