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In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear.
Live Life to the Fullest
Join an Instructional Photo-Tour. For nearly a week of private instruction and great flight photography, check out the Jacksonville IPT.
What’s Up?
Photography down by the lake has been getting better every day. The good news is that the area to the left of the pier is attracting lots of birds. The bad news is that there is lots of emerging and dying vegetation that adds clutter to the backgrounds. Keep reading to learn one way of dealing with the dead grasses.
Today is Saturday May 25 2024. And yes, I will be heading down to the lake early again today. Whatever you are doing, I hope that you too choose to have a great day.
If you plan on purchasing a Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera (or anything else for that matter), please remember to use or write for either my Bedfords discount code or my B&H affiliate link. Folks who use one of my two affiliate links to purchase the a9 III will receive my .DAT settings (the complete camera set-up) along with a Buttons and Dials Guide.
Please remember to use the B&H 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!
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.
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If you’d like to try out a new lens or if you need a lens for a specific trip or project (or for an IPT), LensRentals.com is the only way to go. To save 15%, simply click on the logo link above, arrange for your rental, and type in BIRDSASART15. If you type the gear you are looking for in the search box, it will pop right up. LensRentals.com offers affordable insurance. You can decline it, opt for LensCap: Damage Only, or select LensCap: Damage & Theft. Then hit PROCEED TO CHECKOUT. After you enter all of your info but before completing your order, be sure to scroll down to Promo Code box and enter the BIRDSASART15 code to save 15%.
I checked on renting a Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens for a week. The cost is only $122.00. LensCap: Damage Only coverage can be added for a very low $18.00. Going with LensCap: Damage & Theft would be $27.00. The shipping charge varies. They offer an interesting program called Lensrentals HD. By signing up for this shipping discount program ($99.00/year), you’ll get free Standard Shipping on all the orders you place.
Renting a Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens for a week will cost you $536.00. The two coverage options come in at $76.00 or $114.00. Less your 15% discount when you enter the BIRDSASART15 code into the Promo Code box at checkout and enter the BIRDSASART15 code in the Promo Code box at checkout to save 15%.
Remember, to save the 15% on your rental you must start your search by clicking on the logo above, or on this link: LensRentals.com
B&H
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. B&H will reopen on Fri April 14. 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.
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.
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 be upgraded to free second day air Fed-Ex and receive 3% cash back on your credit card once your stuff ships. Either is greatly appreciated by yours truly.
Bedfords Amazing BAA Discount Policy
Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, prior purchases.
Visit the Bedfords website here, shoot Steve Elkins an e-mail, or text him on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592.
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 stave 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.
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This image was created on 23 May 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter and the ridiculously amazing Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera. ISO 1000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1250 second at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the raw file brightness was very close to being dead solid perfect. AWB at 8:36:54am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version. Image #1: Photo Mechanic screen capture for the Mottled Duck — drake floating image |
Things to Note
1- The Photo Mechanic histogram shows that the image was properly exposed well to the right. RawDigger showed that I might have been able to go 1/3 stop lighter without getting in trouble.
2- Most importantly, note that when I pressed the shutter button that even though the subject was surrounded by dead grasses, none of those skewered its body. Thus, eliminating the dead grasses would be relatively simple.
3- Notice that with the long focal length (1200mm), it looks as if I were a lot lower than I actually was, as if I were seated on the ground rather than in the driver’s seat of my SUV. With the subject size constant, the longer the focal length, the lower the angle of declination.
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This image was created on 23 May 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter and the ridiculously amazing Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera. ISO 1000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1250 second at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the raw file brightness was dead solid perfect. AWB at 8:36:54am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version. Image #2: Mottled Duck — drake floating (optimized) |
The Clean-Up
The (relatively new) Remove Tool (my personalized keyboard shortcut J), made this repair child’s play. It is a combination of the old Spot Healing Brush on steroids and a artist’s brush. After cleaning up the lower right corner, I used the Remove Tool to paint in the highlights on the blue water. The more I use this new tool, the more I am amazed by it. You can learn how to use this tool (along with the new Luminance – Targeted Adjustment Tool) in the now completed Digital Basics III Video Series.
Your Call
If you are one of the very few reading this blog post, do you like the original version with the bird surrounded by dead grasses or the cleaned up version? Why? To me it is a no-brainer.
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Image #2A: This is an unsharpened 100 percent crop of the optimized .TIF file for the Mottled Duck — drake floating image |
Sony a9 iii Sharpness and Fine Feather Detail at 1200mm
As stated here recently and often, I have no idea why the optimized 24MP a9 iii files look as sharp and as detailed as the 50mp a1 files. Note the sharpness of the tiny feather on the top of the duck’s head just behind its eye.
Combine the above with the a9 iii’s vastly improved ergonomics and its far superior autofocus system and it is hard to understand why most Sony bird photographers are still using the a1.
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a9 iii E-mail Set-up and Info Guide |
a9 iii E-mail Set-up and Info Guide
For those who think that my comments on the a9 iii are pure hype, know that I sold the second of my three a1 bodies last week. Lots more on the switch coming soon.
If you plan on purchasing a Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera (or anything else for that matter), please remember to use or write for either my Bedfords discount code or my B&H affiliate link. Folks who use one of my two affiliate links to purchase the a9 III will receive my .DAT settings (the complete camera set-up) along with a Buttons and Dials Guide.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
I am in agreement, the optimized image is better. The grass being dead, dull in color and arranged like it is, becomes a distracting element. The remove tool is fantastic!
Thanks, Doc.
with love, artie
Good morning Mr. Morris.
First let me say your work–photography and writing–has been an enormous inspiration to me, more so than I can express. I will buy your Digital Basics III videos the moment I can afford them. (This is my fist comment on your blog for no particular reason.)
Your writings on photography are incredibly deep and insightful. Your writings remind me of David Vestal’s and Bruce Barnbaum’s (if you’re familiar with the old Photo Techniques magazine, now sadly out of print). (You can buy old issues on eBay and I highly recommend anyone interested in photography do so while you still can.)
Different topic: I actually prefer the photograph with the dead grasses left in. (I was not surprised to read that your preferred version is the one without the dead grasses and that to you, the choice was a “no-brainer.”)
I’ll try to explain my reasoning.
Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about art and composition and what’s interesting to me personally. And while I don’t feel I understand this very well, I feel that one of the things I like a photograph to do is give me something to look at for a rather long time.
Somehow I like the context, and the visual interest, provided by the dead grasses. To each their own.
Interested to hear your thoughts about the a1 vs the a9 III for someone who doesn’t care about autofocus in the least and wants to print large–as large as possible. (I’m currently shooting a Sigma SD Quattro of all things–horrible for bird photography. But the Foveon sensor can produce really wonderful colors and–as with the a9 III apparently–you would never believe its sensor produces files that are only 20 megapixels, based on the sharpness and fine detail. The biggest issue for me is the dynamic range, which is horrible. Just absolutely horrible!)
Have a great day,
John Drenon
Sedalia, Missouri, USA
Hi John,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and for your kind words. Please see my reply via e-mail.
with love, artie
Beautiful habitat often adds to a photos, but I can’t imagine anyone would prefer the “stick” version in this case. I too am amazed by the Remove tool. While no sticks intersected the Mottled Duck, Remove often handles even those situations on the first try. Used it recently to eliminate an OOF weed from in front of a Marsh Rabbit’s nose and the shadow of a nestling woodpecker’s bill from the bark around the nest hole.
Hey Cliff,
Nice to see someone here 🙂
I agree, but only 100%,
with love, artie