Not Really Pissed Off Woman Thrilled When Lost Images Materialize...

Stuff

On Saturday I enjoyed an easy one mile swim and did most of my core exercises. Sunday was get-away and get to Newark Day. I actually slept until the alarm went off at 6am on Sunday morning. Most days at home I never set an alarm yet am almost always up and at ’em no later than 5:00am. While traveling and teaching I always set an alarm but rarely get to hear it go off as I am an early riser. I’d say that I sleep to the alarm less than 10 days each year…. I am putting the finishing touches on this blog post while online at Orlando Airport. Older daughter Jen dropped me off at MCO at 11:15am. This blog post, which took me about 1 1/2 hours in all to assemble, is the 171st in a row. It is scheduled to be published automatically at 5:00am eastern time just after we land in Edinburgh, Scotland to meet the boys and girls on the sold out UK Puffins and Gannets IPT.

However, I screwed that up big time. It is now being published at 2:55pm ET on Monday, June 29 from Seahouses, the UK….

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Thanks a Stack! June has been a Great Month.

The last two weeks have been quite rewarding. Thanks a stack to the many who used our B&H links for purchases large and small. Right now I am working closely with my B&H rep to have four 400 DO and two 100-400 II BAA Affiliate orders expedited. It has been nearly impossible to come by a 400 DO II. I am hoping that my efforts pay dividends fairly soon…. The supply of 100-400IIs has been much more steady with availability every week to ten days.

To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we ask, as always, that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. B&H Is recommended for you major photography gear purchases, Amazon for your household, entertainment, and general purpose stuff. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially Gitzo tripods, Wimberley tripod heads, and the like. We sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

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Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charges a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few weeks we have sold nearly everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can see the complete listings here. Do know that the sale of Steve Leimberg’s 400 DO was finalized today and that Jean Thomas’s original version 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens sold within two hours as predicted.

Todays items should sell quickly as well.

Two New Listings

Canon 300mm EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM Lens

IPT veteran Tom Blackman is offering a used Canon EF300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens (s/n 29811) in mint condition for $3,175. The sale includes all of the original items such as the lens trunk (hard case), the front and rear lens caps, the documentation, and insured shipping via Fed-Ex Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Tom via e-mail or by phone at 619.807.5615 PDT.

Though I never owned this lens I borrowed it often and was quite impressed with the sharpness with and without TCs and with the relatively light weight. It was long the favorite lens of the world’s top raptor photographers.

Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM Lens

IPT veteran Tom Blackman is also offering a used Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens, the “old five,” (s/n 27104) in excellent condition for $4,275. The sale includes all of the original stuff such as the leather front hood, the lens trunk (hard case) with keys, the front leather hood and the rear lens cap, the documentation, a RRS foot as well as the original foot, a LensCoat, and insured shipping via either UPS or Fed-Ex Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Tom via e-mail or by phone at 619.807.5615 PDT.

I owned and depended on the “old five” for well more than a decade. At one time it was clearly the world’s most popular super-telephoto lens. Purchasing this lens will leave you with a lot more cash for travel as compared to purchasing a 500 II….

This image was created at Alafia Banks with the tripod-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 1/3 stops as framed: 1/640 sec. at f/5.6. WB: Cloudy. Center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF on Donna’s face and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. IPT veteran Donna Bourdon with the 600 II, a 7D II, and the Mongoose M3.6. Lots more on tripods coming here soon….

Not Pissed Off Woman Thrilled When Lost Images Materialize

Donna Bourdon has been on more than a few IPTs over the past two years. Her work has improved continuously and she now does very well in club competitions. I created a series of images of her that we both loved on a cloudy morning on an Alafia Banks Hooptie Deux IPT this spring. When I went to send them to her they had simply vanished. I sent her several apologies via e-mail….

Yesterday while working on old image files the lost images appeared. I was thrilled. In the one posted here Donna looks pissed off, or at least as if she has an attitude problem. She is in fact a sweet and easy going happy camper. She is joining me on the Bear Boat IPT and then joining Denise and me in Japan, both with her friend and fellow bird enthusiast Bev.

San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects. With annual visits spanning more than three decades I have lot of experience there….

2015 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) JAN 8 thru the morning of JAN 12, 2016: $1899 (Limit: 10)

Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the day before the IPT begins
Two great leaders: Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito

Join us in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s and Double-crested Cormorants in breeding plumage with their amazing crests; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Duck; other species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lions likely; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice landscape opportunities as well.

Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?

This IPT will include five 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, four 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, five lunches, after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions, and a thank you dinner. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility.

A $499 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. Or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 11/1//2015. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings.

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