More on the Quality of Light and Getting Lucky in the Mud

Which is the Strongest Image?

Why did you make your choice?

What’s Up?

Sandy Brown of Seattle and Sanjeev Nagrath of Chappaqua, NY enjoyed a fine Thursday morning at the East Pond. We had lots of shorebirds, mostly juveniles, some too close to focus. Our biggest problem as the tide rose in the surrounding bay was that it was hard to isolate individual birds because there were too many of them!. Sanjeev got to try out his brand new Cann RF 600mm f/4, the one he kindly purchased using my Bedfords discount code. He used it with both RF TCs and was thrilled to learn his new gear made very sharp images. For unknown reasons, I wound up getting much muddier than I had on previous visits.

I was glad to learn yesterday that Jim Miller’s Sony 100-400 GM lens sold on the first days of listing. His a7R IV is still up for grabs. It clouded over in the afternoon so I stayed in, relaxed, and went out for a nice dinner.

Today is Friday August 26 2022. I will be heading to JBWR to meet private client Carlotta Grenier for some fun in the mud at the East Pond. It will be her first visit ever to my soul place, the where my avian photography career effectively began 45 years ago (even though I did not have a telephoto lens until six years later, in 1983). 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 one hundred fifty-four 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 to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

Clockwise from the upper left corner back around to the center: Wilson’s Phalarope, JBWR; just fledged Common Tern, Nickerson; Black Skimmer, adult skimming, Nickerson; Black Skimmer killing tiny skimmer chick, Nickerson; American Oystercatcher foraging at sunrise, Nickerson; Common Tern chick swallowing baby bluefish, Nickerson; Short-billed Dowitcher, juvenile, double overhead wing stretch, JBWR; Black Skimmers, predawn flock blur, Nickerson; Black Skimmer, 10-day old chick, Nickerson. Click on the card to view a larger version. Nickerson Beach/East Pond JBWR composite

Nickerson Beach/East Pond at Jamaica Bay (JBWR) In-the Field Workshops

Both Nickerson Beach and the East Pond at JBWR offer some of the best midsummer bird photography on the planet. Hundreds of pairs or Black Skimmers and Common Terns along with dozens of pairs of American Oystercatchers breed at Nickerson each season so there are lots of chicks of all sizes and handsome fledged young birds to photograph. Provided that the water levels are low, hundreds of young shorebirds in their handsome fresh juvenile plumages stop by the pond each August on their way south.

Nickerson often reveals nature at it rawest, most basic level. Most days we get to photograph all sorts of dramatic behaviors ranging from skimmers and terns fishing and feeding (and tending) their young. There are often chances to shoot a variety of predatory encounters — gulls eating large skimmer chicks, skimmers attacking (and sometimes killing) skimmer babies, and Peregrine Falcons hunting. And rarely, if we are lucky, Peregrine Falcons catching! Consider joining me to learn a ton both about bird photography and the birds.

I head south on 31 August and should be back home on 1 September (barring anything unforeseen). If you’d like to join me for and In-the-Field sessions at the East Pond on Saturday only or at Nickerson Beach on the 28, 29, or 30, please get in touch via e-mail or text me at 863-221-2372.

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Follow me on Instagram here. I am trying to feature both new and old images, especially images that have not appeared recently on the blog. Or search for birds_as_art.

BIRDS AS ART Image Optimization Service (BAA IOS)

Send a PayPal for $62.00 to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 and put $62.00 on your credit card. Pick one of your best images and upload the raw file using a large file sending service like Hightail or DropBox and then send me the link via e-mail. I will download and save your raw file, evaluate the exposure and sharpness, and optimize the image as if it were my own after converting the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw. Best of all, I will make a screen recording of the entire process and send you a link to the video to download, save and study.

Induro GIT 304L Price Drop

Amazingly, we have two, brand-new-in-the-box Induro GIT 304L tripods in stock. They are $699.00 each (were $799.00) and the price now includes the insured ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Weekday phone orders only: 863-692-0906. Order yours here while they last.

Please Remember

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 earn 3% cash back 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 waitlists 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 on the right side of each blog post page). My affiliate link works fine with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂

If You Enjoy the Blog …

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 24 August 2022 at the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, NY. While seated on damp mud and working off the tilted rear screen, I used the flattened, no-longer available except from BIRDS AS ART, Induro GIT 304L tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 800. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/640 sec. at f/5 (stopped down 2/3 stop). AWB at 6:42:00am on a clear morning. Tracking: Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed amazingly well. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version. Image #1: Juvenile Least Sandpiper attacking juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper

Striving for Different and Getting Lucky

Decent images of squabbling shorebirds are few and far between. Getting a decent fight shot with a relatively slow shutter speed of 1/640 second requires a bit of luck, as does framing such images when working low and off the rear monitor. I think that I was on the semi-sand when the leastie beastie flew in and instinctively pressed and held the the shutter button down. I’d rather be lucky than good any time. But both ain’t bad either.

The feather on the bill of the semi formerly resided on the breast of the young least. And I like the reflection of the face of the crouching semipalmated in the water.

This image was created on 24 August 2022 at the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, NY. While seated on damp mud and working off the tilted rear screen, I used the flattened, no-longer available except from BIRDS AS ART, Induro GIT 304L tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 840mm) with The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 800: 1/1600 sec. at f/6.3. AWB at 9:18:53am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed amazingly well. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version. Image #2: Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper charging

Relatively Cold Light

As we saw here several days ago, the color temperature of the light after 9am on sunny days is a lot cooler than the color temperature of the light at 6:30am on a clear morning. In Image #2, the light is relatively cold — there are no warm tones; the BLUE tones predominate. The higher the sun is in the sky, the more the RED and YELLOW light is blocked. As seen in Image #3 below, the warm early morning light is much richer in YELLOWs and REDs.

You can prove this to yourself as follows. In the adjusted raw file for #2, the RGB values for the brightest WHITEs on the bird’s forehead are R = 253, G = 253, B = 252. The RED value is just one point higher than the BLUE value. For Image #3, below, the RGB values for the brightest WHITEs of the adjusted raw file on the bird’s forehead are R = 249, G = 234, B = 220. The R values is 29 points higher for RED than for BLUE. The greater the difference between the REDs and the BLUEs, the warmer and more golden the light.

This image was created on 25 August 2022 at the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, NY. While seated on damp mud and working off the tilted rear screen, I used the flattened, no-longer available except from BIRDS AS ART, Induro GIT 304L tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 1600. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/1250 sec. at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 6:38:08am on a clear morning. Tracking: Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly,. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version. Image #3: Juvenile Semipalmated Sandpiper preening

Give Me 90 Good Seconds

In very early morning light, the 1.4X TC remains in my fanny pouch so that I can work wide open at f/4. Here, I opted for the relatively fast shutter speed of 1/1250 second in case a fight broke out. This bird walked right in front of me just to the right of my shadow and began preening. In about 90 seconds I created 267 images of the handsome young semi. So far, I have kept only eighteen. Most will hit the dust as I re-edit the folder. Image #3 was one of my favorites. Each of the 267 images in the series was different and distinct.

Typos

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