Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Stuff

The shoulder is about the same. Master Class client Jim White had two great sessions despite solid clouds all day. The most ironic part was the former Mr. Canon, yours truly, teaching a Nikon photographer all about his camera, the D810. Jim was amazed that there was so much about the AF system that he did not know. In the morning it was small crane colts with lots of flying Osprey and in the afternoon we photographed the two tiny chicks and the largest colt that I had not seen in a week. And of course some neat stuff on the adult cranes both am and pm. The student created the best Osprey flight shot by miles 🙁 Photo soon.

It is 8:27pm as I put the finishing touches on this blog post and I will be asleep soon.

The Streak

Today makes two hundred forty-five days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare including the time spent on the image optimizations. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to try to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

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. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

Booking.Com

Several folks on the Gatorland IPT used the Booking.Com link below and got great rates and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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 Cayman Brac on the late afternoon of February 15, 2018 with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the mega mega-pixel Nikon D850 DSLR.. ISO 400. Matrix metering probably +2 stops: 1/10 sec. at f/7.1 in S mode (Shutter Priority, Tv with Canon). AUTO0 at 6:40pm on a partly cloudy afternoon. Center Group (grp)/Shutter Button AF as framed. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Image #1: Wave blur

Making Soup From a Stone …

With strong east winds all day long afternoons were a challenge at the beach on Cayman Brac. Near the end of the trip I had tired of photographing the several nests with big chicks so I got my rig off the tripod and stood at the edge of the ocean. When a cloud covered the sun I quickly realized that blurs were the way to go. I struck while the iron was hot; today’s featured images were created less than two minutes apart.

While it is important to make lots of images when trying to create pleasing blurs, it pays to give some thought to the image design rather than to fire off hundreds of images haphazardly. Above, I wanted to have a small strip of sky at the top of the frame and looked for neat patterns in the breaking waves before pulling the trigger. Here I love the peak of the breaking wave left of center and the darker triangle to our right.

This image was created on Cayman Brac on the late afternoon of February 15, 2018 with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the mega mega-pixel Nikon D850 DSLR.. ISO 400. Matrix metering probably +2 stops: 1/10 sec. at f/7.1 in S mode (Shutter Priority, Tv with Canon). AUTO0 at 6:42pm on a partly cloudy afternoon. Center Group (grp)/Shutter Button AF as originally framed. I panned a bit ahead of the bird and the system held focus. This trick often worked well with my Canon gear. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Brown Booby wave blur

Success!

When I first started working on the blurs that afternoon, the image that I visualized was of a Brown Booby flying low over the ocean with a breaking wave somewhere. This image required some serious leveling, eliminating a badly blurred bird on the left side of the frame, a crop from below and behind the bird, and lots of serious color work. As I did not have many chances I felt that getting this one was somewhat of a miracle.

Do You Like Yours With or Without?

Which of today’s featured images do you like best, Image #1 without a bird, or Image #2 with the bird. Be sure to let us know why you made your choice.

A Guide to Pleasing Blurs

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

The Nikon D850/D5/D500/D7500 Focus Fine-tune Guide

There is lots of mis-information out there on Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune. Working with Patrick Sparkman, we developed a way of using that feature effectively. Patrick was on a roll and perfected a method for using the Focus Peaking feature available only on the D850 to quickly and accurately micro-adjust all lenses and TC-Es with your D-850. Both Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune and D850 Focus Peaking AF Fine-tune require a LensAlign Mark II kit so that you can obtain accurate results. I learned recently that the Nikon D500 DSLR and the older D7500 both offer Automatic AF Fine-tune.

Folks who use one of my links to purchase a Nikon D850, a Nikon D5 DSLR Camera (Body Only, Dual XQD Slots), a Nikon D500 DSLR , or any Nikon gear totaling more than $2,000 will receive the new guide free.

IPT Stuff

All IPTs include an introductory briefing before the IPT begins so you know what to expect, frequent in-the-field instruction and guidance (priceless), image editing and small group Photoshop instruction during and after lunch. Breakfasts are on your own so that we can get in the field early. Lunches are on me. Dinners are on your own as well so that we can get to bed as the days in spring will be long.

Rides with the leader are available on a limited basis for $50/day.

Registering for an IPT

To register for an IPT call Jim or Jen in the office at 863-692-0906 from Monday morning through Friday lunch with your credit card in hand to leave your $500 non-refundable deposit. Balances may not be paid by credit card so you will be asked to send a check for your balance along with the signed paperwork that you will find here.

Spring at DeSoto is often magical

DeSoto IPT #1 Sunrise: 7:07 am. Sunset: 6:22pm.

3 1/2 DAYS: SUN 15 APR thru the morning session on WED 18 APR: $1599. Limit 5 photographers.

You must purchase a season Parking Pass in advance for early entry. Click here and scroll down for info. If you are not a local, the six month pass if fine. Best to order by mail. Join me to photograph a wide variety of birds of the shore including pelicans, gulls, terns, sandpipers, oystercatchers, heron, egrets, and night-herons. Many in full breeding plumage. Most are ridiculously tame. Osprey likely. Learn to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret DeSoto locations, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations. Enjoy some great sunrises and sunsets.

Which will offer better opportunities, Desoto #1 or DeSoto #2? I have no idea. Both have the potential to be great.

Tame birds in breeding plumage and heron and egret chicks are great fun.

Gatorland IPT #2. Sunrise: 6:48am. Sunset: 7:58pm.

3 1/2 DAYs: THURS 26 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1599. Limit 5 photographers.

(2 1/2 DAY option) FRI 27 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1199.

Must purchase Gatorland Photographers Pass. Click here for details. All early entry. Late stays Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Gatorland IPT #2 should have lots of chicks, and lots of birds in breeding plumage. We will get to photograph Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Wood Stork. The Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage will be present in good numbers. Learn my Gatorland strategy, to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret Gatorland spots, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations.

Help Support the Blog

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

If In Doubt …

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

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

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

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

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

Facebook

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

Typos

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

Stuff

Shoulder is the same. I did get in to pool to do some stretching while blowing balloons. I got a ton of work done on the Nikon AF Fine-Tune e-Guide and did Focus Peaking AF Fine-tuning with my 80-400 VR and my new (second) D850 with and without the TC-E14. The lens alone at 400mm worked out to a significant +10, with the TC at 560 to a not-so-significant +5. I photographed the rear LCD in Live View to illustrate Focus peaking for the guide. I will probably use about half a dozen images. Fine-tuning the D850 with the TC-E14 took about 2 minutes!

The Streak

Today makes two hundred forty-three days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took less than an hour to prepare including the time spent on the image optimization. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to try to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

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. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

The Used Gear Page

Action on the Used Gear Page recently has been fantastic. You can see all current listings here. March 2018 was surely a record-breaking month:

Jim Brennan sold his Canon 5D Mark III camera body in very good to excellent condition for $1,299.00 and his Canon 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens in good condition for $999.00, both within hours of listing in late March, 2018.
Top BAA Used Gear page seller Jim Keener sold a Fujifilm X-Pro2 Mirrorless Digital Camera in like-new condition for $1299.
Katherine Tryon sold her Canon EOS-1D X in excellent condition (with less than 16,000 shutter actuations) for $2324.00 in late March, 2018.
Kevin Hice sold a lightly used Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $3099.00 soon after it was listed in late March, 2018.
Ron Thill sold his Tamron SP 150-600 f/5.6-6.5 Di VC USD G2 lens for Canon EF in like-new condition for $949 in mid-March.
Joel Williams sold his Fujifilm XF 16-55 f/2.8 R LM WR lens in like-new condition for only $549 near the end of March 2018.
Jim Brennan sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for only $1,219.00 on the first day of listing.
Jim Burns sold his EOS-1D Mark IV body in excellent plus condition for a BAA record low $998; not sure exactly when 🙂
David Solis sold a brand new Sanho HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA 3 1 TB wireless photo/video memory card backup for $399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 300 mm f/2.8L IS USM (the original version) lens in excellent plus condition for $2399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM (the “old five”) in excellent plus condition with perfect glass for the BAA record low price of $3399.00.
Les Greenberg sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM zoom lens in mint condition to a local buyer and is sending me a check for 2 1/2% of the original asking price of $1599.
Joel Williams sold his Fujifilm XF 50 f/2 R WR lens in like-new condition for only $299 in early March.
Rajat Kapoor sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the “old 1-4”) in near-mint condition the first day is was listed for $649.
Jim Brennan sold his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in near-mint condition and a Canon EF 1.4 III teleconverter in very good condition for $3,599.00 right after listing them in early March.
Gary Meyer sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition for $798 soon after it was listed in early March.

The sale of John Norris’s Canon 1DX Mark II in like-new condition for $3,996.00 is pending.

This image was created at Gatorland on March 25, 2017 with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 560mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -2/3 stop: 1/640 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode was more than a stop under-exposed. AWB at 5:19pm — gently backlit but mostly shaded. One to the left and two rows up from the center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Shutter button AF as framed. The selected AF point was on the base of the lower mandible as seen in the DPP 4 screen capture above. LensAlign/FocusTune AF micro-adjustment: +7. DPP 4 screen capture for Great Egret chicks in nest

Keep or Delete?

When I walked up on these two I did not have time to make a test exposure. Then I simply misjudged the exposure. I was thinking that I had to guard against over-exposing the WHITEs and did not realize that with so much WHITE in the frame in the shade that I needed to over- (rather than under-) exposure. But the deal was done. Before you scroll down, answer this question: would you make an effort to rescue this image or would you delete it?

If the former, what would your post-processing plan be? Scroll down to see my results.

Another Question

What is the black stick-like thing near the left frame edge.

And do consider joining me on the Gatorland IPT #2 to learn to see the image and then optimize it in Photoshop. Scroll down for details.

Booking.Com

Several folks on the Gatorland IPT used the Booking.Com link below and got great rates and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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.

IPT Stuff

All IPTs include an introductory briefing before the IPT begins so you know what to expect, frequent in-the-field instruction and guidance (priceless), image editing and small group Photoshop instruction during and after lunch. Breakfasts are on your own so that we can get in the field early. Lunches are on me. Dinners are on your own as well so that we can get to bed as the days in spring will be long.

Rides with the leader are available on a limited basis for $50/day.

Registering for an IPT

To register for an IPT call Jim or Jen in the office at 863-692-0906 from Monday morning through Friday lunch with your credit card in hand to leave your $500 non-refundable deposit. Balances may not be paid by credit card so you will be asked to send a check for your balance along with the signed paperwork that you will find here.

Spring at DeSoto is often magical

DeSoto IPT #1 Sunrise: 7:07 am. Sunset: 6:22pm.

3 1/2 DAYS: SUN 15 APR thru the morning session on WED 18 APR: $1599. Limit 5 photographers.

You must purchase a season Parking Pass in advance for early entry. Click here and scroll down for info. If you are not a local, the six month pass if fine. Best to order by mail. Join me to photograph a wide variety of birds of the shore including pelicans, gulls, terns, sandpipers, oystercatchers, heron, egrets, and night-herons. Many in full breeding plumage. Most are ridiculously tame. Osprey likely. Learn to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret DeSoto locations, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations. Enjoy some great sunrises and sunsets.

Which will offer better opportunities, Desoto #1 or DeSoto #2? I have no idea. Both have the potential to be great.

Tame birds in breeding plumage and heron and egret chicks are great fun.

Gatorland IPT #2. Sunrise: 6:48am. Sunset: 7:58pm.

3 1/2 DAYs: THURS 26 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1599. Limit 5 photographers.

(2 1/2 DAY option) FRI 27 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1199.

Must purchase Gatorland Photographers Pass. Click here for details. All early entry. Late stays Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Gatorland IPT #2 should have lots of chicks, and lots of birds in breeding plumage. We will get to photograph Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Wood Stork. The Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage will be present in good numbers. Learn my Gatorland strategy, to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret Gatorland spots, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations.

This image was created at Gatorland on March 25, 2017 with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 560mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -2/3 stop: 1/640 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode was more than a stop under-exposed. AWB at 5:19pm — gently backlit but mostly shaded. One to the left and two rows up from the center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Shutter button AF as framed. The selected AF point was on the base of the lower mandible as seen in the DPP 4 screen capture above. LensAlign/FocusTune AF micro-adjustment: +7. The optimized version: Great Egret chicks in nest

Digital Really is Amazing

Not only was I easily able to create a high quality TIFF file from an underexposed mess, the optimized image did not even need any noise reduction. I learned this lesson in Tanzania well more than a decade ago when I underexposed a hippo family image by about five stops. You can find both the nearly all black original and the optimized version in the Art of Bird Photography II (ABP II: 916 pages, 900+ image).

My Post-processing Plan

My post-processing plan was to open the image up during the RAW conversion, execute a crop from the left and from below, eliminate the two out-of-focus sticks in front of the out-of-focus bird, run my NIK 25/25 recipe on the subject, pull the curve up on that a bit, and apply a Contrast Mask to the bird on our left. How did I do?

Learn to do all of that and tons more here.

Help Support the Blog

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

If In Doubt …

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

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

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

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

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

Facebook

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

Typos

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

Stuff

For the first time in well more than a week, I enjoyed a pain-free night of sleep by switching from my bed to the recliner section of my couch. On Tuesday I got a bit more work done on the Nikon D850/D5/D500/D7500 Focus Fine-tune Guide and plan on doing the more today. I am just starting the section on D850 Focus Peaking AF fine-tuning. See the details below.

The Streak

Halfway There — to Tie!

Today makes two hundred forty days in a row with a new educational blog post! I began this blog post from scratch at 4am Tuesday morning; it took 90 minutes to prepare including the time spent on the image optimizations. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to try to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

BIRDS AS ART

Please note that 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. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

The Used Gear Page

Action on the Used Gear Page recently has been fantastic. You can see all current listings here. March 2018 was surely a record-breaking month:

Kevin Hice sold a lightly used Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $3099.00 soon after it was listed in late March, 2018.
Ron Thill sold his Tamron SP 150-600 f/5.6-6.5 Di VC USD G2 lens for Canon EF in like-new condition for $949 in mid-March.
Joel Williams sold his Fujifilm XF 16-55 f/2.8 R LM WR lens in like-new condition for only $549 near the end of March 2018.
Jim Brennan sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for only $1,219.00 on the first day of listing.
Jim Burns sold his EOS-1D Mark IV body in excellent plus condition for a BAA record low $998; not sure exactly when 🙂
David Solis sold a brand new Sanho HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA 3 1 TB wireless photo/video memory card backup for $399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 300 mm f/2.8L IS USM (the original version) lens in excellent plus condition for $2399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM (the “old five”) in excellent plus condition with perfect glass for the BAA record low price of $3399.00.
Les Greenberg sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM zoom lens in mint condition to a local buyer and is sending me a check for 2 1/2% of the original asking price of $1599.
Joel Williams sold his Fujifilm XF 50 f/2 R WR lens in like-new condition for only $299 in early March.
Rajat Kapoor sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the “old 1-4”) in near-mint condition the first day is was listed for $649.
Jim Brennan sold his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in near-mint condition and a Canon EF 1.4 III teleconverter in very good condition for $3,599.00 right after listing them in early March.
Gary Meyer sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition for $798 soon after it was listed in early March.

The sale of John Norris’s is offering Canon 1DX Mark II in like-new condition for $3,996.00 is pending.

New Listing

Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens

Mansoor Assadi is offering a barely used Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in mint condition for the BIRDS AS ART record-low price of $7748. The sale includes the original box and everything that came in it including the lens trunk along with insured ground shipping via major courier. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Mansoor via e-mail or by phone at 415-559-8027 (Pacific time).

This fast, super-sharp, relatively lightweight (8.49 pounds) super-telephoto lens (the Nikon version weighs 10.2 pounds) is a versatile lens for wildlife photographers, especially for those who live in the west and do large mammals in low light. And it is a hugely popular lens with sports photographers. For bird photographers working at close range at feeder set-ups will really love the 3m (9.8 feet) close focus. And best of all, it creates super-sharp images with both the 1.4X III and the 2X III Extenders. It currently sells new at B&H for $9,999. You can save some significant bucks by grabbing Mansoor’s lens right now. artie

Price Drop!

Canon 300mm f/2.8 L IS Lens

Price reduced $200 on March 28, 2018

Jeff Guettinger is offering a Canon 300mm f/2.8 L IS lens (the original version) in mint condition for $2499 (was $2,699.00). The sale includes the original lens trunk, the front leather cover, the rear lens cap, the strap, and insured ground shipping via major courier to continental US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Jeff via e-mail or by phone at 715.379.6302.

The older version of the Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS is a super sharp lens that is great for hand held flight and action photography and great with both teleconverters. It has long been the favorite focal length of the world’s best hawk photographers. Jeff’s immaculate lens is priced to sell quickly. artie

Booking.Com

Several folks on the Gatorland IPT used the Booking.Com link below and got great rates and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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 17, 2016 on Saunders Island,the Falklands, with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -1/3 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/14 in Manual mode. AWB at 8:31am. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -5. The center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the top of the head about 1/2 inch beyond and slightly to the left of the base of the bill. Right on the same plane as the penguin’s eye. Rockhopper Penguins

The Situation

We were carefully making our way down the cliffside rocks to the famed rockhopper shower at Rookery. Many of the handsome small penguins were returning from an early morning fishing run. Seated behind my lower tripod I nestled down in the rocks hoping to get some head portraits as the birds paused on their way back up the hill to the colony. The only thing that I like better than tight head portraits are tight head portraits in early morning light made against distant blue water backgrounds. 🙂 Success is sweet.

Light Angle Considerations and a Real Stumper of a Question

By noting the position of the shadow of the bird’s bill, you can see that the sun was coming ever-so-slightly from over my right shoulder … Here is the real stumper of question: what is wrong in the image, what does not make sense?

Depth-of-Field Question

Why f/14? How many stops down from wide open?

This image was created at La Jolla Shores Beach on the afternoon of January 17, 2018. I was standing behind my Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/640 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Cloudy WB at 4:43pm. One to the left and two rows up from the center AF point/AI Servo/Surround AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the back of the base of the bird’s neck on the same plane as the bird’s eye. LensAlign/FocusTune AFA micro-adjustment: -1. Western Gull on clean, grey sand

Old Riddle Solved

In the You Will Need to Put Your Thinking Caps On to Figure This One Out … blog post here, I wrote, If you can figure out what is wrong with this image, please leave a comment. Note: the beach was perfectly clean in the RAW file; no shells, no pebbles, no nothing. Thus, there was no beach clean-up needed.

Western Gull on clean, grey sand, the original, with the reflection of the undertail coverts and the primary tips. Note the big YELLOW color cast in the original that was dealt with in post-processing.

The first to the answer was Juan (March 18, 2018 at 10:19am) There is no reflection of the tail …

Then this (slightly amended by yours truly), from blog regular David Policansky (March 18, 2018 at 3:02pm.) Artie: I agree with Juan that there should have been a reflection of the bird’s tail as it is on the same level as the bird’s knees, which are reflected. I agree with Rob Stambaugh: kneeling or sitting on the sand with an incoming tide and the waves coming behind you is a bad idea with a certain amount of danger involved.

Kudos to David for his correct answer, his explanation as to why, and his answering the second question posed that day. I did in fact get knocked down by a wave a moment after I made the Western Gull image; I remember holding on for dear life to one leg of tripod as the wave went by … The things we do.

David’s only mistake was calling the visible joints on the gull’s leg its knees; they are in fact its ankles. The knees are actually hidden by the belly feathers.

ps: I used the Patch Tool to remove the reflection of the tail.

The Nikon D850/D5/D500/D7500 Focus Fine-tune Guide

There is lots of mis-information out there on Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune. Working with Patrick Sparkman, we developed a way of using that feature effectively. Patrick was on a roll and perfected a method for using the Focus Peaking feature available only on the D850 to quickly and accurately micro-adjust all lenses and TC-Es with your D-850. Both Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune and D850 Focus Peaking AF Fine-tune require a LensAlign Mark II kit so that you can obtain accurate results. I learned recently that the Nikon D500 DSLR and the older D7500 both offer Automatic AF Fine-tune.

Folks who use one of my links to purchase a Nikon D850, a Nikon D5 DSLR Camera (Body Only, Dual XQD Slots), a Nikon D500 DSLR , or any Nikon gear totaling more than $2,000 will receive the new guide free.

IPT Stuff

All IPTs include an introductory briefing before the IPT begins so you know what to expect, frequent in-the-field instruction and guidance (priceless), image editing and small group Photoshop instruction during and after lunch. Breakfasts are on your own so that we can get in the field early. Lunches are on me. Dinners are on your own as well so that we can get to bed as the days in spring will be long.

Rides with the leader are available on a limited basis for $50/day.

Registering for an IPT

To register for any of the IPTs below call Jim or Jen in the office at 863-692-0906 from Monday morning through Friday lunch with your credit card in hand to leave your $500 non-refundable deposit. Balances may not be paid by credit card so you will be asked to send a check for your balance along with the signed paperwork that you will find here.

Spring at DeSoto is often magical

DeSoto IPT #1 Sunrise: 7:07 am. Sunset: 6:22pm.

3 1/2 DAYS: SUN 15 APR thru the morning session on WED 18 APR: $1599. Limit 5 photographers.

You must purchase a season Parking Pass in advance for early entry. Click here and scroll down for info. If you are not a local, the six month pass if fine. Best to order by mail. Join me to photograph a wide variety of birds of the shore including pelicans, gulls, terns, sandpipers, oystercatchers, heron, egrets, and night-herons. Many in full breeding plumage. Most are ridiculously tame. Osprey likely. Learn to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret DeSoto locations, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations. Enjoy some great sunrises and sunsets.

Which will offer better opportunities, Desoto #1 or DeSoto #2? I have no idea. Both have the potential to be great.

Tame birds in breeding plumage and heron and egret chicks are great fun.

Gatorland IPT #2. Sunrise: 6:48am. Sunset: 7:58pm.

3 1/2 DAYs: THURS 26 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1599. Limit 5 photographers.

(2 1/2 DAY option) FRI 27 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1199.

Must purchase Gatorland Photographers Pass. Click here for details. All early entry. Late stays Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Gatorland IPT #2 should have lots of chicks, and lots of birds in breeding plumage. We will get to photograph Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Wood Stork. The Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage will be present in good numbers. Learn my Gatorland strategy, to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret Gatorland spots, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations.

Help Support the Blog

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

If In Doubt …

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

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

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

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

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

Facebook

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

Typos

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

Stuff

Very few folks voiced their opinions — good or bad — on the five images presented yesterday. If you have a minute, please click here and partake.

It became obvious when I got into bed on Saturday night in pain that I was doing too much hand held bird photography — see today’s featured image. Lots of icing and moist heat were followed by Soothanol, Zeel, and Traumeel interspersed with some fitful sleep. On Sunday I took it very easy and right before bed the injured wing was feeling pretty good. As soon as I got in bed the pain returned. So it was more Soothanol, Zeel and Traumeel at 10pm and then again just before midnight. And then I slept five sold hours, and then another on top of that. I woke with just a bit of tightness but no pain; a huge improvement as compared to Saturday night …

Again on Sunday I got some serious work done on the Nikon D850/D5/D500/D750 Focus Fine-tune Guide. See the details below.

I was glad to learn that there are now three folks signed up for the first DeSoto IPT. And I learned yesterday that the sale of Kevin Hice’s lightly used Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition became pending.

The Streak

Today makes two hundred thirty-eight days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare including the time spent on the image optimization. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to try to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

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. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

The Used Gear Page

Action on the Used Gear Page recently has been fantastic. You can see all current listings here.

Recent Sales

Ron Thill sold his Tamron SP 150-600 f/5.6-6.5 Di VC USD G2 lens for Canon EF in like-new condition for $949 in mid-March.
Joel Williams sold his Fujifilm XF 16-55 f/2.8 R LM WR lens in like-new condition for only $549 near the end of March 2018.
Jim Brennan sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for only $1,219.00 on the first day of listing.
Jim Burns recently sold his EOS-1D Mark IV body in excellent plus condition for a BAA record low $998; not sure exactly when 🙂
David Solis sold a brand new Sanho HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA 3 1 TB wireless photo/video memory card backup for $399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 300 mm f/2.8L IS USM (the original version) lens in excellent plus condition for $2399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM (the “old five”) in excellent plus condition with perfect glass for the BAA record low price of $3399.00.
Les Greenberg sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM zoom lens in mint condition to a local buyer and is sending me a check for 2 1/2% of the original asking price of $1599.
Joel Williams sold his Fujifilm XF 50 f/2 R WR lens in like-new condition for only $299 in early March.
Rajat Kapoor sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the “old 1-4”) in near-mint condition the first day is was listed for $649.
Jim Brennan sold his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in near-mint condition and a Canon EF 1.4 III teleconverter in very good condition for $3,599.00 right after listing them in early March.
Gary Meyer sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition for $798 soon after it was listed in early March.

The sale of John Norris’s Canon 1DX Mark II — premium kit — (with less than 2,000 actuations!) in like-new condition but for a few small scuff marks for top left and bottom right for the BAA record-low price of $3,996.00 became pending on the first day it was listed.

And in addition, the sale of Kevin Hice’s lightly used Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition is also pending.

Booking.Com

Several folks on the Gatorland IPT used the Booking.Com link below and got great rates and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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 March 24, 2018 at ILE with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens (at 400mm) and the Nikon D850 DSLR. ISO 400. Matrix metering at about -1/3 stop: 1/800 sec at f/9 in Manual mode was a gross underexposure. AUTO2 WB at 7:04pm on a clear evening. 3D-tracking AF area mode/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system selected a single AF point just below and behind the bird’s eye. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +10! Image #1: Sandhill Crane, small colt

Why 3D?

Working vertically, I had been having problems all afternoon acquiring focus using d-25 and d-72, possibly in part to the pain in my shoulder. So when the crane family came really close late in the day, I tried 3-d out of frustration. When I was able to acquire focus the results were sharp as with today’s featured image. Understand that the little ones rarely stop moving for an instant … 3-D is quite similar to Canon’s 61-point. Learn more about 3D and read my comments on Canon’s 61-point and Large Zone AF in the blog post here. In any case, I was — once again — quite impressed with 3D AF in difficult situations.

Why f/9?

This is a tough question, why do you think that I wound up at f/9. I would normally be working at f/6.3 in situations like this with an f/5.6 lens … There are several reasonable possibilities.

What I Really Miss …

With the baby cranes frolicking right around me at point blank range, I kept having to scoot back on my butt to get 6 feet away from them: 5.74 feet away to be exact. I found myself wishing for the .98 meter(3.2 feet!) minimum focusing distance of the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens. Big advantage there to Canon.

Click on the image to see a larger version. Unsharpened tight crop of head: Sandhill Crane, small colt

Focus peaking AF Fine-tune of +10 makes a big difference!

Be sure to click on the image above to see a larger version and check out the incredible fine feather detail. Note (again) that with today’s featured image the Focus peaking AF Fine-tune value of +10 makes a significant difference in image sharpness as compared to the default setting, zero. Fine-tune values of +1 or -2 do not make any great difference, but the idea of fine-tuning and micro-adjusting is to ferret out the combos that need some serious adjustments and to maximize the percentage of sharp keepers with all iterations of your camera bodies, lenses, and TCs.

Here is how I created the tight head crop above: Working with the unsharpened, full sized, flattened 8-bit master file I cropped tight on the head. I believe that the resulting image represent a true 100% crop. But it was too large for presentation on the blog so I cropped that down to 1200 pixels at less than 395kb. The resulting JPEG is present above at 800 pixels wide. Still unsharpened.

The Nikon D850/D5/D500/D750 Focus Fine-tune Guide

There is lots of mis-information out there on Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune. Working with Patrick Sparkman, we developed a way of using that feature effectively. Patrick was on a roll and perfected a method for using the Focus Peaking feature available only on the D850 to quickly and accurately micro-adjust all lenses and TC-Es with your D-850. Both Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune and D850 Focus Peaking AF Fine-tune require a LensAlign Mark II kit so that you can obtain accurate results. I learned recently that the Nikon D500 DSLR and the older D750 both offer Automatic AF Fine-tune.

Folks who use one of my links to purchase a Nikon D850, a Nikon D5 DSLR Camera (Body Only, Dual XQD Slots), a Nikon D500 DSLR , or any Nikon gear totaling more than $2,000 will receive the new guide free.

IPT Stuff

All IPTs include an introductory briefing before the IPT begins so you know what to expect, frequent in-the-field instruction and guidance (priceless), image editing and small group Photoshop instruction during and after lunch. Breakfasts are on your own so that we can get in the field early. Lunches are on me. Dinners are on your own as well so that we can get to bed as the days in spring will be long.

Rides with the leader are available on a limited basis for $50/day.

Registering for an IPT

To register for any of the IPTs below call Jim or Jen in the office at 863-692-0906 from Monday morning through Friday lunch with your credit card in hand to leave your $500 non-refundable deposit. Balances may not be paid by credit card so you will be asked to send a check for your balance along with the signed paperwork that you will find here.

Early Spring Photo Opportunities at ILE

BIRDS AS ART First-ever Master Class

Master Class. Two Full and two Half Days/Friday afternoon, March 30 through lunch on Monday, April 2, 2018: $1999.00. Limit: 4/Openings 3.

The Master Classe will be a small group — strictly limited to four photographers — with the first folks who register having the option of staying at my home ($50/night) or at a chain motel in nearby Lake Wales. Live, think, and breathe photography from Friday afternoon through lunch on Monday (late-morning); all meals included. There will be three afternoon photo sessions (FRI – SUN) hopefully with glorious sunsets like the ones you saw one the blog in December we should have good opportunities with the cranes even in the afternoon. We will enjoy three morning photography sessions (SAT – MON) with the main subjects being tame Sandhill Cranes almost surely with chicks or colts. Also vultures and Cattle Egrets and more. Limpkins are possible. Intermediate telephoto lenses are fine for the cranes, even the chicks at times. A 500 or 600mm lens would be best for many of the situations that we will encounter.

During the day we will sit together around my dining room table and pick everyone’s keepers and enjoy guided Photoshop sessions. On Monday before lunch, folks can make a single large print of their favorite image from the weekend. If you so choose, I will micro-adjust one of your lenses (at one focal length with your #1 camera body–Canon or Nikon) during a group instructional session. All will be welcome to practice what they have learned during the breaks using my set-up and my lighting gear.

To register, please first shoot me an e-mail to check on availability. Then you will be instructed to call Jim or Jen at 863-692-0906 during weekday business hours (except for Friday afternoons) to leave you non-refundable (unless the session sells out) $500 deposit. Only the deposit may be left on credit card. Balances must be paid by check immediately after you register (unless you wish to pay by credit card plus 4% to cover our fees).

I hope that you can join me on this new adventure.

with love, artie

ps: bring your bathing suit if you would like to try my pool.

Tame birds in breeding plumage and chicks are great fun.

Gatorland IPT #2. Sunrise: 6:48am. Sunset: 7:58pm.

3 1/2 DAYs: THURS 26 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1599. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

Must purchase Gatorland Photographers Pass. Click here for details. All early entry. Late stays Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Gatorland IPT #2 should have lots of chicks, and lots of birds in breeding plumage. We will get to photograph Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Wood Stork. The Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage will be present in good numbers. Learn my Gatorland strategy, to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret Gatorland spots, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations.

Help Support the Blog

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

Tame birds in breeding plumage and heron and egret chicks are great fun.

Gatorland IPT #2. Sunrise: 6:48am. Sunset: 7:58pm.

3 1/2 DAYs: THURS 26 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1599. Limit 5 photographers.

(2 1/2 DAY option) FRI 27 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1199.

Must purchase Gatorland Photographers Pass. Click here for details. All early entry. Late stays Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Gatorland IPT #2 should have lots of chicks, and lots of birds in breeding plumage. We will get to photograph Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Wood Stork. The Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage will be present in good numbers. Learn my Gatorland strategy, to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret Gatorland spots, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations.

If In Doubt …

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

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

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

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

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

Facebook

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

Typos

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

Stuff

The shoulder continues to improve as I get close to the two week mark. I went into town on Thursday and Friday for some light deep tissue massage work And I was glad to find the two crane chicks in good health down by the lake in the morning.

Chuck Westfall

I learned recently that the photography world and Canon USA lost a giant of the camera industry, Chuck Westfall to kidney cancer last week. Chuck, who held several different positions with Canon over the past few decades, was simply Canon’s top tech rep. His knowledge of the Canon system was both encyclopedic and unmatched. Best of all was his kind manner and willingness to share. An e-mail to Chuck rarely went unanswered for more than an hour. Condolences to the wife and daughter he left behind and all of those who are missing him.

When I let my remaining friends at Canon know that I had switched to Nikon I received this gracious-as-always e-mail:

Artie,

Thank you very much for letting us know about your recent decision. I look forward to hearing about your progress in the coming months, and hope that you’ll let me know if there is anything more I can do to help.

Best Regards Always, Chuck
Chuck Westfall
Advisor, Technical Information
ITCG Image Communication Products
Marketing Division
Canon U.S.A., Inc.

And when I sent condolences to his sidekick Rudy Winston he replied:

Many thanks, Artie. I know Chuck was exceptionally fond of you, and the terrific work you’ve always done. We’ll all miss him. Hope things are going well for you. Rudy Winston, Canon USA

I had the pleasure of working on a Canon EOS 40D video at The St. Augustine Alligator Farm several years ago with Chuck and on several videos with Rudy Winston. Losing Chuck was like losing a member of the family.

The Streak

Today makes two hundred thirty-six days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to try to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

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. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

The Used Gear Page

Action on the Used Gear Page recently has been fantastic. You can see all current listings here.

Recent Sales

Joel Williams sold his Fujifilm XF 16-55 f/2.8 R LM WR lens in like-new condition for only $549 near the end of March 2018.
Jim Brennan sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for only $1,219.00 on the first day of listing.
Jim Burns recently sold his EOS-1D Mark IV body in excellent plus condition for a BAA record low $998; not sure exactly when 🙂
David Solis sold a brand new Sanho HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA 3 1 TB wireless photo/video memory card backup for $399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 300 mm f/2.8L IS USM (the original version) lens in excellent plus condition for $2399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM (the “old five”) in excellent plus condition with perfect glass for the BAA record low price of $3399.00.
Les Greenberg sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM zoom lens in mint condition to a local buyer and is sending me a check for 2 1/2% of the original asking price of $1599.
Joel Williams sold his Fujifilm XF 50 f/2 R WR lens in like-new condition for only $299 in early March.
Rajat Kapoor sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the “old 1-4”) in near-mint condition the first day is was listed for $649.
Jim Brennan sold his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in near-mint condition and a Canon EF 1.4 III teleconverter in very good condition for $3,599.00 right after listing them in early March.
Gary Meyer sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition for $798 soon after it was listed in early March.

In addition, the sale of John Norris’s Canon 1DX Mark II — premium kit — (with less than 2,000 actuations!) in like-new condition but for a few small scuff marks for top left and bottom right for the BAA record-low price of $3,996.00 became pending on the first day it was listed.

Both of these images were created at the east jetty at Shinnecock Inlet on November 24, 2017 during my Thanksgiving visit to Long Island. I used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode was an underexposure. AWB at 4:33 on a clear late afternoon. LensAlign/Mark II autofocus micro-adjustment: -5. For the image on the left: one row up and three AF points to the right of the center AF point/Expand/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the gull’s neck just about on the same plane as its eye. For the image on the right all was the same but for the selected AF point: one row up and three AF points to the left of the center AF point. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. The two originals from which today’s featured image was created

Bad Luck: Yawned the Wrong Way …

I framed _P3A0782 with the bird on our right hoping that it would look to its right, our left. Instead it yawned to its left, our right. That left the bird on the traditionally wrong side of the frame, i.e., looking out of the short side. Since the bird was sitting in the same spot I moved the AF point to the left and made a second frame knowing that I could use the water on the right side of frame in _P3A0786 as source material. At times it pays to think digitally while you are in the field.

What to Do?

See item next for the simple solution.

Herring Gull winter plumage yawning

The Optimized Image

By force of recent habit I converted both images in ACR picking “use previous conversion” from the drop-down menu. Once I had both TIFFs in Photoshop with the Background copy duplicated, I expanded the canvas of _P3A0782 well to the right. There is not need to be exact since I knew that I would wind up cropping the resulting image to 3X2. Then I grabbed the top layer of _P3A0786 and used the Move Tool (V) to drag it roughly into position. Then I reduced the Opacity of the top layer to 50% so that I could effectively seen through it to the layer below. I used the arrow keys to line things up perfectly; when the rock above matched the rock below the two images seem to snap into sharp focus. Then I raised the Opacity of the top layer to 100%, added a Regular Layer Mask, and using a large, soft brush, and erased everything to the left of the end of the rock revealing the yawning bird below.

It would seem that you would be pretty much done at that point but I was unhappy with the dark areas in the background to the right of the rock so I worked on those with the Patch Tool and some Content Aware Fill. Then I used the Gaussian Blur technique detailed in yesterday’s blog post to really smooth things out. Then I selected the bird and the rock, put it on it’s own layer, and applied my NIK 30/30 recipe. The bird still looked a bit flat so I went back into NIK and added some Pro Contrast. Voila.

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 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.

You can learn how and why I converted nearly all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. And, yes, I still have many Canon images to work on. 🙂 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.

Early Spring Photo Opportunities at ILE

BIRDS AS ART First-ever Master Class

Master Class. Two Full and two Half Days/Friday afternoon, March 30 through lunch on Monday, April 2, 2018: $1999.00. Limit: 4/Openings 3.

The Master Classe will be a small group — strictly limited to four photographers — with the first folks who register having the option of staying at my home ($50/night) or at a chain motel in nearby Lake Wales. Live, think, and breathe photography from Friday afternoon through lunch on Monday (late-morning); all meals included. There will be three afternoon photo sessions (FRI – SUN) hopefully with glorious sunsets like the ones you saw one the blog in December we should have good opportunities with the cranes even in the afternoon. We will enjoy three morning photography sessions (SAT – MON) with the main subjects being tame Sandhill Cranes almost surely with chicks or colts. Also vultures and Cattle Egrets and more. Limpkins are possible. Intermediate telephoto lenses are fine for the cranes, even the chicks at times. A 500 or 600mm lens would be best for many of the situations that we will encounter.

During the day we will sit together around my dining room table and pick everyone’s keepers and enjoy guided Photoshop sessions. On Monday before lunch, folks can make a single large print of their favorite image from the weekend. If you so choose, I will micro-adjust one of your lenses (at one focal length with your #1 camera body–Canon or Nikon) during a group instructional session. All will be welcome to practice what they have learned during the breaks using my set-up and my lighting gear.

To register, please first shoot me an e-mail to check on availability. Then you will be instructed to call Jim or Jen at 863-692-0906 during weekday business hours (except for Friday afternoons) to leave you non-refundable (unless the session sells out) $500 deposit. Only the deposit may be left on credit card. Balances must be paid by check immediately after you register (unless you wish to pay by credit card plus 4% to cover our fees).

I hope that you can join me on this new adventure.

with love, artie

ps: bring your bathing suit if you would like to try my pool.

Tame birds in breeding plumage and chicks are great fun.

Gatorland IPT #2. Sunrise: 6:48am. Sunset: 7:58pm.

3 1/2 DAYs: THURS 26 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1599. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

Must purchase Gatorland Photographers Pass. Click here for details. All early entry. Late stays Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Gatorland IPT #2 should have lots of chicks, and lots of birds in breeding plumage. We will get to photograph Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Wood Stork. The Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage will be present in good numbers. Learn my Gatorland strategy, to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret Gatorland spots, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations.

Help Support the Blog

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

If In Doubt …

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

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

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

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

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

Facebook

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

Typos

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

Stuff

The shoulder continues to feel better but still lots of impingements with abduction and flexion. But I am finding it easier to do the everyday things with my left arm that we take for granted. And I slept a lot better on Tuesday night than I did on Monday night.

I got a ton of work done on the Nikon Focus Fine-tune Guide. As always, writing good how-to is a time consuming challenge. I do well by doing the task while writing about it; that ensures that all the instructions will be clear, accurate, and complete. At least that is the plan.

The Streak

Today makes two hundred thirty-four days in a row with a new educational blog post! This about an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to try to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

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. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

The Used Gear Page

Action on the Used Gear Page recently has been fantastic. You can see all current listings here.

Recent Sales

Jim Brennan sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for only $1,219.00 on the first day of listing.
Jim Burns recently sold his EOS-1D Mark IV body in excellent plus condition for a BAA record low $998; not sure exactly when 🙂
David Solis sold a brand new Sanho HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA 3 1 TB wireless photo/video memory card backup for $399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 300 mm f/2.8L IS USM (the original version) lens in excellent plus condition for $2399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM (the “old five”) in excellent plus condition with perfect glass for the BAA record low price of $3399.00.
Les Greenberg sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM zoom lens in mint condition to a local buyer and is sending me a check for 2 1/2% of the original asking price of $1599.
Joel Williams sold his Fujifilm XF 50 f/2 R WR lens in like-new condition for only $299 in early March.
Rajat Kapoor sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the “old 1-4”) in near-mint condition the first day is was listed for $649.
Jim Brennan sold his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in near-mint condition and a Canon EF 1.4 III teleconverter in very good condition for $3,599.00 right after listing them in early March.
Gary Meyer sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition for $798 soon after it was listed in early March.

In addition, the sale of John Norris’s Canon 1DX Mark II — premium kit — (with less than 2,000 actuations!) in like-new condition but for a few small scuff marks for top left and bottom right for the BAA record-low price of $3,996.00 became pending on the first day it was listed.

New Listing

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens

Kevin Hice is offering a lightly used Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for $4099.00. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the lens trunk, the tough front lens cover, the lens strap, a LensCoat, the Canon drop-in polarizer (PL-C52 — W11) with inexpensive filter replaced by a Singh Ray LB Warming Circular Polarizer (about a $400 value), and 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 Kevin via e-mail or by phone at 1-701-460-6112 (Central time).

The 300mm f/2.8 autofocus lenses have long been the first choice of the world’s best hawks-in-flight photographers with and without a 1.4X TC. When teamed up with either the 1.4X or 2X TC, it makes a great hand holdable walk-around lens. Grabbing Kevin’s near-mint lens will save you an incredible $2,000.00 as new ones are going for $6099 from B&H. I owned and used several versions of the 300 f/2.8 lens for many years until finally replacing my 300 f/2.8 II with the 400 DO II about a year ago. That said, the 300 f/2.8 II represents a great value as the 400 DO II sells new for 6,899.00. artie

This image was created on February 17, 2018 at Gatorland with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4G ED VR AF lens and the Nikon D850. ISO 400. Matrix metering probably at -1/3 stop as originally framed: 1/4000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. SUNNY WB at 8:24am on a clear morning. Center Group/Shutter Button AF as originally framed; the bottom AF point in the diamond pattern was squarely on the bird’s eye. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +11 Snowy Egret, mega-breeding plumage in flight

Flight Photography with High Megapixel Camera Bodies …

There are several advantages to using high megapixel cameras like the Nikon D850, the Canon 5D Mark IV, and the Canon 5DS R:

1-When you shoot wider, that is, with the subject smaller in the frame, you enjoy extra depth-of-field because the subject is relatively far away.
2-With the subject relatively far away, the bird will be moving more slowly relative to your position than if you had added a TC to a lower mega-pixel body in an effort to get more pixels on the subject.
3-With the subject moving more slowly relative to your position AF tracking and accuracy perform better resulting in sharper images.
4-You can execute relatively large crops and wind up with high quality images.

Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +11!

Note with today’s featured image that the Focus peaking AF Fine-tune of +11 makes a significant difference in image sharpness as compared to the default setting, zero.
Fine-tune values of +1 or -2 do not make any great differences but the idea of fine-tuning and micro-adjusting is to ferret out the combos that need some serious adjustments and to maximize the percentage of sharp keepers with all iterations of your camera bodies, lenses, and TCs.

The Nikon D850/D5/D500/D750 Focus Fine-tune Guide

I began work on the Nikon D850/D5/D500/D750 Focus Fine-tune Guide last Friday. There is lots of mis-information out there on Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune. Working with Patrick Sparkman, we developed a way of using that feature effectively. Patrick was on a roll and perfected a method for using the Focus Peaking feature available only on the D850 to quickly and accurately micro-adjust all lenses and TC-Es with your D-850. Both Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune and D850 Focus Peaking AF Fine-tune require a LensAlign Mark II kit so that you can obtain accurate results. I learned recently that the Nikon D500 DSLR and the older D750 both offer Automatic AF Fine-tune.

Folks who use one of my links to purchase a Nikon D850, a Nikon D5 DSLR Camera (Body Only, Dual XQD Slots), a Nikon D500 DSLR , or any Nikon gear totaling more than $2,000 will receive the new guide free. I hope to have it finished in two weeks but don’t hold me to it 🙂

Click on the image to get a better view. Capture NX-D screen capture

A Healthy Crop …

Today’s featured image is only 23.7% of the original. That means that 76.3% of those original pixels were cropped away and discarded. The flattened 8-bit master file is 30.9 M. The flattened 8-bit TIFF is 130 M. The high mega-pixel camera bodies allow you to crop almost with impunity and maintain decent image quality, provided that the original image is sharp.

Early Spring Photo Opportunities at ILE

BIRDS AS ART First-ever Master Class

Master Class. Two Full and two Half Days/Friday afternoon, March 30 through lunch on Monday, April 2, 2018: $1999.00. Limit: 4/Openings 3.

The Master Classe will be a small group — strictly limited to four photographers — with the first folks who register having the option of staying at my home ($50/night) or at a chain motel in nearby Lake Wales. Live, think, and breathe photography from Friday afternoon through lunch on Monday (late-morning); all meals included. There will be three afternoon photo sessions (FRI – SUN) hopefully with glorious sunsets like the ones you saw one the blog in December we should have good opportunities with the cranes even in the afternoon. We will enjoy three morning photography sessions (SAT – MON) with the main subjects being tame Sandhill Cranes almost surely with chicks or colts. Also vultures and Cattle Egrets and more. Limpkins are possible. Intermediate telephoto lenses are fine for the cranes, even the chicks at times. A 500 or 600mm lens would be best for many of the situations that we will encounter.

During the day we will sit together around my dining room table and pick everyone’s keepers and enjoy guided Photoshop sessions. On Monday before lunch, folks can make a single large print of their favorite image from the weekend. If you so choose, I will micro-adjust one of your lenses (at one focal length with your #1 camera body–Canon or Nikon) during a group instructional session. All will be welcome to practice what they have learned during the breaks using my set-up and my lighting gear.

To register, please first shoot me an e-mail to check on availability. Then you will be instructed to call Jim or Jen at 863-692-0906 during weekday business hours (except for Friday afternoons) to leave you non-refundable (unless the session sells out) $500 deposit. Only the deposit may be left on credit card. Balances must be paid by check immediately after you register (unless you wish to pay by credit card plus 4% to cover our fees).

I hope that you can join me on this new adventure.

with love, artie

ps: bring your bathing suit if you would like to try my pool.

Tame birds in breeding plumage and chicks are great fun.

Gatorland IPT #2. Sunrise: 6:48am. Sunset: 7:58pm.

3 1/2 DAYs: THURS 26 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1599. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

Must purchase Gatorland Photographers Pass. Click here for details. All early entry. Late stays Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Gatorland IPT #2 should have lots of chicks, and lots of birds in breeding plumage. We will get to photograph Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Wood Stork. The Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage will be present in good numbers. Learn my Gatorland strategy, to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret Gatorland spots, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations.

Help Support the Blog

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

If In Doubt …

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

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

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

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

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

Facebook

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

Typos

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

Stuff

Monday was more of the same: Blowing up balloons. More ice and moist hot towels on the shoulder. Did not work on the Nikon Focus Fine-tune Guide. Ate well. Spoke with Amy on the phone; she advised getting out to do some photography tomorrow. I will do just that on Tuesday morning unless we have mega-foggy day number three in a row. I can easily hand hold the 200-500 or work with the 600 f/4 on the BLUBB. I will do my best not to fall out of the car …

The Streak

Today makes two hundred thirty-two days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took less than an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to try to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

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. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

The Used Gear Page

Action on the Used Gear Page recently has been fantastic. You can see all current listings here.

Recent Sales

Jim Burns recently sold his EOS-1D Mark IV body in excellent plus condition for a BAA record low $998; not sure exactly when 🙂
David Solis sold a brand new Sanho HyperDrive Colorspace UDMA 3 1 TB wireless photo/video memory card backup for $399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 300 mm f/2.8L IS USM (the original version) lens in excellent plus condition for $2399.00 after being contacted on the first day of listing.
David Solis sold his Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM (the “old five”) in excellent plus condition with perfect glass for the BAA record low price of $3399.00.
Les Greenberg sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM zoom lens in mint condition to a local buyer and is sending me a check for 2 1/2% of the original asking price of $1599.
Joel Williams sold his Fujifilm XF 50 f/2 R WR lens in like-new condition for only $299 in early March.
Rajat Kapoor sold his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens (the “old 1-4”) in near-mint condition the first day is was listed for $649.
Jim Brennan sold his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in near-mint condition and a Canon EF 1.4 III teleconverter in very good condition for $3,599.00 right after listing them in early March.
Gary Meyer sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition for $798 soon after it was listed in early March.

Canon 1DX Mark II Professional Digital Camera Body (with premium kit)

Sale pending

John Norris is offering a Canon 1DX Mark II — premium kit — (with less than 2,000 actuations!) in like-new condition but for a few small scuff marks for top left and bottom right for the BAA record-low price of $3,996.00. The sale includes the original box and everything in it, all of that which is unused/unopened, an extra LP-E19 battery, a SanDisk Extreme Pro Cfast 2.0 64 GB card, the SanDisk Extreme Pro Cfast 2.0 Reader, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. The item will not ship until the buyer’s personal or certified check clears the bank.

Please contact John via e-mail or by phone at 1-214-521-1520 (Central time).

The 1DX Mark II is Canon’s rugged, blazingly fast professional digital camera body. It features a great AF system and high quality image files with great dynamic range. I owned and used two of these for several years. As a new 1DX II currently sells for $5,699.00 you can save $1703 on a practically new body with less than 2,000 shutter actuations. artie

Booking.Com

Several folks on the Spoonbill IPTs used the Booking.Com link below and got great rates and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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 Cayman Brac on February 12, 2018 with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens and the Nikon D5 with Dual XQD Slots). ISO 800. Matrix metering +1/3 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AUOT0 WB at 8:52am on a partly cloudy morning. Center Group (grp) Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The four AF points were centered on the trailing edge of the bird’s far wing — see the Capture NX-D screen shot below — yet the image was sharp on the eye LensAlign/FocusTune Fine-tune: -1. Brown Booby top shot

Everybody Wants to Know …

Over the past few weeks, I have received many e-mails asking:

• 1- Are you happy that you switched?
• 2- It seems that lots of great bird photographers are switching. Should I switch to Nikon?

#1: I am very happy that I switched from Canon to Nikon. I switched primarily in hopes of becoming a better flight photographer. And that is exactly what has happened. All these years I thought that it was me … As it turned out, I am not too bad. My strength, hand-eye coordination, and fine motor skills however, are lacking to some degree when compared to the young guns. But, do understand several things:

a-Not every flight shot that I make with Nikon is perfectly sharp. That is most often due to operator error: I fail to get (and keep) the AF point or points on the bird’s face, head, neck, or upper breast. At times when I think that an image should be sharp, it is not. At times that is due to my failing to acquire focus soon enough and track the subject properly. But for me, and I need to emphasize that, for me, a far higher percentage of my flight images are in sharp focus than they were with my Canon gear.

Do know that if I have my Canon gear in my hands I would not have even attempted the top shot that is featured in todays’ blog post. I tried too many times and failed every time. Was every top shot that I attempted with my Nikon gear sharp? No. Fewer than half were sharp in this rather specific situation. But it is good to know that I at least have a chance with the gear that I am presently using.

b-The are many things that the Canon system does far better than the Nikon system. I have mentioned many of them in blog post here over the past few months. Topping that list is AF performance with the 2X TC. And there are many things about the Nikon system that drive me absolutely nuts. Some are to be expected but some are simply due to inferior ergonomics; did they really pay someone to design it that way? Heading that list is the Focus mode selector button …

c-There are many great photographers out there using Canon gear, and many of them are creating astounding flight images. You can find many of them on BirdPhotographers.Net. Check out the amazing current work of David Salem, Daniel Cadieux, Tim Folz, Isaac Grant, Ann Pacheco, Sasan Nejadi, Stuart Edwards, and Stu Bowie. All those on the first three pages of images alone. Gail Bisson uses Canon and makes lots of great images; I have not seen any recent posts with her flight images.

• #2: You switched, should I?

I have no idea if switching systems is right for you. Your job is to assess how you are doing with your current gear. If you are making great images that make you happy then there is no reason at all to switch. Here is how I replied to this question in a recent e-mail: I switched for one reason: better results for birds in flight. For most of what I do Canon is just as good or better than Nikon. If you are not making good images then you need to ask lots of questions, study lots of images –especially images that excite you, and then re-assess. Whether you stick with Canon or Fuji or Sony or make the big switch as I did, please remember to use a BAA affiliate link as a thank you for what you have learned here.

In closing I will say this: If my life depended on making a sharp image of a bird in flight there is no rig that I would rather have in my hands than the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens and the Nikon D5..

This image was created on Cayman Brac on February 12, 2018 with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens and the Nikon D5 with Dual XQD Slots). ISO 800. Matrix metering +1/3 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AUOT0 WB at 8:52am on a partly cloudy morning. Center Group (grp) Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The four AF points were centered on the trailing edge of the bird’s far wing — see the Capture NX-D screen shot below — yet the image was sharp on the eye LensAlign/FocusTune Fine-tune: -1. Brown Booby top shot

Nikon NX-D Screen Capture

The four barely visible red squares show where the Group (grp) AF points were on the bird at the moment of exposure. Though I could have done a lot better by getting the array on the back of the bird’s neck the resulting image was quite sharp on the eye. From the histogram it looks as if this image is well under-exposed. But I did not need to move the Exposure slider in ACR. I did move the Shadow slider to +36. Why would I call this a lying histogram?

Early Spring Photo Opportunities at ILE

BIRDS AS ART First-ever Master Class

Master Class. Two Full and two Half Days/Friday afternoon, March 30 through lunch on Monday, April 2, 2018: $1999.00. Limit: 4/Openings 3.

The Master Classe will be a small group — strictly limited to four photographers — with the first folks who register having the option of staying at my home ($50/night) or at a chain motel in nearby Lake Wales. Live, think, and breathe photography from Friday afternoon through lunch on Monday (late-morning); all meals included. There will be three afternoon photo sessions (FRI – SUN) hopefully with glorious sunsets like the ones you saw one the blog in December we should have good opportunities with the cranes even in the afternoon. We will enjoy three morning photography sessions (SAT – MON) with the main subjects being tame Sandhill Cranes almost surely with chicks or colts. Also vultures and Cattle Egrets and more. Limpkins are possible. Intermediate telephoto lenses are fine for the cranes, even the chicks at times. A 500 or 600mm lens would be best for many of the situations that we will encounter.

During the day we will sit together around my dining room table and pick everyone’s keepers and enjoy guided Photoshop sessions. On Monday before lunch, folks can make a single large print of their favorite image from the weekend. If you so choose, I will micro-adjust one of your lenses (at one focal length with your #1 camera body–Canon or Nikon) during a group instructional session. All will be welcome to practice what they have learned during the breaks using my set-up and my lighting gear.

To register, please first shoot me an e-mail to check on availability. Then you will be instructed to call Jim or Jen at 863-692-0906 during weekday business hours (except for Friday afternoons) to leave you non-refundable (unless the session sells out) $500 deposit. Only the deposit may be left on credit card. Balances must be paid by check immediately after you register (unless you wish to pay by credit card plus 4% to cover our fees).

I hope that you can join me on this new adventure.

with love, artie

ps: bring your bathing suit if you would like to try my pool.

Tame birds in breeding plumage and chicks are great fun.

Gatorland IPT #2. Sunrise: 6:48am. Sunset: 7:58pm.

3 1/2 DAYs: THURS 26 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1599. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

Must purchase Gatorland Photographers Pass. Click here for details. All early entry. Late stays Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Gatorland IPT #2 should have lots of chicks, and lots of birds in breeding plumage. We will get to photograph Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Wood Stork. The Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage will be present in good numbers. Learn my Gatorland strategy, to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret Gatorland spots, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations.

Help Support the Blog

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

If In Doubt …

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

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

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

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

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

Facebook

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

Typos

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

Stuff

On Saturday I did my usual two rounds of Postural Restoration exercises, worked on this blog post, took a nap, and got some more work done on the Nikon Focus Fine-tune Guide. And that afternoon as my range of motion and freedom of movement kept on improving, I was feeling good enough for the first time since the fall that I had realistic hopes of making a complete recovery … Time will tell. I was feeling so good that I turned into a 100% couch potato for four hours after my short nap. 🙂 I got back to work at about 6:30pm.

The Streak

Today makes two hundred thirty days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour and a half to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to try to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

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. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

The Used Gear Page

Action on the Used Gear Page recently has been fantastic. You can see all current listings here.

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

BAA Record-Low, Shock-the-world priced

Greg Morris is offering a barely used EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in mint to like-new condition with extras for the BAA record low price of $9394.00. The sale includes the LensCoat that has protected this lens since day one, a RRS stuff foot (installed), the original foot, the lens trunk, the original box and everything that came in it: front cover, rear cap, manuals, & the rest, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your personal or certified check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Greg via e-mail or by phone at 1-580-678-5929 (Central time).

WMD: Weapon of Mass Destruction!

The 600 II is the state of the art super-telephoto for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports. When I could get it to my location, it was my go-to weapon. It is fast and sharp and deadly alone or with either TC. With a new one going for $11,499, you can save a cool $2,005.00 by grabbing Walt’s might-as-well-be-new lens right now. artie

Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR Lens

Price dropped $200 on 17 MAR 2018

Joel Williams is also offering a Fujifilm XF 50-140mm f/2.8 R LM OIS WR lens in like-new condition for $749 (was $949). The sale includes the original box, and everything that came with the lens, and insured ground shipping via UPS, to US addresses only. The lens will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Joel via e-mail.

This versatile lens sell new for $1499 so you can save a nifty $550 by grabbing it. artie

Fujifilm XF 16-55 f/2.8 R LM WR lens

Price dropped $100 on 17 MAR 2018

Joel Williams is also offering a Fujifilm XF 16-55 f/2.8 R LM WR lens in like-new condition for only $549 (was $649). The sale includes the original box and everything that came in it and insured ground shipping via UPS to US addresses only. The lens will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Joel via e-mail.

A standard-length zoom built to handle harsh conditions, this weather-sealed lens offers the 35mm focal length equivalence of 24-82.5mm for versatile wide-angle to portrait length perspectives. With a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture, it is effective in low light conditions and able to control focus placement with a shallow depth of field. Compatible with all Fujifilm X-mount mirrorless digital cameras, it features a sophisticated lens design, internal focusing and a Twin Linear Motor AF system for exceedingly fast and near silent autofocus operation. The lens sells new for $1049. B&H

Novoflex Adapter for Leica M Mount Lenses to Fujifilm X Mount Digital Cameras

Price dropped $20 on 17 MAR 2018

Joel Williams is also offering a Novoflex Adapter for Leica M Mount Lenses to Fujifilm X Mount Digital cameras bodies in like-new condition for only $79 (was $99). The sale includes the original box and everything that came in it and insured ground shipping via UPS to US addresses only. This item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Joel via e-mail.

One of the most appealing aspects of mirrorless cameras like those of the Fujifilm X series is the availability of a wide range of compatible interchangeable lenses, including non-Fuji lenses. The Adapter for Leica M Mount Lenses to Fujifilm X Mount Digital Cameras from Novoflex makes it possible to mount a Leica M lens to your Fujifilm X-Pro1, XE-1 and XM-1 Mirrorless Digital Cameras. This precision mechanical adapter does not transfer functions from the camera to the lens, such as automatic focus, however automatic exposure metering in aperture priority and stop-down metering is possible. The lens will focus to infinity using this adapter. This item sells new for $206.25. B&H

Sony Vario-Tessar T FE 16-35 f/4 ZA OSS Lens

Price dropped $120 on 17 MAR 2018

Joel Williams is also offering a Sony Vario-Tessar T FE 16-35 f/4 ZA OSS lens in like-new condition for only $629 (was $749). The sale includes the original box and everything that came in it and insured ground shipping via UPS to US addresses only. The lens will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Joel via e-mail.

A compact and weather-resistant option, the Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm f/4 ZA OSS lens from Sony will satisfy nearly all the wide-angle needs of full-frame E-mount shooters. It also features a constant f/4 aperture for consistent performance and illumination throughout the zoom range. Ensuring optimal image quality, the lens design incorporates five aspherical elements, including one Advanced Aspherical (AA), three extra-low dispersion elements, and the Zeiss T* anti-reflective coating. This combination delivers images that are free from aberration and flare. The lens sells new for $1248.00 B&H

Sony FE 70-200 f/4 G OSS Lens

Price dropped $150 on 17 MAR 2018

Joel Williams is also offering a Sony FE 70-200 f/4 G OSS lens in like-new condition for only $829 (was $979). The sale includes the original box and everything that came in it and insured ground shipping via UPS to US addresses only. The lens will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Joel via e-mail.

Capture more distant subjects while keeping your kit lightweight with the FE 70-200mm f/4 G OSS Lens from Sony. This full-frame lens is designed for use with mirrorless E-mount cameras where it delivers an excellent telephoto zoom range. It also uses a maximum aperture of f/4 to keep size and weight down. Incorporated into the optical design are a series of specialized elements to ensure aberrations are suppressed, this includes two extra-low dispersion elements, one super extra-low dispersion element, two advanced aspherical elements, and one aspherical element. Along with these capabilities, a Nano AR coating will help minimize the appearance of flare and ghosting. The lens sells new for $1398.00 B&H

Booking.Com

Several folks on the Spoonbill IPTs used the Booking.Com link below and got great rates and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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 La Jolla Shores Beach on the afternoon of January 17, 2018. I was standing behind my Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/640 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Cloudy WB at 4:43pm. One to the left and two rows up from the center AF point/AI Servo/Surround AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the back of the base of the bird’s neck on the same plane as the bird’s eye. LensAlign/FocusTune AFA micro-adjustment: -1. Western Gull on clean, grey sand

The Situation

I love clear sunny afternoons for La Jolla Shores Beach. (Learn when and how to photograph at LJSB and the rest of the great San Diego hotspots in the San Diego Site Guide.) When we finished our Photoshop session and poked our heads out the door it was totally foggy. Several folks decided to skip the afternoon against my advice. When we first began photographing it was pretty much +3 stops everywhere in the thick fog. But not longer after we arrived the sun struggled to break through and did to some degree. With dark clouds in the east and gentle sun on the birds from the west conditions were spectacular; I love the dark grey wet sand background in today’s featured image.

My Bad Weather Strategy

• #1: Don’t even bother looking at the weather forecast the night before. I have seen many evening forecasts that guarantee horrific weather from 5 to 10am the next day only to wake to clearing or even clear skies …
• #2: Even if it is pouring rain when you head out, head out. Even if you are driving only ten minutes the weather might be better at your destination. If it is pouring rain when you get there, be patient. At times the rain may let up just enough for you to get in some photography. I always bring my laptop so that I can get some work done in the car if the bad weather continues.
• #3: It is often fun and productive to use fill flash after the rain subsides. I need to get a flash for my Nikon system … Any suggestions?
• #4: As you have seen here often, foggy conditions are great as long as you are using digital capture.
• #5: The same goes here for snow. When it is precipitating, be sure to make provisions for protecting your gear from the elements.
• #6: Likewise, strong winds, even winds from the wrong direction, can provide different and exciting photographic conditions.
• #7: If you are good with apps on your cell phone, the weather radar stuff can be helpful though I have seen that be very wrong too …
• #8: One thing is for sure, if you cancel a nature photography outing because of bad weather, you will not make any good photographs.

If you remember a time when a lousy forecast or just plain bad weather resulted in some great photography please share by leaving a comment below.

You Will Need to Put Your Thinking Caps On to Figure This One Out …

If you can figure out what is wrong with this image, please leave a comment. Note: the beach was perfectly clean in the RAW file; no shells, no pebbles, no nothing. Thus, there was no beach clean-up needed.

An Angle of Declination Note

When you are standing at full height behind your tripod and working at 840mm your angle of declination is not bad. If you pull out the leg tab on the forward-facing leg and then pull the leg out, you can get a foot or two lower quickly without have to adjust the length of the legs. Depending on your height and physique and the height of your tripod, you can now get lower by squatting down a bit, bending at the waist, or kneeling. This is a quick method of reducing your angle of declination quickly.

If you read the fine print in this blog post you can figure out why kneeling might not have been a good idea and why sitting might have been disastrous. If you do, please share by leaving a comment.

Early Spring Photo Opportunities at ILE

BIRDS AS ART First-ever Master Class

Master Class. Two Full and two Half Days/Friday afternoon, March 30 through lunch on Monday, April 2, 2018. Limit: 4/Openings 3.

The Master Classe will be a small group — strictly limited to four photographers — with the first folks who register having the option of staying at my home ($50/night) or at a chain motel in nearby Lake Wales. Live, think, and breathe photography from Friday afternoon through lunch on Monday (late-morning); all meals included. There will be three afternoon photo sessions (FRI – SUN) hopefully with glorious sunsets like the ones you saw one the blog in December we should have good opportunities with the cranes even in the afternoon. We will enjoy three morning photography sessions (SAT – MON) with the main subjects being tame Sandhill Cranes almost surely with chicks or colts. Also vultures and Cattle Egrets and more. Limpkins are possible. Intermediate telephoto lenses are fine for the cranes, even the chicks at times. A 500 or 600mm lens would be best for many of the situations that we will encounter.

During the day we will sit together around my dining room table and pick everyone’s keepers and enjoy guided Photoshop sessions. On Monday before lunch, folks can make a single large print of their favorite image from the weekend. If you so choose, I will micro-adjust one of your lenses (at one focal length with your #1 camera body–Canon or Nikon) during a group instructional session. All will be welcome to practice what they have learned during the breaks using my set-up and my lighting gear.

To register, please first shoot me an e-mail to check on availability. Then you will be instructed to call Jim or Jen at 863-692-0906 during weekday business hours (except for Friday afternoons) to leave you non-refundable (unless the session sells out) $500 deposit. Only the deposit may be left on credit card. Balances must be paid by check immediately after you register (unless you wish to pay by credit card plus 4% to cover our fees).

I hope that you can join me on this new adventure.

with love, artie

ps: bring your bathing suit if you would like to try my pool.

Tame birds in breeding plumage and chicks are great fun.

Gatorland IPT #2. Sunrise: 6:48am. Sunset: 7:58pm.

3 1/2 DAYs: THURS 26 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1599. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

Must purchase Gatorland Photographers Pass. Click here for details. All early entry. Late stays Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Gatorland IPT #2 should have lots of chicks, and lots of birds in breeding plumage. We will get to photograph Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Wood Stork. The Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage will be present in good numbers. Learn my Gatorland strategy, to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret Gatorland spots, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations.

Help Support the Blog

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

If In Doubt …

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

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

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

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

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

Facebook

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

Typos

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

Stuff

The shoulder is getting a little bit better each day but abduction of the left arm is greatly restricted and when I try, the pain is a pain 🙂 Especially at night, even when I am doing nothing. My replacement D5 arrived today. Two folks have signed up for Gatorland #2 so we will have late stay for that Thursday night. More reason to join. See the details below.

The Streak

Today makes two hundred twenty-eight days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour and a half to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to try to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

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. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

The Nikon D850/D5 Focus Fine-tune Guide

I will start working on the Nikon D850/D5 Focus Fine-tune Guide tomorrow. There is lots of mis-information out there on Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune. Working with Patrick Sparkman, we developed a way of using that feature effectively. Patrick was on a roll and perfected a method for using the Focus Peaking feature available only on the D850 to quickly and accurately micro-adjust all lenses and TC-Es with your D-850. Both Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune and D850 Focus Peaking AF Fine-tune require a LensAlign Mark II kit so that you can obtain accurate results. I learned recently that the Nikon D500 DSLR does offer Automatic AF Fine-tune.

Folks who use one of my links to purchase a Nikon D850, a Nikon D5 DSLR Camera (Body Only, Dual XQD Slots), a Nikon D500 DSLR , or any Nikon gear totaling more than $2,000 will receive the new guide free. I hope to have it finished in two weeks but don’t hold me to it 🙂

The Used Gear Page

Action on the Used Gear Page recently has been fantastic. You can see all current listings here.

Fujifilm X-Pro2 Mirrorless Digital Camera plus two-lens package!

Top BAA Used Gear page seller Jim Keener is offering a Fujifilm X-Pro2 Mirrorless Digital Camera in like-new condition ($1699 new), a Fujifilm XF 23mm f/2 R WR (Black) Lens in like-new condition ($449 new), and a Fujifilm XF 50mm f/2 R WR (Black) Lens (also $449 new) in like-new condition for the amazing low giving-it-away price of $1699.00. The sale includes the front cap, five Fujifilm batteries, the charger, the original box, the camera strap, and insured ground shipping via major courier to the 48 contiguous states only. The camera will not ship until your check clears. No PayPal.

Please contact Jim via e-mail or by phone at 310-741-7435 (9am-9pm Mountain time).

The long-awaited successor to Fujifilm’s first X-series mirrorless digital camera, the X-Pro2 sports a high-resolution X-Trans CMOS III sensor and redeveloped X-Processor Pro, along with the tested rangefinder-inspired design now synonymous with the X-Pro system. Now weighing in at 24.3MP, the APS-C CMOS sensor incorporates the proprietary X-Trans technology and its randomized pixel array to afford a high degree of sharpness and accurate color reproduction, along with high expanded sensitivity to ISO 51200. When paired with the X-Processor Pro, the camera is capable of recording stills at up to 8 fps and Full HD 1080p video at 60 fps, along with quick focusing and overall performance speeds. Unique among camera designs, the X-Pro2 is also heavily characterized by its Advanced Hybrid Multi Viewfinder that blends both optical and electronic viewing methods into a single, switchable finder, giving you the best of both worlds in regard to clear viewing and the ability to preview exposure settings prior to shooting. Cementing its place as a professional tool, the X-Pro2 also features a robust, weather-sealed body design accented by a range of physical controls for intuitive handling in any condition. B&H

With this package going for $2597.00 new grabbing it now will save you nearly $1K! With the body in like-new condition it’s as if you are getting the two lenses free. artie

Booking.Com

Several folks on the Spoonbill IPTs used the Booking.Com link below and got great rates and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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 Cayman Brac on February 12, with the Induro GIT 204/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and the Nikon D850. ISO 400. Matrix metering at zero: 1/640 sec. at f/11. AUTO0 WB at 5:12pm on a sunny afternoon. Live View Touch Shutter AF. The LV AF box was on the lower mandible just forward of the bird’s eye. Brown Booby, large chick yawning

The Situation

The beach where these birds nested was strewn with jagged limestone rocks. Getting down on your belly was not possible. Sitting required you to clear an area of rocks to avoid puncturing your butt. But when I was seated, the background was plain ugly: green grass interspersed with white limestone rocks and boulders. Along with lots of plastic trash, more than I have seen anywhere in the world. I knew that I needed to get lower to take advantage of the gorgeous green background provided by a relatively distant beach bush. What to do?

How I Got Low When I Could Not Get Low …

I came up with a plan that involved trying something that I had never tried before. First I set my exposure manually. Then I lowered my Induro GIT 204 tripod so that the lens was about six inches off the ground. Then I pulled out the large (moveable) rear LCD screen and tilted it up. Next I turned on Live View and set up Touch Shutter by tapping the visible icons upper left. I framed the shot, tightened the tripod controls a bit, and began making photos by tapping the rear LCD where I wanted to focus. I am not sure how I wound up at f/11 but it turned out to be a blessing. For the most part the big chick was just sitting there. When it yawned, its head came up a bit so I raised the lens just a bit and tapped the rear LCD to focus and fire. I nearly clipped the upper mandible in the NEF file but was easily able to add canvas above and right using John Haedo Content Aware Fill (as detailed in Digital Basics II). The small aperture helped to ensure that the eye was sharp even though the system focused where I tapped, on the lower mandible. And the bush was far enough away to remain pleasingly out of focus. This technique is great with static subject but less than elegant or ideal when the bird moves. I got lucky with today’s featured image. I love to put on my thinking cap in the field and come up with effective new techniques. 🙂

The Induro GIT 204

I recently discovered the Induro GIT 204, the smaller, lighter cousin of the GIT 304L. The 204 folds down to 21 inches for easy packing and at 4.2 pounds (but rated to hold 44 pounds of gear), makes an ideal travel tripod for folks using intermediate telephoto lenses like the Canon 100-400 II, the Canon 300mm f/4L IS, the Nikon 80-400mm VR, and the Nikon 200-500. All of those and the rest of the versatile intermediate telephoto lenses available today do best when your tripod is topped by a Mongoose M3.6. And the GIT 204 is priced at only $525.00, $124 less than its larger, six-inch taller cousin, the GIT 304L. I brought the 204 to Cayman Brac and used it with the 200-500 most often with the TCE-14III and always once the sun had disappeared behind the taller houses each afternoon; it performed superbly. The booby chicks were so cute that we often stayed to photograph them until well after sunset. I will be bringing the 204 on my next Southern Oceans adventure, (October 2018) for the Emperor Penguin chicks — we hope. B&H does not carry the GIT 204; you can order yours by clicking here right now; there are only four left in stock.

Tame birds in breeding plumage are great fun.

Gatorland IPT #2. Sunrise: 6:48am. Sunset: 7:58pm.

3 1/2 DAYs: THURS 26 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1599. Limit 5 photographers/Openings 3.

(2 1/2 DAY option) FRI 27 APR through and including the morning of SUN 29 APR. $1199.

Must purchase Gatorland Photographers Pass. Click here for details. All early entry. Late stays Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Gatorland IPT #2 should have lots of chicks, and lots of birds in breeding plumage. We will get to photograph Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, and Wood Stork. The Cattle Egrets in full breeding plumage will be present in good numbers. Learn my Gatorland strategy, to get the right exposure, flight photography techniques, my secret Gatorland spots, how to see the best situations (nobody is better at that than me), and how to make great images in extremely cluttered situations.

Early Spring Photo Opportunities at ILE

BIRDS AS ART first-ever Master Class

Master Class. Two Full and two Half Days/Friday afternoon, March 30 through lunch on Monday, April 2, 2018. Limit: 4/Openings 3.

The Master Classe will be a small group — strictly limited to four photographers — with the first folks who register having the option of staying at my home ($50/night) or at a chain motel in nearby Lake Wales. Live, think, and breathe photography from Friday afternoon through lunch on Monday (late-morning); all meals included. There will be three afternoon photo sessions (FRI – SUN) hopefully with glorious sunsets like the ones you saw one the blog in December we should have good opportunities with the cranes even in the afternoon. We will enjoy three morning photography sessions (SAT – MON) with the main subjects being tame Sandhill Cranes almost surely with chicks or colts. Also vultures and Cattle Egrets and more. Limpkins are possible. Intermediate telephoto lenses are fine for the cranes, even the chicks at times. A 500 or 600mm lens would be best for many of the situations that we will encounter.

During the day we will sit together around my dining room table and pick everyone’s keepers and enjoy guided Photoshop sessions. On Monday before lunch, folks can make a single large print of their favorite image from the weekend. If you so choose, I will micro-adjust one of your lenses (at one focal length with your #1 camera body–Canon or Nikon) during a group instructional session. All will be welcome to practice what they have learned during the breaks using my set-up and my lighting gear.

To register, please first shoot me an e-mail to check on availability. Then you will be instructed to call Jim or Jen at 863-692-0906 during weekday business hours (except for Friday afternoons) to leave you non-refundable (unless the session sells out) $500 deposit. Only the deposit may be left on credit card. Balances must be paid by check immediately after you register (unless you wish to pay by credit card plus 4% to cover our fees).

I hope that you can join me on this new adventure.

with love, artie

ps: bring your bathing suit if you would like to try my pool.

Help Support the Blog

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

If In Doubt …

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

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

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

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

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

Facebook

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

Typos

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

Stuff

I am finishing this blog post on Tuesday evening in hopes of sleeping late on Wednesday. The shoulder felt a lot better as Tuesday wore on. I got lots of work accomplished with travel plans for the lucky Falklands IPT (sold out for forever) group and will be doing the same for the long sold out UK Puffins and Gannets IPT over the next few days.

I spoke to Cliff Oliver and described what was going on with my left arm and shoulder. He felt that it was likely that I have a tear in one of the four rotator cuff muscles. He suggested a few alternative treatments and is 100% sure that I can heal up without surgery. I spoke to Amy Novotny on FaceTime and she had me try a few different test positions and feels that it is very likely that my rotator cuff is intact and that I just need to keep icing and keep up with my ballon exercise protocol. Both conversations buoyed me.

The Streak

Today makes two hundred twenty-six days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about two hours to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not…), the plan right now is to try to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.

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. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

The Nikon D850/D5 Focus Fine-tune Guide

I will be working on a Nikon D850/D5 Focus Fine-tune Guide soon as my replacement D5 arrives provided that my shoulder continues to improve. There is lots of mis-information out there on Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune. Working with Patrick Sparkman, we perfected a method of using the Focus Peaking feature available only on the D850 to quickly and accurately micro-adjust all of your lenses and TC-Es with your D-850. Both Nikon Automatic AF Fine-tune and D850 Focus Peaking AF Fine-tune require a LensAlign Mark II kit so that you can obtain accurate results. I learned recently that the Nikon D500 DSLR does offer Automatic AF Fine-tune.

Folks who use one of my links to purchase a Nikon D850, a Nikon D5 DSLR Camera (Body Only, Dual XQD Slots), a Nikon D500 DSLR , or any Nikon gear totaling more than $2,000 will receive the new guide free. I hope to have it finished in two weeks but don’t hold me to it 🙂

The Used Gear Page

Action on the Used Gear Page recently has been fantastic. You can see all current listings here.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM

Jim Brennan is offering a used Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for only $1,219.00. The sale includes the front and rear lens caps, ET-87 Lens Hood, LZ1326 Lens case and strap, Lens Quick Guide, Warranty card, CD, and the original box and packaging. I am the original owner and bought the lens new in November of 2012. I am a non smoker, the glass is free of scratches, haze, and fungus. The body is in beautiful condition with no dents, dings, scratches, or paint chips missing. There are minor signs of wear on bottom of lens foot, and signs of wear around a couple of the screws where lens collar rotates around body. All switches function as they should and zoom ring rotates smoothly. This lens is very sharp. Photos are available upon request. The sale includes insured shipping via UPS ground to US addresses only. I will only accept personal checks or a certified check unless other arrangements are made. The items will not ship until buyer’s check clears my bank; signature required upon delivery.

Please contact Jim e-mail or by cellphone: 1-(609) 432-9210 (Eastern time).

The 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II is an amazingly versatile lens; I made a zillion great images with it when I was using Canon. It works well with both the 1.4X III and the 2X III TCs, even with the 7D II! It is easily hand holdable. It is great for tame birds, landscapes, urbex, indoor stuff likes concerts and recitals, and just about anything you want to photograph. A new 70-200 II currently sells for $1,949 so you can save a cool $730 by buying Jim’s lens at a great low price. artie

This image was created at the Gilbert Water Ranch Alafia Banks on the morning of Friday, March 9, 2018. The camera was the Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering at zero: 1/125 sec. at f/6.3. AUTO2 WB at 7:48am on a cloudy morning. Click on the image to see a larger version. Anna’s Hummingbird, male with gorget lit up

The Questions

In the Sharpness and Image Quality, Focal Length, and Cropping Quiz … blog post here I asked the following:

What focal length do you think was used to create today’s featured image?

What percentage of the original pixels do you think the image above represents?

• a- 10.3%< (a huge crop)/li>
• b- 24.7% (a very large crop)
• c- 39.5% (a large crop)
• d- 53.1% (a very healthy crop)

The full frame original …

The Answers

Immediately above is the full frame original image capture. More than a few folks correctly thought that I was using the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens and the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, with the Nikon D850. And they were correct.

As for the crop, I trapped almost everyone by putting the seemingly impossible correct answer as choice a- 10.3%< (a huge crop). Only Galapagos Photo Cruise veteran Dietmar Haenchen nailed the crop answer when he posted: Since we are dealing with a very small bird, I guess you used the long end of the 80-400 and used a huge crop (a). If my guess is right, I would say that the image quality is amazingly good. This would be a great statement for the camera and lens. Overall, not considering the my guessed crop factor, the sharpness and image quality still is very good.

Though he guessed the wrong lens his guess was not a bad one. Why? The magnification of the Nikon 600mm is 0.14X. The magnification of the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR lens is 0.2X. All that I needed to do was get closer — perched hummers are often ridiculously tame — and the bird would have occupied a larger part of the original frame. If you are having trouble understanding how a 400mm lens can have a greater magnification than a 600mm lens the answer lies in the minimum focusing distances of the two lenses: 1.75 meters (5.74 feet) for the 80-400, and 4.4 meters (14.4 feet) for the 600mm.

Dietmar was 100% correct with his comments on the sharpness and image quality; even I was amazed.

The Pixel Math

The pixel dimensions of the converted, flattened 8-bit TIFF file are 8526 px X 5504 px = 130 M. The pixel dimensions of the cropped flattened 8-bit TIFF file are 2647 px X 1764 px = 13.4 M. So the cropped file represents only 10.3% of the original file. It is hard to believe how well image quality held up when 89.7% of the original pixels were cropped away and discarded …

This image was created by friend/client Muriel McClellan on a recent Antarctica photo cruise with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering (probably at about -1/3 stop as framed: 1/2000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. The EXIF shows Custom WB; I have no idea where that came from … Image #1: Humpback Whale tail with texture from Daily Textures’ wildlife package

My Favorite Whale Tail

Thanks again to multiple IPT veteran Muriel McClellan for sharing her whale tale images with the group. Like many of the folks who commented I liked them both. By I felt that Image #1 (above) was by far the stronger image. Why? I liked the tighter framing of the tale and the water dripping off the tail is fabulous. But the magical, almost mystical mood created in part by Muriel’s choice of texture and her handling of the background tonalities put #1 over the top for me. Lots of folks who commented agreed with me and almost as many preferred Image #2. If you missed the original A Whale of a Tale. Or the Tails of Whales? blog post you can click here to see both images.

Early Spring Photo Opportunities at ILE

BIRDS AS ART first-ever Master Class

Master Class Session 2. Two Full and two Half Days/Friday afternoon, March 30 through lunch on Monday, April 2, 2018. Limit: 4/Openings 3.

The Master Classe will be a small group — strictly limited to four photographers — with the first folks who register having the option of staying at my home ($50/night) or at a chain motel in nearby Lake Wales. Live, think, and breathe photography from Friday afternoon through lunch on Monday (late-morning); all meals included. There will be three afternoon photo sessions (FRI – SUN) hopefully with glorious sunsets like the ones you saw one the blog in December we should have good opportunities with the cranes even in the afternoon. We will enjoy three morning photography sessions (SAT – MON) with the main subjects being tame Sandhill Cranes almost surely with chicks or colts. Also vultures and Cattle Egrets and more. Limpkins are possible. Intermediate telephoto lenses are fine for the cranes, even the chicks at times. A 500 or 600mm lens would be best for many of the situations that we will encounter.

During the day we will sit together around my dining room table and pick everyone’s keepers and enjoy guided Photoshop sessions. On Monday before lunch, folks can make a single large print of their favorite image from the weekend. If you so choose, I will micro-adjust one of your lenses (at one focal length with your #1 camera body–Canon or Nikon) during a group instructional session. All will be welcome to practice what they have learned during the breaks using my set-up and my lighting gear.

To register, please first shoot me an e-mail to check on availability. Then you will be instructed to call Jim or Jen at 863-692-0906 during weekday business hours (except for Friday afternoons) to leave you non-refundable (unless the session sells out) $500 deposit. Only the deposit may be left on credit card. Balances must be paid by check immediately after you register (unless you wish to pay by credit card plus 4% to cover our fees).

I hope that you can join me on this new adventure.

with love, artie

ps: bring your bathing suit if you would like to try my pool.

Help Support the Blog

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

If In Doubt …

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

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

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

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

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

Facebook

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

Typos

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