COVID-19 News From Dr. Greg Gulbransen. The Difficulty of Creating Juxtapositions. And SONY Zone versus Tracking Flexible Spot M.

What’ Up?

I enjoyed my half-mile swim on Monday afternoon. I headed down to the lake this morning (Tuesday 24 MAR 2020) for a short photo session but did not do much. I got into the BAA Online Store, printed the outstanding orders, and figured out how to print the UPS labels!

COVID-19 News From Dr. Greg Gulbransen

Via text this afternoon from friend and skilled photographer and pediatrician Greg Gulbransen (on Long Island, NY):

46 patients tested. 22 positives. All ages from 6 weeks to teens and college-age (22) and two older folks — 63 and 67. All are doing very well and no one is needing hospital care. It is really not a childhood issue. Two asthmatic patients are doing well. The smokers are doing badly.

Today’s Entertainment

Try the Willie Nelson and Ray Charles Seven Spanish Angels duet here. Two distinctively incredible voices. If you don’t know the words to this love song, listen carefully and bring tissues. For another version and to hear Ray Charles’ comments, scroll to the 47:22 mark of the Wille Nelson retrospective here. Though I am not a huge, huge Wille Nelson fan, I enjoyed listening to the whole thing.

BIRDS AS ART

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

The Nikon 500mm PF Lens

Steve Elkins at Bedfords asked me to let folks know that he has two of these hard-to-get-your-hands-on lenses in stock. The 500 PF was my very favorite Nikon lens. Save $50 by getting in touch with Steve as noted below.

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 over $1000.00, 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. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H. Those include the SONY a7r IV, the SONY 200-600, the SONY 600mm f/4 GM, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is eager to please.

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 also created on 18 MAR 2020 at the Brandon Rookery. Again I used the Induro GIT 304L/FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and the blazing fast Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body) that features incredibly accurate AF. ISO 640. Exposure determined by Zebras: 1/200 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB at 5:37:20pm in the shade on a sunny afternoon. Lower Center Zone AF-C was active at the moment of exposure. Image #1: Tricolored Heron juxtaposition

The Difficulty of Creating Juxtapositions

As noted often here and elsewhere, you really need to be on your game to create pleasing juxtapositions. Most of the time, one or both subjects are moving. I had moved off the deck to a position to the right of it in an effort to get more on sun angle for the incoming Wood Storks and bird flying low over the dark green waters of the pond. A breeding plumage tricolored landing on the floating dock and walked right in front of me. The bird was completely in the shade of a large oak tree so I went for total Zebras on the background in order to come up with the right exposure for the subject. Suddenly, a second tricolored landed right behind the one I was photographing, its rear half more brightly lit. I moved Center Zone down a notch and grabbed focus ono the front bird but with both birds moving relative to one another getting a perfect juxtaposition was difficult. I finally fired off two frames.

It took some fancy stepping in Photoshop to even out the exposure on the rear half of the bird in the back. Used Tim Grey Dodge and Burn to even out the tonality but that resulted in what had been the brighter area becoming over-saturated. So I painted a Quick Mask of that area, put it on its own layer, and reduced the Saturation on that layer (Control Q) by moving the slider all the way to the left to -100%. Bingo.

Do you like Image #1? If yes, why. If not, why not?

This image was created on 18 MAR 2020 at the Brandon Rookery. I used the Induro GIT 304L/FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and the blazing fast Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body) that features incredibly accurate AF. ISO 640. Exposure determined by Zebras: 1/200 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB at 5:37:54pm in theee shade on a sunny afternoon. Upper Center Zone AF-C was active at the moment of exposure. Image #2: Tricolored Heron — head and neck portrait

Zone vs. Tracking Flexible Spot M

With tall birds in vertical frames, Upper Center Zone gives you a bit more compositional freedom while at times, sacrificing a bit of AF accuracy. On the other hand, Tracking Flexible Spot M offers greater focusing accuracy but it is more difficult to use. Mastering the use of this AF Area requires more skill and a steadier hand (even when you are working on a tripod) … The educational SONY gallery in the new guide will offer guidance on determining which AF Area is best for a variety of situations. To order your pre-publication copy now, see yesterday’s blog post here.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II). 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)

Everything mentioned above (except for Capture One RAW conversions) and tons more — including all of my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts — 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. 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.

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. Note: all of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.

You can learn how and why I converted all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. More recently, I became proficient at converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw. About two years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One Pro 12 and continue to do so today.

To purchase Capture One, please use this link. Then you can learn more about Capture One in the Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video here. The next step would be to get a copy of Arash Hazeghi’s “The Nikon Photographers’ Guide to Phase One Capture One Pro e-Guide” in the blog post here.

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 Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and edited by yours truly. Please use this link to purchase NeatImage.

To introduce folks to our MP.4 videos and the basics involved in applying more NeatImage noise reduction to the background and less on the subject, I’d be glad to send you a free copy of the Free Noise Reduction Basics MP.4 Video. Simply click to shoot me an e-mail to get your free copy.

If In Doubt …

If you are 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 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 or Bedfords, 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 or Bedfords 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 regularly visit the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

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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 :).