May 1st, 2009 I first visited Johnny Cozad’s ranch in Linn, TX about four years ago and enjoyed some fine raptor photography: Harris’s Hawk and Crested Caracara. Not sure of the month but it was more winter than summer. Johhny and Jane Cozad are out of town so I stayed in a Super 8 in Edingburg, TX and drove the 25 mintues up to Linn each day. Jesus, their ranchhand, was a huge help as always.  And the Cozad’s recently put in an amazing swimmming pool and a jacuzzi. Each day after lunch I took a three mile walk in the searing heat with the two dogs, Lorna and Bull.  Everytime that they saw a cattle trough, they bolted to it and jumped in. I was not so luck but as soon as we got back to the house I jumped right into the pool. Â
Chris Dodds and I worked hard on our feeder set-ups and they got better each day. I dropped Chris off at the McAllen, TX airport at 4:02 am this morning. I am planning on photographing at the ranch one last morning and then starting the long trip to the north and east. Here I come Ontario! I hope to visit Warbler Woods just north and east of San Antonio tomorrow afternoon.
Below are some of my favorite images from the Cozad ranch. If you would like to arange a visit, click here: http://www.cozadranch.com/. As always, you can click on an image to see a larger version.
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| This male Painted Bunting was photographed with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/400 sec. at f/13. Fill flash at -3 stops with the Better Beamer. |
I am usually not a huge fan of over-the-shoulder poses but could not pass this one up as these birds have such beautiful colors when you get the dorsal view. The very best head angle for these poses is perfectly square to the camera. Note that I used lots of extra depth of field to ensure covering the whole bird.
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| Same gear as above. ISO 500. Evauative metering +2/3 stop: 1/80 sec. at f/13. Fill flash at -3 stops with the Better Beamer. |
This bird sat still long enough for me to be able to lock down the Mongoose Head. That allowed me to make a sharp image at 1/80 sec. This bird was resting in the shade in a mesquite tree just to the left of our set-up. It pays to keep your eyes moving whenever you are photographing birds or nature….
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| Same rig again. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -1/3 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/9. Fill flash with the Better Beamer at -2 2/3 stops. |
At times, we had more than a dozen beautiful male Northern Cardinals in view at one time.  Well, I have got to do some packing now so it will be good night for now. More images from the Cozad ranch as soon as possible.
April 30th, 2009 Chris and I have had 2 1/2 great days at the Cozad Ranch here in Linn, TX. I am dropping Chris off at the McAllen, TX Airport oh-dark hundred tomorrow and then heading back to the Cozad’s place to try for Caracaras. I wanted to share a few more images from Roel Ramirez’s great place in Roma, TX.
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| This Green Jay image was created with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/300 sec. at f/9. Fill flash with the Better Beamer at -2 2/3 stops. |
On a hot morning this Green Jay jumped up on a perch after taking a bath in a woodland pool, soaking wet and pissed off at something. With the 800 and the 1.4X TC I had too much focal length so I followed my own advice and created a few images hoping for the best.  The best of the lot can be seen below. As always, you can click on each image to enlarge it.Â
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| Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/300 sec. at f/9. Fill flash with the Better Beamer at -2 2/3 stops. |
As you can see, I clipped the tail in the orginal. I did, however, love the image but hated the clipped tail, so I used modern technology (can you say Photoshop CS3?) to add canvas left, make a copy of the tail using a Quick Mask, and then flop it, transform it, warp it, and put it pefectly in place so that the bird had a complete tail. I am fine with folks wishing to call me a criminal or saying that the end result is a photo illustration, not a photograph. As far as I can remember, the bird had a full and complete tail when I pressed the shutter button….
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| This displaying Bronzed Cowbird image was created with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/125 sec. at f/5.6. |
The males of this species perform elaborate displays where the extend their ruffs, bob up and down, and even stamp their feet. They look like something out of the Victorian Age.Â
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| This Hooded Oriole image was made with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/200 sec. at f/6.3. |
On our last afternoon at Roel’s place, we created a set-up in hopes of enticing a Scaled Quail onto a perch of petrified wood. We failed at that, but this stunning Hooded Oriole came to our orange and posed for a very few seconds.  Do realize that when working at a good songbird feeder set-up I might create as many as 1,000 images in a day while garnering only two or three that make me real happy. Chris Dodds calls his best images “wall hangers.” I call mine “family jewels.” It was a fitting end to our wonderful stay at Roel’s place.
April 29th, 2009 Chris and I drove to Edinburg, Texas yesterday. We are photographing together on the Cozad Ranch in Linn, TX on Wednesday (today) and on Thursday. I drop Chris off at the McAllen Airport early on Friday morning. My plans after that are indefinite other than knowing that I have three very long driving days ahead so that I can hook up with Chris again in Pelee on the afternoon of May 7th. Below are a few more images from the Ramirez Ranch in Roma, TX.Â
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| Images of two songbirds interacting are extremely rare and good ones are rarer still. The bird on our right is a male offering a tidbit to his mate, i.e., courtship feeing. Getting both birds in a pleasing position and on relatively the same plane are among the challenges when trying to create images like this. When I was in the blind at Roma, I had both the 800m and the 500mm set up so that I could quickly go wide when need be as I did here: Canon 500mm f/4L IS lens with the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/320 sec. at f/4. Fill flash with Better Beamer at -2 2/3 stops. |
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| Long-billed Thrasher is another Rio Grande Valley specialty bird. They do not often give up perfect poses but there are lots of them on Roel's ranch and once in a while you get one that sits still for a few seconds…. Image created with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/125 sec. at f/7.1. Fill flash with the Better Beamer at -3 stops. |
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| These birds are almost as large as they are noisy! In order to fit it into the frame, I had to move to the back of the blind with the 500 and photograph over Chris's shoulder. I was still too tight and had to add a bit of canvas left and top. Canon 500mm f/4L IS lens with the EOS-1D MIII body. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/160 sec. at f/5/6. Fill flash with the Better Beamer at -2 2/3 stops. You can learn to add canvas like a pro from our Digital Basics File: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=252. |
The absolute key to creating good images at a feeder set-up is the set-up itself. You will do well to study the image below to see what we had in mind.  You can find detailed info on selecting perches and creating an effective set-up in the Practicalities Chapter in my CD book, “The Art of Bird Photography II:” https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=19tm. At 916 pages with 900+ images the all-new continuation of the classic ABP reveals everything that I learned about bird photography and about digital between 1998 and 2006 when the CD book was published.
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| Once you have all of your perches selected, it can take as long as an hour to create your set-up. We stayed for three days and every ten minutes or so we would leave the blind to change a perch or to tweak this or that…. |
April 27th, 2009
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| This displaying Green Jay was photographed with the Canon 500mm f/4L IS lens and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/400 sec. at f//5.6. One of the nice things about visiting in April and May is seeing the amazing courtship displays of this species. They bob up and down, fluff up their feathers, and make other-wordly sounds. |
I am not sure when I first met Roel Ramirez but it was close to ten years ago. I believe that he had just started out in bird photography and joined me on a SW Florida BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour. He mentioned that he had a ranch in Roma, Texas and was developing it for bird photography.  He invited me out right off the bat but it took me a year or three to get to the Rio Grande Valley. As it turns out, his place is a haven for many of the Rio Grande Valley specialty bird species. I doubt if there is a better place on the planet to photograph Green Jay as his morning photo blind is usually overrun with them. In addition you will fins Long-billed Thrasher, Bronzed Cowbird, Plain Chachalaca, Golden-fronted Woodpecker, Black-crested (Mexican) Titmouse, Olive Sparrow, Pyrrhruloxia, Audubon’s Oriole, and White-tipped Dove. You are also likely to see Northern Cardinal, Northern Mockingbird, Ladder-backed Woodpecker, Vermilion Flycatcher (difficult to photograph at best…), Hooded Oriole, and  Mourning and White-winged Doves. During winter and early spring, there are lots of sparrows around including White-crowned, Lark, Chipping, and Clay-colored. Most of the species mentioned above can be photographed easily from one of several on sun-angle photo blinds that Roel designed and constructed. In addition, Roel has both morning and afternoon hawk blinds where Harris’s Hawk is to be expected ad Crested Caracara a shy bonus.
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| This adult Harris's Hawk 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 stop: 1/250 sec. at f/8. Fill flash at -2 1/2 stops. We wire beef liver to the perch tree to attract the raptors. |
From my first very visit to this one, I have worked with Roel to improve photographic conditions at the ranch whether it be in designing set-ups or suggesting major changes. Roel is a fine gentleman, a great friend, and as sweet a man as you could ever hope to meet. We have done well with long mornings sessions as it has been cloudy bright each day till about noon.  Afternoons have been difficult at best with fairly bright sun and the wind, very strong at times, from the southeast. I had a brief conversation and it appears that Roel may once again offer public entry for the purpose of photography. If he decides to go ahead I will announce rates and contact information here. Oh, did I forget to mention that the afternoons are blast-furnace hot? (It is much cooler from December through early April.  Why come in late April for early May? Can you say Painted Bunting.Â
Roel: Chris and I would like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making us feel like visiting royalty!
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| Our hearts raced whenever these guys appeared on the set. This male Painted Bunting image was created with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/8. Fill flash at -2 1/3 stops. |
April 26th, 2009
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| That's me hard at work in my back seat office. Image with the Canon G-10 courtesy of and copyright Chris Dodds. |
Chris Dodds and I have been getting along famously now for nearly two weeks. We keep things fun with lots of humor. When we started out Chris could not deal with me working on the computer while sitting in the front passenger seat as the laptop blocked the side-view mirror on my side and in low light, the glare of the computer screen bothered him, so I set up my office in the back seat on the passenger side.  I plug in using an Eliminator brand inverter from Canadian Tire. It runs silently. The Radio Shack model that I own operates with a loud hum. When it is sunny and I need to work on images, I set up the Think Tank Pixel Pop-up Sunscreen V2.0.  It is large enough so that you can actually put your head inside the unit.  I have not found it necessary to do that as it blocks all sun glare except when we are headed down the road angled only slightly away from a low-in-the-sky sun (and that happens very rarely.)   If you ever have the need to work on your laptop in bright conditios, this is one product that you cannot live without. (To learn more about the Pixel Sunscreen or the great Airport International rolling bag that I use, click here: http://www.birdsasart.com/thinktank.htm Follow the links to receive a free accessory bag with purchases of $50 or more. )
Whether it be luggage or photography gear, I am slower at getting my stuff together than Chris. He never fails to remind me of this with a smiling, “Hurry up Grandma.” As I have noted before, Chris has done the great bulk of the driving leaving me free to get some work done. I shall miss him when he heads back to Montreal early on May 1. In any case, as I get settled into my back-seat office and we head down this interstate or that state highway, Chris always pipes up with his latest mantra, “Driving Miss Artie.” It always puts a smile on my face.  (And I have to admit, it’s not that bad having a chauffeur!)
Tommorrow, I will be posting some images from the Ramirez Racnh in Roma, TX where we are currently holed up thanks to the amazing generosity of Roel Ramirez and his family.
April 25th, 2009
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| That would be Mr. Heupel on your left and yours truly on the right. Image courtesy of and copyright Chris Dodds. |
After we left Hill Country, Chris Dodds (www.chrisdoddsphoto.com) and I made a small detour to Fredericksburg, TX on our way down to Roma, TX.  We stopped by the Photography 414 Gallery at 414 East Main Street to visit with Jim Heupel and check out his gallery exhibit, “Out of Africa.”  Jim is a great friend, has been on many BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours, and co-led the Post NANPA BOsque IPT this past February. If you are within an hour or two drive of Fredericksburg and would like to meet Jiim and see some great images in a lovely setting, you will need to pay Jim a visit today, Saturday April 25th between 11am and 8pm.  (The exhibit is scheduled to hang through May and can be viewed Fridays and Saturdays between 11am and 8pm. Best, however to call 830-456-1529 and check first).
Congrats to Jim who sold the large zebra print yesterday!
April 24th, 2009
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| This Golden-cheeked Warbler was photographed with the Canon 800mm f/5.6 L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, a 25mm extension tube (to allow for closer focus), and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 640. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/300 sec. at f/9. Fill flash at -2 2/3 stops with the Better Beamer. |
Chris and I arrived at Mike and Julie Murphy’s Los Madrones Ranch on Tuesday afternoon.  As with most new places, it took us a while to figure the place out but we wound up getting some great images of many species that we had seen or photographed (or both!) for the first time. Texas’s top birder and one of (if not the) best bird photographers in the state, Greg Lasley, helped us track down our number one target species, the Golden-cheeked Warbler, a gorgeous bird that nests only in Texas Hill Country. Six to seven pairs of this endangered warbler nest on the Murphy’s beautiful 400 acre ranch.    We stayed in the lovely Casita with all the comforts of home and photographed from three of the four photo blind/feeder set-ups that Mike has constructed.
Los Madrones is located in western Travis County, TX. If you would like to photograph some of the species below (and more), you can contact Mike Murphy to arrange a vist by cell phone at  512-925-6902 or via e-mail to mike@losmadrones.com. You can learn more about the ranch here: http://www.losmadrones.com/Los_Madrones/Home.html.
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| Rufous-crowned Sparrow is common at Los Madrones but it was a challenge to get one to sit on the right perch as it came to the feeders. This bird was photographed with the Canon 800mm f/5.6 L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/640 sec. at f/8 just before it hopped down onto the feeding tray. |
There is a great section in “The Art of Bird Photography II” (916 pages on CD only) on selecting perches and creating a feeder set-up that will work for photography. You can learn more about ABP II here: http://www.birdsasart.com/ABPII.htm.
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| This Ash-throated Flycatcher, the western counterpart of the Great-crested Flycatcher that breeds in the woods next to my home in central Florida, was photographed with the Canon 800mm f/5.6 L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/250 sec. at f/10 set manually. Manual fill flash at 1:8 power. |
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| This Western Scrub Jay was photographed with the Canon 800mm f/5.6 L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/300 sec. at f/10. Fill flash at -2 2/3 stops with the Better Beamer. |
As regular BIRDS AS ART Bulletin readers know I am a huge fan of cloudy-bright days. They offer  much reduced contrast, great color saturation, amd images without shadows.  And most importantly, they allow you to work well off light angle. The two images above were created as the birds sat on natural perches well off to the side of our set. Had it been a clear sunny day, each would have been about 40 degrees off of the proper sun angle and I would not have even pointed my lens at them.
Thanks to Mike and Julie for their generous hospitality and for hosting our visit to Los Madrones.
April 22nd, 2009
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| This adult male Indigo Bunting was photographed on a perch that I found along the roadside and set up at a feeder. The image was created with the Canon 800mm f/5.6 L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, a 25mm extension tube, and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/80 sec. at f/8. This image was created after our set-up had fallen into shadow. I much prefer this image to those created in the late afternoon light. Once I switched to digital, cloudy bright days and shaded subjects became my very best friends. This image was my last Dauphin Island keeper…. |
The hospitality that Chris and I encountered on Dauphin Island was incredible. First we met Mike Rogers, a contractor from Mobile, who invited us to the beautiful home on the bay that he built with his Dad and served us a great crab and shrimp dinner. He introduced us to his friend Terry Hartley and the two of them went out of their way to show us the best spots. On day 2 they brought us to the home of John and Jennie Stowers who just happened to be serving a sumptous lunch to more than 100 folks who were attending the Alabama Ornithological Society’s spring meeting. That night Mike took us out to dinner! We had to work hard for each image as we did not encounter any fallouts of major proportions.  Mike and Terry introduced us to Chris and Michele Steber who served us a great lunch on their deck and allowed us to remake their yard in an effort to photograph the great birds at their feeders. Again, it required a lot of work as the birds were quite shy. We achieved success on our last afternoon on Dauphin after erecting a makeshift blind using a blanket that I keep int the back of my SUV to keep the gear covered. We hung the blanket between two trees (secured by gold-colored horsehoes), left it in place for a day so that the birds could get used to it blowing in the wind, and finally got to stand behind it while  photographing Indigo Bunting, Blue Grosbeak, and Red-breasted Grosbeak.Â
We awoke before 3am on Tuesday, left just after 3:30, and made it to Hill Country near Austin, TX 12 hours later with Chris doing the bulk of the driving.  As always, you can click on each image to enlarge it.
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| Three happy campers. Mike, center, was thrilled to hang with us and we did our best to help him become a better photographer. This image was created by Dick ??? who had been with me on a Point Pelee Instructional Photo-Tour about six or seven years ago. Chris Dodds is on your right. |
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| This Northern Parula was attracted to our position by playing a tape of its call. The image was created with the Canon 800mmm f/5.6L IS lens, a 25mm extension tube for close focus, and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/100 sec. at f/5.6. Fill flash at -2 2/3 stops with the Better Beamer (to concentrate the flash). |
The Better Beamer is designed to be used with telephoto lenses with equivalent focal lengths of more than 300mm: learn more here: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=4. In the original image here, the bill tip of the singing bird was–as expected because of the slow shutter speed–quite blurred. I created a Quick Mask of the sharp lower mandible from the previous frame, moved it to this image as an layer mask, and then, using the techniques described in APTATS, warped the lower mandible to create a perfect (and sharp) match.  You can learn the basics of Quick Masking (plus tons more) in our Digital Basics File (https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=252) and learn the advanced techniques from the APTATS CD here: http://www.birdsasart.com/aptats.htm.Â
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| This adult male Blue Grosbeak was photographed on a natural perch with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, the 1.4X II teleconverter, a 25mm extension tube, and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/250 sec. at f/9. With the blowing grasses about ten feet behind the perch, they created a pleasing background. It is the distance between the perch and the BKGR that is most responsible for creating the out-of-focus backgrounds that I prefer. |
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| This adult male Rose-breasted Grosbeak was photographed on a natural perch above the feeder with the same gear as the rest. No flash. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/80 sec. at f/8. |
I removed a secong hanging vine from the background here using a variety of techniques described in Digital Basics.Â
Though we did not get to enjoy a major fallout, Chris and I made some great images on Dauphin Island and had an overall great time. I particularly enjoyed taking my health walks on the seaside golf course. We offer our heartfelt thanks to all of the folks who made our trip more enjoyable and productive.
April 20th, 2009 I should have mentioned that when we arrived we were greeted by chants of “You should have been here yesterday.” As it turns out, Thursday–the afternoon of the day that we should have been on Dauphin Island, was a big wave day with a large fallout of neo-tropical migrants. And we soon learned that the preceding Monday had been an epic day….
In any case, on our first afternoon, there was a single adult male Scarlet Tanager that was very tame. The problem was that he spent most of his time on the ground.   On occasion, he did pop up for a second or two.
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| This is a JPEG that represents the original capture. The image was created with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens, one 25mm extension tube (to allow for closer focusing), and the Canon EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/60 sec. at f/7.1. The image looks pretty washed out as it should (with the histogram pushed to the right). The perch below the bird is a bit hot with just a few over-exposed pixels, and the several little branchlets are distracting. Though I knew that it would require a fair amount of time (it took me about 45 minutes), I decided to remove all of the offending branchlets. |
Below is a JPEG that represents the optimized master file.  I used a variety of techniques including one that I call “Protect and Defend.”  You can learn more about this technique here: http://www.birdsasart.com/bn275.htm. Scroll down to “A FREE DIGITAL BASICS EXCERPT: GETTING RID OF THAT BRANCH!”. The work involves using the Clone Stamp, a series of Quick Masks, and the Patch Tool.
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| Getting the rich color was simply a matter of making a Levels adjustment while holding down the Alternate key while moving the highlight slider and the shadow sliders. Lastly, I did a small crop after balancing the color and working on the REDs. |
You can learn all of the above techniques plus dozens and dozens more from our Digital Basics file (a PDF sent via e-mail). Click here to learn more:Â
April 19th, 2009
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| The Red-eyed Vireo was photographed with the Canon 800mmm f/5.6 L IS lens, the 1.4X II TC, and a 25mm extension tube. ISO 640. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/200 sec. a f.8. Fill flash with the Better Beamer at -1 13/ stops. |
After the great SUV repair-job adventure, Chris Dodds and I arrived in Dauphin Island, Alabama on Friday afternoon. There have been lots of birds but photographing migrant songbirds is always a huge challenge: fast moving subjects, thick brush, tight quarters, low light, too many birders in the way, and cluttered perches all combine to make your efforts frustrating and physically demanding and your best images hugely rewarding.Â
BIRDS AS ART BULLETIN #288 had been online for a bit. You can find it here: http://www.birdsasart.com/bn288.htm. As always, you will find lots of great info and images with our now legendary educational captions.  Do see the offer of the “Fire in the Mist” Fine Art cancas prints.Â
While at the Spacecoast Festival in Merritt Island I was  interviewed by Steve Moore of  www.BirdWatchRadio.com. You can listen to that interview (along with 3 others including one with birder/bird-watcher/author Pete Dunne) by clicking here: http://www.birdwatchradio.com/podcast.htm.  Actually, you can either listen to it directly off the site or you can download it to your computer, I-pod or similar listening device.
April 17th, 2009 Well, Chris and I were supposed to be on Dauphin Island on Thursday afternoon but slept in the Brandon, FL motel that night.  I brought my Toyota Sequoia in for the 90,000 mile service even though I had only 80,000 miles on the vehicle.  I figured that it would be a good idea bring it in before the long trip, but worried that they would somehow screw up a good thing; the SUV had run perfectly for all 80,000 miles with only oil and filter changes at the local Jiffy Lube. Well, the service with the timing chain and a new water pump ran just a shade under $2,000. Â
 We sailed on Tampa Bay for spoonbills with Captain James Shadle on Wednesday morning and then headed to the motel to pack the car.  Just a few miles from the motel every warning light on the planet came on in the vehicle that followed by strange sounds from the engine and that by plumes of steam and smoke. The short story is that the hose to the thermostat was put back in place but that the mechanic neglected to clamp it…. A temperature sensor in the engine computer sensor was burned out.  We were not supposed to get my truck back until late Friday at the earliest but miracale of miricles, it by Thursday night and we were good to go in the morning and will be leaving for Alabama at 5:30 am. Yes, I am an early riser.Â
The mishap with the vehicle allowed us to spend a great afteroon at Fort DeSoto on Wednesday and Thursday morning with Jim Neiger on Lake Toho in search of Snail Kites.Â
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| This Roseate Spoonbill image was created with the Canon 800mm f/5.6 L IS lens with the EOS-1D Mark III body. ISO 500. Evaluative Metering +1 stop off the sky set manually: 1/1250 sec. at f/8. Whenever I am trying to create flight images I stop down a bit to f/7.1 or f/8 if I have enough light for a bit of extra depth-of-field. |
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| This image of a dancing fishing Reddish Egret was created with the handhled Canon 400mmm f/4 IS DO lens and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3. I find it much easier to handhold when trying to follow erratic action than to work off a tripod and in addition, it is easier to move side to side to stay on sun angle. I used 45-Point AAFPS to make it easier to hold focus as the bird veered and twisted about. |
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| This young male Snail Kite image was created witht the Canon 800mmm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/1250 sec. at f/9. The key to create this image was using 45-Point AAFPS so that I could acquire focus with the bird in the center of the frame and then recompose without losing focus. |
Instead us allowing a challenging situation to get us really angry we saw it as an opportunity to explore new options and create some great images.
April 14th, 2009 Despite a somewhat scary weather forecast, I photographed this morning at Fort DeSoto Park south of St. Petersburg, FL with Chris Dodds (www.chrisdoddsphoto.com) and Linda Robbins, the Hummingbird Queen. It was cloudy and dark so we were all using high ISOs and fill flash. By about 9am a huge black cloud was creeping up on us from the west,  from out over the Gulf. We knew that we would need to exit soon and quickly. After concentrating on our avian subjects for a while, we all glanced up at the sky just as we decided to high-tail it back to the cars. We were stunned by what we saw. Just offshore of the park was the strangest, most beautiful cloud formation that any of us had ever seen. There were huge , angled, diagonal clouds that were oriented more vertically than horizontally.  They had white borders and were changing shape each moment.  They seemed almost alive, to be gaining strength with every passing seonnd. We all thought that we were witnessing the birth of a tornado. Linda was well ahead of Chris and me. Then, Chris and I had the same thought at the same time: “Let’s photograph this now and run for our lives later.”Â
In both “The Art of Bird Photography” and in ABP II (on CD only) I am pretty sure that I wrote something like this: “You should never be afield without a short zoom lens in your vest. On those days when you get lazy and leave it in your car, you will surely regret it.”  Well, there we were, two professional photographers out on the beach without a single short lens between us.  “OK, we’ll run back to the car, grab a short lens, head back out to the beach, photograph those amazing clouds, and then run like hell.”  As we ran, the cloud formation seemed to be gaining on us, and as we appoached the restrooms it began to hail and the wind began to scream. The temperature seemed to have dropped 30 degrees in seconds.  I had the fleeting thought that I was might die in a tornado.  By the time that we reached the car it was pouring, but the wind had subsided a bit so Chris and I grabbed the short lenses and ran the hundred yards back to the beach only to be greeted by a sky filled with boring gray clouds, a sky completely devoid of drama.Â
As the title of his post says, do as I say….. Not as I do.   Chris and I spent the rest of the day talking about what we had seen and eventually agreed that it was likely that the experience had surely been better than the images would have been.Â
Below is my favorite image from our too-short morning.
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| This worn first winter Herring Gull was scavenging a long-dead saltwater catfish. The image was created with the Canon 800mm f/5.6 L IS lens and the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/500 sec. at f/5.6 set manually. Fill flash with Better Beamer at -1 2/3 stops. |
The trick to using fill flash is to set the correct ambient exposure (the ambient light is the existing natural light) and then dial back the flash, usually to somewhere between -1 and -3 stops.  A perfect result is an image that features additional sharpness, balanced, natural looking color, clean whites, and most importantly, an image in which the use of flash is not obvious.  What you are looking for is just a splash of flash.  With this image I love the sharpness, the perfect use of fill flash, and the carefully designed composition with the bird’s angled body entering the frame exaactly from the upper left-hand corner. And the perfect head angle.
April 11th, 2009 There is often much debate as to whether or not diagonal elements of a composition should enter the frame from one of the corners.  As the images below show, I strongly believe that they should.   Your compositions will be more interesting and more powerful.Â
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| This image of a Great Blue Heron with nesting material was created with the handheld Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens and the EOS 50D. ISO 400. 1/1000 sec. at f/8. Central sensor AI Servo AF. At the moment of capture the sensor was not on the subject but the focus held. Note that I composed the image so that the heron's breast angled into the frame from the lower right corner. The DO lenses are great when working from small watercraft as I was here. |
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| Same bird, similar composition, different light. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS 1D MIII. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/80 sec. at f/5.6. It is important to use the RGB histogram when creating silhouettes to avoid burning the RED channel. |
April 7th, 2009 As mentioned in the last post, the wind and weather on the morning of the 3rd made it one very tough morning.  With the wind quite strong from the west, there were fewer birds on the exposed beach, and most of the birds were taking advantage of the small bit of shelter offered by the beach vegetation. After I assessed the situation, I know that I would be able to create some images in which the vegetation played at least as important a part of the image’s success as the bird….
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| This was the first habitat image that I created. My eye was attracted by the somewhat sweeping pattern of the vegetation. If I had gotten closer I would not have been able to include all of the plant behind the bird. I used the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 1000. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/250 sec. at f/5.6. With the rather fierce wind, I raised the ISO to ensure a fast-enough shutter speed. Fill flash at -1 1/3 stops with the Better Beamer. The most important thing to note as far as the image design is that I was careful not to clip the tallest bit of vegetation on our left. |
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| In this version, I eliminated the o-o-f vegetation in the u-r-c. Which version do you prefer? |
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| Here, note how I have carefully chosen my prespective to frame the Royal Tern against the sand. I made several images once I got into position but knew that this one, with the bird looking out of the frame (for the best compositional balance with the vegetation on my left), would be my favorite. Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/400 sec. at f/5.6. Fill flash at -1 1/3 stops with Better Beamer. |
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| This and the image below were created with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D MIII body. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/250 sec. at f/5.6. Fill flash at -1 1/3 stops with the Better Beamer. In this image, the bird's head is turned just a bit away from the imaging sensor. This head position is far from ideal. |
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| This image features a pretty much perfect head angle with the bird's head turned a very few degrees towards me. You need to be aware of the head angle before you press the shutter button! |
To learn more about proper head angle see the Head Angle Police thread on BirdPhotographers.Net here:Â http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=7781Â And while you are there, be sure to check out the other great tutorials in Educational Resources here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=30Â See you all soon.
Jeez, I keep forgetting to mention: if you will be visiting Fort DeSoto, do check out our Fort DeSoto Site Guide here: https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/category.aspx?catid=19.
April 5th, 2009 When I used film-yuck, yuck, and more yuck–I refused to photograph unless it was a clear sunny day. Now I pray for clouds and overcast. Digital outperforms film by light years in gloomy or cloudy bright conditions.  It is important to remember that if you are exposing to the right (as you should be) that the images on your camera’s LCD will look washed out and flat. That is exactly what you are aiming for. Two minutes in Photoshop and voila!Â
On the mornings of April 2 and April 3, I photographed at Fort DeSoto Park south of St. Petersburg, FL. On the first morning, conditions ranged from cloudy dark to cloudy bright with intermittent fog. The wind was from the south at 20+ mph. The next morning started out a bit brighter, again with strong south winds, but by 9:30am black thunderstorm clouds dominated, it began to rain heavily in short bursts, and the wind switched from south to southwest to west. Then I left :). I did have two large plastic trash bags that I used to cover my equipment when it rained heavily.Â
When working on light colored sand on cloudy days, every decent digital camera will require that light be added to the suggested meter reading to prevent underexposure. When the sun is not out, the meters are pretty dumb. How much + compensation that you will need depends on the brand, the model, and often on your individual camera. The trick is to create images with data in the fifth histogram box, the farther to the right without having any flashing (pegged) highlights, the better.  Â
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| Long-billed Curlew is uncommon at most Florida locations but can be seen reliably at Fort DeSoto. This image was created while I lay flat on the ground with the Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D Mark II. ISO 800 (I told you it was dark): Evaluative metering +1 /2/3 stops: 1/200 sec. at f/5.6. Most of the images in this series were deleted as a result of unsharpness due to subject movement, the relatively slow shutter speeds, and the inability of the camera to hold accurate focus in a situation that was virtually without contrast. |
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| The Laughing Gulls and the Royal and Sanwich Terns that are breeding on Egmont Key often perform various courtship behaviors on the beaches at DeSoto in April and May. These copulating Laughing Gulls were photographed with the Canon 800mm f/5.6 L lens and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/1000 sec. at f/6.3. Fill flash with the Better Beamer at -1 1/3 stops. When working in overcast conditions you do not have to worry much about using the proper sun angle, that is, having your shadow pointed at your subject. I was working a group of terns right in front of me when I noticed the male gull's telltale copulatory flapping off to my right. I did not have to move much to get the image that I wanted. |
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| Some tern species, most notably Roseate Tern, often show a pinkish blush on their breasts just prior to the breeding season. The Sandwich Tern in this image is about as bright as it gets. Canon 800mm f/5/6L IS lens with the 1.4X II teleconverter and the EOS-1D MIII. ISO 500. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/500 sec. at f/8. FIll flash at -1 1/3 stops with the Better Beamer. The trick to using fill flash is to get the right ambient exposure and then reduce the flash output so that the effects of the flash are barely noticeable. |
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| This is the original capture for the image above. When creating it, I positioned myself so that there would not be any merges of the two background birds with the subject. That accomplished, eliminating the o-o-f head and tail was easy work with a series of Quick Masks and some Patch Tool and Clone Stamp work. All of the above techniques (plus my complete digital workflow) are described in detail in the Digital Basics File: http://www.birdsasart.com/digitalbasics.htm. Advanced Quick Masking Techniques are detailed in APTATS: http://www.birdsasart.com/aptats.htm. |
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| Though this image was created with the 800 f/5.6 L with the 1.4X II TC, most of the terns and gulls at DeSoto are so tame that making images like this with a 300 or 400 lens and a 1.6X camera body is routinely possible provided that you get down on the ground and move slowly. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/9. Fill flash at -1 1/3 stops with the Better Beamer. To learn more about a Better Beamer or to order one, visit: http://www.birdsasart.com/accs.html#BEAMER. |
The images above were all created on Thursday morning. I will share some Friday morning images in my next post. I have to get ready for my upcoming Warbler Chase SUV trip wtih Chris Dodds. See here for the details on this new adventure: www.birdsasart.com/bn287htm.
April 2nd, 2009 When we set sail in the pitch dark from Gibsonton on the Hooptie Deux we could tell that it was a bit foggy.  When we got out to Alafia, it was quite foggy.  When things are not great, do not fall into the habit of wishing things were better. Think outside the box and try to make soup from a stone. Become a lover of what is. (Byron Katie: www.thework.com). Right off the bat, I decided to try and create some pleasing intentional blurs.Â
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| After we got out of the boat, I created this image with the tripod-mounted Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens and the EOS-1D Mark III after adding 2 2/3 stops of light to the exposure off the sky and setting it manually: 1/60 sec at f/5.6. ISO 400. |
As it was blowing pretty good and the tide was too high for the spoonbills to land on the mud flats or in the shallows as they usually do, we headed around to the lee side of the island.  I got lucky and caught this spoonbill just before it landed on a snag.
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| Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens with the EOS-1D Mark III handeld. ISO 400. 1/2000 sec at f/4. In situations when the sun is getting brigher one second, and then being blocked by a fog bank, getting the right exposure is tough. I worked in manual mode here, changing the shutter speed and aperture almost instinctively as the sun went in and out. |
There were lots of White Ibises flying overhead so I added the flash to light their undersides. One thing that folks need to realize is that with birds in flight, I am gonna be deleting well more than  90% of the images that I create.  I get rid of dozens and dozens of sharp flight images because the pose and/or the wing position are just not right. The image below worked well for me.
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| Canon 400mm IS DO lens handheld with the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 800. Evaluative metering + 2/13 stops (it was pretty foggy): 1/640 sec. at f/5.6. Fill flash with the Better Beamer at -1 stop. |
We had some good chances with Brown Pelicans carrying nesting material once the fog burned off. Tip: Don’t quit making images when the bird gets really close; you might get lucky as I did here.
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| Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens handheld with the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 400: 1/1600 at f/8 confirmed via histogram check. |
March 31st, 2009 BIRDS AS ART BULLETIN #287 is on line now. Click here for the great info and images: http://www.birdsasart.com/bn287.htm
I am headed to the west coast of Florida to do some photography and a program for the Fort Myers Camera Club on Saturday. You can find details, times, location, and directions here: http://www.ftmyerscc.com/
I am leaving at 4:45 am Wednesday for a morning on the Hooptie Deux with James Shadle, and Al and Fabs Forns. Will let you know how we do.
March 30th, 2009 When attempting to photograph erratic flight or action, I will often choose AAFPS, All AutoFocus Points Selected as in most cases this make it easier to track the bird or to maintain focus on two birds that are interacting. On my last trip with James Shadle on the Hooptie Deux, we were headed back to the dock at Gibsonton at about 10:15 am when we passed some feeding pelicans. I arose from my stupor and screamed, “Stop the boat!” James did and we spent almost an hour with the diving birds.  The neatest thing was that they stayed in a relatively small area, the area that held the school of bait!Â
James did a great job of keeping the boat in perfect position relative to the wind and the light.  After trying central sensor only for a while, I switched to AAFPS; with the 50D, this entails activating all 9 AF sensors.   Nikon users should try Dynamic in these situations.Â
If you would like to get out on Tampa Bay with James, try e-mailing him at james@wildflorida.net or james@birdphotographers.net.   James is the BAA Nikon Answer-Man and will be glad to answer your Nikon-related questions via e-mail. He takes dozens of folks out each spring aboard his photo-customized pontoon boat.  To learn more about James and his spoonbill trips, click here: http://www.wildflorida.net/.
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| Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens handheld with the EOS-50D. ISO 400. Evalutive metering +2/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/7.1 confirmed via histogram check. |
David Kennedy made that possible with a telephone lesson! Thanks David. David is a graduate student at the University of Missouri pursuing a masters degree in photojournalism. You can learn more about David here: http://www.david-kennedy.com/blog/?page_id=2 or check out his informative blog here: http://www.david-kennedy.com/blog/. Both David and Dad Keith (killer macro insects) are multiple IPT veterans and skilled photographers.
March 29th, 2009 We have had many requests recently to publish the settings that I use with my two Canon EOS-50D bodies so here goes. Bulletins readers will note that they are almost identical to the settings that I used with my Canon EOS-40D body. I have, however, added explanations here where applicable. While some of these settings are camera specific most are generic and a good read may yield some worthwhile info for Canon users and general and even for Nikon or other brand users as many of the options are similar.
Menu Items
(Shown for the most part only if settings are different from the default settings).
Red Menu 1.
Quality: RAW. All serious photographers should be using RAW capture.
Red-eye: Off. Turn this on only when photographing people in low light situations.
Beep: On. I find the focus confirmation beep helpful.
Shoot w/o card: Off. Setting this to “On” can only lead to disaster. Why not take advantage of idiot-proofing?
Review time: 8 seconds. This is entirely personal preference. As I use the vertical grip with the two batteries battery life is not an issue.
Peripheral illumination correction. I do not concern myself with this at all as it prevents vignetting only with JPEGs and is much more of a problem when using full frame cameras with long lenses and wide open apertures. Various methods of dealing with vignetting in both Photoshop and in ACR (during conversion) are covered–along with tons of other great techniques and info and our complete digital workflow–in our Digital Basics File. Learn more here: http://www.birdsasart.com/digitalbasics.htm
Red Menu 2.
Color Space: Adobe RGB.
Picture Style: Neutral, customized as follows: Sharpness: 3, Contrast: 0, Saturation: -1, Color Tone: +1. With the Sharpness set at 3, I have never encountered a situation where the image is over-sharpened after conversion. The settings for Saturation and Color Tone are brand new changes that I hope will deal with the Red/Magenta cast in some images. the +1 Color Tone setting adds more Yellow (and possibly less Red). Others have had large Red/Magenta color casts; I wonder what there settings here are? Another important point, unless you are using DPP or Breezebrowser to convert, these settings are meaningless as they only affect JPEG images. If you convert with DPP or Breezebrowser the Picture Style settings are applied. If you convert with ACR (or anything else) they are not applied.
Blue Menu 2.
Highlight Alert: Enable. Working without Highlight Alert Enabled is like buying a Corvette without an engine. Your goal should be to have just a very few flashing highlights with each image; this assures that you will be exposing to the right as you should be. JPEGs show more than RAW files and a few apparently overexposed pixels can easily be recovered during the conversion process.
AF Point display: Enable. This is strictly personal preference.
Histogram: RBG. While I use the RGB histogram all the time, it is most important to utilize it when creating images of colorful sunrises and sunsets. At such times, it is easy to over-expose the red channel; you must guard against this and you can do so by taking a good look at the Red channel on the histogram. Of course it would be a lot easier to read and evaluate the histograms on all Canon cameras if they would put a light colored border around the histogram (as I and others have been suggesting for several years at least).
Yellow Menu 1.
Auto Power Off: 30 minutes. Lots of folks set this at 1 minute or 2 minutes thinking that they will save their batteries. Over the course of a lifetime they would save about 2 cents worth of electricity while missing dozens of great images as they wait that fraction of a second for the camera to wake up. Even worse are those who turn the cameras off constantly to save battery power…
File Numbering: Continuous.
Auto Rotate: ON/computer. This allows me to see verticals full frame on the back of the camera but see them rotated (and therefore smaller) on the laptop.
Yellow Menu 2.
LCD Brightness: one notch below the brightest. Folks think that this may make the image look over-exposed. You need to be judging your exposures by looking at the histogram, not at the back of the camera. A bright setting here helps me to view the histogram in sunny conditions. Oh for that yellow box around the histogram…
Date/Time: Make sure that the date and the time are set accurately at all times even when you travel to new time zones. It will make various aspects of your photographic life simpler and easier.
Custom Functions (Shown only if settings are different from the default settings).
C Fn I-group (Exposure).
C Fn I-3/ISO Expansion: 1: On.
C Fn-I-6/Safety Shift: Enable (TvAv). This will keep you in the ballgame when working in Av or Tv mode in rapidly changing lighting conditions.
C Fn II group (Image).
C Fn II-1/Long exposure noise reduction. I leave this on all the time as it will kick in only for the long exposures (that usually only occur when I am creating scenics, bird scapes, or intentional wind or waterfall blurs.
C Fn II-2/High ISO noise reduction. I leave this on Standard because running NR with the higher ISOs does not reduce the size of the buffer anywhere near as much as it does with the EOS-1Ds Mark III. My gut feeling with this and the previous setting (C Fn II-1) is that in-camera NR is to be preferred to any other type of NR, either during or after conversion.
C Fn II-3/Highlight Tone Priority: Enable. As far as I know, there is no reason to leave this off as enabling it increases both highlight detail and dynamic range for tones lighter than a middle tone.
C Fn III group( Autofocus/Drive).
C Fn III-1/Auto focus/Drive/Lens may be helpful to some when photographing birds in flight at a relatively consistent distance. If there are birds flying close by and others at a distance, the lens will not even attempt to focus when switching from the close birds to the more distant subjects, so with C Fn III-1 set to 1: Focus search off, you will need to pre-focus manually in most cases. Why go to all this trouble? Once you have locked focus with C Fn-1:1 set, the AF system is supposed to be less likely to drop the subject and search for a different subject if the sensor momentarily falls off the subject. This was and is an important issue with the EOS-1D MIII bodies, but the 50D does such a good job of focus tracking that I rarely switch from the default setting, C Fn-1: 0.
(Folks interested in the details involved in setting up C-Fn III-1, C Fn IV-1 and C Fn IV-2 are referred to the Mark III User’s Guide: http://tinyurl.com/2pumhq<
C Fn III-2/Lens AF stop button function. I only recently began setting C Fn III-2: 2 when I had a problem while handholding my 400mm f/4 IS DO lens (especially for flight or action photography). The index finger of my left hand, which I use to support the lens barrel, would inadvertently press the focus stop button that is located just this side of the lens hood. (Others using this lens may or may not have this problem depending on how exactly how they hold the lens when handholding.) In any case, with C Fn III-2: 2 set, accidentally depressing the AF stop button will lock the exposure rather than stopping focus.
C Fn III-6/Mirror Lock which is enabled only when needed, most often with macro work and/or long exposures.
C Fn III-7/AF Micro-adjustment. I have been happy with the AF accuracy if my 50D that I have not found it necessary to perform these adjustments. Again, users who would like to learn to do there adjustments are referred to the MIII Users Guide: http://tinyurl.com/2pumhq
C Fn IV group (Operation/Others).
C Fn IV-1/Shutter Button/AF-ON Button: 1 Metering + AF start/AF stop. Inspired by Jim Neiger, I have been using this set-up for quite some time now but still do not have 100% confidence in it. It is sort of the opposite of the old CF-4-3 setting that I used to use on occasion and that some good photographers use full time. With C Fn IV-1 set to 1, I keep AF set to AI Servo AF. The shutter button controls metering and AF, If you press the shutter button you get the exposure data and as long as you keep the shutter button half-way down, AF will be active and the camera will focus track. Now here is the key with these settings: Rather than having to switch to One Shot AF for static subjects when you need to lock focus and recompose, you can focus on the bird’s eye and hold down the star button to lock focus. (Be sure to see the next item so that you understand why you are pressing the star button rather than the AF ON button.) Now you can recompose the image by shifting the lens as need be; the point of focus will not change as long as you keep your thumb on the star button. It takes some practice but can be quite useful.
C Fn IV-2/AE-ON/AE lock button switch: 1: Enable. The functions of the AE-ON button and the star button are switched. Now, whether you are using the star button as AF-ON or as AF-OFF (as with C Fn IV-1 immediately above) you do not have to arch your thumb to reach the AF-ON button. In addition, these functions were always assigned to the star button on previous cameras and the star button was has always been in the same position, just to the left of the AF Grid button.
March 28th, 2009 On Friday afternoon I enjoyed some more cloudy weather and before my walk and again had a few good chances with one of the local Ospreys. I have been trying to use ISO 8oo more with my 50D to check out the noise.  I am finding that the noise is best controlled by pushing the histogram as far right as possible (as I did here).Â
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| This Osprey was photographed with the handheld 400mm f/4 IS DO lens and the EOS-50D. ISO 800. Evalautive metering +2 stops off the sky: 1/2500 sec. at f/4 in Manual Mode. |
If you have previously been viewing distorted images, please let me know if this one looks OK. We are working on it <smile>.
I went out a bit this morning as the sun attempted to break through the clouds. I saw a flock of Wild Turkeys with two big toms displaying but they were in a horrific spot with cars and sheds in the BKGR so I drove away and scouted a bit. When I returned, they were in much better position.
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| This image was created with the Canon 70-200mmm f/4L IS lens handheld at 135mm. ISO 800. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/1600 sec. at f/4 in Av Mode. |
Tomorrow, by popular demand, I will be sharing the details of how I set up my Canon EOS-50D camera bodies. See you then.
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