Stuff
I spent a good two hours on the phone (with help from Jim) setting up an account with our new phone and internet provider; HughesNet satellite. We should have internet by this after, Friday, SEPT 22, but will not have regular phone service for about ten days as I want to keep the current numbers for our two lines. HughesNet needs to file paperwork to “get” the number from Frontier. Frontier doesn’t quite know it yet but they are toast. Then I finished packing and headed over to Fort Desoto stopping by the Ruby Tuesdays on SR 60 in Brandon for lunch along the way. As you will see below, there are lots of birds at the park. There are barely any signs of Irma but for lots of palm tree debris that has neatly been piled up.
Great IPT News
An amazing eight folks have already committed to the new, expanded UK Puffins and Gannets 2018 IPT with the Bempton Cliffs pre-trip. And all have signed up for the pre-trip. There are just two slots left so if you are interested in joining us, please do not tarry. You can learn more about this great trip here.
The Streak
Today marks fifty-eight days in a row with a new educational blog post — Irma be damned! This one took about an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of (I think) four hundred eighty something … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. 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 charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. 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. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Latest Used Gear Kudos
via e-mail from Robert Blanke
Hey Artie. Thank you again–the 5D s sale makes four cameras sold at fair prices and commissions, with the first three going in one day! Cheers Robert
Brand New Listing
Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender with a ton of extras!
Stephen November is offering a Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in near-mint condition with a slew of extras for the great price of $8399. The extras include a LensCoat in digital camo (installed since day 1), a LensCoat digital camo Hoodie, the Kirk replacement lens foot with KES Sure Grip for Canon 200-400mm lens — part #LP-55SG (a $118 value), a Woodland camo rain sleeve — a British product from Wildlife Watching Supplies (a $66 value), and a Canon drop-in polarizer filter (a $229 value). Also included in the sale are the original product box, E-145C lens cover, the rear lens cap, the wide lens strap, the lens trunk with keys, the original tripod and monopod feet, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made. Photos are available upon request.
Please contact Stephen via e-mail.
This is the world’s best lens for a trip to Africa. It kills also in the Galapagos and in South Georgia, the Falklands, and Antarctica. And I use mine a lot at Bosque and other dusty places where the built-in TC helps to keep your sensor clean. And I love it in the Palouse for its versatility. Most recently, I often found myself wishing that I had taken the 200-400 rather than my 500 II on the Bear Boat Cubs IPT. Many nature photographers use it as their workhorse telephoto lens as it offers 884mm at f/8 with an external 1.4X TC added. As you can see below, it is pretty good whenever you are working around relatively tame birds. The lens sells new at B&H right now for $10,999. You can save a slew of dollars by grabbing Stephen’s lens along with all the extras right now. artie
Booking.Com
I could not secure the lodging that I needed for last year’s UK Puffins and Gannets IPT in Dunbar, Scotland, so I went from Hotels.Com to Booking.Com and was pleasantly surprised. I found the rooms that I needed with ease at a hotel that was not even on Hotels.Com, and it was a nice hotel that I had seen in person. And the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward.
Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
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.
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All of these images were created on the afternoon of Thursday, September 21, 2017 with the hand held Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. left to right from top to bottom: Great Egret squawking; Great Egret vertical; immature Laughing Gull; Adult White Ibis; adult Tricolored Heron; 1st year Roseate Spoonbill; 1st year Snowy Egret; backlit American Flag; can you identify this bird?; Snowy Egret sunsetClicking on the composite image will make it smaller so view the images simply by scrolling down. |
Questions
Which of the images is your favorite? Why?
Which one of the images is my favorite? Why?
What bird is shown in the lower left image, _P3A0524?
I will be optimizing my favorite image right after I publish this blog post early on the morning of Friday,September 22, 2017.
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Fort DeSoto in fall is rich with tame birds. All of the images in this card were created at Fort DeSoto in either late September or early October. I hope that you can join me there this October. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. |
BIRDS AS ART In-the-Field/Meet-up Workshop Session (ITF/MWS): $99.
Join me on the morning of Tuesday September 26, 2017 for 3-hours of photographic instruction at Fort DeSoto Park. Beginners are welcome. Lenses of 300mm or longer are recommended but even those with 70-200s should get to make some nice images. Teleconverters are always a plus.
You will learn the basics of digital exposure and image design, autofocus basics, and how to get close to free and wild birds. We should get to photograph a variety of wading birds, shorebirds, terns, and gulls. This inexpensive afternoon workshop is designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tour. I hope to meet you there.
Please register by sending me an e-mail and/or by calling me on my cell at 863-221-2372.
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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.
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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 :).
Hi Artie, my favourites are the first and last images. Hazarding a guess… Is your favourite the last image? No idea on the ID. Stunning images,
Jake
Hi, Artie. My favorite is the first image, the great egret squawking. I have no idea which is your favorite. I can’t make the mystery bird big enough to tell what it is, but Scott Borowy’s guess might be inspired. The bird’s legs are set very far back on its body, as would be the case for a cormorant but not a gull. Its tail looks like a cormorant’s tail as well. The bill looks way too small for a cormorant but if the bird’s head is angled away from or towards the camera then it could look that way. So I’ll second Scott’s ID.
Hey Arthur, Glad to hear there are still lots of bird a DeSoto. The lower left silhouette is by far the best out of these images. As for the bird i am going with laughing gull.
My favourite would be P3A0437 – I like the pose and the bird in the frame.
Your favourite – I Am unable to decide- so I’ll go with the Flag
I am not familiar enough to identify the bird
The images are amazing – and even more so when I read that they were Hand Held with the Canon 200-40 lens- which I have a lot of trouble Manipulatin because of its sheer weight – I have decided hat for me it is a “Tripod-lens”.
Do you have Any “Long Lens Techniques” you can share to help with Hand holding this lens – Your chapter on “Advanced Sharpness techniques” in ABP II focused mostly on Tripod skills. (I presume “Little Lens on Big Lens Technique”- is not really “Hand-Held :))
Thanks Eugen. I have not forsaken you with your long lens technique question 🙂 I am working on a blog post to answer your question.
with love, artie
Thanks Eugen. I have not forsaken you and your long lens technique question 🙂 I am working on a blog post to answer your question.
with love, artie
I’ll pass on picking the favorites, but I am intrigued by the mystery bird.
My first instinct for the silhouetted image was to call it a gull species, however, the large, webbed feet made me instantly question that.
I think it is a Double-crested Cormorant, though it’s tough to tell in the shadows what specific cormorant it may be. The overall shape of the head, hooked tip of the bill, shape of the throat,
(both which threw me as it is facing slightly toward the setting sun) the webbed feet, and rough, yet rounded ends to the feathers are what I’m basing this on.
I’d like to see what you can do with the lower right image. Processed I bet it’d look great!