Get Well Soon Jim

Longtime friend and employee Jim Litzenberg is recovering at home from a mild case of COVID. He will likely be back to work on Monday 17 October. If you placed an order and need it ASAP, please forward your receipt via e-mail and I will get it to you as quickly as possible.

Fort DeSoto in fall is rife with tame birds. All the images on this card were created at Fort DeSoto in either late September or very early October. I hope that you can join me there this fall. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, Marbled Godwit, Caspian Tern, Great Egret, Sandwich Tern with fish, Willet, Black-bellied Plover threat display, Snowy Egret, 2-year old Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron, juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night-Heron.

Fall 2022 Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tour #3

3 1/2 Days: Monday 31 October through the morning session on Thursday 3 November 2022. $1899.00 includes three working lunches. Limit six photographers/Openings: 5.

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 likely 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.

Clockwise from upper left to center: Long-billed Curlew, juvenile Tricolored Heron, Marbled Godwits, Great Blue Heron, juvenile Pectoral Sandpiper, Wood Stork, smiling Sea Scallop, Ruddy Turnstone scavenging needlefish, Great Blue Heron sunset silhouette at my secret spot, and southbound migrant tern flock blur.

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.

Spoonbills at DeSoto

Over the past years, Roseate Spoonbills have become regular visitors to Fort DeSoto Park. I know when and where to find them and can teach you to approach them successfully. Do consider joining me on the last Fall DeSoto IPT.

What’s Up?

On Sunday evening, I took the four folks who attended the entire second DeSoto IPT out for dinner at Pia’s Trattoria in Gulfport. Wow! Four folks, including me, had the tenderloin. It came with a wonderful creamy white wine sauce that was amazing. I had mine with roasted vegetables and porcini mushrooms. The entire meal was a delight to the palate.

The fourth, last, and final morning of the second Fort DeSoto IPT began slowly and then heated up nicely at my favorite back-up spot. When the clouds thickened at about 8:30pm, we enjoyed non-stop diving tern action. I began handling the 400mm f/2.8 lens with the 1.4X TC, removed the TC as the baitfish and terns got closer and closer, and after an hour of solid flight photography, I needed to take a break as I could not hold the lens up any longer. Everyone got some neat stuff.

In the afternoon, I scouted Boyd Nature Preserve only to learn that it is closed on Monday’s and otherwise does not open until 9:00am. Then I visited my secret sunset spot. There were only a few birds, but the late sky colors were a spectacular blend of red, orange, yellow, purple, pink, blue, and grey. I used my 600 for pan blurs, my 24-125mm and the 70-200 for skyscapes, and my iPhone for panos.

I pack up and head home tomorrow after a short session.

Today is Tuesday 11 October 2022. 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 makes one hundred ninety-nine days in a row with a new one.

Iceland

If anyone would like information on the world’s greatest Iceland/Atlantic Puffin trip this coming July, please contact me via e-mail.

Sandwich Tern as Cruise Missile

This image was really created on 10 October 2022 on the last morning of the second Fort DeSoto IPT. Again, working from the fishing pier, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera).The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 500. 1/5000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 9:40:08am on a then cloudy morning. Tracking: Spot Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Sandwich Tern diving

Spectacular Flight Pose and Head Angle

Over the years, I have made several sharp images of diving terns with similar wing positions. But in every frame, the head of the tern was angled away. the action was hot and heavy, I rarely review images in the field and have no recollection of creating this image. WDYT?

BAA Fort DeSoto/Sarasota Site Guide

Fort DeSoto is about the only bird photography hotspot that I know of that has the potential to offer great opportunities to every day of the year. The big attractions at the park are about 15 species of shorebirds, all the large wading birds (including Roseate Spoonbill and both dark and white morph Reddish Egret), and many species of terns and gulls. In spring we get to photograph the breeding behaviors of Royal & Sandwich Terns and Laughing Gull. Flight photography can be good when feeding sprees occur just off the beach or near the piers. These feature terns and gulls and Brown Pelican. Spring and fall migration can be excellent for all manner of warblers, vireos, gnatcatchers, tanagers, grosbeaks, and orioles in the wooded areas. There are several good locations within an hour of DeSoto that can also offer some great opportunities; Sarasota and the Skyway Bridge Piers are also covered in this site guide. Purchase and study the guide and you will know exactly where to be on what tide and what wind. Why waste your time searching for the birds when you can just show up and act like a DeSoto veteran?

Purchase your BAA Fort DeSoto/Sarasota Site Guide here.

Important note: In March of 2022, an updated map and a North Beach Mini-Guide were added to the sending document.

Typos

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