Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Stuff

I will be away for almost a month while leading the 2018/2019 Falklands land-based IPT. I should be back in the office (and back in the pool) on the afternoon of Monday, January 14, 2019. Happy new year! I should have good internet access until Friday December 21 and then again on the weekend of January 12/13. I will surely not be online from December 23-27 and then again from January 4-7. I may or may not have limited internet access at other times.

Jim and Jen will be in the office weekdays to help you with your online orders and with IPT registrations.

I was thrilled recently to learn that first-timer Shonagh Adelman of Chattanooga, TN signed up for the 2019 Puffins and Gannets and Red Kites IPT. As he is the first registrant, we need three more for the trip to go. I am counting on it and hope for a sellout with ten plus the two leaders; there are lots of puffins and gannets. 🙂

I still need three or four folks for the Galapagos trip. If you would like to explore the possibilities, please get in touch via e-mail. No reasonable offer will be turned down.

• 2019 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) SUN JAN 20, 2019 thru and including the morning session on THURS JAN 24: 4 1/2 days: $2099. (Limit: 10/Openings: 4) Introductory Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the evening before the IPT begins: THURS, 6 DEC.
• The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 2.
• The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Steve currently has several D850s in stock along with a Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. He is taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.

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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.

This image was created on my last morning at Snow Hill Island, Antarctica, October 27, 2018, on the Emperor Penguin expedition. I used the Induro GIT 204/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and my souped up Nikon D850. ISO 500. Matrix metering at about +1 1/3 stops: 1/1250 sec. at f/13. NATURAL AUTO WB at 10:55 am on a sunny morning with just a wisp of clouds in front of the sun. It was bright down there! Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune value: -2. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Center AF point/Single AF Area Mode/AI Servo AF was locked by holding down the AF-On button after focusing on the eye of the closest chick. Emperor Penguin adult grooming chick

The Situation

I moved right as much as I could to get close to sun angle. But as the rope protecting the colony angled away from us behind and to our right it was not possible to get right on sun angle. What do you think about the shadows of the two chicks?

Focus Lock with Nikon

I have the AF-On button set to AE/AF lock on my D5. As the D850 does not offer that option, I have the AF-On button set to AF lock on both my D850 bodies. I much prefer the former. Above I wrote, Center AF point/Single AF Area Mode/AI Servo AF was locked by holding down the AF-On button after focusing on the eye of the closest chick. To make that point clear, I first focused on the eye of the lower chick and then pressed and held the AF-On button down to lock the focus. In effect, I was using rear button focus but for the fact that I needed to hold the AF-On button down. When I wanted to make an image, I simply pressed the shutter button. Everything was fine as long as the lower chick did not change its position.

A Common Error

Whether you are using focus lock, or more commonly rear button focus, it is absolutely imperative that the camera not move after the focus is set. If you are hand holding without the lens completely braced, the movement of your body, even the movement caused when you breathe, is more than enough to throw off accurate focus. Best is to be on a tripod working with static subjects (as I was doing when I created today’s featured image). Being on a monopod does not really offer much help as your body moving even ever-so-slightly will move the monopod and the lens and throw off the focus. If you are not on a tripod and are using rear button focus or focus lock, the next best option is to be seated and using the knee-pod technique with your right 100% braced against movement. If you are free standing it is much better to select an AF point that will give you a sharp photo and keep AF active at the moment of exposure. If you opt not to do that as when you wish to create an image where the subject is way off center, you had better do your best to remain stock still. As insurance, re-focus after each frame while trying to remain still.

The Lesson

It is best to avoid using rear button focus or focus lock when hand holding. Working off a solid tripod is best. If you must focus and recompose while hand-holding, do your best to hold the lens completely still and in place to avoid throwing off accurate focus. And do take multiple images re-focusing and re-composing each time.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

I will be away for almost a month while leading the 2018/2019 Falklands land-based IPT. I should be back in the office (and back in the pool) on the afternoon of Monday, January 14, 2019. Happy new year! I should have good internet access until Friday December 21 and then again on the weekend of January 12/13. I will surely not be online from December 23-27 and then again from January 4-7. I may or may not have limited internet access at other times.

Jim and Jen will be in the office weekdays to help you with your online orders and with IPT registrations.

I was thrilled recently to learn that first-timer Shonagh Adelman of Chattanooga, TN signed up for the 2019 Puffins and Gannets and Red Kites IPT. As he is the first registrant, we need three more for the trip to go. I am counting on it and hope for a sellout with ten plus the two leaders; there are lots of puffins and gannets. 🙂

I still need three or four folks for the Galapagos trip. If you would like to explore the possibilities, please get in touch via e-mail. No reasonable offer will be turned down.

BIRDS AS ART B&H Essential Gear Bags

BIRDS AS ART B&H Essential Gear Bags

Click here or on the logo-link above to check out some great B&H year-end deals in the category that best suits you and your photography.

The iPhone Photography e-Guide If you missed the long-awaited announcement yesterday, click here to learn about Cliff Oliver’s great new iPhone e-Guide. To order your copy of the The iPhone Photography e-Guide, please click here. The PDF is sent link by e-mail for downloading: the file is relatively huge at 216 MB.

2019 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) SUN JAN 20, 2019 thru and including the morning session on THURS JAN 24: 4 1/2 days: $2099. (Limit: 10/Openings: 4) Introductory Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the evening before the IPT begins: THURS, 6 DEC.

The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 2.

The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.

The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

BPN Mods

Among the BirdPhotographers.Net Avian moderators are some of the very best bird photographers in the world. In today’s blog post, enjoy some of their best work. And let us know which of the three featured images would win your bird photography contest. In addition, be sure to check out the fine work of some of our other Avian mods including David Salem and Randy Stout.

If you click on the links to each of today’s featured images and read the comments you will realize two things:

1- More than anything, BPN is a community of friends with similar interests.

2- BPN is a place to get honest critiques done gently.

If you surf around a bit you might enjoy some of the other Forums and the same sense of community that is present in each of them. My BPN streak is still alive: I have commented on every image posted in the Avian Forum since August 8, 2018. That despite being away for three weeks on the Emperor Penguin expedition. It did take me a while to catch up on those images!

This image was created by BPN Avian moderator Stu Bowie. He used the hand held Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the EOS 1D Mark IV (now replaced by the rugged, blazingly fast Canon EOS-1D X Mark II.) ISO 800. 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3. Incoming Grey Heron/Photo courtesy of and copyright 2018: Stu Bowie This is my reposed version of the image that Stu posted on BPN — link below Click on the image to see a larger version.

Stu Bowie/Grey Heron

You can check out Stu’s original post (and image) in the BPN thread here. Which version do you like best? Stu lives in Centurion, South Africa.

This image was created by BPN Avian moderator Isaac Grant. He used a tripod-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the rugged, blazingly fast Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. See the BPN post here. for additional details and the comments of others. First-winter Dunlin Photo courtesy of and copyright 2018: Isaac Grant Click on the image to see the larger version.

Isaac Grant/First-winter Dunlin

Here is what I had to say about this wonderful image:

Killer, killer bird and image; everything is perfect. Ditto all other positive comments here. Can you age it?

What can I say? I love shorebirds. I love soft light. I love low perspectives. I love perfect poses, head angles, and image designs.

You can see what others had to say here.

This image was created by BPN Avian super-moderator Dan Cadieux. He used the hand held Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the often maligned Canon EOS 7D Mark II. See the BPN post here. for additional details and comments from the peanut gallery. Female Pine Grosbeak Photo courtesy of and copyright 2018: Daniel Cadieux Click on the image to see the larger version.

Dan Cadieux/female Pine Grosbeak eating crab apples

Here is what I had to say about this wonderful image:

Though the males rock and the male that you posted was outstanding, this one is beyond the beyond amazing. Too bad that ISO 1600 and the 7D Mark II suck. Not in your hands!

I’d add that the soft light and the impeccable framing put this one way over the top for me.

You can read the rest of the accolades here.

This image was created by long-time BPN Avian moderator with the hand held (yes, hand held) Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR AF lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and the Nikon D850. See the BPN post here. for additional details and comments by BPN members and some of our other great Avian Mods. White-tailed Kite midair interaction Photo courtesy of and copyright 2018: Arash Hazeghi Click on the image to see the larger version.

Arash Hazeghi/White-tailed Kite midair interaction

Here is what I had to say about this wonderful image on BPN:

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! Center Group (grp) AF Area Mode?

(The answer to my question was “yes, and then a crop.” That is what I figgered. 🙂

Arash swears that the Nikon D5 is better than the D850 for Af and flight photography but when he posts images like this made with the D850 I like to bust him on that. See what the rest of the gang had to say here.

You Be the Contest Judge

Which of today’s four featured images would you put in first place?

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

I will be away for almost a month while leading the 2018/2019 Falklands land-based IPT. I should be back in the office (and back in the pool) on the afternoon of Monday, January 14, 2019. Happy new year! I should have good internet access until Friday December 21 and then again on the weekend of January 12/13. I will surely not be online from December 23-27 and then again from January 4-7. I may or may not have limited internet access at other times.

Jim and Jen will be in the office weekdays to help you with your online orders and with IPT registrations.

I was thrilled recently to learn that first-timer Shonagh Adelman of Chattanooga, TN signed up for the 2019 Puffins and Gannets and Red Kites IPT. As he is the first registrant, we need three more for the trip to go. I am counting on it and hope for a sellout with ten plus the two leaders; there are lots of puffins and gannets. 🙂

I still need three or four folks for the Galapagos trip. If you would like to explore the possibilities, please get in touch via e-mail. No reasonable offer will be turned down.

• 2019 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) SUN JAN 20, 2019 thru and including the morning session on THURS JAN 24: 4 1/2 days: $2099. (Limit: 10/Openings: 4) Introductory Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the evening before the IPT begins: THURS, 6 DEC.
• The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 2.
• The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The iPhone Photography e-Guide If you missed the long-awaited announcement recently, click here to learn about Cliff Oliver’s great new iPhone e-Guide. To order your copy of the The iPhone Photography e-Guide, please click here. The PDF is sent link by e-mail for downloading: the file is relatively huge at 216 MB.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Steve currently has several D850s in stock along with a Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. He is taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.

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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.

This image was created on the Fort DeSoto Fall IPT. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E III, and the 9fps mega mega-pixel Nikon D850. ISO 400. Matrix metering +2/3 stop: 1/1600 sec. at f/11. AUOT2 WB at 10:53am on a pretty much sunny morning. One up and to the right of the center/Group (grp)Shutter Button C (AI Servo in Canon) AF was active at the moment of exposure. The array was centered on the base of the black crest. AF Focus Peaking Fine-tune -5. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Royal Tern crest

Nikon TC-E20

Here I am working on this blog post in the Holiday Inn Airport Hotel. And I just realized that I left the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E III at home on the shelf in the garage. As this image looks more than fine in terms of sharpness and image quality and ever fine feather detail I think that I need to re-consider my position with regards to the Nikon 2X III …

You Always Have to See the Bird’s Eye

You Always Have to See the Bird’s Eye. Not! While it is a general guideline that we need to be able to have a good, clean look a bird’s eye if we wish to create a successful avian image. And that is generally even more true if the eye is fully open. But as today’s featured image shows, all rules are meant to be broken. The crest of a Royal Tern is a thing of beauty — that is what caught my eye and prompted me to push the shutter button and created this somewhat out-of-the-box rear view with neither of the bird;s eyes anywhere in sight. What do you think?

The Lesson: I

If you frame up something out of the ordinary do not be afraid to push the shutter button just because it does not fit into any conventional boxes. You just might come up with something quite different and quite extraordinary.

The Lesson: II

When the light is relatively harsh think long focal lengths along with clean, tight, and graphic. And be absolutely sure to work right on sun angle for best results.

Dust Detector Levels Adjustment

Dust Detector Levels Adjustment

With this image, stopped down one full stop to f/11, there were some fairly large visible dust spots. I figured that there might very well be lots of smaller dust spots that needed to be dealt with. To reveal all the dust spots in cases like this or when you will be making a large print, open a Levels layer and pull the Highlight slider to the left to about the center. This will move the mid-tone slider to the left. Now move the mid-tone slider back to the right without making the overall image too dark. Voila! You will easily be able to see all the dust spots. Now click on the background copy and get to work removing the dust spots. If there are not too many, you can use the Spot Healing Brush. If there are lots, try this:

1- Using the Lasso Tool (set to Add to Selection), circle each dust spot.
2-Then hit Shift Delete (Content Aware Fill) and hit Enter. No more dust spots.
3-Drag the Levels layer into the trash. You are done.

If you know a similar way to reveal dust spots, feel free to share it by leaving a comment.

From left to to right clockwise back to the center: Brown Pelican, Roseate Spoonbill downstroke, Brown Pelican sunrise silhouette, Double-crested Cormorant pre-dawn blur, Roseate Spoonbill flapping after bath, Brown Pelican taking flight, Roseate Spoonbill taking flight, Reddish Egret white morph breeding plumage in flight, and Reddish Egret dark morph breeding plumage in flight. All images on this card were created by me on the Hooptie Deux at Alafia Banks on the February 2018 trip. You can click on each card to enjoy a larger version.

2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

3 1/2 days on the boat including four morning photo sessions and three afternoon sessions via customized pontoon boat.

Price per day Reduced from the 2018 rates! Please e-mail for details on IPT veteran and couples’ discounts. Pro-rated options may be available …

We will be leaving the dock very early for the morning sessions (weather permitting) in hopes of photographing the pre-dawn American Crow and White Ibis blast-offs. All sessions are planned for the Alafia Banks Roseate Spoonbill Rookery. We might consider other options in the unlikely event of horrific weather. There will be lots of opportunities for flight photography of several species including and especially Roseate Spoonbill. Also likely for flight photography are nesting Brown Pelican, both morphs of Reddish Egret, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, White and Glossy Ibises, and Double Crested Cormorant. We should have some good chances with birds carrying nesting material. This IPT includes all boat and guide fees, in the field instruction, chest waders (feel free to bring your own of course to assure a perfect fit), and three working lunches on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. For the most part we will be standing in mid-calf to knee high water behind our tripods. We help you get in and out of the boat with your gear. This is likely not the best trip for folks with mobility or balance problems. Note however that some folks opt to stay on the boat to photograph. They usually have lots of chances for flight photography of spoonbills and other species but are almost always pretty far away from the spoonbills that land.

All images on this card were created by me on the Hooptie Deux at Alafia Banks

The Timing and Tides are Perfect!

I recently saw a similar trip advertised two months too late for breeding plumage spoonbills … The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT represents an incredible opportunity to photograph Florida’s most wanted species. I do hope that you can join us. There will be a meet and greet at 7:00pm sharp on the evening of Friday February 15, 2019. All of the images on the card were made on the Hooptie Duex during the last two weeks of February, prime time for the spoonies in mega-breeding plumage. Many folks have written expressing interest so please do not tarry.

Please e-mail to hold your spot. Then you may either secure your spot by calling Jim or Jennifer at the office at 863-692-0906 and leaving the $500 deposit on credit card or sending your check for payment in full to us as follows with the check made out to:

BIRDS AS ART and sent here via US mail:

BIRDS AS ART
PO BOX 7245
Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855

If you call to leave your deposit you will be asked to mail your check for the balance no later than December 15, 2018.

Images courtesy of our guide; copyright 2017 Captain James Shadle (aka Froggie). All of the images here were created at Alafia Banks. Card creation and design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.

Everybody Loves Spoonbills!

Roseate Spoonbill is one of if not the most sought after avian photographic subjects in Florida. They are generally hard to find and somewhat difficult to approach. They are relatively easy to find at Alafia Banks—heck, you can’t miss seeing them, but even there they can on some days be somewhat difficult to approach. On some days we may be able to get ridiculously close to them. The huge incentive to get out to Alafia Banks in mid-February is the chance to photograph this species at the height of its spectacular breeding plumage…. with long telephoto lenses. A 500 or 600 with a 1.4X TC is perfect for this trip.

Mornings to Alafia Banks for spoonbills and Brown Pelicans (with lots of flight photography often with the birds likely carrying nesting material), Double-crested Cormorants, ibises (both Glossy and White) in breeding plumage. Some of the White Ibises may be sporting their spectacular, distended, red, naked (un-feathered) throat pouches—typically larger in the females. In addition we may get to photograph egrets including Great and Reddish, both in full breeding plumage, shorebirds, and more. There will be lots of flight photography opportunities. Afternoon trips will most likely be back to Alafia Banks for the spoonbills with an option to visit a more sheltered inland rookery location for a variety of nesting birds. In the event of horrific weather artie will either take the group to Fort DeSoto or will conduct an extensive image review/Photoshop session. This IPT includes lunches on the full days with small group image sharing and review and some over-the-shoulder Photoshop instruction.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

I will be away for almost a month while leading the 2018/2019 Falklands land-based IPT. I should be back in the office (and back in the pool) on the afternoon of Monday, January 14, 2019. Happy new year! I should have good internet access until Friday December 21 and then again on the weekend of January 12/13. I will surely not be online from December 23-27 and then again from January 4-7. I may or may not have limited internet access at other times.

Jim and Jen will be in the office weekdays to help you with your online orders and with IPT registrations.

I was thrilled recently to learn that first-timer Shonagh Adelman of Chattanooga, TN signed up for the 2019 Puffins and Gannets and Red Kites IPT. As he is the first registrant, we need three more for the trip to go. I am counting on it and hope for a sellout with ten plus the two leaders; there are lots of puffins and gannets. 🙂

I still need three or four folks for the Galapagos trip. If you would like to explore the possibilities, please get in touch via e-mail. No reasonable offer will be turned down.

• 2019 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) SUN JAN 20, 2019 thru and including the morning session on THURS JAN 24: 4 1/2 days: $2099. (Limit: 10/Openings: 4) Introductory Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the evening before the IPT begins: THURS, 6 DEC.
• The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 2.
• The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

BIRDS AS ART B&H Essential Gear Bags

BIRDS AS ART B&H Essential Gear Bags

Click here or on the logo-link above to check out some great B&H year-end deals in the category that best suits you and your photography.

The iPhone Photography e-Guide If you missed the long-awaited announcement yesterday, click here to learn about Cliff Oliver’s great new iPhone e-Guide. To order your copy of the The iPhone Photography e-Guide, please click here. The PDF is sent link by e-mail for downloading: the file is relatively huge at 216 MB.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Steve currently has several D850s in stock along with a Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. He is taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.

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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.

This image was created at Coronado, California on the 2016 San Diego IPT with the hand held Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 280mm), and the Canon EOS 7D Mark II. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -1/3 stop: 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 in Av mode. Color Temperature: 8000K. Left Large Zone AF/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure (as is always best when hand holding). The AF system activated two AF points by the near the bird’s rear leg. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Willet sunset silhouette

Sunset Silhouette Shorebird Tips and Opportunities …

If you are in the habit of staying at the beach until the sun sets do consider the following:

• 1-The more gentle the surf the more good opportunities you will have. You are more likely to lose the bird’s head against dark parts of the image if there are lots of waves.
• 2-Light clouds or fog on the western horizon usually bode well for sunset color …
• 3-Low tide usually leaves long stretches of smooth clean sand the will reflect the sunset colors.
• 4-Those colors will almost always be richest if you are directly opposite the sun or the spot where the sun went down.
• 5-Be patient: the best colors may occur 20-30 minutes after the time of sunset.

On most San Diego IPTs we usually enjoy at least two evenings of shorebird and gull sunset silhouette opportunities.

DPP 4 Willet sunset silhouette Screen Capture

DPP 4 Willet sunset silhouette Screen Capture

The brightest highlights when I opened the RAW file in DPP 4 to convert it were on the right side of the image where the sun hit the water. The original RGB #s there were 255, 255, 227. By underexposing the image one full stop by moving the Brightness slider to the left to -1, I got those down to 254, 244, 194. Next I moved the Highlight slider to -2 I got down to 254, 240, 184. Note that the image overall is much too dark. But I wanted to try to control the brightest highlights.

Once I brought the image into Photoshop, I used a Curves Adjustment to lighten the middle tones by pinning the curve by putting three points along the top right (the highlights) and three points along the bottom left (the dark tones) and then pulling up the curve in the middle. Then a small pano crop from the bottom and the image was good to go.

Canon 7D Mark II

There are still lots of folks around making great images with the 7D II — can you say Daniel Cadeux? New folks here should know about the 7D Mark II User’s Guide and Canon AF Settings for Birds in Flight. You can check out all of our camera user’s guides here. If I live long enough I will publish a D5/D850 guide …

The San Diego Site Guide

If you would like to learn all the great spots in and around San Diego and La Jolla, get yourself a copy of the BAA San Diego Site guide here. It is the next best thing to being on an 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. 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 all of those opportunities. And depending on the weather and local conditions and tides, there are a variety of fabulous photo chances available in and around San Diego.

Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter? Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

The San Diego Details

This IPT will include five 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, four 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, four lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. An so that we can get some sleep, dinners will be on your own.

A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 3385, or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 10/11//2018. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

Variety is surely the spice of life in San Diego. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

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 land/sea-scape opportunities.

This image was created in San Diego, CA with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the simply amazing, astounding, mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 500. Evaluative metering -2/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 in Av mode. AWB. 61-Point (Automatic selection)/AI Servo/Shutter Button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure (as is always best when photographing moving subjects). Though the optimized image above was a healthy crop from the original the result was a high quality 148+ MB 16-bit file. Click on the image to see a larger version. The AF system selected two AF points, one above the other, between the two birds;the eye of the bird on our right is razor sharp. Clarke’s X Western Grebe courtship rush

The Dancing Grebes Add-On. FRI JAN 25, 2019: $399.

Those registering for the 2019 San Diego IPT might wish to join me for the Dancing Grebe Add-On Morning as above. Please read the details carefully. You will need to wade at least mid-thigh deep with your tripod over an uneven bottom. Lightweight chest waders are advised. Long lenses are needed; a 100-400 will not cut it at this spot, even with a TC. Chances at this location (easily accessible from the IPT hotel), vary from day to day so there will be no guarantees. But when those grebes dance, it can be an amazing rush. We may also enjoy chances to photograph both species, Western and Clarke’s Grebes, at fairly close range.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

I will be away for almost a month while leading the 2018/2019 Falklands land-based IPT. I should be back in the office (and back in the pool) on the afternoon of Monday, January 14, 2019. Happy new year! I should have good internet access until Friday December 21 and then again on the weekend of January 12/13. I will surely not be online from December 23-27 and then again from January 4-7. I may or may not have limited internet access at other times.

Jim and Jen will be in the office weekdays to help you with your online orders and with IPT registrations.

I was thrilled recently to learn that first-timer Shonagh Adelman of Chattanooga, TN signed up for the 2019 Puffins and Gannets and Red Kites IPT. As he is the first registrant, we need three more for the trip to go. I am counting on it and hope for a sellout with ten plus the two leaders; there are lots of puffins and gannets. 🙂

I still need three or four folks for the Galapagos trip. If you would like to explore the possibilities, please get in touch via e-mail. No reasonable offer will be turned down.

• 2019 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) SUN JAN 20, 2019 thru and including the morning session on THURS JAN 24: 4 1/2 days: $2099. (Limit: 10/Openings: 4) Introductory Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the evening before the IPT begins: THURS, 6 DEC.
• The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 2.
• The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The iPhone Photography e-Guide If you missed the long-awaited announcement recently, click here to learn about Cliff Oliver’s great new iPhone e-Guide. To order your copy of the The iPhone Photography e-Guide, please click here. The PDF is sent link by e-mail for downloading: the file is relatively huge at 216 MB.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Steve currently has several D850s in stock along with a Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. He is taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.

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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.

This image was created by BPN member Alex Becker with the tripod-mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens and the Nikon D500. ISO 800: 1/2000 second at f/7.1. Image #1: Chickadee species Image courtesy of and copyright 2018: Alex Becker

Alex Becker/Small in the frame chickadee

Alex is a relatively new BPN member who is very active in the Avian Forum. His small-in–the-frame chickadee image is beautifully done. Alex does a lot of his photography at feeder set-ups. BPN members are asked to let folks know when they are working around feeders, otherwise baiting their subjects, or attracting them with water or audio. I have long believed in truth in posting lest begging photographers think “How does this guy get so lucky so often?” You can see all the comments on this image here.

This image was created by BPN member Dorian Anderson with the hand held Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800: 1/3200 second at f/5.6. Image #2: Tricolored Heron sunset silhouette Image courtesy of and copyright 2018: Dorian Anderson

Dorian Anderson/Tricolored Heron silhouette

Dorian is another relatively new member who is mega-skilled at both birding and bird photography. To create his tricolored silhouette he was lying down in the water while handholding his 400 DO II. That’s committed. You can see what others thought of this image in the BPN thread here.

This image was created by BPN member Gail Bisson with the hand held Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and Canon EOS-1D X (now replaced by the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II.) ISO 640: 1/2500 sec. at f/7.1. Image #3: Piping Plover fledgling: double overhead wing stretch Image courtesy of and copyright 2018: Gail Bisson

Gail Bisson/Piping Plover fledgling wingstretch

Gail is a long-time member who is very active in the Avian Forum. She is both an excellent photographer and is skilled at critiquing the images of others. She is pretty much addicted to Piping Plovers and works very hard every year to feed here addition. You can see the complete thread here.

This image was created by BPN member Ann Pacheco with the hand held Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and Canon EOS-1D X (now replaced by the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II.) ISO 640: 1/2500 sec. at f/7.1. Image #4: Sandhill Crane in flight Image courtesy of and copyright 2018: Ann M. Pacheco

Ann Pacheco/Sandhill Crane in flight

During the time that Ann has been a member she has continued to improve her skills both in the field and at the computer. She learns by posting a lot and by asking lots of questions. You can see all the comments on her fine Bosque image here. She is great friends with Gail Bisson and they often travel together and do some quality bird photography.

This image was created by BPN member Ivan Sjogren, a 22-year old nature photographer from Sweden. He used the Canon 400mm f/5.6 L lens and the EOS 70D. ISO 640: 1/2500 sec. at f/7.1. Image #5: Grey Heron in snowstorm Image courtesy of and copyright 2018: Ivan Sjogren

Ivan Sjogren/Grey Heron in snowstorm

You can see the comments and two reposts on Ivan’s image here on BPN. BPN members can post various versions of their originally posted image based on suggestions from other members and Mods. And other members and Mods often offer reposts as well. This is just another way that learning is accelerated on BPN.

This image was created by my friend, BPN member Joe Joe Przybyla. He used the monopod-mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens and the Nikon D500. Image #6: Anhinga yawning (?) Image courtesy of and copyright 2018: Joe Pryzbyla

Anhinga yawning/Joe Pryzbyla

For the past few years Joe has worked very hard to improve his field and photographic skills and his post-processing skills as well. He spends lots of time at the Circle Bar B Ranch in Lakeland, FL See what the rest of the boys and girls had to say about this one in Joe’s BPN post here.

This image was created by BPN member John Mack. He used the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Lens for Canon EF and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. Image #7: Pine Siskin in snow Image courtesy of and copyright 2018: John Mack

Pine Siskin/John Mack

Joe has been a prolific poster in Avian for the past year or two. Like Joe above, his skills all-around have improved. You can see his Pine Siskin post here.

You Be the Contest Judge

Which of today’s featured images would you put in first place?

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my (stupendous) efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Season’s Greetings

Jim and Jennifer and I send our best wishes to you and yours for a wonderful holiday season filled with love, sharing, and some quality photography. Have a great 2019 filled with the same, good health, and lots of nachas.

Nachas: a Yiddish word meaning that you are happy and proud, especially of someone’s accomplishments.

Note: season’s greetings with a possessive apostrophe after the n in seasons is correct. I had to re-do the image by adding the apostrophe after the fact.

This image was created on the last evening of the DeSoto IPT in the parking lot of our Airbnb condo. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens and the rugged, blazingly fast Nikon D5. AUTO ISO at 4500. Matrix metering -1 stop: 1/13 sec. at f/5.6 in S Mode (Shutter Priority — Tv mode in Canon). Auto 1 WB at 9.00pm on a very dark night. 🙂 Center Group (grp) AF/Shutter button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. Click on the image enjoy a larger version. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: -1. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Season’s Greetings Jiggle Blur

Season’s Greetings Jiggle Blur

Thanks to Denise Ippolito for teaching me to create jiggle blurs many years ago. I taught her a few things in return over the years. We collaborated on a great guide to creating pleasing blurs. See that below.

Exposure

Why -1 stop? To keep from grossly over-exposing the colored bulbs. This is, however, another case of burning the red channel to keep everything else from going muddy. Th

Learn the secrets of creating contest winning images in our “A Guide to Pleasing Blurs.”

A Guide to Pleasing Blurs

In our A Guide to Pleasing Blurs by Denise Ippolito and yours truly, we discuss just about every technique ever used mankind to create pleasingly blurred image. Ninety-nine point nine percent of pleasing blurs are not happy accidents. You can learn pretty much everything that there is to know about creating them in this instructive, well written, easy to follow guide.

Stuff

I will be away for almost a month while leading the 2018/2019 Falklands land-based IPT. I should be back in the office (and back in the pool) on the afternoon of Monday, January 14, 2019. Happy new year! I should have good internet access until Friday December 21 and then again on the weekend of January 12/13. I will surely not be online from December 23-27 and then again from January 4-7. I may or may not have limited internet access at other times.

Jim and Jen will be in the office weekdays to help you with your online orders and with IPT registrations.

I was thrilled recently to learn that first-timer Shonagh Adelman of Chattanooga, TN signed up for the 2019 Puffins and Gannets and Red Kites IPT. As he is the first registrant, we need three more for the trip to go. I am counting on it and hope for a sellout with ten plus the two leaders; there are lots of puffins and gannets. 🙂

I still need three or four folks for the Galapagos trip. If you would like to explore the possibilities, please get in touch via e-mail. No reasonable offer will be turned down.

• 2019 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) SUN JAN 20, 2019 thru and including the morning session on THURS JAN 24: 4 1/2 days: $2099. (Limit: 10/Openings: 4) Introductory Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the evening before the IPT begins: THURS, 6 DEC.
• The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 2.
• The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The iPhone Photography e-Guide If you missed the long-awaited announcement yesterday, click here to learn about Cliff Oliver’s great new iPhone e-Guide. To order your copy of the The iPhone Photography e-Guide, please click here. The PDF is sent link by e-mail for downloading: the file is relatively huge at 216 MB.

The 2018 B&H/BAA Bird Photography Holiday Contest!

Thanks to the generosity of the great folks at B&H, I am proud to announce the first-ever B&H/BAA Bird Photography Holiday Contest. The rules are simple:

1-Anyone can enter one or two of their favorite avian images that were created in 2018. As below, each image must be sent in a separate e-mail.
2-Image clean-up and repair is permitted.
3-Send you JPEGs in two separate e-mails only by clicking on this link: Contest Entry e-mail.
4-Please size your properly sharpened JPEGs as follows: 1200 high or wide less than 600 kb.
5-If you do not follow the instructions above to the letter your images will not be judged and you will not receive any notification.
6-There is one judge and you can guess who it is.
7-Here are the five prizes:

1st place: a $100 B&H gift certificate
2nd through 4th place: a $50 B&H gift certificate

All prizes will be awarded.

8- Entries my be submitted from now until January 16, 2019. Happy New Year! Please remember to do your holiday shopping at B&H using a BAA affiliate link or by clicking here or on any of the B&H banners in this blog post; many offer great holiday savings.

Good luck.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Steve currently has several D850s in stock along with a Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. He is taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.

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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.

Great Bosque News

Phil Norton was the single greatest wildlife refuge manager in the system. Ever. Bar none. He managed for the birds, for the tourists, and for the serious photographers and did a bang-up job on all counts. He started the Festival of the Cranes a long time ago. Now there are several birding festivals on most every weekend of the year. Phil began an incredibly successful volunteer program that served as a model for many NWRs around the country. Many years ago I tried to get NANPA to honor Phil, but as with most thing Arthur Morris that was a no-go. Phil left Bosque too long ago and they re-assigned him somewhere up in the Northwest. When he retired, he moved back to San Antonio, New Mexico to be near the place that he loved. Today he helps proprietor Phoebe Wood run a great B& B near the refuge. You can learn more about Casa Blanca or find out about making reservations by clicking here.

I was very happy to receive an e-mail from Phil the other day that included this:

Things at the refuge look good. Lots of birds and lots of food. The refuge took over the farming program and actually did a good job. They extended the tour road at the north end into the farm unit. We have had a lot of guests that are serious photographers and nobody has complained.

This is one case where I do not mind saying that my recent comments have been in error. I will be running a Bosque IPT or two next year.

The School of Art: Learn How to Make Great Art with 40 Simple Lessons by Teal Triggs

This book is a great holiday gift

Though written for youngsters, this amazing book that is NOT just for kids; it will help you grow as a photographer by leaps and bounds. Each “lesson” is titled with a question. Just about every artistic principle is covered simply but in detail. Here are some of the questions:

• Why are ideas important in art and design?
• Lesson 6: How does ‘tone’ show us that something is 3D?
• Lesson 9: How do we show ‘direction’?
• Lesson 13: How does ‘contrast’ work to make colors brighter?
• Lesson 19: What does ‘composition’ mean in art?
• Lesson 20: How does ‘perspective’ work?
• Lesson 25: What do we mean when we talk about ‘balance’ in art?
• Lesson 29: How does ‘hierarchy’ affect what you look at?
• Lesson 32: What is ‘rhythm’ in art?
• Lesson 34: How can we think visually?
• Lesson 38: How can we communicate with an audience when we are not there?
• Lesson 39: What is ‘experimentation’ and how does it help us to make art?
• Lesson 40: What do we mean by ‘aesthetics’?

What can I say? I just love this book. What I love most is that it explained principles that I know (but have been unable to get across to others easily) in simple and understandable terms.

To order, click here or on the logo-link above.

The Edge of Innovation Podcast

Episode 76 — The Business of Birding: How to Make Money as a Bird Photographer (with Arthur Morris)

To listen, click on the logo-link above. To read the interview click here.

Apologies (yet again) for being late in publicizing Part III. I enjoyed listening to this one as much as I enjoyed the first two. Thanks again to IPT veteran Paul Parisi of Savior Labs who skillfully conducted the podcast interview; he is blessed with a great voice. The whole thing is less than 20 minutes; many of you might enjoy it. Here is what we talk about:

• Photography’s Decline as a Lucrative Business
• Switching From Film To Digital
• Selling Photography Guides: Digital Basics
• Birds as Art: E-Guides
• Birding Guides For Specific Areas
• Are you Having Fun?
• Advice From Arthur Morris For Young Photographers
• Do What You Love
• Don’t Just Take Pictures, Write Too!
• Blogs Generate Income

From left to to right clockwise back to the center: Brown Pelican, Roseate Spoonbill downstroke, Brown Pelican sunrise silhouette, Double-crested Cormorant pre-dawn blur, Roseate Spoonbill flapping after bath, Brown Pelican taking flight, Roseate Spoonbill taking flight, Reddish Egret white morph breeding plumage in flight, and Reddish Egret dark morph breeding plumage in flight. All images on this card were created by me on the Hooptie Deux at Alafia Banks on the February 2018 trip. You can click on each card to enjoy a larger version.

2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

3 1/2 days on the boat including four morning photo sessions and three afternoon sessions via customized pontoon boat.

Price per day Reduced from the 2018 rates! Please e-mail for details on IPT veteran and couples’ discounts. Pro-rated options may be available …

We will be leaving the dock very early for the morning sessions (weather permitting) in hopes of photographing the pre-dawn American Crow and White Ibis blast-offs. All sessions are planned for the Alafia Banks Roseate Spoonbill Rookery. We might consider other options in the unlikely event of horrific weather. There will be lots of opportunities for flight photography of several species including and especially Roseate Spoonbill. Also likely for flight photography are nesting Brown Pelican, both morphs of Reddish Egret, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, White and Glossy Ibises, and Double Crested Cormorant. We should have some good chances with birds carrying nesting material. This IPT includes all boat and guide fees, in the field instruction, chest waders (feel free to bring your own of course to assure a perfect fit), and three working lunches on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. For the most part we will be standing in mid-calf to knee high water behind our tripods. We help you get in and out of the boat with your gear. This is likely not the best trip for folks with mobility or balance problems. Note however that some folks opt to stay on the boat to photograph. They usually have lots of chances for flight photography of spoonbills and other species but are almost always pretty far away from the spoonbills that land.

All images on this card were created by me on the Hooptie Deux at Alafia Banks

The Timing and Tides are Perfect!

I recently saw a similar trip advertised two months too late for breeding plumage spoonbills … The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT represents an incredible opportunity to photograph Florida’s most wanted species. I do hope that you can join us. There will be a meet and greet at 7:00pm sharp on the evening of Friday February 15, 2019. All of the images on the card were made on the Hooptie Duex during the last two weeks of February, prime time for the spoonies in mega-breeding plumage. Many folks have written expressing interest so please do not tarry.

Please e-mail to hold your spot. Then you may either secure your spot by calling Jim or Jennifer at the office at 863-692-0906 and leaving the $500 deposit on credit card or sending your check for payment in full to us as follows with the check made out to:

BIRDS AS ART and sent here via US mail:

BIRDS AS ART
PO BOX 7245
Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855

If you call to leave your deposit you will be asked to mail your check for the balance no later than December 15, 2018.

Images courtesy of our guide; copyright 2017 Captain James Shadle (aka Froggie). All of the images here were created at Alafia Banks. Card creation and design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.

Everybody Loves Spoonbills!

Roseate Spoonbill is one of if not the most sought after avian photographic subjects in Florida. They are generally hard to find and somewhat difficult to approach. They are relatively easy to find at Alafia Banks—heck, you can’t miss seeing them, but even there they can on some days be somewhat difficult to approach. On some days we may be able to get ridiculously close to them. The huge incentive to get out to Alafia Banks in mid-February is the chance to photograph this species at the height of its spectacular breeding plumage…. with long telephoto lenses. A 500 or 600 with a 1.4X TC is perfect for this trip.

Mornings to Alafia Banks for spoonbills and Brown Pelicans (with lots of flight photography often with the birds likely carrying nesting material), Double-crested Cormorants, ibises (both Glossy and White) in breeding plumage. Some of the White Ibises may be sporting their spectacular, distended, red, naked (un-feathered) throat pouches—typically larger in the females. In addition we may get to photograph egrets including Great and Reddish, both in full breeding plumage, shorebirds, and more. There will be lots of flight photography opportunities. Afternoon trips will most likely be back to Alafia Banks for the spoonbills with an option to visit a more sheltered inland rookery location for a variety of nesting birds. In the event of horrific weather artie will either take the group to Fort DeSoto or will conduct an extensive image review/Photoshop session. This IPT includes lunches on the full days with small group image sharing and review and some over-the-shoulder Photoshop instruction.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

The pool was down to a chilly 73 degrees on Wednesday afternoon. I did take a swim in the morning on what is get-away day for Steve Rentmeesters and me. Steve arrived on Monday afternoon and we enjoyed some excellent close-up Sandhill crane photography on Tuesday and Wednesday morning and on Tuesday afternoon as well. I’ve been doing my usual 50 lengths every day — a bit more than half a mile. I am in car headed to Orlando Airport as I type. Amazingly, I am all packed. We fly from MCO to MIA this afternoon to catch a red-eye flight to Santiago, Chile this evening. On Saturday, weather permitting, are planning on making it to Stanley in the Falklands and then continue on the little yellow FIGAS (Falkland Islands Government Air Service) plane to The Neck on Saunders Island. Hello penguin and albatross heaven!

I was thrilled the other day to learn that first-timer Shonagh Adelman of Chattanooga, TN signed up for the 2019 Puffins and Gannets and Red Kites IPT. As he is the first registrant, we need three more for the trip to go. I am counting on it and hope for a sellout with ten plus the two leaders; there are lots of puffins and gannets. 🙂 . Scroll down for the details if you would like to join us.

I still need three or four folks for the Galapagos trip. If you would like to explore the possibilities, please get in touch via e-mail. No reasonable offer will be turned down.

BIRDS AS ART B&H Essential Gear Bags

BIRDS AS ART B&H Essential Gear Bags

Click here or on the logo-link above to check out some great B&H year-end deals in the category that best suits you and your photography.

The iPhone Photography e-Guide If you missed the long-awaited announcement yesterday, click here to learn about Cliff Oliver’s great new iPhone e-Guide. To order your copy of the The iPhone Photography e-Guide, please click here. The PDF is sent link by e-mail for downloading: the file is relatively huge at 216 MB.

Amazingly …

BPN Avian Moderator Isaac Grant after staunchly defending Canon AF for months finally saw the light and switched to Nikon His reason: the superior image quality of D850 images files. Wait till he tries the AF for flight photography.

BAA IPTs

• Falklands Land-based IPT DEC 22, 2018 thru JAN 5, 2019/Two Weeks: Sold out.
• 2019 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) SUN JAN 20, 2019 thru and including the morning session on THURS JAN 24: 4 1/2 days: $2099. (Limit: 10/Openings: 4) Introductory Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the evening before the IPT begins: THURS, 6 DEC.
• The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 2.
• The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM Lens (the “old five”) with extras

Judy Helderman is offering a Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM lens in very good condition for $2,799.00. The lens is in decent shape and in perfect operating condition and the glass is perfect. The lens mount shows no signs of wear. There are, however, some paint chips on the white finish. Photos are available upon request. An Arca-Swiss compatible low foot is installed. The sale includes the lens trunk, rear lens cap, the leather front cover, a Wimberley P-40 lens plate, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Judy via email e-mail or by phone at 1-623-322-9425 (Mountain Time).

The 500mm f/4 lenses have been the world’s most popular telephoto lenses for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. I owned and used and loved my “old five” for many years. If you don’t have the cash for a 500 II and can handle the additional 1 1/2 pounds, then this is your best super-telephoto option. Most everyone can produce sharp images with this lens and a 1.4X TC. Folks with good to excellent sharpness techniques can do the same with a 2X TC. With the new 500 II selling for $8,999 you can save an incredible $6200.00 by grabbing Judy’s lens at this great low price. artie

Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM lens (the original IS version)

Judy Helderman is also offering a Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS USM lens (the original IS version) lens in near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $799.00. The sale includes the tough fabric lens case (with strap), the tripod collar, a Wimberley P-20 lens plate, the product box, the rear cap, the hood, the lens cap, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Judy via email e-mail or by phone at 1-623-322-9425 (Mountain Time).

I owned and used this very lens, the original IS version of the incredibly versatile 70-200 f/2.8 for birds and wildlife and landscapes and Urbex for many years with both teleconverters. When I upgraded to version II, I did not notice any improvements … They were both great indoors for events like granddaughter Maya’s dance recitals. A new copy of the 70-200 II currently sells for $$2,099.00 so you can save a small fortune by grabbing Judy’s lens now. artie

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Steve currently has several D850s in stock along with a Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. He is taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.

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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.

The 2018 B&H/BAA Bird Photography Holiday Contest!

Thanks to the generosity of the great folks at B&H, I am proud to announce the first-ever B&H/BAA Bird Photography Holiday Contest. The rules are simple:

1-Anyone can enter one or two of their favorite avian images that were created in 2018. As below, each image must be sent in a separate e-mail.
2-Image clean-up and repair is permitted.
3-Send you JPEGs in two separate e-mails only by clicking on this link: Contest Entry e-mail.
4-Please size your properly sharpened JPEGs as follows: 1200 high or wide less than 600 kb.
5-If you do not follow the instructions above to the letter your images will not be judged and you will not receive any notification.
6-There is one judge and you can guess who it is.
7-Here are the five prizes:

1st place: a $100 B&H gift certificate
2nd through 4th place: a $50 B&H gift certificate

All prizes will be awarded.

8- Entries my be submitted from now until January 16, 2019. Happy New Year! Please remember to do your holiday shopping at B&H using a BAA affiliate link or by clicking here or on any of the B&H banners in this blog post; many offer great holiday savings.

Good luck.

I am headed for albatross and penguin heaven.

Falkland Islands Land-based IPT Gear Bag

I thought long and hard about leaving the 600 VR at home, but eventually decided to bring it. I am fairly sure that I will not be using it a lot. The advantages of traveling with the 500 PF VR and the 80-400 VR are many …

In any case …

I am pretty sure that I will use the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens more than any of the other lenses that I am taking, perhaps more than all the others combined. That despite the fact that it is one stop slower than the 600mm f/4 VR. As the 500 PF is smaller and lighter it is — as I have been mentioning here the last week or so — easier to hand hold and it is far more transportable and manageable in the field. It is a lot easier to get close to birds when hand holding as compared to being on a big tripod … This lens will kill for flight and I will not hesitate to add either the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III or the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II. Most work with the TC-Es will be off the tripod.

As I was considering whether or not to leave the big gun at home I thought of more than a few instances where the speed and reach of the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens would be a huge plus making it worth the hassle of dragging it around during our shooting sessions. For more reach I can add either the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III or the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II.

The Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens will be quite useful on this trip for scenics, bird-scapes, close work, and lots more. In the event of a 500 PF disaster, the 80-400 could serve as a decent back-up.

The Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR lens is the rough equivalent of the don’t-leave-home-without-it/B-roll do everything lens, the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens. Fact: the Nikon version is a lot sharper. I will use the 24-120 for bird- and photographer-scapes, scenics, and some close-ups.

I will be taking two Nikon D850s, one with the vertical battery grip, one without. I love my two D-850s as much as I loved my Canon 5D Mark IV bodies. My main D-850, the one with the grip, is AF Fine-tuned with both TCs with my #1 TC-E-14 and with the TC-E17 as well.

As careful readers have probably noticed, I began using my Nikon D5 DSLR a lot more on the recently concluded DeSoto IPT. And liking it and the images it produced. I am taking it for flight and as a back-up.

Why Three Camera Bodies?

Most of the time I will be running two camera bodies on our outings. Digital cameras do fail on rare occasion and accidents do happen. There are no camera stores on the Falklands …

I am taking two Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E IIIs. One is Fine-tuned for the 600 VR, the other for the 80-400 VR and the 500 PF VR. I will try not to drop either in the ocean (as I have done before …)

I am also taking the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II. I can use it either with the 600 VR or the 500 PF when I leave the 600 back at the ranch.

In my checked bag I have the Induro GIT 204 and my Mongoose M3.6. I went with the lighter tripod primarily to lessen the load down to the beach at the Neck. As noted here previously, I have made sharp images off the GIT 204 with the 600 VR and the TC-E14. It is the perfect tripod for folks with intermediate telephotos and those using big glass who have excellent sharpness techniques.

I have been using the Mongoose for all of my super- and intermediate telephoto lens photography for forever, for everything from 70-200mm to 100-400 II to 500 to 600 to 800mm. It is simply the best. I did not bring a ballhead on this trip; everything done with the 24-105 will be hand held.

On my right foot, a nice, thick hiking sock showing the MEC bootie. My feet get warm just thinking about them. On my left foot is a Neos Navigator in XL. You can unfold the stuff at the top to get knee-highs. The Navigators are guaranteed 100% waterproof and are wonderfully insulated.

Cold Weather Footwear — Insanity for some, perfect for me.

As promised. For about six months I had had some pain on the outside edge of my right foot at the fifth metatarsal head. The pain got worse when I wore sneakers or boots. It was really bad right before the Emperor Penguin expedition. Once I got on the ship, I wore only the MEC Get Down Booties (unisex) that I wear around the house whenever my feet are cold (as they often are …) My foot got better quickly. As I had a pair of NEOS Navigators on the trip, I put them on over the booties when I headed out on deck to try some flight photography from the ship. As I normally wear them over hiking boots, they were a bit too large. But my feet were warm and the pain continued to abate. I was not at all looking forward to wearing the very warm NEC boots that I thought would be my mainstay for the nearly four miles of walking on snow and ice that we would be doing every day to get to the emperors; they simply were not wide enough.

My solution? I wore the Navigators over the MEC booties. I was comfortable and pain free and my feet were warm. Over the years I had tried just about every supposedly warm boot known to mankind. Without success, some rated down to -140 degrees F!. But on the cold mornings at Bosque, my feet always felt like blocks of ice. They had never been warm in a cold place before. For the Falklands trip I grabbed a pair of XL Neos Navigators as the XXLs that I wore were a too-large and sloppy fit over the booties.

You can order the MEC booties only from here and the Neos Navigators from the BAA Online Store here.

Think Tank Stuff

I left the house with the larger of my two Think Tank Rolling Bags, the AIRPORT SECURITY™ V3.0. With the 80-400 and one of my two D850s packed in my checked bags, the roller tipped the scales at 36 1/2 pounds — yes, wish me luck on no theft …. Also in one of my checked bags is the Think Tank GLASS LIMO™. It will let me carry the 600 VR and a camera body (un-mounted) comfortably on my back on the longer walks.

To receive a free gift when ordering Think Tank products, be sure to click here or on the logo link on the right side of each blog post page. Much appreciated. The rollers can be found under the Rolling Cases/Airport Series Rollers tab; when I am traveling light I go with the slightly smaller AIRPORT INTERNATIONAL™ V3.0. The GLASS LIMO™ is located under the Backpacks/Long Glass Backpacks tabs.

Any and all gear questions are welcome.

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All of the images on this card were created on the 2018 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT

The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers. Co-leader: Peter Kes.

Join me in the UK in late June and early July 2019 to photograph Atlantic Puffin, Common Murre, Razorbill, Shag, and Northern Gannet, Red Kite, and more both in flight and at close range. We will also have great chances with Arctic and Sandwich Terns, both with chicks of all sizes; Black-headed, Lesser-Black-backed, and Herring Gulls, many of those chasing puffins with fish; Black-legged Kittiwake with chicks; plus Grey Seal. There will be tons of great flight photography. As on all IPTs, if you pay attention, you will learn a ton, especially about sky conditions and the relationship between light angle and wind direction and their effects on flight photography.

Why go all the way to Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine, endure a two-hour boat ride, and have to photograph Atlantic Puffins from a cramped blind usually in bright sun (and well off sun angle) when you can hop a red-eye flight from Newark, NJ and be in Edinburgh, Scotland early the next morning. First we drive down to Bridlington for easy access to Bempton Cliffs where our primary targets will be Northern Gannet in flight. We will also get to photograph Razorbill, Northern Fulmar, Herring Gull, and Black-legged Kittiwake. While in Bridlington we will spend one afternoon visiting a Red Kite feeding station that should provide lots of flight photography action.

While in Bridlington we will staying at the Lobster Pot by Marston’s Inn, just fifteen minutes from Bempton Cliffs. After 3 1/2 days of photography at there, we drive down to Seahouses in Northumberland to the two lodges that will be our home base for a week. After a short boat ride each day we will have hundreds of puffins posing at close range all day, every day — usually in ideal cloudy-bright conditions. While we are in Seahouses we will do six puffin/seabird trips, all weather permitting of course; last year we did not miss a single landing. In five years we have averaged losing less than one half day per year to bad weather. We land at Staple Island in the mornings and then sail over to Inner Farnes for our afternoon sessions. In addition, we may enjoy a session or two photographing nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes at eye level from a rocky beach in Seahouses.

In Seahouses, we stay 7 nights in gorgeous, modern, upscale lodges with Wi-fi. They are beyond lovely with large living areas and lots of open space for the informal image sharing and Photoshop sessions. The bedrooms are decent-sized. Each lodge has one double bedroom and two twin bedrooms. (See the single supplement info below.) At the lodges we cook our own breakfasts each morning and prepare our own lunches to be brought on the six puffin boat trips. For dinners we will alternate cooking in the lodges with fine dining at several excellent local restaurants. We stay two nights at the Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. We will enjoy a fine-dining Thank You dinner at the Dunbar Hotel on the Tuesday evening before we fly home.

On the morning of Monday, July 8, 2019, the plan is to sleep late, pack, and head up to Dunbar Harbor, Scotland for lunch and an afternoon gannet boat chumming trip: flight photography until you cannot lift your camera. The next morning, Tuesday July 9, we will enjoy our second gannet boat chumming trip (both weather permitting). On both trips we will enjoy great views of the huge gannetry at Bass Rock. Included will be two nights lodging at the Pine Martin by Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. Very early on the morning of Wednesday, July 10, we will drive up to Edinburgh Airport so that everyone can make their flights home. No moaning please. You will need a flight that leaves at 8:30am or later. Not too much later is generally best. Note: this trip needs a minimum of four photographers to run.

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All images were created on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT

The Details

This IPT is all-inclusive except for your airfare and alcoholic beverages. All ground transportation, lodging costs, meals, your National Trust membership, and all boat, entry, and landing fees are included. Weather permitting, we will enjoy three and one-half days (at least six sessions in all) at Bempton Cliffs, an afternoon with the Red Kites, six full days on the puffin boats, one amazing afternoon gannet chumming trip, and one spectacular morning gannet chumming trip. The trip cannot be finalized until I have at least six deposits as we will be renting a lovely 15-passenger bus with our private professional driver who happens to be my web-master, Peter Kes, who is also a skilled photographer and my co-leader 🙂

IPT Details

If you are good to go sharing a room–couples of course are more than welcome, heck, we actually need two couples — please send your non-refundable $2,000/person deposit check now to save a spot. Please be sure to check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below. Your balance will be due on February 28, 2019. Please make your check out to “Arthur Morris” and send it to Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855.

Please shoot me an e-mail if you are good to go or if you have any questions.

Single Supplement Info

Single supplement rooms in Bridlington and Dunbar are available for those who register early. The cost of the single supplement for those six nights is $600.00. Single supplement rooms at the lodge may be available on a limited basis but only if the trip does not fill with ten photographers. The single supplement fee for those seven nights is $700. If you would like your own room in Bridlington and Dunbar, please request it when making your deposit and include payment in full for the single supplement with your deposit: $2,600.00. The single supplement deposits are non-refundable as I will need to make the reservations well in advance.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance for big international trips is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality insurance. Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options you can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. My family and I use and depend on the great policies offered by TIS whenever we travel. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check or running your credit card. Whenever purchasing travel insurance, be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

I truly hope that you can join me on this exciting venture.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

The pool was up to a balmy 79 degrees on Saturday afternoon and I am up to 50 lengths, a bit more than half a mile. I am in the early stages of thinking about the big Falklands Ground-based IPT. I fly from Orlando to MIA o Wednesday afternoon and catch a red-eye flight to Santiago, Chile that evening. On Saturday, weather permitting, are planning on making it to Stanley in the Falklands and then continue on the little yellow FIGAS (Falkland Islands Government Air Service) plane to The Neck on Saunders Island

I was thrilled the other day to learn that first-timer Shonagh Adelman of Chattanooga, TN signed up for the 2019 Puffins and Gannets and Red Kites IPT. As he is the first registrant, we need three more for the trip to go. I am counting on it and hope for a sellout with ten plus the two leaders; there are lots of puffins and gannets. 🙂 . Scroll down for the details if you would like to join us.

I still need three or four folks for the Galapagos trip. If you would like to explore the possibilities, please get in touch via e-mail or give me a call on my cell before next Wednesday (19 DEC) at 863-221-2372.

Bosque

If you have any interest past or present in Bosque del Apache NWR, you can learn a lot by reading the comments in the blog post here and the BPN post here.

I was horrified (not really) to learn that the 10-year policy of actively managing the refuge against nature photographers continues with the closing of Harry’s Crane Pool (the north one) to create more “non-wetlands” habitat. The two crane pools have been the only consistently decent spot left on the refuge. Now there is only one very crowded one 🙂

Big Mistake …

I priced my infrared Canon EOS-5D Mark II much too low at $299.00; I had six folks ready to buy it in five minutes. 🙁

BAA IPTs

• The 2018 Fort DeSoto Early Winter IPT/Thursday December 7 through the morning session on Monday December 10, 2018: 3 1/2 DAYS: $1549. Limit 8/Openings: 5.
• Falklands Land-based IPT DEC 22, 2018 thru JAN 5, 2019/Two Weeks: Sold out.
• 2019 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) SUN JAN 20, 2019 thru and including the morning session on THURS JAN 24: 4 1/2 days: $2099. (Limit: 10/Openings: 4) Introductory Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the evening before the IPT begins: THURS, 6 DEC.
• The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 2.
• The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The iPhone Photography e-Guide If you missed the long-awaited announcement yesterday, click here to learn about Cliff Oliver’s great new iPhone e-Guide. To order your copy of the The iPhone Photography e-Guide, please click here. The PDF is sent link by e-mail for downloading: the file is relatively huge at 216 MB.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

Bargain Basement House-cleaning Garage Gear Sale

Custom Brackets CB Gimbal for all long telephoto lenses

Sold in two hours!

I am offering a brand new, never used Custom Brackets CB Gimbal for all long telephoto lenses at the ridiculous low price of $199.00. The sale includes the head and insured ground shipping via UPS Ground. I will throw in the Custom Brackets GFM flash brackets as well. Your item will not ship until your check clears.

Please contact me via e-mail or on my cell at 863-221-2372 (before next Wednesday, 19 DEC).

This large, heavy duty unit sells for $579.95 new. It is suitable for all large, heavy super-telephoto lenses. artie

FEISOL Elite Tripod CT-3372LV

Sold in four hours!

I am offering a brand new, never used heavy duty FEISOL Elite Tripod CT-3372LV, also for the ridiculous low price of $199.00. The sale includes the tripod with spiked feet (no tool kit) and insured ground shipping via UPS Ground. You can purchase rubber feet off the Feisol website here. You will also need to come up with the right-sized allen wrench to tighten the bolts on one of the legs (unless Jim finds the tool kit on Monday …) Your item will not ship until your check clears.

Please contact me via e-mail or on my cell at 863-221-2372 (before next Wednesday, 19 DEC).

This large, heavy duty has been replaced by a newer model that sells new for $699.95. This item too is suitable for large, heavy super-telephoto lenses. If you are looking for a heavy, super-sturdy tripod you can save some serious dollars by grabbing this on asap. artie

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Steve currently has several D850s in stock along with a Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. He is taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.

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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.

The 2018 B&H/BAA Bird Photography Holiday Contest!

Thanks to the generosity of the great folks at B&H, I am proud to announce the first-ever B&H/BAA Bird Photography Holiday Contest. The rules are simple:

1-Anyone can enter one or two of their favorite avian images that were created in 2018. As below, each image must be sent in a separate e-mail.
2-Image clean-up and repair is permitted.
3-Send you JPEGs in two separate e-mails only by clicking on this link: Contest Entry e-mail.
4-Please size your properly sharpened JPEGs as follows: 1200 high or wide less than 600 kb.
5-If you do not follow the instructions above to the letter your images will not be judged and you will not receive any notification.
6-There is one judge and you can guess who it is.
7-Here are the five prizes:

1st place: a $100 B&H gift certificate
2nd through 4th place: a $50 B&H gift certificate

All prizes will be awarded.

8- Entries my be submitted from now until January 16, 2019. Happy New Year! Please remember to do your holiday shopping at B&H using a BAA affiliate link or by clicking here or on any of the B&H banners in this blog post; many offer great holiday savings.

Good luck.

This image was created on Day 2 of the Early Winter DeSoto IPT by first timer Narayanan Mangalath from Houston, TX. He used the hand held Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM lens, a Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the Canon EOS-1D X that he purchased off the BAA Used Gear Page (thank you very much). ISO 1000. Evaluative metering plus about 1/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/8 in Manual Mode. AWB on a sunny morning. Center/Expand/AI Servo AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the center of the leading edge of the far wing. Click on the image to see a larger version that reveals the shiny green fly in the bird’s bill. Image #1: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher approaching wispy perch Image courtesy of and copyright 2018: Narayanan Mangalath. Image optimization by the teacher, aka yours truly.

The Situation

I was excited to locate and identify the scissor-tailed on the first morning of the IPT. We tried stalking the bird but it was quite skittish; we wound up only with distant photos. By the second day the bird was becoming more accepting of our presence. And we learned (as is sometimes the case) that we would do better overall if one person approached the bird at a time. In addition, the bird had several favored perches. To make today’s featured image, Narayanan set up on one of those perches and waited for the bird to fly to him.

This is the same image with the wispy perch completely removed in Photoshop. Image optimization by the teacher, aka yours truly. Click on the image to see a larger version that reveals the shiny green fly in the bird’s bill. Image #2: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher with wispy perch removed in Photoshop Image courtesy of and copyright 2018: Narayanan Mangalath

Removing Elements That Cover the Subject …

Removing elements that merge with or cover a subject is something that few folks try and many think is impossible to do well. When I suggested to Narayanan that I might be able to completely remove the wispy perch from the the image he jumped at the chance to watch me do the work. 🙂 So I did. I used a variety of techniques to remove the parts of the perch that were set against the sky — that was the easy part of the task. I used the Divide and Conquer techniques detailed in Digital Basics II where I first cut up the perch into manageable sections using the Clone Stamp Tool and then eliminate them with either the Patch Tool or Content Aware Fill. That left me with the in-progress version below.

Your Favorite?

Which of the two images above do you like best, Image #1 with the wispy perch, or Image #2 without the wispy perch. Please let us know why. Before I created Image #2 I was sure that I would like the cleaned up version better. Now, even though I did a pretty damned good job, I am not so sure …

This is a crop of the same image with the most of the wispy perch removed from the sky. But as you can see, there was still a lot of work to do … Note that the more you crop the more that image quality and fine feather detail (FFD) degrades. Image #2: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher with most of the wispy perch removed in Photoshop Image courtesy of and copyright 2018: Narayanan Mangalath Image optimization by the teacher, aka yours truly

The More Difficult Part

One of the keys to completely removing the twigs that overlap the subject is to work very large and very slowly with great care. To complete the repairs I used the Divide and Conquer technique often, the Clone Stamp Tool, the Patch Tool, the Spot Healing Brush, and Content Aware Fill. As I said to Narayanan, the use of all the tools and techniques that I use on images like this are detailed in Digital Basics II (aka The BAA Current Workflow e-Guide), but in order to master the techniques you need to study them, practice them often, think a bit creatively, and sometimes try or invent new stuff using the same tools and techniques. Several times with this optimization I experimented by using Content Aware Fill on a rather large area and each time I was amazed by the excellent results …

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.

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

Your guessed it, everything mentioned above and tons more — including all of my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts — is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. While the new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow, folks using a PC and/or BreezeBrowser will also benefit greatly by studying the material on DB II. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. 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.

The two most recent and many of the older MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II): Note: all of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.

• The Wingtip Repairs MP4 Video here.
• The MP4 Crow Cleanup Video here.

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.

Though I have become more proficient converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw, I continue to optimize my old Canon images in DPP 4. You can learn how and why I converted (and still convert) nearly all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. And, yes, I still have many Canon images to work on. 🙂 The RAW conversions for all three of today’s featured images was straightforward once I entered my camera/ISO specific recipes (as detailed in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide). You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All of the images on this card were created on the 2018 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT

The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers. Co-leader: Peter Kes.

Join me in the UK in late June and early July 2019 to photograph Atlantic Puffin, Common Murre, Razorbill, Shag, and Northern Gannet, Red Kite, and more both in flight and at close range. We will also have great chances with Arctic and Sandwich Terns, both with chicks of all sizes; Black-headed, Lesser-Black-backed, and Herring Gulls, many of those chasing puffins with fish; Black-legged Kittiwake with chicks; plus Grey Seal. There will be tons of great flight photography. As on all IPTs, if you pay attention, you will learn a ton, especially about sky conditions and the relationship between light angle and wind direction and their effects on flight photography.

Why go all the way to Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine, endure a two-hour boat ride, and have to photograph Atlantic Puffins from a cramped blind usually in bright sun (and well off sun angle) when you can hop a red-eye flight from Newark, NJ and be in Edinburgh, Scotland early the next morning. First we drive down to Bridlington for easy access to Bempton Cliffs where our primary targets will be Northern Gannet in flight. We will also get to photograph Razorbill, Northern Fulmar, Herring Gull, and Black-legged Kittiwake. While in Bridlington we will spend one afternoon visiting a Red Kite feeding station that should provide lots of flight photography action.

While in Bridlington we will staying at the Lobster Pot by Marston’s Inn, just fifteen minutes from Bempton Cliffs. After 3 1/2 days of photography at there, we drive down to Seahouses in Northumberland to the two lodges that will be our home base for a week. After a short boat ride each day we will have hundreds of puffins posing at close range all day, every day — usually in ideal cloudy-bright conditions. While we are in Seahouses we will do six puffin/seabird trips, all weather permitting of course; last year we did not miss a single landing. In five years we have averaged losing less than one half day per year to bad weather. We land at Staple Island in the mornings and then sail over to Inner Farnes for our afternoon sessions. In addition, we may enjoy a session or two photographing nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes at eye level from a rocky beach in Seahouses.

In Seahouses, we stay 7 nights in gorgeous, modern, upscale lodges with Wi-fi. They are beyond lovely with large living areas and lots of open space for the informal image sharing and Photoshop sessions. The bedrooms are decent-sized. Each lodge has one double bedroom and two twin bedrooms. (See the single supplement info below.) At the lodges we cook our own breakfasts each morning and prepare our own lunches to be brought on the six puffin boat trips. For dinners we will alternate cooking in the lodges with fine dining at several excellent local restaurants. We stay two nights at the Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. We will enjoy a fine-dining Thank You dinner at the Dunbar Hotel on the Tuesday evening before we fly home.

On the morning of Monday, July 8, 2019, the plan is to sleep late, pack, and head up to Dunbar Harbor, Scotland for lunch and an afternoon gannet boat chumming trip: flight photography until you cannot lift your camera. The next morning, Tuesday July 9, we will enjoy our second gannet boat chumming trip (both weather permitting). On both trips we will enjoy great views of the huge gannetry at Bass Rock. Included will be two nights lodging at the Pine Martin by Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. Very early on the morning of Wednesday, July 10, we will drive up to Edinburgh Airport so that everyone can make their flights home. No moaning please. You will need a flight that leaves at 8:30am or later. Not too much later is generally best. Note: this trip needs a minimum of four photographers to run.

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All images were created on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT

The Details

This IPT is all-inclusive except for your airfare and alcoholic beverages. All ground transportation, lodging costs, meals, your National Trust membership, and all boat, entry, and landing fees are included. Weather permitting, we will enjoy three and one-half days (at least six sessions in all) at Bempton Cliffs, an afternoon with the Red Kites, six full days on the puffin boats, one amazing afternoon gannet chumming trip, and one spectacular morning gannet chumming trip. The trip cannot be finalized until I have at least six deposits as we will be renting a lovely 15-passenger bus with our private professional driver who happens to be my web-master, Peter Kes, who is also a skilled photographer and my co-leader 🙂

IPT Details

If you are good to go sharing a room–couples of course are more than welcome, heck, we actually need two couples — please send your non-refundable $2,000/person deposit check now to save a spot. Please be sure to check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below. Your balance will be due on February 28, 2019. Please make your check out to “Arthur Morris” and send it to Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855.

Please shoot me an e-mail if you are good to go or if you have any questions.

Single Supplement Info

Single supplement rooms in Bridlington and Dunbar are available for those who register early. The cost of the single supplement for those six nights is $600.00. Single supplement rooms at the lodge may be available on a limited basis but only if the trip does not fill with ten photographers. The single supplement fee for those seven nights is $700. If you would like your own room in Bridlington and Dunbar, please request it when making your deposit and include payment in full for the single supplement with your deposit: $2,600.00. The single supplement deposits are non-refundable as I will need to make the reservations well in advance.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance for big international trips is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality insurance. Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options you can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. My family and I use and depend on the great policies offered by TIS whenever we travel. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check or running your credit card. Whenever purchasing travel insurance, be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

I truly hope that you can join me on this exciting venture.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

Stuff

The pool was down to 75 for my Tuesday afternoon swim. By Wednesday morning it was down to 70 degrees. It warmed up a bit for my Wednesday and Thursday afternoon swims.

I was thrilled the other day to learn that first-timer Shonagh Adelman of Chattanooga, TN signed up for the 2019 Puffins and Gannets and Red Kites IPT. As he is the first registrant, we need three more for the trip to go. I am counting on it and hope for a sellout of ten plus the two leaders; there are lots of puffins and gannets. 🙂 . Scroll down for the details if you would like to join us.

I still need 3 or four folks for the Galapagos trip. If you would like to explore the possibilities, please get in touch via e-mail or give me a call on my cell before next Wednesday (19 DEC) at 863-221-2372.

My Favorite

In the A Miraculous Color Temperature Save of the Sickly Yellow Original here, my favorite was Image B, the Shorebird Pastel flock blur taller pano. I liked it more because of the inclusion of the darker green at the bottom. It is one of my very favorite ever images in part because I love shorebirds, in part because I love blurs, and in part because it shows what can be in seemingly impossible situations.

BAA IPTs

• The 2018 Fort DeSoto Early Winter IPT/Thursday December 7 through the morning session on Monday December 10, 2018: 3 1/2 DAYS: $1549. Limit 8/Openings: 5.
• Falklands Land-based IPT DEC 22, 2018 thru JAN 5, 2019/Two Weeks: Sold out.
• 2019 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) SUN JAN 20, 2019 thru and including the morning session on THURS JAN 24: 4 1/2 days: $2099. (Limit: 10/Openings: 4) Introductory Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the evening before the IPT begins: THURS, 6 DEC.
• The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 2.
• The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The iPhone Photography e-Guide If you missed the long-awaited announcement yesterday, click here to learn about Cliff Oliver’s great new iPhone e-Guide. To order your copy of the The iPhone Photography e-Guide, please click here. The PDF is sent link by e-mail for downloading: the file is relatively huge at 216 MB.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

New Listings

Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM Lens/with Extras!

BAA Record-low Price

Multiple IPT veteran and good friend Paul Reinstein is offering a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM in excellent plus condition — it would be near-mint but for a few faint chips on the bottom of the lens foot — for the BAA record-low price of $7099.00. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the lens trunk, the original tough front lens cover, the lens strap, the instruction manual, the original product box, a LensCoat,a LensCoat Hoodie that has been modified to make it easier to install over the LensCoat, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Photos are available upon request. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Paul e-mail or by phone or text message at 1-946-9031 (Pacific time zone).

The 500 f/4 super telephoto lenses have long been the world’s most popular for birds,nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. Canon’s Series II version is light, fast, super-sharp, and produces amazing images with both the 1.4X and 2X III TCs. The 500 II is relatively small, easily hand holdable for some folks, and is much easier travel with, focuses closer than, and costs a lot less than the 600 II. Lastly, and you might find this amazing, the magnification for the 500 II is the same as it is for the 600 II: .15X. How is that possible? Magnification is calculated at the minimum focusing distance of the lens — 12.14 feet (3.7 meters) for the 500 II and 14.77 feet (4.5 meters) for the 600 II. Simply put, the 500 II focuses more than two feet closer than the 600 II. The seller for the last one that sold here had five calls the first day; the first four folks quibbled on price. The fifth one jumped right on it … Please do not tarry if you are seriously interested in Paul’s lens as it should sell almost instantly. Or not 🙂 As the 500 II goes for $8999 new you will be getting an almost new lens while saving $1900.00. I loved my 500 II 🙂 artie

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens (with a great and necessary extra)

Having quickly and completely fallen in love with my much more expensive Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens, I am offering my Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens in pretty close to near-mint condition for only 1299.00. The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it, the crappy original tripod collar, the RRS Collar Foot Package for Nikon AF-S 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens (a $250 plus the shipping) value, and insured ground shipping via UPS.

Please contact me via e-mail or on my cell at 863-221-2372 (before next Wednesday, 19 DEC).

This is the lens that hooked me on Nikon and its great AF system. It is sharp and versatile and though AF is a bit sluggish away from the center AF point with a teleconverter, I made some great images with the TC-E14. As the lens sells new right now for $1,396.95 you can save you a cool $346.95 by grabbing my almost like-new lens today. artie

Canon EOS 5D Mark II Infrared

Sale pending

Arthur Morris — that’s me — is offering a Canon EOS 5D Mark II Infrared camera body in excellent plus condition for the giving-it-away-price of $299.00. The conversion to 720nm infrared was done by Kolari Vision, the best in the business. The conversion alone costs $250.00. The sale includes the front cap, two Canon batteries, one Canon battery charger, and insured ground shipping via UPS. Your camera body will not ship until your check clears.

Please contact me via e-mail or on my cell at 863-221-2372 (before next Wednesday, 19 DEC).

This infrared body works very well with both versions of the Canon 24-105mm and with several of the super-wide angle lenses as well. You can see some of the images that I made with this body here, here, and here. artie

Canon EF 100-400mm L IS II Lens

Price Reduced $153 on December 13, 2018.

Canon EF 100-400mm L IS II lens in like-new condition for a very low $1445.00 (was $1,598.00). The sale includes the front and rear caps, the lens hood, lens pouch/case, a low foot, the original foot, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Charlie via e-mail or by phone at 1-407-448-7797 Eastern time.

Y’all know how much I loved and now miss the sharpness and close focusing of this amazingly versatile lens. artie

Price Reduction

Canon EF 100-400mm L IS II Lens

BAA Record Low Price!
Price Reduced $153 on December 13, 2018.

Charlie Curry is offering a Canon EF 100-400mm L IS II lens in like-new condition for a BAA record low $1445.00 (was $1,598.00). The sale includes the front and rear caps, the lens hood, lens pouch/case, a low foot, the original foot, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Charlie via e-mail or by phone at 1-407-448-7797 Eastern time.

Y’all know how much I loved and now miss the sharpness and close focusing of this amazingly versatile lens. artie

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Steve currently has several D850s in stock along with a Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. He is taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.

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… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.

The 2018 B&H/BAA Bird Photography Holiday Contest!

Thanks to the generosity of the great folks at B&H, I am proud to announce the first-ever B&H/BAA Bird Photography Holiday Contest. The rules are simple:

1-Anyone can enter one or two of their favorite avian images that were created in 2018. As below, each image must be sent in a separate e-mail.
2-Image clean-up and repair is permitted.
3-Send you JPEGs in two separate e-mails only by clicking on this link: Contest Entry e-mail.
4-Please size your properly sharpened JPEGs as follows: 1200 high or wide less than 600 kb.
5-If you do not follow the instructions above to the letter your images will not be judged and you will not receive any notification.
6-There is one judge and you can guess who it is.
7-Here are the five prizes:

1st place: a $100 B&H gift certificate
2nd through 4th place: a $50 B&H gift certificate

All prizes will be awarded.

8- Entries my be submitted from now until January 16, 2019. Happy New Year! Please remember to do your holiday shopping at B&H using a BAA affiliate link or by clicking here or on the banner just below.

Good luck.

This image was created on Day 2 of the Early Winter DeSoto IPT with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and the rugged, blazingly fast Nikon D5 with Dual XQD Slots.ISO 400. Matrix metering +1/3 stop: 1/1600 sec. at f/9 in Manual Mode. Auto 1 WB at 10:14am on a sunny day. One to the left of center Group (grp) AF/Shutter button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. I kept the 500 PF/D5 on my shoulder via an RS-7 Curve Breathe Strap. If I am not wearing my vest, the TCE-14 travels in a cheap fanny pack until needed. Click on the image to see a larger version. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +6. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image #1: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

A Rare DeSoto Visitor

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher is common in Oklahoma and parts of Texas. A few wind up in Florida each winter. One is usually seen most winters at Fort Desoto. The one that I found on the first day of the IPT was a new DeSoto bird for me. It was present in the same area every day of the IPT. It grew more accepting of our approaches as time went by. If you own the DeSoto Site Guide and would like to know the exact location of this individual, please cut and paste the first page of the site guide into an e-mail and shoot it to me here.

This image was created on the afternoon of Day 3 of the Early Winter DeSoto IPT with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and the rugged, blazingly fast Nikon D5 with Dual XQD Slots.ISO 800. Matrix metering +1/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/9 in Manual Mode. Auto 1 WB at 4:38pm on a mostly cloudy afternoon — yes, the western skies were mostly cloudy. One to the left of center Group (grp) AF/Shutter button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. I kept the 500 PF/D5 on my shoulder via an RS-7 Curve Breathe Strap. If I am not wearing my vest, the TCE-14 travels in a cheap fanny pack until needed. Click on the image to see a larger version. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +6. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image #2: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher silhouette

The Situation

We were working a flock of very tame shorebirds when I looked behind me and saw the scissor-tailed perched on the edge of the marsh. BY stooping down a bit I was able to silhouette the rare visitor against a small patch of light sky.

Perhaps the Dawn of a Whole New World …

I took my Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR AF lens on the IPT. Several times, I put it into my Wheeleeze Beach cart — see that item under the Stuff tab above — and pulled it up and down the beach. I never used it once. I never even put it onto the tripod. I worked almost exclusively with the virtually impossible to get Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens. I used that often with the TC-14E III. I even made a pretty sharp flight image of some White Pelicans in flight at 700mm.

Folks should understand that whenever you add a teleconverter to the mix, initial focus acquisition will always be slowed down a bit. AF needs light to see. When you add a 1.4X TC, you lose one stop of light. AF is slower. When you add a 2X TC, you lose two stops of light. AF is even slower, so slow that flight and action photography with a doubler is close to impossible, even with f/4 lenses. A 300 f/2.8 lens with a 2X is another story. And some folks had success with the 400 DO II and the 2X III.

As I have said here often, the big difference between Canon and Nikon is that when you add a TC to a Nikon telephoto lens and move the AF point away from the center, AF performance suffers. AF performance with Canon gear while not always perfect was much better. Pre-focusing manually, as I did when creating both of today’s featured images, helps tremendously. I have come up with a few additional tips for autofocusing with the TC in place at f/8 (or f/9 as I am wont to do) that I will share with you here soon. That said, adding the TC-E14 to the 500 PF gets me to 700 mm full frame at f/8 as compared to 840mm at f/5.6 with the 600mm. But the differences in size and especially in weight — 3.21 pounds as compared to 8.4 pounds for the 600 — are huge. So huge that I am easily able to get into position without having to position a tripod. With my superb stalking skills (he said modestly), I found it easy to get close enough without the encumbrance of a tripod to make the images that I wanted either with the 500 PF alone or with the 1.4X added. As for hand holding the 500 PF versus the 600 all that I can say is are you kidding me? There are many huge advantages when forsaking the 600 f/4 and using the 500 PF primarily.

I am thinking of leaving the 600 home for the big Falklands trip but will probably bring it. And rarely use it … I am pretty sure that I will want it on the beach at The Neck.

I can see a not-too-distant future when I sell the 600 f/4, head into the field with the 500 PF on one shoulder, the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm VR on the other, and a TC-E14 in my pocket. Both of the smaller lenses will be on a RS-7 Curve Breathe Strap. As I said, it is looking like a whole new world …

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All of the images on this card were created on the 2018 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT

The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers. Co-leader: Peter Kes.

Join me in the UK in late June and early July 2019 to photograph Atlantic Puffin, Common Murre, Razorbill, Shag, and Northern Gannet, Red Kite, and more both in flight and at close range. We will also have great chances with Arctic and Sandwich Terns, both with chicks of all sizes; Black-headed, Lesser-Black-backed, and Herring Gulls, many of those chasing puffins with fish; Black-legged Kittiwake with chicks; plus Grey Seal. There will be tons of great flight photography. As on all IPTs, if you pay attention, you will learn a ton, especially about sky conditions and the relationship between light angle and wind direction and their effects on flight photography.

Why go all the way to Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine, endure a two-hour boat ride, and have to photograph Atlantic Puffins from a cramped blind usually in bright sun (and well off sun angle) when you can hop a red-eye flight from Newark, NJ and be in Edinburgh, Scotland early the next morning. First we drive down to Bridlington for easy access to Bempton Cliffs where our primary targets will be Northern Gannet in flight. We will also get to photograph Razorbill, Northern Fulmar, Herring Gull, and Black-legged Kittiwake. While in Bridlington we will spend one afternoon visiting a Red Kite feeding station that should provide lots of flight photography action.

While in Bridlington we will staying at the Lobster Pot by Marston’s Inn, just fifteen minutes from Bempton Cliffs. After 3 1/2 days of photography at there, we drive down to Seahouses in Northumberland to the two lodges that will be our home base for a week. After a short boat ride each day we will have hundreds of puffins posing at close range all day, every day — usually in ideal cloudy-bright conditions. While we are in Seahouses we will do six puffin/seabird trips, all weather permitting of course; last year we did not miss a single landing. In five years we have averaged losing less than one half day per year to bad weather. We land at Staple Island in the mornings and then sail over to Inner Farnes for our afternoon sessions. In addition, we may enjoy a session or two photographing nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes at eye level from a rocky beach in Seahouses.

In Seahouses, we stay 7 nights in gorgeous, modern, upscale lodges with Wi-fi. They are beyond lovely with large living areas and lots of open space for the informal image sharing and Photoshop sessions. The bedrooms are decent-sized. Each lodge has one double bedroom and two twin bedrooms. (See the single supplement info below.) At the lodges we cook our own breakfasts each morning and prepare our own lunches to be brought on the six puffin boat trips. For dinners we will alternate cooking in the lodges with fine dining at several excellent local restaurants. We stay two nights at the Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. We will enjoy a fine-dining Thank You dinner at the Dunbar Hotel on the Tuesday evening before we fly home.

On the morning of Monday, July 8, 2019, the plan is to sleep late, pack, and head up to Dunbar Harbor, Scotland for lunch and an afternoon gannet boat chumming trip: flight photography until you cannot lift your camera. The next morning, Tuesday July 9, we will enjoy our second gannet boat chumming trip (both weather permitting). On both trips we will enjoy great views of the huge gannetry at Bass Rock. Included will be two nights lodging at the Pine Martin by Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. Very early on the morning of Wednesday, July 10, we will drive up to Edinburgh Airport so that everyone can make their flights home. No moaning please. You will need a flight that leaves at 8:30am or later. Not too much later is generally best. Note: this trip needs a minimum of four photographers to run.

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All images were created on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT

The Details

This IPT is all-inclusive except for your airfare and alcoholic beverages. All ground transportation, lodging costs, meals, your National Trust membership, and all boat, entry, and landing fees are included. Weather permitting, we will enjoy three and one-half days (at least six sessions in all) at Bempton Cliffs, an afternoon with the Red Kites, six full days on the puffin boats, one amazing afternoon gannet chumming trip, and one spectacular morning gannet chumming trip. The trip cannot be finalized until I have at least six deposits as we will be renting a lovely 15-passenger bus with our private professional driver who happens to be my web-master, Peter Kes, who is also a skilled photographer and my co-leader 🙂

IPT Details

If you are good to go sharing a room–couples of course are more than welcome, heck, we actually need two couples — please send your non-refundable $2,000/person deposit check now to save a spot. Please be sure to check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below. Your balance will be due on February 28, 2019. Please make your check out to “Arthur Morris” and send it to Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855.

Please shoot me an e-mail if you are good to go or if you have any questions.

Single Supplement Info

Single supplement rooms in Bridlington and Dunbar are available for those who register early. The cost of the single supplement for those six nights is $600.00. Single supplement rooms at the lodge may be available on a limited basis but only if the trip does not fill with ten photographers. The single supplement fee for those seven nights is $700. If you would like your own room in Bridlington and Dunbar, please request it when making your deposit and include payment in full for the single supplement with your deposit: $2,600.00. The single supplement deposits are non-refundable as I will need to make the reservations well in advance.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance for big international trips is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality insurance. Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options you can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. My family and I use and depend on the great policies offered by TIS whenever we travel. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check or running your credit card. Whenever purchasing travel insurance, be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

I truly hope that you can join me on this exciting venture.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie

If In Doubt …

If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).