Homer YouTube Bald Eagle Video and Announcing the 2023 Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPTs.

What’s Up?

On Sunday I headed to Stick Marsh and quickly cancelled both IPTs. The four folks who had signed were offered the option of a full refund or applying their deposits to a future IPT. I can tell you one thing for sure: the Roseate Spoonbill do not like the S-96 construction project. With an east wind the birds would usually be flying right at you on a sunny morning. It was sunny with a brisk east wind, yet every spoonbill — there were not many, turned immediately to the west after taking flight. I am not sure if they do not like the considerable noise from the pump that is now running constantly, or the huge crane, but it is surely one of the two. Or both. In addition, I did not see a single spoonbill carrying nesting material. Folks in the Stick Marsh Site Guide E-mail Group (details below on that), will be learning the complete details along with my suggestions on possibly making a few good images this season. I plan on continuing to visit to see how the spoonies do in the long run …

I’ve been swimming every day since I got home and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. I got some neat stuff of the young eagle flapping in the nest on Monday morning. In addition, the two large crane chicks that I spotted on Saturday had crossed the canal to the South Field Sith along with their folks. Lastly, I discovered a crane on eggs in a nest at the North Marsh! Today is Tuesday 8 March 2022. The forecast for this morning is for partly to mostly cloudy skies with a gentle breeze from the southeast, perfect eagle nest photography weather. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too had a great day. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes one day in a row with a new one.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links on this page and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords. And please consider joining a BAA IPT.

Be sure to scroll down and let us know which of today’s two featured images is your favorite. I hope that you can join me in Homer in 2023 (as below).

From BPN-friend Kevin Hice via unsolicited e-mail

Again artie, that was a great trip. I was more than pleased. For me, I could see right away that you knew how to get us and the boat in great position for the best eagle photography. You took into consideration all the factors including the sky conditions, and wind and sun angles. It was a real pleasure to meet the captain. His knowledge of the wind and the currents helped to put us in great position all the time and he did his very best to help on all fronts.

One of the most important factors for me is timeliness. We never had to wait on the captain or on you, artie, and that made the trip a huge success. We got after it every day and had countless great photography opportunities. The other eagle photography tours never got out as early as we did, nor did they pursue the birds as relentlessly as we did.

One can never say that Arthur Morris doesn’t have the passion to get after the Bald Eagles. I have never shot as many photos as I did on this trip even with my poor hand eye coordination. I got plenty of keepers and enjoyed meeting the others in the group and learned a few things from them as well.

Thanks again, Kevin

Homer 2022 Bald Eagle Highlights and Handholding Compositional Tips by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Enjoy and be inspired by just a few Homer Bald Eagle highlight images. Hand holding intermediate telephoto lens will always yield slightly different compositions. Learn more about that topic in this short (3:14) video.

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

2023 Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPTs

IPT #1: MON 20 FEB 2023 through the full day on FRI 24 FEB 2023. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers

IPT #2: SAT 25 FEB 2023 through the full day on THURS 2 MAR 2023. Six full days/24 hours on the boat: $6600.00. Limit 5 photographers

IPT #3: FRI 3 MAR 2023 through the full day on TUES 7 MAR 2023. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers.

Save $1,000.00 by doing back-to-back trips. Save $1500.00 by doing all three.

This trip features non-stop flight photography as well as many opportunities to create both environmental and point-blank portraits of one of North America’s most sought-after avian subjects: Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Other reliable subjects will include Sea Otter, Glaucous-winged and Short-billed (formerly Mew) Gulls.

In addition, we should see Common Murre, Black Guillemot, Pelagic Cormorant, two or three species of loons, and a smattering of ducks including two species of merganser, all three scoters, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, Harlequin, and Long-tailed Ducks. Close-range photographic chances for these species will require a ton of good luck. Some of these species, especially when in flocks, can, however, often be used effectively when pleasing creating bird-scapes.

If we need to be out early, we will be the first boat out. If conditions are great, we will stay out. And when there is a chance for sunset silhouettes, we will be in the right spot.

We will be traveling through gorgeous wilderness country; landscape and scenic opportunities abound.

Also featured is a professional leader, often referred to as the world’s most knowledgeable bird photography trip leader, who is conversant in Canon, Nikon, and Sony. You will learn practical and creative solutions to everyday photographic problems. You will learn to see the shot, to create dynamic images by fine-tuning your compositions, to best utilize your camera’s AF system, and how to analyze the wind, the sky conditions, and the direction and quality of the light. This is one of the very few trips Homer trips available where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun. You will learn to be a better photographer. But only if that is what you want.

You will learn to get the right exposure when it is sunny, when it cloudy-bright, when it is cloudy, when it is cloudy-dark, or when it is foggy. Not to mention getting the right exposure when creating silhouettes.

You will learn to make pleasing blurs working in manual mode and to create silhouettes working in Shutter Priority mode.

Most importantly you will learn to pick your best flight images from tens of thousands of images.

You will enjoy working with the two best and most creative boat captains on their sturdy, photography-spacious, seaworthy, open-deck crafts.

The second and third IPTs are the only Bald Eagle workshops that feature an incredibly helpful first mate.

Only five photographers (not the usual six), plus the leader.

Small group Photoshop, Image Review, and Image Critiquing sessions.

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

What’s Included

One four hour or two two-hour boat trips every day (weather permitting), all boat fees and boat-related expenses (excluding tips), ground transportation to and from the dock and back to the hotel each day, in-the-field instruction and guidance, pre-trip gear advice, small group post-processing and image review sessions, and a thank you dinner for all well-behaved participants.

What’s Not Included

Your airfare to and from Homer, AK (via Anchorage), the cost of your room at Land’s End Resort, all personal items, all meals and beverages, and tips for the boat captain and/or the first mate.

Please Note

On great days, the group may wish to photograph for more than four hours. If the total time on the boat exceeds 20 hours for the five-day trips, or 24 hours for the second trip, the group will share the additional expense at a rate of $225/hour.

Some folks may wish to rent their own vehicle to take advantage of local photographic opportunities around Homer.

Deposit Information

A $3000 non-refundable deposit/trip is required. You may pay your deposit with credit card or by personal check (made out to BIRDS AS ART) and sent via US mail only to Arthur Morris. PO Box 7245. Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Your balance, due 90 days before the date of departure, is payable only by check as above.

In Closing

I have been going to Homer off and on for close to two decades. Every trip has been nothing short of fantastic. Many folks go in mid-March. The earlier you go, the better the chances for snow. The only way to assure that you are on the best of the three trips is to sign up for all of them. Can you keep up with me? If you have any questions, or are good to go for one, two, or all three trips, please let me know via e-mail or give me a call on my cell phone at 863-221-2372.

This image was created on 26 February 2022, Day One of the second 2022 Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT. I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 500: 1/1600 second at f/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 9:47:35am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Upper Zone with Bird/Face-Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Bald Eagle posing on perch

Controlling the Background via Perspective Choice

You can often change the appearance of the background in an image by changing your perspective, i.e., the place that you choose to stand and your choice of up or down or somewhere in between. As we approached the bird — I did not want to flush it from its perch as several folks in the group were with me, the first image featured a distant headland in the background. Note that I created more than one hundred images of this bird posing on the perch. No two were identical. I wound up keeping perhaps six or eight images.

This image was created on 26 February 2022, Day One of the second 2022 Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT. Again, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 500: 1/1600 second at f/7.1 (stopped down 1/3 stop). AWB at 9:49:17am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Upper Zone with Bird/Face-Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Bald Eagle posing on perch

Getting Closer and Higher

As we were walking up a gentle slope, we got a bit higher with each step we took. By getting “taller” and moving slightly to my right, I was able to get a pure blue water background, usually one of my very favorites.

Your Fave?

Which of today’s featured images do you like best? Why? Which background do you prefer? Why?

The Stick Marsh Site Guide Subscription Service

The Site Guide Subscription Service is a new concept. I e-mailed the first issue last April. Stick Marsh Site Guide e-Mail #1: The Basics. The Basics e-mail included specific directions to the site, and a map of the rookery area with specific instructions and wind, weather, and where-to-be advice. There were four additional updates last year. More will follow this year, the first one will be sent next Monday.

To sign up for the Stick Marsh Site Guide Subscription Service, call Jim in the office weekday afternoons at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand or send a PayPal for the $100.00 to us at birdsasart@verizon.net. Please be sure to include the words Stick Marsh with your PayPal.

I fully understand that you can go to Google Maps, find the Stick Marsh, visit, and likely make some good or great images. You might think, I can do fine just without artie’s advice. But you will do a world of better with it. The annotated map alone is worth the price of admission.

Typos

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

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