New York City Weekend Nature Photography Seminar December 8-9, 2012
Detail for this great weekend seminar are available here. Do consider joining Denise Ippolito and me for a great learning experience. Do click on the link to see many of Denise’s incredible tree and flower images. Camera club discounts available; see the details at the link.
5D Mark III Guide Pre-publication Version Still Discounted
Click here for details. When the guide is complete it will sell for $50. Folks who purchase now will receive the final version and any updates for no additional charge so ordering now is a win-win proposition. If you click on the link above you will see that the list of items not yet covered is continues to shrink….
I spent the better part of Tuesday and today working on the 5D III UG; when I am done, the price goes to $50. Buy now to save! The more I study this camera the more I learn how complex it is. Rudy Winston at Canon has been a huge help and so as Denise who helped me with the section on Multiple Exposures today. I still have some work to do.
Nickerson Beach/JBWR Photo-Tour August 15-17, 2012: Only 1 slot left!
Nickerson Beach/JBWR Photo-Tour August 15-17, 2012: $999. Co-leader: Denise Ippolito. Introductory slide program: Tuesday August 14 at 7pm. Limit 8/Openings:1.
This photo-tour is almost sold out. But with two great leaders each tons of experience at this site and the promise to learn a ton of great Photoshop stuff it does make a lot of sense.
For more info and a collection of images click here.
For info on Denise Ippolito’s July 14-15 Nickerson Beach trip–featuring lots of Common Tern chicks and fledglings, click here.
You Be the Judge: Pleasing Blurs
The judging for the BIRDS AS ART 1st International Bird Photography Competition has been complete for some time. All of the judges including me were stunned by the quality of the images. We have been and will continue to be posting all of the images that were sent to the judges category by category. Each of you will have a chance to judge each category. Please read the directions below carefully. Your votes will not determine the winning images but it has been and will continue to be fun to see how everyone’s votes compare to the votes of the judges. So far the top pick of the public vote has matched the top pick of the judge’s panel in three of the five categories. I am not sure what might happen in Action….
Though creating pleasing blurs is one of my very favorite things in photography, this was not a hugely popular category with only 146 images submitted. That despite that pleasingly blurred images have fared very well in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition in recent years. A dozen images were sent to the five judges. Here is another big time thank you to Darrell, Chris, Julie, and Tim. And a big time thanks also to Peter Kes and Denise Ippolito for pitching in during the first rounds of image selection. We worked very hard for nearly three full days to get from more than 5500 images down to the final 163.
The Pleasing Blurs category was defined as follows: for pleasingly blurred images of a bird or a flock of birds; images in this category must be created in-camera.
Before you vote, please sure to click on each image so that you can view it at full size. Then pick your five favorites and vote them 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1 with 5 being your very favorite. Like this:
Roseate Spoonbills squabbling: 5
Siskins fighting: 4
Snowy Egrets midair combat: 3
Great Crested Grebe displaying: 2
Common Tern feeding chick: 1
The “Sample Vote” above is for illustrative purposes only. Please do not let the sample vote, the votes of others, or the names assigned to the images influence your vote. Please put each of your five favorites on its own line by hitting “enter” after each one. No ties; please assign a single digit, 5, 4, 3, 2 or 1 to each of your five favorites. As you will see there are a great many dramatic images here.
Please Note
If you wish to comment on any or all of the images, please do so below your five voting lines; this will make tallying the votes easier. Votes cast by those who fail to follow the formatting directions will be relegated to the Trash Bin.
The voting will be closed in about two days and the actual winning images for this category will be posted soon thereafter. A tally of the public vote along with my analysis and comments will follow.
Thanks for voting and please remember to breathe deeply and have fun.
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Woodpecker vertical wing blur |
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Black-headed Gull blur |
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Red-crowned Crane flight blur |
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Surreal flock in marsh |
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Little Egret in the rapids |
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Bald Eagle striking blur |
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Snow Geese blast-off blur |
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Shorebird flock blur |
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Great Blue Heron leg |
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Sub-adult Bald Eagle pan blur |
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Snow Geese leaving the field blur |
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Skimmer skimming blur |
5 – Great Blue Heron leg
4 – Surreal flock in march
3 – Woodpecker vertical wing blur
2 – Skimmer skimming blur
Sub-adult Bald Eagle pan blur
Wonderful “birds as art” you might say, great work…
Woodpecker 5
GBH leg 4
Surreal flock 3
Snow geese field 2
Sub-eagle pan 1
Sub-adult Bald Eagle pan blur– 5
Little Egret in the rapids– 4
Woodpecker vertical wing blur – 3
Skimmer skimming blur – 2
Surreal flock in marsh – 1
Black-headed Gull blur: 5
Snow Geese blast-off blur: 4
Skimmer skimming blur: 3
Little Egret in the rapids: 2
Shorebird flock blur: 1
Thanks, Artie, for not requiring an explanation for our choices.
Woodpecker-5
skimmer-4
Red crowned crane-3
Heron leg-2
snow geese-1
These were all very interesting shots. I liked that the woodpecker had a point of focus and a great angle on a vertical,The skimmer is just a very cool shot,I really like the light on the crane and i feel the heron and geese make for very cool abstracts. Good luck to everyone
Skimmer skimming 5
Great Blue Heron leg 4
Snow Geese blast-off 3
Little Egret in rapids 2
Bald Eagle striking 1
Skimmer skimming blur: 5
Bald Eagle striking blur: 4
Snow Geese leaving the field blur: 3
Woodpecker vertical wing blur: 2
Red-crowned Crane flight blur: 1
Sub-adult Bald Eagle pan blur: 5
Woodpecker vertical wing blur: 4
Skimming skimmer blur: 3
Great Blue Heron leg:2
Shorebird flock blur: 1
Skimmer Skimming blur – 5
Snow Geese leaving the field blur -4
Great Blue Heron leg – 3
Bald Eagle striking blur – 2
Shorebird flock blur – 1
Skimmer skimming blur – 5
Little egret in the rapids – 4
Shorebird flock – 3
Woodpecker vertical wing blur – 2
Great blue heron leg – 1
#5 Little Egret In Rapids
#4 Woodpecker Vertical Wing Blur
#3 Red-Crowned Flight Blur
#2 Skimmer Skimming Blur
#1 Snow Geese Blast Off Blur
A very tough category to judge
5 – Woodpecker vertical wing blur.
4 – Snow Geese blast-off blur.
3 – Bald Eagle striking blur.
2 – Skimmer skimming blur.
1 – Snow Geese leaving the field.
5- Red-crowned Crane flight blur
4- Sub-adult Bald Eagle pan blur
3- Skimmer skimming blur
2- Shorebird flock blur
1- Little Egret in the rapids
Sub-adult Bald Eagle pan blur: 5
Bald Eagle striking blur: 4
Snow Geese blast-off blur: 3
Black-headed Gull blur: 2
Red-crowned Crane flight blur: 1
Skimmer skimming blur: 5
Little egret in the rapids: 4
Woodpecker vertical wing blur: 3
Black-headed gull blur: 2
Surreal flock in the marsh: 1
Skimmer – 5
Bald eagle striking – 4
Great blue heron – 3
Snow geese blastoff – 2
Sub adult bald eagle – 1
Skimmer skimming blur – 5
Great blue heron leg – 4
Little egret in the rapids – 3
Snow Geese leaving the field blur – 2
Snow Geese blast-off blur – 1
Woodpecker vertical wing blur: 5
Sub-adult Bald Eagle pan blur: 4
Surreal flock in marsh: 3
Skimmer skimming blur: 2
Red-crowned Crane flight blur: 1
Snow Geese leaving the field blur – 5
Woodpecker vertical – 4
Great Blue Heron leg – 3
Black Headed Gull blur – 2
Skimmer skimming – 1
Every image in this category is a stunning peace of art. It was a tough decision, my congratulations to all the photographers and the judges.
Black-headed Gull: 5
Skimmer Skimming: 4
Woodpecker vertical wing: 3
Great Blue Heron Leg: 2
Bald Eagle Striking:1
Little Egret in the rapids: 5
Red-crowned Crane flight blur: 4
Black-headed Gull blur: 3
Skimmer skimming blur: 2
Bald Eagle striking blur: 1
5 Woodpecker
4 black-headed gull
3 red-crowned crane
2 great blue heron leg
1 skimmer skimming
Blurs clearly are an acquired taste, although I do very much like these 5 images and one or two of the rest. But some of them just make me feel seasick, and one of them looks a whole lot like one of my “failures.”
Woodpecker – 1 (this is a freakin’ incredible shot!)
Little Egret – 2
Sub adult bald eagle – 3
Blue Heron Leg – 4
skimmer – 5
Honestly, the only one that I’m certain of is #1. The other 4 could go in any order. I like them all equally well.
5-Woodpecker vertical wing blur
4-Great Blue Heron leg
3-Little Egret in the rapids
2-Surreal flock in marsh
1-Red-crowned crane flight blur
Skimmer skimming blur: 5
Woodpecker vertical wing blur: 4
Shorebird flock blur: 3
Black-headed gull blur: 2
Great Blue Heron leg: 1
Great Blue Heron Leg – 5
Sub adult Bald Eagle – 4
Black headed Gull – 3
Little Egret in the Rapids – 2
Woodpecker verticle wing blur – 1
woodpecker vertical wing: 5
skimmer skimming: 4
sub adult bald eagle pan: 3
red crowned crane: 2
black headed gull: 1
Woodpecker – 5
Little Egret – 4
Sub Adult Bald Eagle pan- 3
Snow Geese blast off- 2
Black Headed Gull – 1
These were all amazing photos! It was really hard to choose.
Sub-adult Bald Eagle: 5
Red-crowned Crane: 4
Little Egret In the rapids: 3
Woodpecker Vertical Wing: 2
Skimmer skimming: 1
5 – Woodpecker vertical wing blur
4 – Surreal flock in marsh
3 – Great Blue Heron leg
2 – Sub-adult Bald Eagle pan blur
1 – Little Egret in rapids
I don’t generally like blurs, but these images have convinced me they are worth trying for. There is so much variety here.
Great Blue Heron Leg: 5
Little Egret in Rapids: 4
Red Crowned Crane: 3
Black Headed Gull: 2
Surreal Flock in Marsh: 1
5. Little Egret
4. Skimmer
3. Shorebird Flock Blur
2. Woodpecker Vertical
1. Great Blue Heron Leg
Skimmer Skimming Blur: 5
Woodpecker Vertical Wing Blur: 4
Great Blue Heron Leg: 3
Surreal Flock in Marsh: 2
Red-Croened Crane Flight Blur: 1
Bald Eagle striking: 5
Skimmer skimming blur: 4
Woodpecker vertical wing blur: 3
Red-crowned Crane: 2
Snow Geese leaving the field blur: 1
Woodpecker: 5
Bald Eagle striking: 4
Little Egret: 3
Black-headed Gull: 2
Red-crowned Crane: 1
Woodpecker vertical wing blur: 5
Great Blue Heron leg: 4
Skimmer skimming blur: 3
Sub-adult Bald Eagle pan blur: 2
Surreal flock in marsh: 1
Red-crowned crane flight – 5
Surreal flock in marsh – 4
Snow geese leaving the field -3
Great Blue Heron – 2
Skimmer skimming – 1
Skimmer skimming blur 5
Woodpecker vertical wing blur. 4
Snow geese leaving the field blur. 3
Red crowned crane. 2
Sub adult bald pan. 1
Skimmer skimming blur: 5
Snow Geese leaving the field blur: 4
Black-headed Gull blur: 3
Red-crowned Crane flight blur: 2
Snow Geese blast-off blur: 1
These are all beautiful images. It was a very tough choice. Congratulations to everyone!
Little egret in the river: 5
Black-headed gull blur: 4
Skimmer skimming blur: 3
Woodpecker vertical wing blur: 2
Sub-adult Bald Eagle pan blur: 1
Wow, this was really hard to pick. I obviously prefer blurs that have an element of sharpness in them. They are all wonderful photographs! I would be thrilled to have taken any of them.
Woodpecker blur – 5
Skimming skimmer blur – 4
Great Blue Heron leg blur- 3
Black-headed gull blur – 2
Red-crowned crane flight blur – 1
5 Little Egret in Rapids blur
4 Black-headed Gull blur
3 Shorebird block blur
2 Red-crowned Crane blur
1 Skimmer skimming blur
5 Skimmer
4 Sub adult Eagle pan blur
3 Shore bird flight
2 Bald eagle strike
1 Red crowned crane
woodpecker vertical wing blur: 5
little egret in the rapids: 4
Shorebird flock blur: 3
red crowned crane: 2
Black headed gull: 1
Woodpecker vertical wing blur: 5
Little Egret in rapids: 4
Subadult Bald Eagle: 3
Skimmer: 2
Snow Geese leaving field: 1
Skimmer skimming blur 5
Shorebird flock blur 4
Sub-adult Bald Eagle pan blur 3
Great Blue Heron leg 2
Woodpecker vertical wing blur 1
Snow Geese leaving the field blur – 5
Black-headed Gull blur – 4
Woodpecker vertical wing blur – 3
Surreal flock in marsh – 2
Skimmer skimming blur – 1