Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II Versatility on the Beach

The Best and the Worst?

Which of today four featured images, all created in a single afternoon at Nickerson Beach with the incredibly lightweight and versatile Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens is the strongest, and which is the worst of the lot. Please be so kind as to let us know why you made your choices. For me the answers seem obvious.

What’s Up

Despite the relatively poor conditions and the typically inaccurate weather forecasts, I have had lots of great chances at Nickerson every morning and afternoon session. On Wednesday after for example, with an east wind blowing hard against the sun, I knew that the best chances would be with skimmers engaged in midair battles. And I would of course, keep my eyes open for any cool backlit situations. When I spotted some Great Black-backed Gulls in the process of killing yet another skimmer chick, I ran for the first time in a decade or two. I missed the killing, but got some great stuff on the eating.The flying backlit sand was very cool.

Today is Thursday 17 August 2023. I am heading to the beach for one last session. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. I fly back to Florida tomorrow.

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.

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.

The Fact$ of Life

The market for editorial sales of natural history images has virtually disappeared. The incomes of the world’s top stock photographers are down by at least 90%. Like me, many depend on income from photo trips, the sale of educational materials, and income from this or that affiliate program.

In 2001, BAA sold the publication rights to images for nearly one-quarter million US dollars. That amount dropped to about $20,000 by 2011, and in 2017, to slightly more than $2,000.00. We’ve stopped counting. IPTs used to fill within days. Now I am happy to go with one or two folks, but I’d much rather have you along. And so it goes. In 2009, I turned to creating educational blog posts, now to the tune of 4070! Yes, 4070 educational blog posts. Please, therefore, remember to use either my B&H or Bedfords affiliate links for your major purposes. It will not cost you one cent to do either.

B&H

Many folks have written recently stating that they purchased a Sony a1 from B&H and would like their free membership in the Sony 1 Info and Updates Group, a $150.00 value. When I check my affiliate account, their orders have not been there. When I let them know that they get credit for B&H purchases only if they use one of the many B&H affiliate links on the blog or begin their searches with this link, they are always disappointed. If in doubt, please contact me via e-mail and request a BH link. I am always glad to help and to guide you to the right gear.

B&H Simplified

To ensure that I get credit for your B&H purchases, you can always click here. The tracking is invisible but greatly appreciated. And, you can use your PayBoo card. You must use the website to order. Thanking me for the past 4000 educational blog posts could not be any easier and will not cost you one penny. Please shoot me your B&H receipt for major purchases.

Bedfords Simplified

Click here to start your search. Choose standard shipping, and when you get to the payment page, enter BIRDSASART in the discount code box and hit apply. You will automatically be upgraded to free second day air Fed-Ex and receive 3% cash back on your credit card once your order ships. Either is greatly appreciated by yours truly.

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 🙂

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. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. 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 12 August 2023 at Nickerson Beach Park, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. While standing at full height, I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (at 400mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial. ISO 800: 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 6:24:16pm on a variably cloudy afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Sanderling flock backlit is flight

Wind Against Sun Possibility

As noted above and in many previous blog posts, whenever you are faced with wind-against-sun conditions, you should be on the lookout for backlit situations. There have been some big flocks of Sanderling gathering on the beaches. As many as a thousand or more on occasion. Most of the time, they have not blasted off when or as needed.

This image was also created on 12 August 2023 at Nickerson Beach Park, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. While seated on dry sand, I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (at 400mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial. ISO 2000: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 6:43:53pm on sunny afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Black Skimmer adult attacking chick from another nest that wandered into its territory

Attempted Murder on the Beach

Both adult terns and skimmers are quick to attack chicks from other nests that wander into their territories, often looking to get fed. Sometimes they carry the chicks far from their own nests and drop them. Whether they are dropped on the beach or into the ocean, the result is a death sentence. On rare occasion, a wayward chick is killed outright as was one small skimmer chick on Wednesday morning. I am writing an article on the new Bird Watcher’s Digest on the subject. Check out friend Julie Zickefoose’s blog post on the resurrection of the magazine that put me on the map in the 1990s to the tune of 25 published articles here.

And oh, by the way, the chick in Image #2 survived the attack.

This image was also created on 12 August 2023 at Nickerson Beach Park, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. While seated on dry sand, I used the footpad technique with the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (at 400mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial. ISO 2000: 1/800 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:01:50pm on sunny afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #3: Black Skimmer adult yapping

Surprisingly

Very surprisingly, adult Black Skimmers are constantly yapping when they are on the ground. Or when sitting on eggs or young. One of my very recent strategies has been to find the cleanest sand in town and then sit down and wait for a bird to land in front of me. That approach has been paying big dividends for the past week.

This image was created on 12 August 2023 at Nickerson Beach Park, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. While standing and pointing the lens straight down, I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial. ISO 2500: 1/250 sec. at f/4 (stopped down one stop) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:54:29pm after the sun disappeared behind a big dark cloud. Tracking: Expand Spot AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #4: Great Black-backed Gull — deceased

Even the Mighty Perish

Great Black-backed Gull is a large, fierce predator. For the past week, I have seen them take one or more Black Skimmers chick every day. For the first time in many years of visiting Nickerson Beach, I have seen them kill a half-grown chick and then fly away for no reason without devouring their prey.

70-200 GM II Close Focus!

With a Minimum Focusing distance of only 17 inches at 200mm, this small telephoto zoom lens can serve well as a quasi-macro lens.

Taking it Easy

When I am feeling a bit tired or a lot lazy, I will often grab either the 70-200 or the 200-600, take a walk on the beach, and see what I can do.

All images from SEPT/OCT/NOV at Fort DeSoto. Click on the image to enjoy a larger, sharper high-resolution version. Clockwise from upper left to center: Piping Plover flapping after bath, juvenile Laughing Gull with feather, American Oystercatcher with sea urchins, Willet foraging in surf, American White Pelican juvenile swimming, skimmer/tern/shorebird blast-off blur, American White Pelican in flight, Black-bellied Plover stealing lugworm from Marbled Godwit, Roseate Spoonbill staring.

The Fall 2023 Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tours

Fall 2023 Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tour #1

3 1/2 Days: Tuesday 26 September through the morning session on Friday 29 September 2023. $1899.00 includes three working lunches. Limit six photographers.

Fall 2023 Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tour #2

3 1/2 Days: Tuesday 17 October through the morning session on Friday 20 October 2023. $1899.00 includes three working lunches. Limit six photographers.

Fall 2023 Fort DeSoto Instructional Photo-Tour #3

3 1/2 Days: Tuesday 14 November through the morning session on Friday 17 November 2023. $1899.00 includes three working lunches. Limit six photographers/Openings five.

Fall Bird Photography at Fort DeSoto

Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds, terns, and gulls in fall. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, and night-herons 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 there should be some quality 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.

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.

The Details

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 guaranteed). The best airport is Tampa (TPA). Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with Gulfport AirBnB/VRBO 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 for $50/day. 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 one month 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 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 on lodging.

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. On cloudy days, we may — at the leader’s discretion, stay out in the morning for a long session and skip the afternoon session. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. And so that we can get some sleep, dinners will sometimes be on your own as well.

Typos

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