Kinda clunky repair work--is it true?

What’s Up?

The three B&H Event Space programs went very well. Each was either a sell out or standing room only. Denise was great as expected. During the second program, “Tips for Serious Bird Photographers,” I got a bit carried away by telling too many of my great stories. As expected. Thus, we were a bit rushed going through the last few images. But we did have time for a great Q&A session at the end. Videos of all three will be available online in a few weeks.

After taking the LIRR to my younger daughter’s home in Ronkonkoma with one checked bag, my packed Think Tank rolling bag, and my packed Think Tank Urban Disguise laptop bag, I was so tired that I took a cab to Lissy’s house even though it was only one long block from the station…. I hit the sack quickly.

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 months, we have sold just about 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.

After a lull in September, things have really heated up lately:

Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) was sold by Dane Johnson for $4150 in early October 2015.
Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 zoom lens (Canon mount) was sold by Beth Starr for $4,999 in early October 2015.
Canon EOS-1D X in excellent condition was sold by Patrick Sparkman for $3650 in early October, 2014.
Canon EF 100-400 f 4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens was sold for $699 by Sean Traynor on October 7, 2015.
Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS lens (the “old five”) was sold by Alan Walther for $3900 in early October, 2015.
Canon 100-400 L IS zoom lens (the old 1-4) was sold by Susan Carnahan for $675 in mid-October, 2015.

Used Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens

Sale pending 10/16/2015!

Walt Anderson (creator of the Better Beamer) is offering a barely used Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in mint condition for $4750. The sale includes all the items in original box: lens trunk, lens hood, fabric front cover, rear lens cap, wide lens strap, strap for lens case, CD and instruction papers. A LensCoat was on lens from day one. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made. Credit cards accepted.

Please contact Walt by e-mail or by cell phone at 847-721-8319 (Central time).

The 300 II is a superbly sharp and versatile lens that kills with both TCs. In addition, it is a great flight lens. Walt’s price matches the lowest-ever BAA price…. artie

Canon EF 70-200 2.8 L IS II USM Lens

Walt Anderson (creator of the Better Beamer) is also offering Canon EF 70-200 2.8 L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for $1599.00. The sale includes the soft case, lens hood, tripod ring, front and rear caps, and all original packaging/box, CD and manual, and insured shipping via Fed ex Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made. Credit cards accepted.

Please contact Walt by e-mail or by cell phone at 847-721-8319 (Central time).

Please contact me, Walt Anderson at (cell) or email at with any questions.

The 70-200 f/2.8 L IS II is a superbly sharp and versatile intermediate telephoto lens that is great for landscapes, wildlife, bird-scapes, and, with a 7D Mark II, for tame birds. artie

This is this original image. As all can see, it was the bottom wing that was clipped and then repaired.

Oops…

If you are photographing birds in flight and what happened above starts to happen consistently, it is time to turn your camera on end and try to create some original vertical captures.

You can see the original blog post, “Flight Lesson: Creating Vertical Original Catpures,” here. The funny thing is that I just noted that everyone including me missed the misspelling in the title. It has been repaired. Funny how the brain works….

This image was created on the San Diego IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) and the Canon EOS-1D X . ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop off the sky: 1/2000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB. Center AF point (Manual selection)/AI Servo/Rear Focus AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure (as is always best when hand holding and is always best with moving subjects). Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Brown Pelican in flight

The Repaired Image (above)

After the crop to vertical not only were the clipped lower primaries repaired, but the bird was rotated counterclockwise after adding lots of canvas in the form of blue sky.

This is a 100% crop of the intact upper wing as it appeared in the RAW file.

“Kinda clunky repair work” Is it true?

My good friend from New Zealand, David Peake, commented, in part, as follows:

Hey Artie, I zoomed in for a closer look. At web resolution it’s not that easy to see but looks to me like you repaired the upper wing tip feathers. Looks like a line through the base of the five wingtip feathers that’s a bit of a mismatch. Kinda clunky repair work. Please forgive me, I couldn’t do a decent repair if my life were depending on it. DP

My Position

As regular readers know, my position has long been that if you tell folks exactly what repair has been done where then the whole world will be able to provide a long list of the telltale signs of the repair. If, however, you do not tell them in advance where on the image you worked, they will often hang themselves. As David did here. Yeah, there are some dark marks at the bases of the primary feathers of the upper wing, but those marks are exactly as they appeared on the RAW file…. So much for “clunky repair work….”

This is a 100% crop of the reconstructed primaries of lower wing as it appears in the optimized TIFF.

The Actual Repair Job

Using techniques from APTATS II I grabbed the first four missing primaries one by one (along with some sky) from the upper wing and positioned, warped, rotated, and then sculpted them. Then I painted a Quick Mask of the rest of the missing primary feathers that I needed and did the same. Even at the 100% view I’d say that I did a fairly decent job. I could have done a bit better sculpting the 2nd primary….

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/Openings: 3)

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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Typos

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