Bite Me! And Nikon Gear Fire Sale!

What’s Up?

I’ve been doing lots of walking and swimming and relaxing every day since I got home from San Diego. I am planning on replacing some of the relaxing with lots more stretching exercises.

I was glad to learn that four folks have signed up for the Fort DeSoto Spring IPT, three of them — all great friends — are repeat clients.

IPT Updates

$200 late registration discount on the Spoonbill Boat IPT! Scroll down for the details.

Unsolicited via e-mail from multiple IPT veteran Donna Bourdon

Thank you Artie for another amazing trip! The setting and the access to such spectacular wildlife was more than we could have hoped for. And you, yourself are remarkable. I am always touched by your selflessness in sharing your professional talent and knowledge. Not many working pros would be willing to share their intellectual property as you do. And the group experience was such fun. It was good to make new friends and enjoy food, fun and fellowship together! I hope to meet up with everyone again soon for another “over the top” adventure. with love, Donna

Unsolicited via e-mail from IPT veteran Eugen Dolan

Arthur, Thank you very much for your overwhelming infectious enthusiasm that helped get me up on some mornings. Also, your ability to express yourself- and explain in great detail why you like or may not like an image – was very helpful in allowing me to better analyze my images. Eugen

I have room for two folks on the spoonbill boat and still need three or four folks for the Galapagos trip. Please shoot me an e-mail to learn about late registration discounts for both the Spoonbill Boat and Galapagos trips.

• The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 2. $200 late registration discount
• The 2019 Fort DeSoto Spring IPT/THURS 18 APRIL through the morning session on SUNDAY APRIL 21, 2019: 3 1/2 DAYS: $1549. Limit 8/Openings: 4. Meet and greet at 7PM on the evening of WED 17 APRIL.
• The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins, Gannets, & Red Kites IPT. Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 10 photographers/Openings: 9. This trip needs four to run. Co-leader: Peter Kes.
• The GALAPAGOS Photo Cruise of a Lifetime IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience. July 23 to August 6, 2019 on the boat. 13 FULL and two half-days of photography: $14,499. Limit: 12 photographers/Openings: 4. Please e-mail to learn about the huge late registration discount for this trip.

BIRDS AS ART

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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. Most recently the price of used Canon 600mm f/L IS II lenses have been dropping like a rock with the introduction of the 600 III. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.

Recent Sales

John Wright sold a Canon 500mm f/4 IS USM and a Canon EF Extender 1.4X II, both in very good plus condition for $3399.00 in mid-January.
IPT veteran Mark Overgaard sold hisCanon EF 35mm f/1.4L II USM lens in near-mint condition for $1,299.00 in mid-January.
John M Wright sold his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens in excellent to near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $6,950.00, his Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens in near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of 1,299.00, a Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L lens in excellent condition for the BAA record-low price of $599.00, his Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS lens in near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $499.00,
and a Canon Extender (teleconverter) EF 2X III in near-mint condition for $265.00, all within days of their being listed.
Ramona Boone sold her Canon 600mm IS II in like-new condition for $7,699.00 (was $8,699.00) while I was in the Falklands
Brooke Miller sold her Canon 5D Mark IV for $2,249.00, her Canon Extender EF 1.4X III and Extender EF 2X III for $299.00 each, her Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro lens in near-mint condition for $599.00, and her Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM in excellent plus condition for $7398.00.

New Listings

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR Lens

Multiple IPT veteran, dear friend, and BAA technical advisor Patrick Sparkman is offering a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens in like new condition for $10,996.95. The lens is only 2 months old and has seen little use. The sale includes the lens hood, the original product box, the lens trunk, the front lens cover, the rear lens cap, and insured shipping via Fed Ex Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Patrick via e-mail.

Like its Canon counterpart, the Nikon 600 VR is the state of the art super-telephoto for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports. When I can get my 600 to a location, it is always my go-to weapon unless the birds are silly tame. They are fast and sharp and deadly alone or with a 1.4X TC. With a new one going for $12,296, you can save a cool $1,300.00 by grabbing Patrick’s lens right now. artie

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR Lens

Multiple IPT veteran, dear friend, and BAA technical advisor Patrick Sparkman is offering a used Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR lens in like-new condition for $475.00. The lens was rarely ever used and the glass is perfect. The sale includes the lens hood, the original box, the soft case that came with the lens, the front cover, the rear lens cap, and insured shipping via Fed Ex Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Patrick via e-mail.

I own and use this incredibly versatile don’t-leave-home-without-it lens and find it much sharper than its Canon counterpart, the almost equally versatile Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS II USM lens. The Nikon version currently sells new for $$ 1,096.95. artie

Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art Lens for Nikon F

Multiple IPT veteran, dear friend, and BAA technical advisor Patrick Sparkman is offering a Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG HSM Art Lens for Nikon F in like-new condition for $799.00. The lens is 2 months old, and was barely used. The glass is perfect. The sale includes the lens hood, the original box, the soft case that came with the lens, the front cover, the rear lens cap, and insured shipping via Fed Ex Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Patrick via e-mail.

The 14-24 Sigma Art lens is as sharp or sharper than similar Nikon lenses for a lot less money. It is a landscape photographer’s dream wide angle and a superb night sky lens. It sells new for $1,299.00. artie

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens

Multiple IPT veteran, dear friend, and BAA technical advisor Patrick Sparkman is offering a used Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens in like-new condition for $910.00. The lens is a year old and the glass is perfect. The sale includes the lens hood, the original box, the soft case that came with the lens, the front cover, the rear lens cap, and insured shipping via Fed Ex Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Patrick via e-mail.

This is the lens that hooked me on Nikon and its great AF system. It is sharp and versatile and though AF is a bit sluggish away from the center AF point with a teleconverter, I made some great images with the TC-E14. This lens sells new right now for $1,396.95. artie

Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III

Multiple IPT veteran, dear friend, and BAA technical advisor Patrick Sparkman is offering a Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III in excellent condition for $385.00. The sale includes the the front and rear lens caps and insured shipping via Fed Ex Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Patrick via e-mail.

As regular readers know, 1.4X TCs are vital to my existence whatever system I am using … The TC-14E III sells new for $496.95. artie

This image was created on January 20, 2019 on the first afternoon of the 2019 San Diego IPT. I used the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens and my main (#1) Nikon D850. ISO 3200. I was set up for white sky flight at +1 2/3 stops off the sky at 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 when I saw these two birds playing. As there was less light on the cliff I simply opened up one click (one-third stop) to 1/1600 sec. at f/6.3, turned the camera to vertical, and fired away One up from center Group (grp)/Shutter Button/Continuous (AI Servo with Canon) AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. That turned out to be a fortuitous choice as each of the outer points of the array just caught the edge of each bird’s bill and held focus! Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune: +2. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Pacific Race Brown Pelicans playing

The Situation

I discovered this year that there are some really good late afternoon pelican spots in La Jolla. We took advantage of them on the IPT and during the following week on my busman’s holiday.

The Lesson

There is a bit less light down below on the cliffs than there is in the sky. Experiment to see how much you need to open up from the sky to the cliffs so you are ready to strike when you see some neat action. Do note that the RAW file for today’s featured image was still about one stop under.

A Better Title?

If you have a better title than “Bite Me,” please do share by leaving a comment. If you do not understand the current title, see my reply to Joel Eade below.

From left to to right clockwise back to the center: Brown Pelican, Roseate Spoonbill downstroke, Brown Pelican sunrise silhouette, Double-crested Cormorant pre-dawn blur, Roseate Spoonbill flapping after bath, Brown Pelican taking flight, Roseate Spoonbill taking flight, Reddish Egret white morph breeding plumage in flight, and Reddish Egret dark morph breeding plumage in flight. All images on this card were created by me on the Hooptie Deux at Alafia Banks on the February 2018 trip. You can click on each card to enjoy a larger version.

2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT — FEB 16 thru 19, 2019: $2599.00. Limit: 5 photographers/Openings: 1.

3 1/2 days on the boat including four morning photo sessions and three afternoon sessions via customized pontoon boat.

Price per day Reduced from the 2018 rates! $200 late registration discount!

We will be leaving the dock very early for the morning sessions (weather permitting) in hopes of photographing the pre-dawn American Crow and White Ibis blast-offs. All sessions are planned for the Alafia Banks Roseate Spoonbill Rookery. We might consider other options in the unlikely event of horrific weather. There will be lots of opportunities for flight photography of several species including and especially Roseate Spoonbill. Also likely for flight photography are nesting Brown Pelican, both morphs of Reddish Egret, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, White and Glossy Ibises, and Double Crested Cormorant. We should have some good chances with birds carrying nesting material. This IPT includes all boat and guide fees, in the field instruction, chest waders (feel free to bring your own of course to assure a perfect fit), and three working lunches on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. For the most part we will be standing in mid-calf to knee high water behind our tripods. We help you get in and out of the boat with your gear. This is likely not the best trip for folks with mobility or balance problems. Note however that some folks opt to stay on the boat to photograph. They usually have lots of chances for flight photography of spoonbills and other species but are almost always pretty far away from the spoonbills that land.

All images on this card were created by me on the Hooptie Deux at Alafia Banks

The Timing and Tides are Perfect!

I recently saw a similar trip advertised two months too late for breeding plumage spoonbills … The 2019 Hooptie Deux/Roseate Spoonbill Boat 3 1/2 DAY IPT represents an incredible opportunity to photograph Florida’s most wanted species. I do hope that you can join us. There will be a meet and greet at 7:00pm sharp on the evening of Friday February 15, 2019. All of the images on the card were made on the Hooptie Duex during the last two weeks of February, prime time for the spoonies in mega-breeding plumage. Many folks have written expressing interest so please do not tarry.

Please e-mail to hold your spot. Then you may either secure your spot by calling Jim or Jennifer at the office at 863-692-0906 and leaving the $500 deposit on credit card or sending your check for payment in full to us as follows with the check made out to:

BIRDS AS ART and sent here via US mail:

BIRDS AS ART
PO BOX 7245
Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855

If you call to leave your deposit you will be asked to mail your check for the balance asap.

Images courtesy of our guide; copyright 2017 Captain James Shadle (aka Froggie). All of the images here were created at Alafia Banks. Card creation and design by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.

Everybody Loves Spoonbills!

Roseate Spoonbill is one of if not the most sought after avian photographic subjects in Florida. They are generally hard to find and somewhat difficult to approach. They are relatively easy to find at Alafia Banks—heck, you can’t miss seeing them, but even there they can on some days be somewhat difficult to approach. On some days we may be able to get ridiculously close to them. The huge incentive to get out to Alafia Banks in mid-February is the chance to photograph this species at the height of its spectacular breeding plumage…. with long telephoto lenses. A 500 or 600 with a 1.4X TC is perfect for this trip.

Mornings to Alafia Banks for spoonbills and Brown Pelicans (with lots of flight photography often with the birds likely carrying nesting material), Double-crested Cormorants, ibises (both Glossy and White) in breeding plumage. Some of the White Ibises may be sporting their spectacular, distended, red, naked (un-feathered) throat pouches—typically larger in the females. In addition we may get to photograph egrets including Great and Reddish, both in full breeding plumage, shorebirds, and more. There will be lots of flight photography opportunities. Afternoon trips will most likely be back to Alafia Banks for the spoonbills with an option to visit a more sheltered inland rookery location for a variety of nesting birds. In the event of horrific weather artie will either take the group to Fort DeSoto or will conduct an extensive image review/Photoshop session. This IPT includes lunches on the full days with small group image sharing and review and some over-the-shoulder Photoshop instruction.

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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.

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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 :).