What’s Up?
Our last visit to the Monkey Park, my last ever, was my best ever, by far. Eight inches of fresh snow on the ground along with falling snow. And we ended off with several monkeys eating cedar branches in the snow. It was a totally amazing day. Despite losing many images to a single large out-of-focus snowflake in the wrong spot, I kept 169 images on the first edit. I will surely be sharing lots of them here with you over time.
I will likely continue to have good internet access every day. I get home late on 28 FEB.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of 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: 458!
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, 458 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a really great for a long time now–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 BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.
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This image was created at Gatorland while standing on an empty milk crate with the hand held Fujifilm XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens with the Fujifilm XF 2x TC WR Teleconverter (at 602.2mm–effective 900 something mm) with the Fujifilm X-T2 Mirrorless Digital Camera Body with the Power Booster Grip. ISO 800. Pattern metering +2/3 stop as framed: 1/800 sec. at f/13 in Manual mode. AWB. Shutter Button Continuous Autofocus. Additional AF information is unavailable.
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Gatorland Abstract
I was standing atop my plastic milk crate trying to acquire and maintain focus at effective 1200mm on a mostly all-white bird with my Fuji rig. It was not an easy task. I could never figure out how to pre-focus manually with the Fuji system. If it is possible and you know how to do it please do share. If it is not possible, that would be a big negative as I know that if I could have pre-focused manually that 9 times out of 1o the AF system would at least have had a decent chance …
What Is It?
If you think that you know what we are looking at, please leave a comment.
Image Questions
What do you think caught my eye?
Would you have seen this image? Why or why not?
If you did see it, would you have pulled the trigger? Why or why not?
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Great Egrets in breeding plumage are a beautiful sight … |
Gatorland Mini-IPT: 1 1/2 days: AM and PM shooting sessions on Saturday, March 4 and a morning session on Sunday, March 5: $749. Limit 6/Openings 4.
Join me in Kissimmee, FL in early March, prime time to to photograph Great Egrets in breeding plumage. We should get to make lots of head portraits with most any lens and to photograph them building nests, displaying, copulating, and flying. Eggs for sure. Tiny chicks likely. And most likely breeding Wood Storks as well. Learn to see, find, and make the shot in cluttered settings. Learn exposure and how to handle the WHITEs. Learn fill flash and flash as main light. Includes a working lunch on me on Saturday with image review and Photoshop. We may see and photograph some early Snowy Egrets and Tricolored Herons. And of course, we will see and photograph the captive American Alligators. All of the birds are free and wild.
To pay in full via credit card, call Jim or Jen in the office weekdays at 863-692-0906. You will be responsible for the cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s pass. Early entry both mornings and late stay on Saturday.
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 please remember that I am 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, 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.
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 :).
Hi Arthur, I love the abstract capture here and the fine feather details visible in what I believe is the underside of a Great Egret bill while preening.
To Bill Richardson–Curious as to your quote “I finally figured out how to shoot RAW in C mode”??
Al Meeker: The answer to your question is in comments on yesterday’s blog post, here: https://www.birdsasart-blog.com/baa/2017/02/11/fujifilm-gear-af-frustration-at-times/
Yes, that’s what I think too, the underside of a great egret preening. Would I have seen the image? I don’t know. It depends on what else was out there and what I was doing. I have tried to make images of that general form–details of a bird preening or details of color and so on–so if I’d seen it I’d have pressed the shutter button. I guess what caught your eye was the U or V shape. It’s a fine image.
We are looking at part the underside of the head and bill of a Great Egret preening itself. If I had an e-mail address, I would send you a picture of the other side, not as close up, of one that I took here in Northern Nevada.
Looks like you are getting more comfortable with the Fuji. Me too. I finally figured out how to shoot RAW in C mode so that is what I am doing now. I also talked to Fuji about the possibility of a firmware upgrade to allow EC in manual mode with auto iso. Keeping my fingers crossed on that. I am off to Dubai/Myanmar and the Fuji will be my number one camera. A lot lighter load.
I like this abstract shot.
Any reasons why you are shooting with Fujifilm? Weight?
Experimenting for now …
This is the underside of a greater egret beak pruning itself.
About prefocus, I am not sure but maybe this is what you are looking for?
I set the focus mode on the front of the XT-2 to M. Now I can use the focus ring on the lens to focus and when I press the AF-L button on the rear of the camera I get AF! Try that!
This is written about at page 83 in Owner’s Manual. There are some smart settings to be find in the Manual.