Stuff
We made it safely through thick fog to Gatorland on Saturday morning. As the sun did not break through until about 9:30am, we enjoyed a long shooting session with lots of excellent flight photography. The new Gatorland Photographer’s Pass program is vastly improved. You can check out the details and the improvements by clicking here. Best of all, there are a gazillion Great Egret nests, several with small chicks.
After a nice swim we headed down to the lake. There was nothing on the perch when we arrived not long before sunset. An Osprey landed but took off right after we got set up. The color in the western sky was a lovely bright orange. I took a few sharp images of a silhouetted grackle with the Nikon 600 and the much maligned TC-E20 III. I looked to my right and saw that the same or another Osprey had landed on the perch. As I moved into position, a second Osprey dive bombed the first one and drove it off the perch. And I thought that I was gonna be famous …
The Streak
Today makes two hundred two days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about two hours 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
Several folks on the Spoonbill IPTs used the Booking.Com link below and got great rates and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. 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.
|
|
This image was created on the morning of Friday, February 16, 2018 with the BLUBB-supported Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and the Nikon D850. ISO 400. Matrix metering +2/3 stop: 1/2000 sec. at f/7.1 AWB at 8:49am on a clear day. Upper left Group (grp) Shutter Button AF with the selected points on the bird’s upper breast. Great Blue Heron on “The Perch” |
The First Keeper My New Six and the Teleconverter TC-14E III
Not bad for right out of the box. When I saw this bird on my our perch I envisioned one of the usual ILE (Indian Lake Estates) ratty looking great blues. As the image snapped into focus I blurted out, “Oh my! What a beauty.”
|
The Nikon D850 AF Array |
The Nikon D850 AF Array
The coverage is decent but at times the AF points in the corner do not perform admirably, especially when there is a teleconverter in the mix … That said, I have no idea why center Group (grp) AF works so well for me (and for others) with birds in flight. I use d-25 for most of my static portraits. I need to do lots of experimenting with the various AF patterns.
|
Nikon Capture NXD screen capture |
The Nikon Capture NXD Screen Capture
The only reason I ever go into Nikon Capture NX-D is to check out the active AF points. I have never done a RAW conversion with it but have heard mostly bad stuff about it. I do plan to give Capture One a whirl. The two images above are for Frank Sheets.
|
|
This is an unsharpened 100% crop of today’s featured image. Great Blue Heron on “The Perch” |
The Unsharpened 100% Crop
The image was created with the AF fine-tune value at the default, zero. I was wondering how much sharper the image could get. After I micro-adjusted the 600 with the TC-E14 I had a smile on my face: as it turned out, the system showed zero as perfect.
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 :).
Congrats! It looks strikingly similar (almost a mirror image) to a GBH I captured a few weeks ago on a perch overlooking the Potomac. Glad you are liking the new gear.