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May 14th, 2010 A BIRDS AS ART image is currently being featured on the Canon Digital Learning. You can check it out here: http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=3446 When you visit, be sure to check out my Explorer of Light Gallery and to surf around on the site. There is lots of interesting stuff there: I just had 30 minutes of my life disappear while following various links 🙂 May 11th, 2010
On the way to the Santa Clara ranch in Starr County, TX last week we stopped to photograph the huge sunflowers in early morning light. I had long ago learned the trick of creating one sharp image of a flower and one defocused image and then laying one atop the other and playing with the opacity to produce a sort of glowing rendition of the flower. To create the image above I came up with a new twist. The image below was my base image:
This next image would be the top image:
I brought both images into Photoshop. The sharp image served as the base image. While working with the soft image I hit Control A, Control J to place the entire image on a layer. Then I used the Move Tool (V) to drag the soft image layer on top of the sharp base image. I reduced the Opacity of the upper (soft) layer so that I could position it directly above the sharp image. (I had neglected to lock the tripod.) Then came the twist. I set the opacity of the soft image layer back to 100%, created a layer mask (as I learned to do from Robert O’Toole’s APTATS II CD), and then erased the center portion of the soft flower revealing the sharp center below. The image looked OK but I continued to experiment by erasing the dark triangular spaces between the bases of the petals. Volia. I have been inspired to think out of the box by Denise Ippolito, BPN’s Out-of-the-Box Forum Moderator. She is incredibly creative. To see what Denise and others thought of my sharp/soft with a twist sunflower, check out my BPN post here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=63329 After you read the thread, be sure to check out the great stuff that Denise and the regular OOTB folks are doing on a daily basis by visiting the Forum and checking out the thumbnails. To learn more about APTATS click here: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=33 May 7th, 2010
Notice that each of the four tallest perches is set in front of a pure green background and that we have taken the time to clean the edges of the far side of the tiny pond of all pebbles, roots, and seeds and to wet and smooth the red mud. As you look back at the images in previous blog posts from Texas and the images in BAA Bulletin #326 (link below) see if you can figure out which perch the birds were using in each photograph.
Note here that the feeding table has been removed from the set to keep the birds from landing on the legs of the table. Again, the tip of each perch has been set against a background of pure color; that did not occur by accident. The orange on our right was impaled on a stake and placed just far enough from the perch so that the golden-fronteds would have to stretch to reach it. We placed a lichen-covered branch in the hollow handle of the tiny tripod so that small birds coming to water might land on it.
Bronzed Cowbirds are stunning with their bright red eyes and Victorian ruffs. BIRDS AS ART Bulletin #326 is on line and can be found here: http://www.birdsasart.com/2010/05/07/birds-as-art-bulletin-326 Here are the features: HUNT’S DIGITAL DAYS SALE May 6th, 2010
Johnny Cozad is and has been one of the growing number of Texas ranchers who has opened his ranch for photographic eco-tourism. For a very reasonable daily fee, you can enjoy his lightweight relatively cool blinds and his amazing assemblage of birds. It is the very best place that I know for photographing Painted Buntings in the first half of May. I visited with Johnny on five of my seven afternoons and we had the male Painted Bunting come to the small pond every day but one offering unparalleled opportunites. The mornings that I spent there with my private day clients were filled with Golden-fronted Woodpeckers. If you would like to visit the Cozad Ranch in the next week or two to enjoy photographing these two species you can reach Johnny on his cell phone at Johnny Cozad is one of the nicest, sweetest gentlemen that you will ever meet.
In my next post I will share images of both my morning and afternoon Cozad set-ups. May 4th, 2010
First off, thanks all for playing. Image two and image three were the favorites of the group by a good margin, but image one, the one made in full sun with no flash, did have a few supporters. If I had more time, I would do a formal tally 🙂 I am still in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas with the last two clients and things are quite busy. We are having a great time; I head home on Thursday. With due respect to to the folks who liked image one best, it is my least favorite by far. It is just too contrasty for me even with my best efforts processing it. I thought that I would like image 3, the fill flash image, best; I was quite surprised that I liked image two a bit more as presented in the April 25th post. In that post, image two had the richest color. I did like the head angle in image 3; it was much nicer than in either image one or image two. In the image above, I took the posted fill flash image, number three, darkened the color on the brow a bit, and increased the saturation in the rest of the yellows. My final call, by a slim margin over image two, is for image three, the fill flash image, as presented above. I hope that I got my numbers right! May 1st, 2010
I created the image above (yeah, I know; it’s pretty bad as is…) this morning at the Cozad Ranch in Linn, TX. Working with the 800 things were tight. I knew that I had at least one good head angle with the whole bird in the frame but the compositions were poor and unbalanced at best. The bird was moving up and down the perch rapidly in search of the almond butter mix on the rear side of the perch. Thinking digitally, knowing that I would need source material for the perch so that I could lose the orange, I created the image below:
Then I realized that creating a pano that included the entire top of the perch might be the best plan so I created a third image (below).
I brought the three images into Photoshop, expanded canvas top and left, brought in the Quick Masked sections from the two source material images, aligned them, adjusted the brightness by pulling the curve up or down as needed, blended the edges, filled in missing background areas, reduced the background noise, cleaned up the perch, and did a bit of Eye Doctor work. Voila: in about fifteen minutes I had the image that I had visualized. In my head 🙂
The key to the success of the final image was made possible because I thought to create the source images in the field immediately after viewing the image captures of the bird on the camera’s LCD. By learning to think digitally in the field you can do the very same thing. I used a variety of techniques from Digital Basics and Robert O’Toole’s APTATS I and APTATS II files. See the BAA Store for details on these great educational PDFs. BTW, apologies to Johnny Cash on the title of this blog-post 🙂 April 30th, 2010
Each of the images above was processed by me to the best of my ability using the normal BIRDS AS ART workflow as described in detail in the re-written, reorganized version of the Digital Basics PDF. Let me know which you like best and why. I will let you know my preferences in a few days. You may be surprised…. I believe that the captive bird in the photograph is a Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles), previously known as Masked Plover. Note: BAA Bulletin 325 can be found on-line here: http://www.birdsasart.com/2010/04/29/birds-as-art-bulletin-325. April 27th, 2010
So, do you like the sun for your nature photography? I do, in early mornings and on late afternoons, but during the midday hours on clear days the sun is not what I want. In the image above the contrast in the image is high and the dark shadow in the eye socket is dis-pleasing (even though I pointed my shadow at the subject. The bright, high-in-the sky sun was the culprit. (Note: I could make the image look somewhat better with some Photoshop work but I would never be really happy with it.)
To create the image immediately above, I turned on my flash and set the flash compensation to +1 stop in ETTL mode. This told the flash to put out an additional stop of light, one stop more than it would normally need to properly light the subject. Why did I tell the flash to use extra light? So that it would reduce the hard shadows, especially those in the eye socket. (I learned this technique through experimentation.) It gotta say that it worked pretty well. Do understand that even though I used the flash at +1 stop I was using “Flash as Fill” not “Flash as Main Light” techniques.
Just before I created this image, a cloud drifted in front of the sun (much to my delight). I set the flash to -1 1/3 stops so that it acted as traditional Fill Flash. None of the three images in this blog post have been processed. They were extracted using Breezebrowser Pro and sharpened via my e-mail JPEG action. Which of the three images do you like best? I know that when I process each of them that the third image, the one made when the sun went behind a cloud, will be my favorite. To sum up: if you must photograph in bright sun during the midday, use lots of flash. If a cloud covers the sun or if your subject ventures into a shaded area, you have the option of using traditional Fill Flash. Be sure to note the different exposure compensations used when the sun was out versus when the sun was in. If they confuse you, and/or if you do not understand the difference between Flash as Fill and Flash as Main Light, you will want to get yourself a copy of “The Art of Bird Photography II” (916 pages on CD only): https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=32 April 25th, 2010
I first met Peter Kes late last winter when he traveled from his home in Switzerland to attend the SF FLA President’s Week IPT. (For new folks IPTs are Instructional Photo Tours.) He and the rest of us had a great time and Peter and I quickly became friends. Peter is a high level/high tech IT (information technology) consultant by trade. When I asked for help with my Word Press blog he graciously offered to help. With my busy travel schedule it took us a while to get Skyping but yesterday the new-look blog went live. I gotta say that Peter did an amazing job; the blog looks great, is easy on the eyes, and is easy to navigate. Thank you Peter for your help. If you need help with your blog, you can contact Peter here: http://www.naturenotions.ch/blog-service. One of my favorite features of the new blog is the rotating 1000 x 160 pixel images that grace each page. This image switches as you navigate from page to page. There are ten now but I plan on adding lots more. When Peter asked me to send him ten 1000 x 160 pixel JPEGs my first thought was, “I don’t have any images that would work with that format.” In short order I was having way too much fun. Once you get an idea of the concept creating artistic slices like this can be a great way to improve your compostional skills and eye. A very few comments from the last month were unavoidably lost during the process of switching from the old blog to the new blog. Apolgies to anyone who was affected. Feel free to repost and I will respond. (I love hearing Peter say the word “comments.” We say, KAH-mentz. Europeans say kuh-MENTZ. ) I first posted the image of Peter feeding the bird in BPN’s Friends and Family Forum thinking that it was a rather innocuous post :). Here is a link to the the original post: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=32285. Somewhat to my amazement, some folks took issue to the the fact that the group was feeding the acclimated birds. As the discussion developed, I moved the thread to the General Photography Discussion Forum here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?p=231547&posted=1#post231547. I hope that you enjoy the new-look blog! April 22nd, 2010
In the “Vice Grip” image above a large Great Egret chick is begging for fish and refusing to let go of momma’s bill. The nest was in the shade, the two extension tubes and the telecoverters were soaking up valuable light, and the aperture was f/18. The correct manual exposure would have been about 1/4 second at f/18, yet the image is not only sharp but bright. What gives? I was using two related techniques: Flash as Main Light along with Manual Flash. And I am betting that fewer than 1 in a 100 photographers have the knowledge to use these valuable techniques. If you are ever in a situation where there is seemingly not enough light for photographing at a reasonable ISO setting, then Flash as Main Light and Manual Flash should be in your arsenal…. Basically you are setting a shutter speed and aperture combination that would result in the image being black if the flash does not fire. You can learn to use both Flash as Main Light and Manual Flash in “The Art of Bird Photography II” (916 pages on CD only): https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=32 For the very few folks who know how to use these two techniques here are a few tips that are not in the CD book:
On Sunday past Denise Ippolito and I took my two older grandkids, Sam and Maya Egensteiner, to Disney’s Animal Kingdom. We did not bring any lenses…. It was cloudy and overcast, a great day to visit this theme park. As we entered, I saw pink. There were two spoonbills right next to the fence around an enclosure. Investigating, I was stunned to see a nest with two week-old Roseate Spoonbill chicks in it. It would be a tough photographic situation with a 3-4 foot high bamboo slat fence and a leafless bush in front of the nest but I knew that by using flash as main light and working tight that I might be able to produce some nice images. We returned on Tuesday morning and photographed until noon. After dropping Denise off at the airport I figured that since parking and admission were already paid for that I should return for another few hours. So I did. Visiting the park is expensive but you would never see a nest like this in the field in Florida unless you were working with researchers as this species nests in thick mangrove cover (and then the situation would likely be even darker). As always you can click on each image to see a larger, sharper version. April 15th, 2010
Denise Ippolito and I spent yesterday morning on West Lake Toho with Jim Neiger. There are several folks who will take you out on this lake for a fee but nobody knows the lake anywhere near as good as Kissimmee Jimmy. The Fish and Wildlife folks know to ask him for help. Jim lives on the lake and is out there scouting and photographing almost every day whether he has clients or not. Right now Jim has two pristine, unbanded Snail Kites that perch cooperatively every day. As water levels change weekly it would behoove those in the Orlando/Kissimmee area to give Jim a call and get out on the lake for a day of photography asap. You can contact Jim Neiger for more information by phone at 407-247-5200 or by e-mail at jimn@cfl.rr.com.
When I predicted in the February 22, 2010 post (https://www.birdsasart-blog.com/baa/2010/02/22/gatorland-rocking-now-and-getting-better-each-day/) the Gatorland was getting better every day I was right :). We visited again yesterday afternoon, again the guests of our most gracious host, Mike Godwin. It is a delight to see Mike taking care of the visiting photographers like an eager mother hen. The early entry/late-stay program for photographers represents and incredible value and an incredible opportunity. You can learn more about the Gatorland Rookery (in Kissimmee, FL) and their photographer’s program here: http://tinyurl.com/ygcq9yk We visited primarily to get some great images of Cattle Egrets in breeding plumage and that we did. The next BAA Bulletin will feature a piece on working in cluttered rookeries so be sure not to miss it!
The micro-adjustment that I did on my Mark IV resulted in my already sharp iamges being just a bit sharper. You can learn to micro-adjust both your Mark IV and 7D camera bodies with your various lenses in the respective User Guides. Scroll down here for info on purchasing either guide. April 7th, 2010
Canon 7D User’s Guide InfoThe finished 7D User’s Guide PDF was e-mailed today to all purchasers. Thanks to all from the blog who called to save $5 last weekend. It was fun chatting with you. We have heard only great things about the guide; we will share of few of them with you in the next Bulletin. (I am still working hard at finishing the pre-publication version of the Mark IV Guide.) If you missed the boat last weekend, you can still save $2 by ordering your copy of the 7D User’s Guide through the BAA On-Line Store here: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=285. Remember: updates are free. There will be at least one.
Canon Mark IV User’s Guide InfoThe long-awaited should be finished by this coming Friday :). I am have been working very hard on it. Rudy Winston of Canon has been a great help just as he was with the 7D Guide. We will be e-mailing the completed PDF file by next Friday, April 17th at the latest. As the MIV is in many ways similar to the Canon EOS-1D MIII camera body preparing the MIV guide has not been quite as difficult as much work as preparing the 7D Guide was <another :)> It will be fairly comprehensive, covering all menu items and Custom Functions that I use. It will not deal with anything having to do with creating video. And as always, the Mark IV UG will be written in my easy to read, easy to understand style. Updates are free; there will be at least one. Charlotte Harbor, FL Wildlife and Kayak Festival This Weekend/Proram ScheduleI will be doing two programs at this event on Saturday April 10, 2010. The morning program, “A Bird Photographer’s Story,” will begin at 10:30. It is being sponsored by Canon USA/Explorers of Light. The afternoon session (1:30 till 3-pm) will cover the BIRDS AS ART Digital Workflow and include lots of great Photoshop tips. You can learn more by clicking here: http://www.charlotteharbortravel.com/events/moreinfo.php?Event_ID=24471&pMonth=April. I look forward to seeing many of you there. I will be bringing along a small selection of books, CDs, and photographic accessories. If you would like me to bring something specific for you, please e-mail me at birdsasart@att.net BIRDS AS ART Bulletin #322BIRDS AS ART Bulletin #322 is on line now at: http://www.birdsasart.com/2010/04/06/birds-as-art-bulletin-322. April 4th, 2010
The 7D/70-200 f/4L IS is a favorite of mine: lightweight and effective. I especially love the 7D’s 1.6X multiplier effect. The 7D is a new and complex camera. (To see a larger, sharper version of the image above simply click on it. ) There are only two hours left to take advantage of the $5 discount on the brand new Canon EOS-7D User’s Guide. Scroll down to yesterday’s post for deails. CHARLOTTE HARBOR, FL WILDLIFE & KAYAK FESTIVAL PROGRAMS/PUT THIS DATE ON YOUR CALENDAR
I will be doing two programs at this event on Saturday April 10, 2010. The morning program, “A Bird Photographer’s Story,” is being sponsored by Canon USA/Explorers of Light. The afternoon will cover the BIRDS AS ART Digital Workflow. You can learn more by clicking here: http://www.charlotteharbortravel.com/events/moreinfo.php?Event_ID=24471&pMonth=April. I look forward to seeing many of you there. I will be bringing along a small selection of books, CDs, and photographic accessories. If you would like me to bring something specific for you, please e-mail me at birdsasart@att.net. April 3rd, 2010
I spent 8 hours a day for the past four days locked in my lonely writer’s garret working on the long-awaited 7D User’s Guide. It is almost finished. I need to write a short section on Custom White Balance and tidy up the section on Micro-adjustments. The 7D User’s Guide will sell for $30 ($29 if ordered through the BAA On-line store). The Mark IV User’s Guide–it should be finished no later than Friday, April 9, will sell for $25 ($24 if purchased on line). You will be able to buy both for $50 ($49 if through the On-line store). Now here is the great news: call me anytime between 9am and 9pm on Saturday or Sunday, April 3 or 4 at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand and I will immediatley send you the current and nearly-finished draft of the Canon EOS-7D User’s Guide for only $25. You can add the MIV User’s Guide now for only an additonal $20. You will receive the finished 7D User’s Guide PDF via e-mail no later than Wednesday. I can honestly say that the 7D guide is amazing. Pretty much everything on the 7D is brand new and many folks have been seen shaking their heads in confusion. Learn everything that you need to know about setting up and operating your camera so that you are able to consistently produce the images that you want. This all new guide will open your eyes as to the possibilities. I share all of my Menu and Custom Function settings along with the reasons for each choice. I describe each of the five AF Area Selection Modes in detail and let you know which ones I use for what and why! There is a ton of stuff in this guide that you will never see or hear anywhere else. Do note that neither the 7D nor the Mark IV guide covers the creation of video. Live View operation is covered in both guides. I will ask each purchaser to let me know of any errors, omissions, or of anything confusing. Talk to you soon. artie ps: If the phone is busy or there is no answer, please leave a message or call back in 30 minutes. Thanks and :). March 30th, 2010
I just got back from the Laredo Birding Festival and have a thousand things to do. Before I left last Tuesday I made it down to Lake Walk-in-Water here at Indian Lake Estates on a few loverly mornings. Spring at ILE is the very best season for photography. This year there are about eight pairs of Sandhill Cranes with chicks, and some of the earilest hatching chicks are now large colts. The wind quit this morning and I wanted to get down to the lake but I simply have too much to do today; maybe tomorrow. In the meantime, I wanted to share a few images with you here. In the opening photograph (be sure to click on the photo to see a larger, sharper version) I was thrilled with the juxtaposition of the chicks with the adult, and especially with the fact that the head of the chick in the front did not merge with the neck of the adult (as it did in the previous frame). To see what otehrs thought of the image above, check out my BPN post here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=59976 Be sure to scroll down to see another great image made with the same camera/lens combination.
I preach that folks work right down sun angle by pointing their shadow at the subject. As I was creating this image, I did exactly that by moving the car into perfect position. You can learn more about the BLUBB here: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=16 and learn improve your nature photography by leaps and bounds by getting a copy of “The Art of Bird Photography II” (916 pages on CD only) here: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=32 See you again soon. March 18th, 2010
My last morning on Midway dawned still and clear. Very still. Eerily still. With many types of bird photography wind can be a negative, and the direction is of vital importance. We generally wish for the wind to be from roughly the same direction as the light, east or southeast winds in the morning and west or southwest in the afternoons are generally ideal. If you are facing your subject with the sun at your back the one thing that you do not want is the wind blowing in your face at all. The birds will be landing into the wind, taking off into the wind, and facing into the wind while facing away from the light. In generaly, not good. On Midway wind is your ally no matter the direction, and the stronger the better. Why? Because the more wind there is, the more albatrosses will be in the air. And since they love to bank it is possible to create good images even when the wind is against the sun. And in March the windier and warmer it is the more tropicbirds will be in the air courting. With strong wings, both the Black-footed and Laysan Albatrosses are quite maneuverable in flight. By moving a few feathers, they are able to change direction very quickly. As we learned on that last morning, they are pretty much dead in the water on still, windless days. They expend a ton of energy just to get in the air and once they are airborne they are sort of like a runaway train; they pretty much have only one directon: straight ahead. There were perhaps 8 of us near the usual Laysan runway but photography was not very good because the birds were taking off in many different directions. Several of us were following a bird flying towards us when WHAM! A bird headed west has collided head on with another that was flying east. It sounded as if a car had hit an abutment. The bird that had been heading west missed a wingbeat or two but was able to continue on its way. The bird that had been headed east fell to the ground like a rock. When it hit the ground, it righted itself and after taking a quick look at it (see the opening image here), pretty much everyone shouted “Broken wing!” With the bird’s left wing drooping and dragging into the sand, it seemed fairly obvious that the diagnosis was accurate. But within a minute, the bird seems to be trying to fold its wing. (See the image immediately below.)
Within a few minutes, the bird seemed fine and begain testing its wings by flapping them vigorously. Minutes after that, it began displaying. Then after posing for vertical portraits (below), it walked off under its own power into the native naupaka bushes presumably for a short rest before heading out to sea to feed on small squid.
March 13th, 2010
There are many, many thousands of Red-Tailed Tropicbirds on Midway and they are relatively easy to photograph in March. Their courtships displays (as above) are spectacular. And many pairs are beginning to nest (see the images below). As always, you can click on each image to see a larger sharper version. As you view the three images in this post you will be struck by how different each is. I used a different focal length and a different technique for each of the three photographs and as you can see, each is unique and each image fulfilled my photographic vision.
As you might imagine, these birds are quite relaxed on the nest. When doing close-up work, an extension tube can help you to focus closer by reducing the minumum focusing distance of your lens. When using an extension tube with a teleconverter, the usual course of action is to place the TC on the lens with the tube behind it. I tried that but could not focus as closely as I wanted to to achieve my photographic vision. So while lying on the ground I switched the order around mounting the tube on the lens with the TC behind it. This allowed me to focus even closer. The problem is that with the tube on the lens and the TC behind it you lose autofocus so I needed to focus manually and use my elbows as a sort of bi-pod to keep the lens absolutely still. I simply listened for the focus confirmation beep and depressed the shutter button when I heard it. Voila: creative vision achieved! This is one of the many hundreds of techniques covered in “The Art of Bird Photography II” (916 pages on CD only): https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=32. Be sure to check out our combo offer: purcahse the original ABP along with the CD book and save $10.
Above, I wanted to create a bird-scape that gave the viewer a sense of the nesting habitat of this species so I chose the wide angle zoom lens that I borrowed from Canon Professional Services for this trip to achieve my creative vision. While this image is not done in typical BIRDS AS ART style, I feel that it is quite effective. Do note that the subject has been placed in the traditional rule of thirds position. March 8th, 2010
The first group leaves tonight after dark on the plane that is bringing the second group to bird photographers heaven. For each of the photographers on the first trip, the week has been an unforgettable experience. And our visit to Eastern Island was simply unbelievable. Please see Bulletin 320 in about ten days for details <smile>
March 6th, 2010
Not even the mid-morning drizzle that turned into a cold shower could put the damper on the non-stop photographic opportunities here on Midway Island, a five hour flight from Pearl Harbor. I am co-leading a Joseph Van Os Photo Safari with Joe himself and nobody knows Midway like Joe. He has consistently had the group in the right spot at the right time. Though I am a conservative shooter I havebeen creating more than 1000 images each day and those include more than a few good ones of some amazing species. I shall share several of my early favorites
March 1st, 2010
(As always you can see a larger sharper version of an image by clicking on it. For technical info and comments on the image above, check out “Happy as a Scallop???”, my BPN thread here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=58322) On to Happiness Is…. Since we spend tons of credit card money at BAA each year buying costly tripod heads, tripods, and tons of the rest of the stuff that we sell, I always use air miles to fly first class to the west coast. For the Hawaii/Midway trip I did not hesistate to cash in for a big, reclining bed American Airlines seat for both legs. Anyway, I had some time to kill in Dallas and the Admiral’s Club at C23 was right next to the gate for my flight to HNL, gate C24. I checked in at the desk and the woman noted my flight and entered it on the computer. My boarding pass noted 10:40 am boarding so I head to the gate at 10:38 anxious to charge my laptop as fully as possible. I was confused as I approached C24 as it said, “Los Angeles.” I asked the gate agent and she said that there had been a gate change to D22. In Dallas that means a ride on the Sky Link. Yikes. I asked her to call the gate and have them hold the flight for me since nobody in the Admiral’s Club had announced anything or paged me. She said, and I quote, “I will call them and let them know that you are coming but they will not hold the flight for you. You’d better hurry. So I did, and was relieved to make it. As I walked throught the door of the plane they slammed it shut it behind me. Yikes! The flight was great. I worked on the laptop on “The Guide to Pleasing Blurs” that I am doing with Denise Ippolito, started reading Michael Chrichton’s “Airframe” (only to realize that I had read it long ago; I think that I remember the ending but it is great reading anyway), and slept and slept. The 8 1/2 hours went by quickly. As we were deplaning, there was an announcement: “Passenger Arthur Morris, please see the baggage agent opposite bag claim G1”. I knew immediately that they had taken my bag off the flight because I was late boarding. I was right. I slept OK from about 8:30 pm HI time until 3:30 am, dressed quickly, and went to the lobby. I was quite pleased to see that American had delivered my bag to the hotel as promised. Whew. We head to the charter hangar at 1:30 pm today for the flight to Midway. |
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