What a Way to Wake Up & Learn Something New

I woke early and took my blood sugar: 111. I wandered into the kitchen and saw a grey lump on the floor. I turned on the lights and saw what I believe to be a Green Treefrog, native to Florida. From being in the kitchen all night, it was evenly light grey in color. Rather than have it die under the stove and stink up the joint, I opted to catch it and put it outside as I’ve done many times before. I almost caught him several times, but it was quite quick and slippery and very jumpy if you get my drift. So, I chased it around the kitchen for two minutes until I was finally successful. After opening the front door, I stuck it to the decorative section of stone wall where we have seen them before.

Out of curiosity, I took my blood sugar. In ten minutes, it had risen fourteen points to 125. As we all do when we wake up early, I wiped the sleep out of my eyes; suddenly, they began burning, seriously burning. I rinsed them with warm water and the irritation got worse. I tried eye drops but still they burned. I realized that there had to have been something on the frog’s skin that caused the irritation. I went back to the sink and rinsed both eyes with handfuls of warm water. Once I was able to see a bit, I got to my laptop and did a search for eye irritation after touching a tree frog and learned several things:

1- When you hold a tree frog it becomes afraid and urinates on you.

2- As you might have guessed by now, tree frog pee or the secretions from their skin can be irritating to our eyes making it become difficult to see temporarily.

3- If you are lucky enough to touch a tree frog and then rub your eyes, doing so poses no long-term harm to humans. Good to know. An hour later, my eyes were still burning, but at least I could see.

The Lesson

If you handle a tree frog, be sure to wash your hands afterwards 🙂

What’s Up?

All are invited to leave a comment letting us know which of today’s two featured images they like best, and why they made their choice.

Today is Friday 9 December 2022. This blog post took about an hour to prepare and makes two hundred fifty-seven days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

This image was also created on 3 December 2022 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Standing at the base of the small hill adjacent to the parking circle at the base of the pier. I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 400. 1/2000 sec. at f/3.2 (stopped down 1/3-stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 8:52:15am on a mostly sunny morning. Tracking: Spot (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed well by grabbing the bird’s upper neck. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Sandhill Crane dancing into north wind

High Level Question

In the Save Yourself From Too Many Images: Stringent Editing here, I posted this:

Why did I find it necessary to use Tim Grey Dodge and Burn to lighten the bird’s face and eye?

The question was so difficult that nobody played. Perfect head angles have everything to do with how the light strikes the bird’s face. With the dancing crane’s head angled perhaps one degree (or a bit less) away from us, the face was left somewhat in the dark. Many may think this picky, but the face was simply too dark as it was not illuminated as well as the rest of the bird.

When I use Tim Grey Dodge and Burn, I work with varying reduced opacities, usually 10 or 20%. This technique is detailed in Digital Basics II.

Another (Related) High Level Question

How can we know that the wind was coming from slightly over my left shoulder?

This image was created on the foggy morning of 5 December along the slope of the canal the abuts the South Peninsula down by the lake near my home at ILE. I used the no longer available Induro GIT 204 tripod/Levered-clamp FlexShooter Mini-mounted Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens with the Metabones Canon EF/EF-S Lens to Sony E Mount T Smart Adapter (Fifth Generation) and The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera body. ISO 1600: 1/1000 second at f/8 (stopped down 2 1/3 stops) in Manual Mode. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. The raw file brightness as determined by RawDigger was shown to be 1/3 stop too dark. Keep reading to learn why. AWB at 8::19:52am on a densely foggy morning. Manual focus with (red) focus peaking. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Image #1: Dew-covered spider web on breezy morning

My Favorite Spider Web Image

In The Whole New World of Digital: Dew-Draped Spider Webs here, my preference (by a small margin) was for the vertical image because the o-o-f droplets in the lower left corner helped move the viewer’s eye around the frame. Three folks agreed:

J Edwin Krug/December 7, 2022, at 10:28am

My preference is image #1; it draws my eye to the center of the web and the soft focus at the bottom left actually enhances the illusion of depth.

Ted

Anthony Ardito/December 7, 2022, at 1:53pm

I like image #1. The OOF lower left doesn’t bother me at all, and in fact provides some depth to the image.

Neil Hickman/December 7, 2022, at 7:24pm

Wonderful image. I prefer the extra depth in #1.

Bob Eastman, the recent league-leading commentor, liked the square version and asked several interesting questions as well.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.

Very Dewy Lessons

On a densely-foggy Monday morning past, the vegetation along the canal between the South Field and the South Peninsula was draped with many hundreds (no exaggeration) of dew covered spider webs. Tuesday morning dawned slightly foggy. I headed to the same spot expecting to see many hundreds of spider webs laced with droplets of dew. Not only was there no dew, but close examination revealed very few spider webs.

1- I learned that a little bit of fog just won’t dew it 🙂 I would assume that in addition to heavy fog at dawn, a specific combination of the overnight temperatures, the humidity, and the wind speed (not too high), are needed to create the magical conditions that I enjoyed on Monday morning. Can you say dew point?

2- I have no idea as to why there seemed to be fewer spider webs by a factor of one hundred on the morning without the dew. Do you?

What’s Up?

On Tuesday morning, photography was on the slow side. I created 281 images and kept only five, and one of those was for educational purposes only. Again, I spent many hours on the NANPA/ASMP issue and will be doing the same every day in the near future.

Today is Wednesday 7 December 2022. I will be heading down to the lake again this morning. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes two hundred fifty-five days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Today’s NANPA Tidbit

Via e-mail From Ron Levy

Beth Huning, Susan Day, et. al.,

Ron

This image was created on the foggy morning of 5 December along the slope of the canal the abuts the South Peninsula down by the lake near my home at ILE. I used the no longer available Induro GIT 204 tripod/Levered-clamp FlexShooter Mini-mounted Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens with the Metabones Canon EF/EF-S Lens to Sony E Mount T Smart Adapter (Fifth Generation) and The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera body. ISO 1600: 1/1000 second at f/8 (stopped down 2 1/3 stops) in Manual Mode. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. The raw file brightness as determined by RawDigger was shown to be 1/3 stop too dark. Keep reading to learn why. AWB at 8::19:52am on a densely foggy morning. Manual focus with (red) focus peaking. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Image #1: Dew-covered spider web on breezy morning

The Times They Have Changed

Many decades ago, a dew-covered spider web image created by John Shaw graced the cover of Natural History Magazine. The dew drops sparkled like diamonds and were set against a smooth, matte grey background. By e-mail, John remembered that the image was made with his Nikkor 200mm micro lens and Kodachrome 25 (Kodachrome 64 was his “high speed film”). He had no idea on the shutter speed and the aperture, but since he was working with ISO 25 film, it is easy to figure out several things:

1- He had stopped down at least a bit.

2- He had used a very slow shutter speed (most likely with a shutter release cable).

3- In addition to the foggy conditions that caused the dew, there had been zero wind that morning.

As I marveled at the hundreds of dew-covered webs on Monday morning, John’s classic image came to mind. My first thought was “It’s too breezy to make a good image.” But then I realized that I was using digital, and that digital offered almost unlimited ISO settings that would allow me to freeze the movement of the web and stop down a bit as well. So, I set up my macro rig and went to work. I wound up at ISO 1600: 1/1000 second at f/8. Thanks to the many miracles of digital photography (including Topaz DeNoise) I had 5 1/3 stops more ISO to work with.

I found a fairly flat dew-covered web with a fairly dark background. As the biggest challenge was getting the sensor square to the web, the tripod was moved many times. With focus peaking, the red in-focus overlay was shifting constantly as the web moved in the wind. I would shoot short bursts when the overlay covered the center of the web. Because the web was not perfectly flat, all of the images had one corner of the web that was beyond the range of the depth of field. With Image #1, the lower left corner fit that category. I am not sure if I like it as the viewer’s eye is moved around the frame by the shifting sharpness, or if I hate it because all of the dew drops are not sharp.

What do you think?

This is a square crop of the image above. Image #2: Dew-covered spider web on breezy morning — cropped to a square

The Square Crop Solution

To eliminate the out of focus dew drops in the lower left corner, I executed a square crop that moved the center of the web from the upper left to the lower left. There are still a few soft dew drops in the lower left corner but they are far less extensive than in image #1. One thing is for sure, on the next foggy morning I will not delay getting down to the lake!

Please leave a comment and let us know which of the two versions you like best and why you made your choice.

The Homer IPTs

If you are considering attending one of the great trips below, please contact me via e-mail and I will do my very best to make it happen.

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

2023 Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPTs

IPT #1: MON 20 FEB 2023 through the full day on FRI 24 FEB 2023. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 2.

IPT #2: SAT 25 FEB 2023 through the full day on THURS 2 MAR 2023. Six full days/24 hours on the boat: $6600.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

IPT #3: FRI 3 MAR 2023 through the full day on TUES 7 MAR 2023. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers. Openings: 2.

Save $1,500.00 by doing back-to-back trips. Save $2500 by doing all three trips.

These trips feature non-stop flight photography as well as many opportunities to create both environmental and point-blank portraits of one of North America’s most sought-after avian subjects: Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Other reliable subjects will include Sea Otter, Glaucous-winged and Short-billed (formerly Mew) Gulls.

In addition, we should see Common Murre, Black Guillemot, Pelagic Cormorant, two or three species of loons, and a smattering of ducks including two species of merganser, all three scoters, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, Harlequin, and Long-tailed Ducks. Close-range photographic chances for these species will require a ton of good luck. Some of these species, especially when in flocks, can, however, often be used effectively when creating bird-scapes.

If we need to be out early, we will be the first boat out. If conditions are great, we will stay out. And when there is a chance for sunset silhouettes, we will stay out and be in the right spot.

We will be traveling through gorgeous wilderness country; landscape and scenic opportunities abound.

Also featured is a professional leader, often referred to as the world’s most knowledgeable bird photography trip leader, who is conversant in Canon, Nikon, and Sony.

All images from Kachemak Bay in 2022!

What You Will Learn

You will learn practical and creative solutions to everyday photographic problems. You will learn to see the shot, to create dynamic images by fine-tuning your compositions, to best utilize your camera’s AF system, and how to analyze the wind, the sky conditions, and the direction and quality of the light. This is one of the very few trips Homer trips available where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun. You will learn to be a better photographer. But only if that is what you want.

You will learn to get the right exposure when it is sunny, when it cloudy-bright, when it is cloudy, when it is cloudy-dark, or when it is foggy. Not to mention getting the right exposure when creating silhouettes.

You will learn to make pleasing blurs working in manual mode and to create silhouettes working in Shutter Priority mode.

Most importantly you will learn to pick your best flight images from tens of thousands of images.

You will enjoy working with the two best and most creative boat captains on their sturdy, photography-spacious, seaworthy, open-deck crafts.

The second and third IPTs are the only Bald Eagle workshops that feature an incredibly helpful first mate.

Only five photographers (not the usual six), plus the leader.

Small group Photoshop, Image Review, and Image Critiquing sessions.

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

What’s Included

One four-hour or two two-hour(+/-) boat trips every day (weather permitting), all boat fees and boat-related expenses (excluding tips), ground transportation to and from the dock and back to the hotel each day, in-the-field instruction and guidance, pre-trip gear advice, small group post-processing and image review sessions, and a thank you dinner for all well-behaved participants. Airport pickup if possible)

What’s Not Included

Your airfare to and from Homer, AK (via Anchorage), the cost of your room at Land’s End Resort, all personal items, all meals and beverages, and tips for the boat captain and/or the first mate.

Please Note

On great days, the group may wish to photograph for more than four hours. If the total time on the boat exceeds 20 hours for the five-day trips, or 24 hours for the second trip, the group will share the additional expense at a rate of $225/hour.

Some folks may wish to rent their own vehicle to take advantage of local photographic opportunities around Homer.

Deposit Information

A $3000 non-refundable deposit/trip is required. You may pay your deposit with credit card or by personal check (made out to BIRDS AS ART) and sent via US mail only to Arthur Morris. PO Box 7245. Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Your balance, due 90 days before the date of departure, is payable only by check as above.

In Closing

I have been going to Homer off and on for close to two decades. Every trip has been nothing short of fantastic. Many folks go in mid-March. The earlier you go, the better the chances for snow. The only way to assure that you are on the best of the three trips is to sign up for all three. Can you keep up with me? If you have any questions, or are good to go for one, two, or all three trips, please let me know via e-mail or give me a call on my cell phone at 863-221-2372.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.

What’s Down?

I inadvertently forgot to hit publish after finishing this blog post on Saturday night! I am publishing it on Monday morning so that you can enjoy two posts today. Or whenever.

Photo Mechanic Screen capture: 15 keepers from an 819-frame morning photo session

The Need for Stringent Editing

With 20- and 30-fps mirrorless camera bodies ruling the roost for bird photography, if you do not learn to edit ruthlessly you will soon find yourself (and your hard drives) buried in digital images. I rolled by The Perch and the Vulture Trees early on and there was not much doing. I grabbed the 400mm f/2.8 GM lens and worked some cranes, first in the South Field and later on the parking lot hill. In between I had an adult eagle in a pine tree and two different preening Great Egrets. I need to get the Osprey image to FWC as it is in dire need of repair.

After the first edit, I had 23 images in the day folder. Those included several runs of similars. After a quick second edit, I was left with the fifteen images in the Photo Mechanic screen capture above. Before you scroll down, click on the screen cap to enlarge it and see if you can pick out my two favorites, the two images that I chose to feature in today’s blog post.

For the first edit, if I am not sure about an image, I keep it. For the second edit, I pick the best from each group of similars, and if I am not sure, it is deleted. The keeper rate for this morning’ session was less than 2%, 1.831505% to be exact.

What’s Up?

I made it down to the lake twice on Saturday. As you can see above, the morning was spent photographing the usual suspects. There was enough around that I did not create a single vulture image. There was a colorful, fog-muted sunset with no silhouette-able birds in sight.

Today was 🙂 Sunday 4 December 2022. I headed down to the lake early. This blog post took about two hours to prepare and makes two hundred fifty-two days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Brand-New and As-Good-As-Ever Bedfords BAA Discount Policy

Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, or to any prior purchases.

Money Saving Reminder

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would like to enjoy getting 3% back on your credit card along with free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex Air shipping, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and check the box for Free Shipping. That will automatically upgrade to free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The waitlists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard-to-get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a 1, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager to please.

Important Note

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the Amazon links on the blog (including the logo-link on the right side of each blog post page). My affiliate link works fine with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are — out of ignorance — using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

Today’s NANPA Tidbit

Early on in the Town Meeting, NANPA President Beth Huning, at the 12:06 mark, referring to the “agreement,” stated “it was not done behind closed doors.”
Had the board not been exposed, the agreement would have been completed in total secrecy. Perhaps Ms. Huning has a different understanding of what it means to do something behind closed doors.

If you would like an audio recording of this event, shoot me an e-mail. Apologies if you listen to the audio and hear a few muttered expletives.

This image was created on 3 December 2022 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Seated on wet grass I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 400. 1/2000 sec. at f/3.2 (stopped down 1/3-stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be 1/3 stop short of perfect. AWB at 7:46:27am on a sunny morning. Tracking: (Upper) Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed very well by grabbing the bird’s right eye. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Sandhill Crane facing torso portrait

The Search for Different

Living at Indian Lake Estates for 22 years now, I have created tens of thousands of images of Sandhill Cranes, yet I had never before made one very much like Image #1, _A1G8131. The birds began to walk right at me, probably out of curiosity. Upper Zone is my default AF location for photographing tall birds, so I rotated the lens to vertical and was amazed at how well the Tracking AF grabbed and held the bird’s eye. I liked and kept the next three frames, _A1G8139, _A1G8158, and _A1G8176. I created a series of more than 45 frames in seven seconds.

I liked _A1G8131 best because of the angled neck, the placement of the bird’s head in the extreme upper right of the frame, the cool look at the breast, and the incredibly smooth f/3.2 background. You gotta love the bokeh of the Sony 400mm f/2.8 GM lens. If you find yourself wishing that the bird’s breast was sharp, remember that stopping down enough to do that would have brought up tons of unwanted detail in the distant marsh.

During the post-processing a dark area below the bird’s tail was eliminated, the single feather that merged with bottom frame-edge was re-shaped, and most of the sand on the bird’s bill was removed. Using the mask feature in Topaz Sharpen AI, the head, face, and bill were sharpened.

This image was also created on 3 December 2022 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Standing at the base of the small hill adjacent to the parking circle at the base of the pier. I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 400. 1/2000 sec. at f/3.2 (stopped down 1/3-stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 8:52:15am on a mostly sunny morning. Tracking: Spot (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed well by grabbing the bird’s upper neck. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Sandhill Crane dancing into north wind

Lots of Work Here

As the two birds danced atop the hill, I had many chances, but with the fixed 400mm lens, every frame but one had clipped wings and feet and heads. Getting rid of the second bird in the frame took a lot longer than I thought it would. I began by using the Clone Stamp Tool and the Content-Aware Fill with the Divide and Conquer technique, but was not thrilled with the results. Next, was a horizontally flipped Quick Mask of the lower-left-corner that was used to cover part of the mess in the lower-right-corner. A large, very soft Clone Stamp Tool brush helped in that area. And last was a layer of 64.8-pixel Gaussian Blur painted in as needed via a Black (Hide-all or Inverse) Layer Mask.

This is a front-lit version of the dancing crane at sunset image in the AM & PM. 1200 & 200-600. What Excites Me 🙂 blog post here. The dancing poses are quite similar.

High Level Question

Why did I find it necessary to use Tim Grey Dodge and Burn to lighten the bird’s face and eye?

Your Call

Which of today’s two featured images is your favorite. Why? Which of the other 13 images in the screen capture do you like, if any?

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II). You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a PayPal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand. Be sure to specify Digital Basics II.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)

The techniques mentioned above and tons more great Photoshop tips and techniques — along with my complete digital workflow, Digital Eye Doctor Techniques, and all my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts — are covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.

Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here. Note: most of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.

You can learn how and why I converted all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. More recently, I became proficient at converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw. About three years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One and did that for two years. You can learn more about Capture One in the Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video here. The next step would be to get a copy of Arash Hazeghi’s “The Nikon Photographers’ Guide to Phase One Capture One Pro e-Guide” in the blog post here. Today, I convert my Sony raw files in Photoshop with Adobe Camera Raw.

You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.

Today’s NANPA Tidbit of the Day

NANPA Executive Director Susan Day wrote in a recent e-mail to me:

The other document (sic) that you requested (a copy of the agreement between NANPA and ASMP signed by both parties) is confidential, so I obviously cannot share them.

The message to NANPA Members here is very clear: Listen to information we presented at the Town Hall. Everything that we said is true. Oh, you want to see proof of that, the agreement in which we sold NANPA and its members down the river? Sorry, that is confidential. You’ll just have to believe us. We have nothing to hide. Nothing but the agreement.

Without access to the signed agreement between NANPA and ASMP, it is not possible for anyone to know the truth, to know what is really going on.

One wonders just what they are hiding.

What’s Up?

I made it down to the lake in the morning on both Thursday and Friday. Thursday was blustery with a strong north wind. Conditions on Friday were much better, but I did not come away with anything to brag about on either day. My Thursday sunset session was equally productive.

In the AM & PM. 1200 & 200-600. What Excites Me 🙂 blog post here, my favorite image by five miles was the dancing crane sunset silhouette. While I do like the Green Heron image, this one was a no-contest for me. Several folks disagreed.

Today is Saturday 3 December 2022. I will be heading down to the lake by 7:15am. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes two hundred fifty-one days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Brand-New and As-Good-As-Ever Bedfords BAA Discount Policy

Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, or to any prior purchases.

Money Saving Reminder

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would like to enjoy getting 3% back on your credit card along with free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex Air shipping, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and check the box for Free Shipping. That will automatically upgrade to free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The waitlists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard-to-get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a 1, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager to please.

Important Note

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the Amazon links on the blog (including the logo-link on the right side of each blog post page). My affiliate link works fine with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are — out of ignorance — using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

Image #1: Wind blocker set-up

Creating the Wind-shield Set-up

On a windy and drizzly morning, I had gotten out of my SUV to walk around the south end of the South Field hoping for some vulture or Osprey fly-bys. As I wandered, I noticed some small white blossoms in perfect condition. The flowers had a bit of a magenta tinge. I had the macro lens in the vehicle but wondered if I could deal with the wind and low light. First, I moved the car into position to block the north wind, but the flowers were still blowing around as the wind swirled under and around my X5. I looked in the trunk and in front of the rear row of seats for something to use a a wind blocker. The first thing that I found was an oddly-shaped piece of white plastic trash that I had picked up somewhere with the intention of throwing it out. I used the end of a lens bag to hold it in place, but still the tiny flowers shook. Next, I grabbed an extra tripod and two pillows and completed the wind-chill set-up. The most pristine flower was perfectly still. You can see that blossom just in front of the bottom of the plastic trash. The white pillows were a plus as they acted a bit like reflectors.

With all the FlexShooter heads, you can loosen the black lever and point the lens down by placing the stem of the black (outer) ball into the large cutout notch in the housing. It is best to do this with the silver knob and the tripod collar tightened. As there is very little play once the black lever is full tightened, it is fairly easy to get the lens on the flower. The you can loosen the silver know and/or the tripod collar to fine-tune your framing.

As I mention here often, much of nature photography involves problem solving in the field on an almost daily basis to deal with a great variety of always-changing conditions. Join me on an IPT to see exactly how that works.

This image was created on the morning of 24 November in the South Field down by the lake near my home at ILE. I used the no longer available Induro GIT 204 tripod/Levered-clamp FlexShooter Mini-mounted Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens with the Metabones Canon EF/EF-S Lens to Sony E Mount T Smart Adapter (Fifth Generation) and The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera body. ISO 800: 1/125 second at f/6.3 (stopped down 1 2/3 stops) in Manual Mode. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial and was determined by RawDigger to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 7:42:30am in the shade of my body on a clear morning just after sunrise. Manual focus with (red) focus peaking. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Image #2: aster (species?) blossom

Rice Button Aster?

After consulting my wildflower guides, the best I could come up with is Rice Button Aster (Symphyotrichum dumosum). Roger Hammer’s Complete Guide to Florida Wildflowers states: The 1/2 to 3/4″ flower heads have white to lavender rays and yellow disks.

I do have a (pretty bad) cell phone image of the whole plant that shows the leaves; if you might be able to help with the ID, please get in touch via e-mail.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.

Results of the NANPA Referendum calling for, in part, that the board put the question of joining with ASMP to a vote of the members

NANPA Tidbit of the Day

Most– probably well more than two of the 2 1/2-hour NANPA (Members-only) — supposed Town Hall session were spent extolling the virtues of both NANPA’s and ASMP’s leaders and boards. Not a single NANPA member got to speak or ask a question. Attendees were repeatedly told how great things would be, of all the great benefits they would now enjoy, and how dedicated, hard-working, skilled, wonderful, honorable, well-intentioned, and virtuous were the folks who set this “agreement” up in secret behind their member’s backs.

Near the very end, after answering dozens of carefully selected, hand-picked softball questions while ignoring many dozens of pointed questions that had been posted by the opposition, NANPA President Beth Huning said, and I quote exactly:

Oh, I found it. I found it. And this is gonna be a kind of general answer, uh, because there are a lotta specifics and there’s not a lotta time to do into the details, but one of the questions had to do with the fact that we recognize that a Referendum has been proposed by a group of members. Um, and the question had to do with when the board um, will address it. Uh, and, I just wanted everybody to realize that before this Refer … Referendum was presented, the agreement with ASMP had already been signed. And so, this Referendum came in after the signing of the agreement. And so the board is wrestling now with how to address it. But we have 45 days to figure that out. And so we may not get you an answer right away, and we are in a transition with ASMP we recognize that those concerns are out there. There are — is a vocal group that doesn’t like this and were not gonna be able to please everybody. But at the same time we have a lotta members that have been clamoring for the kinds of benefits that we’ve been talking about here today.

This is what she was actually saying to the 95% of the NANPA membership: “We do not care what you say or think. We say that the deal is done, therefore, it is done; who are you to question that? We will continue to evade and stall just as we have been doing for months.”

What’s Up?

On Wednesday, I got down to the lake twice, once in the morning, and then again at sunset. I enjoyed two fairly productive sessions. I was glad to learn that multiple IPT-veteran Mike De Rosa was the first to sign up for the Spoonbill MINI IPT. See yesterday’s blog post for details.

Today is Thursday 1 December 2022. This blog post took about two hours to minutes to prepare and makes two hundred forty-eight days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

This image was created on 11 November 2022 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from my SUV, I used the BLUBB--supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 1000: 1/1000 sec. at f/8 (wide open). When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be 1/3 stop too dark. AWB at 8:07:16am on a clear mostly sunny morning. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Green Heron–adult on The Perch with crest raised

What Excites Me? (I)

Making a decent image of a new species on The Perch excites me. As Green Herons are generally quite skittish, I slapped the 2X TC onto the 600 f/4, put the rig on the BLUBB- after making sure that the Direct Manual Focus switch was set to OFF, and approached very cautiously while limiting my movement. I stopped more than 160 feet (48.89 meters) from the subject. Image #1 is a small proportionate crop from the top and bottom left.

Your Call

Which of today’s two featured images do you like best? Why?

This image was created on 11 November 2022 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. While seated on the grass, I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 426mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 5000. 1/1000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 5:46:57pm right at sunset on a mostly cloudy afternoon. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead-solid perfect with the center of the sun ball over-exposed just a bit. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection produced a sharp image. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Sandhill Crane at sunset dancing with dead grasses

What Excites Me? (II & III)

Finding something good at the very end of a session excites me. As does having something photographically amazing unfold right in front of me. I headed down to the lake at 5:12pm in hopes of creating some sunset silhouettes. It was a stormy afternoon with large dark clouds covering most of the sky, but I hoped that I might get lucky as there was a bright orange bit of clear sky on the southwest horizon right where the sun would be going down. At this time of year, there are often big flocks of Icterids flying around late in the day and groups of wading birds flying into the nighttime roost in the reeds. But not last night.

I headed down to the vulture trees and almost stopped for a 70-200 sunset scenic with three cranes in the foreground with lots of trees in the background. As the sun had just come out from the lowest layer of clouds, the contrast would have been too great, so I made a U-turn and headed to the South Field. As the sun was getting ready to disappear at the end of the day, I came across two cranes. So, I grabbed the 200-600 and scrambled to get on the ground for some crane silhouettes. I made a very few images when the one of the cranes picked up some dried grasses and began dancing with the other bird. Several times I needed to get up and move left or right and get back down to place the action right in front of the color. I created more than 100 images in about two minutes. All but one of them sucked and were deleted instantly.

Serendipity counts for a lot in nature photography. But the fact is that I kept trying. And once the magic happened in front of me, I was able to adjust the camera settings and come up with a single sharp, nicely-framed image with a workable exposure. BTW, many good images were deleted because I was too greedy and did not zoom out enough to avoid clipping wings and feet.

San Diego IPT #1 Late Registration Discount

Please shoot me an e-mail if you would like to the San Diego IPT #1 Late Registration Discount. Note that due to a cancellation, there is now a single opening on San Diego #2.

This all-new card includes images created on my JAN 2022 visit to San Diego. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (nesting) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Ducks; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Northern Shoveler and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heermann’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others are possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions (both depending on the current regulations and restrictions). And as you can see by studying the IPT cards, there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Not to mention a ton of excellent flight photography opportunities and instruction.

Please note: where permitted and on occasion, ducks and gulls may be attracted (or re-located) with offerings of grains or healthy bread.

San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Learning Exposure, Whether You Like It Or Not

Whether you like it or not, we will be beating the subject of exposure like a dead horse. In every new situation, you will hear my thoughts on exposure along with my thoughts on both Nikon and Canon histograms and SONY Zebras. Whether you like it or not, you will learn to work in manual mode so that you can get the right exposure every time (as long as a bird gives you ten seconds with the light constant). Or two seconds with SONY zebras … And you will learn what to do when the light is changing constantly. What you learn about exposure will be one of the great takeaways on every IPT.

Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT, there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

It Ain’t Just Pelicans

With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography as well, often with 70-200mm lenses! And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You will be guided as to how to make the best of those opportunities. Depending on the weather, the local conditions, and the tides, there are a variety of other fabulous photo chances available in and around San Diego.

The San Diego Details

These IPTs will include four or five 3-hour morning photo sessions, three or four 1 1/2-hour afternoon photo sessions, and three or four working brunches that will include image review and Photoshop sessions. On rare cloudy days, we may — at the leader’s discretion, stay out in the morning for a long session and skip that afternoon. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. And so that we can get some sleep, dinners will be on your own as well. In the extremely unlikely event that Goldfish Point is closed due to local ordinance (or whimsy) — that has never happened in the past fifty years, I will of course do my very best to maximize our photographic opportunities.

San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Deposit Info

A $699 deposit is required to hold your slot for one of the 2022/23 San Diego IPTs. You can send a check (made out to “BIRDS AS ART”) to us here: BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855, or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, is due three months before the trip.

Getting Up Early and Staying Out Late

On all BIRDS AS ART IPTS including and especially the San Diego IPT, we get into the field early to take advantage of unique and often spectacular lighting conditions and we stay out late to maximize the chances of killer light and glorious sunset silhouette situations. We often arrive at the cliffs a full hour before anyone else shows up to check out the landscape and seascape opportunities.

What’s Up?

I did not make it down to the lake yesterday morning because I had many hours of work to do on the NANPA/ASMP non-merger. I hope to get down this morning as it is slated to be the first clear sunrise in weeks.

Today is Tuesday 29 November 2022. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes two hundred forty-seven days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Brand-New and As-Good-As-Ever Bedfords BAA Discount Policy

Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, or to any prior purchases.

Money Saving Reminder

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would like to enjoy getting 3% back on your credit card along with free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex Air shipping, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and check the box for Free Shipping. That will automatically upgrade to free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The waitlists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard-to-get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a 1, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager to please.

Important Note

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the Amazon links on the blog (including the logo-link on the right side of each blog post page). My affiliate link works fine with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are — out of ignorance — using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

Apples and Oranges. Night and Day

Today’s two featured images are as different as night and day. Selecting your favorite image is like comparing apples and oranges, not to mention Canon versus Nikon.

This image was created on 16 January 2018 on a San Diego IPT. I used the handheld Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 338mm) and the EOS-1DX Mark II. The exposure was determined via histogram and blinkies review. ISO 800. 1/500 sec. at f/10 (stopped down 1 2/3 stops). AWB at 8:40:29am on a partly sunny morning. AF Method unknown. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1 — Brown Pelican — non-breeding Pacific-race resting

The Image Clean-up

As this image was created after an over-night rain, very little clean-up was needed. There were two tiny bits of bird poop that were eliminated.

A Color Mixer Video

I absolutely need to begin assembling images so that I can prepare a Color Mixer Video, not only for the BLUEs, but for all colors. This powerful tool allows you to fine-tune the color in your images. In Image #1, using the BLUE Saturation and Luminance sliders brought the ocean background to life.

Color Question

Do the dark tones of the belly feathers have a red color cast?

Depth of Field Question

Considering that I was stopped down almost two full stops, why is there no detail at all in the ocean background???

This image was created on January 28 at La Jolla, CA on a San Diego IPT. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the mega mega-pixel Nikon D850 DSLR.. Shutter Priority Mode +1.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 30 sec. at f/6.3. AWB at 7:15:34am just before the sun came over the hill to the east/northeast. Center Group/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Photo Illustration: Brandt’s Cormorant pre-dawn blur.

Your Call

Which of today’s completely different featured images do you like best? Why?

Today’s NANPA/ASMP Tidbit

538 NANPA members have voted Yes on the Referendum. NANPA leadership is, of course, stalling.

NANPA is conducting a Town Meeting for members only today. I am on record as believing that it will be a complete sham and that none of the questions below, the questions on everyone’s mind, will not be answered honestly.

Questions for the NANPA Town Meetings

1- When will NANPA be sharing a signed copy of the agreement with the membership? This simple step would enable everyone involved to know the truth, to know exactly what is going on and what they might expect in the future.

2- By what authority did the board enter this agreement without the approval of this agreement (or whatever it is)?

3- What provisions are there in NANPA’s Articles and Bylaws permitting the board to take such action.

4- Why has NANPA hidden and refused to share the Board Meeting minutes for the last six months, the minutes that supposedly approve the NANPA/ASMP deal and the alleged Non-disclosure agreement?

5- Why did the President, the Executive Director, and the board attempt to do this deal in complete secrecy? Why did they choose darkness over light?

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.

What’s Up?

I spent an hour down by the lake on a foggy Sunday morning. And photographed only vultures.

Today is Sunday 27 November 2022. As I have five tons of work to do, I may not have time to head down to the lake. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes two hundred forty-five days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Photoshop Ethics and Morality Discussion & Answers

What should you do or not do in Photoshop? As far as I am concerned, you can do whatever you like to create an image that makes you happy. You are the artist and there are no rules or laws governing what you do with your images. Period.

That’s about it for the discussion segment. Now I will address several of the comments in the Eliminating the Orange Bill Blur. And More Eye Doctor Work blog post here.

Bob Eastman/November 25, 2022 at 2:07pm

BE: While it is a nice improvement in my mind, I ask myself how in the world does one get to be sharp on the eye and face and the beak area and with the the rest of the bird all blurred out as shown without some sort of Photoshop skills.

AM/BAA: On rare occasion, really skilled folks can get the head and eye sharp with shutter speeds as slow as 1/15 second. I’ve done it on occasion. To accomplish that, you need to match the speed of the bird in flight with your panning speed. That done, you need a bit of luck. In the Western Gull flight blur, the eye was relatively sharp but the bill and the hind neck were blurred significantly. As there are no laws on the books that prohibit repairing such blurs, I opted to eliminate the orange blur above the bill and re-shape the back of the head. Not to mention re-crafting the eye skin and then adding back the color. Why did I go that route? Because the final image was much stronger and made me happy. Several folks agreed strongly that the final REDO was a big improvement. As you know, I would never enter this image in most of the major contests where such image clean-up is prohibited.

In addition, you do need some Photoshop skills to process your images. And that is equally true for those who consider themselves purists.

BE: It’s like a composite or doctored photo.

AM/BAA: It surely is a doctored image. But it is not a composite. You create a composite by adding a part of one image to another. And again, there are no laws that prohibit either doctoring and image of creating a composite. By the way, I prefer to use the work “optimizing” rather than “doctoring.”

BE: One could say that about every photo shot in raw in a way as you need to move the sliders to create what you saw in your mind and to please you. (All sic).

Still love ya Artie, Always with love b

AM/BAA: Remember that when creating raw files you want to expose well to the right and thus, many of your raw files will appear washed out. Thus, even purists need to move the sliders in order to create a decent looking image. The major contests all permit adjustments to brightness, contrast, and color as long as they are done globally (to the whole image) rather than selectively (to part or parts of the image). Personally, I think that the “global only” restrictions are ridiculous. Folks who truly understand exposure theory as detailed in the Art of Bird Photography would agree. They understand that WHITEs require one stop less light than Middle-tones and that BLACKs and Dark tones need 2/3- to 1-stop more light than Middle-tones (to be properly exposed).

Thanks as always for leaving a comment. See you in Anchorage!

with love, a

Jeff Walters/November 25, 2022 at 2:35pm

JW: I like your corrected version much better and now enjoy this blur.

AM/BAA: Thanks, Jeff. I agree.

JW: I totally agree with Bob’s observations about the blur shot and his overall comments. The “where do you draw the line?” Should we capture nature/life unaltered? How much technical stuff is fair game? And, who sets those rules or guidelines? To each his own, I suppose.

AM/BAA: You hit the nail on the head when you wrote, To each his own, I suppose.. As noted above there are no laws and there are no rules except when you enter a contest.

Here is a good spot for my comments on purists. Purist nature photographers state that they never change anything in their photographs, that they are depicting exactly what they saw in nature. Purists shooting properly exposed raw files that look good right out of the camera are usually under-exposing their images by 1/3 to two or more full stops. Purists shooting JPEGs, however, can achieve their goal.

But here is the rub: once you remove even a speck of a cigarette butt from your grand landscape you are no longer a purist. The line there is very sharp, once you remove anything you are on the slippery slope and I do not want to hear a peep from you. It’s like being pregnant, either you are or you aren’t.

Furthermore, when considering the blurred Western Gull image, I would say that the raw file depicts a pleasingly blurred image of a Western Gull in flight, and that the optimized image epicts a pleasingly blurred image of a Western Gull in flight. The optimized image is just that much prettier.

JW: I know Art you usually point out your touch ups, but I’d guess not always, as your are loving (and we are too) your pursuit of art in your pictures and cleaning up an image or background, etc., makes an image more visually appealing to us all.

AM/BAA: Thanks, Jef. And you are correct. When image clean-up is minimal I will rarely mention it.

JW: If I had all the tools and your technical skills I’m positive I’d be doing the same and probably wondering just how far I could move the pyramids to make a striking shot.

AM/BAA: Understood Jeff. As far as moving the pyramids, I am guessing you are referring to a long ago National Geographic cover. I my memory is correct, the magazine got in trouble for actually moving the pyramids in a film image so that the image design would work as a cover. Many decades ago I had a film image of Canada Geese and the Twin Towers with pink sunset skies that was being considered as NG cover art to accompany an article on nature in NYC. It was rejected because it did not work as a cover vertical. 🙁

JW: Your standards are appreciated and well noted by almost all of your admirers.

AM/BAA: Many thanks and much love, Jeff.

JW: Artie — Happy Day after Thanksgiving. May His Blessings never cease to be poured out over you and all of the BAA community. Much love from the Walters family.

AM/BAA: Thanks, Jeff, and back at you. a

This image was created on 8 January 2022 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Standing at full height, I used the no-longer available Induro GIT 304L tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +1.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 400: 1/2500 sec. at f/8 (wide open). When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dad-solid perfect. AWB at 5:28:11pm with a clear sunset. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: the Camera Raw screen capture at the default setting for the Great Egret silhouette flaring in flight image

The Original

Image #1 accurately represents the unprocessed raw file. Sony Tracking Zone AF is quite remarkable even at 1200mm — it allowed me to create the composition that I wanted with the bird perfectly placed in the right side of the frame headed to our left. And the bird is as sharp as the proverbial tack.

The few sharp reeds in the lower right were distracting to me because distinctly sharp elements drag the viewer’s eye from the subject. The reeds were accidentally sharp as they were right on the same plane as the subject and the fast shutter speed prevented them from being blurred. In addition, I did not like the too-bright areas in the lake in the center of the image above the lower frame edge.

This image was created on 8 January 2022 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Standing at full height, I used the no-longer available Induro GIT 304L tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +1.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 400: 1/2500 sec. at f/8 (wide open). When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dad-solid perfect. AWB at 5:28:11pm with a clear sunset. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1A: Great Egret silhouette flaring in flight

The Optimized Image

The colors and tones in the optimized image are pretty much identical to the colors and tones of the original. I used both the Patch Tool and Content-Aware Fill to eliminate the sharp reeds and and all of the blurred reeds that I felt were distracting. I used Tim Grey Dodge and Burn to darken the bright areas of water in the middle of the frame.

As most if not all prestigious photography contests prohibit removing anything from the original frame, I would never even think of entering the the optimized image in one of those. Not to mention that I gave up entering such contests many years ago.

Summing up what I wrote above, the raw file depicts a Great Egret flaring in flight at sunset, and the optimized image depicts a Great Egret flaring in flight at sunset. In almost all cases, I strive to maintain the natural history of an image no matter how much clean-up was done. And when I don’t, I make sure to let everyone know.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II). You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a PayPal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand. Be sure to specify Digital Basics II.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)

The techniques mentioned above and tons more great Photoshop tips and techniques — along with my complete digital workflow, Digital Eye Doctor Techniques, and all my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts — are covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.

Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here. Note: most of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.

You can learn how and why I converted all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. More recently, I became proficient at converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw. About three years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One and did that for two years. You can learn more about Capture One in the Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video here. The next step would be to get a copy of Arash Hazeghi’s “The Nikon Photographers’ Guide to Phase One Capture One Pro e-Guide” in the blog post here. Today, I convert my Sony raw files in Photoshop with Adobe Camera Raw.

You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.

This all-new card includes images created on my JAN 2022 visit to San Diego. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (nesting) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Ducks; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Northern Shoveler and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heermann’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others are possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions (both depending on the current regulations and restrictions). And as you can see by studying the IPT cards, there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Not to mention a ton of excellent flight photography opportunities and instruction.

Please note: where permitted and on occasion, ducks and gulls may be attracted (or re-located) with offerings of grains or healthy bread.

San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Learning Exposure, Whether You Like It Or Not

Whether you like it or not, we will be beating the subject of exposure like a dead horse. In every new situation, you will hear my thoughts on exposure along with my thoughts on both Nikon and Canon histograms and SONY Zebras. Whether you like it or not, you will learn to work in manual mode so that you can get the right exposure every time (as long as a bird gives you ten seconds with the light constant). Or two seconds with SONY zebras … And you will learn what to do when the light is changing constantly. What you learn about exposure will be one of the great takeaways on every IPT.

Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT, there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

It Ain’t Just Pelicans

With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography as well, often with 70-200mm lenses! And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You will be guided as to how to make the best of those opportunities. Depending on the weather, the local conditions, and the tides, there are a variety of other fabulous photo chances available in and around San Diego.

The San Diego Details

These IPTs will include four or five 3-hour morning photo sessions, three or four 1 1/2-hour afternoon photo sessions, and three or four working brunches that will include image review and Photoshop sessions. On rare cloudy days, we may — at the leader’s discretion, stay out in the morning for a long session and skip that afternoon. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. And so that we can get some sleep, dinners will be on your own as well. In the extremely unlikely event that Goldfish Point is closed due to local ordinance (or whimsy) — that has never happened in the past fifty years, I will of course do my very best to maximize our photographic opportunities.

San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Deposit Info

A $699 deposit is required to hold your slot for one of the 2022/23 San Diego IPTs. You can send a check (made out to “BIRDS AS ART”) to us here: BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855, or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, is due three months before the trip.

Getting Up Early and Staying Out Late

On all BIRDS AS ART IPTS including and especially the San Diego IPT, we get into the field early to take advantage of unique and often spectacular lighting conditions and we stay out late to maximize the chances of killer light and glorious sunset silhouette situations. We often arrive at the cliffs a full hour before anyone else shows up to check out the landscape and seascape opportunities.

What’s Up?

I got back down to the lake on a foggy Thursday morning, but for birds, it was not as good as Wednesday had been. I found and photographed two different species of wildflowers. Once in a flower mood, I photographed a perfectly gorgeous orchid blossom. The plant had been wired to a magnolia branch by the nice lady who lives in the in the “vulture house.” The vulture house is the last one on Banyan Drive, right before the canal. I had fun and made some very nice images.

The Giants put up a good fight in the first half but wound up as the Dallas Cowboys/ Thanksgiving Turkeys. Bummer, but the Cowboys are simply a much better team.

Today is Friday 25 November 2022. It is foggy again and I will be headed down to the lake at about 7:30am. This blog post took about an hour to prepare and makes two hundred forty-three days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

This image was created on 18 January 2018 on a San Diego IPT. I used the handheld Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 241mm) and the EOS-1DX Mark II. Shutter Priority +1.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 400: 1/15 sec. at f/9 (stopped down 1 1/3 stops). AWB at 7:03:15am on a cloudy morning well before the sun came of the hill. AF Method unknown. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1 — the first optimized version of the Western Gull in-flight blur image

I Almost Deleted This One

In the Almost Deleted This One. And the Mother of Invention blog post here, I wrote:

What Bugged Me?

From the start, one thing bugged me about today’s image. It could have been eliminated during the post processing. If you think that you know what it is, please leave a comment.

The first to nail the answer:

Joel Eade/November 23, 2022 at 9:14 am

I think perhaps the thing that bugs you a bit is the yellow patch on top of the bird’s head created by the blurring of it’s bill.

Jim Amato and David Pugsley mentioned the dark area on the (secondary coverts) of the near wing, just in front of the gull’s feet.

The second and third folks to come up smelling roses:

Anthony Ardito/November 23, 2022 at 5:37pm

The bill blur above the bill bugged you. I think the image is beautiful!

Elinor Osborn/November 23, 2022 at 2:17 pm

I agree with Joel. Anyway that blur from the beak does bug me. Otherwise it’s a very beautiful image.

This image was created on 18 January 2018 on a San Diego IPT. I used the handheld Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 241mm) and the EOS-1DX Mark II. Shutter Priority +1.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 400: 1/15 sec. at f/9 (stopped down 1 1/3 stops). AWB at 7:03:15am on a cloudy morning well before the sun came of the hill. AF Method unknown. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Western Gull in-flight blur REDO

The REDO

I had barely noticed the the dark area on the near wing; it was eliminated in two seconds using the Patch Tool. The orange blur above the bill was fixed with a large Quick Mask refined by a Regular Layer Mask. The edges were touched with the Clone Stamp Tool at 60% Opacity. That done, the white blur above the hind neck looked unnatural; that was eliminated in the same manner. Next came additional Eye Doctor — sharpening the eye selectively with Topaz Sharpen AI at reduced Opacity and restoring the red color of the eye skin. Working large, the eye skin was selected with the Quick Selection Tool and the color was restored with the Paint Bucket Tool. Last was some work on the dark streaks in front of the bird done with the Patch Tool, Content-Aware Fill, and smoothed a bit with a Gaussian Blur.

What do you think?

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II). You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a PayPal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand. Be sure to specify Digital Basics II.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)

The techniques mentioned above and tons more great Photoshop tips and techniques — along with my complete digital workflow, Digital Eye Doctor Techniques, and all my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts — are covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.

Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here. Note: most of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.

You can learn how and why I converted all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. More recently, I became proficient at converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw. About three years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One and did that for two years. You can learn more about Capture One in the Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video here. The next step would be to get a copy of Arash Hazeghi’s “The Nikon Photographers’ Guide to Phase One Capture One Pro e-Guide” in the blog post here. Today, I convert my Sony raw files in Photoshop with Adobe Camera Raw.

You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.

This all-new card includes images created on my JAN 2022 visit to San Diego. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (nesting) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Ducks; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Northern Shoveler and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heermann’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others are possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions (both depending on the current regulations and restrictions). And as you can see by studying the IPT cards, there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Not to mention a ton of excellent flight photography opportunities and instruction.

Please note: where permitted and on occasion, ducks and gulls may be attracted (or re-located) with offerings of grains or healthy bread.

San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Learning Exposure, Whether You Like It Or Not

Whether you like it or not, we will be beating the subject of exposure like a dead horse. In every new situation, you will hear my thoughts on exposure along with my thoughts on both Nikon and Canon histograms and SONY Zebras. Whether you like it or not, you will learn to work in manual mode so that you can get the right exposure every time (as long as a bird gives you ten seconds with the light constant). Or two seconds with SONY zebras … And you will learn what to do when the light is changing constantly. What you learn about exposure will be one of the great takeaways on every IPT.

Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT, there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

It Ain’t Just Pelicans

With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography as well, often with 70-200mm lenses! And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You will be guided as to how to make the best of those opportunities. Depending on the weather, the local conditions, and the tides, there are a variety of other fabulous photo chances available in and around San Diego.

The San Diego Details

These IPTs will include four or five 3-hour morning photo sessions, three or four 1 1/2-hour afternoon photo sessions, and three or four working brunches that will include image review and Photoshop sessions. On rare cloudy days, we may — at the leader’s discretion, stay out in the morning for a long session and skip that afternoon. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. And so that we can get some sleep, dinners will be on your own as well. In the extremely unlikely event that Goldfish Point is closed due to local ordinance (or whimsy) — that has never happened in the past fifty years, I will of course do my very best to maximize our photographic opportunities.

San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Deposit Info

A $699 deposit is required to hold your slot for one of the 2022/23 San Diego IPTs. You can send a check (made out to “BIRDS AS ART”) to us here: BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855, or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, is due three months before the trip.

Getting Up Early and Staying Out Late

On all BIRDS AS ART IPTS including and especially the San Diego IPT, we get into the field early to take advantage of unique and often spectacular lighting conditions and we stay out late to maximize the chances of killer light and glorious sunset silhouette situations. We often arrive at the cliffs a full hour before anyone else shows up to check out the landscape and seascape opportunities.

What’s Up?

Despite spending several hours work on the alleged NANPA/ASMP merger, I finished the slide program for yesterday’s B&H Event Space program with plenty of time to spare. The program went off smoothly and I received several complimentary e-mails.

Today is Wednesday 23 November 2022. The forecast for ILE this morning is calling for cloudy with a north wind. It’s been that way for six days, but has been getting warmer. I had the heat on last weekend for the first time this season; last night I needed the AC. I will be heading down to the lake for a quick look. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes two hundred forty-one days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Almost Deleted This One

This image was created on 18 January 2018 on a San Diego IPT. I used the handheld Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 241mm) and the EOS-1DX Mark II. Shutter Priority +1.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 400: 1/15 sec. at f/9 (stopped down 1 1/3 stops). AWB at 7:03:15am on a cloudy morning well before the sun came of the hill. AF Method unknown. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. a magnified look at the face of the bird in the Western Gull in-flight blur image

Looking for Good Ones

While reviewing San Diego image folders from previous years for the Event Space program, I found many wonderful images that had not been optimized. During that process, however, I deleted many sub-par images to create space on my laptop. When I viewed today’s featured image in Photo Mechanic, it looked rather blah and the bird was too centered. I liked the blurred background and the beautifully blurred wings. But the face and the eye looked too blurred. I was ready to hit the delete key when I decided to zoom in on the eye.

This image was created on 18 January 2018 on a San Diego IPT. I used the handheld Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 241mm) and the EOS-1DX Mark II. Shutter Priority +1.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 400: 1/15 sec. at f/9 (stopped down 1 1/3 stops). AWB at 7:03:15am on a cloudy morning well before the sun came of the hill. AF Method unknown. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Photoshop screen capture of a magnified look at the face of the bird in the Western Gull in-flight blur image

Why I Kept It

When I zoomed in on the eye, I was surprised to see that it was fairly sharp with very little motion- or pan-blurring. I thought that it might make a nice image with the colors juiced up, a small crop from the top and bottom left (to move the bird slightly forward in the frame), and a little Eye Doctor work.

So, I decided to keep and optimize the image. Note that you can see the slider settings that I used to convert the raw file with Adobe Camera Raw.

This image was created on 18 January 2018 on a San Diego IPT. I used the handheld Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 241mm) and the EOS-1DX Mark II. Shutter Priority +1.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 400: 1/15 sec. at f/9 (stopped down 1 1/3 stops). AWB at 7:03:15am on a cloudy morning well before the sun came of the hill. AF Method unknown. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Western Gull in-flight blur

The Optimized Image

I am glad that I did not delete this one. Had I pushed the shutter button a fraction of a second earlier, I would have enjoyed more of the aqua/blue/green streaks behind the bird. But I might not have loved the flight pose and the degree of blurring on the wings.

The Mother of Invention

As I mentioned in last night’s program, when the light levels get really low, necessity often becomes the mother of invention. If you want to create sharp images in ultra-low light, you will need to compromise on shutter speeds while still working with ridiculously high ISOs, perhaps 128,000 or 256,000. By opting to try to create some pleasing blurs, you are still in the game. Note 400 ISO for today’s image. The only other option is to not photograph. In the mornings, it would mean standing there doing nothing, and in the evenings, it would entail quitting and getting home early.

What Bugged Me?

From the start, one thing bugged me about today’s image. It could have been eliminated during the post processing. If you think that you know what it is, please leave a comment.

Your Call

Would you have kept this image or deleted it? Why or why not?

A Guide to Pleasing Blurs

Learn everything there is to know about creating pleasingly blurred images in A Guide to Pleasing Blurs by Denise Ippolito and yours truly. This 20,585-word, 271-page PDF is illustrated with 144 different, exciting, and artistic images. The guide covers the basics of creating pleasingly blurred images, the factors that influence the degree of blurring, the use of filters in creating pleasing blurs, and a great variety of both in-the-field and Photoshop techniques that can be used to create pleasingly blurred images.

Artie and Denise teach you many different ways to move your lens during the exposure to create a variety of pleasingly blurred images of flowers and trees and water and landscapes. They will teach you to recognize situations where subject movement can be used to your advantage to create pan blurs, wind blurs, and moving water blurs. They will teach you to create zoom-blurs both in the field and during post-processing. Artie shares the techniques that he has used and developed for making blurred images of flocks of geese in flight at his (formerly) beloved Bosque del Apache and Denise shares her flower blur magic as well as a variety of creative Photoshop techniques that she has developed.

With the advent of digital capture creating blurred images has become a great and inexpensive way to go out with your camera and have fun, especially when there is not much light. And while many folks think that making successful blurred images is the result of being a sloppy photographer, nothing could be further from the truth. In “A Guide to Pleasing Blurs” Artie and Denise will help you to unleash your creative self.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II). You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a PayPal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand. Be sure to specify Digital Basics II.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)

The techniques mentioned above and tons more great Photoshop tips and techniques — along with my complete digital workflow, Digital Eye Doctor Techniques, and all my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts — are covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.

Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here. Note: most of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.

You can learn how and why I converted all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. More recently, I became proficient at converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw. About three years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One and did that for two years. You can learn more about Capture One in the Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video here. The next step would be to get a copy of Arash Hazeghi’s “The Nikon Photographers’ Guide to Phase One Capture One Pro e-Guide” in the blog post here. Today, I convert my Sony raw files in Photoshop with Adobe Camera Raw.

You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.

NANPA Tidbit of the Day

Jaime Konarski Davidson clicked on this link in the Important Announcement from NANPA e-mail that NANPA sent to the membership yesterday and left this short comment that succinctly explains why so many NANPA members are very upset:

Obviously, I am vehemently opposed to this merger. Even more, I am beyond disappointed in how it all came to be IN SECRET. Announcing this merger to the membership without notice and rushing it all through just shows me how little respect you all have for the mission of NANPA and all of its members. The members (“governing members”) should be given ALL THE FACTS and background, pros and cons to this “joining of forces”. The membership should have a VOTE in this matter. Shame on all of you.

I am 100% against this merger and am ashamed, once again, for the manner in which this has been handled.

What Can You Do?

NANPA members, prospective NANPA members — I have heard from many such folks, and anyone who simply cares about what’s right and wrong in the world can comment by clicking on this link. Again, you do not need to be a NANPA member to comment. Please help.

What’s Up

After I hit Publish on yesterday’s blog post, I headed down to the lake with my photography gear for the first time in more than two weeks. It was cloudy and dark with a north by slightly west wind and there was not much going on. I photographed some pine tree bark with the 600mm f/4 and some vultures in flight with the handheld 70-200 f/2.8 GM II. I tried, but the results were lacking. When I saw ten cranes socializing on the South Peninsula, I drove over to chat with them. I tried but failed to make an interesting group shot. Knowing that the wind was from the north, I stayed ahead of them as they walked toward the marsh. When most of them took off, I had several decent flight chances. Today’s featured image was the best of the lot.

It began raining just before I got home at about nine It turned out to be one of the darkest, dreariest, ugliest, windiest days I’ve ever seen. Anywhere. Fortunately, I saw the weather through my office window as I sat snug and warm watching the NFL for most of the day. I got lots accomplished on the NANPA situation and on Tuesday’s Event Space Program.

Today is Monday 21 November 2022.This blog post took less than an hour to prepare and makes two hundred thirty-nine days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Brand-New and As-Good-As-Ever Bedfords BAA Discount Policy

Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, or to any prior purchases.

Money Saving Reminder

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would like to enjoy getting 3% back on your credit card along with free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex Air shipping, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and check the box for Free Shipping. That will automatically upgrade to free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The waitlists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard-to-get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a 1, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager to please.

Important Note

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the Amazon links on the blog (including the logo-link on the right side of each blog post page). My affiliate link works fine with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are — out of ignorance — using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

This image was created on 20 November 2022 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 175mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras. ISO 5000: 1/1250 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:08:15am on a cloudy dark morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead-solid perfect. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Sandhill Crane calling in flight

ISO 5000 Is No Big Deal Anymore

By exposing to the right (in this case by a mile, probably +3 stops on the sky alone), and running Topaz DeNoise as the first step once you bring a converted .TIF file into Photoshop, ISOs ranging from 5000 to 12800 (and even higher) can yield very useable results. The latest greatest mirrorless camera bodies from the top manufacturers lead the league in high ISO performance.

As the cranes are relatively slow in flight, I went with only 1/1250 sec. If I’d opted for 1/2000 second, I would have needed ISO 8000. At 1/3200 second, the aforementioned ISO 12800 would have given me the right exposure.

I chuckle when I think back to the film days when we were thrilled to learn that we could push process Fuji Velvia 50 one stop to ISO 100. With that, we could use 1/500 sec. for flight on sunny days! The times they have changed.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.