Magic Night Lights Trick!

Stuff

My keynote at the Memphis Expo early on Saturday evening was very well received. Everything went off smoothly and the images looked great on the large screen in the theater at the Graceland guest house. I felt really connected to the audience so I slowed down halfway through and really enjoyed things. I did a podcast right before the program; one of the two hosts asked me, “What three things will you be teaching them about bird photogrpahy?” I answered, “My program is more about life than about photography.”

You can check out Amy’s take on Memphis in her blog post here.

All in all the folks at Bedford put on quite a show. As I mentioned in the last blog post, the keynote line-up was very strong. I was proud to be involved and hope to do a second event with them in OKC this coming March.

Long Island Small Group Instruction

I will be returning to my old haunts on Long Island from 15-27 August, prime time for bird photography. The schedules below may be expanded based on demand.

Skimmer Sessions/New Expanded Scehdule

Join me at Nickerson Beach to photograph Black Skimmers and lots more. Gull predation of young skimmers is likely. With full frame bodies, a minimum of a 500mm lens with TCs is recommended. 400mm OK with crop factor bodies.

Skimmer Morning: Thursday, AUG 16, 2018. 5:30 – 9:00am plus a working brunch: $375/session. Limit 4/Openings 3.
Skimmer Morning: Friday AUG, 17, 2018. 5:30 – 9:00am plus a working brunch: $375/session. Limit 4/Openings 3.
Skimmer Morning: Wednesday, AUG, 22, 2018. 5:30 – 9:00am plus a working brunch: $375/session. Limit 4.

Skimmer Afternoon (usually best for flight): Thursday, AUG 16, 2018. 5:00pm till sunset: $250/session. Limit 4.
Skimmer Afternoon (usually best for flight): Friday, AUG 17, 2018. 5:00pm till sunset: $250/session. Limit 4/Openings 3.
Skimmer Afternoon (usually best for flight): Tuesday AUG 21, 2018. 5:00pm till sunset: $250/session. Limit 4/Openings 3.
Skimmer Afternoon (usually best for flight): Wednesday AUG 22, 2018. 5:00pm till sunset: $250/session. Limit 4/Openings 3.

Please inquire e-mail for multiple session discounts.

To register, please call Jim or Jen with your credit card in hand: 863-692-0906. I hope that you can join me.

Shorebird Sessions

Join me at the East Pond at Jamaica Bay WR on the ideal tides to photograph southbound migrant juvenile shorebirds. With full frame bodies, a minimum of a 500mm lens with TCs is recommended. 400mm OK with crop factor bodies.

Important note: The Shorebird Mornings are dependent on suitable water levels at the East Pond. If the pond is flooded, the sessions will be conducted at Nickerson Beach.

JBWR Shorebird Morning: Friday, AUG 24, 2018. 6:00 – 9:30am plus a working brunch: $375/session. Limit 4/Openings 3.

JBWR Shorebird Morning: Saturday, AUG 25, 2018. 6:00 – 9:30am plus a working brunch: $375/session. Limit 4/Openings 3.

Please inquire via e-mail for multiple session discounts.

To register, please call Jim or Jen with your credit card in hand: 863-692-0906. I hope that you can join me.

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.

Recent Sales

IPT veteran Bill Wingfield sold a Wimberley V-2 WH-200 Gimbal Head in very good condition for a ridiculously low $299.00 and a Gitzo GT3532LS Carbon Fiber tripod in good condition for only $249.00, bot in early August.
IPT veteran Bill Wingfield sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM lens in excellent to near-mint condition for $1049.00 in late July 2018.
Pierre Williot sold his Canon EOS 5DS R in like-new condition for the BAA record-low-by-far price of $1999.00 (was $2399.00).
Carolyn Peterson sold a Canon GPS receiver GP-E2 for EOS camera bodies in near-mint condition for $149 in mid-July.
BAA-friend “Bug” Bob Allen sold a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Zoom lens in excellent condition for the a BAA record low price of $527.00 in mid-July.
NANPA President Don Carter sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens in excellent condition for the BAA record-low-by-far price of $525 the first day it was listed. Yours truly sold his like-new Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens for $699 in late June.
Ray Maynard sold his Canon 300mm f/2.8 L IS lens (the original version) in near-mint condition for the BIRDS AS ART record-low price of $2349.000 and a Canon 2X III teleconverter in near-mint condition for $285.00 both in mid-July.

Unsolicited, via e-mail, from Pierre Williot

I would encourage anyone who wants to sell some of their photographic equipment to contact Art. High-end photographic equipment can be difficult to sell. Art, with is widely read daily posts, will allow you to sell your equipment fairly easily for a reasonable price and commission. Please, seriously consider the price that he suggests as <em>it can be hard to face the reality of the actual value of well loved equipment! Art is well aware of the current market for second-hand photographic equipment.

New Listings

Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM Lens

Todd Koudelka is offering a Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (“the “old five”) in very good plus condition for the BAA record-low price of $3199.00. The lens which -functions perfectly — would be excellent but for the fact that Todd used camo tape rather than a LensCoat and when he removed the tape he pulled off some paint. He did paint over the area with the correct Canon paint. The sale includes the lens trunk with key, the rear cap, the front lens cover, the lens strap, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Todd e-mail or by phone at 1-608-577-5375 — 7:00- 9:00 Central time only.

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 a 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 Todd’s lens at this record-low BAA price. artie

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!

Hard to Find Nikon Stuff Available Now

Steve Elkins has several Nikon D850s in stock right now. In addition, he just received a Nikkor AF-S 180-400mm f/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR Lens! E-mail Steve about a special deal on the big Nikon zoom lens that — like its Canon counterpart, the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM with Internal Extender 1.4x lens — is especially great for trips to Africa, the Southern Ocean, or the Galapagos.

Booking.Com

Several folks on the UK IPT used the Booking.Com link below for there Edinburgh hotels, 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 photographers 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 an informal Beale Street walk in Memphis, TN on the evening of Friday, August 3. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR lens (I started at 185mm and zoomed out) and the Nikon D5 (with Dual XQD slots). AUTO ISO set ISO 64. Matrix metering at ? as framed: 1 sec. at f/22 in S (Shutter priority) mode (Tv mode with Canon). NATURAL AUTO WB at 9:18pm on a clear evening. Left of center d-72/Continuous (AI Servo in Canon)/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +4. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image #1: Beale Street lighted signs at night

Magic Night Lights Trick!

I did not know much about Beale Street but I did expect lots of neon signs so in advance, my plan was to try to create some pleasing blurs. As I was helping a few folks out I suggested a simple method that I use often for birds: Auto ISO with S (Shutter priority) mode (Tv mode with Canon) and the shutter speed set somewhere between 1/4 and one full second. Then set the exposure compensation (EC) that you think based on your evaluation of the scene and the situation. Then make a test image or two and adjust your EC as needed.

So far, the above is pretty much old hat for experienced blur folks. But …

What EC?

What do you think might be a good EC for the scene above? Please explain why.

This image was also created on the informal Beale Street walk in Memphis, TN on the evening of Friday, August 3. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/4G ED VR lens (at 175mm) and the Nikon D5 (with Dual XQD slots). AUTO ISO set ISO 72. Matrix metering at ? as framed: 1/60 sec. at f/4 in S (Shutter priority) mode (Tv mode with Canon). NATURAL AUTO WB at 9:23pm on a clear evening. Lower right d-25/Continuous (AI Servo in Canon)/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. Focus peaking AF Fine-tune: +4. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image #2: Beale Street Hard Rock Cafe lighted sign at night

But ….

When I decided to make a sharp image of the Hard Rock Cafe, I simply increased the shutter speed from one full second to 1/60 sec. At one sixtieth I was pretty confident that I could create a sharp image with the 70-200 f/4 zoomed out a bit. And I did. I left the EC as I had set it for Image #1.The big surprise for me was that I wound up with such a low ISO.

The Lesson

The big lesson here is that by working in S (Tv) (mode with the correct EC) you can go from blurs to sharp simply by raising the shutter speed.

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 :).