Last Gatorland In-the Field Instructional Meet-Up Weekend Sessions. Teleconverter Questions. How Many Birds? Photoshop Hanky-Panky? And Avoiding Filtered Light.

What’s Up

On Wednesday I continued to feel a bit better and got some more work done on the BAA Current Workflow Guide. If I weren’t so meticulous the going would be a lot faster 🙂

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.

BIRDS AS ART June 3-4 Gatorland In-the Field Instructional Meet-Up Sessions

Last of the Season!

Join me in Kissimmee, FL for all or part of the weekend of June 3-4, 2017. We should get to photograph several species of nesting herons and egrets as well as Wood Stork, American Alligator (captive), and more. We should get to make lots of head portraits of all the bird species and to photograph both small chicks and fledged young. Learn to see, find, and make the shot in cluttered settings. Learn exposure and how to handle WHITEs. All of the birds are free and wild. These inexpensive sessions are designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to see you there.

June 3-4, 2017 Schedule

• Saturday June 3 Meet-up Morning (early entry): 7:30 till 10:30am: $99.
• Lunch and Image Review: $99.
• Saturday afternoon till closing (late stay): $99.
• Sunday June 4 Meet-up Morning, (early entry): 7:30 till 10am: $90.

Cheap Canon lens rentals available: 600 II, 500 II, 400 DO II, or 200-400.

To pay for one or more sessions 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 or passes. Please shoot me an e-mail with questions.

This image was created on the May 15 Gatorland In-the-Field Meet-up session with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 220mm) and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/80 sec. at f/9. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: 0. One row up and three to the right of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand /Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point fell on the top of the base of the upper mandible. Snowy Egret chicks in nest

How Many Birds?

How many Snowy Egret chicks are visible in the photo above? Please give your reasons.

Why the Teleconverter?

Considering that I wound up at only 220mm why did I have the 1.4X TC in place? Here is a related question with a different answer: why didn’t I remove the teleconverter before making today’s featured image?

Photoshop Hanky-Panky?

Can you spot any major Photoshop changes in today’s featured image? Where and what? Be sure to state your proof (if any).

My Thoughts on Avoiding Filtered Light …

There have been several active nests in this large bush this year. When the sun is on one of the nests, the light is almost always varied (or filtered). By this I mean that that the nest is partly in shade and partly sunlit. Here is my rule: never photograph a bird in varied (or filtered) light. When a nest is either completely lit or is completely shaded, the opportunities can be consistently outstanding. And the same is of course true on cloudy days. The best news is that much of this bush is shaded for a good portion of the morning. The problem is that folks do not realize the potential at these times. I have consistently seen groups of folks photographing at this location when the birds are partly in the shade and partly lit by the sun. Once the nest is fully shaded, they seek other subjects. This always leaves me mystified.

Tip for photographing birds in harsh sunlight after 8:30am: find a subject in the shade.

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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Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

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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 :).