Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Stuff

I was thrilled to learn that Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime veteran Dietmar Haenchen signed up for the Fort DeSoto Early Winter IPT next week. See below for details and late registration discount info.

After three cold nights in a row the pool was down to 70 degrees on Friday morning. By the time I got in the pool at 3pm it was up to a still- chilly 74 F. I wore all of my warm neoprene gear and enjoyed a nice easy half mile swim. I am heading over to Circle Bar B Ranch early on Saturday morning to meet with BPN friend Joe Przybyla and do some photography.

DeSoto Early Winter IPT Late Registration Discount!

Please e-mail me directly if you are interested in learning about the substantial late registration discount for this IPT. Because both folks who have signed up have expressed an interest in learning to micro-adjust their gear, I will be bringing my LensAlign unit and the complete lighting set-up. Do consider joining us if you would like to do the same. See below for details. From Ed Dow via blog comment: For anyone contemplating the Fort Desoto trip, jump on it. I don’t think anybody knows that area like Artie. I was pretty much new to bird photography and he got me into position to create many shots that I treasure.

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: 8/Openings: 1) 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 — 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.

These are the two original captures that I used to create the vertical panorama below that is today’s featured image. Both were made s made on the morning of September 26, 2018 on the Fort DeSoto Fall IPT. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR AF lens and my souped up Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering at about +1/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual Mode. NATURAL AUTO WB at 7:22am on a clear morning. Two up from the center AF point/D-9/Shutter Button/Continuous (AI Servo with Canon) AF. For the image on the left the selected AF point was active at the moment of exposure and was placed on the ibis’s neck. For the image on the right I again focused on the bird’s chin. I locked focus with the AF Button (set up that way in the Menu) and then reframed upwards to create the source material for the top of the pano. Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune was a significant +5. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. White Ibis vertical pano

Thinking Tall and Digitally in the Field …

After I created 8519, the image on the left, I knew that I would not like the fact that the o-o-f gull flock of Laughing Gulls at the top of the frame was cut off. So I focused on the bird’s chin in 8525, locked the focus, pointed the lens up to include the flock of gulls and strips of both dark mud and green marsh at the top. I am almost always a fan of o-o-f strips of color above and below as borders. Note that the poor head angle in the right hand image did not matter as I knew I would be using only the upper half or so. Note also that it is important to be in Manual exposure mode when you are creating panos so that the images match.

I first I converted both images (using the same settings). Then I cropped away about 3/8 off the bottom of 8528. Next I put the two TIFFS — the full frame of 8519 and the cropped version of 8528 — into a folder and went Image > Automate > Photomerge and hit OK. It stitched the images together perfectly. Done deal.

This vertical panorama was created from two images made on the morning of September 26, 2018 on the Fort DeSoto Fall IPT. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR AF lens and my souped up Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering at about +1/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual Mode. NATURAL AUTO WB at 7:22am on a clear morning. Too up from the center AF point/D-9/Shutter Button/Continuous (AI Servo with Canon) AF. See above for AF point placement and pano strategies. Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune was a significant +5. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. White Ibis vertical pano

The Optimized Stitched Pano

Apologies for having to scroll to see the whole image. I wanted to emphasize that the point of stitched panos is to wind up with more pixels and with a lot better image quality than if you had moved back or zoomed out and then cropped to a pano.

The Lesson

When you are in the field and you can’t fit everything in the frame, think stitched pano and create and extra frame or two as needed so that you have the source material that you need. I have done a stitched pano of a sleeping Coastal Brown Bear and once I stitched six frames of a single Great Blue Heron. When creating panos remember to be work in Manual mode and remember not to refocus …

Spoonbills and DeSoto IPTs

Over the years, virtually every DeSoto IPT group has had a least one good chance on Roseate Spoonbill. Is a close encountered guaranteed? Not by any means. But oftentimes we are so, so lucky that I think my late-wife Elaine is calling the shots from above …

Fort DeSoto in early winter is rife with tame birds. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Caspian Tern, Great Egret, Sandwich Tern with fish, Willet, Black-bellied Plover threat display, Snowy Egret, 2-year old Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron, juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron.

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: 6.

Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds and terns in early winter. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, night-herons, and gulls that winter on the T-shaped peninsula. With luck, we may get to photograph two of Florida’s most desirable shorebird species: Marbled Godwit and the spectacular Long-billed Curlew. Black-bellied Plover and Willet are easy, American Oystercatcher almost guaranteed. Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, and White Ibis are easy as well and we will almost surely come up with a tame Yellow-crowned Night-Heron or two. We may very well get to see and photograph the amazing heron/egret hybrid that has been present for three year. And we should get to do some Brown Pelican flight photography. In addition, Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, and Caspian Terns will likely provide us with some good flight opportunities as well. Though not guaranteed, Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork might well be expected. And we will be on the lookout for a migrant passerine fallout in the event of a thunderstorm or two.

On the IPT you will learn basics and fine points of digital exposure and to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. Most importantly you will surely learn to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you’re scared of it).

There will be a Photoshop/image review session after lunch (included) each day. That will be followed by Instructor Nap Time.

The best airport is Tampa (TPA). Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with the hotel information. Do know that it is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel (rather than at home or at a friend’s place).

A $500 deposit is due when you sign up and is payable by credit card. Balances must be paid by check after you register. Your deposit is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with eight folks so please check your plans carefully before committing. You can register by calling Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand or by sending a check as follows: make the check out to: BIRDS AS ART and send it via US mail here: BIRDS AS ART, PO BOX 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions, clothing, and gear advice. Please remember that the meet and greet will take place at 7:30 on THURS, 6 DEC. Please shoot me an e-mail if you plan to register or if you have any questions.

Obviously folks attending the IPT will be out in the field early and stay late to take advantage of sunrise and sunset colors. The good news is that the days are short in December. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, juvenile Tricolored Heron, Marbled Godwits, Great Blue Heron, juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, Wood Stork, smiling Sea Scallop, Ruddy Turnstone scavenging needlefish, Great Blue Heron sunset silhouette at my secret spot, and southbound migrant tern flock blur.

Early and Late

Getting up early and staying out late is pretty much a staple on all BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours; on this particular trip we will get lots of sleep as the days are short. Being in the field well before the sun comes up and staying out until sunset will often present unique photographic opportunities, opportunities that will be missed by those who need their beauty rest. I really love it when I am leaving the beach on a sunny morning after a great session just as a carful or two of well-rested photographers arrive.

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 finished editing Dr. Cliff Oliver’s iPhone Photograph e-Guide yesterday and got some solid work done on Andrew McLachlan’s Frog and Toad photography e-Guide.

The pool had gotten back up to 81 degrees but after a cold front last night it was down to a season low-by-far 74 degrees this morning! I wil be wearing my neoprene vest when I swim this afternoon! The air temperature at 7am was 40 degrees F.

• 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: 6.
• 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: 8/Openings: 1) Introductory Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the evening before the IPT begins; SAT JAN 19, 2019.
• 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 — 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.

DeSoto Early Winter IPT News

Because both folks who have signed up for this IPT have expressed an interest in learning to micro-adjust their gear, I will be bringing my LensAlign unit and all of the lighting gear. Do consider joining us if you would like to do the same. Scroll down here for details.

Blog Comment by Ed Dow (from yesterday)

Hi Artie,

Norm Steffen? That sounds a lot like my story in the muck next to you!

That’s OK, that was an amazing morning! For anyone contemplating the Fort Desoto trip, jump on it. I don’t think anybody knows that area like Artie. I was pretty much new to bird photography and he got me in positions like the one above to get many shots that I treasure. I recall the good advice about salt water hands. Another word to the wise re: weather sealing…my 5DIV was used in a light rain for about 20 min. and failed. Anything more than a heavy mist now and I’m covering it. Fortunately Artie brought it back to life with a pillow case and hair dryer! Thanks Artie!

I wrote back:

Howdy Ed, I had the wrong year so yes, that was you. I have amended the text. And YAW. Most times the 5D IV will do just fine in a drizzle …

with love, artie

ps: YAW and thanks for your kind words.

BIRDS AS ART

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

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 September 23, 2018 on the Fall Fort DeSoto IPT. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 400mm) and the blazingly fast professional digital camera body, the Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with dual XQD slots). (Auto) ISO 720. Matrix metering +1 stop: 1/2000 sec. at f/5.6 in S (Shutter Priority) mode (TV in Canon) was somewhat of an over-exposure. AUTO1 WB at 7:43am in full sun. Center Group (grp)/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. AFA Fine-Tune Value: zero. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Royal Tern starting dive

How This Began along with Some Interesting Comments

In the How’s Your Eagle Eye? Do you see any evidence of Photoshop Foul Play? blog post here, I posted the image above and wrote, Do you see any evidence of Photoshop Foul Play? If you do, please leave a detailed comment that clearly states your proof. I will post the original frame in few days.

Joel Eade posted this comment:

It’s a gorgeous bird and even enlarging it I can’t find any sloppy tell-tale signs of Photoshop trickery but I know you are extremely skilled. If anything, my suspicion is with the wing tips. The primary feather tips look identical on both wings (even down to patterns in the veins)
I wonder if you maybe clipped a wing tip and repaired it by using a copy from the other wing.

(I asked Joel which wing tip had been repaired but he never responded.)

Then Pierre Williot posted this:

I am pretty sure that the top wing tip (distal 1/4 or so) is a copy of the bottom wing tip. I can detect a very narrow darker line at that junction on the top one which can occur with the superposition. Very nicely done! I am pretty sure that you also copied a portion of the sky with it but can’t see the seam. This clue came from the fact that the original was horizontal. I am assuming that the direct sun was on top of your picture.

I am not sure what he meant by I am assuming that the direct sun was on top of your picture but the sun was pretty much right behind me. And he clearly felt that the top wing in the photo was the one that had been clipped and replaced.

Multiple IPT veteran David Policansky agreed that it was the top wing in the photo that had been replaced:

Great image, Artie. I also was struck by the similarity of the wingtips. I’d guess the right (top) wing was replaced because the shadows between the feathers on the left wing seem to match the shadows on the body. But I am looking on a phone and might be seeing things that aren’t there.

I replied:

Thanks David. The main reason that folks think that the primaries are identical is that I asked! 🙂 As always, I believe that if I had not asked the Photoshop foul play question that pretty much nobody would have seen or mentioned anything … When you say that the right wing was replaced do you mean the upper wing or the lower wing as seen in the image? a

He replied:

I meant the upper wing. Yes, you’re right; I never actually can see any Photoshop trickery on your images and never would think anything were amiss if you didn’t ask. 🙂

Next Joel Eade got in trouble by commenting:

I’m hoping you will soon reveal the secret on this because the more I look at it the more things I “think” I see ….. it now appears to me the body of the bird looks odd, as if it was superimposed on the wings and the feet look painted because they have such irregular edges and no detail. Also they are so wide apart and stick out so much rather than being tucked in for flight. I gotta quit now 🙂

He was right about quitting. 🙂

The Photo Mechanic screen capture for Royal Tern starting dive

Photoshop Foul Play Original

The screen capture above shows that after I expanded canvas it was the bottom wing that was replaced. Note that because I used too much plus EC that the RED channel was clipped. To replace the missing primaries I used a flopped Quick Mask along with Transform and Warp. That layer was of course refined by a Regular Layer Mask. All as detailed in Digital Basics II.

MK asked an interesting and relevant question when he posted this:

Fabulous image.

I have a question about the edits: while background “cleanup” may be acceptable, should one really be doing any modifications at all to the primary subject? I have been under the (possibly naive) impression that all wildlife images and flower images have the primary subject “as shot”. Am I grossly mistaken? I ask because (a) some clipping here or there is the reason I’ve deleted 95% of the BIF photos I’ve captured, and (b) this is the primary reason for many of my “beat yourself up for mistakes” sessions after I return from the field.

I responded:

Hi MK, Assumptions are always made at your own risk. I have been repairing clipped wings and wingtips and more for more than 15 years now. I always let folks (and in the old days when it was possible to sell a photograph — editors) know when I have done anything major in Photoshop. Such images are never entered in contests where such repairs are not allowed. That said, while it is easy to do a sloppy job of adding a wingtip or a toe, doing those repairs well is a skill that needs to be developed. Everything that I did to repair the image above, is detailed in Digital Basics II, but it will take most folks a while and lots of study and practice to learn to do it well.

And BTW, background clean-up is NOT allowed in most major contests. What you do with your images is 100% your business. artie

Spoonbills and DeSoto IPTs

Over the years, virtually every DeSoto IPT group has had a least one good chance on Roseate Spoonbill. Is a close encountered guaranteed? Not by any means. But oftentimes we are so, so lucky that I think my late-wife Elaine is calling the shots from above …

Fort DeSoto in early winter is rife with tame birds. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Caspian Tern, Great Egret, Sandwich Tern with fish, Willet, Black-bellied Plover threat display, Snowy Egret, 2-year old Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron, juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron.

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: 6.

Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds and terns in early winter. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, night-herons, and gulls that winter on the T-shaped peninsula. With luck, we may get to photograph two of Florida’s most desirable shorebird species: Marbled Godwit and the spectacular Long-billed Curlew. Black-bellied Plover and Willet are easy, American Oystercatcher almost guaranteed. Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, and White Ibis are easy as well and we will almost surely come up with a tame Yellow-crowned Night-Heron or two. We may very well get to see and photograph the amazing heron/egret hybrid that has been present for three year. And we should get to do some Brown Pelican flight photography. In addition, Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, and Caspian Terns will likely provide us with some good flight opportunities as well. Though not guaranteed, Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork might well be expected. And we will be on the lookout for a migrant passerine fallout in the event of a thunderstorm or two.

On the IPT you will learn basics and fine points of digital exposure and to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. Most importantly you will surely learn to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you’re scared of it).

There will be a Photoshop/image review session after lunch (included) each day. That will be followed by Instructor Nap Time.

As with the fall IPT, this one will run with only a single registrant. The best airport is Tampa (TPA). Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with the hotel information. Do know that it is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel (rather than at home or at a friend’s place).

A $500 deposit is due when you sign up and is payable by credit card. Balances must be paid by check after you register. Your deposit is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with eight folks so please check your plans carefully before committing. You can register by calling Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand or by sending a check as follows: make the check out to: BIRDS AS ART and send it via US mail here: BIRDS AS ART, PO BOX 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions, clothing, and gear advice. Please remember that the meet and greet will take place at 7:30 on the evening of Sunday, September 23. Please shoot me an e-mail if you plan to register or if you have any questions.

Obviously folks attending the IPT will be out in the field early and stay late to take advantage of sunrise and sunset colors. The good news is that the days are short in December. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, juvenile Tricolored Heron, Marbled Godwits, Great Blue Heron, juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, Wood Stork, smiling Sea Scallop, Ruddy Turnstone scavenging needlefish, Great Blue Heron sunset silhouette at my secret spot, and southbound migrant tern flock blur.

Early and Late

Getting up early and staying out late is pretty much a staple on all BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours; on this particular trip we will get lots of sleep as the days are short. Being in the field well before the sun comes up and staying out until sunset will often present unique photographic opportunities, opportunities that will be missed by those who need their beauty rest. I really love it when I am leaving the beach on a sunny morning after a great session just as a carful or two of well-rested photographers arrive.

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

On a thankfully warmer Saturday morning (it had been 18 degrees early on Friday morning), the entire assembled family visited the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Oakdale, Long Island. Lissy asked that I take a family holiday card photo for her. As I flew up with no camera gear, I headed out fully confident with my iPhone 8+. I have learned a ton about iPhone photography while editing Cliff Oliver’s fabulous iPhone e-Guide. We should be finished early this coming week and hope to have his guide available in the BAA Online Store before the end of the week.

I appears that all three of Paul Mckenzie’s lenses sold within two days of listing. And I learned belatedly on Saturday morning that John Svendsen’s Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR lens in like-new condition sold for the BAA record low price by miles of $4199.00 the first day it was listed. See below for the great low price on his original Nikon 200-400mm.

DeSoto Early Winter IPT News

Because both folks who have signed up for this IPT have expressed an interest in learning to micro-adjust their gear, I will be bringing my LensAlign unit and all of the lighting gear. Do consider joining us if you would like to do the same. Scroll down here for details.

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.

Re-run

Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF ED Lens

John Svendsen is offering a used Nikon AF-S VR Zoom-NIKKOR 200-400mm f/4G IF ED lens (the original version) in near-mint condition for the BAA record low price by miles of $1499.00. The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it: the front and rear lens caps, the lens trunk, the front lens cover, the lens strap, a Really Right Stuff LCF-14 C low foot, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact John by e-mail or by phone at 1-503-881-1172 (Pacific time).

This, the older version of the very versatile Nikon 200-400, is priced to sell. 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.

This image was created on September 23, 2018 on the Fall Fort DeSoto IPT. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 400mm) and the blazingly fast professional digital camera body, the Nikon D5 DSLR camera body with dual XQD slots). (Auto) ISO 720. Matrix metering +1 stop: 1/2000 sec. at f/5.6 in S (Shutter Priority) mode (TV in Canon) was somewhat of an over-exposure. AUTO1 WB at 7:43am in full sun. Center Group (grp)/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. AFA Fine-Tune Value: zero. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Royal Tern starting dive

The Situation/Caught with my pants down …

As thick clouds were obscuring the sun we were shooting (hopefully) pleasing blurs of single birds and both small and large flocks in Shutter Priority mode with slow shutter speeds in the 1/15 to 1/60 second range and Exposure Compensations (ECs) as high as +2 1/3 stops. Suddenly, the sun was out at full strength. I raised my shutter speed to 1/2000 second for sharp flight images and reduced my EC. But not enough. With that deep blue sky influencing the meter to open up I should have been at either zero or +1/3 stop (for the still relatively soft early morning light). It was, however, rather easy to save the WHITEs during the RAW conversion by first pulling the EXP down 1/4 stop (-0.25) and moving the highlight slider to the left to -0.38.

How’s Your Eagle Eye?

As experienced photographers might have surmised, today’s featured image is a crop from a horizontal original. It is very difficult (but not impossible) to create vertical originals of banking and diving birds in flight.

The question of the day is, Do you see any evidence of Photoshop Foul Play? If you do, please leave a detailed comment that clearly states your proof. I will post the original frame in few days.

The Switch to Nikon

New folks who would like to see the series of images that prompted my switch from Canon to Nikon after 34 plus years on the White Side can visit the blog post here.

Fort DeSoto in early winter is rife with tame birds. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Caspian Tern, Great Egret, Sandwich Tern with fish, Willet, Black-bellied Plover threat display, Snowy Egret, 2-year old Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron, juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron.

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: 6.

Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds and terns in early winter. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, night-herons, and gulls that winter on the T-shaped peninsula. With luck, we may get to photograph two of Florida’s most desirable shorebird species: Marbled Godwit and the spectacular Long-billed Curlew. Black-bellied Plover and Willet are easy, American Oystercatcher almost guaranteed. Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, and White Ibis are easy as well and we will almost surely come up with a tame Yellow-crowned Night-Heron or two. We may very well get to see and photograph the amazing heron/egret hybrid that has been present for three year. And we should get to do some Brown Pelican flight photography. In addition, Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, and Caspian Terns will likely provide us with some good flight opportunities as well. Though not guaranteed, Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork might well be expected. And we will be on the lookout for a migrant passerine fallout in the event of a thunderstorm or two.

On the IPT you will learn basics and fine points of digital exposure and to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. Most importantly you will surely learn to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you’re scared of it).

There will be a Photoshop/image review session after lunch (included) each day. That will be followed by Instructor Nap Time.

As with the fall IPT, this one will run with only a single registrant. The best airport is Tampa (TPA). Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with the hotel information. Do know that it is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel (rather than at home or at a friend’s place).

A $500 deposit is due when you sign up and is payable by credit card. Balances must be paid by check after you register. Your deposit is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with eight folks so please check your plans carefully before committing. You can register by calling Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand or by sending a check as follows: make the check out to: BIRDS AS ART and send it via US mail here: BIRDS AS ART, PO BOX 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions, clothing, and gear advice. Please remember that the meet and greet will take place at 7:30 on the evening of Sunday, September 23. Please shoot me an e-mail if you plan to register or if you have any questions.

Obviously folks attending the IPT will be out in the field early and stay late to take advantage of sunrise and sunset colors. The good news is that the days are short in December. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, juvenile Tricolored Heron, Marbled Godwits, Great Blue Heron, juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, Wood Stork, smiling Sea Scallop, Ruddy Turnstone scavenging needlefish, Great Blue Heron sunset silhouette at my secret spot, and southbound migrant tern flock blur.

Early and Late

Getting up early and staying out late is pretty much a staple on all BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours; on this particular trip we will get lots of sleep as the days are short. Being in the field well before the sun comes up and staying out until sunset will often present unique photographic opportunities, opportunities that will be missed by those who need their beauty rest. I really love it when I am leaving the beach on a sunny morning after a great session just as a carful or two of well-rested photographers arrive.

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

It was very strange yesterday getting on and off a plane without one of my Think Tank rolling bags. Our trip was uneventful and it was great seeing Lissy and Azik and Ilyas and Idris and some of the early-arriving guests. Lots more will be showing up today for the big meal and the three football games 🙂 Younger daughter Lissy is hosting.

I was glad to learn that multiple IPT veteran, multiple BBC and Nature’s Best honored photographer, and good friend Paul Mckenzie sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS lens (the original version) in near-mint condition for $499.00 the first day it was listed and that the sale of his 600mm f/4L IS II is firmly pending. Best to grab his 200-400 with Internal Extender today before it is gone! (See the listing below …)

Happy Thanksgiving

I can only hope that your Thanksgiving will be as enjoyable and rewarding as mine will be. At times, I am so deep into bird photography that I feel that I am neglecting my family on a regular basis so it is great to have these three plus days to connect and re-connect. No worries on me creating this blog post: everyone is sleeping!

As far as what I have to be thankful for, regular readers know that that list would be far too long to share here. Have a great one!

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.

New Listing

Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Lens

Multiple IPT veteran John Johnson is offering a Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM Lens in Excellent Plus to Near-mint condition for the BAA record low price of $7499.00. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the lens trunk, the original tough front lens cover, a LensCoat and LensCoat Hoodie, 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 John via e-mail or by phone at 1-216-533-6148 (Eastern time).

I owned and used the super-sharp 800mm f/5.6, often with a 1.4X TC, as my go-to super-telephoto lens for almost five years. If you work with birds that are tough to approach and have trouble making sharp images with the 2X III TC, this lens should have your name on it. The 800/5.6 is great from the car or from a blind. I was astounded when I counted to learn that 15 of the 67 images in my San Diego exhibit were created with my 800. Note that the 800 and a 7D Mark II get you out to 1280mm. Add the 1.4X III TC and you wind up at 1792mm, almost 36X! They 800s — still in production — sell new right now for $12,999 from B&H. They have used ones in similar but not quite as good condition in the insanely high price range of from $9,499.95 to $9,999.95. Several of them have been for sale at those prices for more than two years. Thus, John’s lens is an amazing buy. artie

Canon EF 100-400mm L IS II Lens

Price Reduced $100 on November 22, 2018.

Charlie Curry is offering a Canon EF 100-400mm L IS II lens in like-new condition for a very low $1,498.00 (was $1598.00). 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

Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS Lens with Internal 1.4X Extender (& LensCoat)

Price Reduced $600 on November 20, 2018.

Multiple IPT veteran, multiple BBC and Nature’s Best honored photographer, and good friend Paul Mckenzie is also offering a Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS Lens with Internal 1.4X Extender in near-mint condition for the amazing low price of $5599.00 (was $6199.00). The sale includes the lens trunk, the front lens cover, the rear lens cap, all the original accessories, a LensCoat, and insured shipping via Fed Ex. As Paul lives in Hong Kong, he requires payment via a bank TT (electronic transfer). Contact Paul on the electronic transfer (and shipping) details. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Paul via e-mail.

This is the world’s best lens for a trip to Africa. It kills also in the Galapagos and in South Georgia, the Falklands, and Antarctica. And I used mine a lot at Bosque and other dusty places where the built-in TC helps to keep your sensor clean. And I loved it in the Palouse for its versatility. Last summer, I often found myself wishing that I had taken the 200-400 rather than my 500 II on the Bear Boat Cubs IPT as the bears were often too close! Many nature photographers use it as their workhorse telephoto lens as it offers 784mm at f/8 with an external 1.4X TC added. The lens sells new at B&H for $10,999.00. You can save an amazing $4,800.00 by grabbing Paul’s pretty much like-new lens right 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.

Happy Bird Day!

Holiday Warnings

Have fun but don’t eat too, too much and whatever you do, DO NOT drink and drive. Remember, be careful out there …

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, Roeseate 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

On Sunday morning I spent several hours tidying up details for the upcoming Falklands land-based IPT. Then I spent the rest of the day watching NFL football. I still need to finish the gear/clothing letter for the trip.

I have been getting back into the pool recently and have almost built back up to my usual half mile. A week ago the pool was 85 degrees F. Yesterday it was down to 77! Winter is coming to Florida.

There are only two slots left on the Spoonbill Boat IPT; scroll down for details. Do check out the great buy on an Induro BHL3 ballhead below.

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.

Mini Canon Fire Sale

Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens

Price Reduced $300 on November 20, 2018.

Multiple IPT veteran, multiple BBC and Nature’s Best honored photographer, and good friend Paul Mckenzie is offering a Canon 600mm F4 IS II lens (purchased in 2012) in very good to excellent condition for the silly low price of $6,199.00 (was $6499.00). There are a few superficial scratches on the paint. The sale includes the lens trunk with all the accessories, caps, straps, etc., and insured shipping via Fed Ex. As Paul lives in Hong Kong, he requires payment via a bank TT (electronic transfer). Contact Paul on the electronic transfer (and shipping) details. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Paul via e-mail.

The 600 II has been the state of the art super-telephoto for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports for many years. When I was using Canon and could get it to my location, it was always my go-to weapon. It is fast and sharp and deadly alone or with either TC. Paul’s copy has created many internationally honored images. He is upgrading his Canon stuff and is not switching to Nikon. You can save a bundle by grabbing Paul’s lens now. artie

Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS Lens with Internal 1.4X Extender (& LensCoat)

Price Reduced $600 on November 20, 2018.

Multiple IPT veteran, multiple BBC and Nature’s Best honored photographer, and good friend Paul Mckenzie is also offering a Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS Lens with Internal 1.4X Extender in near-mint condition for the amazing low price of $5599.00 (was $6199.00). The sale includes the lens trunk, the front lens cover, the rear lens cap, all the original accessories, a LensCoat, and insured shipping via Fed Ex. As Paul lives in Hong Kong, he requires payment via a bank TT (electronic transfer). Contact Paul on the electronic transfer (and shipping) details. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Paul via e-mail.

This is the world’s best lens for a trip to Africa. It kills also in the Galapagos and in South Georgia, the Falklands, and Antarctica. And I used mine a lot at Bosque and other dusty places where the built-in TC helps to keep your sensor clean. And I loved it in the Palouse for its versatility. Last summer, I often found myself wishing that I had taken the 200-400 rather than my 500 II on the Bear Boat Cubs IPT as the bears were often too close! Many nature photographers use it as their workhorse telephoto lens as it offers 784mm at f/8 with an external 1.4X TC added. The lens sells new at B&H for $10,999.00. You can save an amazing $4,800.00 by grabbing Paul’s pretty much like-new lens right now. artie

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS Lens

Sale pending as of the first day of listing

Multiple IPT veteran, multiple BBC and Nature’s Best honored photographer, and good friend Paul Mckenzie is also offering a Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 IS lens (the original IS lens version of this lens) in very good to excellent condition for the bargain price of $499.00. There are some small, superficial scratches on the lens finish. The sales includes the lens hood, the lens case, the front and rear caps, and insured shipping via Fed Ex. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Paul via e-mail.

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 Paul’s lens. artie

Induro BHL3 Ballhead

Sold Instantly!

Arthur Morris — that’s me — is offering an Induro BHL 3 Ballhead in brand new (never used) condition for a ridiculously low $99. The sale includes the original product box, the Induro plate and tools, and insured ground shipping to US addresses. The BHL3 has been replaced by the BH3LS. The BHL3 sold for $310.00. The newer version sells for $349.00. The BHL3 is a large sturdy ballhead with a smooth ball. You can find a detailed review/tutorial here on DPReview.Com. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact me via e-mail if you are interested in this great buy.

Canon EF 100-400mm L IS II Lens

Brooke Miller is offering a Canon EF 100-400mm F4.5-5.6L IS II USM in excellent condition for $1,449.00. The sale includes: the rear lens cap, the front lens cap, the lens hood, the lens strap, the lens case, the owner’s manual, the original product box, a LensCoat Lens Cover in digital camo, 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 Brooke via e-mail.

Y’all know how much I loved and now miss this amazingly sharp and versatile lens. artie

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L L IS Lens (with tripod ring!)

Brooke Miller is also offering a Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro lens in near-mint condition for $599.00. The sale includes the Canon tripod mount ring D(B) (a $172.00 value), the rear lens cap, the front lens cap, the lens hood, the lens case, the owner’s manual, the original product box, 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 via e-mail.

I loved this lens for flowers both on a tripod and hand held. I used it often on a tripod with a 12mm tube in front of the 1.4X III TC; manual focusing is mandatory and easy with combination. 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.

This image was created at Alafia Banks on the morning of Friday, February 20, 2018 with 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-14E III, and my souped up Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering at about +1 stop: 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3. AUTO0 WB at 9:47am on a cloudy bright day. Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune was a very significant +15. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Center Group (grp) Shutter Button AF as originally framed. The array covered the second (from our left) crow. Fish Crows eating wading bird egg (with the mangroves darkened)

Darker Mangroves By Popular Demand

In the A Pretty Bad Original (showing some interesting behavior). Crow Lessons. And a Post-processing Question … blog post here the other day, I asked if I had lightened the mangroves too much. Everyone said yes. I agreed. 🙂

First I selected the background above the sand using the Quick Selection Tool (my keyboard shortcut W). Then I feathered the selection 10 pixels (though I am not sure why; in any case it worked. See more on feathering selections below). Then I pulled the Curve down. Lastly, after merging that layer, I used Tim Grey Dodge and Burn with a large brush to further darken the mangroves. The repost is above. The originally posted image is below for comparison. Should I have darkened the mangroves even more? Should I have made them all black?

All of the above techniques and many dozens more including all of my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts, are covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here.

This image was created at Alafia Banks on the morning of Friday, February 20, 2018 with 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-14E III, and my souped up Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering at about +1 stop: 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3. AUTO0 WB at 9:47am on a cloudy bright day. Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune was a very significant +15. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Center Group (grp) Shutter Button AF as originally framed. The array covered the second (from our left) crow. Fish Crows eating wading bird egg

Feathering Selections and a Question

It is common knowledge that you should feather all of your selections before making adjustments so that the gradations on the edges are as smooth as possible. For years I feathered most selections at 4 pixels. Someone on BPN suggested that I try feathering 0.7 pixels. I tried that and wound up feathering most selections at 1.0 pixels. But the truth is that I do not really have a great understanding when it comes to how much to feather. I do know that when I want to darken a sky after feathering the selection that I wind up with an ugly dark or very light line along the horizon.

If you have a good understanding of feathering or have a suggestion for selecting and feathering a sky while avoiding the ugly dark or light lines along the horizon, please do share 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, Roeseate 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 had 34 species on Wednesday and 35 on Tuesday on my birding walk/drive-arounds. Highlights on Tuesday included a fly-by grey ghost — a male Northern Harrier, and a young Cooper’s Hawk. I had seen harriers at ILE but never a male. The Falklands trip is now full; whew! Blog regular Steve Rentmeesters fill the last slot yesterday. Oh what a trip it will be. I was glad to learn yesterday that the sales of several of Brooke Miller’s item are either complete or pending; details to follow when the smoke clears.

Six folks are committed to San Diego so there are just two openings left. Only two folks are signed up for the Early Winter DeSoto IPT; there is cheap shared Airbnb lodging for a female or two available. Do consider joining us on that one or on another IPT — especially the Spoonbill Boat IPT. You can see all the current offerings by clicking here. It was great to see that at least three folks joined BPN yesterday after reading the blog post here.

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 at Alafia Banks on the morning of Friday, February 20, 2018 with 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-14E III, and my souped up Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering at about +1 stop: 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3. AUTO0 WB at 9:47am on a cloudy bright day. Nikon Focus Peaking AF fine-tune was a very significant +15. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Center Group (grp) Shutter Button AF as originally framed. The array covered the second (from our left) crow. Photo Mechanic screen capture of the original

The Pretty Bad Original

Though the histogram was pretty much perfect with lots of room on the left side where the dark tones reside, note that the crows were pretty much rendered as silhouettes in the RAW (NEF) file. So what was pretty bad? The whole scene was a sloppy mess; the image was severely tilted; and I would have liked to have been a lot closer. But sometimes when we photograph very interesting behavior we simply need to do our best with the post-processing and strive to create the best possible image. That is what I did here.

A Lesson

A zillion years ago I was standing near the surf on a sunny afternoon trying for some flight images on a Long Island beach with my old toy lens in my hands, the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM in my hands. It was so long I cannot remember whether I was using film or digital capture. Anywho (as my late Dad used to say often), I see a crow flying right at me from west to east. I was confused as it looked as if it were holding a ping pong ball in its bill. Who wants a photo of a crow with a ping pong ball in its beak? I thought. As the bird got closer and closer, I noted that the alleged ping ping ball was actually buff-colored, not white, and that it had lots of blackish smudges on it. The ping pong ball was a Common Tern egg. In those days when you could still sell nature stock, that would have been a somewhat valuable photograph. But he who hesitates is lost; I never even raised my camera.

Rule

If you see something interesting happen, push the shutter button. You can always delete it if it turns out to be a ping pong ball. 🙂 This rule goes double for crows with eggs!

This image was created at Alafia Banks on the morning of Friday, February 20, 2018 with 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-14E III, and my souped up Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering at about +1 stop: 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3. AUTO0 WB at 9:47am on a cloudy bright day. Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune was a very significant +15. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Center Group (grp) Shutter Button AF as originally framed. The array covered the second (from our left) crow. Fish Crows eating wading bird egg

The Post-Processing

I selected today’s featured image out of a series of eight as I like the raised foot of the crow eating the egg while his friends waited nearby. During the RAW conversion in Camera Raw I opened up the BLACKs by moving the Shadow Slider to the right (be careful not to over-do this slider) and darkened the too-WHITE (somewhat dirty, muddy) sand by moving the Highlight slider to the left. Once I brought the image into Photoshop I leveled it using the Ruler Tool and executed a bit of a pano crop. I did a bit of beach clean-up by eliminating the most egregious distracting elements using as always the Spot Healing Brush, the Patch Tool, and Content Aware Fill. (Note that i rarely use the Clone Stamp Tool except to Divide and Conquer …) Most importantly I selected the four crows with the Quick Selection Tool and applied a layer of my NIK Color EFEX Pro 40/40 Detail Extractor/Tonal Contrast recipe to further open up the BLACKs. Compare the BLACKs of the crows plumage in the NEF file with those in the optimized file.

In Retrospect

I lightened the background mangroves. In retrospect, I am wondering if darkening them might have been a better choice. What do you think?

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

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):

• 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.

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, Roeseate 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 :).

BAA Online Store

The BAA Online Store was down for most of Sunday. By Sunday evening, it was back up.

Stuff

I had 34 species on my walk on Sunday morning. I saw a bird jumping around at the base of some reeds so I got out of the car, raised my bins, and was amazed to see a stunning pair of Purple Gallinules, the first I have ever seen at Indian Lake Estates. Then something else caught my eye, a fly-by Least Bittern, a species that I had seen just once before. I have not said this in several decades but I am actually enjoying birding (aka bird watching) on my morning walk/drive arounds.

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 II USM Lens

Brian Anderson is offering a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for only $7,699.00. There is not a single mark on the lens, the glass, or the paint. The sale includes the accessories that came with the lens: the lens trunk with keys, the hood, both feet, the front lens cover, the rear lens cap, the lens strap, the product box, an Aquatech silicone front lens cover, 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 Brian via e-mail or by phone at 1-715-278-3223 (Central 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 Brian’s lens as it too should sell almost instantly. Or not 🙂 As the 500 II goes for $8999 new you will be getting a pretty much new lens while saving $1300.00. I loved my 500 II 🙂 artie

The Edge of Innovation Podcast

Episode 75 — Living the Dream as a Bird Photographer (with Arthur Morris)

Apologies (again) for being a bit late in publicizing Part II. I enjoyed listening to this one as much as I enjoyed the first one. You can learn how I got started in the business of nature photography, how BIRDS AS ART was named, and how I have managed to avoid becoming a greeter at WalMart … And lots more.

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 only 22 minutes; many of you might enjoy it. Info on the last episode will follow. Your questions or comments are of course welcome.

BPN Is Rocking!

I have commented on almost every image posted in the Avian Forum at Bird Photographers.Net since August 8, 2018. I should be all caught up by tonight. I do not know of a better way to improve your nature photography than to participate regularly at BPN. Honest critiques done gently, and, it ain’t just birds! Below are some links to recent thought-provoking and educational posts.

Dorian Anderson’s Young Black Skimmer bank shot post here inspired a (mostly civil) 32-comment thread with lots of disagreements among the moderators. If you want to learn about Canon vs. Nikon AF from some of the world’s best flight photographers (don’t look at me!) do give this post a thorough read.

Check out Alex Becker’s beyond superb Chickadee image here. It shows that simple, small-in-the-frame images of a common species can win the day.

Avian Forum super-Moderator Daniel Cadieux has been killing for years, first with the 7D and more recently with the 7D II. His killer Lapland Longspur image here shows just what the 7D II can do in the right hands.

One of the beautiful things about BPN is that you get to see quality images of birds from around the world, especially from India and Australia. Check out Debapratim Saha’s spectacular Great Indian Hornbill image here to see how even excellent posted images can be improved.

I often re-hash lessons from the blog as I did with Ann Pacheco’s Spooked Northern Cardinal image here. If you struggle dealing with too-hot red birds, you will surely want to visit.

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

There was an influx of passerines (small perching birds) on Wednesday; I wound up with 32 species total in spite of missing a few easy birds. I had 28 on my Thursday morning walk; the birds that were present in the woods near my home were totally absent this morning …

I am still trying mightily to fill the single slot on the Falklands Land-based IPT (DEC 22, 2018 thru JAN 5, 2019). 🙁 If you missed the details or are interested in a discount offer, please see the blog post here and shoot me an e-mail immediately.

Only two folks are signed up for the Early Winter DeSoto IPT; do consider joining us on that or another IPT. You can see all the current offerings here.

Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime/Limit 13/Openings: 4

Right now I have nine folks committed to the 2019 Galapagos Photo Cruise. A friend who had committed to the trip learned that he and his wife might not be able to attend. Thus, I have room for one or two couples, one couple and two singles, or four singles. If the archipelago is on your bucket list, please get in touch via e-mail asap with questions. If you might be registering with a friend or a spouse, do ask about the two at a time discount. See the complete details here.

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.

New Listing

Canon EF 100-400mm L IS II Lens

Charlie Curry is offering a Canon EF 100-400mm L IS II lens in like-new condition for a very low $1598.00. 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 this amazingly versatile lens. artie

Price Drop!

Canon EF 200-400 f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (with extras!)

Price Reduced $400 on November 8, 2018.

Charlie Curry is offering a Canon EF 200-400 f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in like-new condition (with extras) for $6,799.00 (was 7,199.00). The sale includes the lens trunk with keys, a RRS LCF-53 lens foot, the front and rear lens caps, and the original lens foot. Also included: the lens manual, the lens strap, and insured ground shipping via FedEx to US addresses only. Cashier’s check only.

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

This is the world’s best lens for a trip to Africa. It kills also in the Galapagos and in South Georgia, the Falklands, and Antarctica. And I used mine a lot at Bosque and other dusty places where the built-in TC helps to keep your sensor clean. And I loved it in the Palouse for its versatility. Last summer, I often found myself wishing that I had taken the 200-400 rather than my 500 II on the Bear Boat Cubs IPT. Many nature photographers use it as their workhorse telephoto lens as it offers 784mm at f/8 with an external 1.4X TC added. The lens sells new at B&H for $10,999.00. You can save a neat $4,200.00 by grabbing Charlie’s like-new lens right 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.

This image was created on Day 1 — October 24, 2018 — of the recently concluded Emperor Penguins of Snow Hill Island expedition via icebreaker. While seated on the snow and ice, I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens (at 400mm) with my back-up Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering plus about 1 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/8 in Manual mode. Auto 1 WB on a cloudy-bright morning One AF point up from the center AF point/Single/Shutter button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. I kept my 80-400 rig on my shoulder via an RS-7 Curve Breathe Strap so that it was instantly accessible when I was working with the tripod-mounted 500 PF. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +5. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Emperor Penguin/the first head portrait!

The Greeting Committee of One

It was almost predictable. We were less than 1/3 of the way to the colony when we encountered a single, very friendly adult Emperor Penguin right next to the flagged track. I could not believe our good fortune as the bird was completely accepting of our presence. You might say that it was totally oblivious. While standing, I made a few images to fine-tune my exposure and then sat to get a sky background. I stayed with this bird for about 15 minutes before heading toward the colony. The walk was rather easy but for the fact that I and most everyone was over-dressed and thus over-heated. Perhaps it was the encounter with this gorgeous penguin that made me feel as if I were floating on air rather than walking or trudging. As I walked I was thinking of the too-cute chicks and of getting close enough to some adults to create some Emperor Penguin abstracts.

Having seen many tens of thousands of King Penguins and a few hundred emperors, I raised this question quite often during the trip: Which is the more beautiful species, king or emperor? When comparing similar species, we will often feel that the rarer species is the more beautiful … We will further explore this topic in the future.

The Skinny on the Nikon 80-400 VR …

I love having the Nikon 80-400 VR on my shoulder via an RS-7 Curve Breathe Strap so that it is accessible when I am working with a longer tripod-mounted super-telephoto lens. It is very versatile and comparable in weight to the Canon 100-400 II. At times I find the extra 20mm at the wide end very useful — it was great working at 80mm for the ice patterns, but I do of course miss the close-focusing abilities of the Canon intermediate zoom which focuses down to .98 meters or 3.2 feet. That as compared to 1.75 meters or 5.74 feet.

Like the original Canon 100-400mm lens, there is a strong possibility that the construction of the current Nikon 80-400 VR is somewhat suspect. Why do I say that? When photographing on the DeSoto Fall IPT I had the lens on my shoulder and was using it to create images of flocks of feeding wading birds with marsh grass backgrounds. It was zooming in and out perfectly. I went to the long lens for a minute and when I went to the 80-400mm again it got badly stuck at 200mm; zooming wider than that was difficult at best. I was absolutely sure that I had not banged the lens at all, and could not understand why it got stuck. So I sent my 80-400 VR in to be repaired and got a loaner 80-400 VR for the trip. It was a bit odd that both my 80-400 and the borrowed one needed +5 AFA fine-tune with my backup D850. My 80-400 got back just before I left but to be safe I brought the loaner on the trip. To be honest I was worried about a repeat of the problem. The loaner performed perfectly throughout the voyage.

I was glad that Nikon fixed the lens under warranty and am hoping that the problem does not recur. When I mentioned to friend/client Anita North that I was having trouble zooming wider than 80mm with the 80-400, she said that she was having similar problems. She brought hers on the Emperor Penguin expedition and indeed, hers got stuck at 200mm but not as badly as mine had. If you have had a similar problem with your Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens, please leave a detailed comment.

Fort DeSoto in early winter is rife with tame birds. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Caspian Tern, Great Egret, Sandwich Tern with fish, Willet, Black-bellied Plover threat display, Snowy Egret, 2-year old Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron, juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron.

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: 6.

Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds and terns in early winter. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, night-herons, and gulls that winter on the T-shaped peninsula. With luck, we may get to photograph two of Florida’s most desirable shorebird species: Marbled Godwit and the spectacular Long-billed Curlew. Black-bellied Plover and Willet are easy, American Oystercatcher almost guaranteed. Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, and White Ibis are easy as well and we will almost surely come up with a tame Yellow-crowned Night-Heron or two. We may very well get to see and photograph the amazing heron/egret hybrid that has been present for three year. And we should get to do some Brown Pelican flight photography. In addition, Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, and Caspian Terns will likely provide us with some good flight opportunities as well. Though not guaranteed, Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork might well be expected. And we will be on the lookout for a migrant passerine fallout in the event of a thunderstorm or two.

On the IPT you will learn basics and fine points of digital exposure and to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. Most importantly you will surely learn to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you’re scared of it).

There will be a Photoshop/image review session after lunch (included) each day. That will be followed by Instructor Nap Time.

As with the fall IPT, this one will run with only a single registrant. The best airport is Tampa (TPA). Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with the hotel information. Do know that it is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel (rather than at home or at a friend’s place).

A $500 deposit is due when you sign up and is payable by credit card. Balances must be paid by check after you register. Your deposit is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with eight folks so please check your plans carefully before committing. You can register by calling Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand or by sending a check as follows: make the check out to: BIRDS AS ART and send it via US mail here: BIRDS AS ART, PO BOX 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions, clothing, and gear advice. Please remember that the meet and greet will take place at 7:30 on the evening of Sunday, September 23. Please shoot me an e-mail if you plan to register or if you have any questions.

Obviously folks attending the IPT will be out in the field early and stay late to take advantage of sunrise and sunset colors. The good news is that the days are relatively short in late September. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, juvenile Tricolored Heron, Marbled Godwits, Great Blue Heron, juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, Wood Stork, smiling Sea Scallop, Ruddy Turnstone scavenging needlefish, Great Blue Heron sunset silhouette at my secret spot, and southbound migrant tern flock blur.

Early and Late

Getting up early and staying out late is pretty much a staple on all BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours; on this particular trip we will get lots of sleep as the days are short. Being in the field well before the sun comes up and staying out until sunset will often present unique photographic opportunities, opportunities that will be missed by those who need their beauty rest. I really love it when I am leaving the beach on a sunny morning after a great session just as a carful or two of well-rested photographers arrive.

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

Don’t forget to set your clocks back 🙂

I spent most of yesterday trying unsuccessfully to fill the single slot on the Falklands Land-based IPT (DEC 22, 2018 thru JAN 5, 2019). 🙁 If you missed the details and are interested, please see the blog post here.

Only two folks are signed up for the Early Winter DeSoto IPT; do consider joining us on that or another IPT. You can see all the current offerings here.

I was glad to learn that Multiple IPT veteran Mike Gotthelf sold his Canon EOS-7D Mark II for $799.00 soon after it was listed. If you have any Used Photo Gear page business, please shoot me an e-mail.

Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime/Limit 13/Openings: 4

Right now I have nine folks committed to the 2019 Galapagos Photo Cruise. A friend who had committed to the trip learned that he and his wife might not be able to attend. Thus, I have room for one or two couples, one couple and two singles, or four singles. If the archipelago is on your bucket list, please get in touch via e-mail asap with questions. If you might be registering with a friend or a spouse, do ask about the two at a time discount. See the complete details here.

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.

Emperor Penguin Expedition composite

Bucket List Sea Ice Beyond Success …

After the ship was seemingly stuck in the ice for hours, the captain made good progress. When we stopped, we learned that he had gotten us within 6 miles of the Snow Hill Base camp. Everyone was elated as we were well within helicopter range. We had had several helicopter briefings and several Emperor Penguin trek briefings as well. The announced temperature on the morning of October 24 was -4 Celsius, about 25 degrees Fahrenheit. The helicopter operations ran like an oiled Swiss watch. I was on the third helicopter on Day 1, the first helicopter on Day 2, and the last helicopter on Day 3 which, due to two big storms in the Drake, would be our last. The first day everyone was mega-overdressed and constantly shedding layers. My X-trahand vest has a large rear pocket and two long straps on the upper back that made it easy to store (and carry) extra layers.

It was a pleasure meeting noted wildlife photographer and filmmaker Sue Flood on the trip. She has a great new book out, Emperor, the Perfect Penguin. Pretty much everyone on the ship — including and especially me — was inspired and motivated after browsing the hard copy of her book in the library. Better yet, Sue, who has probably spent more time at various Emperor Penguin colonies than any other photographer (living or dead), was amazingly helpful. On our journey down the Drake and through the ice she answered endless questions about gear, clothing, and her favorite bird. Thanks again Sue! You can order Sue’s book by clicking on the logo-link below.

In any case, Day 2 (my best single day of photography), was warmer still. And Day 3 was actually hot with many folks — including me — shedding their parkas and photographing in shirtsleeves without gloves! Having never worn sunglasses in my life, I tried without success to get a pair in the ship shop. Sue Flood kindly loaned me her back-up pair. I used them sparingly the first two days but by 9am on day 3, I could not look at the ice — sun blindness would be soon to arrive … Out of necessity, I devised a way to photograph with the sunglasses in place. That evening my eyes looked as if I had been on a six day drunken binge; they were nearly closed and bloodshot with huge dark bags under them. They returned to normal very quickly.

Sue stated that in all her years of visiting Emperor Penguin colonies that our weather for the three days or landings was the best she had ever seen or heard of. Warm with little to no wind and mostly cloudy bright conditions.

I will be sharing many of the images above from the trip with you here in future blog posts.

Blessed

Please understand that my life continues to be one amazing blessing after another. Very few folks on the planet have ever had the privilege of traveling (however arduous) to and photographing an Emperor Penguin colony, a trip that is possible for the general public only on a helicopter-equipped ice-breaker. That I was able to make the trip, to make the 3.7 mile round trip walk each, and to make more good images than I ever dreamed possible, was and is one one of the great highlights of a very rich life.

Your Favorites?

After viewing the (admittedly small) thumbnails, please leave a comment noting your three favorite images above. If you hit Command + a few times and view at 125%, you should be able to read the titles.

Sue Flood is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker, zoologist, adventure travel leader and public speaker. Her work takes her all over the world but she has a special passion for the wildlife and icy beauty of the Polar regions and is one of the very few women professional photographers who returns again and again to Earth’s harshest and most demanding environments.

Her first visit to the Poles happened during her 11 years in the BBC’s prestigious Natural History Unit, working on such global hits such as The Blue Planet and Planet Earth, with Sir David Attenborough; on National Geographic and Discovery Channel co-productions and on the Disney nature movie Earth.

Since then, Sue’s travels as a photographer have taken her to hundreds of destinations on all seven continents and found her camping at -25°C amid penguins, capturing rare scenes in the African bush, living aboard Russian ice-breakers; exploring the vast Pantanal wetlands of Brazil, guiding trips to exotic parts of Asia and seeking out spirit bears in North America.

Sue was born and brought up in Wales and attended The Queens School, Chester before gaining a zoology degree from the University of Durham. When she is not in some far-flung location Sue lives with her husband Chris Graham in North Wales, UK.

Fort DeSoto in early winter is rife with tame birds. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Caspian Tern, Great Egret, Sandwich Tern with fish, Willet, Black-bellied Plover threat display, Snowy Egret, 2-year old Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron, juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron.

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: 6.

Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds and terns in early winter. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, night-herons, and gulls that winter on the T-shaped peninsula. With luck, we may get to photograph two of Florida’s most desirable shorebird species: Marbled Godwit and the spectacular Long-billed Curlew. Black-bellied Plover and Willet are easy, American Oystercatcher almost guaranteed. Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, and White Ibis are easy as well and we will almost surely come up with a tame Yellow-crowned Night-Heron or two. We may very well get to see and photograph the amazing heron/egret hybrid that has been present for three year. And we should get to do some Brown Pelican flight photography. In addition, Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, and Caspian Terns will likely provide us with some good flight opportunities as well. Though not guaranteed, Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork might well be expected. And we will be on the lookout for a migrant passerine fallout in the event of a thunderstorm or two.

On the IPT you will learn basics and fine points of digital exposure and to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. Most importantly you will surely learn to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you’re scared of it).

There will be a Photoshop/image review session after lunch (included) each day. That will be followed by Instructor Nap Time.

As with the fall IPT, this one will run with only a single registrant. The best airport is Tampa (TPA). Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with the hotel information. Do know that it is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel (rather than at home or at a friend’s place).

A $500 deposit is due when you sign up and is payable by credit card. Balances must be paid by check after you register. Your deposit is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with eight folks so please check your plans carefully before committing. You can register by calling Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand or by sending a check as follows: make the check out to: BIRDS AS ART and send it via US mail here: BIRDS AS ART, PO BOX 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions, clothing, and gear advice. Please remember that the meet and greet will take place at 7:30 on the evening of Sunday, September 23. Please shoot me an e-mail if you plan to register or if you have any questions.

Obviously folks attending the IPT will be out in the field early and stay late to take advantage of sunrise and sunset colors. The good news is that the days are relatively short in late September. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, juvenile Tricolored Heron, Marbled Godwits, Great Blue Heron, juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, Wood Stork, smiling Sea Scallop, Ruddy Turnstone scavenging needlefish, Great Blue Heron sunset silhouette at my secret spot, and southbound migrant tern flock blur.

Early and Late

Getting up early and staying out late is pretty much a staple on all BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours; on this particular trip we will get lots of sleep as the days are short. Being in the field well before the sun comes up and staying out until sunset will often present unique photographic opportunities, opportunities that will be missed by those who need their beauty rest. I really love it when I am leaving the beach on a sunny morning after a great session just as a carful or two of well-rested photographers arrive.

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 got off the ship on the morning of Wednesday, October 31. I had two hours to kill before the bus would take my group to the airport. Amazingly, there were 4-8 Southern Giant Petrels feeding near shore and displaying aggressively. I grabbed the 500 PF and a D850 and sat on a rock for 105 minutes photographing them. Checking in at the Ushuaia airport was a nightmare for photographers with carry-ons. My X-tra hand vest saved me. I will share the details in a future blog post … The one-stop flight to Buenos Aires left me with a 3+ hour layover, then the red-eye to Miami. I slept a lot in 45-60 minute segments 🙂 The final leg was MIA to MCO where I was met by my dependable friend and employee, my right-hand man Jim Litzenberg.

Only two folks are signed up for the Early Winter DeSoto IPT; do consider joining us on that or another IPT. You can see all the current offerings here.

If you have any Used Photo Gear page business, please shoot me an e-mail.

Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime/Limit 12/Openings: 3

Right now I have nine folks committed to the 2019 Galapagos Photo Cruise. A friend who had committed to the trip learned that he and his wife might not be able to attend. Thus, I have room for a couple or for two same-sex roommates, and for a male single. If the archipelago is on your bucket list, please get in touch via e-mail asap with questions. If you might be registering with a friend or a spouse do ask about the two at a time discount. See the complete details here.

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 October 23, 2018 on the recently concluded Emperor Penguins of Snow Hill Island expedition via icebreaker. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens (at 80mm) with my back-up Nikon D850. ISO 1000. Matrix metering plus 2/3 stop: 1/500 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. (Should have been plus at least 1 1/3 stops.) AUTO 1 WB on a cloudy afternoon. One AF point down from the center AF point/Single/Shutter button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. My rig was on my shoulder via an RS-7 Curve Breathe Strap to make sure that I did not drop it overboard. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +5. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image #1: Sea Ice Patterns

The Drake Passage

From the trip advertisement:

DATE DESCRIPTION

Oct 19 Board the Khlebnikov.
Oct 20 – 21 Cross the famous Drake Passage to the Weddell Sea.
Oct 22 – 28 Six to seven days of opportunities for excursions to the emperor penguin colony of Snow Hill Island.
Oct 29 – 30 Cruise northward across the Drake Passage, returning to Ushuaia.

We did board the Kapitan Khlebnikov on the afternoon of October 19 as scheduled. So far so good. The first night, some of it in the Beagle Channel, was not bad. It was a bit rougher on our first full day As noted previously, icebreakers do not have a keel and thus roll significantly in all but very calm seas. They suggest at least “one hand for the ship.” I always went with two hands for the ship. It got very rough on the second night. There were winds in excess of 70mph with 20-25 foot seas. My roommate was thrown out of her bed across the room, fortunately without injury. Others did not fare as well. The biggest roll was =/- 35 degrees in a span of 11 seconds. (If anyone knows the correct technical term for the duration of a single roll, the 11 seconds above, please leave a comment. I am thinking that period might be correct …) With the still-large waves coming from the east, we spent almost all of day 2 heading east by slightly north to avoid rolling severely in a beam sea (with the waves at a right angle to the course of the vessel). In other words, we were sailing away from Antarctica … It took us three full days to cross the Drake. We got into the sea ice on the 23rd, a full two days behind schedule.

After attending a neat lecture on how icebreakers work by one of the Quark staff, I spent the afternoon on the bow looking for and photographing neat patterns in the sea ice.

So this turned out to be the reality:

Oct 19 Board the Khlebnikov.
Oct 20 – 24 Cross the famous Drake Passage to the Weddell Sea.

This image was also created on October 23, 2018 on the recently concluded Emperor Penguins of Snow Hill Island expedition via icebreaker. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens (at 98mm) with my back-up Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering plus 1 2/3 stops: 1/500 sec. at f/8 in A (Aperture Priority) mode. AUTO 1 WB on a cloudy day. AUTO 1 WB on a cloudy day. Two AF points down from the center AF point/d-25/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. My rig was on my shoulder via an RS-7 Curve Breathe Strap to make sure that I did not drop it overboard. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +5. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image #2: Cracked Ice Patterns

Seeing the Sea Ice Patterns

I shared my images with lots of folks on the ship. To a person, all were amazed by the sea ice images presented here, even those who had spent hours on deck photographing the ice. As with all nature photography with a zoom lens, here were my thought processes:

#1: Figure out a good exposure system as I did with images #2-4. Image #1 was a poor guess.

#2: Keep your eyes open and see what interests you.

#3: Once you see something interesting, zoom to the approximate focal length that you will need.

#4: Quickly move the AF point so that you can capture your vision on the card with the stuff that needs to be sharp in sharp focus.

Most of the boys and girls were looking out and seeing ice. I was looking for patterns …

Were We Gonna Make it to Snow Hill?

I had realized from the get-go that there was a least a chance that we would not be able to get to Snow Hill to photograph the Emperor Penguin colony. The first group, 12 days ahead of us, had gotten to the colony three times in very tough conditions with the air temps as low as -20 Celsius (-4 Fahrenheit) with winds gusting to beyond 30 knots. But there were no guarantees for us. If the ice had shifted we might not be able to get close enough to Snow Hill Island so that we were within helicopter range. If the winds were too high or there was fog, the copters could not fly. On the afternoon of day 4 it seemed that we were hopelessly stuck in the ice as the captain moved the ship forward and then back for hours without making any forward progress.

Word spread that we were about 20 miles from Snow Hill and that if we could not get closer that only half of the 100 passengers could get to the colony each day. If the weather was good. My attitude was that whatever happens would happen. Keep tuned in here to see if we made it to the Emperors or if the trip was a total bust …

This image was also created on October 23, 2018 on the recently concluded Emperor Penguins of Snow Hill Island expedition via icebreaker. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens (at 98mm) with my back-up Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering plus 2 stops: 1/400 sec. at f/7.1 in A (Aperture Priority) mode. AUTO 1 WB on a cloudy day. Four AF points down and two to the left of the center AF point/d-25/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was placed on the corner of the crack in the lower left. My rig was on my shoulder via an RS-7 Curve Breathe Strap to make sure that I did not drop it overboard. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +5. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image #3: Sea Ice with Lead and Crack

Your Favorite?

Which of the three featured images above do you like best? Why?

The First Distant Emperor …

This image was also created on October 23, 2018 on the recently concluded Emperor Penguins of Snow Hill Island expedition via icebreaker. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens (at 98mm) with my back-up Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering plus 2 stops: 1/500 sec. at f/7.1 in A (Aperture Priority) mode. AUTO 1 WB on a cloudy day. Three AF points down and four to the left of the center AF point/d-25/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was placed on the penguin as originally framed. My rig was on my shoulder via an RS-7 Curve Breathe Strap to make sure that I did not drop it overboard. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +5. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image 4: Adult Emperor Penguin on Sea Ice

The First Emperor

When the ship sailed past this adult Emperor Penguin on the sea ice, I figured that I better make an image in case it was the only one that we would see. So I did.

Fort DeSoto in early winter is rife with tame birds. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Caspian Tern, Great Egret, Sandwich Tern with fish, Willet, Black-bellied Plover threat display, Snowy Egret, 2-year old Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron, juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron.

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: 6.

Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds and terns in early winter. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, night-herons, and gulls that winter on the T-shaped peninsula. With luck, we may get to photograph two of Florida’s most desirable shorebird species: Marbled Godwit and the spectacular Long-billed Curlew. Black-bellied Plover and Willet are easy, American Oystercatcher almost guaranteed. Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, and White Ibis are easy as well and we will almost surely come up with a tame Yellow-crowned Night-Heron or two. We may very well get to see and photograph the amazing heron/egret hybrid that has been present for three year. And we should get to do some Brown Pelican flight photography. In addition, Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, and Caspian Terns will likely provide us with some good flight opportunities as well. Though not guaranteed, Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork might well be expected. And we will be on the lookout for a migrant passerine fallout in the event of a thunderstorm or two.

On the IPT you will learn basics and fine points of digital exposure and to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. Most importantly you will surely learn to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you’re scared of it).

There will be a Photoshop/image review session after lunch (included) each day. That will be followed by Instructor Nap Time.

As with the fall IPT, this one will run with only a single registrant. The best airport is Tampa (TPA). Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with the hotel information. Do know that it is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel (rather than at home or at a friend’s place).

A $500 deposit is due when you sign up and is payable by credit card. Balances must be paid by check after you register. Your deposit is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with eight folks so please check your plans carefully before committing. You can register by calling Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand or by sending a check as follows: make the check out to: BIRDS AS ART and send it via US mail here: BIRDS AS ART, PO BOX 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions, clothing, and gear advice. Please remember that the meet and greet will take place at 7:30 on the evening of Sunday, September 23. Please shoot me an e-mail if you plan to register or if you have any questions.

Obviously folks attending the IPT will be out in the field early and stay late to take advantage of sunrise and sunset colors. The good news is that the days are relatively short in late September. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, juvenile Tricolored Heron, Marbled Godwits, Great Blue Heron, juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, Wood Stork, smiling Sea Scallop, Ruddy Turnstone scavenging needlefish, Great Blue Heron sunset silhouette at my secret spot, and southbound migrant tern flock blur.

Early and Late

Getting up early and staying out late is pretty much a staple on all BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours; on this particular trip we will get lots of sleep as the days are short. Being in the field well before the sun comes up and staying out until sunset will often present unique photographic opportunities, opportunities that will be missed by those who need their beauty rest. I really love it when I am leaving the beach on a sunny morning after a great session just as a carful or two of well-rested photographers arrive.

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 :).