What’s Up
I am feeling a bit better each day. The nasty cough is gone. All that I am left with now is a bit of sticky nasal congestion. Yuck!
See the late registration discount info on the Palouse IPT below.
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.
Please Don’t Forget …
As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major and minor 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 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL with the BLUBB-supported Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III and the blazing fast, rugged Canon EOS-1D X Mark II DSLR Camera Premium Kit with 64GB Card and Reader. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 stops: 1/400 sec. at f/6.3 (was somewhat of a too light estimate). AWB. Upper Large Zone/Shutter Button/AI Servo AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system selected two AF points that fell on the bend of the wing. Though this would seem to be just ahead of the plane of the bird’s eye the image was sharp enough. Image Sandhill Crane colt on a foggy morning |
My Honest Thoughts on the Foggy Crane Might Surprise You …
In the recent Exposure in the Fog/Please Rate This Image blog post here, I posted the image above and this as well:
Your Call
On a scale of zero to 10 with zero being an insta-delete and 10 being a BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition entrant, how would you rate this image? Why?
On a scale of zero to 10 with zero being very poor and 10 being excellent how would you rate this image on:
Composition:
Exposure:
Color:
Sharpness:
Impact:
I will share my ratings with you here soon.
My Responses
On a scale of zero to 10 with zero being an insta-delete and 10 being a BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition entrant, how would you rate this image? Why?
am: I’d give it a two. Aside from it’s value in this educational exercise and what I might have learned, it is simply not too exciting. When I started working on it I thought that I might have been able to make it look pretty good. I was wrong 🙂
On a scale of zero to 10 with zero being very poor and 10 being excellent how would you rate this image on:
Composition: Three. It is a bit too tight in the frame.
Exposure: Exposure with the RAW file was right on. The optimized image is a bit too dark for my taste. But lightening it did not help.
Color: I have big problems with the color; I’d give it a one. The image is overall muddy. The RGB values on the gray areas are perfectly neutral yet the colors are not at all pleasing. I’m left wondering if the problems with the muddy colors were a result of exposing
Sharpness: Though the eye is relatively sharp, the fine feather detail is pathetic. Overall I’d give it a two in this category. Why the problem? As I struggled awkwardly to frame the image with the lens on the BLUBB, the lens was moving a bit at the moment of exposure.
Impact: I’d give the optimized image a zero on its own and a one when compared to the RAW file.
Thanks to all who commented so honestly on the image when it was originally posted.
With the long days there will be tons of time for image review and Photoshop sessions on the Palouse IPT. You are of course invited to join us.
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Palouse 2016 Horizontals Card |
Why Different?
Announcing the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour
In what ways will the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour be different from the most other Palouse workshops?
There are so many great locations that a seven-day IPT (as opposed to the typical three- or five-day workshops) will give the group time to visit (and revisit) many of the best spots while allowing you to maximize your air travel dollars. In addition, it will allow us to enjoy a slightly more relaxed pace.
You will be assured of being in the right location for the given weather and sky conditions.
You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills.
You will learn to design powerful, graphic images.
You will visit all of the iconic locations and a few spectacular ones that are much less frequently visited.
You will learn long lens landscape techniques.
You will learn to master any exposure situation in one minute or less.
You will learn the fine points of Canon in-camera (5D Mark III, 5DS R, and 7D II) HDR techniques.
You will learn to create this look in Photoshop from a single image while winding up with a higher quality image file.
You will be able to share a variety of my exotic Canon lenses including the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens and the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens, aka the “circle lens.”
You will learn to use your longest focal lengths to create rolling field and Urbex abstracts.
You will learn when and how to use a variety of neutral density filters to create pleasing blurs of the Palouse’s gorgeous rolling farmlands.
As always, you will learn to see like a pro. You will learn what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.
You will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images.
You will learn to use super-wide lenses both for big skies and building interiors.
You will learn when, why, and how to use infrared capture; if you do not own an infrared body, you will get to borrow mine.
You will learn to use both backlight and side-light to create powerful and dramatic landscape images.
You will learn to create the very popular detailed, slightly grungy, slightly over-saturated look in Photoshop.
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Palouse 2016 Verticals Card |
The 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour. June 8-14, 2017. Seven full days of photography. Meet and greet at 7:30pm on Wednesday, June 7: $2,499. Limit 10/Openings: 5.
Call 863-692-0906 or e-mail for Late Registration Discount Info
Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will enjoy spectacular sunrises and at least one nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. I will bring you to more than a few really neat old abandoned barns and farmhouses in idyllic settings. There is no better way to improve your compositional and image design skills and to develop your creativity than to join me for this trip. Photoshop and image sharing sessions when we have the time and energy…. We get up early and stay out late and the days are long.
Over the past three years, with the help of my friend Denise Ippolito, we found all the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and vistas. What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, my extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions. As above, there will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before the workshop begins.
To Sign Up
Your non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to hold your spot. Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining this IPT. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours to arrange for the payment of your deposit; if by check, please make out to “BIRDS AS ART” and mail it to: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail: artie.
Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options. You can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.
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.
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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 :).
I agree. Seems to me fog is useful for context or mood in a much larger capture that includes more. As a relative newbie I appreciate these discussions and do my best to glean what I can. Thanks Artie.
Jack
2 – I am not a fan of fog when it has no real context. Here we have what amounts to a full length portrait. If you had 10 birds in an environmental shot which shows the fog as part of an overall scene, I think it would be more effective. It also leaves me unsure as to whether this is a post production mistake or real fog.