Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

2nd Palouse IPT Added By Popular Demand

Please scroll down for details.

The Streak Continues: 200

It is just after 8:00am here in Indian Lake Estates, FL as I finish up today’s blog post. This post took less than 2 hours to assemble. Enjoy it.

This post marks 200 consecutive days with a new blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? April, May and June have been fantastic as lots of folks are getting the message; using my affiliate links does not cost you a penny and helps support my efforts here. To show your appreciation, I do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used and tested, and know that you can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know the tools that you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

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.

This 3-frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR image was created just before 6:00am on June 11, 2014 on our Palouse scouting trip with the hand held Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens (at 35mm), and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop +/- two stops around the base exposure of 1/1250 sec. at f/9 in Av mode. Two sensors down and 3 to the left of the central sensor/AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the corner of the large barn on the left was active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Going with AI Servo AF active at the moment of exposure when hand holding for HDRs is a good plan as it helps to keep the images aligned and assures accurate focus for all 3 frames.

The Challenge: Learning to Think and See Like a Pro

I made the image above as a teaching tool after we had spent about 30 minutes using longer lenses to extract various elements of the scene that we had found interesting.

OK, here is the challenge. Click on the image above to enlarge it. Examine it carefully. You have all focal lengths from 8mm to 784mm available. What catches your eyes? Which images would you extract from the scene?

If you could place a black and white house cat anywhere in the scene where would you put it?

For all of the above please leave a comment and please be specific. I will share several of my images with you in a not-too-distant blog post.

Image Question

Why would it be pretty much impossible to create a good image of the scene above with the circle lens at 8mm?

This is the original Vivid capture. Note that because I pointed a wide angle lens up towards the sky that the buildings are tilted inward. And note the too RED barn and the too rich GREENs….

Image Optimization and Perspective Control

The first thing that I do with most Art Vivid images is to reduce the saturation. Sometimes I need only to reduce the YELLOW saturation, and sometimes I opt to reduce the saturation across the board as I did here.

To correct the perspective problems, I duplicated the image (Control A, Control J), hit Control T for the Transform Tool, right-clicked inside the Transform box, chose Perspective from the drop-down menu, pulled out the upper corners until the walls of the big barn and the walls of the shadowed structure on the right frame edge were perpendicular, and I hit enter. Then I cropped tot he artistic proportions.

Digital Basics

Pretty much everything discussed above plus tons more is detailed in our Digital Basics File–written in my easy-to-follow, easy-to-understand style. I am not sure if the perspective control bit is covered in Digital Basics, but no matter: it is detailed above :).

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, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding and filling in canvas (including the John Heado Technique), lots of color balancing tips, Tim Grey Dodge and Burn, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro basics, my killer image clean-up techniques, Digital Eye Doctor, creating time-saving actions, and lots 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 only.

Hope that you can join us 🙂 Card and design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

The Palouse A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. May 29-June 2, 2015/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12 photographers/Sold Out

As the trip above is now sold out, we have decided–in response to popular demand, to run a second trip after giving ourselves 2 days to recover from the first one. We have already sold four slots for the 2nd trip so please do not tarry if you wish to join us. There will not be a third trip. 🙂 See the details immediately below.

The Palouse A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. June 5-9, 2015/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12 photographers/Openings 8; this trip needs 6 to run–with only 2 to go, it seems like a certainty.

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 or two. 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. 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 breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions when possible.

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; Canon 5D Mark III bodies are a plus. And 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 touching on infrared photography.

A non-refundable $699 deposit is due now. The balance will be due on January 29, 2015. With the unpredictable nature of the photography business, I have not said this often lately, but it seems quite likely that this one will fill up very quickly. 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; the latter is preferred.

Please send your deposit check made out to “Arthur Morris” to us at Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail. You can also contact denise via e-mail here

Card and design by Denise Ippolito. Scroll down here to see lots more of Denise’s Palouse images. Note that the dates on Denise’s card are for the sold out first Palouse IPT. The dates for the 2nd IPT are June 5-9, 2015.

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

…..

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, ay, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here. Many thanks to those who have written.

Typos

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

The Streak Continues: 198

It is 5:58am here in Indian Lake Estates, FL as I finish up today’s blog post. Including the time that I spent optimizing the 2 images here this blog post took a paltry 2 hours to prepare. I hope that you enjoy it. If you do, please keep on remembering to use our B&H affiliate links for your major gear purchases and the Amazon links to the right and below for your underwear and other purchases 🙂

This post marks 198 consecutive days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? April, May and June have been fantastic as lots of folks are getting the message; using my affiliate links does not cost you a penny and helps support my efforts here. To show your appreciation, I do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used and tested, and know that you can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know the tools that you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

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.

This image was created on Lake Blue Cypress with the hand held Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 1250. Evaluative metering +2 stops off the early morning blue sky: 1/1250 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB. Central Sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus AF on the bend of the bird’s left wing 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. Osprey with branch for nest

Branching Out

Yes. I still love photographing birds. Have for more than 30 years. Will till they nail the box shut.

For the past few years, actually probably closer to 5 years, I have spent more and more time branching out, photographing other-than-avian subjects: Coastal Brown Bear, flowers–especially dahlias and tulips, African and the large North American wildlife, buildings, Urbex, Japanese Snow Monkey, Galapagos Tortoise, both Marine and Land Iguanas, Sally Lightfoot Crab, fish both dead and caught, grand landscapes, mini-scenics, sky-scapes and clouds, the occasional snake, squirrel, scallop, and sea turtle, American Alligator, a variety of marine mammals, tropical frogs, ships, boats, trains, and aircraft, people–mostly family especially grandchildren, and nature photographers at work. And most recently, agricultural fields and old barns. Can you say Palouse?

In reality I have been photographing many of those subjects for close to three decades but recently, influenced and inspired by Denise Ippoltio, I have surely broadened my photographic horizons. Why? It’s all fun.

This in-camera HDR Art Vivid image was also created on the early morning of May 31, 2014. For this one I used the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens (hand held at 24mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2 stops +/- 2 stops around the base exposure of 1/1000 sec. at f/7.1 in Av mode. Color temperature: AWB. Central sensor/AI Servo/Surround Rear Focus AF on the horizon line and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Lake Blue Cypress Cloudscape I’ve been creating images like this for three decades, just not a nice as this one.

The Lesson

It is important to realize that whatever the subject, the principles that help folks create great images are the same. You need to learn to see the best situations, to make sharp images when you want sharp, to create pleasing blurs, to understand the direction and quality of light, to get the right exposure (by exposing to the right), and to hone your compositional and image design skills.

The EOS-5D Mark III & In-camera HDR

Most folks who have been following our Palouse creative adventure have realized that more than 90% of the images that I created in Washington were in-camera HDRs, and about 90% of those were Art Vivids. To learn everything that I know about this great camera, get yourself a copy of my EOS-5D Mark III User’s Guide. You can learn everything that I know about the following important topics: the top LCD and all camera control buttons, the 5D Mark III drive modes, how to manually select an AF sensor, choosing an AF Area Selection Mode (how and why with extensive detail), Menu Item Access, coverage of almost all Menu Items and Custom Functions including the following: Image Quality, Auto Lighting Optimizer, Highlight Tone Priority, AF Configuration Tool (includes details on the custom setting that I use), Acceleration/deceleration tracking, Tracking sensitivity, Lens drive when AF impossible, Orientation linked AF point (I love this feature on the 5D III!), Highlight alert, Histogram display, Auto rotate, Custom Shooting Mode set-up, Safety shift, using the Q button, and setting up rear focus. And of course my Custom Case for photographing birds in flight. The guide is–of course–written in my informal, easy-to-follow style.

The Best News: Get a Free Copy of the 5D III User’s Guide

If you purchase an EOS-5D Mark III using one of our product specific B&H affiliate links for the camera like the one in the image above, or the logo link below and shoot me your B&H receipt via e-mail, I will send you a 100% free copy of the EOS-5D Mark III User’s Guide.

Hope that you can join us 🙂 Card and design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Announcing the Palouse A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. May 29-June 2, 2015/5 Full Days: $1699/Limit 12 photographers

As I hinted at yesterday, this trip is–pending the arrival of promised checks–pretty much sold out. If you would like your name placed on the wait list or if you are interested in a potential follow-up trip, likely June 5-9, 2014, please get in touch via e-mail.

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 or two. 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. 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 breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions when possible.

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; Canon 5D Mark III bodies are a plus. And 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 touching on infrared photography.

A non-refundable $699 deposit is due now. The balance will be due on January 29, 2015. With the unpredictable nature of the photography business, I have not said this often lately, but it seems quite likely that this one will fill up very quickly. 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; the latter is preferred.

Please send your deposit check made out to “Arthur Morris” to us at Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail. You can also contact denise via e-mail here

Card and design by Denise Ippolito. Scroll down here to see lots more of Denise’s Palouse images.

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

…..

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, ay, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here. Many thanks to those who have written.

Typos

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

The Streak Continues: 196

It is 10:07am here in Indian Lake Estates, FL as I type. Including the time that I spent optimizing the 7 images here this blog post took almost 6 hours to prepare. I hope that you enjoy it.

This post marks 196 consecutive days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? April, May and June have been fantastic as lots of folks are getting the message; using my affiliate links does not cost you a penny and helps support my efforts here. To show your appreciation, I do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used and tested, and know that you can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know the tools that you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

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.

This image was created at 7:03am on June 10, 2014 with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender, an external Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (with the internal extender in place at 784mm–the max), and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/80 sec. at f/22 in Av mode. Color temperature: 8100K. Live View (for mirror lock) and 2-second timer. Manual focus 1/3 of the way into the frame and recompose. In strongly backlit situations like this AF cannot see to focus. Click on the image to see a larger version

The Amazing Versatility of the 200-400 with Internal Extender

I used the 2-4 for probably 75% of my Palouse images. The ability to work with focal lengths in the 200-560mm range in and instant and to get out to 784mm in ten seconds as above makes the 200-400 the ideal long lens for Palouse photography. Throw in the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens and the figure above rises to 95%. I am just not a wide angle type of guy.

On each of our 6 mornings on Steptoe Butte we learned a bit more about photographing sunrise there.

This top and bottom stitched pano was created from two 3-frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR image. It was created at 6:27am on June 10th. I used the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens (at 175mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop +/- two stops around the base exposure of 1/30 sec. at f/18 in Manual mode. Color temperature: 8,000K. Live View (for mirror lock) with the 2-second timer. AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the left corner of the barn and re-compose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

The 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II

My favorite short-intermediate telephoto zoom lens, the 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II, was the perfect adjunct to the 200-400 with internal extender. Together they gave me focal length coverage from 70-784mm. As above, I used one of these two great zoom lenses to create 95% of my Palouse images. The Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod topped by the Mongoose M3.6 head is the perfect tripod/tripod head combo for this pair of lenses. When I needed to be on a tripod with a short lens like the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM or the “circle” lens, the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye, I’d spin off the Mongoose m3.6 and mount the Giottos MH 1302-655 (Tiny) BallHead on the 3532. To save time I kept the Wimberley P-5 camera body plate on my 5D III for the entire trip.

This 3-frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR image was created same day at 7:03am with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (at 247mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops +/- two stops around the base exposure of 1/125 sec. at f/16 in Av mode. Color temperature: 4500K. Live View for mirror lock and 2-second timer. AI Servo Rear Focus AF again on the left corner of the barn and re-compose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

A New Art Vivid Trick

I’ve long said that if you are not learning, thinking, and trying new stuff every day in the field you might as well give up photography and take up knitting. While I have loved the Art Vivid HDR setting since from the first time that I tried it I am the first to admit that when working with greens and yellows (remember that there is lots of YELLOW in GREEN) in a variety of lighting conditions that the colors may be over the top; the greens and yellows will be too saturated. To tone those colors down I experimented by changing the color temperature to 4,000, 4,500 (as here), or 5,000K. I was quite happy with the results. If you go back to HDR Natural you need to remember to go back to AWB, Shade, or Cloudy. I am hoping that with continued experimentation that I will be able to use Art Vivid for all of my in-camera HDRs….

Thanks to BAA friend Don Nelson for the tip that led us to discover this old house. It was the lovely setting and the soft light that made this one special.

This 3-frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR image was created same day at 8:20pm with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (with the internal TC in place at 307mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stops +/- two stops around the base exposure of 1/320 sec. at f/13 in Av mode. Color temperature: AWB. Two rows down and two sensors to the right of the Central Sensor/AI Servo Rear Focus AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Old Barn Detail Basics

To create images like the one above you will want to work tight, be sure to parallel the subject, and use an intermediate aperture (f/13 here) to ensure sufficient depth-of-field. Note that I carefully designed the image around the three cracks where the boards meet near the right frame-edge. Without any GREENs I went with Art Vivid HDR with AWB to juice up the colors.

This 3-frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR blur was also created on June 10th. This one at 8:05pm with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (with the internal TC in place at 307mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 100. Evaluative metering +2 stops: 1/4 sec. at f/20 in Av mode. Color temperature: AWB. AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the near edge of the dirt patch, re-composed, and panned slowly from left to right. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

HDR Art Vivid Pan Blurs

Simply put, creating in-camera HDR Art Vivid pan blurs is fun. I love the almost childlike quality and the soft colors of the resulting images.

This image was created as part of a 3-frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR sequence same day at 8:20pm with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (with the internal TC in place at 461mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/60 sec. at f/11 in Av mode. Color temperature: AWB. The RAW file was converted in DPP. AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the prominent line of yellow grass and re-compose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Variety: The Incredible Spice of the Palouse

Take a gander at the 7 images presented here today. It is hard to believe that all of them were created in a single day during two shooting sessions. But they were. It is the incredible variety of situations, colors, and subjects that makes the Palouse such and amazing photographic location.

Your Favorite?

Please take a moment to leave a comment and let us know which of the 7 images you like best and let us know why you made your choice.

Inspired By Others

While I was looking east and photographing the canola hilsides, Denise Ippolito was looking to south. She created a series of images of the hillside patterns above and shared them with Lynn and me. As it was a nice combination of triangles and circles we joined her.

This three frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR image was created at 8:33pm on June 10, 2014 with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender, an external Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (with the internal extender in place at 455mm), and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 stops: 1/10 sec. at f/11 in Av mode. White Balance: Shade. Live View (for mirror lock) and 2-second timer. Manual focus on the green tongue and recompose. In softly lit, low contrast situations like this AF may have a hard time focusing. Click on the image to see a larger version

Perspective Matters

On our way west, we found a nice hillside planted with canola-the yellow blossoms, and photographed it side-lit. Nothing too special but canola fields were on the scarce side this year. As we headed back to the hotel we came around a curve in the road and we all gasped at the sight of hillsides of canola replete with dramatic black shadows. We had discovered the mother lode of canola. Or not. As we drove up a bit to turn around we realized with chagrin that the “new” canola fields were the same ones that we had photographed 90 minutes earlier. Viewed from a different angle in different light had changed things dramatically.

Yes, perspective matters. What’s the lesson? Be sure to take a close look at your subject from as many different angles and positions as possible.

Hope that you can join us 🙂

Announcing the Palouse A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)/Eastern Washington State. May 29-June 2, 2015/5 Full Days: $1699

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 or two. 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. 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 breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions when possible.

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; Canon 5D Mark III bodies are a plus. And 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 touching on infrared photography.

A non-refundable $699 deposit is due now. The balance will be due on January 29, 2015. With the unpredictable nature of the photography business, I have not said this often lately, but it seems quite likely that this one will fill up very quickly. 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; the latter is preferred.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

…..

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, ay, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here. Many thanks to those who have written.

Typos

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

The Streak Continues: 194

It is 4:04am in Pullman, WA as we get ready to head to the airport for our flights home. All that I can say is that the Palouse is a wondrous place and all four of us will be missing it sorely. Denise and I already have dates for the first BAA/A Creative Adventure Palouse IPT next spring. If you would like to be placed on the interested list, please shoot me an e-mail. Dates and details will be announced here soon.

This post marks 194 consecutive days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, I do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate l8inks on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used and tested, and know that you can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know the tools that you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

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.

This post took 2 hours to prepare. Enjoy!

This 3-frame in-camera Natural HDR image was created a 5:11am on the clear morning of June 11 just as the sun fully lit the old barn. I used the tripod-mounted Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 28mm, and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop +/- two stops around the base exposure of 1/15 sec. at f/16 in Av mode. Live View and 2-second timer. White Balance: Shade. Should have been about 4500K to tone down the rich early morning light. AWB would also have been better. Gitzo 3530 LS tripod with the Giottos MH 1302-655 (Tiny) BallHead. Wimberley P-5 camera body plate. Live View (for mirror lock-up) with the 2-second self timer. AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the corner of the barn and re-compose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Image #1: Old Barn with Wide angle

Learning to Think Like a Pro

We left the hotel at 3:40am and headed up to Steptoe Butte for another great sunrise. But the light clouds that had been appearing regularly on the eastern horizon did not show up. “We are out of here” I commanded before anyone even began to set up. We are gonna do some scouting to the north we might as well get started now. We will surely find something new while the light is nice. And, as you can see above, we did.

As there was a driveway that ran close to the old barn the obvious choice was to get low with a wide angle lens on a tripod. I quickly swapped my Mongoose for the Giotto’s tiny ballhead and went to work. At first only the upper half of the barn was lit by the sun. With 5 minutes of patience the entire barn was nicely lit by soft, early morning light.

Same gear as above with a bit more exposure: +1 1/3 stops at 5:13am.

Ooops!

As the sun rose higher in the eastern sky we noticed that our shadows had crept into the scene so I hustled back to the car, swapped the Gittos’ tiny ballhead for the M3.6 and got quickly back to work. With a longer lens I needed to get well back and did that by walking down the main road.

Note that the shadows of the 2 telephone poles that you see in the image above, one on the barn, one on the grass to our right of the barn, were removed from the first image. For the one on the barn I used Tim Grey Dodge and Burn at 30%. I covered the long shadow on the grass with a Quick Mask.

I tamed the too orange REDs with a Selective Color adjustment adding 100 points of CYAN and 10 points of BLACK to the REDs.

Digital Basics

Everything discussed above plus tons more is detailed in our 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, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding and filling in canvas (including the John Heado Technique), lots of color balancing tips, Tim Grey Dodge and Burn, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro basics, my killer image clean-up techniques, Digital Eye Doctor, creating time-saving actions, and lots 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 only.

This 3-frame in-camera Natural HDR image was created at 5:20am that same morning with with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens (at 90mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop +/- two stops around the base exposure of 1/60 sec. at f/16 in Av mode. AWB. Live View with 2-second timer. AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the nearest edge of the barn and re-compose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Image #2: Old Barn with Intermediate Telephoto

With the Intermediate Telephoto Lens

Immediately above is the image that I created when I moved back and went to a longer focal length with the 70-200. I still had to deal with the shadow of the telephone pole on the barn and did that again with Tim Grey Dodge and Burn.

Your Favorite?

Do you prefer the image made with the wide angle lens or the image made at 90mm? Note the difference in perspective. Whichever you prefer, be sure to let us know why.

The Challenge: Learning to See Like a Pro

OK, here is the big challenge. Take a close look at the barn; what additional images would you create? Do you see the shots? I see two great ones. But first I am giving everyone a chance to tell me what they see as interesting. Please be specific. And let us know which lens you would use to realize your vision. I will share my two with you in a not-too-distant blog post.

I hope that you can join us on this great trip. The vertical puffin image was created by David Tipling. The rest–almost all from the UK, are mine :).

UK Puffins and Gannets IPT July 2-9, 2014. 5 full days of puffins and two half-days of gannet boat photography: $4,999 USD. Limit 10 + the 2 leaders.

We have room only for 1 female roommate.

Fly to Edinburgh (say “ED-in-BUR-row”), Scotland on a red eye flight on July 1st arriving on the early morning of July 2 or certainly before 10am. UK folks who plan on driving please contact me via e-mail immediately.

There are direct flights to Edinburgh from both Philadelphia and Toronto. If you learn of any others please advise via e-mail so that I may share with all the interested folks. Fly home mid-morning on July 9. UK locals and our many European friends are of course welcome.

With the needed 5 deposits in hand, this trip is a go; you can buy your flights now :).

What’s included:

5 full DAYS on the best UK puffin boat; trips to 2 different islands–all dependent on decent weather, i.e, no major storms. Seabirds including scads of Atlantic Puffin both in flight and perched, Razorbill, Great Cormorant, Shag, and others likely. The trip is times to maximize the opportunities for photographing the puffins bringing fish back to the nests. All boat fares and landing fees are included. The boat leaves at 9:30am. We have two hours on the first island. We are then picked up and head to the 2nd island for a 2+ hour session. The weather is typically cloudy bright.

One late-afternoon (2 July) and one early morning (probably 8 July) trip on a gannet photography boat where the birds are fed and dive very close to the boat. Both are dependent on good weather but we do have some flexibility. Boat fares and the cost of the fish are covered. Each will consist of a one hour outbound ride, two hours of diving Northern Gannet photography (with 6 boxes of fish) and the one hour return trip.

The tentative, weather-dependent itinerary:

July 2: airport pick-up no later than 10am UK time. Lunch on your dime. Drive to hotel. Afternoon gannet boat trip/time TBD.
July 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7: Full Day Puffin Boat trips as noted above.
July 8: early morning Gannet Boat trip. Afternoon: Small group Image review and Photoshop sessions. Pack for the trip home.
July 9: early morning departure for Edinburgh Airport (EDI).

The itinerary is subject to change to ensure the best possible photographic opportunities.

A super-telephoto lens is not required on this trip. The 300mm f/2.8s are ideal. I will be bringing one along with my 200-400mm with Internal Extender, my 70-200 f/2.8L IS II, and a shorter zoom lenses. Plus three 1.4X and two 2X TCs, a Gitzo 3532 LS Carbon Fiber tripod, and my Mongoose M3.6. I may go tripod-less on the puffin trips at times…. Or not…. All photography on the gannet boat will be hand held. It is likely that the 70-200s will be ideal for the gannets.

7 nights lodging in an older but excellent hotel just a few minutes from the puffin boat dock with about a 70 minute ride to the gannet boat. Double occupancy will be the rule though we might be able to offer a single supplement at an exorbitant price. See the hotel info here.

All breakfasts and dinner (at the hotel) from dinner on July 2 through dinner on July 8. And breakfast on our get-away day unless we need to leave earlier than they serve to make our flights home…

Airport pick-up until 10am on July 2–this should not be a problem as there are lots of red-eye flights from the US to Edinburgh.

All ground transportation. Airport return on the early morning of July 9. We may be getting up very early on July 9th.

Two great leaders; Denise Ippolito and yours truly will provide personalized and small group in-the-field instruction. As usual, the closer you stay to us and the more questions that you ask the more you will learn. We will of course point out the best situations. You will learn to see these great situations for yourself, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, to work in Manual mode, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. You will learn the basics of photographing birds in flight and how the relationship between light direction and wind direction impacts the photography of both birds in flight and perched puffins. And tons more.

We will be conducting informal, small group image review and Photoshop sessions after dinner. All are invited to bring their laptops. Image critiques of your five best images will be done after the trip upon request.

Early morning castle photography right near the hotel is an option for the early risers. In the event of inclement weather or stormy seas there is the possibility of bird photography along the coast. Early evening bird photography along the coast is also optional.

Not included: all lunches–for the most part we will need to pack lunches for the puffin trips, or you may opt to skip lunch. Your round trip airfare from home to Scotland. Booze, wine, and any other beverages other than coffee and tea at breakfast.

A non-refundable deposit of $2,000 USD is required to hold your spot so please check on flights and your schedule before committing. The balance will be due on 15 May so you may wish to pay the whole thing at once. Overseas folks may e-mail for wire transfer info. Our $15 wire transfer fee will be added to your balance.

Trip insurance is highly recommended as your deposit (less a $200 cancellation fee) will not be refunded unless the trip fills completely. I, and my family, use Travel Insurance Services.

After letting us know via e-mail that you will be coming, please send your deposit check made out to “Arthur Morris” to us as follows:

Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
PO Box 7245 (US mail) or 4041 Granada Drive (if by courier).
Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855

My friend David Tipling, with multiple BBC honored images and the author of dozens of photo illustrated books, helped with the planning and arrangements for this trip.

If you have any questions, please contact me via e-mail.

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

…..

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, ay, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here. Many thanks to those who have written.

Typos

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

The Streak Continues: 192

It is 3:32am in Pullman, WA as we get ready to head out early to Steptoe Butte. We enjoyed a lovely sunrise yesterday morning and then spent a few hours exploring around Moscow, ID. In the afternoon we spent some quality time with a lovely century old farmhouse in an idyllic setting.

This post marks 192 consecutive days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, I do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used and tested, and know that you can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know the tools that you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

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.

This post took 2 1/2 hours to prepare. Enjoy!

This 3-frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR image was created at 9:15am on a bright, sunny, clear blue sky day on Sunday June 8 with the Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens (hand held at 105mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stops +/- two stops around the base exposure of 1/400 sec. at f/11 in Av mode. AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the triangular top of the barn and recompose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Pink Barn in Green Hills with parked John Deere tractor

Barns, Barns, and More Barns

There are thousands of barns in the Palouse area. New barns, old barns, decrepit barns, collapsing barns. Photography-wise most are not worth a second look. We decided to spend a good deal of our time avoiding the already cliched barns and search out those off the beaten path. And sleep be damned, that is just what we have been doing. On Monday, June 9 we ventured into Idaho and came up with a few gems. More on those soon. All three of the images here were photographed on the mornings of June 5 and 6.

What do we look for? Barns with character. Barns in clean settings. If a barn meets those two qualifications–few do, the next thing to consider is light angle and light quality; when would be the best time to photograph this one? What is the best angle to the subject; how does that choice affect the background? The final piece of the puzzle is the quality of light. The soft, diffused light on cloudy bright days is always good. Early and late light will always be sweet. And when photographing barns sidelight can actually work well. And on rare occasions, as above, strong direct sunlight on a clear blue sky day can be perfect.

To separate the peak of the barn roof above from the line between the dark grass and the light green grass we needed to take turns standing on the vehicle with the car door opened. Join us next year and you will learn the fine points that raise the quality of your images to new levels.

Image Question

Would you have eliminated the contrail in the upper right corner of the image? Why or why not?

This three-frame Art Vivid HDR image was created at 8:46am on June 8, 2014 with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (with the internal extender in place at 420mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero +/- two stops around the base exposure of 1/500 sec. at f/11 in Av mode. AWB. Central Sensor/Surround/AI Servo-Rear Focus AF on the window frame and recompose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Old Barn Window

Working Tight

This barn was located quite close to the barn above. But the overall setting was nowhere near as strong so I went long lens: 200-400 with the internal 1.4X TC in place brought me to 420mm. Being able to zoom in and out allows me to frame each image meticulously as I did with the barn window detail image above.

This 3-frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR image of a decrepit barn was created at 10:46am yesterday, June 7, 2014 in cloudy bright conditions with the tripod-mounted Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM Fisheye Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens (at 15mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2 stops +/- two stops around the base exposure of 1/400 sec. at f/9 in Av mode. Gitzo 3530 LS tripod with the Giottos MH 1302-655 (Tiny) BallHead. Wimberley P-5 camera body plate. AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the nearest corner of the barn and re-compose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Decrepit Barn

Pure Magic

We could not believe our eyes when we spotted the image above. Actually, we found this one thanks to a tip from Denise’s friend Eloise. We were blessed with an exquisitely decrepit barn, soft light, and a cloudy sky rich with detail. Notice in today’s blog post how I used three different lenses and three vastly different focal lenghts: 105mm, 15mm, and 420mm. It is all in the eyes of the beholder….

Your Favorite?

Please take a moment to leave a comment and let us know which of the 3 images is your favorite, and do let us know why.

I created all of the images in this composite on last year’s July Nickerson Beach IPT. All copyright 2013: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version

Nickerson Baby Beach-nesting Birds IPT: 3-Full Days/July 15-17, 2014: $1199. Introductory meet and greet: 8pm, Monday, July 14, 2014. Co-leaders Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito

Greg Gulbransen is very much looking to this IPT. Join us on Long Island, NY this summer to photograph Black Skimmers, Common Terns with chicks, American Oystercatcher families, and possibly some just-hatched Black Skimmer chicks. Things are looking great. The opportunities will include chances to photograph a variety of breeding behaviors including courtship feeding, display flight and combat, and copulations. Car-pooling is recommended; if we opt to return to the beach before 5pm there is a $30/vehicle parking fee that is not included so it is best to share that expense. Parking in the morning is free.

A $499 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Your balance is due 4 months before the date of the IPT and is also non-refundable. If the trip fills, we will be glad to apply a credit applicable to a future IPT for the full amount less a $100 processing fee. 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. If your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check (made out to “Arthur Morris.”) Though we prefer a check, you can also leave your deposit with a credit card by calling the office at 863-692-0906. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

…..

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, ay, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here. Many thanks to those who have written.

Typos

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

Action and Behavior Voting Continues Today

Voting Continues today in the beyond amazing Action and Behavior category of the BIRDS AS ART 2nd International Bird Photography Competition. Click here to vote.

The Streak Continues: 190

It is 3:30am in Pullman, WA as we get ready to head out early to Steptoe Butte. This getting up early is not for sissies!

This post marks 190 consecutive days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, I do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used and tested, and know that you can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know the tools that you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

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.

This post took 2 hours to prepare. Enjoy!

This 3-frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR image was created at 8:35pm yesterday, June 7, 2014 at Palouse Falls State Park, WA, with the tripod-mounted Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM Fisheye Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens at 15mm and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops +/- two stops around the base exposure of 1/5 sec. at f/20 in Av mode. Live View and 2-second timer. Gitzo 3530 LS tripod with the Giottos MH 1302-655 (Tiny) BallHead. Wimberley P-5 camera body plate. Live View (for mirror lock-up) with the 2-second self timer. AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the waterfall and recompose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

The Decision

After our great morning at Steptoe Butte the plan was to make the 1 hour, 45 minute drive to Palouse River Falls State Park, scout around, and then return to the splendor of Steptoe. We did, however, run into some different but wonderful splendor. We scoped out several view points that looked as if they would have great potential either on cloudy days or when the sun was down. Waterfalls are best avoided on sunny days. After some discussion we decided skip Steptoe and stay at the state park and wait for sundown. To kill a few hours we headed to Lyons Ferry Marina for some snacks. There we found some pleasant folks and a plug for my laptop. We wound up staying for dinner as it was too sunny for waterfall; the chili was great and plentiful. Cheryl and Lynn each enjoyed their salad.

This 3-frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR image was created at 8:41pm yesterday, June 7, 2014, just 5 minutes after the image above. Again I used the tripod-mounted Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM Fisheye Ultra-Wide Zoom Lens, this time a 8mm, and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops +/- two stops around the base exposure of 1/5 sec. at f/20 in Av mode. Live View and 2-second timer. Gitzo 3530 LS tripod with the Giottos MH 1302-655 (Tiny) BallHead. Wimberley P-5 camera body plate. Live View (for mirror lock-up) with the 2-second self timer. AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the waterfall and recompose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

Recipe For Success: Palouse Falls Three Ways

While Denise, Lynn, and Cheryl hung out at the primary vantage point, I explored and found a few nice mini-scenes, most in the shade. As the sun sank lower in the western sky the light on the canyon walls got richer and richer, the walls got prettier and prettier, and I made some nice in-camera HDRs. Just before the entire river canyon was in shade I headed up to meet the ladies.

Setting up the tripods with the short and ultra-short zoom lenses was quite precarious and somewhat dangerous as there is no fence. If you lost your balance toast you would be. It was downhill and gravelly to the edge so we were all very careful not to go swimming with the fishes, or more accurately, swimming with the rocks. Denise had the one lens that I did not: the 16-35 f/2.8. 16mm turned out to be the perfect focal length. I started with the 8-15 as a true fish eye at 15mm on a full frame camera. Getting as close to the edge as possible I still had someone’s tripod leg in my frame. That’s what the Patch Tool is for.

The next obvious choice was to go circle lens, the 8-15 at 8mm with a full frame camera. Now I needed to get even closer to the edge. So I did. Was it worth it?

This 3-frame in-camera Art Vivid HDR image was created just before 9:00pm yesterday, June 7, 2014 at Palouse Falls State Park, WA, with the tripod-mounted Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens at 35mm, and the Canon EOS 5D Mark III . ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop +/- two stops around the base exposure of 8 sec. at f/16 in Tv mode. Live View and 2-second timer. Gitzo 3530 LS tripod with the Giottos MH 1302-655 (Tiny) BallHead. Wimberley P-5 camera body plate. Live View (for mirror lock-up) with the 2-second self timer. AI Servo Rear Focus AF on the waterfall and recompose. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial.

The 24-70.

Well after sunset I went to the 24-70 while and was practically working in the dark. Finally coming to our senses we packed up and headed back to Pullman. Everyone was dead to the world. Cheryl and I, sitting in the back, both fell asleep for a while and woke up with stiff necks. Lynn nodded off and on. Amazingly, Denise Ippolito drove the whole way and got us safely back to town. With all of us so tired that we hurt, we simply could not find the Holiday Inn and Suites. That despite two GPS devices. Can you say ” stumbling, bumbling, very tired idiots”? I was near tears with exhaustion as were Lynn and Cheryl. Denise troopered on. After driving around in circles and passing the same places three times, the motel magically appeared in sight. We were not in our rooms until 11:15pm. With a 3:45am wake-up call it turned out to be a very short night…. The next morning at Steptoe was indeed magical.

I created all of the images in this composite on last year’s July Nickerson Beach IPT. All copyright 2013: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version

Nickerson Baby Beach-nesting Birds IPT: 3-Full Days/July 15-17, 2014: $1199. Introductory meet and greet: 8pm, Monday, July 14, 2014. Co-leaders Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito

Greg Gulbransen is very much looking to this IPT. Join us on Long Island, NY this summer to photograph Black Skimmers, Common Terns with chicks, American Oystercatcher families, and possibly some just-hatched Black Skimmer chicks. Things are looking great. The opportunities will include chances to photograph a variety of breeding behaviors including courtship feeding, display flight and combat, and copulations. Car-pooling is recommended; if we opt to return to the beach before 5pm there is a $30/vehicle parking fee that is not included so it is best to share that expense. Parking in the morning is free.

A $499 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Your balance is due 4 months before the date of the IPT and is also non-refundable. If the trip fills, we will be glad to apply a credit applicable to a future IPT for the full amount less a $100 processing fee. 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. If your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check (made out to “Arthur Morris.”) Though we prefer a check, you can also leave your deposit with a credit card by calling the office at 863-692-0906. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail

Your Favorite?

Please take a moment to leave a comment and let us know which of the 3 images is your favorite, and do let us know why.

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

…..

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, ay, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here. Many thanks to those who have written.

Typos

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

The Streak Continues 188

It is 3:58am here in Pullman, WA as we get ready to head out for our first day of Palouse photography. Lots more on that soon.

This post marks 188 consecutive days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, I do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used and tested, and know that you can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know the tools that you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

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.

This post took 3 hours to prepare. Enjoy!

Displaying Goldeneye

Displaying Goldeneye

…..

The BIRDS AS ART 2nd International Bird Photography Competition

The judging of the BIRDS AS ART 2nd International Bird Photography Competition has been complete for nearly five weeks now. Thanks a stack again to our skilled panel of judges: Sandesh Kadur, Scott Elowitz, Lou Coetzer, Mary Ann McDonald, Michael Frye, Peter Kes, Denise Ippolito, and yours truly. You can learn more about the guest judges here.

From 5 to 18 images in the 8 categories were selected to be sent to the judges’ panel. Each judge voted on each image on a 0-5 scale. The votes were tallied and the results are now final. This is the final category, the strongest by far.

Your Call

The 18 incredibly strong images that were presented to the panel of judges in the Action & Behavior category are presented to you today here. Please do understand that many other strong images were eliminated in the early rounds of judging because of poor image processing, technical issues including over- or under-exposure, over-Saturation, image sharpness, the failure of folks to take advantage of our lenient digital guidelines that allow for the removal of distracting elements from an image, and simply put, by the stiff competition.

After clicking on each image to view the larger size, we ask that you vote them 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 with 5 being the strongest, 4 being your second favorite, and so on down to 1. Additional comments are welcome <em>as long as they appear below your selections. The whole thing should look something like this:

Goshawk Meal II: 5
Glaucous Gull Predation: 4
Kung Fu Eagles: 3
Displaying Goldeneye: 2
Great Grey Landing: 1

There were so many great images in this category that I wanted to give 10 of them a 5!

The selections above are of course arbitrary and should not at all influence your votes. Please read the directions carefully as comments that do not follow the format above exactly will be deleted without notice. The three winning images in this category along with the 4 runner up images and the names of the photographers will be announced here soon along with a tally of the public vote.

The Grand Prize winning image, the image that secured the highest total of judge’s votes, will be revealed when the results of the final category are announced.

Gulp

Gulp

Backlit Egret

Backlit Egret

Goshawk Meal I

Goshawk Meal I

Mallard Head

Mallard Head

Goshawk Meal II

Goshawk Meal II

Prairie Chicken Lek Battle

Prairie Chicken Lek Battle

Kung Fu Eagles

Kung Fu Eagles

Displaying Prairie Chicken

Displaying Prairie Chicken

Red-capped Plover

Red-capped Plover

Red-necked Grebes

Red-necked Grebes

Wrong Way Gentoo

Wrong Way Gentoo

Bateleur/Jackal Standoff

Bateleur/Jackal Standoff

Peregrine Breakfast

Peregrine Breakfast

Glaucous Gull Predation

Glaucous Gull Predation

Osprey

Osprey

Kingfisher Feeding

Kingfisher Feeding

Great Grey Landing

Great Grey Landing

…..

Denise and artie hope that you can join us next spring in Holland and learn to improve both the technical and creative aspects of your flower (and street) photography.

7 1/2-Day/8-Night: A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART/Tulips & A Touch of Holland Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)

Keukenhof—Delft—Amsterdam–Flower Fields—Kinderdijk
April 9 -April 16, 2015: $4995. Limit: 12 photographers

This trip needs 6 registrants to run so please do not purchase your plane tickets until you hear from us that the trip is a go.

Join Denise Ippolito, the author of “Bloomin’ Ideas,” and Arthur Morris, Canon Explorer of Light Emeritus, for a great trip to Holland in mid-April 2015. Day 1 of the IPT will be April 9, 2015. We will have a short afternoon get-together and then our first photographic session at the justly-famed Keukenhof. Our last day, Day 8, April 16 will be a full day of photography.

The primary subjects will be tulips and orchids at Keukenhof and the spectacularly amazing tulip, hyacinth, and daffodil bulb fields around Lisse and points north. We will spend one full day in Amsterdam. There will be optional visits to the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House and/or the Rijk’s Museum. Street photography and sightseeing will be other options. We will spend a half day at Kinderdijk where we will be photographing the windmills and doing some creative photography. We will spend an afternoon in the lovely Dutch town of Delft where we will do some street photography and shopping. There is an optional church tower tour/climb. We will also enjoy a superb fine dining experience in a traditional restaurant.

Other than the arrival date: April 9, Day 1, and the date of our last day of photography on April 16, Day 8, there is no set itinerary. We will check the weather and play everything by ear to maximize the photographic opportunities. We will try to do Amsterdam, Delft, and especially Kinderdijik, on cloudy days.

There are several huge pluses to this trip. First off, denise is an amazingly skilled and caring instructor. Both her creativity and her willingness to share and to help beginning and intermediate photographers are unmatched. And though artie has learned a ton about flower photography from denise, their styles and techniques do vary considerably. You will have a chance to be counseled by and to learn from both of them. While denise will hunt you down to help you, artie’s teaching style is more “the closer you stay to me, the more you will learn.” Both leaders consistently inspire the participants. And each other. The sky, of course, is the limit.

You will learn to create tight abstracts, how best to use depth-of-field (or the lack thereof) to improve your flower photography, how to get the right exposure and make sharp images every time, how to see the best shot, and how to choose the best perspective for a given situation. And you will of course learn to create a variety of pleasingly blurred flower images. If you bring a long lens, you will learn to use it effectively for flower photography. Denise’s two favorite flower lenses are the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens and the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. Mine are the Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS macro , the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens ,and the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, all almost always on a tripod. Often with extension tubes and/or either the 1.4X or the 2X (with the 300 II) teleconverters. Denise hand holds a great deal of the time. For flower field blurs denise uses the same lenses mentioned above along with her new 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III lens. Artie’s favorite is that same 70-200 often with a 1.4X TC but he uses both the new Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens and the 300 II as well. Both of us use and love the Canon EOS 5D Mark IIIfor all of our flower photography. The in-camera HDR and Multiple Exposure features are a blast.

One of the great advantages of our trip is that we will be staying in a single, strategically located hotel that is quite excellent. Do note that all ground transfers to and from Schipol Airport will be via the free hotel shuttle bus.

What’s included: Eight hotel nights. All ground transportation except for airport transfers as noted above. In-the-field instruction and small group image review and Photoshop sessions. All meals from dinner on Day 1 through dinner on Day 8. There is good food at the hotel and we will be dining there on occasion; whenever you order off the menu be it at the hotel or at another restaurant only the cost of your main course is included. On these occasions the cost of soups, appetizers, salads, sodas and other beverages, alcoholic drinks and wine, bottled water, and desserts are not included. Snacks, personal items, phone calls, etc. are also not included. The cost of bus or train transportation to and from Amsterdam (about $20 US), museum entry, and tower and church entry fees (optional) are likewise not included.

Beware of seemingly longer, slightly less expensive tours that include travel days and days sitting in the hotel doing nothing as part of the tour. In addition, other similar trips have you changing hotels often and needlessly. One final note on other similar trips: the instructors on this trip actually instruct. On other similar trips the instructors, though usually imminently qualified, serve for the most part as van drivers and van door openers.

A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 per person is required to hold your spot. The second payment of $2,000 due by October 30, 2014. The balance is due on January 15, 2015. Payments in full are of course welcome at any time. All payments including the deposit must be by check made out to “Arthur Morris.” As life has a way of throwing an occasional curve ball our way, you are urged to purchase travel insurance within 15 days of our cashing your check. Artie uses and recommends Travel Insurance Services. All payments are non-refundable unless the trip fills to capacity. In that case, all payments but your deposit will be refunded. If the trip does not run every penny will of course be refunded. Again, please do not purchase your air tickets until you hear from us that the trip is a go. We are very confident that it will.

All checks should be made out to “Arthur Morris” and sent to: Arthur Morris, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Call Jim or Jen in the BAA office with any additional registration questions: 863-692-0906.

For couples or friends signing up at the same time for the tulip trip, a $200/duo discount will be applied to the final payment.

When you send your deposit check, please print, sign, and include the paperwork here.

If you have any questions on the trip please contact artie by e-mail

or denise by e-mail.

Selling Your Used Photo 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 advise, usually sells in no time flat as did Dennis Cassidy’s 500 II recently on the blog. Larry Master’s 400 DO and his 800 f/5.6 sold within a week. From Larry via e-mail: Thanks for helping me sell the lenses so quickly!

A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART friend Kitto Kono sold her Nikon 500 to a Blog subscriber in less than a week. Janet Horton’s 7D sold this week after a $100 price reduction. Denise Ippolito’s 100-400 and her 100 macro sold in one day. Peter Kes sold his 70-200 f/2.8L IS II and his 400 DO through BAA in ten days. In the past two months we have sold a Canon 800, a Canon 500 II, 3 400 DO lenses, a Nikon 500mm, and lots more. If you are interested in using our services, please e-mail.

Used Photography Gear Page

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that there is a link to the Used Photography Gear page on the yellow tool bar at the top of each blog page. Folks looking to buy (or to sell) can click on that tab or here. I will on occasion continue to list new gear and great buys in blog posts and in Bulletins and may on rare occasion share all the listings with you on the blog. I will strive to keep the listings current. Great news for Kitty Kono and her Nikon 400mm f/2.8: it sold recently! That made her 2 for 2 on selling her older Nikon super-telephotos with BAA.

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

…..

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, ay, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here. Many thanks to those who have written.

Typos

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

Used Gear Caution

Though I am not in a position to post images of gear for sale here or elsewhere, prospective buyers are encouraged to request for photos of the gear that they are interested in purchasing via e-mail. Doing so will help to avoid any misunderstandings as to the condition of the gear.

The Streak Continues: 186

This post marks 186 consecutive days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, I do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used and tested, and know that you can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know the tools that you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

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.

This post took 2 hours to prepare. Enjoy!

This image was created at 9:44am on Saturday past on a partly cloudy very bright morning at Lake Blue Cypress with the hand held Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 640. Evaluative metering +1 stop of the light sky: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB. Central sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus AF squarely on the bird’s left eye as originally framed active at the moment of exposure. (This is a very small crop from the left and above.) Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

The 300 II Strikes Again: 1245 Images/One Favorite

In the “The 300 II Strikes Again: 1245 Images/One Favorite” blog post here, I asked, “If I were going to remove a single stick from the osprey nest, which one would it be? Why?

As you can see above, the answer was the very light toned vertical stick right below the bird. Why? As I have intoned here before, “strong vertical lines in the center of horizontal compositions are often image killers. Though the stick that I removed was neither a strong vertical nor an image killer, it was distracting and the fact that is was the lightest toned stick in nest made things worse.

In his comment, David Bose stated, “‘Ya know, I looked at that one too and immediately said to myself “that stick looks like it’s going to impale the incoming bird” but it didn’t look out of place to me. Duh! I guess that says it was distracting me too but I didn’t realize it”.

See how the folks on BPN helped me make this image better in my post here. In addition, they inspired me to find a solution to adjusting the brightness level on my new ASUS G750JX-DB71 17.3-Inch Laptop (Black)

The DPP RAW Conversion Guide

To learn why the RAW file for every image in this blog post was converted in Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP), click here.

Digital Basics

To remove the stick without a trace I used the Protective Cloning on a Layer technique taught to me by Denise Ippolito. That, and pretty much everything that do while optimizing my images is detailed 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, 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, my killer image clean-up techniques, Digital Eye Doctor, creating time-saving actions, and lots more.

My New ASUS Laptop

Transitioning from a favorite laptop to a new machine is always challenging but that process is nearly complete. I am very happy that Jennifer scrubbed Windows 8 and installed Windows 7. The machine is fast and the monitor and resolution are superb. Now that I have straightened out the brightness issues I am good to go. I will be bringing the new laptop on a scouting trip to the Palouse in eastern Washington state. I fly all day on Thursday. Lots more on that soon.

Some may prefer the version with 24 gb of memory:

Everyone needs to remember that all of my favorite images are processed by me on a laptop. I have been doing that for close to a decade. And will continue doing just that till they nail the box shut. If Apple had not discontinued offering 17 inch laptops I would have switched to Mac…. As far as I can tell, that decision was a dumb one. I would have run BreezeBrowswer on the Mac on a Windows platform as described here.

Those wishing to support BAA can purchase the same laptop from B&H by starting their search with the B&H Photo Gear and More logo link on the right side of the blog. If you are ever in doubt, use that one :). Many thanks of course.

This image was created at 7:38am with the hand held Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop as framed: 1/1600 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB. One sensor below the central Sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus AF right on the bird’s eye 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. It’s great having all 61 AF sensors available with the 300 II/2X III TC combo. Image #2: Short-billed Dowitcher beginning molt to breeding feeding on the edge of the surf

The Amazing Canon 300mm F/2.8L IS USM Lens/Part II of a Series: The Revelation

In the “The Amazing Canon 300mm F/2.8L IS USM Lens/Part II of a Series: The Revelation” blog post here, it be hard for me to pick a favorite. If you twisted my arm, I’d have to go with the dowitcher image. Note the position of the breaking waves (or the lack there-of) in images #1, 2, 5, & 6. Folks need to be aware of the position of the breaking waves both in the field and when editing their image, i.e., choosing their keepers. No breaking waves at all, as in the Laughing Gull image, can lead to a very peaceful mood. Otherwise, strive to avoid having the line of a breaking wave through the bird’s head or body. Having the breaking wave or a cresting wave completely above the bird, as in the dowitcher image, can work very well.

This image of an adult Least Tern was created at Fort DeSoto on May 11 at 7:45am on a cloudy bright morning while seated behind my lowered Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod with the Mongoose M3.6 head and the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 800 (should have been ISO 100 or so). Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops as framed: 1/40 sec. at f/14 in Tv mode. AWB. Central Sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus AF as framed 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. . Adult Least Tern near nest

“Manipulated” & “Photoshopped” Two Nasty Words That Can Help You Create Beautiful Images

In the “Manipulated” & “Photoshopped” Two Nasty Words That Can Help You Create Beautiful Images” blog post here, I wrote, “Has today’s image (here, above,) been excessively manipulated? Was the tail clipped and repaired? Has the head been replaced? If you see any evidence of hanky panky, please let us know by leaving a comment, and please be specific. ps: I can guarantee that when you see the original you will be totally amazed….

One person, who shall remain unnamed here, wrote, “Very well done as usual but I reckon there’s a bit of head replacement here. I think I can see a line from the base of the bill going up and around the bird ending at the nape of the neck. Seems like a small part of the underside of the bill has evidence of tampering.” Another agreed stating, “Now that you mention it, there seems to be a little indentation on the lower side of the bill, just in front of where the bill joins the neck. Good eye.”

Just for the record books, note the narrow depth-of-field at f/14 by looking at the sand….

The Truth Revealed

The Least Tern image in question is pretty much identical to the RAW file. I did not change a single pixel. The indentation on the lower mandible was totally as it was in nature.

ps: I had hoped to catch a few more folks with my baited trap :).

My favorite of the 3 by a country mile. Image #3: Red/Rainbow Tulip Center

Color Combination and Image Design Lessons Through Questions

From the Color Combination and Image Design Lessons Through Questions blog post with my answers:

Image Design Questions

Which image design do you like best? I liked the image design of all three images.
Why? Because I designed each of them!

Which image design do you think is the most traditional?

With it’s off-centered design, I’d say that Image #2: Purple and White Tulip Center features the most traditional image design.

Which image design is the most interesting?

For me it is Image #3: Red/Rainbow Tulip Center because, with that strip of blue along the bottom, it is different; most folks would have gotten in tighter. as I did in Image #1: Red-orange Tulip Center which featured a more traditional approach.

Color Combination Questions

Which image has a combination of colors that you find most pleasing, soothing, and relaxing?

For soothing and relaxing it would be Image #2: Purple and White Tulip Center with its whites and purples.

Which image has a combination of colors that you find most exciting?

Image #3: Red/Rainbow Tulip Center by a mile.

In which image do you feel that the colors work best together, that is, most harmoniously?

Image #3: Red/Rainbow Tulip Center, again by a mile.

Your Favorite

Image #3: Red/Rainbow Tulip Center, again by a mile, for the reasons stated by friend and multiple-IPT veteran Patrick Sparkman who wrote, “My favorite is the last one. I like the contrast of the first one and red is my favorite color. But the last one is more unusual with that wonderful blue color on the bottom. It really sets it off and makes the shot more compelling to me. Go Spurs!”

Well done but for the Spurs comment…. Go Heat!

My favorite of the 4. Common Terns Copulating #4

A Beyond Memorable Afternoon: Was It Worth It?

In A Beyond Memorable Afternoon: Was It Worth It? my favorite was Common Terns Copulating #4, again by a mile.

Why? There are two main reasons that most folks missed:

1- The two terns that were in sight behind and to the left of the copulating terns in images 1-3 were mostly hidden behind the copulating pair when I moved a bit to my right. They are much less obtrusive in image #4.

2-The yellow, out-of-focus lifeguard towers in the BKGR framed the image nicely in image #4. In the first three images they were much more distracting….

This image was created on the St. Augustine Alligator Farm IPT on a mostly sunny early morning with the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (hand held with the internal TC in place at 560mm) and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop as framed: 1/160 sec. at f/10 in Av mode. AWB. 61-Point/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure performed perfectly selecting a tight cluster of sensors on the bird’s upper bill. Learning which AF Area Selection mode to use in different situations helps you maximize the efficiency of the great AF systems of the 1D X and 5D III. Learn everything that I know about the various AF Area Selection Modes, when to use which one, several ways to move the AF sensor, and tons more in the 1D X AF Guide and the 5D Mark III User’s Guide. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Roseate Spoonbill vertical front-end portrait

The One That Nobody Came Close On

In the blog post here, “Image Problems and an Important Lesson to Come,” I asked in short, “What 3 things bug me about the image above?” Lots of folks let me know what bugged them about the image. Many were grasping at straws. And a few tiptoed around one of the my answers. In order of importance, here they are:

1-The number one problem that I have with the image is the dark above/light below theme. Most folks understand that a viewer’s eye is drawn to unusually light (or dark) areas in the frame. And even little kids know that the sky is up and that the ground is down. I believe that when we create images with dark above/light below layouts, that our brain perceives things as upside down. I have yet to come across a dark above/light below image that I really like.

2-If you check out the BrezeeBroswer Main View of this image in the original blog post, you will note a sickly green color cast. I worked long and hard on getting the color balanced on this image. But I could not get it right.

3-My angle of elevation to the subject here is quite steep. I was relatively close to the bird and the spoonbill was well above me. In general, I do not like having to having to pointing my lens up too steeply.

Denise and artie hope that you can join us next spring in Holland and learn to improve both the technical and creative aspects of your flower (and street) photography.

7 1/2-Day/8-Night: A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART/Tulips & A Touch of Holland Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)

Keukenhof—Delft—Amsterdam–Flower Fields—Kinderdijk
April 9 -April 16, 2015: $4995. Limit: 12 photographers

This trip needs 6 registrants to run so please do not purchase your plane tickets until you hear from us that the trip is a go.

Join Denise Ippolito, the author of “Bloomin’ Ideas,” and Arthur Morris, Canon Explorer of Light Emeritus, for a great trip to Holland in mid-April 2015. Day 1 of the IPT will be April 9, 2015. We will have a short afternoon get-together and then our first photographic session at the justly-famed Keukenhof. Our last day, Day 8, April 16 will be a full day of photography.

The primary subjects will be tulips and orchids at Keukenhof and the spectacularly amazing tulip, hyacinth, and daffodil bulb fields around Lisse and points north. We will spend one full day in Amsterdam. There will be optional visits to the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House and/or the Rijk’s Museum. Street photography and sightseeing will be other options. We will spend a half day at Kinderdijk where we will be photographing the windmills and doing some creative photography. We will spend an afternoon in the lovely Dutch town of Delft where we will do some street photography and shopping. There is an optional church tower tour/climb. We will also enjoy a superb fine dining experience in a traditional restaurant.

Other than the arrival date: April 9, Day 1, and the date of our last day of photography on April 16, Day 8, there is no set itinerary. We will check the weather and play everything by ear to maximize the photographic opportunities. We will try to do Amsterdam, Delft, and especially Kinderdijik, on cloudy days.

There are several huge pluses to this trip. First off, denise is an amazingly skilled and caring instructor. Both her creativity and her willingness to share and to help beginning and intermediate photographers are unmatched. And though artie has learned a ton about flower photography from denise, their styles and techniques do vary considerably. You will have a chance to be counseled by and to learn from both of them. While denise will hunt you down to help you, artie’s teaching style is more “the closer you stay to me, the more you will learn.” Both leaders consistently inspire the participants. And each other. The sky, of course, is the limit.

You will learn to create tight abstracts, how best to use depth-of-field (or the lack thereof) to improve your flower photography, how to get the right exposure and make sharp images every time, how to see the best shot, and how to choose the best perspective for a given situation. And you will of course learn to create a variety of pleasingly blurred flower images. If you bring a long lens, you will learn to use it effectively for flower photography. Denise’s two favorite flower lenses are the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens and the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. Mine are the Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS macro , the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens ,and the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, all almost always on a tripod. Often with extension tubes and/or either the 1.4X or the 2X (with the 300 II) teleconverters. Denise hand holds a great deal of the time. For flower field blurs denise uses the same lenses mentioned above along with her new 70-200mm f/2.8L IS III lens. Artie’s favorite is that same 70-200 often with a 1.4X TC but he uses both the new Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens and the 300 II as well. Both of us use and love the Canon EOS 5D Mark IIIfor all of our flower photography. The in-camera HDR and Multiple Exposure features are a blast.

One of the great advantages of our trip is that we will be staying in a single, strategically located hotel that is quite excellent. Do note that all ground transfers to and from Schipol Airport will be via the free hotel shuttle bus.

What’s included: Eight hotel nights. All ground transportation except for airport transfers as noted above. In-the-field instruction and small group image review and Photoshop sessions. All meals from dinner on Day 1 through dinner on Day 8. There is good food at the hotel and we will be dining there on occasion; whenever you order off the menu be it at the hotel or at another restaurant only the cost of your main course is included. On these occasions the cost of soups, appetizers, salads, sodas and other beverages, alcoholic drinks and wine, bottled water, and desserts are not included. Snacks, personal items, phone calls, etc. are also not included. The cost of bus or train transportation to and from Amsterdam (about $20 US), museum entry, and tower and church entry fees (optional) are likewise not included.

Beware of seemingly longer, slightly less expensive tours that include travel days and days sitting in the hotel doing nothing as part of the tour. In addition, other similar trips have you changing hotels often and needlessly. One final note on other similar trips: the instructors on this trip actually instruct. On other similar trips the instructors, though usually imminently qualified, serve for the most part as van drivers and van door openers.

A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 per person is required to hold your spot. The second payment of $2,000 due by October 30, 2014. The balance is due on January 15, 2015. Payments in full are of course welcome at any time. All payments including the deposit must be by check made out to “Arthur Morris.” As life has a way of throwing an occasional curve ball our way, you are urged to purchase travel insurance within 15 days of our cashing your check. Artie uses and recommends Travel Insurance Services. All payments are non-refundable unless the trip fills to capacity. In that case, all payments but your deposit will be refunded. If the trip does not run every penny will of course be refunded. Again, please do not purchase your air tickets until you hear from us that the trip is a go. We are very confident that it will.

All checks should be made out to “Arthur Morris” and sent to: Arthur Morris, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Call Jim or Jen in the BAA office with any additional registration questions: 863-692-0906.

For couples or friends signing up at the same time for the tulip trip, a $200/duo discount will be applied to the final payment.

When you send your deposit check, please print, sign, and include the paperwork here.

If you have any questions on the trip please contact artie by e-mail or denise by e-mail.

Selling Your Used Photo 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 advise, usually sells in no time flat as did Dennis Cassidy’s 500 II recently on the blog. Larry Master’s 400 DO and his 800 f/5.6 sold within a week. From Larry via e-mail: Thanks for helping me sell the lenses so quickly!

A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART friend Kitto Kono sold her Nikon 500 to a Blog subscriber in less than a week. Janet Horton’s 7D sold this week after a $100 price reduction. Denise Ippolito’s 100-400 and her 100 macro sold in one day. Peter Kes sold his 70-200 f/2.8L IS II and his 400 DO through BAA in ten days. In the past two months we have sold a Canon 800, a Canon 500 II, 3 400 DO lenses, a Nikon 500mm, and lots more. If you are interested in using our services, please e-mail.

Used Photography Gear Page

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that there is a link to the Used Photography Gear page on the yellow tool bar at the top of each blog page. Folks looking to buy (or to sell) can click on that tab or here. I will on occasion continue to list new gear and great buys in blog posts and in Bulletins and may on rare occasion share all the listings with you on the blog. I will strive to keep the listings current. Great news for Kitty Kono and her Nikon 400mm f/2.8: it sold recently! That made her 2 for 2 on selling her older Nikon super-telephotos with BAA.

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

…..

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, ay, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here. Many thanks to those who have written.

Typos

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

Prototypes of the two new Xpandable LensCoat Long Lens bags in the back of my Toyota Sequoia. The 600 II is in the 4X bag on our left, the 200-400 in the 3X bag on our right. I originally encouraged Scott Elowitz to consider making a long lens bag just so I could store my long lenses safely while driving. Nearly 2 years in development, the 2 new bags do a ton more. And with my shoulder problems getting the 600 on my back will help my shoulders to continue to improve and prevent you from winding up in the same shoulder-boat that I am in. Also seen, the Gitzo 3532 LS tripod with the Mongoose M3.6 on top. The GT 1542 Travel tripod with the Giotto’s tiny ballhead attached. A long Canon umbrella. The Umbrella Clamp Rig. The larger or my two Think Tank Airport Rolling bags–click on the Think Tank link in the right hand column for more info on those. And, to dry my feet after getting wet at Fort DeSoto, Johnson’s Baby Powder

Two Great New Expandable Long Lens Bags from LensCoat

Now Available for Pre-Order
Product will be shipped mid- to late-June

Please scroll down for details and the whole story from soup to nuts.

The Streak Continues: 184

This post marks 184 consecutive days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, I do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used and tested, and know that you can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know the tools that you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

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.

This post took 2 hours to prepare. Enjoy!

This image was created at 9:44am on Saturday past on a partly cloudy very bright morning at Lake Blue Cypress with the hand held Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 640. Evaluative metering +1 stop of the light sky: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB. Central sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus AF squarely on the bird’s left eye as originally framed active at the moment of exposure. (This is a very small crop from the left and above.) Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse

Last week, friend and mega multiple IPT veteran Clemens Van der Werf asked me if I would like to join him for a pontoon boat morning on lake just 45 minutes from my home in Indian Lake Estates. Twist my arm :). After a slow start, things really heated up. While the 200-400 is great for flight as you can zoom out when needed, I opted for the 300 II with either teleconverter because of its lighter weight: 5.19 pounds versus 7.98. 2.79 pounds when hand holding is huge…. I had the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens with the Canon Extender EF 2X III and a 1D X on a bench seat ready to go on the tripod at a moments notice for perched birds and a few tight head portraits. I will be sharing some of those with you here in the future.

A very light wind from the north swung around to the east by 9:00am and the high thin clouds provided relatively soft light well into the morning. This combination was perfect for flight photography. Note the large chick in the nest on our left below the landing bird. At first we thought that it was dead but as it turned out it was just resting. We were both happy about that.

Thanks a stack Clemens for a great day.

Image Question

If you were going to remove a single stick from the nest, which one would it be? Why?

Testing a prototype of the 4Xpandable Long Lens bag on safari in Tanzania. The trick is to wrap the strap around the head rest and then re-attach it to the bag. Doing so protects the lens during normal travel. At high speeds or over really rough roads it is best to hold the lens on your lap in hopes of preventing damage in case you hit a pothole or a large animal burrow. Do ask the driver to let you know in advance if you will be encountering any really rough going. I did not fully expand the bag so that I could easily grab the camera and pull the rig from the bag almost instantly when needed. The driver-guide in the front seat is the always-smiling Salvatore.

Expandable Long Lens Bags from LensCoat

Now Available for Pre-Order
Will be shipped mid- to late-June

The Idea

It was probably two years ago when I suggested to Scott Elowitz of LensCoat that he develop a good long lens bag. My motivation? The Domke Lens Bags that I had been using for years were becoming tattered wrecks. One had already bitten the dust and the other was getting ready to do the same. I have been testing both sizes of the new Xpanadable Long Lens bags for more than a year. They have proved their worth over and over again in the back of my Sequoia, in the field at locations like Nickerson Beach and Gatorland, and while on safari in Tanzania last August. Scott took my idea and flew with it producing two expandable bags with tons of great options. When a lens is stowed for travel (by car, plane, or boat) in one of the Xpandable Long Lens bags I strongly recommend that the camera body be removed as vibrations can wreck the lens mounts over time. After all travel it is a good plan to check the tiny screws on all lens mounts for tightness.

You can pre-order yours today with a phone call to Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 weekdays from 8:30am til 5:00pm.

The 3Xpandable Long Lens Bag is available in four patterns.

3Xpandable: Price: $279.99 + $12.00 shipping to US addresses

This is one great bag. Whether you’re in the field, on a boat, ship, or pontoon boat, in your own or a safari vehicle, you will find this bag useful. It will protect your gear while leaving it almost instantly accessible. The 3Xpandable bag can be ingeniously folded to three different sizes – or folded flat for air travel!

Position 1: Full size, 27.75″ height; perfect for a long lens in shooting position with teleconverter and camera body.
Position 2: Folded down to 23.5”; makes the bag more compact and lowers its center of gravity.
Position 3: Folded down to 19.75”; now the bag is small enough to be used as an airline carry-on aboard most commercial aircraft.

• Removable lid with pocket zips on easily and securely at all three positions
• Male and female ends on removable shoulder strap allow for strap to be used to secure bag
• Removable reinforced insert panels allow you to configure the weight and support
• Soft sided construction allow the bag to be folded nearly flat for storage or packing
• Built to last with heavy-duty water-resistant Codura and lightweight, water-resistant nylon lining
• M.O.L.L.E webbing system to easily add pouches and accessories
• Removable harness (sold separately)
• Multiple connection points to secure the bag
• YKK zippers
• Expandable exterior mesh pocket
• Tripod/Monopod support options
• Made in the USA

The 3Xpandable Long Lens Bag accommodates a camera body with lenses such as the following: Canon 200-400mm, Canon 300mm f/2.8, Canon 400mm DO, Canon 500mm, Nikon 200-400mm, Nikon 300 f/2.8, Nikon 500mm, Sigma 500mm, Sigma 300-800mm, and Sony 500mm.

The 3Xpandable Long Lens Bag is available in four patterns: Realtree Max 4, Black, Forest Green Camo, and Digital Camo.

The 4Xpandable Long Lens Bag is available in four patterns.

4Xpandable: Price: $289.99 + $12.00 shipping to US addresses

The larger version is also one smart bag. Whether you’re in the field or a safari vehicle it’s perfect when you want to be ready to take the shot at a moment’s notice. The 4Xpandable bag can be ingeniously folded to three different sizes – or folded flat!

Position 1: full size, 28.75″ height; perfect for a long lens in shooting position with teleconverter and camera body.
Position 2: Folded down to 24.5”; makes the bag more compact and lowers the center of gravity.
Position 3: Folded down to 21.5”; now the bag is small enough to be used as an airline carry-on aboard most commercial aircraft.

• Removable lid with pocket zips on easily and securely at all three positions
• Male and female ends on removable shoulder strap allow for strap to be used to secure bag
• Removable reinforced insert panels allow you to configure the weight and support
• Soft sided construction allow the bag to be folded nearly flat for storage or packing
• Built to last with heavy-duty water-resistant Codura and lightweight, water-resistant nylon lining
• M.O.L.L.E webbing system to easily add pouches and accessories
• Removable harness (sold separately)
• Multiple connection points to secure the bag
• YKK zippers
• Expandable exterior mesh pocket
• Tripod/Monopod support options
• Made in the USA

The 4Xpandable Long Lens Bag accommodates a camera body and lenses such as Canon & Nikon 400mm f/2.8, 500mm, 600mm, 800mm.I know for a fact that when fully expanded it takes the Canon 600 II with a 1D X, a 2X TC, and the hood in place. Wow!

The 4Xpandable Long Lens Bag is also available in four patterns: Realtree Max 4, Black, Forest Green Camo, and Digital Camo.

The LensCoat Harness is available in 2 sizes. See below for details.

The Padded Harness for the LensCoat 3Xpandable and 4Xpandable Long Lens Bags: $44.99.

This padded backpack-style harness is constructed of thick (16mm–5/8″) closed-cell foam. The outside is covered on the top with nonabrasive water-repellent 400D nylon pack cloth. The inside surface that faces faces your body is made from 3D mesh fabric, a soft Polyester moisture-wicking substrate. There is a 2-way adjustable sternum strap.

If you are 5′ 10″ or shorter we typically recommend the Small/Medium Harness. Taller folks will need the Large/Extra Large Harness.

Right now, the LensCoat Waist Belt is free for those who pre-order an Xpanadable Long Lens Bag and a Harness.

The LensCoat Waist Belt

Free right now for those who pre-order an Xpanadable Long Lens Bag and a Harness.

The LensCoat Waist Belt is designed to work with the Xpandable series Long Lens Bag. It provides increased stability when used in conjunction with the harness. The lightweight, unpadded belt attaches easily and quickly to the d-rings on the Xpandable bag. The 2″ wide nylon webbing easily adjusts to fit a waist up to 60 inches. The waist belt has been designed with MOLLE-compliant attachment points on the sides (5 on each side) to accommodate pouches and accessories.

Xpandable Long Lens Bag Folding Instructions Only Video

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

….. …..

Typos

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

The Streak Continues: 182

This post marks 182 consecutive days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, I do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used and tested, and know that you can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know the tools that you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

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.

This post took 1 1/2 hours to prepare. Enjoy!

This image of an adult Least Tern was created at Fort DeSoto on May 11 at 7:45am on a cloudy bright morning while seated behind my lowered Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod with the Mongoose M3.6 head and the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 800 (should have been ISO 100 or so). Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops as framed: 1/40 sec. at f/14 in Tv mode. AWB. Central Sensor/AI Servo-Surround/Rear Focus AF as framed 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. . Adult Least Tern near nest

“Manipulated” “Photoshopped” Two Nasty Words That Can Help You Create Beautiful Images

Did you manipulate that photograph? Is that beautiful image manipulated? For me the answer to that question is always yes. Make no bones about it. Many folks do not understand that the RAW files that come out of the best digital camera bodies are inherently unsharp as compared to images created with film. Furthermore, properly exposed image especially images that are light-toned overall should appear washed out on both the back of your camera and on your computer.

So, depending on your definition of the terms “manipulated” and “photoshopped” all BAA images are manipulated and photoshopped.

And as regular readers know I freely admit to removing distracting background elements, repairing clipped wingtips, cleaning up beaches, and replacing eyes and even heads that are not up to par. That said, I always let editors and readers know what has been done. And I always strive to maintain the natural history of the moment–the bird is always shown doing what it was doing when the shutter button was pushed. On the rare occasion that the natural history of an image has been distorted-adding a second bird that was not originally in the frame, or removing one or more large birds from an image, those facts are always stated explicitly.

I use my Photoshop skills and the latest technologies to produce beautiful images. And I am fine with that. And I am fine with the folks who take issue with what I do.

The Question of the Day

Please click on the image to enlarge it and examine it very closely. Has today’s image been excessively manipulated? Was the tail clipped and repaired? Has the head been replaced? If you see any evidence of hanky panky, please let us know by leaving a comment, and please be specific.

ps: I can guarantee that when you see the original you will be totally amazed….

Denise and artie hope that you can join us next spring in Holland and learn to improve both the technical and creative aspects of your flower (and street) photography.

7 1/2-Day/8-Night: A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART/Tulips & A Touch of Holland Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT)

Keukenhof—Delft—Amsterdam–Flower Fields—Kinderdijk
April 9 -April 16, 2015: $4995. Limit: 12 photographers

This trip needs 6 registrants to run so please do not purchase your plane tickets until you hear from us that the trip is a go.

Join Denise Ippolito, the author of “Bloomin’ Ideas,” and Arthur Morris, Canon Explorer of Light Emeritus, for a great trip to Holland in mid-April 2015. Day 1 of the IPT will be April 9, 2015. We will have a short afternoon get-together and then our first photographic session at the justly-famed Keukenhof. Our last day, Day 8, April 16 will be a full day of photography.

The primary subjects will be tulips and orchids at Keukenhof and the spectacularly amazing tulip, hyacinth, and daffodil bulb fields around Lisse and points north. We will spend one full day in Amsterdam. There will be optional visits to the Van Gogh Museum, the Anne Frank House and/or the Rijk’s Museum. Street photography and sightseeing will be other options. We will spend a half day at Kinderdijk where we will be photographing the windmills and doing some creative photography. We will spend an afternoon in the lovely Dutch town of Delft where we will do some street photography and shopping. There is an optional church tower tour/climb. We will also enjoy a superb fine dining experience in a traditional restaurant.

Other than the arrival date: April 9, Day 1, and the date of our last day of photography on April 16, Day 8, there is no set itinerary. We will check the weather and play everything by ear to maximize the photographic opportunities. We will try to do Amsterdam, Delft, and especially Kinderdijik, on cloudy days.

There are several huge pluses to this trip. First off, denise is an amazingly skilled and caring instructor. Both her creativity and her willingness to share and to help beginning and intermediate photographers are unmatched. And though artie has learned a ton about flower photography from denise, their styles and techniques do vary considerably. You will have a chance to be counseled by and to learn from both of them. While denise will hunt you down to help you, artie’s teaching style is more “the closer you stay to me, the more you will learn.” Both leaders consistently inspire the participants. And each other. The sky, of course, is the limit.

You will learn to create tight abstracts, how best to use depth-of-field (or the lack thereof) to improve your flower photography, how to get the right exposure and make sharp images every time, how to see the best shot, and how to choose the best perspective for a given situation. And you will of course learn to create a variety of pleasingly blurred flower images. If you bring a long lens, you will learn to use it effectively for flower photography. Denise’s two favorite flower lenses are the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens and the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens. Mine are the Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS macro , the Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens ,and the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, all almost always on a tripod. Often with extension tubes and/or either the 1.4X or the 2X (with the 300 II) teleconverters. Denise hand holds a great deal of the time. For flower field blurs denise uses the same lenses mentioned above along with her new 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens. Artie’s favorite is that same 70-200 often with a 1.4X TC but he uses both the new Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens and the 300 II as well. Both of us use and love the Canon EOS 5D Mark IIIfor all of our flower photography. The in-camera HDR and Multiple Exposure features are a blast.

One of the great advantages of our trip is that we will be staying in a single, strategically located hotel that is quite excellent. Do note that all ground transfers to and from Schipol Airport will be via the free hotel shuttle bus.

What’s included: Eight hotel nights. All ground transportation except for airport transfers as noted above. In-the-field instruction and small group image review and Photoshop sessions. All meals from dinner on Day 1 through dinner on Day 8. There is good food at the hotel and we will be dining there on occasion; whenever you order off the menu be it at the hotel or at another restaurant only the cost of your main course is included. On these occasions the cost of soups, appetizers, salads, sodas and other beverages, alcoholic drinks and wine, bottled water, and desserts are not included. Snacks, personal items, phone calls, etc. are also not included. The cost of bus or train transportation to and from Amsterdam (about $20 US), museum entry, and tower and church entry fees (optional) are likewise not included.

Beware of seemingly longer, slightly less expensive tours that include travel days and days sitting in the hotel doing nothing as part of the tour. In addition, other similar trips have you changing hotels often and needlessly. One final note on other similar trips: the instructors on this trip actually instruct. On other similar trips the instructors, though usually imminently qualified, serve for the most part as van drivers and van door openers.

A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 per person is required to hold your spot. The second payment of $2,000 due by October 30, 2014. The balance is due on January 15, 2015. Payments in full are of course welcome at any time. All payments including the deposit must be by check made out to “Arthur Morris.” As life has a way of throwing an occasional curve ball our way, you are urged to purchase travel insurance within 15 days of our cashing your check. Artie uses and recommends Travel Insurance Services. All payments are non-refundable unless the trip fills to capacity. In that case, all payments but your deposit will be refunded. If the trip does not run every penny will of course be refunded. Again, please do not purchase your air tickets until you hear from us that the trip is a go. We are very confident that it will.

All checks should be made out to “Arthur Morris” and sent to: Arthur Morris, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Call Jim or Jen in the BAA office with any additional registration questions: 863-692-0906.

For couples or friends signing up at the same time for the tulip trip, a $200/duo discount will be applied to the final payment.

When you send your deposit check, please print, sign, and include the paperwork here.

If you have any questions on the trip please contact artie by e-mail or denise by e-mail.

Selling Your Used Photo 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 advise, usually sells in no time flat as did Dennis Cassidy’s 500 II recently on the blog. Larry Master’s 400 DO and his 800 f/5.6 sold within a week. From Larry via e-mail: Thanks for helping me sell the lenses so quickly!

A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART friend Kitto Kono sold her Nikon 500 to a Blog subscriber in less than a week. Janet Horton’s 7D sold this week after a $100 price reduction. Denise Ippolito’s 100-400 and her 100 macro sold in one day. Peter Kes sold his 70-200 f/2.8L IS II and his 400 DO through BAA in ten days. In the past two months we have sold a Canon 800, a Canon 500 II, 3 400 DO lenses, a Nikon 500mm, and lots more. If you are interested in using our services, please e-mail.

Used Photography Gear Page

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that there is a link to the Used Photography Gear page on the yellow tool bar at the top of each blog page. Folks looking to buy (or to sell) can click on that tab or here. I will on occasion continue to list new gear and great buys in blog posts and in Bulletins and may on rare occasion share all the listings with you on the blog. I will strive to keep the listings current. Great news for Kitty Kono and her Nikon 400mm f/2.8: it sold recently! That made her 2 for 2 on selling her older Nikon super-telephotos with BAA.

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Typos

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