BIRDS AS ART 2nd International Bird Photography Competition Digital Creations Category Winners & the Readership Vote

First Place: Great Horned Owl Painted/25 points

Great Horned Owl Painted

Congratulations to Carol Nichols

Second Place: Great Blue Heron Sun/24 points

Great Blue Heron Sun

Congratulations to Michael Libbe

Third Place: Delicate Spoonbill/23 points

Delicate Spoonbill

Congratulations to Angie Luzader

Pleasing Blurs Category Prizes

Thanks a stack to our great sponsors. Please note that prizes will not be sent until all of the category winners and the Grand Prize winner have been announced.

Digital Creations

First Prize	Second Place	Highly Commended	Sponsor
Magnum Xtrahand Vest	.	.	Vested Interest
$150 Gift Certificate	$75 Gift Certificate	$40 Gift Certificate	B&H PHOTO VIDEO
$60 Gift Certificate	$40 Gift Certificate	$25 Gift Certificate	Delkin Devices
Level 3 Gift Subscription	Level 2 Gift Subscription	Level 1 Gift Subscription	Nature Photographer Magazine
$75 Gift Certificate	$50 Gift Certificate	$25 Gift Certificate	Lens Coat

First Runner-up (tie): Black-necked Stilt Fract/22 points

Black-necked Stilt Fract

Congratulations to Andrew McLachlan

First Runner-up (tie): Inverted Snow Geese Blur/22 points

Inverted Snow Geese Blur

Congratulations to Cheryl Slechta

Third Runner-up (tie): Jacana Silhouette/21 points)

Jacana Silhouette

Congratulations to Faraaz Abdool

Third Runner-up (tie): Pelican World/21 points

Pelican World

Congratulations to Jessy Arnell

Fifth Runner-up (tie): Hummingbird Nest/20 points

Hummingbird Nest

Congratulations to Andrew McLachlan

Fifth Runner-up (tie): Razorbill Silhouette/20 points

Razorill Sihouette

Congratulations to Rachel Hollander

10th Place (tie): Upland Sandpiper Fract Sketch/19 points

Upland Sandpiper Fract Sketch

Congratulations to Andrew McLachlan

10th Place {tie): Wood Stork Fract/19 points

Wood Stork Fract

Congratulations to Don Poulton

12th Place (tie): Night-Heron Wing Stretch/18 points

Night-Heron Wing Stretch

Congratulations to Angie Luzader

12th Place (tie): Barred Owl Sketched Look/18 points

Barred Owl Sketched Look

Congratulations to Cheryl Slechta

Stuff

Getting even a single image to the final round of judging in any category is a huge accomplishment. All of the photographs in the Digital Creations finals were extremely well done. Ironically, the first place tie in the public votes was made up of the first choice of the judges and an image that tied for last on the judges’ ballot. Congrats again to all the winning and honored photographers. To the public voters: for what it’s worth: I loved the Razorbill creation 🙂

Thanks to all the readers who voted. And thanks again to our sponsors and to the panel of judges. Special thanks to Denise Ippolito and Peter Kes who helped me with the early rounds of judging. Please feel free to comment on the any of the images or to analyze and compare the judging; please remember that judging any contest or voting on the images is purely subjective.

The Public Vote

1-(tie)-Barred Owl Sketched Look: 50 points.
2-(tie)-Great Horned Owl Painted: 50 points.
3-Great Blue Heron Sun: 33 points.
4-Delicate Spoonbill: 29 points.
5-Night-Heron Wing Stretch: 28 points.
6-Inverted Snow Geese Blur: 27 points.
7-Black-necked Stilt Fract: 20 points.
8-Hummingbird Nest: 19 points.
9-Wood Stork Fract: 13 points.
10:Jacana Silhouette: 12 points.
11-Upland Sandpiper Fract Sketch:11 points.
12-Pelican World: 8
13: Razorbill Silhouette: 3

The Streak Continues: 172

This post marks 172 consecutive days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H links and our Amazon logo-links why quit now? April was a record month but May has not been so good. So far…. To show your appreciation for my efforts here, I do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I used, tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know the tools that you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

With continuing but now rectified laptop problems, this labor-intensive post took 4 hours to put together. Enjoy it!

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

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 charges a minimum of 20% plus assorted fees! Yikes. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advise, usually sells in no time flat as did Dennis Cassidy’s 500 II recently on the blog. Larry Master’s 400 DO and his 800 f/5.6 sold within a week. From Larry via e-mail: Thanks for helping me sell the lenses so quickly!

A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART friend Kitto Kono sold her Nikon 500 to a Blog subscriber in less than a week. Janet Horton’s 7D sold this week after a $100 price reduction. Denise Ippolito’s 100-400 and her 100 macro sold in one day. Peter Kes sold his 70-200 f/2.8L IS II and his 400 DO through BAA in ten days. In the past two months we have sold a Canon 800, a Canon 500 II, 3 400 DO lenses, a Nikon 500mm, and lots more. If you are interested in using our services, please e-mail.

Used Photography Gear Page

Eagle-eyed readers may have noticed that there is a link to the Used Photography Gear page on the yellow tool bar at the top of each blog page. Folks looking to buy (or to sell) can click on that tab or here. I will on occasion continue to list new gear and great buys in blog posts and in Bulletins and may on rare occasion share all the listings with you on the blog. I will strive to keep the listings current. Great news for Kitty Kono and her Nikon 400mm f/2.8; it sold yesterday! That made her 2 for 2 on selling her older Nikon super-telephotos with BAA.

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

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Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂