Miraculous Find and Miraculous High ISO Save!

What’s Up?

Projector disaster struck again on Saturday. It seems that though my very expensive Apple MacBook Pro M1 had an HDMI port, that the connection to an HDMI device is unstable. Thus the problems. There is a solution that I do not quite understand yet. When I do, I will share the details here. In the meantime I exported the Keynote program to a PDF and we ran it on a PC using the expensive, high quality, ceiling mounted projector. The images looked bright, the color was perfect, and the program was enjoyed by all (despite the 45-minute delay). I started by saying that I hoped that everyone enjoyed the cold weather delay. The spring weather on Jekyll Island in southern Georgia has been more like what you would expect on South Georgia, a 125 mile-long island in the Southern Ocean that is most famous for it snow-covered mountains and huge King Penguin colonies.

Today is Sunday 10 April 2022. The forecast for the morning is for a NW breeze and clear skies. Those conditions can be great in the pre-dawn and early morning, the latter for silhouettes of flying birds. Eric Bowles and I have a group of 15 for an early morning photo workshop. My last instructions to the group: Dress warmly! Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes thirty days in a row with a new one.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn …

This image was created on 26 January 2019 La Jolla, CA on a San Diego IPT. I used the hand held Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens (at 400mm) and the Sony a9 (since replaced by the Sony a9 II Mirrorless Camera body. The exposure was poorly determined due to operator ignorance with Exposure Compensation on the Thumb Dial. Multi Metering + 1 1/3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO see below: 1/2000 second at f/5.6 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. AWB at 6:46:48am on a clear clear morning well before sunrise. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be about 2 1/2 stops too dark! Zone AF-C performed well enough. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Brown Pelican head throw abstract showing the bill pouch from below.

Miraculous Find and Miraculous High ISO Save!

While looking for images for the workflow program that I did last Thursday, I came across today’s featured image. It was easy to understand why I had never processed it. RawDigger showed it to be 2 1/2 stops too dark and it should have been captured as a vertical original. The Exposure compensation should have been at least +3 1/3 stops with the pink/purple/blue earth shadow sky background. And there was no need at all to be at 1/2000 second. 1/500 second would have saved me two stops of ISO.

Before you scroll down, click on the image to enlarge it and make a mental note of what you think the ISO was …

AUTO ISO set ISO 10,000. Image #2: Photo Mechanic screen capture for the Brown Pelican head throw abstract showing the bill pouch from below image.

The Image Optimization and Noise Reduction

I brightened the image considerably by moving the Exposure slider well to the right and increased the Vibrance and the Saturation to bring up the sky. The rest of the slider adjustments were as per usual. With an under-exposed ISO 10000 raw file I was shocked at how well Topaz DeNoise cleaned things up. That done, I used Content Aware-Crop to get to vertical and add canvas above. I was and am absolutely thrilled with the final image.

This all-new card is comprised of images created on my JAB 2022 visit to San Diego. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

The 2022/23 San Diego Brown Pelicans (and more!) IPTs

San Diego IPT #1. 3 1/2 DAYS: WED 21 DEC thru the morning session on Saturday 24 DEC 2022. $2099.00. Deposit: $699.00. Limit: 6 photographers.

San Diego IPT #2. 4 1/2 DAYS: SAT 7 JAN thru the morning session on WED 11 JAN 2023: $2699.00. Deposit: $699.00. Limit: 6 photographers/Openings: 5.

San Diego IPT #3. 3 1/2 DAYS: FRI 20 JAN thru the morning session on JAN 23 DEC 2023: $2099.00. Deposit: $699.00. Limit: 6 photographers.

Please e-mail for information on personalized pre- and post-IPT sessions.

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) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Ducks; 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 and California Sea Lions (both depending on the current regulations and restrictions). 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.

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.

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 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

These IPTs will include four or five 3-hour morning photo sessions, three or four 1 1/2-hour afternoon photo sessions, and three or four working brunches that will include image review and Photoshop sessions. On rare cloudy days, we may — at the leader’s 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.

A $599 deposit is required to hold your slot for one of the 2022/23 San Diego IPTs. 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.

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.

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.