The Perfect Being-Late-For-a-Dinner-Reservation Excuse... B&H Event Space Teleconverter Video Posted!

What’s Up?

The DeSoto Fall IPT went off flawlessly and everyone went home happy. And most folks on the Sunday Cheap In-the-Field Workshop went home happy as well. I drove home midday on Sunday and then pretty much took the rest of the days off… Unusual for me.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of the folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

The Streak: 325!

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 325 days in a row with a new educational blog post. There should be no end in sight until my big South America trip next fall. Or not… As always-–and folks have been doing a really great job recently–-please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. For best results use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the new BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would appreciate your business.

B&H Event Space Teleconverter Video Posted!

Using Teleconverters with Telephoto Lenses with Arthur Morris

The word on the street is that you simply cannot make sharp images with teleconverters (TCs) especially with the 2X. Nothing could be further from the truth. With some practice and good sharpness techniques you can learn to use TCs effectively to photograph small, distant, or shy subjects. Check out my latest B&H Event Space video by clicking here. Comments and questions are of course welcome.

Thanks a stack to B&H Event Space boss David Brommer and his excellent video team, Matthew D’Alessio and David Moncion.

This image was created on the last evening of the Fort Desoto Fall IPT with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 1250. Evaluative metering +1 stop (should have been +1 2/3 stops): 1/160 sec. at f/9. AWB. I selected the AF point that was two above the center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the top of the bird’s breast directly below the nares (nostrils) as shown in the DPP 4 screen capture below. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Roseate Spoonbill at sunset

The Perfect Being Late For a Dinner Reservation Excuse…

We had dinner reservations for 7:30pm on Saturday evening. I had planned to leave the beach at seven sharp but as we had been delayed on the way to the park for 30 minutes by a big car wreck on the draw bridge just before the last 7-11, I decided to give the boys and girls a few extra minutes. And then this beautiful so soft looking spoonbill flew in and landed right in front of us. The yellow water was the reflection of a big white cloud to the east, a cloud that was turned golden by the setting sun. So late we were, with apologies.

We dined at the Good Times Continental Restaurant owned and operated by the same lovely couple for 45 years. I have been going there for so many years that like the locals, I am greeted on every visit with a hug. And the Czech/Central European food is outstanding; everyone raved about their meal.

Crazy as it might seem, two of the women who had signed up for the Sunday In-the-Field Workshop were in the car on the bridge that had been smashed from behind… They were both OK but did cancel. More on that amazing morning session soon. You will learn what a TLD-bird is… Any guesses?

The DPP 4 Screen Capture

The DPP 4 Screen Capture

Note that I increased the Brightness by .83 stop and moved the color Fine Tune control toward YELLOW. The Highlight slider was moved to -1. Lastly, note that I chose a spot on the upper breast that was on the same plane as the bird’s eye.

Learn how and why I and other Canon professionals use DPP 4 for all of our RAW conversions in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here.

AF Point Question

What would have happened if I chose an AF point in the upper-most row and put it on the bird’s eye?

Images and card copyright Arthur Morris/BEARS AS ART 🙂

2017 Bear Boat Coastal Brown Bear Cubs IPTs: July 18-24, 2017 from Kodiak, AK: 5 FULL & 2 Half DAYS: $6699. Happy campers only! Maximum 8/Openings 3.

Join me in spectacular Katmai National Park, AK for six days of photographing Coastal Brown Bears. Mid-July is prime time for making images of small, football-sized cubs. The cubs, and these dates, are so popular that I had to reserve them three years in advance to secure them. There are lots of bears each year in June, but the mothers only rarely risk bringing their tiny cubs out in the open in fear of predation by rival bears. In addition to making portraits of both adults and cubs, we hope to photograph frolicking and squabbling youngsters and tender nursing scenes. At this time of year, the bears are either grazing in luxuriant grass or clamming. There will also be some two- and three-year old cubs to add to the fun. And we will get to photograph it all.

We will live on our tour operator’s luxurious new boat. At 78 feet long its 24 foot beam makes it quite spacious as well. And the food is great. We will likely spend most of our time at famed Geographic Harbor as that is where the bears are generally concentrated in summer. On the odd chance that we do need to relocate to another location we can do so quickly and easily without having to venture into any potentially rough seas. We land via a 25 foot skiff that has lots of room for as much gear as we can carry.

Aside from the bears we should get to photograph Horned and Tufted Puffin and should get nice stuff on Mew Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Harbor Seal, and Steller’s Sea Lion as well. A variety of tundra-nesting shorebirds including Western Sandpiper and both yellowlegs are also possible. Halibut fishing (license required/not included) is optional.

It is mandatory that you be in Kodiak no later than the late afternoon of July 17 to avoid missing the float planes to the boat on the morning of July 18. Again, with air travel in Alaska (or anywhere else for that matter) subject to possible delays, being on Kodiak on July 16 is a much better plan.

Barring any delays, we will get to photograph bears on our first afternoon and then again every day for the next five days after that, all weather permitting of course. On our last morning on the boat, July 24, those who would like to enjoy one last photo session will have the opportunity to do so. The group will return to Kodiak via float plane from late morning through midday. Most folks will then fly to Anchorage and to continue on red-eye flights to their home cities.

What’s included? 7 DAYS/6 NIGHTS on the boat as above. All meals on the boat. National Park and guide fees. In-the-field photo tips, instruction, and guidance. An insight into the mind of two top professionals; we will constantly let you know what we are thinking, what we are doing, and why we are doing it. Small group image review, image sharing, and informal Photoshop instruction on the boat.

What’s not included: Your round trip airfare to and from Kodiak, AK (almost surely through Anchorage). Your lodging and meals on Kodiak. The cost of the round-trip float plane to the boat and then back to Kodiak as above. The cost of a round trip last year was $550. The suggested crew tip of $200.

Have you ever walked with the bears?

Is this an expensive trip? Yes, of course. But with 5 full and two half days, a wealth of great subjects, and the fact that you will be walking with the bears just yards away (or less….), it will be one of the great natural history experiences of your life. Most folks who take part in a Bear Boat IPT wind up coming back for more.

A $2,000 per person non-refundable deposit by check only made out to “BIRDS AS ART” is required to hold your spot. Please click here to read our cancellation policies. Then please print, read, and sign the necessary paperwork here and send it to us by mail to PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855.

Your deposit is due when you sign up. That leaves a balance of $4699. The next payment of $2699 will be due on September 15, 2016. The final payment of $2000 is due on February 15, 2017. We hope that you can join me for what will be a wondrously exciting trip.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, 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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

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Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack!

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right 🙂