What’s Up?

I got home to Indian Lake Estates at 7:45am on Thursday, just 36 hours after leaving the lodge in Hokkaido, Japan. Co-leader Denise Ippolito had it worse: she was weather-stranded in Toronto, Canada when her flight to Newark was canceled. It took her 48 hours to get home. We both, however, feel that with the Snow Monkeys, Whooper Swans, Steller’s Sea Eagles, and Red-crowned Cranes, the long travel sessions were well worth it.

Toward the end of my 4-hour layover at LAX late on Wednesday I fell off the wagon to the tune of 4 large chocolate chip cookies, two mocha latttes–my first ever, and eight one-inch brownies. After vowing not to eat a thing on my non-stop red-eye flight I accepted and ate a bag of chocolate chip brownie brittle. Twice. The scale was kind to me on Friday morning: 185 1/4 showed only a four-pound weight gain on the trip. I got back on the healthy eating wagon yesterday and will be in the pool today.

I took my first jet-lag “nap” yesterday: 3 1/2 hours from 10:15am till 1:45pm. Then I surprised myself by sleeping from 9pm till 6:15am.

I learned yesterday that the sale of Steve Maxson’s old five and his 70-300 are pending. There are still many great buys on the board; you can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar above.

The Streak

Today’s blog post marks 116 days in a row with a new educational blog post. This post took me about 90 minutes to assemble including the time spent on the image optimization. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated.

Whose woods these are I think I know…

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Robert Frost

High Level AF Question

For today’s image I used the center AF point while set up with AI Servo/Shutter Button AF. How was I able to get sharp focus on the cranes that were well outside of the AF array? Hint: the answer is in most of our Camera User’s Guides.

Bird-Scapes

At times my work is criticized by various internet experts as too clean, too tight and too graphic. 🙂 But since my style is being emulated by thousands I do not lose much sleep over such comments. My rationale has always been as follows: if the background is butt-ugly I will do my best to eliminate it by getting close and using long fast lenses with teleconverters. If, however, the background is lovely or dramtaic or interesting, I will go wide and include it. Thus I coined the compound word “bird-scapes” well more than a decade ago.

Speaking of Bird-scapes…

In the 16-1200: It’s All in the Eye of the Beholder & The Big Question. Plus More Amazing 5DS R Fine Detail… blog post here, I asked, “Which is the strongest image, Image # 1, the tight head portrait, or Image #2, the wide angle bird-scape?”

Though–as several who commented did–I loved the tight, clean Whooper Swan head portrait, but I felt that the wide image with the black water and the puffy white clouds was the stronger image by far. Why? Because the placement of the two swans, the black water, and the puffy white clouds made the image a unique bird-scape.

The Singh-Ray 77mm Warming Circular Polarizer

I used my Singh-Ray 77mm Warming Circular Polarizer and my Singh-Ray 5-stop glass ND more than a few times on the trip, the former with both the 16-35 f/4 and with the 100-400 II, the latter always with the 100-400 II via the Xume system (see same below). Do not use the Xume system with your wide angle lenses as it will cause serious vignetting at the wide settings. In a blog post soon I will be explaining why it is mandatory to use the Xume system when working with the Sing-Ray Ten-stop ND for 30-second exposures on bright sunny days…

Learn how co-leader Paul Mckenzie taught me to set a circular polarizer to dark on a cloudy day in the original blog post here. And learn to set your polarizer to dark on a bright sunny day by clicking here.

Singh-Ray Filters

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

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

To shop for a Singh-Ray warming polarizer (for example), click on the logo link above, click on Polarizers/color enhancing on the menu bar, choose LB Warming Polarizer, choose the size and model, add to cart, and then checkout. At checkout, type artie10 into the “Have a coupon? Click the “here to enter your code” box and a healthy 10% discount will be applied to your total. In addition to enjoying the world’s best filter at 10% off you will be supporting my efforts here on the blog.

Xume Stuff!

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

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

Next I screw my Singh-Ray 77mm 3-Stop Resin Mor-Slo Neutral Density Filter, my Singh-Ray 77mm 5-Stop Glass Mor-Slo Neutral Density Filter, and my Singh-Ray 77mm LB Warming Circular Polarizer into their own individual XUME 77mm Filter Holders.

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

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

It is an elegant system but I can recommend it only for intermediate telephoto lenses: when used with short lenses and short zoom lenses some serious vignetting will occur at the wide(r) focal lengths.

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

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

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

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 🙂

What’s Up?

Aided by strong tailwinds, my flight to LAX arrived an hour early. I hung out with Donna Bourdon and Bev Sill in the Delta Club where I ate much too much (as I did on the entire trip). My 9:50pm red-eye, tailwind-aided, non-stop flight to Orlando took only 3 hours, fifty minutes. Amazing.

I got my two checked bags in minutes and arrived at the off-site parking shuttle bus spot just as the shuttle pulled up. I was dropped off right by my car only to be greeted by a stone-cold dead battery. No worries. The driver was back in minutes with a powerful portable battery charger and I was headed to Indian Lake Estates by 5:30am.

I prepared this short blog post while having breakfast at McDonalds. Next I will pick up some cauliflower, eggplant, and butternut squash at WalMart; Publix does not open for another hour.

Used 600 II

There is a good chance that I will be able to offer a 600 II in at least excellent plus, possibly near-mint or like new condition, at a ridiculously low price. A Canadian buyer would be ideal. Either way, please shoot me an e-mail with “600 II” in the subject line if you are seriously interested.

Facebook and Twitter

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

Typos

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

What’s Up?

On Monday February 22 we made the drive back up to Rausu. It was looking like sunny with blue skies the whole way. With wind against sun that would have been the kiss of death. But as we pulled into Rausu it had clouded over and begun snowing. Our pretty much private boat sailed at about 9:15am into perfect conditions. The next two hours were right up there with any two hour stretch in my 32-year career. Images and the whole story coming soon.

The Streak

Today’s blog post marks 113 days in a row with a new educational blog post. This post took me about 60 minutes to assemble including the time spent on the image optimization. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated.

Editing Practice and Principles

The task is a simple one that all nature photographers face after every shooting session: select your keepers from long series of similar images. Many here on the blog have expressed consternation when faced with this task. All are invited to participate and learn by selecting five (5) of the 16 images to keep and letting us know what they consider to be the single best image. For the latter, please let us know why.

Just so you know, I have made your job easier by selecting the best 16 of what was a collection of at least 41 similar images. I will be back with my choices and comments in a few days.

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 🙂

What’s Up?

Well, our prayers were answered as it finally snowed in Hokkaido. We awoke on the morning of February 21 to a foot of fresh snow. Most years it snows on average every other day or three. We enjoyed a late afternoon session with the Red-crowned cranes landing and dancing and, as seen in today’s featured image, taking off to head for their evening roosts in local rivers. I began work on this blog post on the drive to Rausu for our second Steller’s Sea and White-tailed Eagle flight photography cruise. I learned on Monday morning Japan time that the sale of Ned Therrien’s old five hundred and his 90mm Tilt Shift are pending; both sold on the day that they were listed. I advised Ned that he had seriously under-priced his 500 f/4L IS and he is glad that he took my advice.

The Streak

Today’s blog post marks 112 days in a row with a new educational blog post. This post took me about 60 minutes to assemble including the time spent on the image optimization. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated.

Magical Crane in Flight Image

I rarely look at anything but the histogram on my camera’s rear LCD, but I will admit to checking this one for sharpness after I saw the tiny JPEG. When I did, I was thrilled. I did not, however, realize that I had just clipped the ends of the two longest primaries. I added .2 stops of light to the image by moving the Brightness slider to the right during the DPP 4 RAW conversion and then brought the TIFF into Photoshop.

The wingtip repairs took just minutes; after expanding and filling in the canvas at the top of the frame using one of the APTATS II tutorials, I used a series of small Quick Masks that were refined by Regular Layer Masks to grab the tip of the fourth primary (as detailed in APTATS I). I used that primary tip twice to build the missing primary tips on the first and second flight feathers. Total time for the repair: three minutes.

After the repair was complete I executed somewhat of a pano crop and cleaned up a bit of sloppy snow detail that was left along the lower frame edge. Then I applied a layer of Pro Contrast and White Neutralizer in NIK Color EFEX Pro and reduced the opacity of that layer to about 30%; this yielded the perfect combination of practically pure WHITEs and soft BLUE that I was after. The last step in the image optimization was to sharpen the face with a Contrast Mask.

Everything above took a total of only 12 minutes including the RAW conversion.

While I cannot enter this image in any of the major contests because of the wingtip repairs I am thrilled with it.

Photo Mechanic Editing Screen Capture

I now select my keepers in Photo Mechanic with the fly-out window on the right open as seen in the PM screen capture above. This lets me enable the highlight alert warning (by checking “Show blown highlights” circle) and gives me a good luck at the histogram as well. Remember that highlight alert warnings are based on the more contrasty JPEG and that a few blinkies are easily recovered during RAW conversion. Such blinkies in a light-toned or white background are often desirable as they allow you to maximize detail in the dark tones and shadowed areas.

I set the zoom at x4 and leave the Zoom box unchecked. If I wish to zoom in on a specific area I simply hit Command + click on the area that I wish to see enlarged–usually the eye. This eliminates the need for difficult image scrolling. Note that you do not want to check the zoom box first as that will enlarge the image and you will need to experience difficult scrolling first hand. After I have examined the eye for critical sharpness I simply uncheck the Zoom box to get back to the full frame image.

By studying the screen capture that represents the original RAW capture for today’s featured image you can note the slight under-exposure, the clipped wingtips, and the sloppy snow detail along the lower frame edge.

Photo Mechanic: $150

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

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

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

Best News

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

Learn lots more about how I use Photo Mechanic here.

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 🙂

What’s Up?

On Saturday we went back to Lake Kussharo for more Whooper Swan photography and more ramen noodles. The morning was superb on all counts. After the success noted below with the 600 II/1D X combo at Akan on Friday, I concentrated on the incoming swans in flight with that same tripod-mounted rig. I am typing in the van on Saturday afternoon as we search for Ural Owls and more and have not seen the images yet, but I am betting that they will be superb.

Coming tomorrow: 600 II/5DS R raptors in flight; is this the sickest blog post ever?

Please shoot me an e-mail if you would like to join me in Japan next year, if you have any questions on the trip, or if you would like to learn about the repeat customer or the couple’s discounts.

The Streak

Today’s blog post marks 110 days in a row with a new educational blog post. This post took me about 90 minutes to assemble including the time spent on the image optimization. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated.

Always a Thrill For Me…

Even though I do not keep a Life List or a Japan List it is always a thrill for me to photograph a new species well. I first saw Eastern Spot-billed Duck (Anas poecilorhyncha zonorhyncha) at Lake Kussharo last week in really poor photographic conditions: foggy and misty and dark. Yesterday, as you can clearly see above, was much better. My Arctic Pro Muck Boots allowed me to walk into the shallow bit of open water so that I could get closer to the bird and work as closely as possible to light angle; note that with the light from over my left shoulder that a slight head turn toward me was needed to properly light the bird’s face. Thank you Mr. Duck.

I am loving my 5DS R and using two of them pretty much exclusively right now.

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 charged a minimum of 20% plus assorted fees! Yikes. Until they folded E-Bay fees are in the range of 13%. Business is booming here.

The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar above.

• John Norris sold his EOS 1D-X in like-new condition for $2999 in mid February 2016.
• IPT veteran Carl Zanoni sold his second EOS 1D-X, this one in like-new condition for $2949 in mid-February 2016.
• IPT veteran Carl Zanoni sold his Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens in near-mint condition for the record low price of $750 in mid-February 2016.
• Doug Bolt’s Canon 100–400mm f/4.5–5.6L IS zoom lens (the old 1-4) in excellent condition sold for $599 on February 12, 2016.
• Multiple IPT veteran Carl Zanoni sold a Canon EOS 1D-X Professional dSLR in like-new condition for $3099 in early February 2016.
• Saul Pleeter sold his Nikon D600 DSLR camera body in near-new condition for $630 in early February, 2016.

New Listings

Mint Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM Lens

Ned Therrien is offering a used Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM lens in mint condition for $3899; there are no scratches or dings. This sale includes the lens trunk, the manual, the lens strap, the front cover, the rear lens cap, a Lens Coat, a Really Right Stuff 63A Arca Swiss compatible lens plate, and insured ground shipping via Fed-Ex. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangement are made.

Please contact Ned via e-mail or by phone at 603-524-6274 (Eastern time).

The 500 f/4 lenses have long been the most popular focal lengths for bird, wildlife, and nature photography. I have owned various iterations of this lens for more than 15 years. I loved my old five. For a mint lens, this is an astounding value. Grab it now or it will be gone. artie

Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF ED Lens

Karl Zuzarte is offering a used Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF ED lens

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR lens in excellent condition for the BAA record low price of $2895. The sale includes a LensCoat, the front cover, the rear cap, the original felt lined, padded lens bag, and insured shipping via UPS Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Karl by e-mail or by phone at 508-873-6081 (Eastern time).

This extremely versatile lens is priced to sell instantly. artie

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 🙂

What’s Up?

With no pack ice anywhere near Rausu we took a small gamble on Thursday, made the long drive, and were rewarded with 90 minutes of non-stop action on Stellar’s and White-tailed Sea flight photography. We had Korean barbecue for lunch on the way home and then a most special dinner: Okonomiyaki prepared by our Japanese guide’s young woman assistant.Nameko is quite talented; she is a budding photographer, a skilled interpreter and translator, a great chef, a naturalist guide, and an all around helper. And everything is done with a smile.

The Streak

Today’s blog post marks 108 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated.

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. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar above.

New Listings

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Record-Low BAA Price: $1599

Ted Krug is offering a used Canon EOS 5D Mark III dSLR in excellent condition for the record low BAA price of $1599. The sale includes the strap, the battery, the body cap, 2 CDs and the manual, 2 connecting cables, the original shipping and product boxes, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Ted via e-mail

I have used the 5D III for birds on occasion with excellent results, even with the 2X III TC and the 600 II. It has long been my go-to dSLR for flowers, landscapes, and Urbex photography. In my experience, the quality of the image files is second only to those from the 5DS R. artie

Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS Lens

Asta Tobiassen is offering a used original Canon 100-400mm 4.5-5.6 in very good condition (just a few areas of normal wear) for $599. The sale includes original box, carrying case with strap, front and rear caps, manual and hood. It will ship insured via UPS Ground (included) I will also offer to include a used Canon 7D for an addition $250. The camera is in great condition, but the battery level does not communicate with the camera. To make up for that also included are 4 batteries and a battery charger. The original box, strap, and manual with a Really Right Stuff L plate are also included. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Asta by e-mail at ­­­­­­­­e-mail or by phone at 253-691-2259 (Pacific time).

Asta’s combo deal would make a great starter kit for anyone interested in bird or nature photography. artie

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR Lens

Karl Zuzarte is offering a used Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR lens in excellent condition for the BAA record low price of $6695. The sale includes a LensCoat, and all of the original accessories including the front lens lens cover, a second party plastic front lens cover, the LF-4 rear lens cap, the HK-35 lens hood, the CT-607 trunk (hard carrying case), the LN-1 lens Strap, and insured shipping via UPS Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Karl by e-mail or by phone at 508-873-6081 (Eastern time).

The 600 f/4 lenses are ideal for those who do birds and wildlife. This older version of the Nikon 600 weighs 11.16 lbs. It is still in production and sells new at B&H for $9,394.00. The newer lighter version, the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens (designated by “E” rather than “G” after the f/4) weighs 8.4 pounds but costs $12,296.95. Thus, Karl’s lens is a great buy for someone young and relatively strong who would like to save either $1,395.00 or $4297.95, depending on how you look at it. artie

Nikon 300mm f/4 AF-S ED IF Lens

Karl Zuzarte is also offering Nikon 300mm f/4 AF-S ED IF lens in excellent condition for $699. The sale includes the original box and lens bag, the front and rear caps, and insured shipping via UPS Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Karl by e-mail or by phone at 508-873-6081 (Eastern time)

Canon Tilt Shift TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Lens

Ned Therrien is offering a used Canon Tilt Shift TS-E 90mm f/2.8 lens in mint condition for $699. This sale includes the rear lens cap, the soft pouch carrying case, and the Canon Tilt Shift manual, and insured ground shipping via Fed-Ex. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangement are made.

Please contact Ned via e-mail or by phone at 603-524-6274 (Eastern time).

I Succumbed to the Speed…

I used the 400 DO II/1.4X III/5DS R combo for our first crane/raptor feeding session at the Akan Crane Center. For our second session I went to the 400 DO II/1.4X III/1D X for the faster frame rate and the increased speed of initial AF acquisition, the latter again the result of the more powerful battery of the 1D X. We enjoyed what was for Denise and me our best-ever day of crane flight photography at Akan. Just as we arrived the cranes began spiraling down from the heavens by the dozen. This went on for more than 30 minutes. We coached the group on exposure and then everyone had at it with great results. With the wind and the sun right at our backs and the snow acting as a giant reflector to light up the undersides of the cranes it was about as easy as flight photography is ever gonna be.

Today’s Exposure

As noted here often, my recommended ISO 400 full sun exposure for bright white subjects is 1/2500 sec. at f/8. This will vary depending on the season and the height of the sun, whether or not you are using Highlight Tone Priority (HTP), and several other factors as well. Only those doing their RAW conversions in DPP 4 should have HTP enabled as only DPP 4 recognizes it. If enable HTP and convert in ACR you may very well wind up over-exposing your bright whites. IAC it is always the photographer’s responsibility to check the histogram and check for blinkies after making a test exposure or two and then making adjustments as needed.

As the sun is low in the sky even at 12:30pm in Japan in winter I went 1/3 stop lighter than 1/2500 sec. at f/8. 1/2500 sec. at f/8 is equivalent to 1/5000 sec. at f/5.6 so 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 is 1/3 stop lighter than the guideline ISO 400 bright whites in full sun exposure. The histogram looked good and I hd no blinkies so I went with 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 but that was in fact 2/3 stop too dark. I moved the Brightness slider .33 to the right during the DPP 4 RA conversion. This brought the RGB values for the sunlit whites on the leading edge of the wings into the low 230s, just where I like them.

Exposure Question

Why was the sky in the original RAW file rendered such a dark, dark blue? Note: to lighten the sky I moved the Shadow slider to +5 during the RAW conversion in DPP 4; this lighter sky is reflected in the Original (TIFF) in the animated GIF below.

The Animated GIF

I moved the bird down in the frame using the one of the simplest of APTATS II tutorials. Total time: one minute.

APTATS I & II

Learn the details of advanced Quick Masking techniques in APTATS I. Learn Advanced Layer Masking Techniques in APTATS I. Order both and save $15 in the BAA Online Store here.

Japan In Winter IPT. February 9-24, 2017: $13,999/double occupancy.

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 enables him to have us in the best location every day.

The Logistics

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

Bus Travel to Monkey Park Hotel: 10 FEB: A 1/2 DAY of monkey photography is likely depending on our travel time… This traditional hotel is first class all the way. Out stay includes three ten course Japanese dinners these sumptuous meals will astound you and delight your taste buds. There are many traditional hot 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. One 2-night trip to Rausu for Steller’s and White Tailed Sea Eagles on the tourists boats is 100% dependent weather, road, and sea ice conditions. Only our trip offers complete flexibility in this area. It has saved us on more than once occasion. An afternoon of duck photography in the harbor at Rausu is a strong possibility. The cost of 3 eagle-boat trips is included. If the group would like to do more than three boat trips and we all agree, there will be an additional charge for the extra trip or trips. Do understand that few if any tours offer at least one afternoon boat trip….

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

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

To Sign Up

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

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

Please Remember to use 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 🙂

What’s Up?

We enjoyed our best morning ever at the Otawa Bridge with the cranes in the mist. And yes, it was cold. Next we photographed Ural Owl, and finished with a perfect session of flight photography with the wind behind us, the cranes landing right at us, and a sky of White-tailed Sea-eagles and Black-eared Kites.

At the onsen I did shower, onsen, sauna, cold tub, onsen, sauna, cold tub, onsen, outdoor onsen, shower, and dress. Then another great dinner by Shinobu.

The Streak

Today’s blog post marks 106 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated.

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. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar above.

600 II + 2X III TC + 5DS R = Banking Flight Miracle

On Monday afternoon I concentrated on photographing the cranes in flight with the Canon 600 II, the 2X III TC, and the 5DS R. In the soft light most of the images were nowhere near sharp. When the sun broke through I was able to make a few sharp images. Why the difficulty? Flight photography with the 2X TC and an f/4 super-telephoto is always a challenge. AF is slowed by the two stop loss of light that comes with the doubler. In addition, initial autofocus acquisition is not as fast with the 5DS R as with the 1D X, and when you add the 2X TC the 5DS R lags even farther behind due to its less powerful battery that has more difficulty driving the AF system than the more powerful battery of the 1D X.

In relatively soft light, today’s featured image was indeed somewhat of a miracle.

Japan In Winter IPT. February 9-24, 2017: $13,999/double occupancy.

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 enables him to have us in the best location every day.

The Logistics

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

Bus Travel to Monkey Park Hotel: 10 FEB: A 1/2 DAY of monkey photography is likely depending on our travel time… This traditional hotel is first class all the way. Out stay includes three ten course Japanese dinners these sumptuous meals will astound you and delight your taste buds. There are many traditional hot 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. One 2-night trip to Rausu for Steller’s and White Tailed Sea Eagles on the tourists boats is 100% dependent weather, road, and sea ice conditions. Only our trip offers complete flexibility in this area. It has saved us on more than once occasion. An afternoon of duck photography in the harbor at Rausu is a strong possibility. The cost of 3 eagle-boat trips is included. If the group would like to do more than three boat trips and we all agree, there will be an additional charge for the extra trip or trips. Do understand that few if any tours offer at least one afternoon boat trip….

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

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

To Sign Up

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

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

Please Remember to use 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 🙂

What’s Up?

Our Japanese photo guide called a friend to the north and learned that it was not raining much up there so we loaded the vans and had two great sessions with the swans and lunch at an amazing ramen noodle shop. It pays to have local connections. I worked the whole day with the EOS 5DS R and either the 400 DO II–never once putting on a TC, and with the 16-35 f/4L IS II. I like that version of the 16-35 as it takes a 77mm filter…

I learned on Monday morning Japan time that the sale of Carl Zanoni’s 70-300 is pending. There are still lots of great items listed at silly low prices.

The Streak

Today’s blog post marks 105 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated.

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. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar above.

How to make the water black on an overcast day…

Yesterday, while we were photographing the Whooper Swans at Lake Kusharo, I noticed that Paul Mckenzie had gone to his 24-105 to do some wider stuff. He mentioned that by using a circular polarizer that you could make the water black by turning the polarizer to dark. I wanted to go even wider so I grabbed my 16-35 and the Singh-Rey 77mm Warming Circular Polarizer and went to work.

As there is no way to set the polarizer to dark on a totally cloudy day by pointing it at the sky 90 degrees to the light source–heck, there is no light source, you simply point the lens at the water and rotate the polarizer until the water is at it blackest. If you go vertical, you need to repeat the procedure. As above, the results can be quite dramatic.

Setting your polarizer to dark on a bright day

To learn to set your polarizer to dark on a bright day click here.

The Image Design

Note that I used rear button focus and re-compose to tuck the swan into the upper right corner of the frame so as to include the water with the near ice-line coming into the frame from the exact lower left corner. Call it the “Rule of Twelfths” if you like.

Singh-Ray Filters

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

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

To shop for a Singh-Ray warming polarizer (for example), click on the logo link above, click on Polarizers/color enhancing on the menu bar, choose LB Warming Polarizer, choose the size and model, add to cart, and then checkout. At checkout, type artie10 into the “Have a coupon? Click the “here to enter your code” box and a healthy 10% discount will be applied to your total. In addition to enjoying the world’s best filter at 10% off you will be supporting my efforts here on the blog.

Japan In Winter IPT. February 9-24, 2017: $13,999/double occupancy.

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 enables him to have us in the best location every day.

The Logistics

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

Bus Travel to Monkey Park Hotel: 10 FEB: A 1/2 DAY of monkey photography is likely depending on our travel time… This traditional hotel is first class all the way. Out stay includes three ten course Japanese dinners these sumptuous meals will astound you and delight your taste buds. There are many traditional hot 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. One 2-night trip to Rausu for Steller’s and White Tailed Sea Eagles on the tourists boats is 100% dependent weather, road, and sea ice conditions. Only our trip offers complete flexibility in this area. It has saved us on more than once occasion. An afternoon of duck photography in the harbor at Rausu is a strong possibility. The cost of 3 eagle-boat trips is included. If the group would like to do more than three boat trips and we all agree, there will be an additional charge for the extra trip or trips. Do understand that few if any tours offer at least one afternoon boat trip….

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

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

To Sign Up

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

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

Please Remember to use 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 just learned that my account was suspended during my absence; it should be up and running by Monday at the latest.

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 🙂

What’s Up?

Me, early at 3:35am Japan time on Saturday which is 1:35pm on Friday afternoon on the east coast. I had a nap on Friday afternoon and slept a good 6 1/2 hours last night. Today is a packing and travel day as we take our chartered bus back to Tokyo’s Haneda Airport and then fly to Hokkaido to continue our adventure with the Red-crowned Cranes, the Whooper Swans, and–with the some good weather and ice conditions luck–the Stellar’s and White-tailed Sea Eagles. I will start packing when I finish my work on this blog post.

One of Carl Zanoni’s 1D X bodies sold yesterday. See the new Used Photo Gear price reductions below. And Doug Bolt’s price-reduced 100-400 II sold on Friday morning for $599.

The Streak

Today’s blog post marks 103 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated.

Three Great Shooting Sessions

Seven lucky clients all enjoyed our time with the Snow Monkeys. And all have enjoyed our traditional Japanese meals. Rather than hang out by the monkey onsen, I spent a good part of Friday morning down by the river waiting for running and jumping monkeys. I taught Donna Bourdon the technique and she was thrilled to have created several really good ones. I can’t wait to see them.

In today’s featured image, I used the classic running animal blur speed: 1/15 sec. As here, if you are able to acquire focus, move the lens right along at the same speed as the running subject, and keep the animal properly framed, you can create some pleasing images with lovely pan-blurred backgrounds. Note that keeping the animal nicely framed is the hardest part for me; I had several spectacular blurs that were mis-framed. Note also that nearly all successful pleasing blurs need to be focused accurately. And that of the successful blurs that are not accurately focused, nearly all of those were intentionally de-focused… Screwing up the focus by accident and winding up with a great blur is quite a rare occurrence.

Critique This Image

Please leave a comment and let folks know what you like about and what you don’t like about today’s featured image. Though I like this image a lot there are a few things that bug me. Use the skills that you acquired in the hugely popular “Growing as a Photographer: Learning to Do a Formal Image Critique” blog post here.

A Guide to Pleasing Blurs

In our A Guide to Pleasing Blurs, by Denise Ippolito and yours truly, we discuss just about every technique ever used to create pleasingly blurred image. Heck, between the two of us we created many of them! Ninety-nine point nine percent of pleasing blurs are not happy accidents. You can learn pretty much everything that there is to know about creating them in this instructive, well written, easy to follow guide.

A Comment from Kathleen

I ordered this e-Book when it first came out; it maybe the best $33 that I have ever spent on photography!

My own style is crisp and sharply-focused and I’ve been thinking of adding a more artistic effect to some images. This PDF gives me way more ideas than I could possibly have come up with on my own. The images are great and so are the detailed instructions. It’s well worth buying if you’re looking to add something different to your repertoire.

My favorites? Artie’s ‘Wildebeest Jumping’ which looks like a prehistoric cave painting and Denise’s stunning ‘White Fox’.

Japan In Winter IPT. February 9-24, 2017: $13,999/double occupancy.

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 enables him to have us in the best location every day.

The Logistics

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

Bus Travel to Monkey Park Hotel: 10 FEB: A 1/2 DAY of monkey photography is likely depending on our travel time… This traditional hotel is first class all the way. Out stay includes three ten course Japanese dinners these sumptuous meals will astound you and delight your taste buds. There are many traditional hot 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. One 2-night trip to Rausu for Steller’s and White Tailed Sea Eagles on the tourists boats is 100% dependent weather, road, and sea ice conditions. Only our trip offers complete flexibility in this area. It has saved us on more than once occasion. An afternoon of duck photography in the harbor at Rausu is a strong possibility. The cost of 3 eagle-boat trips is included. If the group would like to do more than three boat trips and we all agree, there will be an additional charge for the extra trip or trips. Do understand that few if any tours offer at least one afternoon boat trip….

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

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

To Sign Up

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

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

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. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar above.

Price Reductions

Canon EOS 7D Camera Body

Price reduced $50

Robert Doster is offering a used Canon EOS 7D body in excellent condition for $419 (was $469). The camera shows little wear and both LCDs have been protected by screen protectors since purchase and are thus pristine. The camera has a shutter count of 13,902 actuations. The sale includes a Really Right Stuff B7D-L B L-plate, the original product box, manuals (English and Spanish), CDs, the wide neck strap, Eyecup Eg, body cap, LP-E6 battery, LC-E6 battery charger, AV and USB cables, and insured ground shipping via FedEx. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Robert by e-mail or by phone at 505-270-7361 (Pacific time).

This 7D would make a great starter body especially for someone who lives in a sunny region. And you cannot beat the price. artie

Canon EOS 1D-X Professional dSLR

Yet Another Lowest-ever BAA Price!
Price Reduced $100 on February 12, 2016.

Multiple IPT veteran Carl Zanoni is offering a used EOS 1D-X Professional dSLR in like-new condition for $2949 (was $3049. The sale includes an extra LP-E4N battery, the battery charger, the front cap, the original box, and insured shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Carl via e-mail. or by phone at 860-306-9651 Eastern time zone.

Two 1D X bodies served me well as my workhorse dSLRs since their introduction in March 2012. I always appreciated their ruggedness, the great AF system, and the powerful battery that drove AF quickly even with the 2X III TC in place. artie

Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM Lens

Yet Another Lowest-ever BAA Price!
Price Reduced $79 on February 12, 2016.

Multiple IPT veteran Carl Zanoni is also offering a used Canon EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM lens in near-mint condition (with one tiny chip on the finish) for the BAA record low price of $750 (was $829). The sale includes the lens hood, the lens Cap E-67U, the lens Dust Cap E (Rear), the LP1424 lens case, the Canon Tripod Mount Ring C, the original packaging, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Carl via e-mail. or by phone at 860-306-9651 Eastern time zone.

I used this lightweight intermediate telephoto lens in Norway for birds and for B-roll stuff. It is superbly sharp and extremely versatile. It would be a great buy either for a travel photographer or a beginning to intermediate bird photographer. artie

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 just learned that my account was suspended during my absence; it should be up and running by Monday at the latest.

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 🙂

What’s Up?

It is just before 6am here in Nagano, Japan. I had forgotten how elegant the 150 year old very traditional Snow Monkey Park Hotel is. We enjoyed our first of three amazing ten course Japanese dinners last night. As always when in Japan, I visited the onsen for a traditional hot springs bath. They have both indoor and outdoor onsens here at the hotel. We charted a very nice bus for our trip from the Tokyo hotel to Nagano and made it up the hill for our first Snow Monkey session. Breakfast is at 7:30 and then it is back up the hill for a full day of Snow Monkeys.

I was thrilled to learn yesterday that multiple IPt veterans Frank and Laurie Sheets (Bosque 2015 and San Diego 2016) signed up for the 2017 Galapagos Photo-Cruise while enjoyed a very fine couples discount.

Used Photo Gear News

The sale of Phil Frigon’s Canon 200-400 f/4L IS with Internal Extender for $8995 is pending. Carl Zanoni’s three Series III TCs sold instantly for $279 each and I learned on Monday that the sale of one of his 1D X bodies is pending. David Ramirez sold his Think Tank rolling bag, Doug Bolt sold his Canon 400m f/5.6L, Multiple IPT veteran Steve Leimberg sold his used Canon EOS 7D Mark II, and the sale of John Norris’s 1D X is also pending.

If anyone is interested in a second Nikon D4 body from Sash Dias at a great price, please shoot me an e-mail for details. Otherwise it will be listed tomorrow.

All in all, the place is really hopping! You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar above.

eBay

I learned recently that eBay recently more than doubled its fees to sellers…

A Tender Moment…

If you stay attentive at the monkey onsen you will be presented with some wonderful opportunities. Though I brought the tripod up the hill, I never used it and will not be bringing it up again on our two full days here. Hand holding allows you to move and react much more quickly than if you are working on a tripod. If it is very dark or snowy, you might get to see some more 5DS R ISO 1600 stuff.

The baby Snow Monkey in this image was a hoot, playing and whistling and running from mother to father to aunt almost nonstop. All in all, too cute!

Japan In Winter IPT. February 9-24, 2017: $13,999/double occupancy.

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 enables him to have us in the best location every day.

The Logistics

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

Bus Travel to Monkey Park Hotel: 10 FEB: A 1/2 DAY of monkey photography is likely depending on our travel time… This traditional hotel is first class all the way. Out stay includes three ten course Japanese dinners these sumptuous meals will astound you and delight your taste buds. There are many traditional hot 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. One 2-night trip to Rausu for Steller’s and White Tailed Sea Eagles on the tourists boats is 100% dependent weather, road, and sea ice conditions. Only our trip offers complete flexibility in this area. It has saved us on more than once occasion. An afternoon of duck photography in the harbor at Rausu is a strong possibility. The cost of 3 eagle-boat trips is included. If the group would like to do more than three boat trips and we all agree, there will be an additional charge for the extra trip or trips. Do understand that few if any tours offer at least one afternoon boat trip….

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

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

To Sign Up

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

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