Macabre

What’s Up?

On Friday morning at the East Pond, there were far fewer birds than there had been the day before. The small pond that held hundreds of birds the day before, held only a few individuals. The water level has continued to drop from evaporation. There has been no rain to speak of in about two months. The strange thing is that photography on Friday was a lot better than it had been on Thursday. Carlotta Grenier learned to shoot off the rear monitor with her tripod flattened. She did well and we had plenty of birds to photograph. At the Cross Bay Diner, I downloaded and installed both Photo Mechanic and RawDigger. Our “morning session” brunch ended at 1:20pm! On Monday, Carlotta will be returning for an afternoon workflow lesson followed by an In-the-Field session at Nickerson Beach. I head home on Wednesday and will be back in the office on Thursday at about lunchtime.

Friday afternoon turned out to be cloudy with thunderstorms so I am glad that I took the afternoon off. Today is Saturday 27 August 2022. With cloudy skies and a north wind in the forecast, I will head to the East Pond again this morning despite the 9:19am high tide. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about an hour to prepare and makes one hundred fifty-five 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!

This image was created on 18 October 2020 on a Fall Fort DeSoto IPT. Siting on damp sand, I used the knee-pod technique with the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 800. 1/400 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at7:55:06 am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect. Tracking: Spot S AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly though there was no eyeball to be seen anywhere. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Royal Tern, dismembered head on sand

Suggestions for Improving this Image?

If you have any suggestions on how I could have improved this image either in the field or on the computer, please leave a comment.

Macabre: [muh-kah-bruh] adjective

1: gruesome and horrifying; ghastly; horrible.
2: of, pertaining to, dealing with, or representing death, especially its grimmer or uglier aspect.
3: suggestive of the allegorical dance of death.

This Royal Tern head likely belonged to a bird that was an early morning breakfast for a Peregrine Falcon. In a strange way, I find this image beautiful though macabre. What do you think?

Unsolicited via e-mail from Pete Myers

I just spent 4 days in the field in a graduate course in bird photography taught by Artie Morris at Fort DeSoto. After almost 50 years of experience pointing cameras at birds from the Arctic to Tierra del Fuego, New Zealand and beyond, I thought I was good enough. But what I learned from Artie in just four days has taken me to a whole new level. As he aptly puts it, “birds as art,” not simply bird photography. One of those 4 days was the most satisfying I’d ever experienced, anywhere. The IPT left me euphoric about what I’d learned, and frighteningly committed to recreating my portfolio with the techniques and insights he taught me.

The Fall 2022 Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tours

Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds and terns in fall. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, night-herons, and gulls that winter on the T-shaped peninsula. With any luck at all, we should get to photograph one of Florida’s most desirable shorebird species: Marbled Godwit. Black-bellied Plover and Willet are easy, American Oystercatcher is pretty much guaranteed. Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, and White Ibis are easy as well and we will almost surely come up with a tame Yellow-crowned Night-Heron or two. And we will get to do some Brown Pelican flight photography. In addition, Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, and Caspian Terns will likely provide us with some good flight opportunities as well. Though not guaranteed, Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork might well be expected. And we will be on the lookout for a migrant passerine fallout in the event of a thunderstorm or two.

On this IPT, all will learn the basics and fine points of digital exposure. Nikon and Canon folks will learn to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and SONY folks will learn to use Zebras so that they can be sure of making excellent exposures before pressing the shutter button. Everyone will learn how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. Most importantly, you will surely learn to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you’re scared of it). The best news is that you will be able to take everything you learn home with you so that you will be a better photographer wherever and whenever you photograph.

There will be a Photoshop/image review session during or after lunch (included) each full day. That will be followed by Instructor Nap Time.

These IPTs will run with only a single registrant (though that is not unlikely to happen). The best airport is Tampa (TPA). Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with Gulfport AirBnB information. If you register soon and would like to share an AirBnB with me, shoot me an e-mail. Other possibilities including taking a cab to and from the airport to our AirBnB and riding with me. This saves you both gas and the cost of a rental car.

A $600 deposit is due when you sign up and is payable by credit card. Balances must be paid by check two months before the trip. Your deposit is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with six folks, so please check your plans carefully before committing. You can register by calling Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand, or by sending a check as follows: make the check out to: BIRDS AS ART and send it via US mail here: BIRDS AS ART, PO BOX 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions, clothing, and gear advice. Please shoot me an e-mail if you plan to register or if you have any questions.

Up Early, Stay Out Late!

Obviously, folks attending an IPT will be out in the field early and stay late to take advantage of the sweetest light and sunrise and sunset colors (when possible). The good news is that the days are relatively short in early fall. I really love it when I am leaving the beach on a sunny morning after a great session just as a carful or two of well-rested photographers are arriving. The length of cloudy morning sessions will often be extended. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Typos

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