Nikon Camera Body Bargains! Thursday Morning Downpours. No More Sandbar Secrets. Sony Camera Body Weather Sealing. Having Fun Is Important: handholding the SONY 200-600G/a9 ii rig. And thanks Alfred Forns!

What’s Up?

At 6:50am on Thursday, there was a long line of cars waiting for the gate to open at DeSoto. I believe that the entry time has been pushed back from 6:30am to 7:00am. As the road is now gated in both directions, it is no longer possible for folks with Annual Beach Parking Permits to enter early.

The weather, to say the least, was unsettled. More on that below.

Please Remember

If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please remember to use one of my two affiliate programs when purchasing new gear. Doing so will not cost you a single penny and if you use Bedfords and remember to enter the BIRDSASART code at checkout, you will save at least $50.00 on all orders greater than $1000.00. In these crazy times — I am out at least forty to sixty thousand dollars so far due to COVID 19 (with lots more to come) — remembering to use my B&H link or to shop at Bedfords will help me out a ton and will be greatly appreciated. Overseas folks who cannot order from the US because of import fees, duties, and taxes can always help out by clicking here if they see fit.

BIRDS AS ART

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

The BAA Used Gear Page

Right now, the Used Gear page is red hot! It is BAA Used Gear Page is the place to sell your used photographic equipment. We will help you to get your gear sold quickly for 20 to 60% or more than what the big guys are offering … Doubt me? Check out the Past Sales list at the bottom of the page.

Nikon Camera Body Bargains!

Nikon D5 dSLR Professional Digital Camera Body (XQD Version)

BAA Record-low Price!

Karen McCormick is offering a Nikon D5 in near-mint condition for a BAA record-low $3200.00. The sale includes a SONY 64GB XQD card and reader, the front body cap, the strap, the battery & the charger, the original product box, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Karen via e-mail.

The D5 is Nikon’s vaunted professssional digital camera body. It is fast and features Nikon’s best AF system. I used mine with success with all of my Nikon lenses including and especially the 80-400, thee 200-500, the 500 PF, and the 600 f/4 VR (the latter often with the TC-E14. The D5 sells for $5,496.95 new right now so you can save an amazing $2296.95 by grabbing Karen’s D5 now! artie

Nikon D500 dSLR Digital Camera Body

BAA Record-low Price!

Karen McCormick is offering a Nikon D500 in near-mint condition for a BAA record-low $750.00. The sale includes a SONY 64GB XQD card, the front body cap, the strap, the battery & charger, the original product box, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Karen via e-mail.

The D500 is Nikon’s top-of-the-line crop factor body. It multiplies your focal length by 1.5X. Joe Przybyla and Dan Kearl, both excellent photographers on Bird Photographer’s.Net, use the D500 as their workhorse camera bodies. Joe, the co-author of The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide, was after this old dog for a long time to try a D500. The D500 sells new right now for $1,496.95; save a cool $746.95 by grabbing Karen’s camera body now. artie

Nikon D800 dSLR Digital Camera Body

BAA Record-low Price!

Karen is offering a Nikon D800 in very good condition for a very low $450.00. The sale includes the: front body cap, the strap, the battery & charger, the original product box, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Karen via e-mail.

The Nikon D800 is a 36.3-megapixel professional-grade full-frame dSLR. It was succeeded by the more expensive D810 and then but the still more expensive D850. The D800 was best known for its superb image files. artie

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.

114 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.

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 of more than $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 Fort DeSoto Park in Pinellas County, FL on the morning of 18 September. I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 400: 1/15 sec. at f/6.3. ABW at 7:34am in a heavy drizzle. Center Zone Continuous AF was active at the moment of exposure and worked well. Click on the image to see a larger version. Image #1: birders at North Beach in the rain

Thursday Morning Downpours

As we were getting our gear ready, Anita said, “Look, there are patches of blue here and there.” Those among huge, dark, ominous clouds that stretched from horizon to horizon. Two minutes later I looked to the east and saw a wall of water coming at us. I called out and we quickly got back into the SUV. The strange thing is that it was almost as if we were in a liquid atmosphere rather than in a rainstorm. Five minutes later we both grabbed our 200-600/a9 ii rigs and headed for the sandbar.

No More Sandbar Secrets

Outback Key has been forming for more than a few years. Two years ago, getting onto the ever-shifting bar was tricky. Now, you can park in pretty much any but the most northwestern-most North Beach lot, walk to the Gulf, and cross to the bar on pretty much any tide. Do cross carefully and take small steps as there are some tree roots in small stumps in the channel.

Thursday and Friday morning found large flocks of Black Skimmers, Royal, Sandwich, and Forster’s Terns, lots of young and adult Laughing Gulls, a few Ring-billed Gulls, and two adult and one immature Lesser Black-backed Gulls. Among the wading birds were hundreds of White Ibises, Great and Snowy Egrets, Tricolored, Great Blue, and Little Blue Heron along with as many as fifteen immature Roseate Spoonbills. Few than usual Brown Pelicans were seen diving off shore. As usual, there was a host of shorebird species including American Oystercatcher, Marbled Godwit, Red Knot, Ruddy Turnstone, Sanderling, Short-billed Dowitcher, Western and Least Sandpipers, and Black-bellied, Semipalmated, Wilson’s, Piping, and Snowy Plovers. In other words, par for the course for Fort DeSoto.

Sony Camera Body Weather Sealing

Back to Thursday morning, once we hit the beach we enjoyed three rain squalls with wind and pelting rain. Each lasted about five minutes. Our only gear protection was keeping our backs to the wind. In short, our a9 ii bodies got plenty wet. The functioned just fine at least through Friday morning. And remember, at Sebastian, both of my bodies got drenched and my a7r iv took two direct saltwater hits when big waves came over my right shoulder. Both bodies are doing just fine. I would have to assume that both the a9 ii and the 7r iv bodies are superbly sealed against moisture and rain. I’ve always pushed my gear to the absolute limits and have at times, paid a big price …

This image was also created at Fort DeSoto Park in Pinellas County, FL on the morning of 18 September. Anita used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 200mm) and the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 2000: 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3. ABW at 8:29am in a heavy drizzle. Upper Left Zone Continuous AF was active at the moment of exposure and worked well. Click on the image to see a larger version. Image courtesy of an copyright 2020: Anita North Image #2: artie smiling with his 200-600/a9 ii rig after the rain let up a bit for a while.

Having Fun Is Important

As of Friday midday, my SONY 600 GM had remained in my SUV for all three of our shooting sessions. And Anita’s 600 GM has done the same. Walking around on a wild beach with the 200-600 G lens with an a9 ii gives one a sense of total freedom. Dragging the 600 GM around the beach is a chore despite its astoundingly light weight. Working with the 2-6 on the other hand is a delight, especially when you are around relatively tame birds. It is extremely versatile, relatively light in weight, it is great for birds in flight and in action, and actually focuses a good deal closer than the 600 GM. Fun at the beach is a good thing.

Thanks to Anita for the excellent photo of yours truly; I rarely like images of me, but I love this one.

Thanks Alfred Forns.

Thanks to Alfred Forns for my beloved floppy photo hat. The drapes protect me from the sun. And the soft brim makes perfect for flight photography and for putting your eye to the viewfinder. He gave me the hat as a gift more than twenty years ago. I actually had a new top sewn on when it was in complete tatters. I was best man at his wedding at a Bosque Thanksgiving meal probably fifteen years ago. Some time after that we had a falling out. If you know him — he is quite a good photographer — send him my love.

Bosque del Apache 2019 IPT Notice the incredible variety of images that you can learn to make by developing your skills and your creative vision on a BAA IPT.

Bosque del Apache NWR 2020 IPT

NOV 18 (afternoon session) thru the morning session on November 23, 2020. 5 DAYS. Four full and two half days. $1999.00. Deposit: $500.00. Limit: 8 photographers/Openings: 6.

Extra Day Options: Please e-mail to learn about the before or after In-the-Field Day options.

The very best news is that the 2020 Festival of the Cranes has been canceled so we will be able to visit on what are usually the perfect dates!

I quit going to Bosque several years ago as conditions had worsened each year for several seasons running. In 2018, things had improved dramatically and in 2019 the photography was great. Simply put, I know Bosque better than anyone. Join me to learn how wind and sky conditions influence bird photography, how to create dramatic sunrise and sunset silhouettes, how to be in the right place at the right time, and how to create contest-winning blurs. As usual, you will learn to get the right exposure every time, to use your camera’s AF system to create pleasing, balanced image designs, and to improve your flight photography skills.

We should get to photograph many thousands of Snow Geese, more than a few blastoffs, some Ross’s Geese, and lots of Sandhill Cranes in the water, taking flight and flying. Depending on local conditions we may get to shoot some ducks: point-blank American Wigeon and Wood Duck. With any luck, we might enjoy sunrises and sunsets that leave you in tears. Live, eat, and breathe photography with one of (if not the) world’s premier photographic educators at one of his very favorite locations on the planet. Top-notch Photoshop instruction. Join me to learn to think like a pro and to recognize situations and to anticipate them based on the weather. Every time we make a move, I will let you know why. When you get home, applying what you learned will prove to be invaluable.

Lunch is included.

To Register

To register, send your $500 deposit — check made out to BIRDS AS ART — via US Mail to PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Or call Jim weekdays at 863-692-0906 to put your non-refundable deposit on a credit card. Balances must be paid in full by check no later than two months before the IPT. If you cancel, all but your deposit will be refunded only if the IPT sells out.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance for both big international trips and US-based IPTs is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality travel insurance. Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options you can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. My family and I use and depend on the great policies offered by TIS whenever we travel. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check or running your credit card. Whenever purchasing travel insurance, be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

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 :).