Snowbound!

This image Bald Eagle image was created with the Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens), the 1.4X III TC (handheld at 280mm) with the Canon EOS-1D Mark IV). ISO 1600. Evaluative metering +3 stops off the sky: 1/640 sec. at f/4. Central Sensor/Rear Focus/AI Servo AF active at the moment of exposure. Lens/camera body Micro-adjustment: -8. To see a larger size, click on the photo. Then click on the enlarged version to close it.

Snowbound!

On the afternoon of October 28 we encountered some brief but heavy snow squalls while baiting eagles from a boat with frozen pollack near Homer, AK. I was fortunate to have this bird fly right toward us while I had the cliff face as a background. On my first attempt the image did not look too good at all (other than the snow). So I did two layers of NIK Color EFEX Pro 4.1, one for tonal contrast at 50% and to improve the look and the apparent sharpness of the whole image and another on a layer with of Detail Extractor to bring up the detail in the head. On the latter I used a Hide-All mask and then painted away the head only. If you are totally confused by Layer Masks (as I was for ten years) see “Layer Masking for Dummies” in the last free update of Digital Basics. DB is a PDF sent via e-mail that contains my complete digital workflow and dozens and dozens of great Photoshop techniques.

You can save 15% on all NIK products by clicking here and entering BAA in the Promo Code box at check-out. Then hit Apply to see your savings. I have been using and learning and loving COLOR EFEX and Viveza and SILVER EFEX also. We will be bringing you lots especially on those first two soon.

Gotta run as it is noon and we leave in 25 minutes for five hours of Bald Eagle photography with the second group after an inch of snow last night. It should be great fun.

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Shopper’s Guide

Below is a list of the gear used to create the images in today’s blog post. Thanks a stack to all who have used the Shopper’s Guide links to purchase their gear as a thank you for all the free information that we bring you on the Blog and in the Bulletins. Before you purchase anything be sure to check out the advice in our Shopper’s Guide.

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens. Man, I am loving this lens on my shoulder with the 2X III teleconverter. I also use it a lot with the 1.4X III TC as I did here.
Canon 1.4X III Teleconverter. Designed to work best with the new Series II super-telephoto lenses.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body. My two Mark IVs are my workhorse digital camera bodies.

And from the BAA On-line Store:

The Lens Align Mark II. I use the Lens Align Mark II pretty much religiously to micro-adjust all of my gear an average of once a month and always before a major trip. Enjoy our free comprehensive tutorial here.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV User’s Guide. Learn to use your Mark IV the way that I use mine. Also available for the 7D and the Mark III here.