{"id":72055,"date":"2021-02-09T07:54:40","date_gmt":"2021-02-09T11:54:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=72055"},"modified":"2025-03-07T11:40:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T15:40:15","slug":"ever-hear-of-richard-i-bong-the-out-lined-vulture-does-anyone-besides-me-think-that-this-one-is-neat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2021\/02\/09\/ever-hear-of-richard-i-bong-the-out-lined-vulture-does-anyone-besides-me-think-that-this-one-is-neat\/","title":{"rendered":"Ever Hear of Richard I. Bong? The Out-lined Vulture; does anyone besides me think that this one is neat?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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Ever Hear of Richard I. Bong?<\/h3>\n

Richard Ira Bong was a United States Army Air Forces major and Medal of Honor recipient in World War II. He was one of the most decorated American fighter pilots and the country’s top flying ace in the war, credited with shooting down 40 Japanese aircraft, all while flying the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter. Soon after returning home, he died in California on August 6, 1945 while testing a Lockheed P-80 jet fighter just before his 25th birthday. The previous February he married Marjorie Vattendahl, whose picture had adorned the nose of his plane. <\/p>\n

While learning to fly a P-38, Bong buzzed a nearby house, the home of a pilot who had just been married. He was cited and temporarily grounded for breaking flying rules, along with three other P-38 pilots who had looped around the Golden Gate Bridge on the same day. For looping the Golden Gate Bridge, flying at a low level down Market Street in San Francisco, and blowing the clothes off of an Oakland woman’s clothesline, Bong was reprimanded by General George C. Kenney, commanding officer of the Fourth Air Force, who told him, “If you didn’t want to fly down Market Street, I wouldn’t have you in my Air Force, but you are not to do it any more and I mean what I say.” Kenney later wrote, “We needed kids like this lad.”<\/p>\n

Learn more about this amazing hero\/pilot in the Wikipedia article here.<\/a> <\/p>\n

What’s Up?<\/h3>\n

It was very grey on Monday morning. I spent 30 minutes driving around down by the lake but was not much inspired. For the rest of the day, I got a lot more work done on the BAA Canon EOS R5 Camera User\u2019s e-Guide. I have pretty much completed all of the work on the following menus: the Red Shooting Menu, the Magenta AF Menu, and the Blue Playback Menu. Nothing for me to do with the Purple Network Menu as I do not reside on that planet. I am almost finished with the Yellow Set-up Menu. Still to do: the Orange Custom Functions Menu and the Green My Menus. The work is a real grind. When I am done covering all of the menus, there will still be lots more to do. But I am very excited with the progress I have made recently. <\/p>\n

At the same time, I am working hard on completing the first and final update of the BAA R5\/R6 AF e-Guide (with lots of help from friends including and especially Brian Sump). I had a great swim yesterday in my 84-degree pool! And I was thrilled to learn that the sale of BAA-friend and multiple IPT veteran Bill Schneider’s SONY a9 ii is pending. <\/p>\n

Today is Tuesday 9 February 2021. The forecast for this morning is partly cloudy with a SSW breeze — for bird photography that is not great, but not terrible. I will try and time will tell. <\/p>\n

This post took about 1 1\/2 hours to prepare and makes fifty-two days in a row with a new one. Please, please, pretty please remember …<\/p>\n

Please Remember<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n

With income from IPTs now at zero, please, if you enjoy and learn from the blog, remember to use one of my two affiliate programs when purchasing new gear. Doing so just might make it possible for me to avoid having to try to get a job as a Walmart greeter and will not cost you a single penny more<\/em><\/strong>. And if you use Bedfords and remember to enter the BIRDSASART code at checkout, you will save 3% on every order and enjoy free second-day air shipping. In these crazy times — I am out at least forty to sixty thousand dollars so far due to COVID 19 (with lots more to come) — remembering to use my B&H link or to shop at Bedfords will help me out a ton and be greatly appreciated. Overseas folks who cannot order from the US because of import fees, duties, and taxes, are invited to help out by clicking here<\/a> to leave a blog thank you gift if they see fit. <\/p>\n

Canon R5\/R6 AF e-Guide Info<\/h3>\n

So far, 104 folks have sent PayPals for their copy of the Canon R5\/R6 AF e-Guide. And 33 who used my affiliate links to purchase their R5 have e-mailed for and received their free copy of the guide.<\/em><\/strong> If you e-mailed your Bedford receipt or sent a PayPal and did not receive your guide,<\/strong><\/strong> please LMK immediately via e-mail<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive so far. Three folks wrote stating that they had a better way of setting up AF on their R5s. When I wrote back explaining why they were in error, two of them back-tracked. One stubborn guy is still doing it his way — less efficiently. Be sure to scroll down to read about my plans for a Canon R5\/R6 User’s e-Guide. Understand that the info in the BAA Canon R5\/R6 Autofocus e-Guide is so important that I opted to publish the AF guide immediately as the R5\/R6 User’s Guide will take at least another month to finish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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BAA Canon R5\/R6 Autofocus e-Guide\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

BAA Canon R5\/R6 Autofocus e-Guide<\/h3>\n

Twenty-one pages. 3,452 words. 28-DPP4 screen captures showing the R5’s vaunted AF system in action. Note: the AF system of the R5 is identical to the AF system of the R6. <\/p>\n

You will learn:<\/p>\n

1- The two most useful AF Methods for general bird photography and for birds in flight. <\/p>\n

2- How to set up your R5\/R6 AF Menus.<\/p>\n

3- What boxes to check (and un-check) under Limit AF Methods.<\/p>\n

4- How to change the AF Method quickly, easily, and efficiently. Note: the default way of doing this is clunky, cumbersome, and inefficient at best. One person replied that this tip alone was worth the price of admission. <\/p>\n

5- The only<\/em><\/strong> setting that should be used for Initial Servo AF pt for Face Detection + Tracking. <\/p>\n

I you are currently using multiple back buttons either for general bird photography or for birds in flight, what you learn in this guide will change your life. For the better. <\/p>\n

Here are the first three paragraphs of this e-Guide:<\/p>\n

From the moment I learned about the new Canon mirrorless bodies, I read about using two or three back-buttons to focus using different AF methods. The word on the street said that the way to go for birds in flight was to use one button to acquire focus with Zone AF or with Large Zone: Horizontal AF and then switch to another button to activate Face Detection + Tracking AF and then use the shutter button to make an image. My immediate thought was, \u201cThis is insanity! There has got to be a better way.\u201d In short, there is a far superior way to set up AF on your R5 or R6. <\/p>\n

Remember that I got away from any form of back-button or rear focusing many years ago after finally realizing that it is always easier to do one thing (press the shutter button), than it is to do two things (press a back button and then press the shutter button). <\/p>\n

The default method of switching AF Methods with the R5\/R6 bodies is cumbersome at best. It involves first pressing the grid button (my name) on the upper right back of the camera and then pressing the hard-to-access M-Fn button to toggle through the AF Methods. This method is so bad that it will not be mentioned again in this guide. <\/em><\/p>\n

The guide is free to all who have ordered an R5 or an R6 using my B&H affiliate link or from Steve Elkins\/Bedfords using the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout. Please send your receipt to me via e-mail<\/a>. It will take me a few days to a week to verify the B&H purchases. Bedfords folks should expect their free e-Guides fairly quickly. <\/p>\n

To purchase your copy of the e-Guide, please click here<\/a> or send a PayPal for $25.00 to birdsasart@verizon.net and be sure to include the words R5\/R6 AF Guide in your PayPal e-mail. <\/p>\n

Everyone who gets the guide will receive a free update no later than the first week in February.<\/p>\n

Canon EOS R5 Camera User’s e-Guide<\/h3>\n

As regular readers know, I am working on a complete Canon R5 Camera User’s e-Guide. This will require a lot of research, a lot of time, and a lot of effort. I am hoping to have it complete by late February. As always, folks who use the BAA affiliate links to purchase their Canon gear will receive a substantial discount. <\/p>\n

Understand that the info in the BAA Canon R5\/R6 Autofocus e-Guide is so important that I opted to publish the AF guide right off the bat to help folks get started with their new camera bodies. I may soon offer a pre-publication version of the User’s e-Guide … With a small discount, of course. <\/p>\n

New and Better Bedfords Discount Policy!<\/h3>\n

You can now save 3% on all of your Bedfords photo gear purchases by entering the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout. Your discount will be applied to your pre-tax total. In addition, by using the code you will get 2nd day air shipping via Fed Ex.<\/p>\n

Grab a Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III and save $14.99. Purchase a Canon EOS R5 and your discount will be $116.97. Purchase a Sony FE 600mm f\/4 GM OSS lens and save a remarkable $389.94! Your Bedford’s purchase no longer needs to be greater than $1,000.00 for you to receive a discount. The more you spend, the more you save. <\/p>\n

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Money Saving Reminder<\/h3>\n

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would enjoy free overnight shipping, your best bet is to click here<\/a>, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail<\/a> or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order to save 3% and enjoy free 2nd-day air shipping. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The wait lists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard to get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a9 ii, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager to please. <\/p>\n


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Gear Questions and Advice<\/h3>\n

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs (remember those?) and dozens of photographers 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>. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and\/or lens choices and decisions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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This in-camera HDR image was created on 6 February 2021 down by the lake at ILE. Walking around near the foot of the pier, I used the handheld Canon RF 100-500mm f\/4.5-7.1L IS USM lens<\/a> (at 500mm) and the highly touted 45MP Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Digital camera body.<\/a> ISO 3200. Exposure determined via experimentation. Exposure compensation: +3 stops. HDR auto-bracketed around 1\/2500 sec. at f\/7.1 (wide open) Shutter Priority (Tv) mode. AWB at 8:10am on a completely grey morning. <\/p>\n

Image #1: Funky, outlined, in-camera HDR Turkey Vulture in flight\n