{"id":81853,"date":"2022-08-14T09:47:35","date_gmt":"2022-08-14T13:47:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=81853"},"modified":"2025-03-07T11:25:22","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T15:25:22","slug":"a-great-east-pond-morning-and-the-huge-sony-advantage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2022\/08\/14\/a-great-east-pond-morning-and-the-huge-sony-advantage\/","title":{"rendered":"A Great East Pond Morning. And the Huge Sony Advantage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Best Image?<\/h3>\n

This post features five of my favorite shorebird images from yesterday morning at JBay. Which is your favorite? Why? I like them all, but have two or three favorites. I will be publishing what I consider the three very best images from the session here soon.<\/p>\n

What’s Up?<\/h3>\n

I’ve been photographing at the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge for 39 years. Saturday morning, enjoyed with client\/friend Muhammad Arif, was one of — if not the, very best mornings ever. We were in the perfect spot and the birds showed up almost before we were ready. The birds were very close. After a bit, we needed to move back a bit to be able to focus. The tally for the morning: created 2479 images, kept 120. That 4.8% keeper rate will go down considerably after a second edit. <\/p>\n

Afterwards, it was nice seeing some old friends on the Shorebird Festival walk. Learning of the recent deaths and life-threatening illnesses of others? Not so much. As we age, we get to face our own mortality head on.<\/p>\n

Today is Sunday 14 August. I headed to Nickerson Beach very early, had some decent chances, and was back in the car finishing this post at 8:15am. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes one hundred forty-three days in a row with a new one. <\/p>\n

So far, nine folks have been in touch about joining me at either Nickerson or JBWR in the coming weeks for an In-the-Field session or two. The first window for doing shorebirds at the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge is closing now, the second window is from 24-26 August. See the additional details below.<\/p>\n

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT<\/a>. You will be amazed at how much you will learn! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

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

Clockwise from the upper left corner back around to the center: Wilson’s Phalarope, JBWR; just fledged Common Tern, Nickerson; Black Skimmer, adult skimming, Nickerson; Black Skimmer killing tiny skimmer chick, Nickerson; American Oystercatcher foraging at sunrise, Nickerson; Common Tern chick swallowing baby bluefish, Nickerson; Short-billed Dowitcher, juvenile, double overhead wing stretch, JBWR; Black Skimmers, predawn flock blur, Nickerson; Black Skimmer, 10-day old chick, Nickerson. <\/p>\n

Click on the card to view a larger version. <\/p>\n

Nickerson Beach\/East Pond JBWR composite<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Nickerson Beach\/East Pond at Jamaica Bay (JBWR) In-the Field Workshops<\/h3>\n

Both Nickerson Beach and the East Pond at JBWR offer some of the best midsummer bird photography on the planet. Hundreds of pairs or Black Skimmers and Common Terns along with more than a dozen pairs of American Oystercatchers breed at Nickerson each season so there are lots of chicks of all sizes and handsome fledged young to photograph. Provided that the water levels are low, hundreds of young shorebirds in their handsome fresh juvenile plumages stop by the pond each August on their way south. <\/p>\n

Nickerson often reveals nature at it rawest, most basic level. Most days we get to photograph all sorts of dramatic behaviors ranging from skimmers and terns fishing and feeding (and tending) their you. There are often chances to shoot a variety of predatory encounters — gulls eating large skimmer chicks, skimmers eating skimmer babies, and Peregrine Falcons hunting. And rarely, if we are lucky, Peregrine Falcons catching! Consider joining me to learn a ton both about bird photography and the birds. <\/p>\n

I am taking the Auto Train north on 31 July and will happily spend all of August on Long Island. I head south on 31 August and should be back home on 1 September (barring anything unforeseen). I am offering In-the-Field sessions at both Nickerson Beach and the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge. If you are interested, please get in touch via e-mail<\/a> or text me at 863-221-2372.<\/p>\n

Whether you are a local or would like to fly in for several days of instruction \u2014 a sort of private, or small group. — at worst, IPT, LMK via e-mail<\/a> so that we can work on a schedule that could possibly include both Nickerson and Jamaica Bay.<\/p>\n

Instagram<\/h3>\n

Follow me on Instagram here<\/a>. I am trying to feature both new and old images, especially images that have not appeared recently on the blog. <\/p>\n

BIRDS AS ART Image Optimization Service (BAA IOS)<\/h3>\n

Send a PayPal for $62.00 to birdsasart@verizon.net<\/a> or call Jim at 863-692-0906 and put $62.00 on your credit card. Pick one of your best images and upload the raw file using a large file sending service like Hightail or DropBox and then send me the link via e-mail.<\/a> I will download and save your raw file, evaluate the exposure and sharpness, and optimize the image as if it were my own after converting the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw. Best of all, I will make a screen recording of the entire process and send you a link to the video to download, save and study.<\/p>\n

Induro GIT 304L Price Drop<\/h3>\n

Amazingly, we have two, brand-new-in-the-box Induro GIT 304L tripods in stock. They are $699.00 each (were $799.00) and the price now includes the insured ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Weekday phone orders only: 863-692-0906. Order yours here<\/a> while they last. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n

ngg_shortcode_1_placeholder<\/center><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n

This image was created on 13 August 2022 at the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, NY. While seated on damp mud and working off the tilted rear screen, I used the flattened, no-longer available except from BIRDS AS ART, Induro GIT 304L tripod<\/a>\/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro<\/a>-mounted Sony FE 600mm f\/4 GM OSS lens<\/a> and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. <\/a> ISO 1600. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1\/320 sec. at f\/4 (wide open). AWB at 6:22:52am on a clear morning with a large cloud in front of the sun. <\/p>\n

Tracking: Zone\/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version.<\/p>\n

Image #1: Semipalmated Sandpiper juvenile in no light situation<\/strong><\/h2>\n