Stuff
Lee Sommie and I headed to the cliffs on Thursday morning and once again were amazed by the dearth of Pacific race Brown Pelicans. For the second day in a row, no pelicans came in. We headed down the hill to do some cormorants and at 8:20pm we headed to the airport, checked in and got rid of our bags (hopefully temporarily), returned the rental car to National, and took the bus back to Terminal 1. Lee and I are on the same flight to Orlando as I type. Jim should be picking me up a bit after 7pm.
I am far behind on e-mails though I have pretty much kept up with the Used Gear Page stuff. If you sent an e-mail that I missed, re-sending it now would be helpful. I shipped the 600 II from San Diego on Tuesday; the rest of the Canon cameras and lenses will arrive at ILE next Tuesday and we will do our best to ship it the next day if you paid by credit card or if your check has cleared.
Thanks to the folks who commented on the Scratching Perfection? blog post here.
On Friday and the coming weekend, I will, in addition to catching up on e-mails, be working on the Gatorland and DeSoto IPT and Master Class announcements as well. There are two openings on the spoonbill IPT. Click here for complete info. If anyone would like to join me shooting spoonbills for 1 1/2 days, February 19 (full day) and February 20 (morning session only), please get in touch via e-mail.
The Streak
Today makes one hundred eighty-six days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about 30 minutes to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all 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. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.
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This image was created on the last morning of the 2nd San Diego IPT with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the mega mega-pixel Nikon D850 DSLR.. ISO 400. Matrix metering : 1/4000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode was about zero EC as framed. AWB at 8:22am in early morning light. Group (grp)/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Western Gull, adult landing in front of breaking wave |
Splash Landing
As mentioned previously on the blog, the morning of Wednesday, January 31, was inexplicably dismal for Pacific race Brown Pelicans. Not a single pelican landed at the traditional location at La Jolla. There were none on the cliffs when we arrived,two young birds flew by but did not land, and no others approached. It was a first for me in more than 25 years of visits. So we folded our tent early and headed down to the lower cliffs to check out the full action. We did well with Westerns, Ring-billed, and the gorgeous Heerman’s. It was good to see some of the dark, first-winter Heerman’s after the previous year’s catastrophic breeding season. In 2017 we did not see a single youngster of this species. We finished up doing head portraits of both Brandt’s and Double-crested Cormorants at a third cliff-side location.
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The ACR RAW Conversion for today’s featured image |
The ACR RAW Conversion for Today’s Featured Image
Though the rock the bird was landing on was sloped, I decided to rotate it 1.5 degrees just for the heck of it; it looked much better. But that left too little space above the bird and to the right. I added canvas using the expand with the Crop Tool method and ran John Haedo Content Aware Fill (Shift + Delete) after going Select > Modify > Expand: 10 pixels. As expected, that added a good deal of an extra wing to the top of the frame. I covered that with a Quick Mask that was lightened to match the surrounding tonality by pulling up the Curve on that layer (Command + M). Then I added a Regular Layer Mask and refined the Quick Mask. Perfect. Some of the background wave looked a bit lumpy so I put the whole image on a new layer (command + J), ran a 30 pixel Gaussian blur, added an Inverse (Black or Hide-all) Mask, and using a large, soft brush, painted in the effect where needed be sure to steer well clear of the bird.
Next I did some Eye Doctor by painting a Quick Mask of the eye that included a small area of surrounding feathers and applying a Contrast Mask (Unsharp Mask at 15/65/0). Next was Tim Grey Dodge and Burn to darken the pupil and lighten the iris. Last I put the whole image on a layer ran Image > Auto Contrast and reduced the opacity to 40%. Thanks as always to Denise Ippolito for teaching me to try Auto Contrast, Auto Tone, and Auto Color and then to reduce the opacity to taste. Next I saved my master file as a TIFF and created my 1200 wide JPEG (sharpened at 110/.3/0). After creating your JPEG be sure to click No when they ask if you want to save changes to the file … If you click Yes you will have replaced your full sized master file with a relatively tiny JPEG!
Apologies to the many …
I am sorry to have to say that I created this image with my new Nikon gear and that the chance of me getting it sharp with my comparable Canon gear were about one in a thousand. I used to suck really at landing and take-off images. If I ever learn to zoom the right way with the 200-500 I will be even more dangerous than I am now.
Many folks have openly voiced the fact that they were disappointed, sad, upset, inconvenienced, angry, and lots more by my switch to Nikon. One mentioned that the days of my loaning out $10,000 Canon lenses (for free) to folks on IPTs were over.” I agreed. One blog regular wrote that she was marking my blog post notices as spam because all that I did was advertise. Many have been bitching about too much emphasis on the Canon versus Nikon wars. Please understand that I have no interest in which system folks consider to be best. My stance here is that whether you use Canon or Nikon gear it is the photographer holding the gear that creates the image, not the gear. It is what is in your heart, your soul, and your brain that matters. As I have stated, all that I have done is switch to a system that I believe offers the best tools for me at this point in my life. Please do not take it personally. 🙂
As always here, I have simply been sharing what gear I use and what I was thinking when creating a given image, commenting on getting the right exposure, letting folks know why I chose to design or process an image as I did. And I will continue to do just that. Whether I use white lenses or Dark Side gear will never change the fact that my goal here to to educate. And yes, to advertise. As regular folks know I put in about 14 or more hours each week to make the blog fun and informative. Every blog post is crammed with advertising. Come on an IPT. Please remember to use my B&H and Amazon links. Join BPN. Purchase this or that guide. Buy or sell your Used Photo Gear. Had I not figured out way to monetize the blog it simply would have never continued to exist. And trust me, it took quite some time to figure that out.
Many have assumed that from now on the blog will be all-Nikon as it was all-Canon since its inception. Rest assured that nothing could be further from the truth. In the past, I had knowledge of only one system. Soon I will master the second major (at least in North America) camera system. I have many hundreds of Canon images that I will be sharing with you in future blog posts. And I will surely stay abreast of everything Canon while I work hard at learning to best use my new Nikon stuff. As I have stated here more than a few times over the past few days it is not all wine and roses with the Nikon system. Both camera bodies share some major flaws that might or might not be deal breakers for many. I will be sharing my thoughts in this area with you here soon.
Those wishing to unsubscribe can do so by clicking on the Subscriptions tab on the orange/yellow tool bar at the top of each blog post. And new folks wishing to subscribe can do so in the same manner. Those who are interested in becoming better photographers regardless of the system they us are invited to stay with us for what will hopefully be a long and continuing journey of learning. For you and for me.
ps: Folks who have been following and enjoying my transition tales will surely want to go back over the past ten or so posts and read all the comments and my responses as their is lots of meaty stuff there.
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The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II) will teach you an efficient Mac or PC/Photo Mechanic/Photoshop workflow that will make it easy for you to make your images better in Photoshop (rather than worse). That true whether you convert your images in DPP 4 or ACR. See the blog post here to learn lots more and to read a free excerpt. You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand. |
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)
Your guessed it, everything mentioned above including making ACR conversions (and tons more) is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. While the new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow, folks using a PC and/or BreezeBrowser will also benefit greatly by studying the material on DB II. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.
The two most recent and many of the older MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):
Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.
You can learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of their Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. Yes, I still have many Canon images to work on. 🙂 And you can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
Help Support the Blog
Please help support my (stupendous) efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
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 :).
How does the processing software compare to the DPP4? Easy learning curve?
Thx Artie for sharing the info & the beauty of your BAA, love the Blig & all the ‘chatter’ about your gear change if enjoyable. Keep posting & sharing, it’s great stuff!
Hi Artie, personally I’m enjoying the discussion very much. I hope you’ll now switch to the Sony a7riii, then we’ll have a proper rounded view of the DSLR/Mirrorless issue as well! I have two 50D’s and I think I’ve learned tons following your blog and the comments and yes, I do think I would be capable of taking more satisfying pictures with the newer cameras – fast and accurate AF would be the biggest change for me. Some pictures I think I’d be able to make are just out of reach for me with what I have now. Knowing what will work and what won’t is the thing I’m still constantly trying to learn. I aspire to upgrading when my ship comes in 🙂
This discussion reminds me of the old Photographer Goes to a Dinner Party joke.
A photographer goes to a dinner party and is asked to share some images with the other guests. The hostess comments: “What great images! You must have very good equipment!”
As the photographer is leaving the dinner party, he comments to the hostess: “What a delicious dinner! you must have excellent pots and pans!”
I use a very similar story several times each week, most recently at the great Pampas Argentine Grill in San Diego …
with love, arite
Hello Artie, When I turn on my computer, the first website I go to is yours. Yes I shoot with an old 40d (hoping to get the 7dIII when it comes out), but you give us all the knowledge to be better photographers. I have used Nikon cameras due to my secondary job so I know both systems. But it’s the photographer behind the camera that takes the image and in a lot of cases creates the image via software.So even if you have changed your camera system, your website will still be the first that I go to.
Great post, Artie – glad to see you’re both having fun and making great images with your new gear.
Hey Arthur, Really like the gull image. The background wave and landing pose are great. On the gear subject. Gear is gear. Whatever you use is up to you and your needs. When i’m out shooting i’m enjoying the moment and having a blast. I could care less what other photographer’s are shooting with.
Sorry Art, I will continue reading your blog in spite of your ads, your switching brands to the one I use, and all of the other irritants.
Like an Oreo I like the good stuff and overlook the stuff which pays the freight.
I was just looking at my Bosque photos from years ago and I still have great memories of the IPT.
Keep writing your blog, warts and all.
Sorry again.
I really never cared one way or the other what you shot. I just wanted to get in your head, thought processes, and figure out the best things for me to use, and you have surely helped me get better! Few talk about any brand other than Canon or Nikon, but I went with Olympus last year and couldn’t be happier with my bird photography…all of it…perched, in flight, they are some of the best images I’ve ever taken in my life. So find what suits you, learn to use it well, and enjoy the journey! Stay well Artie!
Canon will be offering soon a 200-600/5.6 lens for around $2K and a 600 DO/4 lens, which will be significantly lighter and more compact than any other 600 mm/f4 lens. I don’t know of anything in Nikon’s lineup that will compare to these.
How do you know this, Mark Zimmerman?
http://www.canonrumors; a working model of the 600 do/f4 was demonstrated last fall; should be out this year
Nikon has filed patents for 400mm 500mm 600mm f/5.6 super-tele Phase Fresnel (PF) lens:
https://nikonrumors.com/2018/02/01/the-latest-nikon-patents-400mm-500mm-and-600mm-f-5-6-phase-fresnel-pf-lenses.aspx/#more-119435
Love this gull. I’ll stick with your blog. I’m sure I’ll still be learning a lot no matter with camera system you use. Your reasons for the switch seem reasonable to me.
Hey Artie,
As a Nikon user, I personally have been loving the Nikon stuff lately :)! I also use the 200-500 as my main lens and agree with you that it’s really wonderful especially at the price point. I’m really impressed by the D850 as well. It’s really tempting to trade in my D500 for the D850 if I can save some more.
A question for you — have you used Nikon Capture NXD? I know a lot of folks have had complaints about it over the years but I recently switched from Lightroom to Capture and find it handles the Nikon files really well especially with regards to noise, and on a newer computer is maybe a bit faster than LR. I don’t want to dredge up the age old RAW converter debate again but would really love to hear your thoughts on the Nikon software.
Best, Alex
Artie, this image of the gull is my favorite one of all the images you have posted from San Diego.
Really spectacular. I do not care what equipment you use and will definitely continue my subscription to your blog.
🙂
a
As a long time Nikon user and reader of the blog I have always viewed the photography and comments as a learning opportunity so I could raise my photography to the next level. I was one that made a switch from Nikon to Canon and back to Nikon and can tell you both systems are great and it is the photographer that creates the image. The camera “systems” are the tools to used to gather the raw material and post processing completes the vision. Thanks Artie for all the time you spend helping us improve our vision and understand your work flow. (I don’t care which system you use.)
You are most welcome sir 🙂
with love, artie
Hi Artie,
My two cents. No need to apologize. Not upset in the least about your switch to Nikon – that’s your deal and the D850 certainly is a breakthrough. But the blog is definitely reading like a Nikon add now. As has been said many times – “it is more about the photographer and good technique than the equipment”. I’d like to see more about techniques you are using to get these great images, regardless of the sticker on the camera. Keep up the good work!
pa
…illegitimi non carborundum.
Along the same lines, it has never ceased to amaze me that all my cars run better and look better since I switched from Craftsman tools to Snap-On.
Thanks for all your work on the blog and helping to me / us to continue to learn. It is appreciated.
Your results with the 200-500 are outstanding, and the weight and size of it make it an attractive option I may have to consider. The equipment I am currently using is big and heavy, limiting my ability to lug it around. As I have (thankfully) gotten older, this stuff seems to get heavier.
All the best.
Good to see the new gear is working for you, Artie.
I could probably afford to switch but to be honest the limiting factor is me, not the gear at the moment…that and I love the 400DOii and without a comparable lens with Nikon it makes it hard for me to switch. The D850 does look a beautiful camera though and I hope the 5DSR2 comes close.
As I see it you seem to have had a subtle but important change in priorities and forgive me for saying so but it looks like Nikon has given you the opportunity to have ‘one last fling’ at BIF without compromising capturing the behavioural side too much (if at all). It’s your money so what the heck.
I think a lot of the flak has come from the fact you dared post your change on your blog. What do they expect? A blog is there to share experiences and thoughts yet too many took it as an advert for Nikon or a way to publicly ‘stick it’ to Canon – considering the drivel that passes for ‘blogs’ on facebook I thought it has been very interesting to see your change.
Hi Mike and thanks for the comment. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I agree on the last fling to become a better flight photographer. It bugged me for years that I rarely got consistently sharp flight stuff. AS I said here often and honestly, the good flight images that I made were due to persistence and determination … Far too many unsharp perfect poses and wing positions. Canon was wonderfully generous to me for nearly two decades and then they dumped me, their choice in having to do with some sort of political bs. It always feels good to be seen with a beautiful new woman on your arm after you have been dumped by the object of your affections …
with love, artie
Beautiful, Beautiful image! I like the low angle and I love the background.
Ted
Many tanks! I was standing 🙂
with love, artie
The switch from Canon to Nikon has done you a great service albeit probably unknowingly. You know how many people have suggested that you use and advertise gear based on what must be some form of personal remuneration? Quite a few. Well, you completely dispelled that myth. No one can ever make that suggestion based upon supposition, conjecture or innuendo again. This gives most people a lot of confidence in what you write and say and in this current world nothing is more priceless and difficult to attain.
Thanks!
Thanks Anthony, I have always made it a point to be honest in my evaluation of all types of photo gear and those who know me have always known that. All that anyone who thought that I was a paid Canon shill had to do was look at my images. And I took Canon to task on several occasions over the years. Once I even got reprimanded by Canon Japan (via message from Dave Metz).
When I had a Canon contract I was not permitted to use gear from other manufacturers. I decided to try the Nikon stuff because I had heard about the Af system from friends and because I was curious. Being able to loan the stuff from B&H was a huge plus.
As for all the supposition, conjecture or innuendo that stuff is and has been rampant for decades. Oh, and you forgot the exaggerations and outright lies 🙂 I plan on doing a blog post on the subject soon.
Heck, when someone copied the Artie Switched to Nikon to their page a guy surmised that I had gotten big bucks from Nikon to switch. I replied by saying, “I wish that that was true.”
with love, artie
Hi Artie, I fully undesrtand your switching gear. I also think that you put everything strait in your apologies for the ones who needed more info. Your doing an amazing job at helping many of us being better photographer. I been following your post for quite some time and learn many things along the way. To all the the members of the this blog, lets forget about the gear and concentrate on capturing nice images and having fun. Artie, l’m grateful for all the work and time you put in this blog.
Lookng foward to your coming posts.
Many thanks for your kind words and understanding.
with love, artie
Artie: I am not sure why you need to apologize for using Nikon gear. Some of us–I do believe I am not the only one–find our Canon gear to be more capable of producing good sharp images of birds in flight that you seem to. But for sure I don’t resent that and indeed I appreciate the information. As always, I appreciate your images and your teaching. I was surprised by the person who seemed finally to notice that there is advertising on your blog!
Hey David, My apology was tongue in cheek sacrcasm 🙂
with love, artie
Sorry to have missed that, Artie. Great image, by the way.
Heh Artie,
It was a surprise to me to see you change system, but I expect I would have done the same if I were in your position having tried the Nikon setup. Personally, I don’t have the cash to keep up with the latest tech anyway (I’m currently using 2 1Diii bodies, a 300 2.8, the old 100-400 and teleconvertors (my 300 2.8 + EF 2x iii + Kenko DG 300 1.4x takes me to 840mm with all focus points – it’s the bargain long lens of the century). I do find tracking in flight over changing background with my 1Diii is more miss than hit though, so I did have a look at trading one body and the 1-4 for a D500 and 200-500, but,,,, it’s another £1000 out of my pocket any which way I look at it. So for now, I will keep plugging away with the gear I have. In all but the most challenging situations, it serves me very well indeed.
Love the pics Artie and appreciate all the info. Most of what I have learned from your teaching is technique, planning and preparation and that’s all the same for any camera system.
A couple of your quotes remind me that there is plenty I can do that will improve my pictures without buying new gear,,,,,,,,,,”It ain’t the lens, it ain’t the camera” & “the key to making a good photograph is in seeing a good situation” 🙂
Looking forward to hearing more of your adventures,
All the best, Clive.
Thanks Clive and best of luck. I like your attitude: make the best possible images with the gear you have in hand.
Blessings and love, artie
Artie, I met you in 2009 in Ohio when you gave a presentation for the Midwest Birding Symposium. I was shooting Nikon and am still shooting Nikon. However, I have followed your posts from that time and have learned tons on bird photography. My wife tells me she can tell the difference in my photos.
I still remember the anecdote you told about meeting a guy who said that if he had your equipment he would take equally good pictures, and you challenged him to switch equipments. At the end of the day, whoever had the best picture would get to keep both. The challenge was not accepted. I have always said that it is the photographer, not the camera.
Looking forward to more learning from you.
Greetings from Guatemala!
🙂 That was a while ago. Good on you and your wife 🙂 I still tell that story 🙂
with love, artie
Artie,
I totally agree with your decision to use gear better suited for you at the moment. I found personally, as I wrote before, I too have changed gear to something smaller and lighter as heavier and bigger does not work for my aging body and physical capabilities. I know it it is heresy, but perhaps one day you will change again as I have to a smaller lighter mirrorless body. The only issue I have now is that the good long lenses are still the ones you are using now. Maybe that to will change if someone can figure out how to make quality long lenses significantly lighter.
Keep writing and shooting. Those bitching have perhaps not suffered the process of getting older and slower.
Bp
PS You have not written about missing your canon raw conversion software vs PS raw conversion. Perhaps, capturing the image in the first place is much more important than the raw conversion.
🙂 I have been using ACR and been happy but I plan on trying out Capture One soon.
with love, artie
Artie, very well said; but, you shouldn’t have had to said it. I am a Nikon user and have read and enjoyed your Blog every day for I don’t know how many years. I never looked at it as you shooting Canon and my using Nikon. In fact, I had a Nikon D810 which you sold for me in November. I can’t begin to tell you how much you have helped me by reading your Blog as well as your books. I just fail to see how what equipment you use has anything to do with it.
We ALL owe you a great deal of thanks for what you do and taking the time to help us. You’ve got to spend a great deal of personal time preparing your Blog and we greatly appreciate it. Thank you for being you and not something that you’re not.
Respectfully,
Pete
Hi Artie, There’s no reason to be mad at you. I’m mad at Canon for lagging in product development as they should also be. I’m not switching from Canon because of the investment but I really wonder what some of my Geese and Duck pictures would look like here in the Sacramento Valley this time of the year. Thank you for all you do and I will continue to follow you every day!
Huge thanks and best of luck.
artie
I shoot Olympus and love the blog. It is not about the specific camera for sure.
Thanks for all the great info.
Eric
I write the blog and love Olympus and all the other brands 🙂
Thanks with love, artie
Artie, Well written post although it shouldn’t have been needed. It’s your decision what gear works for you, and your decision on how you run your business.
As someone who has followed your blog for years, bought more than a few things either from your store or using your affiliate links, and always used Nikon gear and a PC, I never saw a reason to stop learning from you just because you use different equipment. As said by you and many other accomplished photographers, in all genres, its the photographer, not the gear that makes the image.
BTW, I really like the image today. The pose looks like the gull is dancing along the rock.
Cheers,
Larry
Many thanks on all counts. Smart man. I hope to see you on an IPT some day. with love, artie
I really don’t understand the gripes of readers about the switch from Canon to Nikon. I’ve been using Nikons for 4 years (which is as long as I’ve been doing photography) and I’ve read this blog every day for the entire time. While some of the very Canon-specific lessons of the past weren’t relevant, the photos were still beautiful, and the vast majority of the lessons on exposure, technique, approach, etc were all still extraordinarily valuable and relevant to my Nikon equipment. I really think that reading this will make any learner a better photographer, regardless of the equipment used…
Thanks Brendan 🙂
with love, artie
Art,
Very well said. Everything in life changes, we age, technology changes. What was good for us 5 years ago may not be anymore. Well thought out change is good.
Keep up the good work!
Ray Jusseaume
Hey Nikon-brother! See you soon I hope and good on that owl …
with love, artie
ps: congrats on the contest win!
Hi Artie:
Your change from Canon to Nikon is acceptable. The camera / lens is the tool to make the
Product you desire. If better tools come along, then we use them to make life easier to accomplish our goals. Kudos to you. As an admirer of bid photographers ( not one myself) I am amazed at the quality of your images. We all need to use the “tools” to achieve our goals.
Thank you for your openness and great images.
Robert
Many thanks. The change has been acceptable to me 🙂
with love, artie
Beautifully written Artie. Even though I remain on the White side I will continue to visit and enjoy your blog while in the meantime learn something about photography whether that is exposure, composition, photoshop workflow, etc. It is interesting from a behavioral perspective to see the readers comments thinking they own your blog. I guess to turn it around positively it illustrates the power of your blog and the info within.
Anyway, love the splash landing!
Thanks for the efforts,
Wilfred
Thank you kind sir 🙂
with love, artie
Artie, First I suffered through your change from PC to Mac. Then I was horrified when you switched from Breezebrowser/downloader/lightroom (oh, you never did lightroom – that’s one thing you didn’t switch from). Now Nikon? Really? And you make us read your blogs to boot? Unhappy campers? Please start thinking like me again or I may have to give up photography altogether, and it’s all your fault. All of it! 🙂 🙂
Faithfully yours, Mike
Hey Mike, I am planning on inflicting more mental pain soon so best to get back on the meds 🙂
with love, artie
What a spectacular picture of a gull, really like it! Looks tack sharp to me!
Looking forward for your explanations about the downsides of the nikon bodies. Hope it will eliminate my doubts about my canon gear that appeared in the last days reading your blog and looking at your nikon pictures. Although I was always amazed by your pictures you did with your canon bodies and lenses.
To all the people who argue about Artie switching to nikon: For me this seems to get the best canon vs. nikon report so far.
So I’m really looking forward to what ever will come 🙂
All the best
Me too. Huge thanks for your kind words. I hope to see you on an IPT some day.
with love, artie