Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

What’s Up?

I spent the most of the morning micro-adjusting my new Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with LensAlign/Focus Tune. Patrick Sparkman called while I was at work and we both agreed that we had never seen tighter AF cluster. That says good thinks about the AF system. And though Patrick has not used the body extensively he is loving it, especially the AF system. And Bosque IPT veteran Joe Subolefsky prefers his 5D IV to the 1DX II and the 5DS R… Time will tell. I did get two more blog posts done. And then I spent five hours researching SealLine Dry Sacks and Dry Bags before placing a big order for the South Georgia cruise. Click here or on the Beach Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above to learn more.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending IPTs and dozens of the 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 Streak: 308!

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 308 days in a row with a new educational blog post. There should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. Or not… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

Sharp/Soft Juxtapositions

When I first began making a few good images–maybe 25 year ago or so–I used to say regularly, “I want nothing in the background but pure color.” After a few years, I showed some growth as a photographer when I realized that if you line things up just right, having a second bird or animal in the background in just the right spot can add interest and impact. And rather than trying to have both subjects in sharp focus, I learned quickly that the images are far more successful with the foreground subject in sharp focus and the secondary background subject nicely out of focus. To accomplish that it is best to work wide open or close to it.

High Level Image Design Question

How would taking a half step to my right and zooming out a bit have helped to improve today’s featured image?

The Canon 200-400 f/4L IS with Internal Extender/7D Mark II Combo

The 200-400 f/4L IS with internal extender/7D Mark II combo can be deadly when working with fairly tame birds or large mammals. When you have a decent amount of light, most folks will be fine taking the lens off the tripod and hand holding it. Sitting and using the knee-pod technique is the way to go if possible and the 2-4’s great four-stop IS system helps a great deal when it comes to making sharp images hand held. With the internal TC in place you will have 896mm of effective reach. Adding an external 1.4X TC gets you to 1254.4mm; best to be on a tripod with the latter set-up.

Eliminating Color Casts

The original image here featured a sickly greenish color cast. During the RAW conversion in DPP 4 I made a Fine-tune color adjustment by dragging the dot down a bit and a bit to the left, in other words, away from green. That helped but the color cast still needed more work. I did that in Photoshop with an Average Blur Color adjustment at about 85% opacity.

You can learn about Average Blur Color Balancing and several other ways to adjust the colors in your images in my Digital Basics File, an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. It includes my (former) complete digital workflow, dozens of great Photoshop tips, details on using all of my image clean-up tools, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding and filling in canvas, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, the basics of Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro, Digital Eye Doctor techniques, using Gaussian Blurs, Dodge and Burn, a variety of ways to make selections, how to create time-saving actions, and tons more.

In my

BIRDS AS ART Fort DeSoto In-the-Field Meet-up Workshop (ITFW): $99

Join me on the morning of October 2, 2016 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 morning workshop is designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to meet you there.

To register please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours with a credit card in hand to pay the nominal registration fee. Your registration fee is non-refundable. You will receive a short e-mail with instructions, gear advice, and meeting place one week before the event.

Fort DeSoto Short Notice Fall IPT/September 28 (meet & greet at 2pm followed by our afternoon session) through the full day on October 1, 2016. 3 1/2 DAYs: $1549. Limit 10/Openings: 6. Sunday morning ITFW free to IPT registrants.

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

Folks who sign up for the IPT are welcome to join me as my guest on the ITFW on the Sunday morning following the workshop. See above for details on that.

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

At brunch (included) we will review my images–folks learn a ton watching me edit–why keep this one and delete that one? If you opt to bring your laptop, we can take a look at a few of your images from the morning session. We will process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time.

As I already have one signed up for this workshop, it is a go. Hotel info will be e-mailed when you register. The best airport is Tampa (TPA). It is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel so if you are interested it would be a good idea to register now and make your hotel reservations as soon as you hear from us. We can, however, coordinate with local folks who opt to stay at home.

Because of the relatively late date, payment is full is due upon registration either by check or credit card. If the former, please e-mail us immediately so that we can save you a spot. If the latter, please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand to register. Your registration fee is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with eight so please check your plans carefully before committing. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions and gear & clothing advice a fairly soon.

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

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

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are 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 we, 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.

Facebook

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

Typos

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

What’s Up?

On Monday, I stock-piled two more future blog posts and did some serious work on my upcoming 9+ week trip to South America that will include two trips to the Falklands, the Cheesemans’ last South Georgia voyage, a week or more at Torres del Paine, and a few weeks of bird photography R&R. A swim, some stretching, and an afternoon trip to town rounded out my day.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending IPTs and dozens of the 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 Streak

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 306 days in a row with a new educational blog post. There should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. Or not… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

High-key, Pano-cropped, Scratching Marbled Godwit Image: Turning Grey Water to Blue

With the ISO at 1600, you know that the original capture featured bland, light grey water. I did some work on the Adjust image colors tab in DPP 4 and followed that up with a layer of Selective Color Adjustments in Photoshop. But only an Average Blur Color Balance adjustment brought the blue in the water to life. For this image I was surely seated. I am much better able to frame and follow action while seated as compared to being flat down on the ground. And the long focal length greatly reduces the angle of declination to the bird and makes it look as if I were really low.

Learn how to make an Average Blur Color Balance Adjustment (and tons more) in my Digital Basics File, an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. It includes what used to be my complete digital workflow, dozens of great Photoshop tips, details on using all of my image clean-up tools, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding and filling in canvas, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, the basics of Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro, Digital Eye Doctor techniques, using Gaussian Blurs, Dodge and Burn, a variety of ways to make selections, how to create time-saving actions, and tons more.

Scratching Bird Photo Tips…

1-Get low.
2-As always, work in manual mode.
3-Try to use a shutter speed of at least 1/500 sec. if you want everything sharp.
4-If you want to try for a blurred foot and a sharp eye, you can work between 1/125 and 1/320 second (or even a bit slower).
5-Be even more aware of head angle than you usually are. Birds will very often turn the heads away from the plane of their bodies when scratching. Fire only when the bird’s head is at least square to the imaging sensor as it is in today’s featured image. Moving to the side to get squarer to the bill can sometimes help a bit but don’t overdo it…

BIRDS AS ART Fort DeSoto In-the-Field Meet-up Workshop (ITFW): $99

Join me on the morning of October 2, 2016 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 morning workshop is designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to meet you there.

To register please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours with a credit card in hand to pay the nominal registration fee. Your registration fee is non-refundable. You will receive a short e-mail with instructions, gear advice, and meeting place one week before the event.

Fort DeSoto Short Notice Fall IPT/September 28 (meet & greet at 2pm followed by our afternoon session) through the full day on October 1, 2016. 3 1/2 DAYs: $1549. Limit 10/Openings: 6. Sunday morning ITFW free to IPT registrants.

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

Folks who sign up for the IPT are welcome to join me as my guest on the ITFW on the Sunday morning following the workshop. See above for details on that.

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

At brunch (included) we will review my images–folks learn a ton watching me edit–why keep this one and delete that one? If you opt to bring your laptop, we can take a look at a few of your images from the morning session. We will process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time.

As I already have one signed up for this workshop, it is a go. Hotel info will be e-mailed when you register. The best airport is Tampa (TPA). It is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel so if you are interested it would be a good idea to register now and make your hotel reservations as soon as you hear from us. We can, however, coordinate with local folks who opt to stay at home.

Because of the relatively late date, payment is full is due upon registration either by check or credit card. If the former, please e-mail us immediately so that we can save you a spot. If the latter, please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand to register. Your registration fee is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with eight so please check your plans carefully before committing. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions and gear & clothing advice a fairly soon.

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

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

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are 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 we, 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.

Facebook

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

Typos

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

What’s Up?

The Understand Photography interview with Peggy Farren was huge fun. In tomorrow’s blog post I will let you know how to see the interview video. And the DPI-SIG program was extremely well behaved. It is looking very much as if I signed up two very nice sisters for the UK Puffins and Gannets IPT and perhaps six or seven folks for the DeSoto In-the-Field morning session. All pending the receipt of the deposit checks of course 🙂

Please remember that the blog is intended to be interactive; the more folks who participate, the more everyone learns, including you. And me.

Yikes, I almost forgot: my loaner 5D Mark IV will be here on Monday. I can’t wait to share.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending IPTs and dozens of the 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 Streak

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 304 days in a row with a new educational blog post. There should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. Or not… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

Which is Best for Me, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV or the EOS-1DX Mark II?

Everybody wants to know, which camera body should they buy, which of the two is best for them? Below are two e-mail conversations that will shed lots of light on these questions. You will find the definitive answer in each e-mail and I will summarize it near the end of this blog post.

The original e-mail from David Bates

Artie, Since you have the 1DXII and have raved about the 5DSR, when would you use the 5DIV? My real question is I have the 1DXII, 1DX and the 5DS R. I’m trying to decide if I should swap my 5DSR for the 5DIV. Do you think I should?

My answer

David, I am not sure yet as I have not used the 5D IV yet. I cannot, however,believe that you do not study the blog regularly; there have been several blog posts in the past two weeks dealing with the 5D IV.

I have explored many 5D IV issues here, here, and here. Please go back and study them and let me know then if you have any questions. If you buy a 5DS R, please use my link. And do get in touch if you want me to try to sell your 5DS R.

Our Next Conversation

DB: I do read and enjoy your blog daily. I had read and reread all of the blog entries you directed me to. I did not see an answer to my question: Should I swap my 5DS R for a 5D Mark IV?

am: David, The material in the links that I sent and you studied covered all of the important factors. I can never tell what is best for the other guy. After the DeSoto IPT—you should come on that one by the way, I will know a lot more and have images to share. But do remember that I I can only tell folks what I think, share my experiences, and show them the images. Those last two only after I get the camera 🙂 But even then I cannot and will not tell anyone what to do. What I try to do is educate and enlighten them so that they can decide. Best would be to come on the IPT and get to use my 5D IV for an hour!

DB: I look forward to reading about your impressions. Thank you.

Six of One, Half Dozen of Another

My e-mail conversation with Marlo Casabar

MC: I purchased and received your CD book The Art of Bird Photography II. I love the photos and expert advice.

am: Many thanks and thanks also for your purchase.

MC: I have the 7D Mark II and love it. I find, however, that the image quality in low light with the higher ISOs is lacking and I don’t like the noise with images above 800 ISO. I am seriously considering purchasing either the 5D Mark IV or the 1DX Mark II. I know that you are going to write a blog post regarding this topic and look forward to it.

am: I have already commented on the blog on many of the relevant factors, at least in theory. Stay tuned until after the DeSoto IPT when I will get to use a 51D IV…

MC: Here are my personal thoughts as far as upgrading to either the 5D IV or the 1DX II: Full frame offers better low light performance.

am: The edge there goes to the 1DX II, the current high ISO king.

MC Enhanced focus when using the 2X III teleconverter.

am: Again the edge goes to the 1DX II especially as far as the speed of initial AF acquisition is concerned. With the lens alone or with the 1.4X III TC, I would be willing to bet the once you have acquired focus that the 5D IV will track beautifully and accurately just as it does with the 5DS R.

MC: Video

am: Here the 5D Mark IV is the clear winner.

MC: The 5D IV has 30 mp files so I could crop and still have a nice image.

am: yes, when it comes to cropping and maintaining image quality goes to the 5D IV.

MC: The 1DX II has a very frame capture rate.

am: Yes, the frame rate edge goes to the 1DX II by about double.

MC: The 5D IV is less expensive.

am: Yes, at about half the price you could by two for the price of a 1DX II… BTW, I am pretty sure that I covered everything above on the blog 🙂

MC: What are your personal thoughts about upgrading from the 7D Mark II to either the 5D Mark IV or 1DXII?

am: I am 100% sure that you should upgrade from the 7D Mark II. I owned two of them and sold them both. I cannot know which body will be best for you. But you have all the facts and will learn a lot more after the Fort Desoto IPT. Keep studying and then decide for yourself which is best for you.

MC: Thank you for sharing your thoughts. When I decide which body to purchase, I will definitely use your B&H affiliate link to purchase it.

am: Many thanks. Please remember to send me your B&H receipt via e-mail when you purchase.

thanks and later and love, artie

The Definitive Answer

The definitive answer of course–and I am sure that more than a few of you came to this conclusion when you read the title–is that I can never tell you which camera is best for you. Just as I can never let you know if purchasing this camera or that lens will be “worth it for you.” I will continue to try new gear, to see how it works for me, and to share my experiences and the images made with that gear. Please, however, remember that it ain’t the camera and it ain’t the lens. As always it is what is in the heart, mind, and eye of whomever is holding the gear at the moment of exposure…

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

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

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are 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 we, 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.

Facebook

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

Typos

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

What’s Up?

On Thursday I stockpiled two more future blog posts, put the finishing touches on my DPI-SIG program for this Saturday, and worked with Jim in getting mail order product packed up to bring to Naples. Time of course for my easy 3/4 mile swim and my shoulder stretching and exercises.

Please remember that the BAA blog is intended to be interactive; the more folks who comment, the more everyone learns.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending IPTs and dozens of the 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.

Facebook Live Interview

In conjunction with my Saturday morning speaking gig in Naples (see the details below) I will be doing a Facebook Live Interview/Podcast at 4pm eastern time on Friday, September 9 at 4 p.m. EDT with Peggy Farren of Understand Photography.

All that you need to do to watch the live podcast is head over to the Facebook page here at 4 p.m. on September 9 (2016). If you would like notification via Facebook, you can join the event here.

DPI-SIG Naples Speaking Gig

On the morning of Saturday September 10, I will be presenting “A Bird Photographer’s Story” at 9am in the auditorium at Florida SouthWestern State College located at 7505 Grand Lely Drive, Naples, Florida, 34113. Learn more here. If you live anywhere near SW Florida, I hope to see you there. Be sure to come up for a hug.

The Streak

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 302 days in a row with a new educational blog post. There should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. Or not… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

Bathing Bird Tips

Once the bird is a decent size in the frame–remember not to get too, too close–and the bird starts dipping its breast in the water and splashing, make lots of images. Today’s images were the best from a 20+ frame sequence. And remember, as we have discussed here before, if you want to get the wing flap, move back to avoid clipping the wings and put the bird in the center of the frame so that you can get the front flap and the rear flap.

When creating today’s images, I decided to get in close and go for the splashing realizing that I would be out of luck for the wing flap. As noted above in the AF portion of the caption, do not try to focus on the bird’s head because the bird’s head is relatively small and may move up or down quickly causing you to lose focus. Better to focus on the neck or the upper back or somewhere in between.

Your Pick?

Which is the stronger image, Image #1 or Image #2 (or #3)? Please let us know why you made your choice.

Monkey Business

Image #3 was created from image #2. Enlarge each image and see if you can spot the difference. If you do, which version do you prefer Image #2 the natural version or Image #3, the Photoshopped version. Why?

BIRDS AS ART Fort DeSoto In-the-Field Meet-up Workshop (ITFW): $99

Join me on the morning of October 2, 2016 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 morning workshop is designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to meet you there.

To register please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours with a credit card in hand to pay the nominal registration fee. Your registration fee is non-refundable. You will receive a short e-mail with instructions, gear advice, and meeting place one week before the event.

Fort DeSoto Short Notice Fall IPT/September 28 (meet & greet at 2pm followed by our afternoon session) through the full day on October 1, 2016. 3 1/2 DAYs: $1549. Limit 10/Openings: 6. Sunday morning ITFW free to IPT registrants.

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

Folks who sign up for the IPT are welcome to join me as my guest on the ITFW on the Sunday morning following the workshop. See above for details on that.

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

At brunch (included) we will review my images–folks learn a ton watching me edit–why keep this one and delete that one? If you opt to bring your laptop, we can take a look at a few of your images from the morning session. We will process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time.

As I already have one signed up for this workshop, it is a go. Hotel info will be e-mailed when you register. The best airport is Tampa (TPA). It is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel so if you are interested it would be a good idea to register now and make your hotel reservations as soon as you hear from us. We can, however, coordinate with local folks who opt to stay at home.

Because of the relatively late date, payment is full is due upon registration either by check or credit card. If the former, please e-mail us immediately so that we can save you a spot. If the latter, please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand to register. Your registration fee is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with eight so please check your plans carefully before committing. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions and gear & clothing advice a fairly soon.

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

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

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are 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 we, 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.

Facebook

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

Typos

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

What’s Up?

On Tuesday I got lots of work done very early, did my shoulder stretching/exercises early as well, and was in the pool for my easy 3/4 mile swim by 10am. After lunch, Jim drove me up to Orlando Airport for my Global Entry interview. As I never knew that the darn thing expired after five years–they do not let you know either by e-mail or letter–I needed to re-apply and have a second interview 🙁 Tip: try to remember to renew yours after four years and ten months 🙂 Doing so will save a lot of hassles. Why Global Entry? The main reason is that it–fingers crossed–should keep you from getting busted when returning to the US with your expensive photo gear. That happened to me many years ago in Miami; it was a big-time hassle.

Here is a good one on my swim. As my pulse rate is usually only in the high 80s when I get out of the pool, I say often that my swims are more about meditation than exercise. I generally do 4 lengths of breast stroke and alternate those with two lengths of kick-boarding, two lengths of sidestroke, and two different kinds of backstroke (with one length of each of those). Yesterday morning I was sort of daydreaming about being in a blind in Finland on the first morning waiting for the male Ruffs to arrive and start displaying. I was lost deep in thought while back-stroking to the far end of the pool when suddenly I was rudely interrupted when my head solidly struck the wall of the pool. I do not swim fast but I was going fast enough for a really good jolt and a nice bump on the very top of my head. The pool was not damaged… You gotta love being in the moment.

In a way, it is ironic that today’s blog post is being published on Day 300 of the streak…

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending IPTs and dozens of the 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 Streak

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 300 days in a row with a new educational blog post. There should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. Or not… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

Appreciation, Understanding, and Acceptance

Below are two comments made in response to the blog post here.

Before you start reading the two comments below and my responses, please do understand that I treasure the dozens of positive comments that are posted here each month and those that I receive via e-mail as well. In large part, they inspire me and drive me.

Link Ng
September 1, 2016 at 10:37 pm.

Artie,

Love your blog but at end of day it is all about money and business. Appreciate your candid feedback but your site is all about you and making money.
I liked the Canon series of videos, very helpful. Wish you would share more “free advice” rather than always selling. You are a great photographer sharing great wisdom. But… I tire of the sell job.

My Reply

Hi Link, I am sorry that you have a problem with my part time job. I put in at least 15-20 hours/per week on the blog and another 10 hours a week answering gear questions via e-mail. Heck, that’s almost a full time job. I would suggest that you un-subscribe from the blog so that you will not be so “tired.”

BTW, have you used my B&H links? Have you made a blog thank you donation here? Have you been on an IPT? Or are you just a taker?

As for me, I tire of unappreciative, gimmee, gimmee, gimmee folks like you.

later and love, artie

Mark
September 1, 2016 at 9:50 pm·

If one reviews Arty’s sales over the past few years, you will see he helped me sell a 600 II in record time to a great buyer. Arty’s sale posts vouching for the lens in general are very helpful and go a long way in persuading his cadre of readers, some who may be on the fence about a purchase or somewhat less knowledgeable about a product.

However, as an avid reader of this fine blog and of the used sale section, it’s apparent to me if hours and hours were really put in to study used pricing, it wasn’t studying the appropriate sites. One needn’t put in hours at all. Other sites have very active classified sections. I’ve personally bought and sold tens of thousands in gear over the past 10 years on some of them. If an item is priced right it will sell. If not, it won’t. It’s not rocket science knowledge that few like Arty possesses. One only need view those sites and one will learn very quickly what price is right. In fact, some months ago I emailed Art and pointed out the asking prices on his site for certain lenses, such as the 85 II, the 300 2.8, etc were way to high. He agreed and the prices were quickly lowered. As an honorable person, Art will not deny it.

My point is if an item is not yet listed, there should be no duty (sic: obligation) to pay any fee. Fee for what? Expertise on pricing that anyone with a modicum of time can glean on their own? And pricing that for quite a while was way out of line with the market which caused items to sit unsold.

My Reply

Hi Mark, I have “really put in hours and hours” of work on pricing. It takes time to do pricing research, especially for gear that one has never sold before. Most folks simply do not want to put in that “modicum of time” to do the needed work. It ain’t so modicum.

I do not remember the e-mail you spoke about, but it really does not matter. The point that you are missing is that many folks simply will not listen to my pricing advice; I always give the boys and girls the option of naming the price if they want to go higher than my recommendation. So it is not my “way out of line” advice that is causing items to “go unsold.” See the three old Nikon 600s that have been listed for more than 6 months; I told each of the sellers that they were priced way too high. Nobody budged. And two of them are dear friends 🙂

And please do not forget that if folks do not like the concept of paying 2 1/2% of the B&H lowball offer they can choose to not agree to the terms.

am

ps: I do not mind being wrong and admitting it and I do not mind being criticized, but I will–as I have done here–always defend myself when I have been unjustly criticized.

Note: several subsequent e-mails and comments by Mark that I deleted resulted in him being spammed; he is no longer welcome to comment on the BAA blog. He is in a small group of less than half a dozen–not a very large number of unhappy campers over all these years.

Why Different?

Announcing the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour

In what ways will the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour be different from the most other Palouse workshops?

There are so many great locations that a seven-day IPT (as opposed to the typical three- or five-day workshops) will give the group time to visit (and revisit) many of the best spots while allowing you to maximize your air travel dollars. In addition, it will allow us to enjoy a slightly more relaxed pace.

You will be assured of being in the right location for the given weather and sky conditions.

You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills.

You will learn to design powerful, graphic images.

You will visit all of the iconic locations and a few spectacular ones that are much less frequently visited.

You will learn long lens landscape techniques.

You will learn to master any exposure situation in one minute or less.

You will learn the fine points of Canon in-camera (5D Mark III, 5DS R, and 7D II) HDR techniques.

You will be able to share a variety of my exotic Canon lenses including the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens and the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens, aka the “circle lens.”

You will learn to use your longest focal lengths to create rolling field and Urbex abstracts.

You will learn when and how to use a variety of neutral density filters to create pleasing blurs of the Palouse’s gorgeous rolling farmlands.

As always, you will learn to see like a pro. You will learn what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time. You will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images.

You will learn to use super-wide lenses both for big skies and building interiors.

You will learn when, why, and how to use infrared capture; if you do not own an infrared body, you will get to borrow mine.

You will learn to use both backlight and side-light to create powerful and dramatic landscape images.

This trip will run with one participant.

The 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour
June 8-14, 2017. Seven full days of photography. Meet and greet at 7:30pm on Wednesday, June 7: $2,499. Limit 10/Openings: 9.

Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will enjoy spectacular sunrises and at least one nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. I will bring you to more than a few really neat old abandoned barns and farmhouses in idyllic settings. There is no better way to improve your compositional and image design skills and to develop your creativity than to join me for this trip. Photoshop and image sharing sessions when we have the time and energy…. We get up early and stay out late and the days are long.

Over the past three years, with the help of a friend, we found all the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and vistas. What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, my extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions. As above, there will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before the workshop begins.

To Sign Up

Your non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to hold your spot. Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining this IPT. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours to arrange for the payment of your deposit; if by check, please make out to “BIRDS AS ART” and mail it to: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail: artie.

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. 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. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

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

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

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are 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 we, 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.

Facebook

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

Typos

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

What’s Up?

On Sunday morning, I continued working on blog posts to be published during my more than nine-week trip to South America. In the afternoon I began working on my DPI-SIG program that will be presented next Saturday morning in Naples, FL. I enjoyed my usual easy 3/4 miles swim. The pool temp is down 2 degrees to 84 after a week of nearly constant rain. That plus some core exercises and stretching. Just 3 spaces left on the Japan in Winter IPT; scroll down for details.

Please remember that the blog is intended to be interactive; the higher the number of folks who participate, the more everyone learns, including you. And me.

The Tale of the Scale

When I left home in mid-July, I weighed in at 182, my fighting weight. After eating eight jars of various healthy and very delicious nut butters on my 5-week Long Island trip, I weighed 188 3/4 on that first morning after getting back home. Yikes! Last Sunday morning, aided by my pre-colonoscopy fast, I tipped the scales at 184 3/4. This week I lost another pound; down to 183 3/4 on Sunday morning, September 4. 175 would be lovely… Nice and slow is best, and as I get older, it ain’t as easy as it use to be.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending IPTs and dozens of the 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 Streak

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 298 days in a row with a new educational blog post. There should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. Or not… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

Snow at the Snow Monkey Park

Fresh snow on the ground at the Snow Monkey Park–as in today’s featured image–is great. Snowing is excellent as well, as long as the flakes are not so large, thick, and heavy that AF has a problem; in that case, you can simply turn the AF switch to M and focus manually. The absolute best would be a snow and ice storm with colder than usual temperatures; snow encrusted Snow Monkey faces have BBC potential. Just ask my friend Jasper Doest of The Netherlands. And ice-encrusted Snow Monkey faces would be even better…

Toasted Snow: Better Than OK!

In the Photo Mechanic screen capture above, the red represents over-exposed areas. Of snow. In this case, it represented a perfect exposure as it allowed me to bring out all of the details in the Snow Monkey fur and skin; note all the room from the left histogram axis to the start of the data. Understand that on cloudy days, in low light, or when working in the shade you will never be getting much detail if any at all in properly exposed WHITEs. The main monkey onsen at the Snow Monkey Park never gets sun on it as it is nestled in a sort of bowl in the hillside. For me, this is a big plus.

If I had a nickel for every time someone on an IPT said, “But the image looks washed out on the back of the camera” I’d be a rich man (with lots of perfectly exposed images). With today’s featured image, a simple Levels Adjustment brought the image to life by enriching the monkey’s color tones.

AF Issues and Two Questions

Note the position and placement of the selected AF point (illuminated in red). I was using Surround. Remember that with Surround only the selected AF point is ever displayed. I wish that the active AF points were displayed. Best would be to have the selected AF point displayed in one color and the active AF point or points displayed in a different color…

Questions 1 a, 1b, & 1c: As noted in the image caption, the selected AF point was on the edge of the monkey’s snout just to our left of its right nostril. Should I have selected a different AF point? If yes, which one? And why?

Question 2: I believe that Surround was not the best choice here. What AF Area Selection mode would have been better?

Exposure Note

Note the RGB values for the brightest WHITEs: 254, 255, 255. These indicate the near complete over-exposure of the snow. But as we have learned above, the exposure for the subject and for the image as well, is perfect.

100% Crop of the Eyes

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of the image quality, sharpness, and FFD (fine fur detail). Remember that the blog is intended to be interactive; the more folks that participate the more everyone learns, including me. And you.

Photo Mechanic: save a few bucks with a BAA phone order

I use Photo Mechanic every day for ingesting (downloading) my images, picking my keepers, and sorting and arranging image files. It is fast and easy to use with great phone support: +1 503.547.2888 Mon-Fri, 9:00am-5:00pm [PST/PDT]. Purchase Photo Mechanic from BIRDS AS ART and your license code will be sent to you via e-mail within 1-7 business days (usually within 1-3 business days). Your copy of Photo Mechanic will be delivered to you via electronic download from the manufacturer’s website.

Photo Mechanic is a standalone image browser and workflow accelerator that lets you view your digital photos with convenience and speed. Photo Mechanic’s super fast browsing and its ability to quickly Ingest, Edit, and Export your photos, takes the hard work out of your workflow. Its powerful batch processing, full support of IPTC and Exif metadata, and innovative use of image variables and code replacements, make Photo Mechanic an indispensable tool for digital photographers.

Photo Mechanic works on both PCs and Macs. Folks using a PC need to read the fine print to decide between Photo Mechanic and BreezeBrowser.

Editing (Picking Your Keepers) in Photo Mechanic

I set the default so that the images are arranged by Capture Time when I open a folder.

To view your images in Photo Mechanic simply select the first image in the folder and then hit the spacebar. After that, hit the right arrow key to advance to the next slide. I hit letter T to tag my keepers. You can hit T again if you change your mind. I go to Preferences > Preview and then–under Automatically advance to the next photo when:– I uncheck the tag is changed box. That way when I tag a keeper it does not automatically advance to the next frame.

When I am done editing the folder I set Filter view by to Untagged. Then I hit Command A (select all) and Command delete to delete all the rejected images. Done deal. I will be sharing more of my digital workflow here with you in the not-to-distant future.

Photo Mechanic Magnified Viewing and Tips

While viewing your image you can zoom in to 100% by hitting “Z.” An even better trick when you want to enlarge from a specific spot (like the bird’s eye) rather than from the center is to place the cursor on the specific area that you want to view at 100% and then hit Command + Left click. To get back to the full screen view simply hit “Z.” (Not Escape!)

Best News

Folks who subscribe to the blog can call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 weekdays before 2pm to receive a small thank you discount. Or, if they wish to purchase Photo Mechanic in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store here, they can e-mail Jim for a discount code.

Photo Mechanic’s Auto Ingest

Stick the card in your Delkin Dual Slot Card Reader, set up your Ingest screen exactly as above, and your images will be placed in a dated folder with the location that you type in appearing after the image’s file name/number. Just as I do most every day.

Questions

Please leave a comment if you are already using Photo Mechanic or if you have any questions. I will do my best to help.

Japan In Winter IPT. February 9-24, 2017: $11,499 (was $13,999)/double occupancy. Limit 8/Openings: 3.

Price Reduced $2,500 on 3-8-16!

All lodging including the Tokyo hotel on 9 FEB, all breakfasts & dinners, ground transport and transfers including bus to the monkey park hotel, and all entrance fees and in-country flights are included. Not included: international flights, all lunches–most are on the run, and alcoholic beverages.

Please e-mail for couple and IPT repeat customer discount information.

This trip is one day longer than the great 2014 trip to allow for more flexibility, more time with the cranes, and most importantly, more time for landscape photography. Hokkaido is gorgeous. You will enjoy tons of pre-trip planning and gear advice, in-the-field instruction and guidance, at-the-lodge Photoshop and image review sessions in addition to short introductory slide programs for each of the amazing locations. Skilled photographer Paul McKenzie handles the logistics and we enjoy the services of Japan’s best wildlife photography guide whom I affectionately call “Hokkaido Bear.” His network of local contacts and his knowledge of the weather, the area, and the birds is unparalleled and enables him to have us in the best location every day.

The Logistics

Arrive Tokyo: 9 FEB 2017 the latest. 8 FEB is safer and gives you a day to get acclimated to the time change. Your hotel room for the night of the 9th is covered.

Bus Travel to Monkey Park Hotel: 10 FEB: A 1/2 DAY of monkey photography is likely depending on our travel time… This traditional hotel is first class all the way. Our stay includes three ten course Japanese dinners; these sumptuous meals will astound you and delight your taste buds. There are many traditional hot springs mineral baths (onsens) on site in this 150 year old hotel.

Full Day snow monkeys: FEB 11.

Full Day snow monkeys: FEB 12.

13 FEB: Full travel day to Hokkaido/arrive at our lodge in the late afternoon. The lodge is wonderful. All the rooms at the lodge have beds. Bring your warm pajamas. A local onsen (hot springs bath and tubs) is available for $5 each day before dinner–when you are cold, it is the best thing since sliced bread. The home-cooked Japanese styles meals at the lodge are to die for. What’s the best news? Only a small stand of woods separates us from the very best crane sanctuary. During one big snowstorm we were the only photo group to be able to get to Tsurui Ito; we had the whole place to ourselves in perfect conditions for crane photography!

FEB 14-23: Red-crowned Crane, raptors in flight, Whooper Swans, and scenic photography. Ural Owl possible. An overnight trip to Rausu for Steller’s Sea Eagle and White-tailed Eagle photography on the tourists boats is 100% dependent on the weather, road, and sea ice conditions. Only our trip offers complete flexibility in this area. It has saved us on more than once occasion. The cost of 2 eagle-boat trips is included. If the group would like to do more than two boat trips and we all agree, there will be an additional charge for the extra trip or trips. No matter the sea ice conditions, we will do two eagle boat trips (as long as we can make the drive to Rausu; it snows a lot up there). We have never been shut out.In 2016 there was no sea ice but our guide arranged for two amazingly productive boat trips.

Lodging notes: bring your long johns for sleeping in the lodge. At the Snow Monkey Park, and in Rausu, the hotel the rooms are Japanese-style. You sleep on comfortable mats on the floor. Wi-fi is available every day of the trip.

FEB 24. Fly back to Tokyo for transfer to your airport if you are flying home that night, or, to your hotel if you are overnighting. If you need to overnight, the cost of that room is on you.

To Sign Up

To save your spot, please send your $5,000 non-refundable deposit check made out to “Birds as Art” to Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. I do hope that you can join me for this trip of a lifetime. Do e-mail with any questions or give me a buzz at 863-692-0906.

Purchasing travel insurance within 2 weeks of our cashing your deposit check is strongly recommended. On two fairly recent Galapagos cruises a total of 5 folks were forced to cancel less than one week prior to the trip. My family and I use Travel Insurance Services and strongly recommend that you do the same.

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

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

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are 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 we, 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.

Facebook

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

Typos

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

What’s Up?

On Friday, September 2, I completed about five blog posts, two of them (including today’s) very interesting and different to say the least.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending IPTs and dozens of the 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 Streak

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 296 days in a row with a new educational blog post. There should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. Or not… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

Canon 5D Mark IV, EOS-1DX Mark II, and 5DS R: Top Canon Tech Rep Rudy Winston Answers My Questions and Yours

Top Canon technical representative Rudy Winston, technically a Technical Advisor in Canon USA’s Customer Experience and Innovation Department (part of the camera division) kindly agreed to an interview in which he would answer a few of my and many of your questions. Enjoy. If you have a follow-up question, please leave a comment and I will do my best to answer it or to get it answered.

The Interview

am: Hi Rudy. We will start you off with a softball toss question: does the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR have Silent frame advance mode?

RW: Yes; both Silent (single-frame advance) and Silent (continuous) are available. The fastest drive speed with Silent/continuous is about 3.0 fps.

AF Questions

am: Everyone wants to know how the AF systems of these three Canon bodies compare in real life, not just on paper: the 1DX Mark II, the 5D IV, and the 5DS R. Can you shed any light on that? In what ways are they identical and in what ways are they different. And what happens when you add a 1.4X or 2X III TC into the mix?

RW: Internal processing of AF information during AI Servo AF continues to give the EOS-1D X Mark II the advantage, at least theoretically, with challenging moving subjects. The AF sensor on both the 1D X Mark II and new EOS 5D Mark IV are identical so both share the same ability to grab onto subjects at lower light levels, and to offer the real-life benefits of expanded AF points available during f/8 autofocus (at effective apertures down to f/8, when compatible lenses are combined with Canon EF Extenders). Real-world AF performance with moving subjects between 5DS R and EOS 5D Mark IV should be essentially similar. There will be a slight edge to the EOS-1D X when the going gets really challenging.

am: Does any of the above have to do with the 360,000 pixel RGB metering system as compared to the 150,000 pixel RGB metering system on the 5DS R and the 5D IV?

RW: Those factors would only come into play in terms of the Intelligent Tracking and Recognition — EOS iTR, as it’s called in-camera. That’s the ability of the camera to combine color and subject identification info from the metering system with focus information from the AF points to help the camera change AF points to follow an erratically moving subject in AI Servo AF. This applies, however, only if the user has set their AF Area Selection Mode to Automatic AF point selection (all 61 AF points active), Large Zone AF, or Zone AF.

The 150,000 pixel RGB metering system–you’re correct, it’s an even more powerful 360,000 pixel metering sensor in the EOS-1D X Mark II–reads not just brightness, but color information, even including the ability to detect human faces. Normally, its advantages apply to exposure-based matters, which isn’t what your question was about. But the RGB color metering does assist with how AF points change to continue to track a moving subject that moves around the frame when the EOS iTR is active; users can turn it off in the AF menu. Again, this applies only if the user has set Automatic AF point selection (all 61 AF points active), Large Zone AF, or Zone AF.

If you are using one AF point or Expanded AF points the 150,000 pixel RGB metering system (or 360,000 on the 1DX II) has nothing to do with AF performance.

AM: Staying on the AF topic, it has always been obvious to me that the pro bodies, like the current 1DX Mark II, drive AF faster especially when a teleconverter is attached to a big lens than do the 5D or 7D series bodies. I have always assumed that that was because of the more powerful battery in the pro bodies. Several friends who are much more technically minded than I am insist that the battery is not the answer. They state clearly that they believe that the 5D or 7D batteries are fully capable of driving AF with TCs and big lenses just as fast as the pro bodies, but that the AF system in the 5D/7D has been damped somehow. Who is right?

RW: We have not received recent technical information on this, but earlier on in the EOS-1D platform’s development, the engineers made it clear that one of the benefits was that with the larger battery, when specific lenses such as the big white super-teles were attached, that the AF system would pull more initial power from the battery to boost the starting performance of the big ring-type USM (ultra sonic motor). As I recall, this was not tele-converter-dependent. Other factors that may add to this impression are the added sensitivity of certain AF points on the EOS-1D X Mark II’s AF sensor, as well as its gains in data processing during AI Servo AF; this would likely be more of a factor during an AI Servo AF sequence rather than at the initial start where the lens is first driven to focus on the subject. That’s the best I can say on it based on the information our engineers are making available to us at the present time.

am: Again, same question here: does anything in the preceding paragraph have anything to do with the 150,000 pixel RGB metering system (or 360,000 pixel RGB metering system of the 1DX II)?

RW: No, again, assuming the use of a single AF point or AF Point Expansion — both of which don’t use color information to change AF point location upon a subject.

5D IV Battery Info

am: Speaking of batteries, is the battery for the 5D Mark IV the same as for the 5D Mark III and the 5DS R? Does the battery grip from the 5D III fit the 5D IV as it does the 5DS R?

RW: The batteries are the same–the 5D Mark IV ships with the Canon LP-E6N Lithium-Ion Battery Pack (7.2V, 1865mAh); the older LP-E6 batteries will also work, albeit at a modestly reduced number of images per charge–no figures are available to quantify that. The battery grip for the 5D IV is different; the new grip is the Canon BG-E20 Battery Grip for EOS 5D Mark IV. The 5D IV body is slightly different in shape and size from the 5D III; this was surely the primary factor influencing development of the new battery grip.

The 5D IV Body Itself…

am: Is this correct, but but for the new AF Area Selection Mode Button, are all the rest of the controls pretty much identical to those on the 5D III?

RW: Essentially, yes. The new 5D Mark IV does add the ability to apply deliberate exposure compensation if Auto ISO is combined with Manual exposure mode via the SET or AF Area Select button. Either of those buttons would need to be re-configured to +/- exposure compensation in the Custom Controls area of the C.Fn menu and then combined with turning the Main Dial on top of the camera.

(artie note: I firmly believe that–for many reasons–folks should stay as far away as possible from using EC when they are working in Manual mode.)

5D IV Dual Pixel RAW Possibilities

am: On the subject of dual pixel RAWs, the Canon video that I saw by our mutual friend Drew MacCallum was pretty impressive. The example on the video was with an image made at a relatively short focal length. My question is, will correcting focus with on images created with long focal lengths be either similar or possible?

RW: For most Dual Pixel RAW applications, the engineers are saying that lenses from normal focal length (roughly 50mm) upward will tend to produce the most noticeable results, although they do go on to say that the Bokeh Shift can be effective with wide-angle lenses as well. One of the key factors is that there is a visible out-of-focus areas in the frame, other than the primary subject. Telephoto lenses will work with this; we’ve received no information about any limit to a telephoto lens’s focal length for using the Dual Pixel RAW process options. Basically, this new feature is most noticeable in shots taken at wide apertures (low f-numbers)and at relatively close distances. Do not, therefore, expect huge results in landscape shots where the plane of sharpest focus is on mountains that are miles away.

am: Wow, that sounds promising; I can’t wait to get mine and try it.

am: On the same subject, how is the buffer of the 5D Mark IV affected when you are creating dual pixel RAW files?

RW: Significantly. We don’t have official numbers, but on an ordinary CF card, my burst rate on a pre-production sample dropped to about 7 consecutive shots before the system had to slow down drastically. The 7 fps is available, but for fewer shots in a row. Normally, with a fast CF card, the EOS 5D Mark IV can shoot up to about 21 full-res RAW images in a continuous burst.

5D IV vs 7D II

am: How would a sharp 5D IV image cropped to comparable 7D II image size stack up as far as image quality is concerned?

RW: Though I haven’t done this comparison, I’d expect some 5D Mark IV advantage stemming from its larger pixel size as well as slightly less noise at the higher ISOs, etc.

The Question Nobody Can Answer Yet…

am: On the 5D IV, can you delay the start time when working with the built-in intervalometer?

RW: I haven’t tried it, and I had to leave my sample with a production company, so I don’t have it at the moment. I Will try this when I get the body back and let you know. I can’t recall, off the top of my head, if there’s a built-in “self-timer” setting within the intervalometer menu.

am: On the 5DS R, I could not find a way to delay the start using the built-in intervalometer.

Anti-aliasing Filter Issues

am: On the topic of the anti-aliasing filters, is it true that they only benefit video? In the same vein many folks are wondering why Canon continues to introduce new bodies with anti-aliasing filters while other major manufacturers have pretty much abandoned them with their latest releases. Please comment on the benefits of the AA filters for still photographers.

RW: Canon’s engineers have long maintained that in terms of total image quality that the presence of a low-pass (Anti-Aliasing) filter represents a benefit, more often than not. While moire patterns in images are rare, there is an increased risk of them with many real-life subjects that have repeating horizontal or vertical detail, and this is the primary problem that the low-pass filters counter. False colors are less prevalent, at least in some instances, when a low-pass filter is in place. The feeling in general is that the reduction in sharpness that they deliver can relatively easily be countered, at least to some degree, with appropriate sharpening/unsharp masking during RAW processing or certainly with image-editing programs. These corrections are much easier to apply than those needed to remove unexpected moire patterns from parts of an image file or stray false colors. And yes, the engineers are certainly aware of the initial sharpness increase that occurs if and when the low-pass filter is either removed completely or cancelled (as in the EOS 5DS R).

High ISO Considerations

am: Assuming that the 1DX II is the high ISO leader in the clubhouse, what can we expect from 5D Mark IV images in comparison.

RW: I don’t have any official numbers to give you. Considering the increase in pixel count and the corresponding reduction in the size of each pixel on the EOS 5D Mark IV image sensor, the fact that there is only a slight decrease in the control of high-ISO noise at normal settings is commendable. Simply comparing files from an EOS 5D Mark III (previous model) to the new 5D Mark IV, it’s not a night-and-day difference at the higher ISOs, at least on the pre-production cameras I’ve sampled. There will be a slight edge going to the to the Mark IV at ISOs of 3200 and above. The EOS-1D X Mark II remains the leader for those for whom low noise levels at high ISOs are their number one priority.

5D IV Digital Media Info

am: Can you confirm that the 5D Mark IV supports only the UHS-I standard secure digital card, but not the more recent, faster, UHS II version?

RW: This is absolutely true, and EOS 5D Mark IV users will need to be careful, moving forward, not to pay for the theoretical performance benefits of UHS-II type SD cards if they intend to use they exclusively in the 5D IV. While the faster UHS-II cards will fit, there’s a possibility that their write speeds may drop to levels slower than those of a typical UHS-I complaint card, for technical reasons. To be clear, the EOS 5D Mark IV’s SD card slot supports SD-type cards up to and including UHS-I compliant cards, but does not have the extra pin connections and circuitry to take advantage of the benefits of UHS-II cards.

Maximum card writing speed is absolutely required for anyone intending to work with the 4K video feature on this camera. According to our engineers, the recommended card performance for 4K video recording is:

CF cards: UDMA-7 compliant; write speeds 100MB/sec. or faster

SD cards: UHS-I compliant; Speed class 3 or higher.

Please note that some cards with the specs above on the package may still not meet the performance requirements for 4K video recording. Still-image shooters who regularly create long continuous bursts of RAW images will likewise benefit from the highest-performance compatible memory cards. The older, slower cards can still be used for less-aggressive applications by folks shooting short RAW image bursts, creating original JPEGs in-camera, or video users working with Full HD (1080p) in the IPB or IPB Light settings, etc.

Thanks Rudy!

am: Rudy, thanks a stack for your time, your help, and for sharing your expertise with us here.

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

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

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are 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 we, 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.

Facebook

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

Typos

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

What’s Up?

On Wednesday, I continued working on future blog posts. And I answered lots of e-mails. Right now it looks as if three of the four slots for the possible trip to Europe to photograph Capercaillie, Black Grouse, and one of my most wanted species, Ruff, all from blinds, are spoken for. All three species will be displaying on their leks, the latter in its spectacularly varied breeding plumage. Limited to four photographers plus me. Potentially, there is only one spot left. If you are interested, please shoot me an e-mail.

Tomorrow: A Free Tutorial: Rebuilding a Missing Primary Tip from Scratch.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending IPTs and dozens of the 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 Streak

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 294 days in a row with a new educational blog post. There should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. Or not… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

A Man Not of His Word

A professional photographer who was somewhat of a friend, wrote stating that he wanted to sell his old Canon 600mm f/4L IS lens via the Used Gear Page on the blog. He e-mailed, I have the old version Canon 600 f/4 for sale. It is in great shape (always with a LensCoat). What would you suggest we price it for? I wrote back as I always do saying that I do not discuss price until the seller states specifically that they agree to the terms set down in the Items for Sale Info e-mail. As always, I urged him to read the whole thing carefully, especially item #4, before agreeing to the terms.

He wrote back saying, “That all looks good Artie!” He had suggested a price that was much too high. I suggested a much lower more reasonable price at which the lens had a chance to sell. He countered with this, Wow…that is so low. Let me hold on to it for a while and see if some of my past clients will pay a bit more. I wrote back, I am fine with that, but please remember that you agreed to the terms that included that you would pay me 2 1/2% of the current B&H lowball offer. I am checking on that now. Note: the major camera store offers are always exceedingly low, ridiculously low, criminally low. And in many cases they lower their offer once they receive your gear. At that point, most folks simply accept the reduced offer “since they already have the stuff.”

Next from him, What? You want me to pay you for not listing or selling my lens???

My answer, I sent you the Items for Sale Info e-mail. I asked you to read it carefully and let me know that you agree to the terms. You did. Obviously, your word is meaningless so sell the lens yourself and please do not come knocking here again. His last e-mail, “Don’t you worry, I won’t be asking for your “friendly” advice or help anytime in the future. I have another professional photographer friend who asked for the Items for Sale Info e-mail and got back to me stating clearly that he would not agree to the terms. I was 100% fine with that and wished him luck with the sale of his gear.

So What’s the Deal With Item #4?

So why do I include item #4 in the Items for Sale Info agreement? A gentleman’s agreement I might add. All business done on the Used Gear Page is done on the honor system. I have been selling used gear for more than three years and am pretty darned good at what I do. I have done many dozens of hours of research. I have an intimate knowledge of used gear prices and pricing trends. I simply do not want folks writing to me for pricing information only to go off and sell the lens themselves once I put them in the right ballpark. That is why I instituted item #4. And why I ask folks to read the whole thing and especially item #4 very carefully before agreeing to the terms. As above, I am fine with folks who choose not to agree to the terms. But once you agree to the terms, I expect that folks will be honor-bound by their word. Only one person has ever agreed and then broken their word.

Please shoot me an e-mail to request an updated version of the Items for Sale Info e-mail.

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

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

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are 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.

Facebook

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

Typos

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

What’s Up?

More of the same on Monday: lots of clerical work and answering e-mails–many of those involving Used Gear Sales, preparing blog posts, posting different stuff on FaceBook–including a collection of tulip images, an easy 3/4 mile swim, and more core exercises and stretching. All accompanied by UFC reruns on Tivo.

Congrats to the team from Endicott, NY on defeating the team from South Korea in the Little League World Series. It was a mega exciting 2-1 game that went down to the final strike.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending IPTs and dozens of the 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 Streak

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 292 days in a row with a new educational blog post. There should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. Or not… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

Selling Your Used Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

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 charges a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. 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. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the yellow-orange tab on the right side of the menu bar above.

Used Gear Sales Continue to be Brisk

• Multiple IPT-veteran Sheldon Goldstein decided to keep his Canon EOS-5D Mark III and have it converted to Infrared by Kolari Vision using the link on the right side of each blog page. Folks who use that link will receive a free copy of my IR White Balance Guide.
• David Snyder sold his Nikon Manual Focus 500mm f/4P lens in good condition for $1199 in late August, 2016.
• Michael Hansen sold a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for $1599 in late August.
• Peter Noyes sold his Apple MacBook Pro with 15.4 inch Retina Display, 16 GB memory, 1 TB Flash Drive, 2.8 GHZ Intel Core I7 processor, and Force-Touch keypad for $1,199 in late August.
• Multiple IPT-veteran Mike Goldhamer sold his Canon EOS-5D Mark III (with the battery grip) in excellent plus condition for $1550 in late August.
• Multiple IPT veteran Bill Lloyd sold his Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II USM lens in mint condition for $5,999. in mid-August.
• Many multiple IPT-veteran Mike Goldhamer sold his Canon EOS-5D Mark III in excellent plus condition for $1550.
• Eric Karl sold his Canon 7D Mark II camera in like-new condition with the BG-E16 battery grip for $1,099 in mid-August.
• Tom Mast sold his Canon 300mm f/4L IS USM lens in excellent condition for $625 in late July.
• Henry Raymundo sold his Gitzo 1325 tripod and a Wimberley V-2 head both in very good plus condition for the very low price of $699 and two used Canon 100-400mm IS L Zoom lenses, one in excellent condition for $599, the other in very good plus condition for $549–all in late July.
• Jonathan Ward sold his Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS II USM lens in excellent condition for $2,000 CAD in early July.
• Long ago multiple IPT veteran Charles McRae sold his Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS lens in good to very good condition in early July for a record low $4,199.
• Jeffrey Fredberg sold his EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM L series lens in like-new condition for the record-low BAA price of $749 in late June.
• Jim Burns sold his Canon 200-400mm F/4L IS zoom lens with Internal 1.4X Extender in brand new condition for the insane BAA record-low price of $8499 in late June.

New Listings

Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II USM Lens (with extras!)

A Record Low BAA Price!

Paul Abravaya is offering a Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II lens in excellent condition for $5,799. The sale includes everything that comes with a new lens from Canon USA: the rear lens cap, the lens trunk, the original tough front lens cover, the lens strap, the original product box, the hard case and case strap and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Additionally the lens comes with a with a Don Zeck lens cover, a Realtree Max4 HD Camo LensCoat, and a Really Right Stuff replacement foot (LCF-52). It was purchased new by Paul on April 16, 2015.

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

Contact Paul via e-mail or by phone at 1-805-427-5856 (please do not call before 7am or after 8pm Pacific time).

I own the 400 DO II and find a way to take it on most trips. I took to Scotland and Nickerson Beach. It serves as my big gun in the Galapagos and on Southern Ocean (the Falklands and South Georgia) trips. It is a killer for flight with or without the 1.4X III TC. And really skilled folks have had amazing success hand holding it with the 2X III TC for flight and for action. With this lens in high demand and new ones selling for $6899, Paul’s lens is a great buy that will save you 1100 bucks!. artie

Canon EOS 5DSR DSLR

IPT veteran Larry Master is offering a barely used Canon EOS 5DSR in like-new condition for $2799. The sale includes the front body cap, two batteres, the battery charger, the original product box, the original cables, manuals, and CDs, 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 Larry via e-mail or by phone 518-645-1545 EDT.

Without an anti-aliasing filter, the 5DS R will–for those with good sharpness techniques–produce large high-quality image files that feature hard to believe detail. You have seen the amazing 100% crops showing fine-feather detail in many blog posts including (but not limited to) this one. And as you can see here, it is not bad for flight photography either. artie

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Top pro Jim Zuckerman is offering a Canon 7D Mark II in excellent condition for $899. The sale includes the body cap, the instruction manuals in English and Spanish, two Canon batteries, the battery charger, 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 Jim via e-mail or by phone at 1-615-414-7644 (Central time).

Though I currently own and use two 5DS R and one 1DX Mark II body, I owned and used two 7D II bodies for about two years; several of my 7D II images made the final judging rounds in both the BBC and Nature’s Best competitions. I still feel that it is by far the greatest digital camera body value ever… artie

Canon EOS 5D Mark II

Top pro Jim Zuckerman is also offering a Canon 5D Mark II in excellent condition for $799. The sale includes the body cap, two Canon batteries, the battery charger, the Canon strap, the Really Right Stuff ‘L’ bracket, 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 Jim via e-mail or by phone at 1-615-414-7644 (Central time).

The 5D II is a fine body for landscapes, Urbex, flowers, and travel photography. I had mine converted to Infrared by Kolari vision and love the image quality. artie

Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM Lens

Top pro Jim Zuckerman is also offering a Canon EF 14mm f/2.8L II USM lens in very good condition for the amazingly low price of $1049. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the front lens cap, 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. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Jim via e-mail or by phone at 1-615-414-7644 (Central time).

This lens is ideal for serious landscape photographers and for architectural, wedding, and night sky star photography. It sells new for $2099. artie

Working Long, Clean, Tight, and Graphic Can Be Fatal…

I’ve said it here dozens of times, but few believe me: When working with ultra-long focal lengths to implement my clean, tight, and graphic style, I am often dead in the water when it comes to photographing action and behavior. Working at 1200mm for today’s featured image, I did my very best raising the lens when the large chick unexpectedly jumped up and began flapping in place. The AF system tracked perfectly for the three-frame sequence as I held the star button–my choice for rear button focus–in, but the AF point was on the young bird’s lower belly, at least an inch in front of the plane of the bird’s eyes. Thus, the bird’s head and face in the RAW file were nowhere near sharp.

Theoretically, as the 1DX II offers all AF points at f/8, I could have gone with an active AF point a row or two above the center AF point, if, and only if I had the ability to see into the future. Had I been working at 840mm it would have been a piece of cake to keep the active AF point on the bird’s face and create a series of sharp on the face images with lots of room in the frame. Alas…

The Image Optimization

First I added a bit of canvas above. Then, with the the bird’s head and face unsharp, I did my best to sharpen that area selectively using a strong Contrast Mask: 20/80/0 (after selecting the head and face with a Quick Mask and putting it on its own layer). While I love the sharpness of the bird’s feet and the look of the sand and the amazing underwing detail showing the primary and secondary feathers emerging from the feather shafts, and the image presents pretty well on the web, it is just not sharp enough where it needs to be–on the bird’s face–to enter in a major contest. Bummer.

You can learn to do pretty much all of the above and lots more in my Digital Basics File. Learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.

Digital Basics is an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. It includes my complete digital workflow, dozens of great Photoshop tips, details on using all of my image clean-up tools, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding and filling in canvas, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, the basics of Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro, Digital Eye Doctor techniques, using Gaussian Blurs, Dodge and Burn, a variety of ways to make selections, how to create time-saving actions, the Surface Blur settings that I use to smooth background noise, and tons more.

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

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

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

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

Facebook

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

Typos

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

What’s Up?

Boy, this is getting repetitive. What’s on the schedule for Sunday? BAA clerical work and answering e-mails, preparing blog posts, posting different stuff on FaceBook–most recently some tulips, an easy 3/4 mile swim, and more core exercises and stretching. All accompanied by UFC on Tivo.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending IPTs and dozens of the 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 Streak

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 291 days in a row with a new educational blog post. There should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. Or not… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

What to do, what to do, what to do?

With the release of the EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR it is an exciting time for bird, wildlife, and nature photographers using the Canon system. Do you go with the new body, with the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R DSLR, or with the rugged blazingly fast Canon EOS-1D X Mark II DSLR with 64GB Card and Reader?

The discussions below can help you with your decision. If you are in the market for a new body, please remember to use one of my B&H affiliate links; it is the best way to thank me for the work that I am doing both here and via e-mail. If you opt for the 5D Mark IV, please, once you get to the B&H product page, click on Pre-order. If instead you click on Request stock alert that option will not track to me.

Most Important

Please remember that it ain’t the camera and it ain’t the lens… A competent and creative photographer with older gear who practices and studies and works hard on their post-processing skills will create much better images than a lazy incompetent photographer with the latest greatest camera bodies and lenses. But only 100% of the time.

Before you reach for your credit card, be sure also to ask yourself, “What is the end purpose of my images, what will I be using them for?” Your honest answer might save you thousands of dollars.

The Canon EOS 5DS R versus the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV

Here is an e-mail exchange with Ken Lui who e-mailed with a gear question:

am: Hi Ken, re:

KL: I take both landscape and bird photos, including birds in flight. I have both 100-400 IS II and the 600 mm IS II and a few other L lenses for landscapes. Any thoughts as to which camera would be better for me, the 5DS R or the Canon 5D Mark IV?

am: Unless you are routinely making very large prints I would lean toward the 5D Mark IV for its faster frame rate, its likely improved AF system, AF at f/8, improved low light/high ISO performance, and its more manageable file sizes (though I have no problem at all with the large 5DS R image files on my Macbook Pro). More on the AF at f/8 bit: at f/8, the 5D IV (like the more expensive 1DX II) offers all AF points and all AF Area Selection modes.

That said you should be able to make some pretty wonderful large prints with 5D Mark IV images. If you remember, when I first mentioned that it is harder to make sharp images with camera bodies with densely packed pixels, pretty much everyone told me that I was wrong. Good friend and technical wizard Alan Lillich kindly explained that I was right because the lens shake needs to be considered on a pixel level. I did not and do not really understand the physics of it, but I knew I was right all along because of what I was experiencing with the 7D II and then later with the 5DS R, each with tiny, tightly packed pixels.

If you watch the 5D Mark IV panel discussion video here, you will note at about the 53:50 mark, that both pros made comments that showed that I was indeed correct. Therefore, for most folks, the real possibility is it would be easier for many of them to make sharp images with a 30mp body than with a 50mp body. For some, this seemingly fine point might be a hugely important factor.

KL: Thanks. Now I have a even harder time choosing between the 5DS R and the 5D MK IV…

am: Whatever you do, please be sure to use my B&H affiliate link. Many thanks for that. And later and love, artie
ps: let me know if you have any additional questions.

KL: I will use your link to purchase when I make up my mind.

am: Many thanks.

To Be Clear: The Big Realization

While it will be slightly more difficult for folks going from a 16-22mp camera body to a 30mp body–the 5D Mark IV–to make sharp images, it will surely be a lot easier for many folks to make sharp images with a 30mp body than with a 50mp body–the 5DS R.

The Canon EOS 5DS R/600II/1.4XIII TC versus the Canon EOS-1DX Mark II/600II/2XII TC.

A Comments conversation with Ryan Sanderson from the blog post here.

RS: What considerations go into your choice of 5DS R/600II/1.4XIII TC versus the 1DX Mark II/600II/2XII TC.

am: There are lots of factors.

RS: It would seem to me that frame rate and perhaps higher ISO capability would be the only reasons you would want to go with the second combo and I guess one could possibly make an argument about weather conditions.

am: Yes to the things that you noted above. And the fact that the 1DX II offers faster initial focusing acquisition (possibly because of battery considerations…) And the 1DX II offers all AF points and all AF Area Selection modes while the 5DS R offers only the center AF point plus the assist point in Expand.

Common sense dictates that a sharp image made with the 5DS R/600II/1.4XIII TC and then cropped will better image quality than an image made with the 1DX Mark II/600II/2XIII TC. And the former combo will enjoy both one stop of AF and ISO advantages as wide open will be f/5.6 rather than f/8. That said, here is one factor that I have long thought about and realized but never written about until now: there is always a subconscious factor that overrules common sense. The brain thinks, “Having the bird larger in the frame (with the1DX Mark II/600II/2XIII TC combo) has got to be better.” In addition, bigger in the frame is comforting both to the psyche and the ego.

Then there is the motion blur across the more densely-packed 5DS R pixels (as discussed in the first item in this blog post) to add to the mix as everything above assumed prefect sharpness techniques with each rig. The facts are that I have made lots of great images with the 5DS R/600II/1.4XIII TC, made great images with the 1DX Mark II/600II/2XII TC, and, in the best of all worlds, made great images with the 5DS R/600II/2XIII TC…

RS: I’ve followed your blog daily and have seen the fine images coming from the 1DX2 combo, but sometimes I did wonder if the 5DsR combo would have been better.

am: As above, I have wondered too.

RS: I’ve recently acquired a used 5DS R to accompany my 7D Mark II. The 7D II has not been used since I picked up the 5DS R and it’s gotten me to thinking about selling the 7D II and picking up a used 1DX as a back-up.

am: Good plan. I’d be glad to help you sell your 7D II via the Used Gear page.

RS: I don’t shoot video and with the 5DS R, I feel that any significant reach situations would be handled by cropping 5DS R images. I don’t know that going for a 1DX Mark II for double the price of a used 1DX would be advantageous for me, especially since I’m only a hobbyist.

am: I can never know what is “worth it” for someone else. I am blessed to be able to get the gear I need and want whenever I so choose. I will likely be getting my hands on a 5D Mark IV sooner rather than later. Hey, here’s something for you to consider: should you be buying a new 5D Mark IV instead of a 5DS R? See the item that opens this blog post for help with that decision…

A Note On Camera Body Weights

Do not forget that both the 5D Mark IV and the 5DS R are a lot lighter than the relative behemoth, the 1DX Mark II.

All Things Considered…

If you read and understand and consider everything above, it sounds as if new 5D Mark IV might be the perfect body for those who do serious landscape, travel, Urbex, nature, and wildlife photography, including and especially birds. I will be borrowing one to test as soon as possible. I will almost surely have one to use on the DeSoto IPT. And each participant will get one hour to play with the new body.

You can learn lots more about the 5D IV in the blog post here.

For folks who specialize in photographing birds in flight and in action, or those who work often in extremely low light conditions, the 1DX Mark II might very well be best for them… Click here for more on that.

BIRDS AS ART Fort DeSoto In-the-Field Meet-up Workshop (ITFW): $99. Limit 12/Openings: 10)

Join me on the morning of October 2, 2016 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, especially with a 7D Mark II. 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 morning workshop is designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to meet you there.

To register please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours with a credit card in hand to pay the nominal registration fee. Your registration fee is non-refundable. You will receive a short e-mail with instructions, gear advice, and meeting place one week before the event.

Fort DeSoto Short Notice Fall IPT/September 28 (meet & greet at 2pm followed by our afternoon session) through the full day on October 1, 2016. 3 1/2 DAYs: $1549. Limit 10/Openings: 6. Sunday morning ITFW free to IPT registrants.

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

Folks who sign up for the IPT are welcome to join me as my guest on the ITFW on the Sunday morning following the workshop. See above for details on that.

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

At brunch (included) we will review my images–folks learn a ton watching me edit–why keep this one and delete that one? If you opt to bring your laptop, we can take a look at a few of your images from the morning session. We will process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time.

As I already have one signed up for this workshop, it is a go. Hotel info will be e-mailed when you register. The best airport is Tampa (TPA). It is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel so if you are interested it would be a good idea to register now and make your hotel reservations as soon as you hear from us. We can, however, coordinate with local folks who opt to stay at home.

Because of the relatively late date, payment is full is due upon registration either by check or credit card. If the former, please e-mail us immediately so that we can save you a spot. If the latter, please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand to register. Your registration fee is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with eight so please check your plans carefully before committing. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions and gear & clothing advice a fairly soon.

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

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

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

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

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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 🙂