The Streak Continues: 175
This post marks 175 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.
This post took more than 4 hours to assemble. Enjoy it! And be sure to vote!
Upgraded Used Mongoose M3.5 Package: $630
Scroll down for details; this great package represents a value of $947.
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White Sky Peregrine |
White Sky Peregrine
The BIRDS AS ART 2nd International Bird Photography Competition
The judging of the BIRDS AS ART 2nd International Bird Photography Competition has been complete for a bit more than three weeks. Thanks a stack again to our skilled panel of judges: Sandesh Kadur, Scott Elowitz, Lou Coetzer, Mary Ann McDonald, Michael Frye, Peter Kes, Denise Ippolito, and yours truly. You can learn more about the guest judges here.
From 5 to 18 images in the 8 categories were selected to be sent to the judges’ panel. Each judge voted on each image on a 0-5 scale. The votes were tallied and the results are now final. This will make 6 categories down, 2 to go.
Your Call
The 13 extremely strong images that were presented to the panel of judges in the Flight category are presented to you today here. Please do understand that many additional strong images were eliminated in the early rounds of judging because of poor image processing, technical issues including over- or under-exposure, over-Saturation, image sharpness, and the failure of folks to take advantage of our lenient digital guidelines that allow for the removal of distracting elements from an image.
After clicking on each image to view the larger size, we ask that each of you pick your five favorite images and vote them 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 with 5 being the strongest, 4 being your second favorite, and so on down to 1. Additional comments are welcome <em>as long as they appear below your selections. The whole thing should look something like this:
Parakeet Flight: 5
Midair Dispute: 4
Mountain Ridge Eagle: 3
Flared Falcon: 2
Dunlin After Bath: 1
I love the colors, sharpness, and peek-a-boo poseof Parakeet Flight.
The selections above are of course arbitrary and should not at all influence your votes. Please read the directions carefully as comments that do not follow the format above exactly will be deleted without notice. The three winning images in this category along with the 4 runner up images and the names of the photographers will be announced here soon along with a tally of the public vote.
The Grand Prize winning image, the image that secured the highest total of judge’s votes, will be revealed when the results of the final category are announced.
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Blue Sky Snowy Owl |
Blue Sky Snowy Owl
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Great Grey Leaving Perch |
Great Grey Leaving Perch
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Midair Dispute |
Midair Dispute
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Parakeet Flight |
Parakeet Flight
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Wood Stork T-shot |
Wood Stork T-shot
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Snowy Owl on Snow |
Snowy Owl on Snow
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Starling Creature |
Starling Creature
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Mountain Ridge Eagle |
Mountain Ridge Eagle
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Incoming Fish-laden Puffin |
Incoming Fish-laden Puffin
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Flared Falcon |
Flared Falcon
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Flat Flight Great Grey |
Flat Flight Great Grey
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Dunlin After Bath |
Dunlin After Bath
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 f/4 and her 400 f/2.8 VR lenses in less than 3 weeks. 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, and four 400 DO lenses 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.
Used Mongoose Package for Sale
Upgraded Mongoose M3.5 Package: $630
John Stuhlmuller is offering a used Mongoose M3.5 tripod head that has been upgraded to an M3.6 (approximate value $550). The only differences between a refurbished M3.5 and a new M3.6 is the internal finish of several parts. Otherwise, it functions as an M3.6, the head I have used and depended on for nearly a decade. The sale includes an installed Horizontal) Low Mount Arm (sells new for $90), the Integrated Flash Arm (sells new for $110), a CR-X5 plate, the low foot for the four Series II Canon Super-Telephoto lenses and teh 200-400 (sells for $122 new), a CP16 lens plate for B-tripod ring lenses like the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS (sells for $75 new).
There are some minor scratches on the top of the mounting clamp. Otherwise, there are no other signs of wear and the head works perfectly. John prefers his Wimberley V2 head.
The package is valued at approximately $947. The cost of insured ground shipping to US addresses is included. Sale price: $630. Save $300+.
Contact John via e-mail. Photos available upon request.
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!
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. 🙂
As of 7:35pm, voting on the Flight category images is closed. Results tomorrow. artie
Starling creature: 5
Fishladen Puffin: 4
Dunlin after bath: 3
Snowy owl on snow: 2
Blue sky snowy: 1
Thank you… So enjoyable…
5. Incoming Fish-Laden Puffin
4. Parakeet Flight
3. Snowy Owl on Snow
2. Starling Creature
1. Great Grey Leaving Perch
Blue sky snowy owl: 5
Dunlin after bath: 4
Flat flight great grey: 3
Parakeet in flight: 2
Starling creature: 1
5. blue sky snowy owl
4.parakeet flight
3. Dunlin after bath
2 flared falcon
1. starling creature
Parakeet Flight- 5
Mountain Ridge Eagle – 4
Blue Sky Snowy Owl – 3
Incoming Fish-laden Puffin – 2
Flared Falcon – 1
5- Parakeet
4- Flat great Grey
3- Mid Air dispute
2- Eagle
1-Falcon
All awesome shots!
5 Dunlin after Bath
4 Starling Creature
3 Puffin Laden w/ Fish
2 Snowy Owl on Snow
1 Great Gray leaving perch
Parakeet Flight: 5
Midair Dispute: 4
Mountain Ridge Eagle: 3
Flared Falcon: 2
Dunlin After Bath: 1
I love the colors, sharpness, background , light and the look from Parakeet’s eye 🙂
Dunlin After Bath: 5
Incoming Fish-laden Puffin: 4
Parakeet Flight: 3
Starling Creature: 2
Flared Falcon: 1
Excellent shots all knowing how difficult it is to do Birds In Flight
5: Snowy Owl on Snow
4: Parakeet Flight
3: Flared Falcon
2: Great Grey Leaving Perch
1: Mountain Ridge Eagle
This one was tough!
The Snowy Owl on Snow caught my attention for its spot-on exposure. I love the whispers of detail in the snowy ground below and the way the bird seems to appear out of the air.
The angle of the Parakeet appealed to me; I love the colors between the warmer pops of yellow and red and the green overall, and the position side-to helps show these to advantage.
What I like best about the Flared Falcon was the use of near-backlighting which gave wonderful overlap to wing and tail feathers.
The Great Grey Leaving Perch I liked for its emotional impact as well as its technical excellence. I sense such intent and the position of the wings helps communicate how powerful the bird is in my opinion.
Mountain Ridge Eagle — here, I like that the photographer included a sense of the environment for scale and place as background. Great exposure and position as well.
I thought all of these were excellent; hard to pick just five!
Great Grey Leaving Perch: 5
Flared Falcon: 4
Starling Creature: 3
Dunlin After Bath: 2
Incoming Fish-laden Puffin: 1
Incoming Fish-laden Puffin:5
Great Grey Leaving Perch:4
Wood Stork T-shot:3
Dunlin After Bath:2
Parakeet Flight:1
I had to get picky about real and imagined minor defects to eliminate other great shots.
Starling Creature : 5
Midair dispute : 4
Great Grey Leaving Perch : 3
Parakeet Flight: 2
Dunlin After Bath : 1
Great Gray Leaving Perch: 5
Incoming Fish-ladden Puffin: 4
Parakeet Flight: 3
Flared Falcon: 2
Flat Flight Great Gray: 1
5. Great gray owl leaving perch.
4. Parakeet.
3. Puffin.
2. Flared falcon.
1. Starling creature.
Great Grey Leaving Perch: 5
Incoming Fish-laden Puffin: 4
Parakeet Flight: 3
Dunlin After Bath: 2
Snowy Owl on Snow: 1
Incoming Fish-Laden Puffin: 5
Starling creature: 4
Parakeet Flight: 3
Great Grey Leaving Perch: 2
Flared Falcon: 1
5 Snowy Owl on Snow
4 Midair Dispute
3 Flared Falcon
2 Parakeet Flight
1 Starling Creature
5. Starling Creature
4. Flat Flight Great Grey
3. Great Grey Leaving Perch
2. Mountain Ridge Eagle
1. Mid Air Dispute
1. Parakeet Flight
2. Starling Creature
3. Incoming Fish-laden Puffin
4. Flared Falcon
5. Dunlin After Bath
5. dunlin after bath
4. parakeet flight
3. incoming fish-laded puffin
2. great grey leaving perch
1. starling creature
5- Flared Falcon
4- Parakeet Flight
3- Wood stork T-shot
2- Great Gray leaving perch
1- Blue sky Snowy owld
They are all great pictures…difficult decision to make!
Congratulations to the participant photographers.
Parakeet flight 5
Dunlin after bath 4
Great Gray leaving perch 3
Starling creature 2
incoming fish-laden puffin 1
This was tough. All images were terrific!!
#5 Flared Falcon
#4 Incoming Fish-Laden Puffin
#3 Flat Flight Great Grey
#2 Wood Stork T-Shot
#1 Starling Creature
Blue Sky Snowy Owl:5
Parakeet Flight:4
Starling Creature:3
Dunlin After Bath:2
Incoming Fish-laden Puffin:1
A difficult choice—that will probably be different tomorrow.
Dunlin After Bath-5
Snowy Owl on Snow-4
Incoming Puffin-3
Parakeet Flight-2
Wood Stork T-1
Parakeet Flight 5
Great Grey Leaving Perch 4
Mountain Ridge Eagle 3
Blue Sky Snowy Owl 2
Flared Falcon 1
Incoming fish laden Puffin 5
Grerat gray leaving perch 4
Wood Stork T shot 3
Starling creature 2
Dunlin after bath 1
Great Grey Leaving Perch: 5
White Sky Peregrine: 4
Blue Sky Snowy Owl: 3
Flared Falcon: 2
Mountain Ridge Eagle: 1
Great Grey Leaving Perch: 5
Parakeet Flight: 4
Incoming Fish-Laden Puffin: 3
Flared Falcon: 2
Dunlin After Bath: 1
Great Gray Leaving Perch: 5
Dunlin after bath: 4
Snowy Owl on snow: 3
Wood Stork T: 2
Parakeet Flight: 1
5.Parakeet Flight
4.Flared Falcon
3.Mountain Ridge Eagle
2.Dunlin after Bath
1.Midair Dispute
5 – Parakeet flight
4 – Great Grey leaving perch
3 – Flared Falcon
2 – Dunlin after bath
1 – Midair Dispute
Great shots everyone
Parakeet Flight: 5
Great Grey Leaving Perch: 4
Puffin: 3
Flared Falcon: 2
Dunlin After Bath: 1
Dunlin After Bath: 5
Parakeet Flight: 4
Great Grey Leaving Perch: 3
Snowy Owl on Snow: 2
Incoming Fish-laden Puffin: 1
5. Parakeet Flight
4. Flared Falcon
3. Incoming Fish-laden Puffin
2. Great Gray Leaving Perch
1. Dunlin After Bath
Incoming Fish-laden Puffin: 5
Great Grey Leaving Perch: 4
Parakeet Flight: 3
Flat Flight Great Grey: 2
Flared Falcon: 1
So hard to choose! All are beautiful!!
Puffin : 5
Wood stork: 4
Mid air dispute : 3
parakeet flight: 2
blue sky snow owl: 1
Parakeet Flight- 5
Incoming Fish-laden Puffin – 4
Great Grey Leaving Perch – 3
Mountain Ridge Eagle – 2
Flared Falcon – 1
Dunlin After Bath: 5
Parakeet Flight: 4
Midair Dispute: 3
Flared Falcon: 2
Blue Sky Snowy Owl: 1
All the images were very strong and it was difficult to just pick five. Good luck to all.