Me early, at the IPT hotel. Discovered lots on my afternoon scouting run at Fort DeSoto. I am headed out for some morning scouting in about 5 minutes which will be 5:50am. I have a micro-adjusting/1.4X III TC tale of woe to share with you soon…
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 186 days in a row with a new educational blog post, dozens of new topics to cover, and no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
The AF Point two rows up and two rows to the left of the center AF point!/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure (as is always best when hand holding). The selected AF point fell on the left side of the bird’s neck nicely on the same plane as the bird’s eye. See the DPP 4 screen capture below.Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Black-bellied Plover in near complete breeding plumage
1D Mark II AF as X-pected…
Two days ago I wrote And at f/8, I will have all the AF points active. This will be a huge plus for me as I often use the 2X III TC with my 500 or 600 II lenses, and the same will be true when I use the 1.4X III with the 100-400 II and the 1D X II. Well, the ability to choose any AF point with the 1DX II is even better than I expected; no more rear focus and re-compose (except when you need to focus on something outside of the AF array).
The AF system has a different feel from any that I have worked with previously and will take a bit of getting used to. I plan on working with the 1DX II almost exclusively on the Fort DeSoto IPT.
The DPP 4 Screen Capture
The DPP 4 Screen Capture
When I went to convert my first 1DX II image in DPP 4 it came up with the dreaded X on the image indicating that the version of DPP 4 that I was running did not support the new camera. A much-too-difficult online search brought me here and I was able to download and install Digital Photo Professional Version 4.4.30.2.
The illuminated red square indicates the selected AF point. For as long as I can remember, folks using big lens with the 2X TCs have dreamed of having all AF points available. With the 1DX II, that dream has been realized. I for one am very glad. Another plus is that moving the AF point from side to side is seamless as it is with the 5DS R. Fortunately, the AF grid void problem exists only with the 7D Mark II.
You can order your copy of “The Photographers’ Guide to Canon Digital Photo Professional 4.0” (aka the DPP 4 Raw Conversion eGuide) by Arash Hazeghi and Arthur Morris by clicking here.
The DPP 4 eGuide (PDF)
The RAW file for today’s image was of course converted in DPP 4. Learn how and why I and many other discerning photographers choose and use only DPP 4 to convert their Canon RAW files in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly. The latest version supports all of the newer Canon camera bodies and several older models including the EOS-7D and the EOS-1D Mark IV. The DPP IV Guide is the ideal companion to the 7D Mark II User’s Guide, a runaway best seller.
The DPP 4 eGuide (PDF) Updated for 1D Mark IV and the original 7D
The DPP 4 eGuide was recently updated to include the luminance and chrominance noise reduction values for both the 1D Mark IV and the original 7D. If you purchased your copy from BAA please e-mail Jim and request the DPP 4 1d IV/7D update. Please be sure to cut and paste page 1 into your e-mail as proof of purchase.
There will be a new update of DPP 4 that will include info on the latest version, 4.4.30.2, and will also include Arash’s NR values for the 5DS R and the 1D X II.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
Facebook
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Typos
In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right 🙂
I had lots more energy on Sunday than I did on Saturday. I took care of some Nature’s Best Contest business and micro-adjusted several lenses with my new 1D X. I have never seen such tight AF clusters… Overall I had one of my best days in recent memory.
I am heading over to Fort DeSoto a day early so that I can do some scouting for the IPT on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 185 days in a row with a new educational blog post, dozens of new topics to cover, and no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
This image was created at Gatorland last Thursday with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 360mm) and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/3200 sec. at f/6.3. Daylight WB.
The selected AF point was two to the right and one row up from the center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure (as is always best when hand holding). The selected point fell on the bottom part of the bird’s eye. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Great Egret large chick
Gatorland Report
As noted previously, I spent Thursday morning past at Gatorland with private clients Dixon and Carolyn Soracco. They were amazed by the birds and the nests and their proximity to the boardwalk. I did mention to them that as far as quality photographic opportunities for early May that the place was poor overall. We had a few very good opportunities, especially with the large chick shown in today’s featured image. Do note that for folks with long lenses afternoons may be better.
There were fewer than a dozen photographers present. In most years on this date there would be two or three dozen shooters. I took that to mean that the word is out: there are just not as many good situations as in a typical year. As is usual at Gatorland, most folks simply had no clue as to what a good situation is. Folks were working well off light angle and pointing their lenses at incredibly cluttered nests. All the while our single large chick posed for us for more than an hour with lovely distant backgrounds… The more things change, the more they stay the same.
100-400 II Versatility
To start the day I loaned my 100-400II to Carolyn. When our subject came into the sun I called her over and coached her to some great images. I was working with the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS and the 2X III TC but the 100-400 II was much better for the job because of its one-meter close focus. After Carolyn made lots of good ones I borrowed my lens to create the image above. The 1-4II is unbeatable when working in close quarters.
Depth-of-Field Question…
With the bird’s eye super-sharp and the tip of the beak not in sharp focus, would I have been better off going to a small aperture like f/13? Why or why not? I did have lots of shutter speed to work with…
From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmer head portrait, American Oystercatcher dining on surf clam flesh, Common Tern at sunset, Common Tern adult swallowing flatfish, Black Skimmer in flight, newborn Common Tern chick, American Oystercatcher with chick, fresh juvenile Common Tern (with fill flash), and Common Terns copulating.
Meet and greet at 3pm on the afternoon of Monday, July 18. Limit 10.
The primary subject species of this IPT will be the nesting Common Terns. The trip is timed so that we will get to photograph tiny chicks as well as fledglings. There will be lots of flight photography including adults flying with baitfish. Creating great images of the chicks being fed is a huge challenge. In addition to the terns we will get to photograph lots of Black Skimmers courting, setting up their nesting territories, and in flight (both singles and large pre-dawn flocks blasting off). Midair battles are guaranteed on sunny afternoons. And with luck, we might even see a few tiny chicks toward the end of the trip. We will also get to photograph the life cycle of American Oystercatcher. This will likely include nests with eggs and tiny chicks, young being fed, and possibly a few fledglings.
Nesting Piping Plover is also possibly. There will be lots of gulls to photograph; most years I am able to find a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls of varying ages in addition to the Herring, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed Gulls. You will learn to identify and age the various gull species. There will likely be some Willets feeding along the surf and with luck we might get to photograph a handsome juvenile or two. In addition to the locally breeding shorebirds, we will likely get to see some southbound migrant arctic-and sub-arctic breeding shorebird species such as Sanderling, Semipalmated Plover, and maybe even Red Knot.
From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmers with tiny chick, Common Tern landing with baitfish for young, fledged Common Tern chick in dunes, American Oystercatchers/display flight, adult Common Tern with pipefish for chick, Common Tern fledgling in soft light, American Oystercatcher on nest with eggs, American Oystercatcher 3-egg clutch, battling Black Skimmers.
The IPT Logistics
The tour will begin with a meet and greet on the afternoon of Monday, July 18, 2016. That will be followed by our first shooting session at the beach. From Tuesday through and including all of Friday we will have two photography sessions daily. Our morning sessions will start very early so that we are on the beach well before sunrise. We usually photograph for about four hours. Then we will enjoy a group brunch. We will always have a midday break that will include a nap for me. That followed by our daily afternoon classroom sessions that will include image review, workflow and Photoshop, and a review/critique of five of your trip images. Folks are always invited to bring their laptops to brunch for image sharing. I always have mine with me but heck, I am a big show-off. Afternoon in-the-field sessions generally run from 5pm through sunset.
Breakfasts are grab what you can. Four brunches are included. Dinners (if at all) will be on your own as we will often get back to the hotel at about 9pm. There is a fridge in every room and a supermarket within walking distance of the hotel so nobody should starve. You will learn a ton during the nine shooting sessions, the four in-classroom sessions, and even at lunch. Early morning and late afternoon parking is free. If we want to head back to the beach early we will need to arrange tight carpools and share the $30/vehicle parking fee. Non-photographer spouses, friends, or companions are welcome for $100/day, $450 for the whole IPT.
Save a space by calling Jim or Jen at the office at 863-692-0906 and arranging to leave your deposit of $599–credit cards are accepted for deposits only. Your balance will be due on April 18, 2016. I hope that you can join me for what will be an exciting and educational IPT.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
Saturday was a lazy day but I did manage to get some work done. How lazy? My 1DX II is still in the B&H shipping box and still sitting on the bookcase in my entry foyer… Tomorrow.
In the good news department we now have nine folks signed up for the AUG 2017 Galapagos trip…
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 184 days in a row with a new educational blog post, dozens of new topics to cover, and no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
Magnolia blossom on i-Phone 5s.
Image courtesy of and copyright 2016 Jennifer Morris
Can Photography Actually Be Simple?
After our canceled boat trip last Wednesday morning, Jim and I drove through Armageddon-like storms. At 8am it was actually getting very dark. Deep puddles at the edges of the roadways grabbed the steering wheel repeatedly and tried to wrench it away from Jim. I was glad when we got home safely.
As we pulled into my driveway I noticed a single fresh blossom on the small Magnolia tree in front of the house. “I should photograph that when the rain quits” I thought. That thought passed quickly.
On Friday I was walked out to meet older daughter Jennifer at her car. She showed me a single image on her cell phone. Of the Magnolia blossom. The image was strikingly beautiful. I asked her to send it to me via e-mail. She did. She showed me about 15 similar images of the flower, but the first one was the winner.
There are lots of lessons for all of us in this short tale.
1-when you see something that catches your eye, photograph it. Do not wait.
2-when you see something that catches your eye, make lots of image, create horizontals and verticals, and vary the compositions.
3-the best image in a series will almost always jump up and grab you.
Is it Genetic?
Surely not. Keep your eyes open. Photograph what turns you on. It will not matter who your father is.
The 1DX II Thoughts…
An e-mail Conversation with Roy Prasad
AM: Hi Roy, Thanks for writing.
RP: My 1DX2 was actually delivered today. It is quite a bit heavier than a 5DS R. Here’s a question: if I have a 5DSR, do I really need a 1DX2?
AM: Only you can answer that.
RP: Obviously, the 1DX2 has the 14 fps frame rate, which is great for birds in flight or other action photography. The 5DSR is limited to only 5 fps. But it has a massive 50MP sensor with incredible detail. And for the cost of a 1DX2, I can buy two 5DSRs.
AM: I know all that. I own two 5DS R bodies. And now I own a 1D X II. I will be using it a lot this week on the Fort DeSoto IPT.
RP: What is great about the 1DX II is its massive battery, the built in vertical grip, its ability to take a lot of abuse (although I take excellent care of my gear), its ability to operate in inclement weather, etc. Is there anything the 1DX II can do that the 5DS R simply can’t? How about the speed and accuracy of AF? To be limited to only 20MP is a bummer.
AM: To some degree. But there are lots of potential pluses. Here is what I am looking forward to with my 1DX II:
That big battery drives AF with either TC much faster than a 5DS R making combinations like the 400 DO II with the 2X III TC much more viable and much more deadly.
And at f/8, I will have all the AF points active. This is a huge plus for me as I often use the 2X III TC with my 500 or 600 II lenses, and the same will be true when I use the 1.4X III with the 100-400 II and the 1D X II.
The improved AF system that will surely be the best ever by far and high ISO noise performance will also be the best ever. The 1DX II has a new AF sensor, a new lens systems within the AF system, and more powerful processing. Thus, I am expecting AF to be greatly improved.
RP: So what makes better sense, a 5DSR and a 1DX II or two 5DS R bodies?
AM: Consider what I wrote above, read what I have to say about the 1DX II in the next few weeks, and make your decision 🙂
later and love, artie
Michael Tapes’ 1DX II AF Galleries
Michael Tapes, the creator of LensAlign/FocusTune, has been photographing birds for only two years. Check out his 1DX II Osprey/Spoonbill flight gallery (400 DO II + 1/4X III TC + 1DX II) here and his Great Blue Heron/Least Tern diving gallery (400 DO II + 2X III TC + 1DX II) here. While there is a clunker or two in these galleries and while Michael likes to crop a bit too tightly at times, there are some very fine images (can you say “Osprey”?)and the 400 DO II/2X III TC Least Tern images are amazingly sharp and well done. Thanks to Michael for letting me share the two galleries with you here.
The 1D X II
If what you read or today or what you read on the blog inspires you to purchase a Canon EOS-1D X Mark II DSLR Camera Premium Kit with 64GB Card and Reader please use the active link or click on the logo-link above. Doing so will be greatly appreciated. Many who used our link right off the bat already have their 1DX Mark IIs.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
Friday was just another day at the office getting lots done. My 1D X Mark II comes today 🙂
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 183 days in a row with a new educational blog post, dozens of new topics to cover, and no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
This image was created at Dead Vlei, inside Namib Naukluft National Park, on the 2016 Namibia IPT. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/100 sec. at f/8. K8000. To ensure maximum sharpness I used my flower technique: Live View with 2-second timer.
Center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF on the apex of the curve on the right hand dune and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Red Sossusvlei dunes at dawn
Namibia Scenic Dune Opportunities
What can I say? The dunes in Namibia are breathtakingly beautiful. And that goes for the red dunes at Sossusvlei (above) and the white/mocha-colored dunes (below) near the coast at Swakopmund. Each is beautiful in its own way.
Your Favorites?
Which color dunes would you like to photograph? Which of the two images do you like best. Be sure to let us know the reasons for your choices.
Namibia IPT Gear and Gear Bag Errors
On our first walk into Dead Vlei I opted to take the 70-200 II and TCs. Next year I will opt for the 100-400/; I did not need the speed of the 70-200 as I was always working on a tripod and I would have loved the extra reach of the 100-400 II plus the 2X III TC.
My biggest gear bag mistake by far was bringing the Singh-Ray 77mm 10-stop ND instead of the 5-Stop 77mm ND. Several times I wanted to create some pleasing blurs. Having had so much fun in San Diego with the 10-stop ND photographing the big waves at La Jolla, CA, I forgot that I was going to a desert! No waves there. The biggest problem with using the 10-stop ND with birds and wildlife is that you cannot see well enough through the viewfinder to either check AF or compose the image…
To make matters worse I borrowed a 5-stop ND from a friend and promptly lost it…
Lastly, leaving the 24-105mm at home was a mistake that I shall not repeat…
This image was created at Swakopmund on the 2016 Namibia IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens at 110mm and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops as framed: 1/500 sec. at f11 in Manual mode. Daylight WB.
Center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF 1/3 of the way into the frame and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Mocha dunes in midday sea fog
Our Desert Experience
We enjoyed an amazing outing at the coastal dunes around Swakopmund. We got to photograph a variety of small critters including Desert Chameleon, Palmato Gecko, some scorpions and snakes, and two neat species of birds. (Lots of new images coming soon.) The day began clear and sunny making it too bright to photograph the gorgeous dunes but by mid-morning the usual sea fog rolled in so we were able to enjoy almost endless dune-scape opportunities. What a day that turned out to be!
A Levels Adjustment Saves the Day
This properly exposed image looked like blah after the RAW conversion in DPP 4. A simple Levels adjustment really brought it to life by revealing the various shades of tan, brown, gray, and yes, mocha.
Digital Basics
You can learn how to make perfect Levels Adjustments as I did for the Mocha Dunes image along with everything else that I do on a daily basis when optimizing my images. It is all covered in detail in my Digital Basics File–written in my easy-to-follow, easy-to-understand style. Are you tired of making your images look worse in Photoshop? Digital Basics File 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, Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro basics, the use of Contrast Masks, Digital Eye Doctor techniques, 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 at times to smooth background noise, and tons more.
You can order your copy of “The Photographers’ Guide to Canon Digital Photo Professional 4.0” (aka the DPP 4 Raw Conversion eGuide) by Arash Hazeghi and Arthur Morris by clicking here.
The DPP 4 eGuide (PDF)
The RAW file for today’s image was of course converted in DPP 4. Learn how and why I and many other discerning photographers choose and use only DPP 4 to convert their Canon RAW files in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly. The latest version supports all of the newer Canon camera bodies and several older models including the EOS-7D and the EOS-1D Mark IV. The DPP IV Guide is the ideal companion to the 7D Mark II User’s Guide, a runaway best seller.
The DPP 4 eGuide (PDF) Updated for 1D Mark IV and the original 7D
The DPP 4 eGuide was recently updated to include the luminance and chrominance noise reduction values for both the 1D Mark IV and the original 7D. If you purchased your copy from BAA please e-mail Jim and request the DPP 4 1d IV/7D update. Please be sure to cut and paste page 1 into your e-mail as proof of purchase.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I spent a good part of Friday catching up on new Used Gear listings. If you have contacted me about listing your gear and have not heard back from me, please re-send your request via e-mail.
A Shock the World Price!
See the price of Jim Burn’s new-in-the-box Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS Lens with Internal 1.4 Extender. Jim purchased the lens specifically for a trip to Africa that was canceled due to a family health emergency. And wound up never going. Your gain!
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.
New Listings
Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS Lens with Internal 1.4 Extender
Jim Burns is offering a never-used 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. The sale includes all of the original items supplied by Canon including the lens trunk and key, the lens strap, the Canon E-145C Lens Cap (actually a lens hood made of tough synthetic fabric), the rear lens cap, the ET-120 Lens Hood, both the original Canon short foot and long foot and screws, and insured shipping via UPS Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Jim by e-mail or by phone at 602-616-9431 or 602-818-5839 (Mountain time).
This is the world’s best lens for a trip to Africa. It kills also in the Galapagos and in South Georgia, the Falklands, and Antarctica. And in places where the birds are relatively tame it will serve you well as your prime super-telephoto. Add an external 1.4X TC and get out to 784mm. And I use mine a lot at Bosque and other dusty places where the built-in TC helps to keep your sensor clean. The lens sells new at B&H right now for $10,999. You can save a cool $2,500 dollars by grabbing Jim’s brand new in the box lens now. artie
Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM Lens
Joe Subolefsky is offering a used Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old” five) and a used Canon 1.4X TC II, both in excellent condition, for $3,899. The sale includes the original lens hood, strap, trunk, all the CDs and cords, and the original Canon cardboard shipping boxes. Also included is a worn digital camo LensCoat cover that was been protecting the lens since Day 1, a pullover LensCoat front cover, and the 4th Generation Design low foot.
Please contact Joe via e-mail or by phone at 443-206-0416 (Eastern time).
The 500mm f/4s have been the world’s most popular telephoto lenses for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. I owned and used and loved my “old five” for many years. We have sold more than a few recently for $3999 and even two for $3799. Bill’s lens is priced a bit higher as it is in pristine condition. If you don’t have the cash for the 500 II and can handle the additional 1 1/2 pounds (exactly) then this is your next best option. The 500 II goes for $8999 so you will be saving a nice chunk of change. artie
Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Lens
Jim Keener is offering a barely used Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM lens in mint condition for the record-low BAA price of $999.00. The sale includes these original items: retail box, lens pouch, front and rear lens caps, lens hood. And insured ground shipping to US addresses only. The lens was recently cleaned and checked by Canon. The lens will not be shipped until your check clears.
Please contact Jim via e-mail or by phone at 310-741-7435 (9am-9pm Mountain time).
This lens is the landscape photographer’s dream wide angle. artie
Canon EOS-5D Mark III
IPT veteran Carolyn Peterson is offering a used Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR camera body in excellent condition for $1,499. The sale includes a front cap, camera strap, all cords, EOS Digital Solutions disk, Canon LP-E6 battery and charger, manuals, the cords in the original box, and insured ground shipping to US addresses only. This camera was purchased new in 2013. The camera will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Carolyn via e-mail or phone at 1-503-730-9262 (Pacific time/evenings best).
I have owned and used this superb, full frame, 22mp digital body for several years. It was always my first choice for scenic, Urbex, and flower photography until I fell in love with the 5DS R (for a lot more money!). artie
Jim and I drove up to Gatorland early on Thursday morning. I worked with private clients Dixon and Carolyn Soracco of Portland, OR. Working with truly happy campers always makes me smile; I headed home with a big grin on my face after our working lunch at Ruby Tuesdays. More on Gatorland soon.
Thursday was another good post-surgery day…
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 182 days in a row with a new educational blog post. 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
A Common Weakness in Perceptual Vision Skills and Understanding Perspective Choices as They Relate to Photography
Many beginning and intermediate (and more than a few “advanced”) nature photographers have serious shortcomings when it comes to understanding how a change in perspective will affect the juxtaposition of the elements in their compositions. I see it often on IPTs when I ask, “What happens to the bird and the rock in the background if I move 2 feet to my right?” And I have seen it here on the blog, especially in these two recent posts:
In each of those posts I asked what I thought was an easy peasy perspective question and was pretty much amazed when folks went off on seemingly inexplicable tangents. With the Gemsbok image, it seemed obvious to me that if you got lower, the out-of-focus ridge of sand in the foreground would cut off the animal’s feet. To me, that would have been a very big no-no. You can check out the more detailed explanation here.
The same thing happened in the surreal elephant post when I asked why getting lower and photographing from the window would not work. See below for the explanation…
Center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Rear Focus AF was active at the moment of exposure (as is always best when hand holding).The selected AF point was on the elephant’s throat. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Royalty on a pedestal…
Is a Lower Perspective Always Better?
With regards to the image above, I wrote, “Once this pachyderm approached the vehicles and posed for us, I went from the top of the van to the open window below and made a very few frames. Why did I go back to standing and photographing from below the raised roof? In this and many other cases, lower was not better.”
I thought that the question was pretty straightforward (and still do) but several folks were confused so I followed up with this: “Why was it better to photograph from on high at from the roof than to go lower and photograph from the window?”
The image below, made from a lower perspective, the open window in my row, answers the question very clearly.
Mud elephant from the window, i.e, from a lower perspective…
It Seems So Simple To Me…
When looking at the “Royalty on a pedestal…” image that opens today’s blog post, it seems completely obvious that if you get a few feet lower that the horizon would intersect the elephant’s head… As shown in the image above, made from the open safari vehicle window….
But time after time, here and elsewhere, we see evidence that many folks have difficulty picturing how a change in their perspective will affect the image. Considering that the #1 factor to the success of any image is choosing exactly where to stand, where to put your lens, this is a serious problem for those who wish to improve their photography, birds, wildlife, flowers, nature, scenic, or otherwise.
While reviewing images at lunch on an IPT I can remember dozens of times where I arranged a salt shaker and a ketchup bottle on the table and asked, what happens to the juxtaposition if you move to right? Or left? Sometimes that helps, sometimes not so much 🙂
Suggestions On How to Improve
Whether hand holding or on a tripod, the next time that you peer through your camera’s viewfinder at two objects in the frame, ask yourself, what happens to the juxtaposition of these objects if I move left or right, or up or down. If hand holding, actually move left of right or up or down and see how the relationship of the two objects in the frame changes. If your lens is on a tripod, remove it and move left or right or up or down, and note the changes as above. If you make it a habit of doing this exercise, you will soon be able to visualize the results without having to move physically. Acquiring this skill over time will make you a much better photographer.
The next step in the process is to learn to consider the quality and direction of the light in the equation… By doing that, you will learn to know how moving left or right or up or down will affect not only the spatial arrangements of the various elements of composition but the all important effect of light on the image. This a much higher level of skill than simply learned to visualize spatial changes. But you first need to practice the basic skill before attempting the more advanced exercise of being able to see how the light will affect the image without actually having to move…
birds as art: The Avian Photography of Arthur Morris/The Top 100
The companion e-book to the solo exhibit at TheNat, San Diego, California
birds as art: The Avian Photography of Arthur Morris/The Top 100
My latest e-book, created on a wing and a prayer in less than two weeks–see Harebrained Scheme here–includes the 67 spectacular images that will hang in the Ordover Gallery at the San Diego Natural History Museum in a career-retrospective solo exhibition. In addition, there are an additional 33 images in the spectacular e-book that barely missed making the show.
This exhibition companion e-book makes it possible for everyone to “visit” TheNAT gallery and, in addition, to enjoy seeing my top one hundred bird photographs under one roof. Each image includes a title, the species name, the location, relevant EXIF data, and an anecdotal caption.
birds as art: The Avian Photography of Arthur Morris/The Top 100: $23 for the professionally produced CD (includes shipping to US addresses only)
Please click here to purchase the physical CD. As above, your purchase price includes shipping to all US addresses. If you would like your CD signed on the inside cover with a black Sharpie, you will need to place your order by phone and request a signed copy: 863-692-0906. For our Canadian friends we are offering the CD for $28 with shipping to Canada via phone orders only: 863-692-0906.
Those who purchase the CD are advised to copy the file to their computers and then archive the CD.
The new e-book via is also available via convenient download for $20 by clicking here.
birds as art: The Avian Photography of Arthur Morris/The Top 100: $20 via convenient download.
Overseas folks, and anyone else as well, can purchase the e-book via convenient download for $20 by clicking here.
Notate Bene
Please share this e-book only with your spouse or significant other. If a friend asks you to share a copy with them, please direct them either to this blog post or to the appropriate link in the BAA Online Store as above. All of the images and text are protected by international copyright law and may not be copied or printed without written permission from the photographer/author. Many thanks for honoring these requests.
You will–of course–need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the PDF.
Sample page from birds as art: The Avian Photography of Arthur Morris/The Top 100.
Adobe Acrobat Reader Tip
To maximize your viewing pleasure, click Command + L on a Mac, or Control + L on a PC to view the e-book full screen. And then press Esc to exit full screen.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I worked on the images for this blog post on Tuesday evening and am working on the blog post itself early on Wednesday morning on the way back to ILE. Lou Newman’s exhibit opening was great fun. And he had lots of great new images. Several folks photographed my Pribilofs’ pants and promised to send a few images. Time will tell. Our morning boat trip to some of the rookery islands in Sarasota Bay was cancelled due to lightning and related nasty weather.
Tuesday was my best day since the surgery and last night I had my best night’s sleep in ages. Things are starting to look very good…
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 181 days in a row with a new educational blog post. 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
This image was created on a beach west of Sarasota, FL with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 640. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/1000 sec. at f/4. (Should haven been +2 stops.) Color temperature: Daylight.
I selected a single AF point one row down and one to the left of the center AF point (Manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF as originally framed. (The optimized image above is about 75% of the original frame.) That point was active at the moment of exposure. It fell on a spot just below the bottom of the rear cap. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
At times I micro-adjust every lens/camera/teleconverter that I own and at times I get lazy. When I purchased my second 5DS R, I did not consistently use one or the other on the same lens; I am often working with the 600 II on a tripod and the 100-400 II on my shoulder. Toward the end of the Namibia trip I noticed that the body I was using with the 600 II rental lens was severely back-focused with the 2X III TC: I micro-adjusted it. It needed -18 to be sharp. After that, all of the images I made with that combo were tack sharp. I will be sharing many of those with you here in the coming weeks.
The whole experience led me to realize that I need to quit being lazy and spend the time micro-adjusting (MA-ing) everything that I own. I am keeping the vertical battery grip on the 5DS R that I use with the 600II and using my other 5DS R for the rest of the lenses. Things will get more complicated when I get my Canon EOS-1D X Mark II with 64GB Card and Reader; I ordered it from B&H on the first day it was announced.
So far I have fine-tuned only the 600 II with the one 5DS R. Today I will MA the 600 II with the TCs. I hope. And I will continue to work on the new LensAlign/Focus Tune tutorial. See the results with the micro-adjusted 600II/5DS R combo below. Learn more about LensAlign/Focus Tune here.
This is an unsharpened tight face crop of today’s featured image
Can Your Camera Do This?
I was thrilled to see that the -3 adjustment for my 600 II/5DS R combo was spot on. I should have mentioned above that MA-ing is more important for folks using high resolution camera bodies than it is for folks using lower resolution bodies; the 5DS R sees your focusing errors in greater detail.
Above, you can get an idea of the incredible fine detail that is possible in a sharply focused MA-ed 5DS R image. Can your camera do that? (Do, however, note the slight motion blur on the stick.)
Image Clean-up/Animated GIF
In the animated GIF above you can compare the before and after versions of today’s featured image. I hated the dark brown blob in the upper right of the original; once I eliminated that, I could not stop myself.
After converting the image in DPP 4, I brought the TIFF into Photoshop CC and used my usual cadre of clean-up tools: the Patch Tool, the Spot Healing Brush, the Clone Stamp, and Content Aware Fill. I used a fairly large Quick Mask refined by a Layer Mask to cover the offending large brown blob. Not also that I eliminated the BLUE color cast with a Hue/Saturation adjustment (SAT: -90) of the BLUE channel only.
Too Much Clean-up For You?
Is the image clean-up here too much for you? It was just the right amount for me. Either way, be sure to keep the blog interactive by letting us know your reasons.
Digital Basics
Everything that I did to optimize today’s featured image is covered in detail in my Digital Basics File–written in my easy-to-follow, easy-to-understand style. Are you tired of making your images look worse in Photoshop? Digital Basics File 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, Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro basics, the use of Contrast Masks, Digital Eye Doctor techniques, 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 at times to smooth background noise, and tons more.
APTATS I & II
Learn the details of advanced Quick Masking techniques in APTATS I. Learn Advanced Layer Masking Techniques in APTATS I. Mention this blog post and apply a $5 discount to either with phone orders only. Buy both APTATS I and APTATS II and we will be glad to apply at $15 discount with phone orders. Please call Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-221-2372 to take advantage of this special offer. You can find the same deal in the BAA Online Store here.
You can order your copy of “The Photographers’ Guide to Canon Digital Photo Professional 4.0” (aka the DPP 4 Raw Conversion eGuide) by Arash Hazeghi and Arthur Morris by clicking here.
The DPP 4 eGuide (PDF)
The RAW file for today’s image was of course converted in DPP 4. Learn how and why I and many other discerning photographers choose and use only DPP 4 to convert their Canon RAW files in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly. The latest version supports all of the newer Canon camera bodies and several older models including the EOS-7D and the EOS-1D Mark IV. The DPP IV Guide is the ideal companion to the 7D Mark II User’s Guide, a runaway best seller.
The DPP 4 eGuide (PDF) Updated for 1D Mark IV and the original 7D
The DPP 4 eGuide was recently updated to include the luminance and chrominance noise reduction values for both the 1D Mark IV and the original 7D. If you purchased your copy from BAA please e-mail Jim and request the DPP 4 1d IV/7D update. Please be sure to cut and paste page 1 into your e-mail as proof of purchase.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I am working on this blog post on Tuesday afternoon. Jim and I are headed to Sarasota for the opening of Lou Newman’s photographic exhibit. Lou is a record-holding 26 time IPT veteran. No kidding: twenty six!
I was doing much better on Tuesday after my reassuring talk with Dr. Parsons yesterday. And I slept till 5:40 am this morning. Still no jet lag and still getting lots of work done.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 180 days in a row with a new educational blog post. 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
This image was created at our favorite afternoon Etosha waterhole on the 2016 Namibia IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/3200 sec. at f/7.1. Daylight WB.
A single AF point two rows up from the center AF point/Manual selection/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF on the elephant’s closed eye was active at the moment of exposure (as is always best when hand holding). Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #1: Royalty on a muddy throne…
Wow! What Luck
Everyone in all three vehicles was stunned at our great luck when we pulled up to our favorite Etosha afternoon waterhole, Nebrowni, at 3:45pm and found this venerable animal taking a mud bath. The light, soft sun, and the light gray mud made the whole scene seem surreal. This African Elephant put on quite a show mud bathing, sitting up (as above), and then walking around the waterhole and winding up very close to the parking lot before heading overland for dust bath. What a treat and what a privilege.
This bull (male) elephant is about 40-50 years old. The females also have tusks but they are often smaller.
Center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Rear Focus AF was active at the moment of exposure (as is always best when hand holding).The selected AF point was on the elephant’s throat. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #2: Royalty on a pedestal…
Image Question #1
Once this pachyderm approached the vehicles and posed for us, I went from the top of the van to the open window below and made a very few frames. Why did I go back to standing and photographing from below the raised roof? In this and many other cases, lower was not better.
Center AF point (by necessity)/AI Servo/Expand/Rear Focus AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Working from the open roof of our bus the tripod was splayed flat and carefully placed on the cab-over.
Image #3: Royalty close up…
Image Question #2
Why did I stop down to f/11 here? Why would f/16 have been better?
Your Favorite?
Promote learning by keeping the blog interactive. Please leave a comment and let us know which of today’s three images you like best and be sure to let us know why you made your choice.
Subject and focal lengths clockwise from upper left around to center.
Palouse Falls: 11mm; homemade kiddie race car: 105mm; barn siding pan blur: 798mm; Rolling fields diorama: 110mm; Crayola drums: 343 mm; Hay barn interior: 19mm; vintage gas station: 40mm; Dilapidated farm building: 13mm; Denise’s tree Infrared: 20mm.
Images and card design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.
The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 3-7, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12/Openings: 5
The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 10-14, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12/Openings: 1
Double Header!
Maximize both your travel dollars and your learning experience by signing up for both IPTs.
Images and card design by Denise Ippolito/A Creative Adventure.
The Palouse IPTs
Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will likely enjoy spectacular sunrises and possibly a nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. We will take you to some 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 us for this trip. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. 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.
After 6 days of back-breaking scouting work in early June 2014 we found all of the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and views. On three additional scouting days in 2015 we discovered several more truly amazing locations. We will teach you what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.
What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, our newfound but very extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions when possible. There will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before each workshop begins.
You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills. You will learn to get the right exposure every time. You will learn to develop your creative eye. You will learn the basics of HDR (high dynamic range) photography. You will learn a variety of in-camera creative techniques. Most importantly you will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images. Do see both of our blogs for lots more on that in the coming weeks. You will learn how the quality and direction of light combine to determine the success of your images. And–please don’t gasp–we will be working quite a bit with sidelight when creating landscapes. Lastly, we will be doing some infrared photography.
To Sign Up
A non-refundable $699 deposit is due now. The balance will be due on February 15, 2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.
Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining us. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours or send us a check to leave a deposit; the latter is preferred. If by check, please make out to “Arthur Morris” 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 us via e-mail: artie or denise.
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 our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
Short-eared Owl image courtesy of and copyright Lou Newman
Lou created this image on the 2015 Galapagos IPT.
Lou Newman Exhibit
Lou Newman is a good friend who has been a BAA client seemingly forever. He is the all time IPT veteran with 26 BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo Tours under his belt. If you are in the Sarasota area tonight, you are invited to celebrate Lou’s work by attending the opening of his latest exhibit as below. If you are busy tonight, you can catch the show from now until September 17, 2016. My right-hand man Jim Litzenberg and I are attending. I will be easy to recognize as I will be wearing my Pribilof Islands dungarees, painted in spectacular fashion in 2001 by Ramiel Papish, a skilled avian artist. I ran into Ram on Facebook yesterday and decided to dig the dungarees out of the bottom dresser drawer for the occasion.
Lou’s lsat IPT was one of the 2015 Bosque IPT. Several of his children have attended IPTs with him; all were delightful and eager to learn.
Tenth Annual Wildlife Photography Exhibit
Images by Lou Newman
May 3 – September 17, 2016
Plymouth Harbor Mezzanine Art Gallery
Plymouth Harbor on Sarasota Bay
700 John Ringling Boulevard, Sarasota, Florida
Opening Reception: 5:00–7:30pm: Tuesday, May 3rd
Plymouth Harbor is the tall building between Bird Key and St. Armand’s Circle (next door to Sarasota Yacht Club. Free valet parking is available; tipping is not permitted.
Tame birds and wildlife. Incredible diversity. You only live once…
GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. August 8-22, 2017 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $12,499. Limit: 13 photographers plus the leader: yours truly. Openings: 6.
Same great trip; no price increase!
This trip needs nine to run; in the unlikely event that it does not, all payments to BAA will be refunded in full.
My two-week Galapagos Photo-Cruises are without equal. The world’s best guide, a killer itinerary, a great boat (the Samba), and two great leaders with ten Galapagos cruises under their belts. Pre-trip and pre-landing location-specific gear advice. In-the-field photo instruction and guidance. Jeez, I almost forgot: fine dining at sea!
The great spots that we will visit include Tower Island (including Prince Phillips Steps and Darwin Bay), Hood Island (including Punta Suarez, the world’s only nesting site of Waved Albatross, and Gardner Bay)—each of the preceding are world class wildlife photography designations that rank right up there with Antarctica, Africa, and Midway. We will also visit Fernandina, Puerto Ayora for the tortoises, Puerto Egas—James Bay, and North Seymour for nesting Blue-footed Boobies in most years, South Plaza for Land Iguanas, Floreana for Greater Flamingoes, and Urbina Bay, all spectacular in their own right. We visit every great spot on a single trip. Plus tons more. And there will be lots of opportunities to snorkel on sunny mid-days for those like me who wish to partake.
It is extremely likely that we will visit the incredible Darwin Bay and the equally incredible Hood Island, world home of Waved Albatross twice on our voyage. The National Park Service takes its sweet time in approving such schedule changes.
We will be the first boat on each island in the morning and the last boat to leave each island every afternoon. If we are blessed with overcast skies, we will often spend 5-6 hours at the best sites. And as noted above, mid-day snorkeling is an option on most sunny days depending on location and conditions. On the 2015 trip most snorkeled with a mega-pod of dolphins. I eased off the zodiac to find hundreds of dolphins swimming just below me. Note: some of the walks are a bit difficult but can be made by anyone if half way decent shape. Great images are possible on all landings with either a hand held 70-200mm lens and a 1.4X teleconverter or an 80- or 100-400. I sometimes bring a longer lens ashore depending on the landing. In 2017 I will be bring the Canon 400mm IS DO II lens. In the past I have brought either the 300mm f/2.8L IS II or the 200-400mm f/4 L IS with Internal Extender.
Do consider joining me for this once in a lifetime trip to the Galapagos archipelago. There simply is no finer Galapagos photography trip. Learn why above.
An Amazing Value…
Do know that there are one week Galapagos trips for $8500! Thus, our trip represents a tremendous value; why go all that way and miss half of the great photographic locations?
The Logistics
August 6, 2017: We arrive in Guayaquil, Ecuador a day early to ensure that we do not miss the boat in case of a travel delay.
August 7, 2017: There will be an introductory Galapagos Photography session and a hands on exposure session at our hotel.
August 8, 2017: We fly to the archipelago and board the Samba. Heck, on the 2015 trip some people made great images at the dock in Baltra while our luggage was being loaded!
August 22, 2017: We disembark late morning and fly back to Guayaquil midday; most will overnight there.
Most will fly home on the early morning of July 23 unless they are staying on or going elsewhere (or catching a red-eye flight on the evening of the 22nd).
$12,499 includes just about everything: all transfers, guide and park fees, all food on the boat, transfers and ground transportation, your flights to the archipelago, and three nights (double occupancy) in a top notch hotel in Guayaquil. If you are good to go, a non-refundable deposit of $5,000 per person is due immediately. The second payment of $4,000 is not due until 11/1/16. The final payment of $3449 per person will be due on 2/1/17. A $200 discount will be applied to each of the balances for couples or friends who register at the same time.
Purchasing travel insurance within 2 weeks of our cashing your deposit check is strongly recommended. On two fairly recent 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.
Not included: your round trip airfare from your home to and from Guayaquil, beverages on the boat, phone calls, your meals in Guayaquil, personal items, and a $600/person cash tip for the crew and the guide—this works out to roughly $40/day to be shared by the 7 folks who will be waiting on us hand and foot every day for two weeks. The service is so wonderful that many folks choose to tip extra.
Please e-mail for the tentative itinerary or with questions. Please cut and paste “Galapagos 2017 Tentative Itinerary Please” into the Subject line.
I have had a bit of post-op distress that fits nicely into the TMI category. I just got off the phone with the surgeon, Dr. Parsons–the guys\ surely leads the league in bedside manner–and together we seem to have figured out a few things. I am looking forward to getting better slowly.
Still no jet lag and still getting lots done. Today, I had a fifth photographer sign up for the Japan IPT.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 179 days in a row with a new educational blog post. 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
The Educational Gemsbok
The Gemsbok Why Not Get Lower Answer
In Saturday’s “My Favorite Namibia Image: Does It Get Any Better Than This?” blog post here, I wrote, All things being equal, should I have splayed the legs of my tripod and gotten flat on the ground?
The answer to that question was “No.” The question generated huge amounts of interest; with 62 comments as I prepare Tuesday’s blog post it was one of the most interactive blog posts ever. In today’s blog not only will you learn why I should not have gotten flat down on the ground but you will learn a ton more as well. All from a single image of a very large antelope.
The first to nail the correct answer was my very good and dear friend from Long Island, Tom Pfeifer. He invited me to his house for dinner probably close to 20 years ago when I spoke at his local Audubon Society meeting (with two trays of slides!) Tom is a skilled photographer. He wrote, quite succinctly, “Beautiful light and color on this scene Artie! Getting any lower would have likely obscured our view of the Gemsbok’s feet.”
In the image above, note the well out-of-focus ridge, or berm, below the grey line at the bottom of the image. Nothing would have made me happier that to have gotten flat on the ground thus eliminating the faint road and setting the animal completely against the spectacular red dune. But I quickly realized that getting lower would have hidden the Gemsbok’s feet and possibly its lower legs as well behind the out-of-focus berm.
With birds, we call this the bird in heaven look; it can be quite effective. But I am pretty sure that it would not have worked well in this situation.
Kudos to the others who came up with the right answer (or very close to it): Ron Gates (in part), Nigel Boon, David Peake, Elinor Osborn, and Ted Thelin (again, in part).
Bad Truck Luck and More Lessons
The faint road in the background was blurred enough so that it was not a problem. Not so the safari vehicle; talk about bad luck! I used two Quick Masks, one from the right of the truck and one from the left of the truck to cover the offending vehicle. Learn the basics of Quick Masking in Digital Basics (plus tons more). Learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking in APTATS I and II.
As I mentioned in a response to a comment in the original post, because of several angled lines in this image, it was a very difficult one to level; it fools our eyes big time. First I used the Ruler Tool to draw a line from hoof to hoof and then hit one of my personalized keyboard shortcuts, Command + / (to get to Image > Rotate > Arbitrary). Once it rendered, it seemed to be overdone so I went back the other way .5 degrees. I am still not sure if the final image in the original post, seen below for your convenience, is perfectly level.
This image was created at Sossusvlei inside Namib Naukluft National Park, Namibia. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/4. Color temperature: Daylight.
Center AF point (Manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF as framed and release. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Gemsbok and red dunes
A Compositional Note
Lastly, note the crop from below and behind to improve the composition; the animal in the original frame that opened today’s blog post is too centered.
Subject and focal lengths clockwise from upper left around to center.
Palouse Falls: 11mm; homemade kiddie race car: 105mm; barn siding pan blur: 798mm; Rolling fields diorama: 110mm; Crayola drums: 343 mm; Hay barn interior: 19mm; vintage gas station: 40mm; Dilapidated farm building: 13mm; Denise’s tree Infrared: 20mm.
Images and card design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.
The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 3-7, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12/Openings: 5
The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 10-14, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12/Openings: 1
Double Header!
Maximize both your travel dollars and your learning experience by signing up for both IPTs.
Images and card design by Denise Ippolito/A Creative Adventure.
The Palouse IPTs
Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will likely enjoy spectacular sunrises and possibly a nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. We will take you to some 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 us for this trip. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. 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.
After 6 days of back-breaking scouting work in early June 2014 we found all of the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and views. On three additional scouting days in 2015 we discovered several more truly amazing locations. We will teach you what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.
What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, our newfound but very extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions when possible. There will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before each workshop begins.
You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills. You will learn to get the right exposure every time. You will learn to develop your creative eye. You will learn the basics of HDR (high dynamic range) photography. You will learn a variety of in-camera creative techniques. Most importantly you will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images. Do see both of our blogs for lots more on that in the coming weeks. You will learn how the quality and direction of light combine to determine the success of your images. And–please don’t gasp–we will be working quite a bit with sidelight when creating landscapes. Lastly, we will be doing some infrared photography.
To Sign Up
A non-refundable $699 deposit is due now. The balance will be due on February 15, 2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.
Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining us. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours or send us a check to leave a deposit; the latter is preferred. If by check, please make out to “Arthur Morris” 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 us via e-mail: artie or denise.
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 our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I got out of bed at 3:45am on Sunday, more than 75 minutes later than on Saturday. The best news it that I have not yet felt like a jet-lagged Zombie and am getting lots of work done. On Sunday I enjoyed another swim and will be taking another ice bath in the late afternoon.
I continue catching up on e-mails and have began work on the LensAlign/FocusTune Simplified Tutorial.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 178 days in a row with a new educational blog post… 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
This image was created on the 2016 Namibia IPT at the renowned waterhole at Okaukuejo Camp inside of Etosha National Park. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 1600: 1/100 sec. at f/4. Color temperature: AWB.
9:38pm in the dark. Miles off camera flash as main light at 1:1 with Better Beamer, Pocket Wizards, and cables.
Center AF point (Manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF on the rhino’s face and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #1: Endangered Black Rhinoceros at waterhole
The Original
The image above is the original capture. As you might imagine, the flash was positioned about 100 feet to the right of the camera.
This image was created on the 2016 Namibia IPT at the renowned waterhole at Okaukuejo Camp inside of Etosha National Park. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 1600: 1/100 sec. at f/4. Color temperature: AWB.
9:38pm in the dark. Miles off camera flash as main light at 1:1 with Better Beamer, Pocket Wizards, and cables.
Center AF point (Manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF on the rhino’s face and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #2: Endangered Black Rhinoceros at waterhole
The All-Black Background Version
I created this version from the converted TIFF above using the Clone Stamp Tool, the Patch Tool, Content Aware Fill, and the Spot Healing Brush. All as detailed in Digital Basics plus tons more.
This image was created on the 2016 Namibia IPT at the renowned waterhole at Okaukuejo Camp inside of Etosha National Park. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 1600: 1/100 sec. at f/4. Color temperature: AWB.
9:38pm in the dark. Miles off camera flash as main light at 1:1 with Better Beamer, Pocket Wizards, and cables.
Center AF point (Manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF on the rhino’s face and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #3: Endangered Black Rhinoceros at waterhole
Subdued Version
To create this more subdued version, I put the converted TIFF on a layer above the All-Black version, added a Hide-All (Black or Inverse) Layer Mask, and painted in the rocks that were lit by the flash using brushes of varying opacities ranging from 33 to 100% to give those rocks a well muted look.
Your Favorite?
Which of the three images above do you like best? Be sure to let us know why you made your choice.
Thanks a Stack!
Thanks a stack to co-leaders/trip organizers Wim den Heever and Ben Cranke for going above and beyond the call of duty to teach everyone who had brought the suggested gear the night flash techniques. In addition, they had lots of extra Pocket Wizards. I always love learning something new in photography; this trip was rife with such opportunities.
From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmer head portrait, American Oystercatcher dining on surf clam flesh, Common Tern at sunset, Common Tern adult swallowing flatfish, Black Skimmer in flight, newborn Common Tern chick, American Oystercatcher with chick, fresh juvenile Common Tern (with fill flash), and Common Terns copulating.
Only Two…
Right now there are only two folks registered for the Nickerson IPT. You can call the office on Monday to sign up and enjoy practically private instruction at a great location with tons of birds and tons of flight photography.
Meet and greet at 3pm on the afternoon of Monday, July 18. Limit 10.
The primary subject species of this IPT will be the nesting Common Terns. The trip is timed so that we will get to photograph tiny chicks as well as fledglings. There will be lots of flight photography including adults flying with baitfish. Creating great images of the chicks being fed is a huge challenge. In addition to the terns we will get to photograph lots of Black Skimmers courting, setting up their nesting territories, and in flight (both singles and large pre-dawn flocks blasting off). Midair battles are guaranteed on sunny afternoons. And with luck, we might even see a few tiny chicks toward the end of the trip. We will also get to photograph the life cycle of American Oystercatcher. This will likely include nests with eggs and tiny chicks, young being fed, and possibly a few fledglings.
Nesting Piping Plover is also possible. There will be lots of gulls to photograph; most years I am able to find a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls of varying ages in addition to the Herring, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed Gulls. You will learn to identify and age the various gull species. There will likely be some Willets feeding along the surf and with luck we might get to photograph a handsome juvenile or two. In addition to the locally breeding shorebirds, we will likely get to see some southbound migrant arctic-and sub-arctic breeding shorebird species such as Sanderling, Semipalmated Plover, and maybe even Red Knot.
From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmers with tiny chick, Common Tern landing with baitfish for young, fledged Common Tern chick in dunes, American Oystercatchers/display flight, adult Common Tern with pipefish for chick, Common Tern fledgling in soft light, American Oystercatcher on nest with eggs, American Oystercatcher 3-egg clutch, battling Black Skimmers.
The IPT Logistics
The tour will begin with a meet and greet on the afternoon of Monday, July 18, 2016. That will be followed by our first shooting session at the beach. From Tuesday through and including all of Friday we will have two photography sessions daily. Our morning sessions will start very early so that we are on the beach well before sunrise. We usually photograph for about four hours. Then we will enjoy a group brunch. We will always have a midday break that will include a nap for me. That followed by our daily afternoon classroom sessions that will include image review, workflow and Photoshop, and a review/critique of five of your trip images. Folks are always invited to bring their laptops to brunch for image sharing. I always have mine with me but heck, I am a big show-off. Afternoon in-the-field sessions generally run from 5pm through sunset.
Breakfasts are grab what you can. Four brunches are included. Dinners (if at all) will be on your own as we will often get back to the hotel at about 9pm. There is a fridge in every room and a supermarket within walking distance of the hotel so nobody should starve. You will learn a ton during the nine shooting sessions, the four in-classroom sessions, and even at lunch. Early morning and late afternoon parking is free. If we want to head back to the beach early we will need to arrange tight carpools and share the $30/vehicle parking fee. Non-photographer spouses, friends, or companions are welcome for $100/day, $450 for the whole IPT.
Save a space by calling Jim or Jen at the office at 863-692-0906 and arranging to leave your deposit of $599–credit cards are accepted for deposits only. Your balance will be due on April 18, 2016. I hope that you can join me for what will be an exciting and educational IPT.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I thought that I was well on my way to being back in the eastern time zone but after hitting the sack at about 9pm I awoke for good at 2:30am, which is 7:30am Namibia time. I answered lots of e-mails. I headed into town to do some food shopping and to order three new pairs of reading glasses. I went to Namibia with four pairs and destroyed three of them while I was there. The new frames are supposed to be a bit more rugged.
I took my first swim in weeks, worked on this blog post at about 6:30pm after a short nap, and took my first ice bath since before the surgery.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 177 days in a row with a new educational blog post… 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
This image was created at Sossusvlei inside Namib Naukluft National Park, Namibia. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/4. Color temperature: Daylight.
Center AF point (Manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF as framed and release. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Gemsbok and red dunes
Does It Get Any Better Than This?
Not for me. This is my very favorite image from the Namibia trip. Does it have a chance in a major contest? Not really. Maybe 20 years ago but not today. I love the magnificent animal, the red dune background, the sharpness, and the stunning early morning light.
Gemsbok
Gemsbok are the largest species in the Oryx genus. They are widely hunted for their spectacular horns that average 33 inches in length. The only difference between males and females is that the horns of the males tend to be thicker with larger bases; the females have slightly longer, thinner horns. In life, they are spectacular.
Image Design Question?
All things being equal, should I have splayed the legs of my tripod and gotten flat on the ground?
From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmer head portrait, American Oystercatcher dining on surf clam flesh, Common Tern at sunset, Common Tern adult swallowing flatfish, Black Skimmer in flight, newborn Common Tern chick, American Oystercatcher with chick, fresh juvenile Common Tern (with fill flash), and Common Terns copulating.
Only Two…
Right now there are only two folks registered for the Nickerson IPT. You can call the office on Monday to sign up and enjoy practically private instruction at a great location with tons of birds and tons of flight photography.
Meet and greet at 3pm on the afternoon of Monday, July 18. Limit 10.
The primary subject species of this IPT will be the nesting Common Terns. The trip is timed so that we will get to photograph tiny chicks as well as fledglings. There will be lots of flight photography including adults flying with baitfish. Creating great images of the chicks being fed is a huge challenge. In addition to the terns we will get to photograph lots of Black Skimmers courting, setting up their nesting territories, and in flight (both singles and large pre-dawn flocks blasting off). Midair battles are guaranteed on sunny afternoons. And with luck, we might even see a few tiny chicks toward the end of the trip. We will also get to photograph the life cycle of American Oystercatcher. This will likely include nests with eggs and tiny chicks, young being fed, and possibly a few fledglings.
Nesting Piping Plover is also possibly. There will be lots of gulls to photograph; most years I am able to find a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls of varying ages in addition to the Herring, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed Gulls. You will learn to identify and age the various gull species. There will likely be some Willets feeding along the surf and with luck we might get to photograph a handsome juvenile or two. In addition to the locally breeding shorebirds, we will likely get to see some southbound migrant arctic-and sub-arctic breeding shorebird species such as Sanderling, Semipalmated Plover, and maybe even Red Knot.
From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmers with tiny chick, Common Tern landing with baitfish for young, fledged Common Tern chick in dunes, American Oystercatchers/display flight, adult Common Tern with pipefish for chick, Common Tern fledgling in soft light, American Oystercatcher on nest with eggs, American Oystercatcher 3-egg clutch, battling Black Skimmers.
The IPT Logistics
The tour will begin with a meet and greet on the afternoon of Monday, July 18, 2016. That will be followed by our first shooting session at the beach. From Tuesday through and including all of Friday we will have two photography sessions daily. Our morning sessions will start very early so that we are on the beach well before sunrise. We usually photograph for about four hours. Then we will enjoy a group brunch. We will always have a midday break that will include a nap for me. That followed by our daily afternoon classroom sessions that will include image review, workflow and Photoshop, and a review/critique of five of your trip images. Folks are always invited to bring their laptops to brunch for image sharing. I always have mine with me but heck, I am a big show-off. Afternoon in-the-field sessions generally run from 5pm through sunset.
Breakfasts are grab what you can. Four brunches are included. Dinners (if at all) will be on your own as we will often get back to the hotel at about 9pm. There is a fridge in every room and a supermarket within walking distance of the hotel so nobody should starve. You will learn a ton during the nine shooting sessions, the four in-classroom sessions, and even at lunch. Early morning and late afternoon parking is free. If we want to head back to the beach early we will need to arrange tight carpools and share the $30/vehicle parking fee. Non-photographer spouses, friends, or companions are welcome for $100/day, $450 for the whole IPT.
Save a space by calling Jim or Jen at the office at 863-692-0906 and arranging to leave your deposit of $599–credit cards are accepted for deposits only. Your balance will be due on April 18, 2016. I hope that you can join me for what will be an exciting and educational IPT.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
After another long travel experience–details below, I arrived at my office home in Indian Lake Estates, FL at 2:30pm on the afternoon of Friday, April 19, 2016.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 176 days in a row with a new educational blog post… 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
This 2-frame stitched pano was created at the camp waterhole at Etosha National Park on the last evening of the 2016 Namibia IPT with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/5.6. Color temperature: 8000K.
Center AF point (Manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF and recompose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Clouds as sunset stitched pano
The Namibia Trip Report
The most surprising thing about the Namibia trip for me was the absolutely astounding variety of beautiful and interesting subject matter and situations that we enjoyed. Off the top of my head:
The desert urbex photography at Kolmanskop.
The red dunes of Sossusvlei inside Namib Naukluft National Park. With Oryx (Gemsbok). And helicopter rides. And star trail photography. The 900-year old Camelthorn Acacia tree skeletons of Dead Vlei.
The traditional, sunset and Milky Way & light painting night photography at the The Quiver Tree forest.
Both Lesser and Greater Flamingos at Walvis Bay. Along with Kelp and Hartlaub’s Gulls. White-fronted Plover and a variety of shorebirds.
The desert reptiles, scorpions, and white dunes at Swakopmund. Also Tractrac Chat and Dune Lark.
The incredible Great White Pelican boat trip.
Great sunset colors almost every night.
The animals, birds, and waterholes at the Halali and Okaukuejo camps inside Etosha National Park including the following easily photographed species: African Bush Elephant, the endangered Southwestern Black Rhinoceros, African Lion, Leopard, Black-backed Jackal, Honey Badger, Springbok, Black-faced Impala, Red Hartebeest, Blue Wildebeest, Greater Kudu, Oryx (Gemsbok), Plains (Burchell’s) Zebra, and Angolan Giraffe. At the Okaukuejo camp waterhole we learned to do pitch-black nighttime waterhole flash photography of giraffe and rhino.
Bird species–some easy to photograph–include Ostrich, Sociable Weaver, Kori Bustard, Black-shouldered Kite, Lanner Falcon, Pale Chanting Goshawk, Tawny Eagle, Grey Heron, Namaqua Sandgrouse, Blacksmith Plover, Crowned Lapwing, Pied Crow, Red-billed and Cape Teal, Northern Black Korhaan, and a variety of vultures (coming into kills) among others. We even got to see two rare Burchell’s Coursers.
The Grand Finale (Not!)
After enjoying a perfect two week run of rewarding morning, afternoon, evening, and even most-of-the-night photo sessions, our last game drive of the IPT was pretty much a flop. We did find five sleeping lions but both of the dependable waterholes including our very favorite were pretty much barren. Two of the vehicles opted to stick it out with the lions and a few zebra. I took most of the group with me to try for some sunset silhouettes a the Okaukuejo camp waterhole. We struck out there too but for a few sunset clouds as seen in today’s featured image.
The Trip Home
We left the lodge at Okaukuejo after an early breakfast and arrived at Windhoek Hosea airport in plenty of time to check in for the 3pm flight to Johannesburg. We said our goodbyes to our hosts/organizers, Wim and Ben. Wim said, “We’re off. We’ve got to move the vehicles. Then minutes later I realized that my insulin was in the fridge in his land rover. I left my stuff and bolted out of the terminal tweaking my left knee in the process–it had been pain free for the entire trip, the best it had felt in years. IAC, I caught Wim and grabbed the plastic bag with the insulins and two large frozen gelpaks.
Several of us upgraded to first class for just a few bucks. I was uncharacteristically late to the gate. As I approached the jetway the gate agent informed me that I would have to give up one of my three carry-ons: my Xtrahand Vest, my Think Tank Rolling bag, or my Think Tank Urban Disguise Rolling bag. I took the insulin bag from the vest and handed the vest to her saying “please gate check this.” “No she said, you need to give up one of the two larger bags. The flight is full and there is no room in the overheads.” After an extended verbal discussion she spoke to the head steward who agreed with her and came down the jetway. After another extended discussion it was agreed that they would check the overheads for space.
Then I was waved up the jet way with my three items. The steward took my rolling bag and placed it in the crew locker. Once I got onto the plane I was stunned to see that most of the overhead bins on the A310 Airbus were pretty much empty…
With the hour time change from Namibia to South Africa, several of us on the flight to JFK did not have a whole lot of time to wait. With the headwinds and having to hold over JFK for 30 minutes, we arrived one hour late. The total time in the air was just under 17 hours. The ride up front was not too bad but I am positive that I made a record number of pit stops. Please do not ask me for an estimate. I did sleep off and on for about ten of those hours so I was feeling pretty refreshed when I got to JFK.
I was a bit concerned about making my connecting flight to Orlando but my checked bags were waiting for me on the carousel once I got through customs. There was a small delay at customs as all of the computers, including the Global Entry computers, were down. When push came to shove I made it to the gate for my Jet Blue flight to MCO with ten minutes to spare. I arrived in Orlando a bit early at 12:25pm. My right hand man Jim Litzenberg was right on time to greet me and we had all of my bags packed and were rolling towards ILE at 1:00pm sharp. I arrived home at 2:30. It feels good to be home.
My Health
I made the Namibia trip against the advice of my trusted friend, Dr. Cliff Oliver. He was glad to learn yesterday afternoon that I made the trip without any post-surgical complications. The healing from the green light laser surgery is, however, taking longer than expected. Though there are no guarantees, I am still hoping for a great outcome. I felt strong for the entire trip and took part in all the late-night photography sessions (though I did not stay up as late as some). Best of all, I avoided the nasty cold/flu bug that got about half the folks on the trip to varying degrees.
I took a short nap at about 4pm and fell asleep on the couch at eight. I woke at 2:00 am (7am Namibia time) and finished this blog post just before 4:00am. I will try to get back to sleep now.
Subject and focal lengths clockwise from upper left around to center.
Palouse Falls: 11mm; homemade kiddie race car: 105mm; barn siding pan blur: 798mm; Rolling fields diorama: 110mm; Crayola drums: 343 mm; Hay barn interior: 19mm; vintage gas station: 40mm; Dilapidated farm building: 13mm; Denise’s tree Infrared: 20mm.
Images and card design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.
The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 3-7, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12/Openings: 5
The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 10-14, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12/Openings: 1
Double Header!
Maximize both your travel dollars and your learning experience by signing up for both IPTs.
Images and card design by Denise Ippolito/A Creative Adventure.
The Palouse IPTs
Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will likely enjoy spectacular sunrises and possibly a nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. We will take you to some 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 us for this trip. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. 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.
After 6 days of back-breaking scouting work in early June 2014 we found all of the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and views. On three additional scouting days in 2015 we discovered several more truly amazing locations. We will teach you what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.
What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, our newfound but very extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions when possible. There will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before each workshop begins.
You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills. You will learn to get the right exposure every time. You will learn to develop your creative eye. You will learn the basics of HDR (high dynamic range) photography. You will learn a variety of in-camera creative techniques. Most importantly you will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images. Do see both of our blogs for lots more on that in the coming weeks. You will learn how the quality and direction of light combine to determine the success of your images. And–please don’t gasp–we will be working quite a bit with sidelight when creating landscapes. Lastly, we will be doing some infrared photography.
To Sign Up
A non-refundable $699 deposit is due now. The balance will be due on February 15, 2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.
Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining us. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours or send us a check to leave a deposit; the latter is preferred. If by check, please make out to “Arthur Morris” 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 us via e-mail: artie or denise.
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 our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I should be almost home if everything has gone according to plan. I hope to be visiting with y’all on a regular, more personal basis again here soon. I should be back in the office late on the afternoon of Friday, April 29.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 175 days in a row with a new educational blog post… 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
Center AF point (Manual selection) /AI Servo Rear button AF on the upper part of the trunk and re-compose slightly. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #1: Quiver tree with passerine
The Quiver Tree Forest
After the ghost town holiday, Denise Ippolito and I met the group at a farm outside of Keetmanshoop with lovely guest lodgings. We were greeted by the hosts pet Warthog. After unpacking, we enjoyed a superb early dinner of Oryx stew in burgundy wine sauce. Then Wim gave a lesson on light painting Milky Way photography. We learned to frame the image, to focus using Live View, to set the correct exposure, and how to set up our Pocket Wizards and cable. We headed out, most with intermediate telephoto lenses, into the golden light of a clear African afternoon. We made some nice images of Quiver Trees right from the parking lot. Most of the group followed Wim and sidekick Ben Crane into the protected forest area. Seeing the potential for some sunset silhouettes of tress on the ridge to the west that was actually outside of the formal Quiver Tree forest. I invited several clients to follow me but all chose to head into the preserve with Denise, Ben, and Wim. I spent about 40 minutes galavanting across the hillside in search of a great tree to silhouette. At first, there was enough light to hand hold but after a while I put my 70-200 onto the tripod. After I found it in near total darkness.
Then I caught up with the group and enjoyed a challenging five hour light painting/Milky Way photo session. I will share my best image from that session with you here soon. We did not get back to our rooms until almost 2am. After a very few hours of sleep we woke early and hit the road, headed to the the luxurious Sossusvlei Dune Lodge inside Namib Naukluft National Park.
Center AF point (Manual selection) /AI Servo Rear button AF on the upper right part of the tree’s crown was active at the moment of exposure. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #2: Crown of young Quiver tree
The Youngster
I found the crown of this young Quiver Tree to be quite graphic. It was a challenge getting into position on the rock hillside. I sure was glad that I did not wear my sandals…
One-Shot Flexi-Zone Single AF in Live View with 2-second timer. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #3: Quiver tree sunset well after sundown
Late Color
Once it got too dark to hand hold, I went to my flower technique: Live View (effectively for Mirror Lock-up) and the 2-second timer. This was the last image I made before making my way into the protected area to hook up with the group.
Your Favorite?
Please leave a comment and let us know which of the three images is your favorite. And be sure to let us know why you made your choice.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I should be well on my way home if everything had gone according to plan. I hope to be visiting with y’all on again soon. I will be back in the office late on the afternoon of Friday, April 29.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 174 days in a row with a new educational blog post… 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
Price Reduced $2500
Japan In Winter IPT. February 9-24, 2017: $11,499 (was $13,999)/double occupancy.
Price Reduced $2,500 on 3-8-16!
Please e-mail for couple and IPT repeat customer discount information.
As I really, really want to make it back to Japan in winter one more time, I decided to lower the price of the world’s best Japan in Winter trip by $2,500. Yes my trip has three great leaders including the best bird photography instructor on the planet. That’s the guy who knows where to be when and why. And yes, it is now a bit more expensive than most. And yes, we stay at a fine hotel in Tokyo. And yes, we stay in a marvelous traditional hotel for our three nights at the Snow Monkey Park. And yes, we are perfectly located on Hokkaido, minutes from the premier Red-crowned Crane sanctuary and an easy drive to most of the other wondrous avian attractions. And yes, we enjoy home cooked breakfasts and dinners prepared by Shinobu, the wife of our local Japanese guide. She is an incredible chef. After three visits her meals are now traditional Japanese fine-tuned for the American palate. And yes, my tour is longer than the others, giving us many days with the cranes. I saw one trip with only two days of crane photography; what a bummer. End each day with a traditional onsen (hot springs mineral bath) to complete your immersion in Japanese culture.
Life is short. I hope that you can join me. Scroll down for details.
This image was created on the 2015 Japan in Winter IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 100mm) and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops as framed: 1/400 sec. at f/6.3. AWB.
I selected a single AF point one to the right and two rows down from the center AF Point/AI Servo Spot Focus/Shutter Button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure (as is always best when hand holding). This was a small crop from above, left, and below. The selected AF point was on the side of the upper breast of the male. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Snow Monkeys grooming
Still More 100-400 II Versatility
On my San Diego surgery trip, Patrick Sparkman and I began calling the 100-400 II the La Jolla lens as it proved very useful in a great variety of situations. As it is the only lens that I bring up the hill to the Monkey Park, I will need to start calling it the Snow Monkey Park lens as well. For today’s featured image–the first keeper from the 2106 trip, I backed up a step or to and zoomed out to 100mm to get the framing that I wanted. Two minutes later I was photographing the single hand of the monkey on our right. The new 1-4II is both amazing and amazingly versatile.
Photo Mechanic screen capture
Exposure Question: How Far to the Right?
As with today’s featured image, there are times when it is the right strategy to expose so far to the right that certain background elements are over-exposed with tons of blinkies. Why? To make sure to get all the detail that you can in the monkey’s fur. Do note that snow in soft light contains little if any detail so we are really not hurting anything with this strategy. Additionally, With the huge 5DS R files, I was easily able to minimize the amount of snow in the image by cropping from our right and from above.
Photo Mechanic
More and more folks are going to Photo Mechanic as their image browser. I use PM to pick my keepers and delete my rejects just about ever day of the year. You can save a few bucks on your purchase by calling Jim at the office at 863-692-0906 weekdays.
Consider joining me in Japan in February, 2017, for the world’s best Japan in Winter workshop. Click on the card to enjoy the spectacular larger version.
Japan In Winter IPT. February 9-24, 2017: $11,499 (was $13,999)/double occupancy.
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.
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.
Life is short. Hop on the merry-go-round.
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 our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
We are staying in a lovely hotel in Swakopmund, Namibia. On Wednesday, April 20 we enjoyed one of our best days of the trip. We photographed Great White Pelicans in the morning and both Lesser and Greater Flamingoes in the afternoon. Then another great dinner, this one at Swakopmund Brauhaus. Wim has me drinking a glass of red wine for my health each evening at dinner. Tonight I had two with the expected happy results. Twenty-six days post surgery I am feeling strong and doing great with a bit of lingering discomfort.
I will be on line until about April 22 or 23; after that, nothing till I get back at the end of the month. Please remember that folks sending new inquiries about selling used gear are best advised to get in touch with me at the end of April.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 173 days in a row with a new educational blog post… 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
What is it?
What Is It?
Please leave a comment and let us know what you think this image depicts. Do you like it? Hate it? Why?
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I hope that I am doing well somewhere in Namibia. If all goes well and I stay out of trouble, I will be back in the office late on the afternoon of Friday, April 29.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 172 days in a row with a new educational blog post… 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
A single AF point two to the right of the center AF point fell on the neck of the bird on our right and was active at the moment of exposure. AI Servo/Surround/Rear Focus AF. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Sandwich Terns/mated pair hanging out
Love is in the Air
Love is in the air at Fort DeSoto in spring. Note the pink tinge on the breasts of these two Sandwich Terns. I went with a high ISO and a relatively fast shutter speeds in hopes that they would either take off or copulate.
Too Much, Not Enough, Or Just Right?
What do you think of the beach clean-up? I used my usual cadre of tools including the Clone Stamp Tool, the Patch Tool, and the Spot Healing Brush. A small, warped Quick Mask refined with a regular Layer Mask was used to cover the mess by the right hand bird’s feet.
Digital Basics
Everything that I did to optimize today’s featured image is covered in detail in my Digital Basics File–written in my easy-to-follow, easy-to-understand style. Are you tired of making your images look worse in Photoshop? Digital Basics File 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, Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro basics, 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, Divide and Conquer, protective cloning on a layer, and tons more.
APTATS I & II
Learn the details of advanced Quick Masking techniques in APTATS I. Learn Advanced Layer Masking Techniques in APTATS I. Mention this blog post and apply a $5 discount to either with phone orders only. Buy both APTATS I and APTATS II and we will be glad to apply at $15 discount with phone orders. Please call Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-221-2372 to take advantage of this special offer. You can find the same deal in the BAA Online Store here.
You can order your copy of “The Photographers’ Guide to Canon Digital Photo Professional 4.0” (aka the DPP 4 Raw Conversion eGuide) by Arash Hazeghi and Arthur Morris by clicking here.
The DPP 4 eGuide (PDF)
The RAW file for today’s image was of course converted in DPP 4. Learn how and why I and many other discerning photographers choose and use only DPP 4 to convert their Canon RAW files in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly. The latest version supports all of the newer Canon camera bodies and several older models including the EOS-7D and the EOS-1D Mark IV. The DPP IV Guide is the ideal companion to the 7D Mark II User’s Guide, a runaway best seller.
The DPP 4 eGuide (PDF) Updated for 1D Mark IV and the original 7D
The DPP 4 eGuide was recently updated to include the luminance and chrominance noise reduction values for both the 1D Mark IV and the original 7D. If you purchased your copy from BAA please e-mail Jim and request the DPP 4 1d IV/7D update. Please be sure to cut and paste page 1 into your e-mail as proof of purchase.
DPP 4 Kudos
From Richard Gollard via e-mail:
I have been doing tons of studying the books and PDFs that I have purchased from BIRDS AS ART. And I have to say that after reading the DPP 4 conversion guide that you did with Arash Hazeghi I tried DPP 4 and was blown away with the difference from the conversions that I made with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom. Thanks for the consistently great information.
DeSoto in spring is rife with tame and attractive birds. From upper left clockwise to center: breeding plumage Dunlin, dark morph breeding plumage Reddish Egret displaying, breeding plumage Laughing Gull/front end vertical portrait, breeding plumage Laughing Gull with prey item, Laughing Gull on head of Brown Pelican, screaming Royal Tern in breeding plumage, Royal Terns/pre-copulatory stand, Laughing Gulls copulating, breeding plumage Laughing Gull/tight horizontal portrait, Sandwich Tern with fish, and a really rare one, White-rumped Sandpiper in breeding plumage, photographed at DeSoto in early May.
Fort DeSoto IPT: May 10-13, 2016. 3 1/2 DAYS: $1399. Limit: 10/Openings: 1.
Meet and Greet at 3pm on Tuesday May 10.
Fort DeSoto is one of the rare locations that might offer great bird photography 365 days a year. It shines in spring. There will Lots of tame birds including breeding plumage Laughing Gull and Royal and Sandwich Terns. With luck, we will get to photograph all of these species courting and copulating. There will be American Oystercatcher and Marbled Godwit plus sandpipers and plovers, some in full breeding plumage. Black-bellied Plover and Red Knot in stunning breeding plumage are possible. There will be lots of wading birds including Great and Snowy Egrets, both color morphs of Reddish Egret, Great Blue, Tricolored and Little Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, and killer breeding plumage White Ibis. Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork are possible and likely. We should have lots of good flight photography with the gulls and terns and with Brown Pelican. Nesting Least Tern and nesting Wilson’s Plover are possible.
We will, weather permitting, enjoy 7 shooting sessions. Our first afternoon session will follow the meet and greet on Tuesday May 10. For the next three days we will have two daily photo sessions. We will be on the beach early and be at lunch (included) by 11am. At lunch we will review my images–folks learn a ton watching me choose my keepers and deletes–why keep this one and delete that one? If you opt to bring your laptop, we will be glad take a look at a few of your best images from the morning session. We will process an image or two in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. Our lunch learning session will be followed by a break that for me will include Instructor Nap Time. Afternoon sessions will generally run from 4:30pm till sunset. We photograph until sunset on the last day, Friday the 13th… Please note that this is a get-your-feet and get-your-butt wet and sandy IPT. And that you can actually do the whole IPT with a 300 f/2.8L IS, a 400 f/4 ID DO lens with both TCs, or the equivalent Nikon gear. I will likely be using my new 500 II as my big glass and have my 100-400 II on my shoulder.
DeSoto in spring is rife with tame and attractive birds. From upper left clockwise to center: Laughing Gull in flight, adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, copulating Sandwich Terns, Roseate Spoonbill, Great Egret with reflection, Short-billed Dowitcher in breeding plumage, American Oystercatcher, breeding plumage Royal Tern, white morph Reddish Egret, and Snowy Egret marsh habitat shot.
What You Will Learn
You will learn to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to understand the effects of sky and wind conditions on bird photography, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you are scared of it).
The group will be staying at the Magnuson Hotel/Marina Cove, 6800 Sunshine Skyway Lane South, St. Petersburg, FL, 33711. Tel: 727-867-1151. I use Hotels.com. The best airport is Tampa (TPA). A deposit of $499 is required to hold your spot. Your balance will be due on March 10, 2016. Please call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 to register. The $5 park entry fee is on you. Tight carpools are recommended. The cost of three lunches is included. Breakfasts are grab what you can on the go, and dinners are also on your own due to the fact that we will usually be getting back to the hotel at about 9pm. Non-photographer spouses, friends, or companions are welcome for $100/day, $350 for the whole IPT.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Gitzo tripods, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
Hopefully I am still somewhere in Namibia and still feeling pretty darned good. If all goes as planned, I should be back at Indian Lake Estates on the afternoon of April 29. Folks sending new inquiries about selling used gear are best advised to get in touch with me at the end of the month.
Don’t Look Now!
Today’s blog post marks 171 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As I will be making the trip to Namibia on April 11, this streak will likely come to an end soon. 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
This image was created on the afternoon of the first day of Denise Ippolito and my busman’s holiday at Kolmanskop Ghost Town, Namibia. I used the Induro GIT 304L tripod/Induro BHM1/-mounted Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens (at 35mm) and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop in-camera Art Vivid HDR +/- 1 stop around a base exposure of .8 sec at f/22. Color temperature 4,000k!
Center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF on the center of the right hand door frame and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Door and Doorway in derelict building
Sharing Finds, Inspiration, and Lenses…
On our first afternoon at the old diamond mining ghost town, we began by checking out many of the images we had scouted that morning. Pretty much all of them required morning shade. So we kept walking, found lots of new treasures, shared images, and traded lenses. I had started the share-fest off that morning by finding the door and the staircase featured in the “Desert Urbex: 5DS R In-Camera Art Vivid HDR Draws First Blood” blog post of two days ago. Both Wim van den Heever and Denise Ippolito jumped all over that one. It was Denise who spotted the doorways for today’s featured images while I sat in the shade on the cool sand working the adjacent room. And Denise gladly offered to trade me her 24-105 for my 100-400II as I was focal length deprived from about 24 to 70mm. I worked quickly 🙂 Many tanks Denise.
And so it went. A great time was had by all three of us.
Subject and focal lengths clockwise from upper left around to center.
Palouse Falls: 11mm; homemade kiddie race car: 105mm; barn siding pan blur: 798mm; Rolling fields diorama: 110mm; Crayola drums: 343 mm; Hay barn interior: 19mm; vintage gas station: 40mm; Dilapidated farm building: 13mm; Denise’s tree Infrared: 20mm.
Images and card design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.
The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 3-7, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12/Openings: 6
The Palouse ~ A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 10-14, 2016/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12/Openings: 1
Double Header!
Maximize both your travel dollars and your learning experience by signing up for both IPTs.
Images and card design by Denise Ippolito/A Creative Adventure.
The Palouse IPTs
Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will likely enjoy spectacular sunrises and possibly a nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. We will take you to some 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 us for this trip. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. 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.
After 6 days of back-breaking scouting work in early June 2014 we found all of the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and views. On three additional scouting days in 2015 we discovered several more truly amazing locations. We will teach you what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.
What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, our newfound but very extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions when possible. There will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before each workshop begins.
You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills. You will learn to get the right exposure every time. You will learn to develop your creative eye. You will learn the basics of HDR (high dynamic range) photography. You will learn a variety of in-camera creative techniques. Most importantly you will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images. Do see both of our blogs for lots more on that in the coming weeks. You will learn how the quality and direction of light combine to determine the success of your images. And–please don’t gasp–we will be working quite a bit with sidelight when creating landscapes. Lastly, we will be doing some infrared photography.
To Sign Up
A non-refundable $699 deposit is due now. The balance will be due on February 15, 2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.
Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining us. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours or send us a check to leave a deposit; the latter is preferred. If by check, please make out to “Arthur Morris” 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 us via e-mail: artie or denise.
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 our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I hope that I am doing well somewhere in Namibia. If all goes well and I stay out of trouble, I will be back in the office late on the afternoon of Friday, April 29.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 170 days in a row with a new educational blog post… 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
Why You Should Never Use AWB Again…
On my San Diego visit, I had several of those “Duh, how did I not know that before moments?”…
I have long been mystified as to why images in a series can exhibit vastly different color tones when they were created at the same exposure settings.
While sitting in Patrick Sparkman’s personal easy chair–I told you that Robin and Patrick treated me well–editing my March 20th images, I expressed consternation at the dramatically different color tones in the two images in the animated GIF above. They were taken only moments apart. With all the same settings. Hearing me grumble Pat who was looking over my shoulder supplied the answer: “The wave breaking in the background the white water changes the Auto White Balance.”
Duh!
Note that in the breaking wave background image that the bird’s feathers were much warmer leaning towards brown tones, while with the sand background the bird’s feathers were much cooler, i.e., blue. The best WB was likely somewhere in between the two.
While old habits die hard, I did remembered to set a specific WB for most of the rest of the trip I. Most often, and always when it was sunny, I went with Daylight. My number two go to WB was Cloudy. If you pick a specific WB, you will get much more consistent color. Yes, you can always change the WB settings after the fact but why do extra work? Working in DPP 4 I can adjust the WB on a given image in a series, copy the recipe, and paste it to all the ret of the images in the series. In about five seconds tops.
Kudos to new blog regular Kerry (girl) Morris (no relation) who was the only one to notice/ask about my using Daylight WB frequently in the past few weeks. Observe, ask, and learn. Now she knows.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I am working on this blog post in Swakopmund, Namibia on the way to a Walvis Bay Great White Pelican boat trip. The Namibia trip so far has been challenging, rewarding, and productive. The photographic opportunities have been as fantastic as advertised and I have learned several new techniques. Those include sharp star point photography, Milky Way photography, light painting/night sky photography, and star trail photography (with the results still to be determined on the latter).
I will have been online until about April 23 or so. After that, nothing till I get back at the end of the month or possibly at this or that airport en route. Please remember that folks sending new inquiries about selling used gear are best advised to get in touch with me at the end of April.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 169 days in a row with a new educational blog post… 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. Please remember that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.
See below for AF details. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Oryx on red sand ridge
Heart Attack Ridge Oryx…
My heart was pounding in my chest as I hurried my way up the steep hill with my tripod-mounted 600 II. Our younger, much-fitter-than-I expedition leader Wim den Heever had led the way hand-holding his 400 f/2.8. Despite my advice that you would need to move as fast as possible to get in position for a good Oryx image, the rest of the group lagged behind. I finally got to a spot with the distant mountains as background. The stacked mountains showed the beautiful atmospheric perspective that one associates with early morning images of Great Smoky Mountain National Park. I got my tripod down but just as I focused, the animal–that had been staring straight at us–left the scene.
Five Oryx were walking slowly headed away from us climbing the hill as they went. I decided to hoof it (please pardon the pun) to try to get even or slightly ahead of them and sun angle. As I was paralleling the ridge rather than climbing the hill I felt that I was no longer in the heart attack (or a-fib) zone. I kept a steady pace and gained ever so slightly on the small herd of huge antelopes. While I was still well short of sun angle, the next to last Oryx climbed atop the red dune that topped the ridge, posed for an instant, and then disappeared over the crest of the ridge. But there was still one more to go so I forged ahead breathing deeply.
I was just about on sun angle when it crested the ridge facing away. I took one butt shot image so that I could remember what might have been. And I willed the animal to turn back toward me before it disappeared over the hill. It did. With the sky background I was happy with +1 stop EC. I quickly selected my AF point and made six images. The it turned tail and disappeared. I was not aware if any of the photographers in my small group were right behind me so I turned to see. Everyone was 500 meters behind me standing with Wim… The first image in the series turned out to be today’s featured image; it had the best separation of the tail from the rump and was my pick of the litter.
Once again my fierce determination paid off handsomely…
DPP AF point screen capture
DPP Screen Capture
Here you see that I carefully selected the AF point to yield the well off-centered composition that I wanted. The Oryx posed for only a very few seconds. Thus, it is vitally important for all photographers to have complete command of their AF systems, to be able to move the AF point around almost instantly, and to be able to switch the AF Area Selection modes quickly and decisively. Sometimes as little as a second or two of fumbling with your gear can cost you a great image. I know from personal experience…
Never Mentioned…
I have meant to let folks know that the AF Grid Void issue with the 7D II is not a problem with the 5DS R: if you are in Expand or Surround and are moving the AF point across the grid boundaries the selected AF array holds; it does not skip completely from one grid to the next as it did with the 7D II. I remain 100% convinced that the problem could be fixed with a 7D Mark II firmware update…
From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmer head portrait, American Oystercatcher dining on surf clam flesh, Common Tern at sunset, Common Tern adult swallowing flatfish, Black Skimmer in flight, newborn Common Tern chick, American Oystercatcher with chick, fresh juvenile Common Tern (with fill flash), and Common Terns copulating.
Meet and greet at 3pm on the afternoon of Monday, July 18. Limit 10.
The primary subject species of this IPT will be the nesting Common Terns. The trip is timed so that we will get to photograph tiny chicks as well as fledglings. There will be lots of flight photography including adults flying with baitfish. Creating great images of the chicks being fed is a huge challenge. In addition to the terns we will get to photograph lots of Black Skimmers courting, setting up their nesting territories, and in flight (both singles and large pre-dawn flocks blasting off). Midair battles are guaranteed on sunny afternoons. And with luck, we might even see a few tiny chicks toward the end of the trip. We will also get to photograph the life cycle of American Oystercatcher. This will likely include nests with eggs and tiny chicks, young being fed, and possibly a few fledglings.
Nesting Piping Plover is also possibly. There will be lots of gulls to photograph; most years I am able to find a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls of varying ages in addition to the Herring, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed Gulls. You will learn to identify and age the various gull species. There will likely be some Willets feeding along the surf and with luck we might get to photograph a handsome juvenile or two. In addition to the locally breeding shorebirds, we will likely get to see some southbound migrant arctic-and sub-arctic breeding shorebird species such as Sanderling, Semipalmated Plover, and maybe even Red Knot.
From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmers with tiny chick, Common Tern landing with baitfish for young, fledged Common Tern chick in dunes, American Oystercatchers/display flight, adult Common Tern with pipefish for chick, Common Tern fledgling in soft light, American Oystercatcher on nest with eggs, American Oystercatcher 3-egg clutch, battling Black Skimmers.
The IPT Logistics
The tour will begin with a meet and greet on the afternoon of Monday, July 18, 2016. That will be followed by our first shooting session at the beach. From Tuesday through and including all of Friday we will have two photography sessions daily. Our morning sessions will start very early so that we are on the beach well before sunrise. We usually photograph for about four hours. Then we will enjoy a group brunch. We will always have a midday break that will include a nap for me. That followed by our daily afternoon classroom sessions that will include image review, workflow and Photoshop, and a review/critique of five of your trip images. Folks are always invited to bring their laptops to brunch for image sharing. I always have mine with me but heck, I am a big show-off. Afternoon in-the-field sessions generally run from 5pm through sunset.
Breakfasts are grab what you can. Four brunches are included. Dinners (if at all) will be on your own as we will often get back to the hotel at about 9pm. There is a fridge in every room and a supermarket within walking distance of the hotel so nobody should starve. You will learn a ton during the nine shooting sessions, the four in-classroom sessions, and even at lunch. Early morning and late afternoon parking is free. If we want to head back to the beach early we will need to arrange tight carpools and share the $30/vehicle parking fee. Non-photographer spouses, friends, or companions are welcome for $100/day, $450 for the whole IPT.
Save a space by calling Jim or Jen at the office at 863-692-0906 and arranging to leave your deposit of $599–credit cards are accepted for deposits only. Your balance will be due on April 18, 2016. I hope that you can join me for what will be an exciting and educational IPT.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Induro tripods and ballheads, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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, 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 visiting the BAA Online store as well.
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Typos
In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right 🙂
