{"id":15869,"date":"2013-08-24T08:40:13","date_gmt":"2013-08-24T12:40:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=15869"},"modified":"2013-08-27T17:26:06","modified_gmt":"2013-08-27T21:26:06","slug":"a-matter-of-brilliance-and-perspective","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2013\/08\/24\/a-matter-of-brilliance-and-perspective\/","title":{"rendered":"A Matter of Brilliance and Perspective"},"content":{"rendered":"<table>\n<tr>\n<td>ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=center>\n<p>This image was created with the  <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/729950-USA\/Nikon_2191_AF_S_NIKKOR_28_300mm_f_3_5_5_6G.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/NI28300GAF\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xNI28300GAF\" target=\"_blank\">Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f\/3.5-5.6G ED VR Zoom lens<\/a> (hand held at 78mm) and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/838794-REG\/Nikon_25482_D4_Digital_SLR_Camera.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/NID4\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xNID4\" target=\"_blank\">Nikon D4 <\/a>.  ISO 5000.  Matrix metering +1\/3 stop: 1\/160 sec. at f\/5. <\/p>\n<p>Image courtesy of and copyright 2013: Todd Gustafson<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"468\" scrolling=\"no\" height=\"60\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/mer54715.datafeedfile.com\/widget\/aff_widget_prdt_generate-2.0.php?aff_num=7226&#038;aff_net=1&#038;size=468x60&#038;mode=m&#038;bucket_num=4595&#038;link_target=y&#038;sid=\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\"><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iFrame.<\/p>\n<p><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>A Matter of Brilliance<\/h3>\n<p>As noted in the The Great African Bedspread Mystery blog post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2013\/08\/22\/the-great-african-bedspread-mystery\/\">here<\/a>, we returned to Seronera for a single night on our way to Ngorongoro Crater where we would be ending our safari. As we had driven down from our mobile tented camp along the Mara River in the Serengeti, our 5 vans headed out for our afternoon game drive at 4pm.  Everyone had enjoyed their rest. We were photographing at a small Black-headed Heron rookery when we got a call that the Leopard family had been found. When we arrived there were probably 30 safari vans watching these powerful, graceful animals.  (Early mornings are generally a lot less frenetic for cat viewing as the tourists sleep late and enjoy a sumptuous breakfast.)  In any case, there was room for photography. <\/p>\n<p>The mother and one of her young were moving through the grass and angling towards the road that we were on.  The vans were jockeying for position.  At one point our van was immediately behind the van that Todd was leading.  The plan is that the person in the roof hatch directly behind the driver is the van leader, the only one who should be giving directions.  I heard Todd say to the Leopards, &#8220;Get up on that fallen tree.&#8221;  They did, but they tree was a tangled mess of branches and the animals were facing away.  Then I heard Todd say to Othmani, &#8220;Moja kamoja (straight ahead).&#8221;  Todd had the young driver move the van forward about 40 meters so that it was parked right next to a dead tree that was right by the road.   <\/p>\n<p>I learned later that Othmani had said, &#8220;Why stop here?  There are no Leopards here and no other vans.&#8221;  Todd responded by saying, &#8220;Trust me.  They are gonna continue in this direction and they will climb this tree.&#8221;  Though I did not hear this conversation I am no dummy so I instructed Salvatore to follow Todd&#8217;s van but I had him stop well back from the tree as they were really close to the dead tree.  The light was fading fast.  <\/p>\n<p>Within minutes the two cats were at the base of the tree and within a minute of that had climbed up so that the mother could take a good look at the surrounding savannah.   Todd made the image above and the image above with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/729950-USA\/Nikon_2191_AF_S_NIKKOR_28_300mm_f_3_5_5_6G.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/NI28300GAF\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xNI28300GAF\" target=\"_blank\">Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f\/3.5-5.6G ED VR Zoom lens<\/a> that he uses often to complement his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/520646-USA\/Nikon_2173_AF_S_NIKKOR_600mm_f_4G.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/NI6004GEDVR\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xNI6004GEDVR\" target=\"_blank\">Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f\/4G ED VR AF lLens<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<p>The brilliance?  Todd, who was born in Tanzania to missionary parents, has been on more than 30 Africa photo-safaris. He is an incredible spotter, often picking up distant animals even before the skilled drivers.  And he usually knows what the animals are going to do before they do.  Thanks to Todd for organizing this great summer safari and for sharing his knowledge and his gifts.  <\/p>\n<p>Simply put Todd is a brilliant safari photo-tour leader and a brilliant van leader.  <\/p>\n<p>If you missed the &#8220;Leopard and Internet Miracles&#8221; blog post, click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2013\/08\/09\/leopard-and-internet-miracles\/\">here<\/a> to see my all time favorite Leopard image of the mother in these photographs. <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>ngg_shortcode_1_placeholder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=center>\n<p>This image was also created with the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/729950-USA\/Nikon_2191_AF_S_NIKKOR_28_300mm_f_3_5_5_6G.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/NI28300GAF\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xNI28300GAF\" target=\"_blank\">Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f\/3.5-5.6G ED VR Zoom lens<\/a> (this time hand held at 135mm) and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/838794-REG\/Nikon_25482_D4_Digital_SLR_Camera.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/NID4\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xNID4\" target=\"_blank\">Nikon D4 <\/a>.  ISO 5000.  Matrix metering +1\/3 stop: 1\/160 sec. at f\/5.6. <\/p>\n<p>Image courtesy of and copyright 2013: Todd Gustafson<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly enough, this image was created only 23 seconds after the opening image.  It does not take long to twist the zoom ring when you know what you wanna do&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"468\" scrolling=\"no\" height=\"60\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/mer54715.datafeedfile.com\/widget\/aff_widget_prdt_generate-2.0.php?aff_num=7226&#038;aff_net=1&#038;size=468x60&#038;mode=m&#038;bucket_num=4595&#038;link_target=y&#038;sid=\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\"><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iFrame.<\/p>\n<p><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>A Matter of Perspective<\/h3>\n<p>Each of the three images in this blog post are photos of the same animals and were taken within a minute or two of each other.  Yet each is vastly different.  Todd&#8217;s two images, the two above, were created from a completely different perspective than my image below.  Todd&#8217;s angle of inclination was steeper in each image than in my image as I was working from much farther away with much longer focal length.  His angle of view changed as he zoomed in tighter in order to create his 2nd image.  Working with the 600 my angle of view was much narrower.  <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>ngg_shortcode_2_placeholder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>I created this image on August 14th, 2013 with the Todd Pod-mounted <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/754508-REG\/Canon_5125B002_EF_600mm_f_4L_IS.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/CA6004LIFEF2\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xCA6004LIFEF2\" target=\"_blank\">Canon EF 600mm f\/4L IS II USM lens<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/827036-REG\/Canon_5253B002_EOS_1D_X_Digital_SLR.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/CAE1DX\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xCAE1DX\" target=\"_blank\">Canon EOS-1D X<\/a>.  ISO 1600.  Evaluative metering +2\/3 stop as framed: 1\/125 sec. at f\/4 in Av mode. <\/p>\n<p>Central sensor (Surround)\/AI Servo Rear Focus on the mother Leopard&#8217;s face and re-compose. Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2011\/09\/13\/rear-focus-tutorial\/\">here<\/a> if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.<\/p>\n<p>Image copyright 2013: Arthur Morris\/BIRDS AS ART<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"468\" scrolling=\"no\" height=\"60\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/mer54715.datafeedfile.com\/widget\/aff_widget_prdt_generate-2.0.php?aff_num=7226&#038;aff_net=1&#038;size=468x60&#038;mode=m&#038;bucket_num=3561&#038;link_target=y&#038;sid=\" marginheight=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\"><\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iFrame.<\/p>\n<p><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Your favorite?<\/h3>\n<p>Take a moment to leave a comment and let us know which of the three images is your favorite.  And be sure to let us know why.  <\/p>\n<h3>Tanzania Summer Safari 2014<\/h3>\n<p>Having been to Africa 7 times in all I must say that the recently concluded summer safari was my favorite ever.  As you will see in the coming blog posts and Bulletins the entire two weeks consisted of one miracle after another.  If you are seriously interested in joining us, do shoot me an <a href=\"mailto:samandmayasgrandpa@att.net\">e-mail<\/a><\/center>.  Todd, Denise Ippolito, and I will be co-leading.  It will run in roughly the same time frame, beginning in early August and ending in mid-August. Dates TBA.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>ngg_shortcode_3_placeholder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Sandhill Crane composite, Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM.   Click on the image for a larger version.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Bosque del Apache 2013 IPT: \u201cThe Complete Bosque Experience.\u201d NOV 26-DEC 2, 2013. 7-FULL DAYS: $3399.  Co-leader: Denise Ippolito. Introductory Slide program: 6:30 pm on 11\/25. Limit: 12\/Openings 11.<\/h3>\n<p>Tens of thousand of Snow Geese, 10,000 Sandhill Cranes, ducks including point-blank American Wigeon and Wood Duck, amazing sunrises, sunsets, and blast-offs.  Live, eat, and breathe photography with one of (if not the) world&#8217;s premier photographic educators at one of his very favorite locations on the planet.  Top-notch Photoshop instruction. This will make 19 consecutive Novembers at Bosque for me.  Nobody knows the place better than I do.  Join us to learn to think like a pro, to recognize situations and to anticipate them based on the weather, especially the sky conditions, the light, and the wind direction.  Every time we make a move we will let you know why.  When you head home applying what you learned will prove to be invaluable.  Includes all lunches and the Thanksgiving Buffet at the Crowne Plaza in Albuquerque. I hope that you can join me for what will be an unparalleled learning experience. <\/p>\n<p>A $500 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT.  Your balance is due 4 months before the date of the IPT and is also non-refundable. If the trip fills, we will be glad to apply a credit applicable to a future IPT for the full amount less a $100 processing fee. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. If your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.<\/p>\n<p>Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/ipt-registration-and-release-forms\/\">here<\/a> and shoot it to us along with your deposit check (made out to &#8220;Arthur Morris.&#8221;)  You can also leave your deposit with a credit card by calling the office at 863-692-0906.   If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via <a href=\"mailto:samandmayasgrandpa@att.net\">e-mail<\/a><\/center>.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>ngg_shortcode_4_placeholder<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Snow Goose composite, Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM.   Click on the image for a larger version.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>Typos<\/h3>\n<p>On all blog posts, feel free to <a href=\"mailto:samandmayasgrandpa@att.net\">e-mail<\/a><\/center> or leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors.  Just be right. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p><center><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&#038;H here!<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&#038;H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post.  Remember, B&#038;H ain&#8217;t just photography!<\/center><\/p>\n<p><center>If you are considering an item for purchase or comparison shopping be sure to place an item in your cart to see the too-low-to show the actual price.  In many cases the prices are so low that B&#038;H is forbidden from publicizing them!<\/center><\/p>\n<p><center><A href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/\/c\/product\/847546-REG\/Canon_5260B009_EOS_5D_Mark_III.html?BI=6633&#038;KW=&#038;KBID=7226&#038;img=12320-Canon600x240.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/images\/affiliateimages\/12320-Canon600x240.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/a><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/affiliates.bhphotovideo.com\/showban.asp?id=7226&#038;img=12320-Canon600x240.jpg\" border=0><\/center><\/p>\n<p><center><A href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/buy\/Photography-Deals\/ci\/18560\/N\/4144359020?BI=6633&#038;KW=&#038;KBID=7226&#038;img=photography.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/images\/affiliateimages\/photography.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/a><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/affiliates.bhphotovideo.com\/showban.asp?id=7226&#038;img=photography.jpg\" border=0><\/center><\/p>\n<h3>Support the Blog<\/h3>\n<p><center><A href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/promotion\/10324\/deep-discounts-on-nikon-lenses.html?BI=6633&#038;KW=&#038;KBID=7226&#038;img=LensesDeepSavings-300x90.jpg\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/images\/affiliateimages\/LensesDeepSavings-300x90.jpg\" border=\"0\"><\/a><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/affiliates.bhphotovideo.com\/showban.asp?id=7226&#038;img=LensesDeepSavings-300x90.jpg\" border=0><\/center><\/p>\n<h3>Amazon<\/h3>\n<p>Everyone buys something from Amazon, be it a big lens or deodorant.  Support the blog by starting your search by starting your search by clicking on the logo-link below.  No purchase is too small to be appreciated; they all add up.  Why make it a habit?   Because I make it a habit of bringing you new images and information on an almost daily basis. <\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/e\/cm?t=arthurmorrisb-20&#038;o=1&#038;p=48&#038;l=ur1&#038;category=amazonhomepage&#038;f=ifr\" width=\"728\" height=\"90\" scrolling=\"no\" border=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" style=\"border:none;\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/center> <\/p>\n<h3><strong>And from the BAA On-line Store:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/category.aspx?catid=17\">LensCoats<\/a>.  I have a LensCoat on each of my big lenses to protect them from nicks and thus increase their re-sales value.  All my big lens LensCoat stuff is in Hardwood Snow pattern.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/category.aspx?catid=18\">LegCoat Tripod Leg Covers.<\/a>  I have four tripods active and each has a Hardwood Snow LegCoat on it to help prevent further damage to my tender shoulders \ud83d\ude42  And you will love them in mega-cold weather&#8230;.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/item.aspx?itemid=20\">Gitzo GT3532 LS CF Tripod<\/a>. This one replaces the GT3530LS Tripod and will last you a lifetime.  Learn more about this great tripod <a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2012\/10\/02\/gitzo-gt3532-ls-review\/\">here<\/a>.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/item.aspx?itemid=274\">Mongoose M3.6 Tripod Head.<\/a>  Right now this is the best tripod head around for use with lenses that weigh less than 9 pounds. For heavier lenses, check out the <a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/item.aspx?itemid=35\">Wimberley V2 head<\/a>.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/item.aspx?itemid=5\"> Double  Bubble Level.<\/a>  You will find one in my camera&#8217;s hot shoe whenever I am not using flash.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/item.aspx?itemid=304\">The Lens Align Mark II.<\/a>  I use the Lens Align Mark II pretty much religiously to micro-adjust all of my gear an average of once a month and always before a major trip.  Enjoy our free comprehensive tutorial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2011\/01\/11\/the-lens-align-mk-ii-the-lens-align-tutorial-micro-adjusting-magic\/comment-page-1\/\">here.<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa-store\/digital\/breeze-browser\/\">BreezeBrowser<\/a>. I do not see how any digital photographer can exist without this program.<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/category.aspx?catid=15\">Delkin Flash Cards<\/a>.  I use and depend on Delkin compact Flash Cards and card readers most every day. Learn more about their great 700X and 1000X cards <a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2012\/05\/30\/700x-1000x-1dx\/\">here<\/a> or about my favorite Delkin card <a href=\"https:\/\/store.birdsasart.com\/shop\/item.aspx?itemid=284\">here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p> ngg_shortcode_5_placeholder <\/p>\n<p>This image was created with the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f\/3.5-5.6G ED VR Zoom lens (hand held at 78mm) and the Nikon D4 . ISO 5000. Matrix metering +1\/3 stop: 1\/160 sec. at f\/5. <\/p>\n<p>Image courtesy of and copyright 2013: Todd Gustafson<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Your browser does not support iFrame.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p> A Matter [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[460],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-460","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15869\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}