{"id":34368,"date":"2016-07-25T03:45:35","date_gmt":"2016-07-25T07:45:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=34368"},"modified":"2016-07-25T10:29:02","modified_gmt":"2016-07-25T14:29:02","slug":"tough-love-saved-by-f10-pano-by-removal-and-death-by-sandstorm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2016\/07\/25\/tough-love-saved-by-f10-pano-by-removal-and-death-by-sandstorm\/","title":{"rendered":"Tough Love&#8211; Saved by f\/10&#8211;Pano By Removal&#8211;And Death by Sandstorm&#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>What&#8217;s Up?<\/h3>\n<p>I rested up a lot on Saturday and watched lots of back episodes of Chopped on my sister Arna&#8217;s TV. <\/p>\n<p><center><noscript><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/servedby.flashtalking.com\/click\/8\/55973;1705289;0;209;0\/?ft_width=728&#038;ft_height=90&#038;url=9277912\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/servedby.flashtalking.com\/imp\/8\/55973;1705289;205;gif;BirdsAsArt;728x90\/?\"><\/a><br \/>\n<\/noscript><br \/>\n<script language=\"Javascript1.1\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\nvar ftClick = \"\";\nvar ftExpTrack_1705289 = \"\";\nvar ftX = \"\";\nvar ftY = \"\";\nvar ftZ = \"\";\nvar ftOBA = 1;\nvar ftContent = \"\";\nvar ftCustom = \"\";\nvar ft728x90_OOBclickTrack = \"\";\nvar ftRandom = Math.random()*1000000;\nvar ftBuildTag1 = \"<scr\";\nvar ftBuildTag2 = \"<\/\";\nvar ftClick_1705289 = ftClick;\nif(typeof(ft_referrer)==\"undefined\"){var ft_referrer=(function(){var r=\"\";if(window==top){r=window.location.href;}else{try{r=window.parent.location.href;}catch(e){}r=(r)?r:document.referrer;}while(encodeURIComponent(r).length>1000){r=r.substring(0,r.length-1);}return r;}());}\nvar ftDomain = (window==top)?\"\":(function(){var d=document.referrer,h=(d)?d.match(\"(?::q\/q\/)+([qw-]+(q.[qw-]+)+)(q\/)?\".replace(\/q\/g,decodeURIComponent(\"%\"+\"5C\")))[1]:\"\";return (h&&h!=location.host)?\"&ft_ifb=1&ft_domain=\"+encodeURIComponent(h):\"\";}());\nvar ftTag = ftBuildTag1 + 'ipt language=\"javascript1.1\" type=\"text\/javascript\" ';\nftTag += 'src=\"http:\/\/servedby.flashtalking.com\/imp\/8\/55973;1705289;201;js;BirdsAsArt;728x90\/?ftx='+ftX+'&fty='+ftY+'&ftadz='+ftZ+'&ftscw='+ftContent+'&ft_custom='+ftCustom+'&ftOBA='+ftOBA+ftDomain+'&ft_referrer='+encodeURIComponent(ft_referrer)+'&cachebuster='+ftRandom+'\" id=\"ftscript_728x90\" name=\"ftscript_728x90\"';\nftTag += '>' + ftBuildTag2 + 'script>';\ndocument.write(ftTag);\n<\/script><\/center><\/p>\n<h3>The Streak<\/h3>\n<p>Today\u2019s blog post marks a totally insane, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what&#8217;s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 257 days in a row with a new educational blog post. And I still have dozens of new topics to cover; there should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. As always-\u2013and folks have been doing a really great job recently\u2013-please remember to use our B&#038;H links for your major gear purchases. For best results use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. <strong><em>AND Please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-content\/gallery\/general\/common-tern-scolding-chick-_t0a3721-nickerson-beach-li-ny.jpg\" class='shutterset'><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ngg-singlepic ngg-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-content\/gallery\/general\/common-tern-scolding-chick-_t0a3721-nickerson-beach-li-ny.jpg\" alt=\"common-tern-scolding-chick-_t0a3721-nickerson-beach-li-ny\" title=\"common-tern-scolding-chick-_t0a3721-nickerson-beach-li-ny\" width=800 \/><\/a>  <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>This image was created on Thursday July 21, the third morning of the recently concluded Nickerson Beach IPT with the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.outdoorphotogear.com\/search.php?search_query=indurogrand&#038;rfsn=132487.5cf37.9906\">Induro<\/a> GIT 304L\/<a href=\"http:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\/mongoose-action-head\/\">Mongoose M3.6<\/a>-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>, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/732113-USA\/Canon_4409B002_Extender_EF_1_4X_III.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/CA14XEF3\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xCA14XEF3\" target=\"_blank\">Canon Extender EF 1.4X III<\/a>, and the mega mega-pixel <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/1119027-REG\/canon_0582c002_eos_5ds_r_dslr.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/CAE5DSR\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xCAE5DSR\" target=\"_blank\">Canon EOS 5DS R.<\/a>. ISO 400.  Evaluative metering +1\/3 stop as originally framed: 1\/1000 sec. at f\/10. Daylight WB.<\/p>\n<p>A single AF point that was two rows down and three AF points to the left of the center AF point\/AI Servo\/Spot AF (don&#8217;t ask me why&#8230;)\/Shutter button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure; see the DPP 4 screen capture below.  Click on the image to see a larger version. <\/p>\n<p>LensAlign\/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +5. <\/p>\n<h2><strong>Common Tern adult scolding (?) chick <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"728\" scrolling=\"no\" height=\"90\" 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=728x90&#038;mode=m&#038;bucket_num=7620&#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>Tough Love?<\/h3>\n<p>As noted in the <em>A Different Approach to Bird Photography<\/em> blog post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2016\/07\/23\/a-different-approach-to-bird-photography-sometimes-you-just-gotta-pull-the-trigger\/\">here<\/a>, on wind against sun mornings you need to find a situation where the birds are not committed to facing into the wind and away from you and the light. I took the group to a spot that is somewhat protected from the west wind and usually has a few Common Tern nests. It was bingo again. We all spent two hours photographing a tern nest with two tiny chicks, two to three days old at most. For the most part the chicks stayed in the scrape where they were fed and tended by the adults. <\/p>\n<p>Fairly late in the session, one of the adults flew in with a sand eel and landed a few feet to the left of the nest. The tiny chicks went running and one of them grabbed and swallowed brunch. The other adult did not like that the two chicks were now isolated and well away from the nest scrape. As seen in today&#8217;s featured image she let one wayward chick know that it needed to get back to the scrape. She actually struck it rather forcefully with her bill. We had a ton of fun trying to understand the various behaviors that we witnessed. And I think that we got this one right as within minutes both chicks were back in the scrape under the bird that we assigned the role of momma. That bird could of course very well have been the male. <\/p>\n<h3>Yup<\/h3>\n<p>Yup, it would have been nice if the tiny chick had been facing us&#8230; <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-content\/gallery\/general\/dpp4scrncaptcote.jpg\" class='shutterset'><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ngg-singlepic ngg-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-content\/gallery\/general\/dpp4scrncaptcote.jpg\" alt=\"dpp4scrncaptcote\" title=\"dpp4scrncaptcote\" width=800 \/><\/a>  <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<h2><strong>DPP 4 Screen Capture  <\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>The DPP 4 Screen Capture<\/h3>\n<p>The RGB histogram here qualifies as a <em>Lying Histogram<\/em>. Why? It does not look as if there is very much data in the right-most box of the histogram. Note, however, that the RGB values for the brightest WHITEs come in a 234, 235, 227, just where I want them. Some folks advocate that perfect WHITEs are 254, 254, 254. For me, that is nuts as you will spend the rest of your life trying to get come detail in the highlights. I can live with those who suggest that you bring your WHITEs into Photoshop with the RGB values in the mid-240s. As stated here, my preference is to have them in the mid-240s. <\/p>\n<h3>Saved by f\/10<\/h3>\n<p>With the active AF point on the tern&#8217;s wing behind the legs, it is a good thing that I was at f\/10 as the extra depth-of-field&#8211;remember that wide open is f\/5.6&#8211;was enough to cover the adult tern&#8217;s face and eye. At 25 feet, the depth of field for this combo in front of and behind the plane of focus is about 1 inch, just enough to cover the adult&#8217;s face and the eye. In a perfect world, I think that focusing somewhere between the plane of the eye and the plane of the bend of the wing would have been ideal. <\/p>\n<h3>Pano By Removal<\/h3>\n<p>To get to the desired pano look without losing the green along the upper frame edge I painted a large Quick Mask of the out-of-focus greenery with some sand below it. I place that on its own layer and then used the Move Tool (V) to drag the layer down. With the sand so out of focus there was no seam. I finished things off with the pano crop. <\/p>\n<h3>Death by Sandstorm<\/h3>\n<p>When we returned on Friday morning the group was eager to photograph the two small chicks again. On our walk in, I cautioned that there was a chance that the nest would be gone. Beach nesting birds face numerous threat with storms and flooding and ground predators like raccoons and feral cats leading the league. We met a photographer who had been with us the day before. &#8220;One chick is gone and the other is dead. The dead chick is being brooded by one of the adults&#8230;&#8221; Thursday evening had been super windy with the wind at a steady 20+ mph from the south and gusts of up to 30; death by sandstorm was the likely cause of the demise of the two small chicks. <\/p>\n<h3>APTATS I &#038; II<\/h3>\n<p>Learn the details of advanced Quick Masking techniques in <a href=\"http:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\/aptats-book-1-on-cd\/\">APTATS I<\/a>.   Learn Advanced Layer Masking Techniques in <a href=\"http:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\/aptats-ii-book-2-on-cd-only\/\">APTATS II<\/a>. Save $15 by ordering both <a href=\"http:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\/aptats-1-2-cds-bundle\/\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-content\/gallery\/general\/san-diego-card-neesie.jpg\" class='shutterset'><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ngg-singlepic ngg-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-content\/gallery\/general\/san-diego-card-neesie.jpg\" alt=\"san-diego-card-neesie\" title=\"san-diego-card-neesie\" width=800 \/><\/a> <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects. With annual visits spanning more than three decades I have lot of experience there&#8230;. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>2017 San Diego 4 1\/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) JAN 11 thru and including the morning session on JAN 15: 4 1\/2 days: $1999.<\/p>\n<p>(Limit: 10\/openings 8)<\/h3>\n<h2><strong>Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Tuesday 1\/10\/17.<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt&#8217;s and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman&#8217;s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lions; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. <\/p>\n<p>With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography. And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. <\/p>\n<p>Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter? <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-content\/gallery\/general\/san-diego-card-b.jpg\" class='thickbox'><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" class=\"ngg-singlepic ngg-center\" src=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-content\/gallery\/general\/san-diego-card-b.jpg\" alt=\"san-diego-card-b\" title=\"san-diego-card-b\" width=800 \/><\/a>  <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>The San Diego Details<\/h3>\n<p>This IPT will include five 3 1\/2 hour morning photo sessions, four 2 1\/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, four lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. <\/p>\n<p>A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to &#8220;Arthur Morris) to us at BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. Or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 9\/11\/\/2016. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to <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. 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<h3>Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store \ud83d\ude42<\/h3>\n<p>To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&#038;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 <a href=\"http:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\/\">New BIRDS AS ART Online Store<\/a>, especially the <a href=\"http:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\/mongoose-action-head\/\">Mongoose M3.6 tripod head<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\/plates-and-replacement-feet\/wimberley-arca-swiss-style-lens-plates\/\">Wimberley lens plates<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\/digital-media\/\">Delkin flash cards and accessories<\/a>, and <a href=\"http:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\/lenscoat-covers\/\">LensCoat stuff<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>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 we are always glad to answer your gear questions via <a href=\"mailto:samandmayasgrandpa@att.net\">e-mail<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>I would of course appreciate your using our B&#038;H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. <font color=red><strong>For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. <\/strong><\/font>  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 <a href=\"http:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\/\">New BIRDS AS ART Online Store<\/a> as well.  <\/p>\n<h3>Facebook<\/h3>\n<p>Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack!<\/p>\n<h3>Typos<\/h3>\n<p>In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to <a href=\"mailto:samandmayasgrandpa@att.net\">e-mail<\/a><\/center> or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right \ud83d\ude42  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What&#8217;s Up? <\/p>\n<p>I rested up a lot on Saturday and watched lots of back episodes of Chopped on my sister Arna&#8217;s TV. <\/p>\n<p> var ftClick = &#8220;&#8221;; var ftExpTrack_1705289 = &#8220;&#8221;; var ftX = &#8220;&#8221;; var ftY = &#8220;&#8221;; var ftZ = &#8220;&#8221;; var ftOBA = 1; var ftContent = &#8220;&#8221;; var ftCustom = [&#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":[599],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-599","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34368","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=34368"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34368\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}