{"id":8728,"date":"2012-02-24T09:00:06","date_gmt":"2012-02-24T13:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/?p=8728"},"modified":"2012-02-24T09:03:24","modified_gmt":"2012-02-24T13:03:24","slug":"three-of-a-kind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/2012\/02\/24\/three-of-a-kind\/","title":{"rendered":"Three of a Kind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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This Snow Monkey image was created with the tripod-mounted Canon 300mm f\/2.8 L IS II lens<\/a>, 1.4X III TC<\/a>, and the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV<\/a>. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2\/3 stop: 1\/60 sec. at f\/8 in Manual mode. <\/p>\n

Click on the image to enlarge. <\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Three of a Kind<\/h3>\n

The night before we hiked up the big hill to the Monkey Park I was in bed dreaming fitfully of the location. When we finally made it–and we all had our doubts–see here<\/a>, we were all somewhat disappointed…. A single man made pool no more than eight meters long was surrounded by dozens of tourists most photographing with their cell phones. Though the monkeys at Jigokudani Yaenkoen are free and wild, the place strikes you at first as nothing more than a glorified zoo. The animals in this troop are attracted by both the hot spring pools and multiple daily feedings. But as the hours passed and we got to witness a wide range of natural monkey behavior we realized how special the place it. You can learn more about the park here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In that first hour it seemed close to impossible to create a good image. But the crowds of tourists dispersed and we began to find the clean backgrounds and the best angles and to take advantage of dozens of great opportunities. By the end of the second hour we all realized that the place was magical. The family group in the image above was sitting atop a food storage box. They sat for more than 30 minutes until, you guessed it, one of the rangers came by with a bucket of food. He who giveth…. <\/p>\n

The youngster here had a nose covered with dried momma’s milk that was cleaned up with the Patch Tool and Spot Healing Brush, all as described in detail in our Digital Basics File<\/a>. Every Snow Monkey image that I have processed so far has benefited from the application of Detail Extractor (and at times, a small dose of Tonal Contrast), both from NIK’s Color Efex Pro. I will be sharing some striking before and after images with you soon. <\/p>\n

Best Part?<\/h3>\n

Take a moment to leave a comment and let us know what you think makes this image so strong. Hint: it was the hardest thing to get….<\/p>\n

My Comments on Your Comments<\/h3>\n

Learn why I was<\/em><\/strong> unlucky with the Sandhill Crane taking flight image and read my comments on your comments by clicking here<\/a>. <\/p>\n

NIK<\/h3>\n

Color Efex Pro 4 is now an integral part of my workflow. I bring every image into Color Efex Pro after I finish my background clean-up. You can save 15% on all NIK products by clicking here<\/a> and entering BAA in the Promo Code box at check-out. Then hit Apply to see your savings. You can download a trial copy that will work for 15 days and allow you to create full sized images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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B&H Specials<\/h3>\n

Save up to $350 on Canon lens and camera body bundles (including two of my favorites–the EOS-7D and the EOS-5D MII) and earn free contest entries by clicking here<\/a>. Offers expire March 3, 2012. <\/p>\n

Earn Free Contest Entries and Support both the Bulletins and the Blog by making all your B & H purchases here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

More and more folks are earning multiple contest entries with their B & H purchases. See here<\/a> for details on that. Eleven great categories, 34 winning and honored images, and prize pools<\/a> valued in excess of $20,000. Click here<\/a> to visit the competition home page. <\/p>\n

Shopper’s Guide<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Below is a list of the gear that Tim used to create the image in today’s blog post. Thanks a stack to all who have used the Shopper’s Guide links to purchase their gear as a thank you for all the free information that we bring you on the Blog and in the Bulletins. Before you purchase anything be sure to check out the advice in our Shopper’s Guide<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Canon 300mm f\/2.8 L IS II lens<\/a>. The 300 f\/2.8 L IS II with the 1.4X III TC is a killer flight combination. <\/a>
\n1.4X III TC<\/a>. The new Series III 1.4X was designed to work best with the new Series II super-telephoto lenses.
\nCanon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body.<\/a> My two Mark IVs are my workhorse digital camera bodies. <\/p>\n

And from the BAA On-line Store:<\/h2>\n

LensCoats<\/a>. I have a LensCoat on each of my big lenses to protect them from nicks and thus increase their re-sales value. All my big lens LensCoat stuff is in Hardwood Snow pattern.
\nLegCoat Tripod Leg Covers.<\/a> I have four tripods active and each has a Hardwood Snow LegCoat on it to help prevent further damage to my tender shoulders \ud83d\ude42 And you will love them in mega-cold weather….
\nGitzo GT3530LS Tripod.<\/a> This one will last you a lifetime.
\nMongoose M3.6 Tripod Head.<\/a> Right now this is the best tripod head around for use with lenses that weigh less than 9 pounds. For heavier lenses, check out the Wimberley V2 head<\/a>.
\n Double Bubble Level.<\/a> You will find one in my camera’s hot shoe whenever I am not using flash.
\nThe Lens Align Mark II.<\/a> I use the Lens Align Mark II pretty much religiously to micro-adjust all of my gear an average of once a month and always before a major trip. Enjoy our free comprehensive tutorial here.<\/a>
\nCanon EOS-1D Mark IV User’s Guide<\/a>. Learn to use your Mark IV the way that I use mine. Also available for the 7D and the Mark III here<\/a>.
\nBreezeBrowser<\/a>. I do not see how any digital photographer can exist without this program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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This Snow Monkey image was created with the tripod-mounted Canon 300mm f\/2.8 L IS II lens, 1.4X III TC, and the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2\/3 stop: 1\/60 sec. at f\/8 in Manual mode. <\/p>\n

Click on the image to enlarge. <\/p>\n

Three of a Kind <\/p>\n

The night before […]<\/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":[147],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8728","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-147","odd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8728","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=8728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8728\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.birdsasart-blog.com\/baa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}