Alan Goodwin — Amazing Super-telephoto Lens/a-1 Beginner

If you would like to improve your bird photography, be sure to read both of our accounts and view the YouTube video in which I share Alan Goodwin’s remarkable images from the 4th DeSoto IPT. His story reinforces my long held belief that folks who excel in one area are very likely to succeed in other areas. The short story: join me on an Instructional Photo-Tour.

Your Call?

First off, thanks a stack for the many interesting comments at the last blog post. After clicking on each of Alan Goodwin’s six featured images, please leave a comment letting us know which you think is the strongest image and why you made your choice.

What’s Up?

I took a walk yesterday with the Peashooter Mini rig on a cloudy dark way. Story and photos soon. I was thrilled to learn that two more folks signed up for the Morro Bay IPT, many multiple IPT veteran Mike DeRosa and wife Norma, and newbie Sarah Lane and husband/sherpa Jerry. They will be joining many multiple IPT veteran Warren Robb and me at this wonderful location.

I have a like-new Canon 600mm f/4L IS III lens for a great low price in the pipeline; please contact me via e-mail for advance info if you are interested.

Today is Thursday 14 December 2023, another cloudy dark morning with a northeast wind. I will be heading down to the lake as soon as I post this. Wherever you are and whatever you choose to do, I hope that you too have a great day.

This blog post took more than six hours to create including the time spent on the six image optimizations.

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Alan’s Story — The Road to Improvement

Hi Artie,

What follows is a synopsis of my experience — first hooking up with you by phone and e-mail and then attending a November 2023 BAA Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tour.

First a little background: I had previously taken a small number of photos in the film era. Plus, I had a bit of an educated eye when it comes to art photography as early on I had regularly visited a few photography galleries. Thus, I was familiar with or had actually seen prints by some of the great photographers like Edward Weston, Ansel Adams, Man Ray, etc.

Then when digital came along I shot with Canon DSLRs actively from 2003-2008. Subsequently though, my photography dwindled to almost nothing from 2008 until the fall of 2023.

During those initial five years exploring digital photography I had spent a lot of time on DPR.com and Luminous Landscape trying to learn all I could. It was during that time about 20 years ago that I first came across BIRDS AS ART. (Love the name by the way!) At that time, I was especially taken with your stunning photographs at Bosque del Apache in the early morning mist with the piercing dawn rays. In fact one particular photograph of yours has stayed in my memory vividly for the past 20 years. Certainly it is one of the most stunning photographs I’ve ever seen. And that unforgettable photo was what prompted me to go find your blog again this summer even after all of the ensuing years.

Like many people, I certainly didn’t wish to switch from Canon to another platform. But after some emails and a few conversations with you, I was convinced of two things. One, you are an expert in bird photography and that it would behoove me to follow your advice — and two that Sony currently has the superior platform for bird photography. So trusting your advice, and using your B&H links, I obtained a Sony a1 and a 600MM F/4 GM lens along with the 2 teleconverters.

In addition, even though I was predisposed to using a Wimberly type head, I obtained through you a Lever Clamped Flexshooter Pro along with a tripod and lens foot. I already had a BH-55 ballhead but had never found it to be exactly my cup of tea. And because the Flexshooter Pro looks very similar to that ballhead I really wasn’t sure that I would like it. As soon as I used the Flexshooter Pro, I realized that it is significantly better than a regular ballhead. I’m so glad I trusted your advice with this as well.

However, as I own a high end audio / home cinema store, I was too busy this fall running my business to do more than take a few test photos with the a1/600 combo on automatic just to make sure that it worked out of the box. In fact I never even opened the owner’s manual so I really didn’t know how to use the a1.

Again following your advice, and in order to learn how to use the a1/600 combo, I signed up for the Ft De Soto IPT which was Tuesday-Friday morning. Fortunately, I extended that a bit on the front end by flying in late Sunday and spending Monday with you literally learning how to use the a1 from scratch. After you set up my a1 with your custom settings I used it for a day. After that, I asked you for a few small changes to the custom settings to make it easier for me to work with the a1.

After that, I learned more and more every day. From time of day to atmospheric conditions to sun angle and wind direction — your advice greatly helped speed up my learning process. Then added to that was your thinking about the color and placement of diffused backgrounds, choosing the right perspective (usually but not always by getting low), bird to sensor plane orientation, and many other nuances with regard to composing the shot and using the AF system of the a1 to best advantage. One thing that would never have occurred to me was your guidance about the angles of declination and inclination — especially with respect to the 600/2x combination.

Added to that of course there was your encyclopedic knowledge of every bird species including male/female, juvenile/adult and seasonal differences along with the typical behavior of each species. Certainly I will never know as much as you do about birds and bird photography. After all, you’ve spent decades focused on birds!

In summary, in the 4 1/2 days I learned more than I ever expected in my wildest dreams. Plus every day, from the first to the last, I actually got some good photographs with a brand-new-to-me camera system by implementing your tutelage!

Thanks so much for all of your guidance and advice — as well as your newfound friendship. It was truly an incredible learning experience, one that I’ll never forget!

Sincerely,
Alan Goodwin

Alan’s Business: Goodwin’s High End

Goodwin’s High End

Alan told me right off the bat that he was number one in his field, designing and building high end in-home audio systems. Learn more: Goodwin’s High End

Artie’s Story — Alan’s Road to Improvement

I think that my first contact with Alan Goodwin may have been by phone in early August of this year. He very much wanted to become a skilled bird photographer and had “heard” that Sony was best. He had his heart set on the Sony 600mm f/4 GM lens and an a-1. Who was I to argue with that? He kindly used one of my affiliate links and earned free entry into the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group. He was able to update the a-1 firmware but never copied my settings to his new camera.

I urged him to join an IPT so that I could teach him to use his new gear. It took quite a bit of effort to convince him that simply buying the best gear would not make him a better photographer, especially since he had never used an a-1 and had never used a fast, super-telephoto lens on a tripod before. He signed up for the 4th Fort DeSoto IPT this past November. From mid-August one, our phone calls and e-mail continued. I kept saying to him, “You’ve got to trust me.”

He told me that he would put his new lens on a Wimberley VII Head that he already owned. I told him that it was too heavy and would be a big mistake. Finally, he purchased a Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro Head from BIRDS AS ART. He wound up loving it. After some resistance, he finally purchased a new Induro GIT 304 tripod from a friend I had recommended. He wound up loving it. I told him that he needed to get with Photo Mechanic. He was beginning to trust me.

After many hours on the phone and dozens of e-mails, I was thinking that Alan just might be a pain.

He came to Gulfport a day early for the IPT. We shared an AirBnB. Soon after I met him I loaded my a-1 settings onto his camera. We sat on a couch and I taught him AF and exposure in 20 minutes. The next morning, we head to a new spot that I named “Kindergarten Beach” as there were lots of tame birds when the tide was low. Thus, it was an ideal place to teach beginners.

From the get-go, Alan was really into it. He made great images in the first ten minutes. His sharpness techniques were spot on, he loved getting low, and he followed all of my instructions on using Sony’s Zebra technology to come up with consistently excellent exposures. He turned out to be a perfect student. And we quickly became friends. Thanks to Alan, I now put organic seedless grapes in all of my salads. Watch the video below to see his best images from the first three days, learn a bit about picking your keepers as I evaluate his images, and then scroll down to see a few of his Family Jewels (optimized by BIRDS AS ART).

Novice Sony Super-telephoto Lens/a-1 User Alan Goodwin Rocks DeSoto with Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Alan Goodwin had done a bit of bird photography with the Canon 5D (circa 2005). His longest lens was a Canon lens 70-200mm f/2.8 … He had done some research as he was eager to learn to make good bird photos. He got in touch with me and asked if he would be better off with the Sony 600mm f/4 GM lens, a Sony a-1, and both teleconverters. I told him, “Yes, far better off, but only if he earned entry into my Sony a-1 Info and Setup Group and joined me on a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) ASAP. He did both, and his results from Day 1 were remarkable.

Alan’s Family Jewels

This image was created on 15 November on a Fort DeSoto IPT by newbie Alan Goodwin. Kneeling behind his Induro GIT 304 tripod (now replaced by the Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod)/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 3200. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2500 sec. at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 10:10:52am on a cloudy morning. Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version. Image #1: American Oystercatcher adult – field guide pose Image optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART Image courtesy of and copyright 2023: Alan Goodwin

Content-Aware Crop

Check out the raw file in the video. As noted there, I expanded canvas below and right. Content-Aware crop used in small increments enabled me to re-design the image by getting the bird out of the lower right corner.

This image was created on 14 November on a Fort DeSoto IPT by newbie Alan Goodwin. Kneeling behind his Induro GIT 304 tripod (now replaced by the Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod)/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 2500. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2500 sec. at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 7:40:49am on a cloudy morning. Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version. Image #2: Semipalmated Plover adult high-stepping — pano crop Image optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART Image courtesy of and copyright 2023: Alan Goodwin

Pano Crop

Again, see the raw file in the video. To my eye, it was an obvious pano crop. I opted to leave the o-o-f Sanderling in the upper right corner.

This image was created on 14 November on a Fort DeSoto IPT by newbie Alan Goodwin. Kneeling behind his Induro GIT 304 tripod (now replaced by the Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod)/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 2500. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open). AWB at 11:47:31 am on a cloudy morning. Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version. Image #3: Black-bellied Plover non-breeding in surf Image optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART Image courtesy of and copyright 2023: Alan Goodwin

The Image Optimizations

I did the optimizations for all six of today’s featured images following my current digital workflow that is detailed in the Digital Basics III Video Series. On each and every IPT we do tons of image review and Photoshop. Each time I optimize a student’s image a screen capture video is created and shared with the group via Hightail. Do you want to learn and improve?

This image was created on 14 November on Fall Fort DeSoto IPT #4 by participant Alan Goodwin. Standing at full height he used the no-longer available Induro GIT 304L tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 2000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/2000 second at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the raw file brightness was dead solid perfect. AWB at 12:31:32pm on a cloudy early afternoon. Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed just fine in a difficult situation. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image courtesy of and copyright 2023: Alan Goodwin Image optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART Image #4: White Ibis non-breeding smacked by a wave while feeding in surf

My Oft Scoffed At Belief Justified

For the past few years, whenever the talk has turned to bird photography, I have stated often that in flight and action situations, total beginners using one of day’s amazing mirrorless camera bodies with their cameras set up correctly and a modicum of instruction, are capable of creating images equal to or better than images made by experienced professionals.

The reaction has consistently been “No way.” Or astonishment.

After I saw Alan photographing this bird, I joined him and created more than 200 images. I deleted every one of them. Alan Goodwin, with a grand total of 1 1/2 days of experience with the Sony a-1 and a super telephoto lens, created a family jewel while I came up empty. With 481 over-exposed pixels in the specular highlights of the breaking wave (out of 51 million pixels), he had created a sharp image with a dead-solid perfect exposure.

QED (quod erat demonstrandum); my overall argument has just been proven. Thanks, Alan!

This image was created on 15 November on a Fort DeSoto IPT by newbie Alan Goodwin. Kneeling behind his Induro GIT 304 tripod (now replaced by the Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod)/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 2500. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2500 sec. at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 10:40:58am on a cloudy morning. Tracking: Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version. Image #5: Reddish Egret dancing Image optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART Image courtesy of and copyright 2023: Alan Goodwin

In Love With Reddish Egrets

Alan was enamored with the non-breeding Reddish Egrets. There were several that were quite active on the 4th DeSoto IPT. He followed them doggedly and got some great results.

This image was created on 16 November on a Fort DeSoto IPT by newbie Alan Goodwin. Kneeling behind his Induro GIT 304 tripod (now replaced by the Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod)/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 2500. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2500 sec. at f/4.5 (stopped down 1/3-stop in error). AWB at 8:14:16am on a cloudy morning. Tracking: Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version. Image #6: Reddish Egret in flight Image optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART Image courtesy of and copyright 2023: Alan Goodwin

Success

I rarely have a plan for a specific image when I head afield. On our next to last morning, Alan stated clearly as we left the parking lot that he wanted to make a good image of a Reddish Egret in flight. He did!

It was a real pleasure to work with a student who asked a ton of questions, listened intently, and followed my advice. Thanks Alan for your friendship and for allowing me to share your images with the group. I still want to see some of your best ones from the last 2 1/2 days.

Typos

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