Pelican Scissors Preening Photo Tips and Lots More!

San Diego Instructional Photo-Tour IPT Veteran Discount and Extra Morning Offer

IPT veterans are invited to e-mail to learn about the IPT veteran discount and the extra morning offer for the San Diego IPT. All who are considering this IPT are invited to check out the collection of images here.

What’s Up?

Today is Wednesday 8 December 2021. I will be continuing my investigation into the circumstances surrounding the permitting of the rehabilitation of Structure S-96 project at Stick Marsh. I hope to be able to share my findings with you here soon. The powers that be are slow in replying to my queries. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about two hours to prepare and makes 29 consecutive days with a new one.

Please remember that you can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to save 3% at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Brand New and As-Good-As-Ever Bedfords BAA Discount Policy

Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, or to any prior purchases.

Money Saving Reminder

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would like to enjoy getting 3% back on your credit card along with free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex Air shipping, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and check the box for Free Shipping. That will automatically upgrade to free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The wait lists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard to get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a 1, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager-to-please.

Important Note

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the Amazon links on the blog (including the logo-link immediately above). My link works with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂

Please Remember Also

Please, if you enjoy and learn from the blog, remember to use one of my two affiliate programs when purchasing new gear. Doing so just might make it possible for me to avoid having to try to get a job as a Walmart greeter and will not cost you a single penny more. And if you use Bedfords and remember to enter the BIRDSASART code at checkout, you will (still!) save 3% on every order and enjoy free second-day air shipping. In these crazy times — I lost about fifty thousand dollars in income due to COVID 19 — remembering to use my B&H link or to shop at Bedfords will help me out a ton and be greatly appreciated. Overseas folks who cannot order from the US because of import fees, duties, and taxes, are invited to help out by clicking here to leave a blog thank you gift if they see fit.

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. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

This image was created on 25 January 2020 at La Jolla, CA. Standing, I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens — at 200mm (now replaced by the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens) and the Sony a7R IV (now replaced, for me, by The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.) ISO 500. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/2000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:41am on a then-cloudy morning. Center Zone AF/C produced a razor sharp on the eye image. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #1: Brown Pelican – immature Pacific-race, scissors preening

Scissors Preening

All species of pelicans use their long bills to preen their feathers. I came up with the term “scissors preening” many years ago for obvious reasons. I use it to describe the technique that they use to preen the feathers of their breast. When photographing this behavior there are two things to strive for:

• 1- Press the shutter button when the bird’s long bill is as close as possible to being parallel to the camera’s sensor.
• 2- With your camera set to the fastest frame-rate, hold the shutter button down and shoot a long series of images. The winner will almost always be the frame in which the bill is opened the widest.

Depth-of-Field or Not?

Both images were created at the wide open apertures. Note that in Image #1 the entire bird was sharp at f/2.8. Image #2, however, also created at the wide open aperture, could have used some additional depth-of-Field as the distal portion of the bill and the feathers on the pelican’s body could have been rendered sharper with the use of a smaller aperture, perhaps f/8.

Why the difference?

The Image Optimization

After converting the raw file as below, I ran Topaz DeNoise AI on Low Light/AUTO. Next was a small crop mostly from below. Then I restored the detail in the brightest WHITEs on the young bird’s breast. Last was some cliff clean-up in the vicinity of the pelican’s feet. I opted to leave some of the whitewash on the rocks.

The Saving the WHITEs (and lots more!) Video image

The Saving the Whites (and lots more!) Video

My two biggest challenges when optimizing images are getting the BLUEs just right, and restoring detail to the WHITEs and highlights of properly exposed raw files. There are four things that I do to accomplish the latter. All are covered in detail in this 21+ minute video, along with a dirty trick to try if the first four do not work perfectly. Sit with me at my laptop as I teach you how to save the WHITEs. I begin with the raw conversions of two different raw files, today’s featured Snowy Owl image, and Joe Usewicz’s spoonbill image that was featured in the Extraordinary Over-Exposed (?) Spoonbill/Saving the WHITEs Optimization blog post here.

In addition to learning how to save the WHITEs (in both images), you will learn how to expand canvas using the amazingly convenient Content-Aware Crop Tool, to set the White Balance (color temperature), to set the WHITE and BLACK points, see Digital Eye Doctor and RawDigger in action, learn to make a Color Range Selection, and lots more. Near the end of the video, I share an innovative technique for fixing an error made early on in the image optimization process (without having to start from scratch!)

To purchase your copy of the Saving the Whites Video (and lots more!) video, you can send a PayPal for $37.00 to us at birdsasart@verizon.net, call Jim in the office at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand, or visit the item in the BAA Online store by clicking here.

After clicking on each image, check out the nice detail in the white face of the owl in the optimized version (Image #1), with the virtually absent detail in the face of the owl in the Photo Mechanic screen capture (Image #1A). As I have been saying here often for two decades, properly exposed raw files will often appear washed out with little detail in the highlights …

Image #1A: Adobe Camera Raw slider settings for the Brown Pelican – immature Pacific-race, scissors preening image

The Adobe Camera Raw Slider Settings

Note that the slider settings for Image #1 are much more typical than they were with yesterday’s featured image. Here, the Highlight slider has been pulled well to left as the first step in restoring detail in the brightest breast feathers; the Shadow slider has been moved to the right to open up the darker brown tones on this young pelican.

This image was created on 25 January 2020 at La Jolla, CA. Standing, I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens (now replaced by the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 225mm), and the Sony a7R IV (now replaced, for me, by The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.( ISO 400. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/3200 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 10:42am on a then-sunny morning. Upper Center Zone AF/C produced a razor sharp on the eye image. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #2: Brown Pelican – adult breeding plumage Pacific-race, scissors preening

The Exposures

RawDigger showed that the exposures for Images #1 & #2 were dead-solid perfect. The problem with Image #2 was that the specular highlights on the bill were toasted. I knew that trying to eliminate the over-exposed specular highlights during the raw conversion would be a mistake as it would have left the image overall much too dark. My option was either to leave them, or to repair them with the Patch Tool and Content-Aware Fill. I chose the latter approach.

San Diego, California: A Bird Photographer’s Paradise!

I’ve been visiting San Diego, California for more than 50 years, and photographing there for almost four decades. It truly is one of my favorite bird photography locations on the planet. The Pacific race Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches, are indeed the stars of the show, but there are lots of other great birds there that are relatively easy to photograph. Check out this five minute video to see the potential.

Be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel by clicking here.

San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

The 2022 San Diego Brown Pelicans (and more!) IPT. Monday 17 January thru the morning session on Friday 21 January 2022. Four full and one-half day: $2999.00. Deposit: $899.00. Limit: 8 photographers/Openings: 6

Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (nesting with eggs and possibly chicks) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Northern Shoveler and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heermann’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others are possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lions. And as you can see by studying the IPT cards, there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Not to mention a ton of excellent flight photography opportunities and instruction.

Please note: where permitted and on occasion, ducks and gulls may be attracted (or re-located) with offerings of grains or healthy bread.

Learning Exposure, Whether You Like It Or Not

Whether you like it or not, we will be beating the subject of exposure like a dead horse. In every new situation, you will hear my thoughts on the exposure situation along with my thoughts on both Nikon and Canon histograms and SONY Zebras. Whether you like it or not, you will learn to work in manual mode and to get the right exposure every time as long as a bird gives you ten seconds with the light constant. (Or two seconds with SONY zebras…) And you will learn what to do when the light is changing constantly. What you learn about exposure is one of the great takeaways on every IPT.

Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT, there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

It Ain’t Just Pelicans

With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography as well, often with 70-200mm lenses! And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You will be guided as to how to make the best of all of those opportunities. And depending on the weather and local conditions and tides, there are a variety of other fabulous photo chances available in and around San Diego.

Did I mention that there are lots of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter? Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

The San Diego Details

This IPT will include five three hour morning photo sessions, four one and one-half afternoon photo sessions, four working brunches that will include image review and Photoshop sessions. On rare cloudy day occasions, we may — at my discretion, stay out in the morning for a long session and skip that afternoon. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. And so that we can get some sleep, dinners will be on your own as well. In the extremely unlikely event that Goldfish Point is closed due to local ordinance (or whimsy) — that has never happened in the past fifty years, I will of course do my very best to maximize our photographic opportunities.

An $899 deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “BIRDS AS ART”) to us here: BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 3385, or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, is due right after you sign up.

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.

Variety is surely the spice of life in San Diego. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Getting Up Early and Staying Out Late

On all BIRDS AS ART IPTS including and especially the San Diego IPT, we get into the field early to take advantage of unique and often spectacular lighting conditions and we stay out late to maximize the chances of killer light and glorious sunset silhouette situations. We often arrive at the cliffs a full hour before anyone else shows up to check out the landscape and seascape opportunities.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.