I'm Dreaming of a White ...

Not Bad for an Old Lady!

Enjoy Brenda Lee’s screen notes while watching this video with your family and friends this holiday season. It is quite well done and quite touching.

The 78-year-old pop and country music star recorded the iconic holiday nugget at the age of 13. It was always a staple of the seasonal pop, but blew up from its use in 1990’s ‘Home Alone,’ and this month it took over the top position of the Billboard charts for the first time ever. This is the first music video that Lee has ever made, and she invited her Nashville friends, neighbors, and hit-makers Tanya Tucker and Trisha Yearwood to be part of the shoot. “We wanted to make sure the video was timeless, and had a special Christmas feeling of being home with your family,” says Lee. Watch our Footnotes interview to see how she was coaxed into doing that dazzling dance spin in “the new old fashioned way.”

What’s Up?

No snow here in Florida. I have been having a ton of fun with the vultures along with the occasional Bald Eagle or caracara at the Road Kill Cafe. Yesterday I had a fly-by Greater Yellowlegs and the Forster’s Tern flock on the railing of the pier is up to at least 40. It looks as if the female eagle is sitting on eggs at a new nest several hundred yards past the nest that was active for the past two years. That’s a bummer as the old nest was great for photography and the new nest is not as it is far too cluttered.

Today is Monday 25 December 2023. Happy holidays to all. It is way dark here so I will be heading down to the lake at about 8:30am and hopes things bright up. I have only a very few salmon carcasses left, courtesy of Mike at Junior’s Fish Market in Lake Wales. Pass the Haddock and tuna please. Wherever you are and whatever you choose to do, I hope that you too have a great day.

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.

This image was created on 22 February 2020 on a BAA Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) at Homer, AK. I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens (at 120mm) and the Sony a9 II (now replaced by The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.). The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1000: 1/2000 sec. at f/3.2 stopped down 2/3 stop) in Manual mode. AWB at 11:04:23 on a glorious morning after 8 inches of fresh snow. Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Bald Eagle walking in deep snow

I’m Dreaming of a White February (in Homer!)

Fresh snow in Homer is to die for. The more the better. It opens up a great variety of wondrous situations. Best of all it acts like a giant reflector that lights up the bird’s underwings. As in Image #2 immediately below. It’s your lucky day: there is one spot open on the first IPT that offers a greater chance for a big snowfall.

This image was created on 25 February 2020 on a BAA Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) at Homer, AK. I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens (at 200mm) and the Sony a9 II (now replaced by The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.). The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 500: 1/3200 sec. at f/3.2 stopped down 2/3 stop) in Manual mode. AWB at 10:57:51 with lots of snow still on the ground. Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Bald Eagle braking to land

Snow on the Ground — the Gift That Keeps on Giving

Once you get a good snowfall, you are in for a good week of great photography. You get to photograph the birds with pure white backgrounds and when we land on a spit, the snow, as mentioned above, acts as a huge reflector — your world will be a giant soft box.

This image was created on 1 March 2022 on a BAA Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) at Homer, AK. I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 280mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2500: 1/1600 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 3:10:22am during a snow squall. Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #3: Bald Eagle in flight in snow squall

A Really Neat Trick

The snow squall came on suddenly and was over almost as fast. At the peak of intensity, it was impossible for the AF system to see through the wall of fat snowflakes. I thought, “How can I get through the snowflakes?” Aha! I set the zoom to the max, 280mm, and laced my left hand on the focus ring (not the zoom ring where it usually resides). Since the version II of the Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 lens offers Direct Manual Focus (the original version did not), I was able to focus manually so that the lens could see the subject. With that bit of help, it acquired focus and tracked the eagle’s eye or face without a problem. Join any IPT to learn to solve new problems on the spot with practical solutions.

This image was created on 7 March 2020 on a BAA Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) at Homer, AK. I used the handheld Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens (at 433mm) and Sony a9 II (now replaced by The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera). ISO 1000. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 2:59:14pm on a cloudy afternoon. Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Human Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #4: Photographers in the snow with Bald Eagles )

This Could Be You!

Anita North and Greg Ferguson in the snow with friends. It looks as if both are using the now obsolete (for bird photographers) Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens along with an a9 II. As below, there is one spot left on the first Homer IPT.

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

2024 Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPTs

IPT #1: WED 21 FEB 2024 through the full day on SUN 25 FEB 2024. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 1.

IPT #2: MON 26 FEB 2024 through the full day on FRI 1 MAR 2024. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers. Limit 5 photographers/Sold Out

Register for both trips to maximize your travel dollars and enjoy a $1000 discount while you are at it.

This trip features non-stop flight photography as well as many opportunities to create both environmental and point-blank portraits and head shots of one of North America’s most sought-after avian subjects: Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Other reliable subjects will include Sea Otter, Glaucous-winged and Short-billed (formerly Mew) Gulls.

In addition, we should see (and possibly get to photograph) Common Murre, Pigeon Guillemot, Pelagic Cormorant, two or three species of loons, and a smattering of ducks including two species of merganser, all three scoters, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, Harlequin, and Long-tailed Ducks. Close-range photographic chances for these species will require some luck. Some of these species, especially when in flocks, can, however, often be used effectively when pleasing creating bird-scapes. In most years we have chances for Short-eared and Great Grey Owl, Grey-crowned Rosy Finch, and Moose in and around Homer.

You will enjoy working with the best and most creative boat captain in Homer on his sturdy, photography-spacious, seaworthy, open-deck watercraft.

There will be only five photographers (not the usual six), plus the leader on these trips.

Almost endless small group Photoshop, Image Review, and Image Critiquing sessions.

If we need to be out early, we will be the first boat out. If the conditions are great, we will stay out. And when there is a chance for sunset silhouettes, we will be in the right spot at the right time. And ad we will be traveling through gorgeous wilderness country, landscape and scenic opportunities abound.

Also featured is a professional leader, often referred to as the world’s most knowledgeable bird photography trip leader and instructor. He is conversant in Canon, Nikon, and Sony. You will learn practical and creative solutions to everyday photographic problems. You will learn to see the shot, to create dynamic images by fine-tuning your compositions, to best utilize your camera’s AF system, and how to analyze the wind, the sky conditions, and the direction and quality of the light. This is one of the very few trips Homer trips available where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun. You will learn to be a better photographer.

Homer 2022 Bald Eagle Highlights and Handholding Compositional Tips by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Enjoy and be inspired by just a few Homer Bald Eagle highlight images. Hand holding intermediate telephoto lens will always yield slightly different compositions. Learn more about that topic in this short (3:14) video.

All images from Kachemak Bay in 2022!

What You Will Learn

You will learn practical and creative solutions to everyday photographic problems. You will learn to see the shot, to create dynamic images by fine-tuning your compositions, to best utilize your camera’s AF system, and how to analyze the wind, the sky conditions, and the direction and quality of the light. This is one of the very few trips Homer trips available where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun. You will learn to be a better photographer. But only if that is what you want.

You will learn to get the right exposure when it is sunny, when it cloudy-bright, when it is cloudy, when it is cloudy-dark, or when it is foggy. Not to mention getting the right exposure when creating silhouettes. You will learn to make pleasing blurs and to create silhouettes working in Shutter Priority mode when the situation is right. Most importantly you will learn to pick your best flight images from tens of thousands of images.

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

What’s Included

One four hour or two two-hour boat trips every day (weather permitting), all boat fees and boat-related expenses (excluding tips), ground transportation to and from the dock and back to the hotel each day, in-the-field instruction and guidance, pre-trip gear advice, small group post-processing and image review sessions, and a thank you dinner.

What’s Not Included

Your airfare to and from Homer, AK (via Anchorage), the cost of your room at Land’s End Resort, all personal items, all meals and beverages, and a tip for the boat captain.

Please Note

On great days, the group may wish to photograph for more than four hours. If the total time on the boat exceeds 20 hours for the five-day trips the group will share the additional expense at a rate of $225/hour. The leader will pay for the bait.

Some folks may wish to rent their own vehicle to take advantage of local photographic opportunities around Homer. In 2023 those included Moose, Great Grey, and Short-eared Owls.

Deposit Information

A $3000 non-refundable deposit/trip is required. You may pay your deposit with credit card or by personal check (the latter made out to BIRDS AS ART) and sent via US mail only to Arthur Morris. PO Box 7245. Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Your balance, due 60 days before the date of departure, is payable only by check (as above).

In Closing

I have been going to Homer off and on for close to two decades. Every trip has been nothing short of fantastic. Many folks go in mid-March. The earlier you go, the better the chances for snow. The only way to assure that you are on the best of these two trips is to sign up for both of them. Can you keep up with me? If you have any questions, or are good to go for one, or two of these great trips, please let me know via e-mail or give me a call on my cell phone at 863-221-2372.

Typos

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