Aquatic Jewels! Which version do you prefer? And More on RawDigger and Exposing to the Right

What’s Up?

Saturday moring was still and sunny with a heavy haze to the east the created dead-solid perfect conditions for flower photography. I found and photographed a nice pink (species ?) and an amazing tree totally covered with large yellow blossoms. I need to edit (pick my keepers) from Friday and Saturday today so that I do not fall any further behind.

The forecast for today — Sunay 28 June 2020 — is still and sunny turning partly cloudy with an afternoon high of 95 degrees. Par for the course. With the hot weather, the pool is up to a much too-warm 89 degrees; the nights are too warm and the pool too large for my heater/chiller to keep up. I took a day off from all exercise lasst Thursday as I passed a thankfully small kidney stone. Anyone interested in the alternative medicine tricks that saved me from posssibly major pain and grief is invited to shoot me an e-mail with the words Kidney Stone Alternative Remedy as the subject line.

BIRDS AS ART

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

Via e-Mail from Phillip Bird

As a new user of the Sony A7RIII I ordered your Sony e-Guide as soon as I unpacked the camera. Buying the guide is one of the best camera-related investments I have ever made. I am learning so much and I’m sure that the guide is saving me a great deal of time and frustration in dealing with all of the options available on this amazing camera. Thanks to you and Patrick for putting this guide together. Phill

SONY e-Guide Discount Program

Purchase a (new) qualifying SONY camera body (a7r iii, a7r iv, a9, a9 ii) from Bedfords or using a BIRDS AS ART B&H affiliate link, and you will receive a $40 discount on the SONY e-guide. Purchase a (new) SONY 200-600mm G lens from Bedfords or using a BIRDS AS ART B&H affiliate link, and you will receive a $25 discount on the SONY e-guide. Purchase a (new) SONY 600mm f/4 GM lens from Bedfords or using a BIRDS AS ART B&H affiliate link, and you will receive a free SONY e-guide with one or two videos.

Please send your Bedford’s or B&H receipts to me via e-mail to receive your discount and your ordering instructions. Folks purchasing from Bedfords and using the BIRDSASART code will save $50. Folks sending their B&H receipts may need to wait a few days to have their purchases confirmed. Folks using Bedfords will have their purchases confirmed immediately.

99 sold to rave reviews. The SONY e-Guide by Patrick Sparkman and Arthur Morris

The Sony Camera User’s e-Guide (and Videos)

Click here to purchase the guide with one Camera Set-up Video. Be sure to e-mail us by clicking here to specify your camera body so that we can send you a link for the correct video.

Click here to purchase the guide with two Camera Set-up Videos. Be sure to e-mail us by clicking here to specify your two camera bodies so that we can send you links for the correct videos.

Click here to learn more about the SONY e-Guide.

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%. Please understand that e-Bay prices are bogus. And the same is true of the prices of used gear including my dear friends at B&H and the other mega-outfits. They offer you pennies and then try to sell the stuff to ignorant folks for ridiculously high prices. With their huge international exposure, they occasionally find someone …

The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please 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. With the pandemic and the down economy, the market had been somewhat depressed but sales have been brisk for the past few weeks. And over the past year, we have sold many many hundreds of items. Do know that prices the used prices of many items have been dropping steadily. The prices garnered for used Canon gear has tanked completely as demand has dropped tremendously. It is ironic that for decades Canon gear had very strong resale value … That said, the prices on used Nikon gear are dropping as well. You can see all the currrent bargains here on the Used Gear Page.

Note: all BAA Used Gear sales include insured ground shipping via UPS to lower 48 US addresses only. Others who live elsewhere are invited to e-mail the seller for shipping surcharge info. Sellers should charge you only the difference between shipping to the farthest US location from their home and the charge to a non-lower-48 address.

Very Recent Sales

Patrick Hogue sold his Nikon D500 DSLR Camera in excellent condition and a 16mm-80mm F2.8-4.0 VR Nikkor zoom lens in near-mint condition for a BAA record-low $985.00 and a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens in near-mint condition for a very low $3195.00 (was $3450.00), both in mid-JUNE 2020.
Anita North sold her Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens in excellent plus condition for a BAA record-low $3045.95 (was $3095.95) in early JUNE 2020.
Arthur Morris sold his Nikon D850 DSLR Camera (Body Only) in excellent plus to like-new condition for a BAA record-low $1,795.95 (was $1995.95) in early JUNE 2020.
Patrick Hogue sold his Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens in excellent plus condition for $850.00 (was $896.95) and a Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX10 IV Digital Camera in near-mint condition for a BAA record-low $998.00, both soon after being listed in late-MAY 2020.
Carol Anderson, wife of the late Walt Anderson — inventor of the Better Beamer, sold a Canon 200-400 f/4L IS USM lens with internal 1.4X Extender in excellent plus condition for $4998.00 and a Canon EOS-1DX Mark II camera body in like-new condition for $2798.00, both soon after they were listed in early June 2020.
Anita North sold her Nikon D500 DSLR in excellent plus to near-mint condition for a BAA record-low price of $895.95 in mid-June 2020.
Blog regular Fred Innamorato sold his Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II lens in excellent plus condition for $3099.99, a Canon EF 300mm f /2.8L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for $2899.00, a Canon EF 100-400mm f /4.5-5.6L IS USM II lens in excellent plus condition for $999.00, an EOS 5D Mark IV camera body in excellent plus condition for $1549.00, a Canon EOS-1DX Mark II camera body in excellent plus condition for $2698.00, a Canon EF Extender 1.4X III (teleconverter) in excellent plus condition for $219.00, a Canon EF Extender 2X III (teleconverter) in excellent plus condition for $219.00, and a Canon Extension Tube Set, the EF 12 II and EF 25 II, in excellent plus condition for $124.90, all on the first day of listing in late-MAY 2020.

New Listing

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dSLR

John Bowden is offering a Canon EOS 5D Mark 4 in near-mint condition for $1,699.00 — the shutter count is only 16,172. The sale includess includes a ProMediaGear universal L-bracket (model PLX3 — an $89.95 value), the original product box, the manuals, the EOS Digital Solution Disk, the EOS Digital Software Instruction Manual, the camera strap, the single battery (with the protective cover), the charger, the front cap, the interface cable, the cable protector, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Photos are available upon request.

Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact John Bowden via e-mail or by phone at 1-919-358-5717 (Eastern tme zone).

What can I say? The 5D IV was my favorite-ever Canon digital dSLR. I owned and used three of them while my 1DX II sat on the shelf in my garage for the most part. If you have been dreaming of a 5D IV, grab John’s camera body right now and save a cool $300.00. 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 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 created at Indian Lake Estates, FL on 18 JUNE 2020. I used the Induro GIT 404L/FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter (at at 560mm) and the 61-mega-pixel monster, the Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless digital camera body. ISO 400. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear dial (and then bracketed): 1/6 sec. at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode with 2-second timer. AWB at 7:33am on a partly-cloudy morning. Plamped in place. Manual focus using the Focus Magnifier (page 37) and Manual Focus Toggle (page 35) tips and techniques detailed in the SONY e-Guide and Videos. Image #1: Photo Mechanic Screen Capture of Spatterdock bud

Washed Out RAW Files are the Best Exposure

I have always exposed to the right to ensure reduce noise and create large image files. But is was not until recently when Patrick Sparkman introduced me to RawDigger and taught me the fine-points of that app that I have been able to perfect exposing to the right. We hope to have our RawDigger Guide be published in about two to three weeks. Looking at the RED channel in the Photo Mehcanic histogram it seems that the image is mega-over-exposed but in fact RawDigger showed it to be the perfect exposure from a well-bracketed series.

I have long stated that in most instances your images should look washed out on the back of the camera. That was very much the case with today’s featured image. The trick is in the optimizing with most of the heavy lifting done during the RAW conversion (in Capture One for me). See the two versions of the same RAW file below.

Singh-Ray Filters

Singh-Ray filters have been used by the world’s top photographers for many decades. Who? Art Wolfe, Tony Sweet, John Barclay, my friend Ian Plant, my great friend Denise Ippolito, Nevada Weir, Brenda Tharp, Cole Thompson, Chuck Kimmerle, and the late Galen Rowell among others. Singh-Ray has been and is the name in quality filters. For this image I used the Singh-Ray a 77mm warming circualr polarizer set to dark to eliminate the reflectionos on the surface of the water.

No other filter manufacturer comes close to matching the quality of Singh-Ray’s optical glass that is comparable to that used by NASA. And they continue to pioneer the most innovative products on the market like their ColorCombo polarizer, Vari-ND variable and Mor-Slo 15-stop neutral density filters. When you use their filters, you’ll create better, more dramatic images and, unlike other filters, with absolutely no sacrifice in image quality. All Singh-Ray filters are handcrafted in the USA.

Best News: 10% Discount/Code at checkout: artie10

To shop for a Singh-Ray Warming Circular Polarizer (for example), click here. As their website is under-going re-construction, be sure to mention the artie10 discouont code when you call. In addition to enjoying the world’s best filter at 10% off you will be supporting my efforts here on the blog.

This image was created at Indian Lake Estates, FL on 18 JUNE 2020. I used the Induro GIT 404L/FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter (at at 560mm) and the 61-mega-pixel monster, the Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless digital camera body. ISO 400. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear dial (and then bracketed): 1/6 sec. at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode with 2-second timer. AWB at 7:33am on a partly-cloudy morning. Plamped in place. Manual focus using the Focus Magnifier (page 37) and Manual Focus Toggle (page 35) tips and techniques detailed in the SONY e-Guide and Videos. Image #2: Spatterdock bud/BLUER version

Optimizing Properly Exposed Images

Whatever program you are using to convert a properly expposed washed-out looking image file, you will wish to experiment with the following in no particular order:

1: Set the White Point

2: Pull down the Exposure slider.

3- Move the Highlight slider to the left.

4- Adjust the Brightness — this will always be the last step.

Once you have the TIF file in Photoshop a Curves adjustment can be made to darken the dark tones after pinning the highlights with three dots.

As you can see in Images #2 and 3, the results can be spectacular.

Spatterdock

If this flower looks familar to you, it is likely that you first saw it the What the ? Image #2 Mystery Answer Revealed. Wimberley Plamp II Techniques. A Great Macro Tip. And everything you wanted to know about spatterdock but were afraid to ask … blog post here.

This image was created at Indian Lake Estates, FL on 18 JUNE 2020. I used the Induro GIT 404L/FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter (at at 560mm) and the 61-mega-pixel monster, the Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless digital camera body. ISO 400. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear dial (and then bracketed): 1/6 sec. at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode with 2-second timer. AWB at 7:33am on a partly-cloudy morning. Plamped in place. Manual focus using the Focus Magnifier (page 37) and Manual Focus Toggle (page 35) tips and techniques detailed in the SONY e-Guide and Videos. Image #3: Spatterdock bud/BLACKER version

The SONY 100-400 GM Lens

The SONY 100-400 GM lens with its .98 meter Minumum Focusing Distance (MFD) can — with or without the 1.4X teleconverter — be great for medium-sized and lager flowers. I’ve been using it almost every day recently. And you can do the same with your Canon 100-400 II as it offers the same great MFD.

Your Call?

Which version do you prefer, the BLUER version of the BLACKER version? Please let us know why you made your choice.

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.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right.

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 :).