A Momentous Decision, Stick Marsh, & Tools for Fools

A Momentous Decision

Inspired by new friend Robert Handin, I have decided to sell all of my photography gear (cheap), use the funds to purchase a quality cello, and take cello lessons. I have always wanted to learn to play a musical instrument. If you would like to purchase some used Sony gear at might-as-well-give-it-away prices, please click here. All inquiries and comments are welcome.

Your Call?

Which of today’s featured images do you like best? Why? I have a tie for first place.

What’s Up?

Our plan to switch tracks and visit Stick Marsh turned out to be a brilliant one. If you had purchased a membership in the Stick Marsh e-mail Group you would have known, based on the weather forecast — to be there on Friday morning. We were and it was beyond great.

Today is Saturday 1 April 2023. Bob Handin and I will head down to the lake early to look for the three Sandhill Crane families. This blog post about two hours to prepare including the time spent on the image optimizations and makes three hundred sixty-six days in a row with a new educational post written just for you. As planned for a while, I will post again on Monday 3 April. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. Though I will be concentrating on my new musical career, I have more than enough images to post every other day for at least twenty more years.

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.

Oh, What a Morning!

The morning of March 31 was superb at Stick in Fellsmere, FL. At one point, we had 25 spoonies on the ground right in front of us.

The Stick Marsh Site Guide Subscription Service

I fully understand that you can go to Google Maps, find Stick Marsh, visit, and likely make some good images. You might think, I can do fine just without artie’s advice. But you will do a whole lot better with it.

I will be e-mailing this year’s second update tomorrow. It will detail my thoughts on the effects of the current construction project and the best strategies to employ for the rest of this season.

The Site Guide Subscription Service was a new concept last year. I e-mailed the first issue in late-March 2022. The Basics e-mail includes specific directions to the site, and a map of the rookery area with specific instructions and wind, weather, and where-to-be advice. Sign up now to receive last year’s five e-mail, Stick Marsh Site Guide e-Mail #6, the March 20, 2023 Update, and e-Mail #7 coming soon to a theater near you. To sign up for the Stick Marsh Site Guide Subscription Service, call Jim in the office weekday afternoons at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand or send a PayPal for the $100.00 to us at birdsasart@verizon.net. Please be sure to include the words Stick Marsh with your PayPal order.

This image was created on 31 March 2023 at Stick Marsh. Seated on a milk crate, 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 1000. 1/1600 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 7:26:45am on what would become a clear day. Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Roseate Spoonbill — one year old incoming flight

Pastel Pinks

The soft pink coloration and the brown-tinged primary feathers mark this bird as a one-year old. It was hard to choose a favorite from the sharp, 19-frame sequence. I kept nine of those based on wing position.

This image was also created on 31 March 2023 at Stick Marsh. Again, seated on a milk crate, this time I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (zoomed out to 314mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras. ISO 1600: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:40:58am as a faint cloud covered the sun briefly. Tracking: Expand Spot AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Roseate Spoonbill bird-scape

Fast and Furious

The action was fast and furious for more than an hour as we had three and four birds come in almost at once. My left arm got tired of handholding the 400 f/2.8 so I switched to the much smaller and lighter 70-200 II with the 2X TC. For image #2, I zoomed out just a bit to create a beautiful bird-scape.

This image was also created on 31 March 2023 at Stick Marsh. Seated on the grass, I used the handheld (!) Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 800. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/3200 second at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 8:05:23am on sunny morning. Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #3: Roseate Spoonbill — tight flight

Stronger?

My left arm must have been feeling better as I decided to scootch closer to the birds and try for some head portraits of birds on the ground. That plan did not work such good, so I began trying to create tight flight shots of the incoming spoonbills. As simply keeping the bird centered in the frame when handholding the 600 lens requires more strength than I have, I wound up with only two sharp tight flight images. My favorite is above.

Tools for Fools

Yes, I am very blessed to be able to own four great Sony telephoto lenses: the 600 f/4 GM, the 400 f/2.8 GM, the 200-600 f/5.6-6.3 GM, and the 70-200mm f/2.8 GM III. The trick is to know which lens to use when. With 40 years of experience, I generally have a pretty good idea of which tool to use in a given situation. That said, I continue to learn. Each situation involves many variables. Those include the species you are after, the size of the bird or the birds, how readily they accept the presence of humans, the habitat, regulatory restrictions such as “stay on the path,” “stay on the boardwalk,” or “no entry,” the sky conditions, the wind direction, your physical condition, your mood, and many others.

Did I leave any out?

Lens Choice Question

Since I purchased the 400mm f/2.8 lens I have rarely used the 200-600. Why? Using either the prime lens alone or with the 1.4X TC puts me at either 400mm or 560mm. To some degree, those pretty much duplicate the most commonly used focal lengths of the 200-600. Why, therefore, do I almost always opt to go with the larger, heavier, less versatile 400mm f/2.8?

Typos

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