{"id":51710,"date":"2017-11-18T04:41:09","date_gmt":"2017-11-18T08:41:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=51710"},"modified":"2017-11-22T09:07:57","modified_gmt":"2017-11-22T13:07:57","slug":"the-times-they-may-be-a-changing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2017\/11\/18\/the-times-they-may-be-a-changing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Times They May Be a Changing …"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stuff<\/h3>\n

Midday on Friday I visited my 62-year old sister Arna in a nursing\/rehab home. She is not doing well at all. It is a long story. That afternoon Anita North and I were off to Heckscher State Park where as many as five young Hudsonian Godwits had been hanging out for a month. Last week there were three left, and one of those was seen on Thursday. We had our hopes up and thanks to the kindness of BPN’s Isaac Grant we learned late in the day that the bird had changed parking fields. Alas, we did not find the bird.<\/p>\n

On Friday evening there was a big family dinner meeting to discuss Arna’s care, treatment, and finances. Nothing was decided but by the time we all said good night everyone felt very close and loving. <\/p>\n

I was thrilled to learn that Gary Wade sold his 400mm f\/2.8 L IS Canon lens right after I suggested that a $500 price drop might do the trick. There are still lots of great camera body deals on the Used Gear Page here<\/a> Do consider joining me on the Early Winter DeSoto IPT. Details below. <\/p>\n

The Streak<\/h3>\n

Today makes one hundred thirteen 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 break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections willing. <\/p>\n

Everybody’s Doing It…<\/h3>\n

Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales of lenses especially have been picking up recently. There are lots of great deals on a variety of camera bodies right now, all with low prices. Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail<\/a><\/center> with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here<\/a> or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post. <\/p>\n

Booking.Com<\/h3>\n

Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here<\/a> and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service. <\/p>\n


\n<\/a>
\n<\/center><\/p>\n

Gear Questions and Advice<\/h3>\n

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN<\/a>, 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder<\/center><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

This image was created at Fort DeSoto on the morning of November 11, 2017 with the Induro GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod<\/a>\/Mongoose M3.6<\/a>-mounted Canon EF 600mm f\/4L IS II USM lens<\/a>, the Canon Extender EF 2X III<\/a>, and my favorite endangered species camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV.<\/a> ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2\/3 stop as framed: 1\/1250 sec. at f\/11 in Manual mode. AWB in mostly sunny, very slightly overcast conditions. <\/p>\n

LensAlign\/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -10.<\/p>\n

One AF point to the left of the center AF point\/AI Servo\/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the front part of the faint neck-band pretty much on the same plane as the bird’s eye. <\/p>\n

Image #1: Piping Plover, worn juvenile on clean sand beach<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Be sure to enjoy an enlarged version by clicking on the image.<\/p>\n