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What’s Up?

I am in Colorado for two more days. I fly back to Orlando this coming Sunday morning. I am tired and a bit jet-lagged, and I have been battling a mild case of altitude sickness as our condo is at 8500 feet. But I am still plugging away. We waited for several hours for some clouds to cover the sun this afternoon before finally creating some decent Violet-crowned Swallow images at 6:00pm.

Today is Friday 28 June 2024; we will try for some more songbird flight and action. I hope that you too have a great day.

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.

Summer On Long Island

Take a peek at the previous blog post and check out the July and August Nickerson Beach (& JBWR) IPT offerings on the IPT page here and consider joining us to learn a ton, make lots of great images, and improve your image processing skills.

Stellers-Jay-3200-adult-chasing-juvie-_A939916-Evergreen-CO-Enhanced-NR

This image was created on 27 June 2024 at Evergreen, CO. Seated on a camping chair, I used the Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and the ridiculously amazing Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera. ISO 8000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/4000 second at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the raw file brightness was perfect. AWB at 6:8am on a cloudy morning.

Tracking: Wide AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed quite well. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version.

Image #1: Stellers Jay — adult scolding juvenile

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Spray and Pray Confidence with the Sony a9 iii

The outstanding AF system of the Sony a9 iii encourages me to try the impossible. This amazing camera body allows me to succeed fairly often in such situations as long as I am shooting aggressively and utilizing 1.0 second pre-capture. While my keeper rate when shooting songbirds in flight and action is ridiculously low, less than 1/2 percent, the occasional family jewel makes up for the effort required photographing in extremely difficult situations.

As far as shooting more aggressively, I must be getting better in this area as when I saw today’s featured image on the laptop for the first time, it came as a complete surprise. I had no recollection of pushing the shutter button!

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 recently sold the second of my three a1 bodies.

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), a Buttons and Dials Guide, and an a9 iii Info Sheet.