Unanimity. And Learning About Snowy Owls ...

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Would you have left the seashell?

Today is Saturday 4 December 2021. It is another cool (50°), clear morning in Central Florida. The pool is down to 80°again. It was 83° when I swam on Friday afternoon. I spent much if yesterday catching up on last weekends football games on TIVO, but did get some work done on the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group. 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 25 consecutive days with a new one.

Please remember that you can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to save 3% at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Brand New and As-Good-As-Ever Bedfords BAA Discount Policy

Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, and any prior purchases.

Money Saving Reminder

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would like to enjoy getting 3% back on your credit card along with free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex Air shipping, your best bet is to click here, 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 or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and check the box for Free Shipping. That will automatically upgrade to free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex. 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 a 1, 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.

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Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, 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.

This image was created on 1 December 2021 at Westhampton Beach on Long Island. While standing at full height, I used the no-longer available GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted-Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera (Body Only). ISO 500. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1000 sec. at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:07am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Spot S AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger higher-res version. Image #1: The Original

Jeff Walters’ Comment

On the My Third Best Snowy Owl Image From the Long Island Trip blog post here:

December 2, 2021 at 6:20 pm

#1, I would liked to have seen what the original image looked like before any cleanup. I know it’s birds as art, but I do feel sometimes the removal of the natural stuff from around your subjects sterilizes the scene, & well, makes things somewhat unnatural. Just me. The sand is so minimal that everyone seems to agree to leave it be. Your touch up skills are smokin’ good. And, we all love the tips. Thanks

Jeff

The Original

I e-mailed Jeff a screen capture of the original. Image #1 is the full frame raw file converted in ACR at the default settings. The beach around the bird is amazingly pristine. I knew when I pressed the shutter button that I would be cropping out the snow fence, but was undecided about the shell. The biggest step in the image optimization was doing a click White Balance adjustment to cool the image down. I did not like the YELLOW cast caused by too much RED everywhere. The As Shot/AWB WB was 6350. I hit I for the Eye Dropper and clicked on the owl’s white forehead. The yielded a Custom WB of 4850. As that was just a bit too BLUE for me, I went with 5050.

Jeff wrote back:

Thanks. The adjustments were very minor. And a beautiful bird. Can I bother you with asking why are these owls in this beach area? Are they migrating and making an annual stop-over? What draws them to the beach areas? Food source? Breeding? I would love to get a little background on your knowledge of this location & the owls. Once again thank-you for sharing & for your kindness.

Ever-learning Jeff, (though maybe a little slow).

My response:

Snowy Owls breed on Arctic tundra. Their main food in the Arctic and sub-arctic regions are lemmings. In bust years, when food is scarce in the far north, or when snow cover makes hunting difficult, mostly younger birds will head south in search of prey. During an irruptive year, large numbers arrive in southern Canada and the northeastern United States. The Snowy Owls hang out on the beaches where they catch a variety of rodents and rabbits in the dunes, and kill the occasional gull or duck. In winter their diet varies greatly; they will eat whatever they can catch. They like areas with undulating terrain where it is easier for them to surprise their prey.

You can learn a ton more here and here.

ORI Video

I found the interesting video above on the Owl Research Institute website.

And I found this, also from the ORI site, to be quite fascinating as well:

There is a longstanding myth that irruptions are driven by starving owls. In reality, one of the only things we know with certainty, is that irruptions are indicative of a strong breeding season somewhere in the Arctic, something first proposed by ornithologist of the 1930s and 1940’s. Prey can be abundant and the owls still move south. During the breeding season, Snowy Owls have a highly specialized diet; during the winter, they survive on a wide variety of prey.

This image was created on 1 December 2021 at Westhampton Beach on Long Island. While standing at full height, I used the no-longer available GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted-Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera (Body Only). ISO 500. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1000 sec. at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:07am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Spot S AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger higher-res version. Image #1A: The first optimized version of the Snowy Owl on clean sand beach image

Unanimity

In the My Third Best Snowy Owl Image From the Long Island Trip blog post here, I wrote:

Which version do you prefer, the image with the swatch of disturbed sand, or the cleaner version. Why?

Ten out of the ten folks who commented on their preferred version preferred the image with the swatch of disturbed sand. And while I like the version with the completely clean beach, I grew to hate it. So the more natural version was the unanimous choice.

Image Clean-up Question

If this were your image, would you have left the seashell or removed it? Why or why not?

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II). You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a PayPal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand. Be sure to specify Digital Basics II.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)

The clean-up techniques mentioned above, everything that I know about color casts and setting the White Balance during a raw conversion, and tons more great Photoshop tips and techniques — along with all of my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts — are covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. While the new e-Guide reflects my MacBook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow, folks using a PC and/or BreezeBrowser will also benefit greatly by studying the material on DB II. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.

Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here. Note: all of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.

You can learn how and why I converted all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. More recently, I became proficient at converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw. About two years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One Pro 12 and continue to do so today.

You can learn more about Capture One in the Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video here. The next step would be to get a copy of Arash Hazeghi’s “The Nikon Photographers’ Guide to Phase One Capture One Pro e-Guide” in the blog post here.

You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.