{"id":77678,"date":"2021-12-25T07:58:21","date_gmt":"2021-12-25T11:58:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=77678"},"modified":"2025-03-07T11:31:59","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T15:31:59","slug":"happy-holidays-christmas-coots-times-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2021\/12\/25\/happy-holidays-christmas-coots-times-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Holidays! Christmas Coots Times Two"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3>What&#8217;s Up?<\/h3>\n<p>If you celebrate Christmas, I wish you a joyous one. I hope that Santa brings you and yours exactly what you&#8217;ve been hoping for.  <\/p>\n<p>Today is Saturday 25 December, Christmas Day. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took less than an hour to prepare.  It makes 45 consecutive days with a new one.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><center>ngg_shortcode_0_placeholder<\/center><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>This image was created on 5 January 2020 at San Diego, CA. While standing at full height, I used the no-longer available GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod\/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro<\/a>-mounted-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/1485539-REG\/sony_sel600f40gm_fe_600mm_f_4_gm.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/SO6004GM\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xSO6004GM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sony FE 600mm f\/4 GM OSS lens<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/1222778-REG\/sony_sel20tc_fe_2x_teleconverter.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/SOTC2\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xSOTC2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter<\/a>, and the Sony a7R iv (now replaced, for me, by The One, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/1619483-REG\/sony_ilce_1_b_alpha_a1_mirrorless_digital.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/SOA1B\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xSOA1B\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera<\/a>). ISO 640. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1\/800 sec. at f\/9 (stopped down 1\/3 stop) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:43:28am on a mostly sunny morning.     <\/p>\n<p>Expand Flexible Spot S AF-C performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger higher-res version. <\/p>\n<h2><strong>Image #1: American Coot in holiday reflections<strong<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"728\" scrolling=\"no\" height=\"90\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/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=10411&#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>The Stronger Image?<\/h3>\n<p>I feel that one of today&#8217;s featured images is by far the stronger of the two. Which one is it? And why?<\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><center>ngg_shortcode_1_placeholder<\/center><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>This image was created on 12 January 2020 at San Diego, CA. While standing at full height, I used the no-longer available GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod\/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro<\/a>-mounted-<a href=\"https:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/1485539-REG\/sony_sel600f40gm_fe_600mm_f_4_gm.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/SO6004GM\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xSO6004GM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sony FE 600mm f\/4 GM OSS lens<\/a>, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/1222777-REG\/sony_sel14tc_fe_1_4x_teleconverter.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/SOTC14\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xSOTC14\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter<\/a>, and the Sony a9 ii(now replaced, for me, by The One, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bhphotovideo.com\/c\/product\/1619483-REG\/sony_ilce_1_b_alpha_a1_mirrorless_digital.html\/BI\/6633\/KBID\/7226\/kw\/SOA1B\/DFF\/d10-v2-t1-xSOA1B\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera<\/a>). ISO 640. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1\/500 sec. at f\/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 10:15:10am on a mostly sunny morning.     <\/p>\n<p>Expand Flexible Spot S AF-C performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger higher-res version. <\/p>\n<h2><strong>Image #2: American Coot in holiday reflections<strong<\/h2>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"728\" scrolling=\"no\" height=\"90\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none;\" border=\"0\" src=\"https:\/\/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=10413&#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>Why Stand at Full Height?<\/h3>\n<p>I love water-level perspective duck shots as much as the next guy. But when you want to see the patterns of the reflections, standing is often best. <\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><center>ngg_shortcode_2_placeholder<\/center><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<h2><strong> The Saving the WHITEs (and lots more!) Video<\/em> image<strong<\/h2>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<h3>The Saving the Whites (and lots more!) Video<\/h3>\n<p>If you are photographing coots, you had better have your saving the whites game in order. My #1 go-to technique for restoring detail in the WHITEs of an image worked to perfection with today&#8217;s feature photographs at Opacities of 50 and 80% respectively.  <\/p>\n<p>My two biggest challenges when optimizing images are getting the BLUEs just right, and restoring detail to the WHITEs and highlights of properly exposed raw files. There are four things that I do to accomplish the latter. All are covered in detail in this 21+ minute video, along with a dirty trick to try if the first four do not work perfectly. Sit with me at my laptop as I teach you how to save the WHITEs. I begin with the raw conversions of two different raw files, today&#8217;s featured Snowy Owl image, and Joe Usewicz&#8217;s spoonbill image that was featured in the <em>Extraordinary Over-Exposed (?) Spoonbill\/Saving the WHITEs Optimization <\/em>blog post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/2021\/11\/20\/sony-a1-s-in-stock-at-bedfords-and-an-extraordinary-over-exposed-spoonbill-saving-the-whites-optimization\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>In addition to learning how to save the WHITEs (in both images), you will learn how to expand canvas using the amazingly convenient Content-Aware Crop Tool, to set the White Balance (color temperature), to set the WHITE and BLACK points, see Digital Eye Doctor and RawDigger in action, learn to make a Color Range Selection, and lots more. <\/p>\n<p>To purchase your copy of the Saving the Whites Video (and lots more!) video, you can send a PayPal for $37.00 to us at birdsasart@verizon.net, call Jim in the office at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand, or visit the item in the <a href=\"https:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">BAA Online store<\/a> by clicking <a href=\"https:\/\/birdsasart-shop.com\/saving-the-whites-video\/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Typos<\/h3>\n<p>With all blog posts, feel free to <a href=\"mailto:samandmayasgrandpa@att.net\">e-mail<\/a><\/center> or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What&#8217;s Up? <\/p>\n<p>If you celebrate Christmas, I wish you a joyous one. I hope that Santa brings you and yours exactly what you&#8217;ve been hoping for. <\/p>\n<p>Today is Saturday 25 December, Christmas Day. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[647],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-647","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77678","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=77678"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77678\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77811,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77678\/revisions\/77811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}