What’s Up?
On Saturday morning I found a nearby home with extensive flowering plantings. I have close to zero interest in photographing non-native flowers, but there was a gorgeous tropical heliconia species and I could not resist doing some abstracts. There were some neat wildflowers across the road near a drainage ditch but by the time I spotted them it had gotten breezy. I returned this early morning — Sunday 5 JULY 2020 — and spent a solid hour with the Sigma 150mm/Vello adapter/a7r IV combo.
I headed down to the lake by 7:30am and found and photographed the Mother’s Day crane family. I saw the surviving chick, hatched on 9 or 10 May, fly about 15 yards. More good news: Old Gnarly’s surviving colt is alive and well. The family must have crossed the canal a few weeks ago to Avocado where they have been happily dining in a corn-feeder-equipped backyard. Thanks to my new neighbor/friend Ron who alerted me to the family’s location.
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Flash Card Sale
San Disk Extreme Pro 128GB Compact Flash Card
I am offering a brand new in the unopened sleeve San Disk Extreme Pro 128GB Compact Flash Card (Up to 160 MB/s: 1067X) for a very low $89.99. Save $30.00 as these sell new for $119.00. The sale includes insured UPS Ground Shipping. PayPal plus 4% or credit card plus 4% is preferred to a check so that we can ship your card on Monday. To pay with a credit card plus 4% call 863-692-0906 after 9am on Monday.
Please contact artie via e-mail or on his cell at 863-221-2372 before 4pm Eastern time. Please leave a message or text if no answer.
Delkin 240GB Premium XQD Memory Card
Sold 2nd day of listing
I am offering a brand new (out of the sleeve but never used) Delkin 240GB Premium XQD Memory Card for a very low $299.00. Save a cool $136.00 as these sell new for $435.00. The sale includes insured UPS Ground Shipping. PayPal plus 4% or credit card plus 4% is preferred to a check so that we can ship your card on Monday. To pay with a credit card plus 4% call 863-692-0906 after 9am on Monday.
Please contact artie via e-mail or on his cell at 863-221-2372 before 4pm Eastern time. Please leave a message or text if no answer.
SONY 128GB XQD Memory Card
Sold 2nd day of listing
I am offering a lightly used SONY 128GB XQD Memory Card (R:440 MB/s, W: 400MB/s) USB for a very low $89.99. Save $89.00 as these sell new for $169.99. The sale includes insured UPS Ground Shipping. PayPal plus 4% or credit card plus 4% is preferred to a check so that we can ship your card on Monday. To pay with a credit card plus 4% call 863-692-0906 after 9am on Monday.
Please contact artie via e-mail or on his cell at 863-221-2372 before 4pm Eastern time. Please leave a message or text if no answer.
Delkin 128GB XQD Premium Memory Card
Sold 2nd day of listing
I am offering a near-mint Delkin 128GB XQD Premium Memory Card for a very low $99.99. Save $90.01 as these sell new for $190.00. The sale includes insured UPS Ground Shipping. PayPal plus 4% or credit card plus 4% is preferred to a check so that we can ship your card on Monday. To pay with a credit card plus 4% call 863-692-0906 after 9am on Monday.
Please contact artie via e-mail or on his cell at 863-221-2372 before 4pm Eastern time. Please leave a message or text if no answer.
Delkin 128GB XQD Premium Memory Card
Sold 2nd day of listing
I am offering a lightly used Delkin 128GB XQD Premium Memory Card for a very low $69.99. Save $120.01 as these sell new for $190.00. The sale includes insured UPS Ground Shipping. PayPal plus 4% or credit card plus 4% is preferred to a check so that we can ship your card on Monday. To pay with a credit card plus 4% call 863-692-0906 after 9am on Monday.
Please contact artie via e-mail or on his cell at 863-221-2372 before 4pm Eastern time. Please leave a message or text if no answer.
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.
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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.
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This image was created on Wednesday 1 July 2020 at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working down the slope near the canal, I handheld the Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens (at 181mm) with the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 800. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/500 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB at 7:09am on a morning with aa few clouds in the eastern sky. Wide AF-C was active at the moment of exposure; the system picked an AF point halfway down the colt’s long neck right on the same plane as the eye. Click on the image to view a larger version. Image #1: Sandhill Crane adult and colt |
Keep or Delete? Why
In the Keep or Delete? blog post here, I posted:
The image above is a Capture One Screen Capture. After enlarging the image, please leave a comment letting us know whether you would keep this one or delete it. And let us know why you made your decision. If it is a keeper for you, consider letting us know your plans for the image optimization.
Several folks responded stating that they would keep the image and shared reasonable plans for the image optimization.
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Image #2: Crop of Sandhill Crane adult and colt |
An Insta-Delete for Me
For me, this one is an insta-delete as the colt’s head is turned about two degrees away. BTW, that does not mean the my answer is right for everyone. As someone mentioned, I have a nice collection of about one zillion Sandhill Crane image.
For a complete treatise on head angles, visit the Head Angle Fine Points thread on BPN here. There have been 392 replies and 151,314 views. Who knows, you might learn something. From the Educational Resources Forum (the ER).
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.
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This image was created on 21 JUNE 2020 at Indian Lake Estates. Working from my SUV I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 248mm) and the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 400. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1250 sec. at f/10 in Manual mode. AWB at 7:58am on a sunny morning. Tracking Flexible Spot M AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed superbly. Image #3: Great Egret immature standing on dock |
Mis-understanding Perspective Changes and Sun Angle
In the Behaviors on the Dock of the Bay. Working a Subject. Eye Replacement. And An H-V AF Tip for All Systems blog post here, I wrote:
I stopped my SUV about a foot or two short of being on sun angle. Note that the shadows of the bird’s legs (and the pole) are angled about 10-15 degrees to the left. Before you scroll down to see today’s four featured images, try to figure out why I did not get right on sun angle and leave a comment.
It seemed like such a simple question, but many folks struggled. Below are some relevant conversations from the Comments section.
With Gary Prestash:
I think that there are 3 reasons why you stopped short of sun angle. (1) the post on the opposite side of the dock would constrain your shooting view of the bird;
(1) is incorrect. As I said elsewhere here, if I pulled forward to get right on sun angle there would have been nothing between the bird and me. And since I was working at 1200mm I would not have been constrained in any way!
(2) that same post would cast a shadow that might cover part of the bird;
(2) is incorrect. As I said elsewhere here (and above!), if I pulled forward to get right on sun angle there would have been nothing between the bird and me.
and (3) you wanted the blue water behind the bird as your b/g, not the darker shadowed water.
(3) is 100% correct and is the answer that I was looking for.
with love, a
With David Policansky
Artie: Thanks for these, and happy Fourth of July.
Thanks and ditto, David. But it’s Groundhog Day here; every day is pretty much the same.
The temperature might have reached 70 here on Nantucket today.
It was 104F in some places in Ontario in the past few days! I’d rather be on Nantucket!
I have two favorites, the scratching egret and the one with the open mouth.
Thanks for sharing those.
The scratching one would be my favorite alone except for the eye; I think, most animals, including birds, close their eye when scratching their face like that, so the wide-open eye looks just slightly odd. I might not have noticed if you’d not mentioned it.
David, David, David. Yes, many animals and birds protect their eyes when scratching. But if you go back and read carefully you will see that I replaced the eye in Image #4 … So at times, they keep their eyes wide open, unprotected by the nictitating membrane. That is one of the reasons that I have no qualms about replacing nictitating-covered-eyes. If you think that I am pulling your foot, I’d be glad to send you the RAW file 🙂
As for why you were off sun angle, first, let me say to Gary Prestash that moving your point of view cannot affect the shadow of a post, so if the post isn’t casting a shadow on the bird from the viewpoint where you took the photo, moving wouldn’t make it cast a shadow on the bird.
First off, changing one’s point of view does affect the shadow cast by the post. If I moved my vehicle forward so that the sun was right behind me and pointed at the post, the shadow of the post would disappear behind the post. If I moved my SUV backwards, the angle between the post and its shadow would increase. As for the second part of your statement, I was confused at first but I believe that if I moved the car back far enough, the shadow of the right hand post would have fallen on the bird (even if our view of the bird would have been blocked by the left-hand post. Whew! That taxed my brain cells 🙂
But it would wreck the composition, I think, by putting the post on the right too close to the bird.
I am confused again 🙂 Please understand that when framing Image #1 I was thinking of it only as an educational image: I was not at all concerned with any compositional or artistic aspects of the photograph.
with love, artie
With J Marr Miller (who almost hit the nail on the head):
Artie, You chose to be slightly off sun angle because you wanted to avoid the tree reflections in your water backgrounds.
My Reply:
Yes sir! More simply put, I wanted the blue water background. Notice that in Images #s 2 & 5 that a some dark reflections crept into the sides of the frame.
Starting from Scratch for Better Understanding
Scroll up and take a good look at Image #3. Put yourself in the driver’s seat. Note that if you pull the car up a foot or two that instead of a blue water background — my heart’s desire for this series of images — you would have had a darker background consisting of the reflections of a tree on the far shore (as stated above by J Marr Miller).
Now try the same exercise while noting what happens to the shadow of the post as you pull forward or move the car back …
Questions are of course quite welcome.
If In Doubt …
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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.
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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 :).
Artie: thanks. I might not have needed to add that last bit. All I was trying to say was that I could imagine a scenario where your SUV could cast a shadow. I was trying to cover all possibilities, but maybe I should have just left it out.
Yes. That might have been more clearer 🙂
a
David is right. Your moving does not make the shadow hit the bird.
Hi, Artie. You’re right, I misread your blog post to say you’d replaced the eye in image #5. Glad to know a bird can scratch its face and keep its eye open. On the shadow thing, I do believe I’m right. You wrote “I believe that if I moved the car back far enough, the shadow of the right hand post would have fallen on the bird (even if our view of the bird would have been blocked by the left-hand post. Whew! That taxed my brain cells.” Imagine you’re looking at the scene from above. There’s a bird and two posts. Off towards the sun, there’s a man and his camera in an SUV. As shown in image #1, both posts cast shadows, but neither shadow falls on the bird. Now move the SUV around. Anywhere you like, as long as ITS shadow doesn’t affect the scene. No matter where you put the SUV, the posts’ shadows will not move and they will not fall on the bird. You could try this at home with the salt and pepper shakers and flashlight you used to illustrate a similar example all those years ago at Barnegat Inlet.
Thanks, David.
Both you and Mike Ewanus are correct. The angle between the post and its shadow will change but it can never fall on the bird. At least I knew in advance that I was confused 🙂
This continues to confuse me:
“Anywhere you like, as long as ITS shadow doesn’t affect the scene.”
with love, a