White Bats in Flight During the Day! Image Clean-up and Photography as Art. Understanding Low Light Exposure. And, more than 20 years ago, two now well-known bird photographers lived just two blocks apart in a small Florida town, unbeknownst to each other.

Your Call

You are invited to leave a comment letting everyone know which of today’s featured images is your favorite, and why. If you do not like either one, you are invited to say just that and explain why.

What’s Up?

For the past few weeks, I’d seen the potential for creating pleasingly blurred images of Cattle Egrets from the pier as they leave the roost early each morning and fly south over the pier to wherever they are going. My experience so far has been that they leave well before sunrise on clear days. With a big wall of clouds to the east on Wednesday morning, I saw my chance and walked out onto the pier with the hand held 200-600/1.4X TC/a1 rig. Even though this setup is much lighter than the 600mm f/4 lens with just the a1, I have lots of trouble keeping the birds in the center of the frame at 840mm when hand holding. I do much better with the big lens on the tripod, but hand holding is a ton of fun — no large, heavy lens and no relatively heavy tripod …

My timing was excellent. The birds came, in groups of from two to twenty or more, and they kept coming for about 30 minutes. I created 801 blurs and kept 19 after the first edit. After a second pass, I was left with just three others plus today’s two featured images. Five out of 801 is not a very high percentage, but that’s how it goes with blurs. When the sun rose over the cloud bank, I was headed to the vulture trees but was interrupted by the crane family of four feeding atop the knoll just north of the parking circle. I made lots of images, but after reviewing them, felt that I should have done better. The vultures trees were productive for flight photography, and I even made a few good images of the eagle standing up on the nest when a cloud covered the sun for a bit. I finished the morning off with an Anhinga on The Perch. Those images were less than impressive. But all things considered, it was a great morning.

It was a gorgeous sunset and with the wind ‘wrong” from the west northwest, I headed out onto the pier again as the birds landing at the roost would be landing away. Buoyed by my recent success hand holding the 200-600/1.4X TC/a1 rig, I went yet again with that. For the first half hour, I was consistently in the wrong spot as most of the birds flew behind me as they headed for their evening roost. After the sun dipped below the horizon, I got really lucky. I was creating a vertical scenic of the far shoreline and the richly colored sky when a single ibis flew through the frame. After that, I got a few decent frames of the Mottled Ducks blasting off to the northwest, albeit at ISO 8000.

Today is Thursday 6 January 2022. The forecast for this morning is for dead clear with a breeze from the northwest. My plan is to get out very early and try some more Cattle Egret blurs from the pier with the tripod mounted 600mm f/4, the 1.4X TC, and the a1. In these conditions, there is a chance to work against the pink/purple/blue sky to the northwest. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took more than two hours to prepare including the time spent on the two image optimizations and makes 57 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.

Your-Pick In-the-Field Sessions

The beauty of the Your Pick In-the-Field Sessions plans below is that I am free most days from now until I leave for San Diego on 14 January. The best news is that we can schedule sessions to coincide with the perfect weather forecast. These sessions are ideal for central Florida locals or folks visiting the region for whatever reason. Interested? Get in touch via e-mail or better yet, try my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up. Inquire for couples and group rates.

Indian Lake Estates In-the-Field Sessions

Two hours of intensive instruction: $300.00. Add a working brunch with image review: $100.00. Sunset shoot: $100.00. Guest room lodging available. Mix and match.

Sunny mornings with east winds are best. Likely subjects include ridiculously tame Sandhill Cranes along with Black and Turkey Vultures, Crested Caracara, Limpkin, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, and more. Bald Eagle possible; crane chicks coming soon.

Lakeland or Circle B Bar Preserve

Two hours of intensive instruction: $325.00. Add a working brunch with image review: $100.00. Mix and match.

Sunny mornings with winds that have an easterly component are best at Lakeland. Likely subjects include point-blank American White Pelican, Anhinga, Limpkin, Common Moorhen, White Ibis, a variety of wintering ducks including Ring-necked and Wood Duck, and lots more.

Cloudy mornings or afternoons (shooting session only) are best at Circle B Bar Preserve. Likely subjects include Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Little Blue Heron, Snowy Egret, Tricolored Heron, White Ibis, Common Moorhen, Osprey, Red-shouldered Hawk, American Alligator, Wild Boar, and more. If you wish to mix and match, lodging at ILE is available.

Sony Alpha 1 Bodies in Stock at Bedfords/free card offer!

Steve Elkins of Bedfords let me know late yesterday that he had several Sony a1 bodies in stock. If one of them has your name on it, please click here and be sure to enter the BIRDSASART coupon code check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. Right now, in lieu of the 3% credit refunded to the card you used for your purchase, you will receive a Sony 160GB CFexpress Type A TOUGH Memory Card, a $399.99 value!

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, or to 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 waitlists 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.

Important Note

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the Amazon links on the blog (including the logo-link immediately above). My link works with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂

Please Remember Also

Please, if you enjoy and learn from the blog, remember to use one of my two affiliate programs when purchasing new gear. Doing so just might make it possible for me to avoid having to try to get a job as a Walmart greeter and will not cost you a single penny more. And if you use Bedfords and remember to enter the BIRDSASART code at checkout, you will (still!) save 3% on every order and enjoy free second-day air shipping. In these crazy times — I lost about fifty thousand dollars in income due to COVID 19 — remembering to use my B&H link or to shop at Bedfords will help me out a ton and be greatly appreciated. Overseas folks who cannot order from the US because of import fees, duties, and taxes, are invited to help out by clicking here to leave a blog thank you gift if they see fit.

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. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

Click on the screen capture to see a larger high-res version. Image #1: The Two Originals

Image Clean-up and Photography as Art

With Image #2 (on the left, above), I covered the third egret using a series of Quick Masks of the sky, each refined with the help of a regular layer mask. I replaced the eye of the rear bird with the better-defined eye of the front bird. And I cropped from all four sides. With Image #3, I cropped to eliminate a wingtip on each frame edge and one extraneous bird on the right side of the frame. Then, using either the Patch Tool or Content-Aware Fill, I eliminated the three Cattle Egrets (yes, they are not white bats) below the line of birds along with a single, smaller, darker, very blurred bird. Do understand that I would never enter either of these images in a contest where such enhancements are not permitted. Many will argue that these are not natural history images. I would counter by saying that the two Cattle Egrets in Image #2 were really flying by the pier in soft light, and that in Image #3, a flock of Cattle Egrets was leaving the marsh in very low light.

To me, both of today’s featured images are photographs. They surely are not paintings (though the goal when creating pleasing blurs is often to wind up with a painterly or impressionistic result). What do you think?

This image was 5 January 2022 from the pier near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 840mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) Multi-metering +2 2/3 stops/AUTO ISO set ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/30 sec. at f/9 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. AWB at 7:21:08 am on a then very cloudy morning. Tracking: Zone AF-C Bird Face/Eye detection worked just fine. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Two Cattle Egrets flight blur

Understanding Low Light Exposure

Many might find it hard to believe that even though 2 2/3 stops of light were added to the exposure suggested by the camera, RawDigger showed that this image was about 1/3 stop too dark. That is how I live and learn.

This image was 5 January 2022 from the pier near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 840mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) Multi-metering +2/3 stop/AUTO ISO set ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/30 sec. at f/9 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. AWB at 7:21:08 am on a then very cloudy morning. Tracking: Zone AF-C Bird Face/Eye detection worked just fine. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #3: “White bats” in flight over marsh blur

Exposure Question

Note that in Image #3, I dialed the + compensation from +2 2/3 stops to +2/3, two full stops darker. Why the difference?

A Very Relevant Shutter Priority Mode Question

An e-Mail Exchange with SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group member Wells Jacobson

AM: Hi Wells,

Re:

WJ: A settings question if you please.

AM: 🙂

WJ: I know that you and your not too distant neighbor, Mark Smith, are both enamored with shooting manual and determining exposure with zebras and using the rear dial for ISO.

AM: How’s this for crazy? When I came to Florida in 1994 I lived in Deltona at 1455 Whitewood Drive. I learned recently that at that time, Mark Smith was living I was living exactly two blocks away with his young family!

I am not sure that he uses Zebras …

WJ: Occasionally you show one of your photos shot with Shutter Priority with Auto ISO and I believe exposure comp on the rear wheel, and again use zebras.

AM: Correct, but when I do that I am not relying on Zebras except for the initial Exposure compensation … Late in the day, with the sun usually on the western horizon, it is, however, a lot more complicated than that.

WJ: In practice these two methods seem almost the same and I have trouble trying to figure out when you might choose one over the other. I hope a subtlety is eluding me and I’m not just missing the boat. I would love some clarification and perhaps others might as well.

AM: You are missing the boat. In fact, the boat sank. They are not the same at all. The only time that you want to use Shutter Priority with Auto ISO and EXP COMP on the rear dial is when you have backgrounds that are of a pretty much constant tonality, like a richly colored sky at sunset. Actually, you can do well with Shutter Priority mode in most situations where the background is of a consistent tonality. Doing blurs of flocks of birds in a white sky would be another example.

I use Manual mode for more than 95% of my bird photography and so should you. Why? Because birds move and when the background tonalities change, you are out of business if you are working in an Automatic (exposure) mode …

With love, artie

A Guide to Pleasing Blurs

Learn everything there is to know about creating pleasingly blurred images in A Guide to Pleasing Blurs by Denise Ippolito and yours truly. This 20,585 word, 271 page PDF is illustrated with 144 different, exciting, and artistic images. The guide covers the basics of creating pleasingly blurred images, the factors that influence the degree of blurring, the use of filters in creating pleasing blurs, and a great variety of both in-the-field and Photoshop techniques that can be used to create pleasingly blurred images.

Artie and Denise teach you many different ways to move your lens during the exposure to create a variety of pleasingly blurred images of flowers and trees and water and landscapes. They will teach you to recognize situations where subject movement can be used to your advantage to create pan blurs, wind blurs, and moving water blurs. They will teach you to create zoom-blurs both in the field and during post-processing. Artie shares the techniques that he has used and developed for making blurred images of flocks of geese in flight at his beloved Bosque del Apache and Denise shares her flower blur magic as well as a variety of creative Photoshop techniques that she has developed.

With the advent of digital capture creating blurred images has become a great and inexpensive way to go out with your camera and have fun. And while many folks think that making successful blurred images is the result of being a sloppy photographer, nothing could be further from the truth. In “A Guide to Pleasing Blurs” Artie and Denise will help you to unleash your creative self.

Typos

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