Canon EOS R6 Mirrorless Camera Body

BAA Record-low Price!

Victor Banerjee is offering a Canon EOS R6 mirrorless camera body in near-mint condition for a BAA record-low $1898.00. The sale includes the original box, the front body cover, the original battery and charger, the strap, the manual, and and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only.

Please contact Victor via e-mail.

The R6 is virtually identical to the R5 but for the 20 MP raw files and the smaller price tag. The Menu is easy to navigate.The Face Detection plus Tracking technology (though not perfect) is superb. The Custom shooting modes (C1-C3) allow the user to save many items including and especially Customize Buttons, Customize Dials, and Shutter Mode settings. That makes the Custom shooting modes a huge plus for users who do not need to waste time fiddling around with various settings. One of three different Mount Adapters EF-EOS R enable folks to use their Canon EF lenses seamlessly with all of the great R6 features maintained. AF performance with the adapters and EF lenses is superb. Purchase Victor’s body and enjoy a $20.00 discount on the R5/R6 Camera User’s Guide. artie

What’s Up?

I visited the Circle Bar B Preserve in Lakeland again on Wednesday morning. As noted below, there was not much going on. After my nap, I spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready for my B&H Event Space presentation. Everything ran smoothly and there were lots of good questions. If you missed the program — Photographing Bald Eagles at Kachemak Bay, Homer, Alaska, you can view it here.

Today is Thursday 10 November 2022. It is cool and windy here in central Florida as predicted. This blog post took 90 minutes to prepare and makes two hundred twenty-eight 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!

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.

Some Days are Diamonds: Part I — Spanish Moss-scape

Tuesday at Circle Bar B was quite excellent. Wednesday? Not so much. Because it was dark and totally cloudy, I walked 3.5 miles with the 400mm f/2.8 on the monopod. Carrying the big lens as shown in the monopod video is actually easier than carrying the lighter 200-600 and the light tripod. In any case, there were very few birds on Wednesday. Some days are stone. I did, however, have one very good chance near the end of my 3.5-mile walk — a handsome adult Great Blue Heron posed with an armored catfish and eventually swallowed it.

This image was created on 8 November 2022 at the Circle Bar B Preserve in Lakeland, FL. Seated on a crushed limestone path, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 287mm) with The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera ISO 640. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel: 1/2500 sec. at f/8 (stopped down 1 stop). RawDigger showed that the exposure was just short of dead-solid perfect. AWB at 8:39:47am on a misty, partly cloudys morning. Tracking: Spot S/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Image #1: Anhinga Spanish Moss-scape image

The Situation

I love mixed clouds with some sun for my favorite morning walk along the east-facing shore of Lake Hancock. On clear mornings, the sun is simply too strong for photography, but when the sun is somewhat muted by light clouds of fog, there are lots of dramatic back-lit possibilities.

Why the 1.4X TC?

I created 167 images of this bird. I began with the zoom lens alone. The first images were similar to today’s featured image. Then I added the 1.4X TC and zoomed in. I made two series of images of the bird alone filling more than half the frame, those at 791 and 840mm. I did not like any of them. Then, with the TC still in place, I zoomed out and went back to creating wider images, images that again included lots of the hanging Spanish Moss.

Spanish Moss

Hanging from tree limbs, especially live oaks and cypresses, Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides) is a familiar part of Florida’s environment. Despite its name, Spanish moss is not a moss, but a bromeliad, a perennial herb in the pineapple family. Most bromeliads, including Spanish moss, are epiphytes. It is gray when dry and light green when wet. Spanish moss used to be harvested for stuffing material in automobile seats, furniture, mattresses, and even home insulation. Today it is sometimes used for stuffing or packing material, but it is more widely used for floral arrangements and mulch.

I found an interesting article entitled Eleven facts you need to know about Spanish Moss on the Explore Beaufort SC website here. None of the research that I did for this article mentioned that Ospreys use Spanish Moss to line their nests.

This is a tall skinny vertical crop of Image #1, above. Image #2: Anhinga Spanish Moss-scape image

Your Call

Which version of today’s featured image do you like best, Image #1, the full frame original, or Image #2, the tall, skinny crop? Leave a comment and let us know why you made your choice.

Click on the image to better see the green eye-AF boxes in action. Sony Alpha 1 Flight Photography AF Points!

The SONY Alpha a1 Set-up Guide and Info Group: $150.00 (or Free)

The SONY Alpha a1 Set-up Guide and Info Group is going great guns as more and more folks chime in with thoughtful questions and experience-based answers. As the a1 is becoming more readily available, more and more folks are getting their hands on this amazing body. The group is now up to up to an astounding 131 lucky and blessed folks, and more than a few folks own two or more a1 bodies! Early on, we discussed the myriad AF options. I gave my opinion as to the best one for flight and general bird photography. The best news is that everyone in the group receives an e-mail that includes a .DAT file with my a1 settings on it, and explicit directions on how to load my settings onto your a1; talk about convenience! I am now offering a .DAT file compatible with firmware update 1.20. Your entry into the group includes a consolidated Sony a1 CAMSETA2 INFO & GUIDE. New a1 folks will now receive six e-mails instead of the previous 28! You will receive new e-mails as they are published. Simply put, this e-mail guide is an incredible resource for anyone with an a1.

All who purchased their Alpha 1 bodies via a BAA affiliate link — B&H or Bedfords — will receive a free Sony Alpha a1 Set-Up Guide and free entry into the Info Updates group after shooting me their receipts via e-mail. (Note: it may take me several days to confirm B&H orders.). Others can purchase their guide here in the BAA Online Store.

Typos

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