February 28th, 2010
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| This Wihte Pelican was photographed with the handheld Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D MIV camera body. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/125 sec. at f/13. For tips on handholding big lenses, scroll down to item 2. To see a larger, sharper version of this image, click on the photo. |
A Tale of Carmen
Last week I received an e-mail from another old student, Carmine Narine:
Good Morning Mr. Morris, You may not remember me but I saw your blog online and decided to reach out as I have thought about you many times during the last 20 years. I attended PS 106. You were my 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teacher. My name is Umawattie Narine but I went by Carmen. I remember our trips to bird watch at Jamaica bay and the stencils and sketches of birds we did. But most of all I remember the stamp collection we started. I still have it! I wanted to let you know that back then I wasn’t very confident but you made me feel important and smart. You were the best teacher I have ever had. We once listened to Les Miserable in class and when I saw the actual play- I cried and I felt ahead of my time. I know that sounds strange but I felt so good that I knew everything about it because I had a teacher who not only taught us Math and English— you taught us about life and art. You always had confidence in me and it gave me confidence to strive to be better in all things. I hope this email reaches you and that you are well. Thank you for everything you did for all the kids whose lives you touched. Carmen
After I wrote Carmen, she wrote back to me:
Good Morning Mr. World Famous Bird Photographer! I work in Ad Operations for Conde Naste. I manage the ads on our websites and make sure the clients’ campaigns serve and perform well. It is fun and I love it worked at The Weather Channel and the NBA doing the same thing. I am so sorry to hear that Mrs. Belsky died, and yes, I do remember her. Her class came a few times on our class trips.
I don’t have a picture from our class but I have attached one that should help. I ended up graduating valedictorian from the 6th grade. I was in Mrs. Lowe’s class. I have read your Blog- that’s actually how I found you- I was so excited!! I am so glad you are doing well and I will continue to follow your Blog. A friend of mine is also a photographer and I tried convincing him to take up Bird Watching. Carmen
I wrote Carmen back telling her how proud I am of her. It is of course quite rewarding to hear from my old students.
Handholding the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS
Recently I have begun handholding the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS /EOS-1D MIV combo to good advantage. I have been using the principles taught to me by my friend, Posse member Jim Neiger. The advantages of handholding are that you are more quickly and easily able to get on the action than if you were using a tripod. Especially when it would be necessary to move the tripod before starting to photograph a new situation. And it is easier to frame fast moving birds (especially those that fly somewhat erratic patterns) and to frame and follow frantic action when handholding than it is when working atop a tripod.
Do know that it is only necessary to hold the lens up for short periods of time, say 10-20 seconds at most. Before raising the lens it is best to support it in some manner to prevent fatigue. Jim’s mantra is “practice, practice, practice” so that when you raise the lens you are able to get right on the subject. I have been after Jim for a year or two to put together “The Guide to Handheld Photography With Big Telephoto Lenses.”
In the opening White Pelican image in this post it would have been impossible to get as low as I wanted low with the tripod-mounted 800 on the crowded pier that the IPT group was working from. So I simply sat on the edge of the dock, supported the lens on my bent knee when waiting for the situation to improve, and then raised the lens when the big, beautiful birds swam into the perfect position. In the relatively low light situation I supported the back of my left wrist and hand again on my bent left knee. (I did not realize that I had been working at such a slow shutter speed; my technique must have been perfect!) Do compare the light and the exposure data with that of the similar White Pelican image at the top of the February 19 post below; that one was created in full sun.
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| This Great Egret calling in flight image was created with the handheld Canon 800mm f/5.6L lens with the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 set manually. |
The handheld 800 image above was also created from a small boat. Handholding made it relatively easy to follow the bird in flight even at close range. Ron Mayberry was kind enough to take Lou Newman, Denise Ippolito, and me out for some rookery photography in Sarasota Bay on the morning of my Sarasota Audubon presentation a few weeks ago. (Ron and Lou will be joining me on the 2nd Midway trip; I am posting this from the Orlando Airport on my way to Honolulu.) Using a tripod on a small boat with four folks is pretty much out of the question so the decision to handhold was a good one that enabled me to create a rather cool image. Here I used the central AF sensor. Always use AI Servo AF for photographing moving subject.
Note: As a Canon Explorer of Light I am and have been a paid Canon spokesperson since 1996.
February 22nd, 2010
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| This copulating pair of Great Egrets was photographed with the Canon 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC (handheld at 113mm) and the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 1600. Evaluative metering +2 stops: 1/100 sec. at f/5.6 On-camera fill flash at -2 stops. I was a bit surprised to get all sharp images at such a slow shutter speed. With some ugly buildingin the BKGR, my first instinct was to get down on one knee and work with a sky background while at the same time I instinctively raised the ISO. As always, click on the image to see a larger sharper version. |
BPN Out of the Box Moderator Denise Ippolito and I visited Gatorland yesterday. Things were spectacular. Robert Amoruso was finishing up a three day workshop; it was great seeing him there. There were dozens of Great Egrets in spectacular breeding plumage, probably well more than 100 Great Egret nests (and possibly twice that many), lot of Wood Storks, and a few red-lored Snowy Egrets. The number of birds was much astounding. And there was a very tame adult Black-crowned Night-Heron that posed for head portraits. I was puzzled as to why there were so many wading birds including killer breeding Great Egrets, Wood Storks, a Great Blue Heron or two, and Snowy Egrets in the water on the afternoon-light side of the boardwalk. It didn’t used to be that way… When I inquired, I learned that there is a new program where the visitors are encouraged to feed hot dogs to the gators. The profusion of food in the water attracts lots of small fish and lots of hungry herons and egrets. The Wood Storks preferred the small fish to the frankfurters 🙂
The crazy thing is that the rookery will be getting better and better every day with the arrival of the smaller species: Tricolored Heron and Cattle and Snowy Egret. Each exhibits spectacular soft parts color at the height of breeding plumage, the colors intensified by increased hormonal levels. And for those who can stand the heat of a Florida summer, there will be tons of chick to photograph though the month of July.
Mike Godwin was a most gracious host and he kindly reminded me that I was the one who–years ago–encouraged him to create an early entry/late-stay program for photographers 🙂
You can learn more about the Gatorland Rookery (in Kissimmee, FL) and their photographer’s program here: http://tinyurl.com/ygcq9yk
To see “Gatorland Perfection,” my very favorite image from yesterdays Gatorland visit, check out my BPN Post here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?p=451157#post451157
February 19th, 2010
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| This White Pelican was photographed with the handheld 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -1/3 stop: 1/2000 sec. at f/11. See additional comments below. As always, you can click on each image to enjoy a larger, sharper version. (I am not sure why the smaller images in Word Press look less sharp than the larger ones <smile>) |
While I use the settings mentioned in yesterday’s post below for sharpening my 800 pixel wide JPEGs generically via an action, here is a great suggestion for those who sharpen their JPEGs individually. I am 99% sure that I got this tip from David Thomasson on BPN: Using Unsharp Mask set the Radius to .3 and then vary the Amount from 200 to 500%. Check for halos and artifacting by viewing the image at at least 100% in the Unsharp Mask dialogue box. When the image looks sharp and you are not seeing any of the destructive elements mentioned above click OK. You can left-click on the image in the dialogue box to see the effects of the sharpening or check and uncheck the Preview box to see the before and after sharpening on the image itself.
The generically created White Pelican JPEG above did not look ultra sharp so I brought it back into Photoshop and gave it an additional round of sharpening at 200/.3/0. Now it rocks!
Thanks again David!
February 18th, 2010
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| Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS-1D MIV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/640 sec. at f/9. As always you can click on the image to see a larger, sharper version. |
There are so many misconceptions about sharpening digital images floating about that it is no wonder that most folks are confused. As my diabetes doctor, Richard K. Bernstein wrote in his book, The Diabetes Solution, “Don’t listen to them. Listen to me.” Funny how great minds think alike.
The only sharpening done to the master TIFF of the image above was done by applying a Contrast Mask at 15/65/0 to the face of the gull. Otherwise, the master file was not and should never be sharpened… Ever. To learn more about Contrast Maskes, click here: http://www.birdsasart.com/bn247.htm and scroll down to DIGITAL BASICS UPDATE FREEBIE/THE CONTRAST MASK
Here is another free excerpt from the recently revised, re-written, and re-organized Digital Basics File;
Sharpening
Just about every image created with a digital camera needs to be sharpened to some degree. (Do note that images from scanned film usually require more sharpening than digital originals). All digital image files should undergo final sharpening only after have been sized for a specific use. Larger files need much more sharpening than smaller ones. All such sharpening should—of course—be done at the desired output resolution. (Folks who reproduce the same print at the same size over and over again should of course save a sharpened version labeled as such.)
Some digital experts feels that because all digital SLRs use anti-aliasing filters that render all images slightly soft as they come out of the camera the very first thing you should do when opening a new image is to apply a very modest sharpening such as 200/0.3/2. Still others set a small amount of in-camera sharpening for the same reason. At BIRDS AS ART we apply a small bit of sharpening via the Clarity Slider when converting in ACR (as described above). Our master files are never sharpened. (Note: I often sharpen selected areas of master files as needed, most often the bird’s head or face.)
For small j-peg files to be used electronically, I generally sharpen three times using Filter/Sharpen/Unsharp Mask with the following settings: Amount: 125%; Radius: 0.2 pixels; Threshold: 0 levels. Some folks prefer sharpening once at something like 350/0.2/0. When sharpening for the web you do not want the image to look at all over-sharpened on the monitor.
As file size increases (generally for images that are to be printed in one form or another), there are two options. You may decide to increase the Amount to somewhere between 300 and 500 while keeping the radius approximately the same. (In this case, you may need to sharpen more than once while decreasing the amount each time). Or you may increase the Radius to somewhere in the range of 0.85 and 1.25 while keeping the Amount roughly the same.
Unsharp Mask settings for a 30 mb flattened 8-bit file might range from 250/.8/0 to as much as 475/1.4/0 depending on the amount of detail in the image. When sharpening for print with Unsharp Mask it is suggested that you want the image to look a bit over-sharpened on your monitor as the printed image will look a bit softer due to the paper absorbing some of the ink.
For natural history images, the threshold is usually set at 0 to yield the most detail. For portraits of people, the threshold might be set as high as 4-8 so that skin imperfections are not emphasized. For natural history images made at high ISO settings or those with large areas of sky, threshold settings of from 2 to 3 may yield the best results. If you ask 100 good digital photographers exactly how they best sharpen their images, you would probably get 100 totally different answers. To attain the very best results, experiment with each image by trying a range of sharpening settings and comparing the results. Sharpening is much more of an art than a skill.
You can learn more about Digital Basics or purchase a copy here: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=32
The Great Laptop Miracle
After photographing on the Monday morning before the SW FLA tour with IPT veteran and friend Lou Newman aboard Ron Mayberry’s boat in Sarasota Bay, Lou invited us for lunch as his condo. I opted to leave my laptop bag in the car and grabbed just the computer. And I locked the car with the switch on the door without checking to see that I had “keys in hand.” Thus, I locked my car keys in the vehicle. (I had unexplicably placed them on the back seat…) An extra key was of course in the computer bag. <smile>
When we were done with lunch I called the AAA and the locksmith was of course delayed. For no reason at all I took my laptop out to the Sequoia to wait for service. Then, violating one of my rules for good living, I placed the laptop on the hood of the vehicle on the driver’s side figuring that I would surely see it before pulling off. (I have been burned before by that one but this will be the last time….)
The guy showed up in about 15 miinutes and easily unlocked the SUV. I grabbed the keys off the back seat, fired her up, and pulled ahead the 50 yards or so to say good by to Lou. I exited the vehicle and walked around the rear of the car only to see my laptop on the pavement. Ooops. After a quick glance it appeared to be undamaged. It had been in sleep mode so I simply hit the space bar and was thrilled when it awoke. I typed in my security code and was again thrilled to see that the laptop was working perfectly.
Amazingly, the next day at lunch, I glanced at the left hand corner of the laptop at the same moment and was aghast to see that there was major damage to the computer. The thin metal strapping frame was broken into two pieces and there was a 1/4 inch plus separation between the face of the keyboard and the chassis. You could see into the innards of the laptop. And most amazing of all was the fact that I had been and am still able to download the image files from my Delkin e-Film Pro 32 gb flash cards; the card reader port is on the left side of the machine close to the corner. Totally amazing.
The computer continues to operate perfectly. I am planning on bringing it on the Midway trip. When I return from Hawaii, I will get in touch with HP and have the unit repaired. As I say often, “You gotta love it.”
February 12th, 2010
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| This Great Egret was photographed with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. 1/2000 sec. at f/8 set manually using my brilliant white in bright sun exposure for ISO 400. As always, you can click on each image to see a larger, sharper version. |
Wow! Have I been busy. Saw “A Chorus Line” in West Palm Beach, attended the BPN South Florida Get-Together last Sunday, drove to Sarasota, photographed in Sarasota Bay on Ron Mayberry’s boat with Lou Newman and Denise Ippolito, presented “A Bird Photographer’s Story for almost 200 folks at Sarasota Audubon, and headed to Fort Myers for the Southwest Florida President’s Week IPT.
The group is great and Tim Grey is amazing; he is doing a 3-hour Photoshop session for the group on a windy, rainy Friday afternoon as I type.
For the past few years photographic opportunities at the Venice Rookery have been fewer and fewer, and this year is the worst ever by far. There were two great blue nests with small chicks that were pretty much un-photographable and one nest with eggs that was somewhat photogenic. There were several pairs of Great Egrets building nests. If you have a choice of locations on a visit this year skipping the Venice Rookery might be a good plan. We did, however have a few good chances. Both of the Great Egret images here were created at the rookery on the first morning of the IPT.
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| Great Egret flash blur. Canon 400mm f/4IS DO lens handheld with the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400: +2 stops off the white sky: 1/40 sec. at f/4 set manually. Manual flash at 1:1 with Better Beamer. |
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| Rita Matthews smiling at Fort Myers Beach on the SW FLA IPT. |
I first met Rita Matthews on last year’s Post NANPA Bosque IPT. She is a good friend of BIRDS AS ART special friend Isobel Wayrick. At 88 years young, Rita is the senior IPT participant. Rita, has PHDs in biochemistry and biology. Among the many accomplishments in her long and amazing career are the development of a patented medication for treating hemophelia and–during a stint in Antarctica in the 1970s–the development of a substance used to cool the heart during surgery; she developed the latter by blasting holes in 10 feet of ice with dynamite, trapping the cold-adapted fish using kitchen scraps as bait, and studying their “antifreeze.” She is quite an amazing lady. And always smiling and appreciative.
February 3rd, 2010
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| Brown Pelican, La Jolla, CA. Image copyright 2010: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. The image was created with Fractalius, a Photoshop plug-in filter. See lots more below. And be sure to click on the image to see a larger version. |
BIRDS AS ART Bulletin #315 is now available on-line here: http://www.birdsasart.com/2010/02/02/birds-as-art-bulletin-315.
Here are the featured items:
- SAN DIEGO IPT FOLLOW-UP
- ONE IMAGE: MANY LESSONS
- ANNOUNCING THE JANUARY 2011 SAN DIEGO IPT
- FRACTALIUS: IMAGES & TUTORIALS BY DENISE IPPOLITO
- SARASOTA FLORIDA AUDUBON PROGRAM
- BOK TOWER EXHIBIT OPENING
- CANON GEAR FOR SALE
- KUDOS
- IPT UPDATES
A while back, BPN Out of the Box moderator Denise Ippolito, a talented, creative photographer, introduced me to Fractalius, a Photoshop plug-in that can be used to create unusual, eccentric artwork from a photograph in a single step. The effects are based on the extraction of an image’s hidden fractal textures. It can also be used to simulate various types of exotic lighting and ultra-realistic pencil sketches. I was so excited by the look and feel of the images that I asked Denise to create a tutorial for her favortie Fractalius setting, Glow 100. Click here: http://www.birdsasart.com/bn315.htm and scroll down to see four of Denise’s fabulous Fracted images and to read the Glow 100 tutorial. You can check out both of her Fractalius tutorials and learn more about Denise by clicking here: http://deniseippolito.smugmug.com/ and scrolling down. Be sure to visit some of her galleries too.
If you are sold on Fracting after seeing the killer pelican image above, you can purchase a copy of Fracalius by clicking here: https://www.plimus.com/jsp/buynow.jsp?contractId=1720292&referrer=birdsasart. Please be sure to use this link to purchase; doing so will enable us to bring you more tutorials <smile> You can see the original pelican image here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=55949.
I will be on the road for 2 1/2 weeks for the Sarasota Audubon Program (see in the Bulletin), the SW FLA IPT, and the NANPA Summit in Reno, NV. Then it’s home for a few days and off to Midway! I will be posting here regularly.
January 29th, 2010
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| This image was created with the Canon 70-200mm f.4L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC (handheld at 280mm) and the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3. You need to have absolute confidence in both your and your camera's ability to produce sharp images. |
Whenever I take a new camera out of the box, I head down to the lake and create some images just to make sure that the camera is capable of focusing accurately. I have never had a camera that did not create razor sharp images when I did everything right. That said, on rare occasion, folks do get a bad camera. If you are relatively new to photography, reading the article below will be a great help and includes some basic tests so that you can check and see if your camera is a rare dud. I have never had to perform any of the tests below because my initial “test” images with new cameras have always been sharp, that a result of quality products and excellent sharpness techniques. (See the same in ABP II.)
Basic Sharpness Testing
I receive several e-mails each week from folks who state that this camera does not focus properly or that that lens is not sharp. In 99% of the cases I am sure that operator error rather than equipment malfunction is the cause. That said, on rare occasion, folks using quality equipment from Canon or Nikon do experience real problems with focusing accuracy.
If you are handholding, please do not complain about unsharp images. I was walking around in Sabine Woods on a spring trip least year. It was cloudy dark. I was working at ISO 800 with shutter speeds of about 1/60th second and even slower at times. There were two folks walking around handholding 500 f/4 lenses; they might as well have gone fishing as there was no way that they could create a sharp image without a tripod in those conditions. It is best to work on a tripod at all times when using your longest lens (unless you are handholding for flight or for action).
Another factor to consider is that most of the folks who write complaining of unsharp image are using cameras with 1.6X or 1.5X multiplier effects. They need to realize that these cameras multiply vibrations and movement caused by operator error by the square of the equivalent focal length!
If you are using a tripod you need to check and note the shutter speeds of your unsharp images. I had one guy on an IPT complaining that none of his images were sharp. I checked his set-up and saw that he was working in near darkness at ISO 100 with shutter speeds in the 1/8 to 1/15 second range. Making sharp images with a long lens at such slow shutter speeds is simply not possible for most folks. When working at long effective focal lengths I am confident that I can make sharp images down to 1/60 second as long as I have time to lock the tripod head and provided that the bird does not move during the exposure. With the prime lenses alone, I can usually get down to 1/30 second. With the relatively new Canon 800mm lens and its new 4-stop IS system, I have made some sharp images at shutter speeds as slow as 1/6 sec.
Below are two simple tests to determine if you have faulty equipment.
- Tape a sheet of newspaper to a sunlit outdoor wall on a relatively still day. Make sure that it is as taped down as flat as possible. (A magazine cover with fine print or a plastic or cardboard test chart are of course better options.) Mount your telephoto rig on a tripod. Lock down the tripod and the lens collar. Make sure that you are beyond the minimum focusing distance of your lens and that the distance range switch (if your lens has one) is set to full. Make a few images at the wide open aperture using both One-Shot or AI Servo with Canon gear or Single (S) or Continuous (C) with Nikon. Then do the same thing at f/8. As long as the wall is sunlit you will have more than enough shutter speed to know that your focusing issues are not caused by too-slow shutter speeds. Now download your images and check them for accurate focusing. If all of the images are sharp, then you can be sure that your unsharp images were being caused by operator error.
- Stand well off a somewhat busy road with the sun angled so that the approaching vehicles are coming right down sun angle. Use the wide open aperture and choose an ISO that results in shutter speeds greater than 1/2000 sec. Choose AI Servo (Canon) or Continuous (Nikon) and select the center AF sensor. As the cars approach, place the central sensor on the license plate and hold the shutter button down once focus is acquired. Even this simple task requires some practice so be sure to take lots of images. Download the images and sort them into two groups: sharp on the license plate and unsharp on the license plate. Now using an application that allows you to see the position of the active focusing sensor, in this case the central sensor, note the position of the sensor in the unsharp images. If the sensor is consistently on the license plate and the images are unsharp, then you likely have equipment problems. You can repeat this test with various camera bodies and various lenses in an effort to determine the cause of the problem. When you are pretty sure that you have an equipment problem it is best to send the gear to the manufacturer along with a CD of the test images.
In most cases, folks will learn that their equipment is perfectly fine but that their poor sharpness techniques are the cause of the unsharp images. Do also realize the importance of subject movement. While working at the Cozad Ranch probably well more than half of my images were unsharp. This was due in most cases to subject movement. In other cases, the unsharp images were a result of the AF system being unable to maintain sharp focus on the tiny songbirds as they leaped off of their perches. It is important to understand and to realize the limitations of our equipment.
The above text was adapted from a feature in BIRDS AS ART Bulletin #289: http://www.birdsasart.com/bn.html. The Bulletin Archives here: http://www.birdsasart.com/bn289.htm are a tremendous free resource. And there is a great Google search feature that can help you find what you need quickly.
January 24th, 2010
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| Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC (handlheld at 208mm). ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/1250 sec. at f/8. In competent hands as seen here, the 7D offers superb image quality. As always, click on each image to see a larger, sharper version. |
Early on there were on-line concerns with the quality of images produced with the Canon EOS-7D. After using the camera extensively in San Diego (especially with the 70-200mm f/4 L IS lens and the 1.4X II TC) I have zero concerns in this area. I love the 7D files, they are sharp with great edge to edge detail. The color and contrast levels are excellent.
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| Canon 70-200mm f.4L IS lens (handheld at 121mm) with the EOS-7D. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/2 stop: 1/1250 sec. at f/5.6. Fill flash at -1 stop. Late afternoon light. |
As stated in my previous post, I am very pleased with the AI Servo AF performance (acquisition and accuracy) of the 7D. (I have used the camera right out of the box without any focus calibration.) When doing flight photography, my preference has been to set AI Servo/Auto Select 19-point AF (the one that features a set of parenthesis-like brackets) and then manually select the central sensor. If you are in AI Servo AF, the selected sensor will light up when you select this AF Mode. If you are in One-Shot AF, only the brackets will appear. Others much prefer using either the central sensor alone (via Single Point AF-Manual Selection) or AF Point Expansion (Manual Selection) for flight photography.
The more I study the 7D and the Mark IV Instruction Manuals the more I realize how complex each camera is. I am hoping to offer a combined 7D/Mark IV User’s Guide for sale at some point but that will most likely not be until spring as I have tons more to learn…
January 22nd, 2010
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| Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC (handheld at 235mm) and the EOS-7D. ISO 500. Evalautive metering at zero: 1/250 sec. at f/8. Flash with Better Beamer at -2 stops. When working with tame birds at close range, the 70-200 and a 7D is a great combination with or without the 1.4X teleconverter. As always, you can click on each image to see a larger, sharper version. |
BULLETIN #313
BIRDS AS ART Bulletin #313 is online now and can be viewed here: http://www.birdsasart.com/2010/01/20/birds-as-art-bulletin-313.
- THE BIRDS AS ART BLOG WAKE-UP CALL
- THE SAN DIEGO IPT REPORT
- KUDOS
- BOK TOWER EXHIBIT
- AN E-MAIL FROM TOM WILBERDING
- POSSE NEWS: ROBERT O’TOOLE/BALD EAGLE WORKSHOPS
- POSSE NEWS: JAMES SHADLE & JIM NEIGER/BEST OF FLORIDA WORKSHOPS
- IPT UPDATES
- …..
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| This bloody lion cub was photographed from the top of a safari van in Ndutu, Tanazania with the Canon 500mm f/4L IS lens, a 1.4X TC, and the EOS-1D Mark II on a Todd-Pod-mounted Wimberley head. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/80 sec. at f/5.6. |
Todd Gustafson taught me how to photograph in Africa after I taught him much of what he knows about photography. Todd is highly skilled at capturing birds in flight and animals in action. And his compositional skills are second to none. Todd had made and led dozens of photographic safaris to Africa. In his book, “A Photographer’s Guide to the Safari Experience,” he shares everything the he knows about photographing on the Dark Continent. And I know because I helped craft every word of it <smile> We are glad to offer a $5 discount on the purchase price of the book on phone orders only: 863-692-0906. Please mention the blog to receive your discount. Whether you have been to Africa many times or are making your first trip, this book will prove to be invaluable. And even those who will never get to Kenya or Tanzania will treasure the book just for the images.
Mongoose M3.5b in Stock
With the discontinuation of the Mongoose M2.3, it is getting harder and harder to get stock on the 3.5B. We currently have 3 in stock. This is the head that I use every day with my Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens.
Best Picture Ever!
Like most folks, I do not enjoy being photographed. When folks ask me to smile, I freeze up and look doofy. I rarely like images of myself. After the recently concluded IPT, participant Becky Field sent me the candid image of me that she had created on the IPT. It is my favorite-ever image of me. By far. I feel that it captures a great deal of my spirit. Thanks a ton to Becky for sharing.
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| Arthur Morris smiling, San Diego, CA. Image courtesy of and copyright 2010: Rebecca Field (www.RebeccaFieldPhotography.com) |
January 17th, 2010
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| California Brown Pelican in flight, La Jolla, CA. Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens (handheld at 154mm) with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS-7D. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops set manually. |
With one day to go, the San Diego IPT has been a huge success. Great folks, great camraderie, great photographic opportunities, great food, and lots of learning. We have been blessed with the right light, the right winds, and the right weather. Keep your eyes peeled for the next BAA Bulletin for a complete report.
Everyone is anxious to know my thoughts on AI Servo AF performance with my new cameras: Canon’s flagship professional body–the EOS-1D Mark IV, and the top of the line pro-sumer model–the EOS-7D. AI Servo AF performance in both is excellent. When I get the central sensor on the bird’s eye, face, or head and keep it there, the images are sharp. When I fail to do that, sometimes the images are sharp, and sometimes they are not. My initial impression (as you can plainly see in the Mallard image below) is that the Mark IV is surely the best ever Canon body when it comes to tracking incoming subjects that are rocketing towards you.
And two things are sure: competent photographers will produce excellent flight images with either of these bodies, and excellent flight and action photographers will continue to produce award winning images with either the 7d or the Mark IV. (Do note that when it comes to flight and action I consider myself in the former group, not the latter.)
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| Mallard drake incoming, Santee Lakes, CA. Canon 400mm f/4L DO lens handheld with the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/800 sec. at f/4 set manually. |
As always, you can click on an image to see a larger sharper one. I am supposed to be in San Diego until next Saturday but with the gloom and doom weather forecast: rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, I am likely to get out of Dodge well before that. I will be back soon with more MIV and 7D images.
January 12th, 2010
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| Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens handheld with the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/320 sec. at f/4. |
Anxious to create a few pix with one of my new Mark IV bodies I headed to the cliffs at La Jolla yesterday afternoon. Within minutes, a cormorant flying by overhead unloaded a ton of whitewash on my bald head. Pretty stinky stuff. But when I looked down, I saw that he had scored a double hit: the top of my brand new Canon EOS-1D Mark IV was covered with the white goo. Yikes. Well, it is supposed to be good luck and I am a lover of what is, so, ….
The two images in this post teach an important lesson. In the image above, the head angle is perfect; the bird’s head is turned about two degrees towards me. In the image below, the bird’s head is turned about two degrees away from me. (I knew it the instant that I pushed the shutter button but had no time to move to my right.) It is great that the gular sac is inflated but the head angle is far less than ideal….
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| Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens handheld with the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/250 sec. at f/5.6. |
As always, you can click on each image to see a larger, sharper version. You can learn lots more about head angle at this BPN thread: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7781.
January 11th, 2010 It is 4:48 am. I am sitting at Gate 13 in Orlando International Airport headed for San Diego via Dallas flying American Airlines. After 9/11, there was huge concern about flying with photography gear. Other than getting dump-searched at the Dallas Airport right after 9-11–I had been in the air during the attacks– flying with photo gear after 9-11 was exactly the same as it was flying before 9-11. One rolling bag, one computer case, and my vest. Sometimes they checked my rolling bag carefully, sometimes they did not. And once in a very great while I got hassled about my vest. But getting through security and on the plane was and has been relatively hassle free.
After the last recent security fiasco/terrorist attempt there has once again been huge concern about the “new security measures” that will make it impossible to travel with long lenses and mutliple camera bodies. Well, aside from the line at TSA being very slow this morning, I can assure you that at least in Orlando things are exactly the same. Once it was my turn I got through security in record time: one rolling bag, one computer case, and my vest. And they did not even swab my bag. No pat down and no body scan even though they have those machines at MCO.
On a personal note, I was up till after 1am talking to a friend on Sunday night, and then up this morning at 3am to make my 6am flight. Though I am wide-eyed and alert at the moment, I am sure that I will catch some z’s on my flights. I will be back soon to post some Mark IV and 7D images.
January 10th, 2010
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| This image was created with the Canon 180mm macro lens and the EOS-1D MIII. Canopy Lodge, Panama. See below for needed help <smile> As always, you can click on the image to see a larger, sharper version. |
On Wednesday of last week I got my brand new Canon EOS-7D. And on Friday afternoon I received (just in the nick of time) my two Canon EOS-1D Mark IV bodies. I have been busy packing and getting ready to head to San Diego for the IPT and then a week-long busman’s holiday. It is cold and clear here at my office/home in Indian Lake Estates, FL this morning but I will not have any time to go down to the lake to try out my three new toys. I hope to have time to set up a tripod in the driveway and do the focus calibration for each camera with a variety of lenses. That will take a few hours. As I have never made a trip before with three brand new cameras I am very excited!
Bulletin #312
BIRDS AS ART Bulletin #312 is on-line and can be accessed here: http://www.birdsasart.com/2010/01/06/birds-as-art-bulletin-312.
Here are the featured items:
- HAPPY NEW YEAR WISHES AND BAA INF
- HOME AT LAST BUT NOT FOR LONG
- POSSE NEWS: JIM NEIGER
- JPI BRADENTON GEORGE LEPP EVENT
- BPN HOT THREADS
- MONGOOSE NEWS
- SAN DEIGO IPT VERY LATE REGISTRATION DISCOUNT
- IPT UPDATES
- Here is where I could use a bit of help: I have spent the last two days creating titles for the 34 images that will comprise my upcoming Canon USA-sponsored exhibit at Bok Tower in nearby Lake Wales. I am pretty happy with nearly all of the titles. Several friends including Todd Gustafson, James Shadle, Jim Heupel, and BPN Out-of-the-Box moderator Denise Ippolito pitched in with some creative stuff.
But I am least happy with the title for the Red-eyed Tree Frog image above. If you have any suggestions, please e-mail me (no later than 5pm Sunday, January 10) at samandmayasgrandpa@att.net. Thanks!
December 30th, 2009
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| Mallard drake on ice, Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/250 sec. at f/5.6. Fill flash with Better Beamer at -1 stop. There were lots of gulls and Mallards on the pond right outside my Mom's kitchen window in Holbrook. As I approached carefully, every bird but this one walked or flew away. |
I am posting this morning from MacArthur Airport in Islip, New York (with free WiFi). I love Southwest Airlines for a variety of reasons including lots of computer station plugs and comfortable leather chairs with outlets. No charge for bags, and no ridiculous change fees. (I changed this flight four times without hassle.)
Bulletin #311
BIRDS AS ART Bulletin #311 is on-line. You can access it here: http://www.birdsasart.com/2009/12/23/birds-as-art-bulletin-311.
Here are the features:
- HOLIDAY BEST WISHES/BAA CLOSED TILL 2010!
- JIM LITZENBERG KUDOS
- ROBERT O’TOOLE: PHOTOGRAPHER, PHOTOSHOP GURU, & GROWTH AS A TRIP LEADER
- THANK YOU TEACHER
- LONG ISLAND WINTER HOTSPOT: MORTON NWR
- SAN DIEGO IPT LATE REGISTRATION DISCOUNT
I made it out onto the Barnegat jetty twice more on this visit. Conditions on the middle of the three visits were not as benign as they had been on my first visit but the jetty is a relatively safe one as long as you are careful with each step and avoid wet rocks at all costs. Many of the huge flat boulders near the end of the jetty, the last 100 yards or so, that had been covered with dried seaweed and were perfectly safe on that first afternoon, were–with the wind more from the south–wave splashed and slick on that second afternoon.
On my third afternoon visit, the wind howled from west at about 25 knots and a bit surpisingly, the end of the jetty was again wave-splashed and dangerous. There were hundreds of sea ducks with many of them at fairly close range, but photography was extremely difficult as they bobbed up and down in the choppy water. Species included Harlequin Duck, White-winged Scoter, Common Eider and Long-Tailed Duck (formerly Oldsquaw).
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| The drake Surf Scoter was photographed with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 800. Evaluative metering -1/3 stop (to save the whites). The hardest part of the whole deal was simply getting the central sensor on the ducks as they bobbed up and down violently in the chop. |
Thanks for dropping by. I will be back soon.
ps: Thanks to Ray Wilsson and Gene Herzberg for the ID/brain typo correction on the “White-winged Scoter.”
December 22nd, 2009
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| This image of a Northern Cardinal was created with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with a 25mm Extension tube and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 320. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/320 sec. at f/11 set manually. (Should have been +1 2/3 stops….) Fill flash at -1 stop. |
Morton NWR is located in Noyac, Long Island. I was amazed to learn last year that bird feeding there is not only permitted but encouraged. After Saturday’s blizzard I was anxious to get out in the snow and put some of what I had learned from Alan Murphy’s “Guide to Songbird Set-Up Photography” to good use. Heading out to eastern Long Island on Sunday would have been borderline suicidal so I passed on that. I woke early on Monday, packed my gear and warm clothing, and headed to the refuge. Thinking that I might need to dig my way out at some point, I threw my Mom’s long-handled spade into the back seat of the car. It took me a shade more than an hour to make the trip but when I arrived, I noted that the road into the parking lot had not been plowed. I got my warm coat on, took the long-handled spade out of the back seat, and started digging my own parking space. After about 30 minutes (when I was about half finished with my one car parking lot) I was wishing that I had brought my Mom’s real snow shovel.
I stopped one guy with a plow on the front of an SUV; he stopped and was very nice but explained that it was his bosses truck and that he was forbidden to plow anything. So back to work I went. After another 15 minutes I was about 3/4 done when I spotted a bobcat with a snow plow on the front. I waved the guy down and he stopped. I asked him if I could pay him to finish plowing my spot. He said, “No. I will do it for free.” One, two three and there was a beautiful practically effortless parking spot big enough for two cars. I tried to give the guy a ten-spot for breakfast but he refused and drove off.
I wound up photographing for more than 7 hours. I created the cardinal image above just before I left at 4pm. By that time, my feet were frozen blocks of ice. I was able to utilize many of the tips in Alan Murphy’s Guide to Songbird Set-up Photography to help me create better images. The woodpecker image that follows was just one of many of those. Be sure to click on each image to see a larger sharper version.
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| Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with a 25mm Extension tube and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 100. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/320 sec. at f/8 set manually. Fill flash at -1 stop. |
Tips: When I am working with songbirds at close range I remove my Better Beamer to avoid over-flashing the birds. When working in bright sun I use more fill flash than I usually do.
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| Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with a 25mm Extension tube and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 250. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/200 sec. at f/11. Fill flash at -1 stop. |
This is another one that was created by following Alan’s directions explicitly. His tip on the exact piece of equipment used for placing and adjusting the position of your selected perches is priceless. You can learn more about Alan’s book or order a copy here: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=33
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| Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with a 25mm Extension tube and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 250. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/250 sec. at f/13 set manually. Fill flash at -1 stop. |
OK, you have read this far; now we will share some tips for photographing in the snow. If you are photographing during the height of the storm, always use flash as light levels will be very low. Once the weather clears, you will often have bright blue skies and northwest winds. Be sure to select a location that is sheltered from the wind, especially in the mornings when a wind from the north or west can kill you. During the short days of winter the sun is so low in the sky in the northeast that you can photograph in nice light all day long.
In places like Morton where the birds are accustomed to being fed, it is fun to create some images of them on the fresh snow. Do not scatter the seed about as the individual kernels will be distracting. Instead, poke a small hole in the snow and fill it with seed. Attempt to photograph the birds as they come to the seed hole or wait their turn.
Wear your warmest boots and clothing. Hand-warmers can save the day if it is in the low 20s or the teens. Work right down sun angle. In addition to Alan’s techniques, I used many of my own from the Practicalities chapter of “The Art of Bird Photography II (916 pages on CD only): https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=32
Important BAA Note:
HOLIDAY BEST WISHES/BAA CLOSED TILL 2010!
First off, Jim Litzenberg, older-daughter Jennifer Morris, and I would like to wish each of you a safe and enjoyable holiday season. With luck it will be filled with friends, family, good food, and at least a bit of photography.
Jennifer is flying to Islip on X-mas Eve day with husband Erik and children Sam and Maya to join the rest of the family that includes my Mom, my two sisters, her Mom, and her younger sister Alissa and her family (husband Ajiniaz and two sons, Ilyas and Idris). And me <smile>
Jim will be in the office until noon on Thursday, DEC 24th and is then taking a rare and much needed vacation. He will be able to ship or mail any order received before the close of business on Wednesday, DEC 23. Both Jennifer and Jim will be back in the office on Monday, January 4, 2010. PayPals and BAA On-Line Mail Order store orders will be processed and shipped on either January 4th or 5th.
I will be back soon.
December 18th, 2009
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| Purple Sandpiper is another rock loving winter species that is most easily photographed on rock jetties where they spend nearly all of their time when away from the breeding grounds. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stops: 1/320 sec. at f/5.6. (DPP conversion.) |
For those who thought that my warnings about jetty safety might have been a bit exagerrated, check out this link: http://www.howardsview.com/Jetty/Jetty.html. It was posted by Dave Blinder in the BPN “First Mid-Atlantic Get Together” thread. The photographer came within a hair’s breath of buying the farm and was extremely lucky to get out alive.
After reading the tale above and seeing the accompanying images I am betting that you will not be doing any jetty photography without having a photo buddy along….
December 17th, 2009
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| Canon 800mm f/5.6 L IS lens with a 1.4X II TC and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/250 sec. at f/8 set manually. One-shot AF and recompose with the central AF sensor. As always, click on any image to see a larger, sharper version. |
God bless my sister Arna. She skipped out of work early today so that she could take our Mom to therapy. That allowed me to head down to Barnegat Inlet. It was 164 miles from Holbrook to the motel in Ship Bottom, NJ; it took me almost exactly three hours with two pits stops. I arrived at Barnegat Lighthouse at about 2:30 pm and was headed to the jetty with only the tripod-mounted 800 f/5.6 and a Mark III soon after that. The 1.4X II TC was in my jacket pocket.
The wind was 20-25 from the north northwest with higher gusts. After reading the posts here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?p=405212#post405212 about the planned Saturday BPN get-together (the weather may cancel it….) I was a bit apprehensive about the condition of the jetty. Having actually been there this afternoon for the first time I must report that the warnings were over-stated. I am a veteran jetty fisherman and while all jetties can be dangerous the jetty at Barnegat is rather tame. It is wide and the rocks are fairly flat. There were very few puddles and only a few rocks near the end were covered with (dried) seaweed. Those can be very slick when wet. I did not see any slick black rocks; those can be lethal and are to be avoided at all costs. With any wind out of the north or west the jetty should remain dry (and relatively safe).
The air temp was about 30 degrees. I wore my warmest coat, lined pants, rain pants to cut the wind, and my hiking boots with a pair of NEOS (also to cut the wind and to provide an layer of insulation). I was over-dressed on the way out but glad to be warm on the long walk back into the wind.
When photographing on a rock jetty it is vitally important to be careful. Look at where you are putting your feet with each step; do not look for or at the birds unless you stop. One mis-step can be quite costly in terms of broken bones, broken equipment, broken skulls and possible concussions, and even death should you hit your head or fall into the water. If you are at all in doubt about the safety of a given step, turn around and go back. Be especially careful near the edges of a jetty. Never step on a rock covered with wet seaweed. Avoid stepping in a puddle as they are almost always slippery, especially if the water has been standing for any period of time. And never ever even consider stepping on either a wet rock that slopes toward the water or a slimy black rock. Excpetions to any of the above rules should be made only by folks wearing ice-creepers or similar footwear designed for traversing slick jetties.
Be vary careful when putting your tripod down. No matter how beautiful an image you think that you might miss, be sure to level the tripod platform by raising or lowering the individual legs as needed (or by pulling out the leg tab and changing the angle of one or more legs to achieve the same results). When adding a teleconverter or handling any small pieces of equipment such as bubble levelsor batteries, be sure to remove your heavy gloves and to hold on to each item firmly. If you drop something and it falls between the rocks you will most likely never see it again.
The rewards of photographing from rock jetties in winter can be great, but no image is worth a serious injury; as Sgt. Phil Esterhaus used to say on Hill Street Blues, “Be careful out there….”
December 13th, 2009
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| Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/1600 at f/5.6. I had originally set +2/3 stop exposure compensation but after seeing some substantial flashing highlights on the image on the camera's LCD, I backed off to +1/3 stop. |
I have been at my Mom’s in Holbrook, Long Island, NY for almost a week now. It has been very cold. I was getting cabin fever so I went to the local golf course to photograph some Canada Geese. (As always you can click on the image to see a larger, sharper version.)
With the relatively new Canon EOS-7d proving to be a popular camera and the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV about to begin shipping, lots of folks are just plain stuck when it comes to converting the RAW iamges from these two cameras. It is my understanding that even when the ACR plug-ins for these cameras become available, only folks with CS-4 will be able to use them. And again, as far as I know, 7D conversions are not yet supported by Breezebrowser. Mark IV images will not be supported by Breezebrowser for many months.
That leaves folks using these new cameras with Digital Photo Professional, the software that comes in the box with your new camera. It had been quite a while since I used DPP for my RAW conversions and when I opened some 7D images in DPP I was pretty much lost <smile> Jerry Ward., Pro Market Specialist for Canon USA who joined us at the recent Albuquerque program, alerted me to a great DPP tutorial on the Canon Digital Learning web site.
The tutorials, expertly prepared by Elizabeth Pratt of Canon’s Professional Products Division, can be found here: http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=1228&fromTips=1. They are based on DPP v3.2. DPP v3.7.1.1 shipped with the 7D.
These are the individual tutorials: What is DPP?, Main Window, Preferences (note: To set your preferences in v3.7.1.1 you will need to click on Tools/Preferences or hit Control K), Organizing Images in the Main Window, Quick Check Tool, Batch Rename Tool, Edit Image Window, Tool Palette: RAW Image Adjustment Tab, Tool Palette: RGB Image Adjustment Tab, Tool Palette NR-Lens Tab, Trimming Tool (for cropping), Stamp Tool (dust delete data or dust spotting), Comparing Images, Recipes, Batch Processing, File Saving Options, Printing Contact Sheets, Printing Directly from DPP, and Workflow Demonstration.
If you are new to DPP, it would be wise to listen to all of the tutorials a time or two before beginning. I found these two tutorials most helpful and continue to review them: RAW Image Adjustment Tab and Tool Palette: RGB Image Adjustment Tab.
The Canada Goose image was processed with DPP and I was extremely pleased with the results. I will continue to share what I learn about DPP both here and in future BAA Bulletins.
Bulletin #308
BAA Bulletin #308 is available on-line here: http://www.birdsasart.com/2009/12/07/birds-as-art-bulletin-308.
Features include:
- HAPPY HOLIDAYS
- HOLIDAY GIFTS FROM THE BAA ON-LINE STORE
- ONE IMAGE/SO MANY LESSONS
- EDUCATIONAL CD UPDATES
- SCOTT BOURNE ON THE CANON EOS 7D
- The SAN DIEGO IPT
- BIRDS AS ART FINE ART CANVAS PRINTS.
The DEC 12, 2009 BAA Notes can be found here: http://www.birdsasart.com/2009/12/08/birds-as-art-notes-december-8th-2009. Be sure to check out this great feature: FREE ACR CONVERSION TIPS EXCERPT ON BPN THREAD.
Continue to enjoy the holiday season. I will visit again soon.
December 7th, 2009 I will be presenting “Lenses for Nature Photography BIRDS AS ART-Style for the Nature and Wildlife Photographers of Long Island group in Bayshore on December 8, 2009 at Bayshore High School. After a short break I will present an optional Photoshop session for those who wish to stay on. For directions click here: http://www.nwpli.com/photo/calendar/#directions. This program is free and open to the public. Hope to see you there.
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| Please click on this image so that you can see it larger! |
Bulletin #307
BAA Bulletin #307 is on-line and can be viewed here: http://www.birdsasart.com/2009/12/04/birds-as-art-bulletin-307.
I am posting this from the Orlando Airport (free internet; yipee!), Headed for Long Island and my Mom. Be back soon.
December 3rd, 2009 In response to this question from Maruthy: A very good example to understand and learn the value of pushing the histogram to the right ! Thanks for sharing ! Would it be possible for you to share the histogram of the original, to help better understand the concept ? Thanks, Maruthy
Surely. Here is the histogram as seen in Photoshop:
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| Note that the histogram is pushed almost completely to the right without showing any over-exposure. |
There is tons of great info on evaluating, understanding, and adjusting the histogram as needed in ABP II: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=32.
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