The Success of the Student Often Puts a Proud and Envious Smile on the Face of the Teacher. Part III of Many: Anita North. And Working Hard to the Point of Insanity Will Get You Somewhere ...

Stuff

Can you say jet-lagged?

Check Out Amy’s Travelogue

You can get a taste of Lapland in Amy’s recent blog post here; she is quite good with her i-Phone.

These Just In: Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 180-400mm f/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR Lens and Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR Lens Available!

Both the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 180-400mm f/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR Lens an the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR are difficult items to find. Most folks have to wait months to purchase. If you would like to save a few bucks, please contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) immediately and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order.

BIRDS AS ART

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog 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 went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM Lens (the “old five”)

Bill Ketterer is offering a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens in excellent condition for the lowest ever BAA price of $3399.00. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the lens trunk with key, the tough front lens cover, the lens strap, the manual, and a Canon EF Extender 1.4X II with the front and rear caps, the carry pouch, and the original box.

Please contact Bill via e-mail or by phone at 1-(805)698-3718 (Pacific time).

The 500mm f/4 lenses have been the world’s most popular telephoto lenses for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. I owned and used and loved my “old five” for many years. If you don’t have the cash for the 500 II and can handle the additional 1 1/2 pounds, then this is your best super-telephoto option. Most everyone can produce sharp images with this lens and a 1.4X TC. Folks with good to excellent sharpness techniques can do the same with a 2X TC. With the new 500 II selling for $8,999 you can save a bundle by grabbing Bill’s lens at the record low BAA price (along with a Series II 1.4X TC!) The Series II 1.4X TC is just as sharp as the Series III TC and works just as well. The Series III TCs give you an edge when you are working with the newer Series II super-telephoto lenses. artie

Nikon D4 DSLR

Long-ago IPT veteran Owen Deutsch is offering a Nikon D4 camera body in excellent condition for the record lowest-ever BAA price by a mile: $1899.00. The sale includes one battery, the dual charger with cord, the Nikon strap, a 16GB Delkin CF700X CF card, the user manual, the quick guide, the original product box, 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.

Please contact Owen via e-mail or by phone at 1-312-933-9463 (9am-9pm Central time).

The Nikon D4 was the predecessor to the vaunted Nikon D5. As recently as 18 months ago used copies in excellent condition were going for $2300 plus; thus, Owen’s body represents a great buy for someone who wants to get their feet wet with a Nikon professional digital camera body. artie

This image was created on May 31, 2018 at Kaamanen, Finland by Anita North. Working hand held from the van. She used the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the Nikon D850. ISO 800. Matrix metering +1/3 stop: 1/1250 sec. at f/7.1. (Should have been +2/3 stop.) AUTO1 WB at 2:16pm on a partly cloudy afternoon. Center Group (grp) Shutter Button AF. The array was perfectly placed on the breast and body of the black Ruff on our left. Ruffs, males battling

Working Hard to the Point of Insanity Will Get You Somewhere …

After flying for two days, we finally arrived at our hotel at Kaamanen at about 9:30pm on Wednesday. We were beyond beat. Amy and I decided to hit the sack. Anita, despite the relatively dark conditions, decided to head out with a local guy who promised to show her a Ruff or two. She took a few snaps and learned the spot. We were back there at 5am on Thursday morning and did OK. We headed back for breakfast at 8:15am and then photographed redpolls and Brambling and male and female Pine Grosbeaks at the feeders. Talk about tough photography. I was ready for a nap by 1pm and Amy decided to rest as well. Anita, on no sleep, headed back to the Ruff spot. As you can see by her two images here, she killed. We headed back out after dinner with high hopes but the birds never returned to the roadside lek. It is just another example of snoozing and losing on my part.

This image was also created on May 31, 2018 at Kaamanen, Finland by Anita North. For this one she was working hand held from the van and used the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the relatively inexpensive 1.5X crop factor camera body, the Nikon D500. ISO 800. Matrix metering +1/3 stop (should have been +1 stop): 1/1600 sec. at f/8. AUTO1 WB at 2:49pm on a partly cloudy afternoon. One below the center Group (grp) Shutter Button AF. The array was on the bird’s lower breast and legs as originally framed. Center Group (grp) AF would have been a better choice. Ruff, male with an orange ruff and a black Napoleon hat. Image courtesy of and copyright 2018 of Anita North

Anita North

I met Anita on a Southern Ocean voyage in late 2015. As far as photography goes, Anita had no clue. She is a retired neurosurgeon from Toronto, Canada. After many, many IPTs and lots of hard work she has developed into a very fine photographer. About half the time that we are in the field together, her very best image is better than my very best image. On Friday morning the three of us struck out for the second straight session with the Ruffs. The birds flew in several times but were extremely skittish. So by pushing the limits of endurance and travel fatigue and foregoing sleep Anita wound up with many great images including the two you see here today.

Thanks to Anita

Thanks to Anita for allowing me to share her images with you here today and for her years of friendship. On a thousand occasions she has gone out of her way to help me and for that I am thankful, most recently by finding my “lost” gloves again.

Your Favorite?

Which of today’s two featured images is your favorite? Be sure to let us know why you made your choice.

Help Support the Blog

Please help support my 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.

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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 :).