Mastering the Process. Give me 83 Decent Cloudy Minutes to Do My Job. And, I Can't Believe I Forgot the Yellow Onions

I Can’t Believe I Forgot the Yellow Onions!

In response to Maggi Fuller’s question at the Was it the Sony 200-600 G Lens? Was it the Sony α-1 with Firmware v2.02? Was it My Sony α-1 with Firmware v2.02 Camera Setup (.DAT file)? Or was it My Teaching Ability? blog post here, I posted this:

No secrets here. Adapted from my late Mom Hazel’s recipe.

Hazel’s Apple Celery Stuffing

Amounts are by the seat of your pants.

Cut some sourdough bread into small pieces. Toast it for ten minutes in the oven at 325°. Cut up a sweet apple or two, a yellow onion or two, and a few stalks of celery along with some finely chopped garlic and chopped fresh herbs: rosemary and thyme, etc. Sautée it all in a pan till everything is soft.

Put the toasted bread in a large bowl and add enough chicken broth to cover it all. Leave for five minutes. Pour off the remaining liquid into a large bowl. Squeeze any remaining the liquid out of the bread (and into the bowl).

Add the sautéed apples, celery, onions, and seasonings to the bread and knead well.

Ignore the safety warnings not to put the stuffing inside the turkey. Hazel Morris did it that way for many decades and it was always great. As she made a ton of stuffing (I did not), she baked some in the oven.

Once the bird is stuffed, put it in the oven for the recommended time. Baste the turkey in apple juice and then baste it with the remaining chicken stock. Continue to baste it every 30 minutes.

When the bird is done, remove most of the stuffing with a large spoon and then allow the bird to cool for 30 minutes before carving it. Slowly drizzle flour and a single teaspoon of corn starch to the pan drippings and simmer it until it thickens. This year I used organic spelt flour as it was all I had. It worked out perfectly. I should mention that everything but the turkey was organic. Because of the apple juice, it will be the best turkey gravy you ever tasted.

Happy holidays,
Chef Morris

What’s Up?

Mornings have been tough here recently, but we’ve enjoyed some great Sandhill Crane silhouette photography most evenings.

Today is Monday 2 December 2024. Bob Eastman and I headed down to the lake early. It was a chilly 44° morning with a stiff breeze from the north. Far less than ideal. There was not much around. We worked a crane pair and (without much success), tried for some backlit Cattle Egret images. We positioned ourselves near the pier as the workmen flushed the vultures on the railing but with the north wind, we had zero chance of success.

I said to Bob, “Let’s check The Perch one last time before we head home for breakfast.” I thought that one of the vultures might have landed on the perch. Actually, there was one Turkey Vulture (TV) on The Perch and another on the smaller, lower perch to the southwest. We photographed both birds for a while. The one on the low perch flew off so we continued to work the TV on The Perch. A Black Vulture (BV) flew in and we both expected the TV to give up the perch. It did not. When the dust cleared, the BV and the TV were sitting peacefully next to each other like two peas in a pod, their folded wings almost touching. We had about ten minutes to photograph this unique situation before the TV departed.

When the action occurred, we both fired continuously. Neither of us has any idea if we got anything fabulous. But I will find out after breakfast. Bob went exploring in his truck soon after we got back. Wherever you are, we hope that you too choose to have a great day.

I am thinking of renting an AirBnB for two months next fall. If you are interested in joining me for a month or two after reading today’s blog post and checking out Elisabeth Shore’s wonderful images, please get in touch via e-mail.

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It’s Safe to go in the Water Now

Sony a-1 Firmware Update Update

Last spring, Sony announced firmware update v2.00 for the a-1, its flagship camera body. In short order the firmware story became an embarrassing fiasco. Over time, they announced v2.01 that caused terrible problems when the camera was used with the hugely popular 200-600 G lens. After some time, they released v2.02. About six weeks ago, with some trepidation, I purchased a used a-1 and updated it to v.2.01, and then to 2.02. I am happy to report that it is now possible to go back into the water.

The last update, v2.02, offers some great stuff for bird photographers.

v.2.02 Benefits

Battery life with 2.02 is fine. There are no issues with the 200-600 G lens. Bird Face-Eye AF is significantly improved. Wide AF with Bid Face-Eye tracking has improved drastically. Formatting a card takes about two seconds as compared to 10 seconds or more with previous firmware versions. But the very best news is a brand new feature called Focus Recall. Huge thanks to Arash Hazeghi for pointing it out to me as we worked on an update to the Sony a-1 (a9 iii) flight guide. I took what he taught me about programming Preset Focus/Zoom to a single button for flight photography and turned it into what will surely turn out to be a huge game-changer for general bird photography.

I call it “double button focus recall.” I programmed two easy-to-reach (previously unassigned) buttons to PRESET Focus Distance. I can then register a close focusing distance to one button and a far focusing distance to the other. A tap of either button instantly brings me to either as needed.

Here is a practical, real life example. I am walking out on the pier. There are some very tame Turkey Vultures and a Limpkin perched on the railing. As I slowly approach the birds, I focus on the nearest one and then press and hold the near-focus button. Th camera registers the focus distance my current close focus distance. I might or might not create a few images. Before continuing my approach, however, I take a moment to focus on the end of the pier and this time I press and hold the far focus button. That becomes my far focus distance. Then I tap the close focus button for the birds on the railings and go to work.

I glance up and see an Osprey carrying a large Crappie in its talons flying over the end of the pier. I tap the AEL button to get to my pre-registered far focusing distance. The AF system will have a relatively easy time of seeing the subject. And once the bird is framed, initial focusing acquisition will be virtually instantaneous. Had the AF system been left at the close focusing distance (while working the birds on the pier railing), there is a good chance that the system would have been temporarily blind when I attempted to acquire focus on the Osprey in flight.

Understand that neither the close nor the far focusing distances need to be anywhere near precise. As long as the AF system is in the general neighborhood (as far as focusing distance is concerned), it will not struggle to acquire focus. Once the Osprey flies by, Artie simply taps the AF-On button to instantly get back to the approximate focusing distance for the birds on the railing.

Yesterday I sent the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Notes e-Mail J (23 OCT 2024) Firmware Update Update item to the entire group; it began like this:

Dear a1 Gang,

I hope that all of you are well, having fun, and making some great images. Big time thanks and congrats to the twenty folks in the group who have gotten my v2.02 settings onto their a-1 bodies. Many of them helped by letting me know of typos and other errors in the two instructional e-mails. After ten full days or working every morning with my v2.02 Firmware a-1, the 600mm f/4, and the 300mm f/2.8 (each with either TC), I can wholeheartedly recommend that most everyone with an a-1 would be best to update to Firmware v2.02.

If you are a member of the a-1 group and have not received e-Mail J, please e-mail me with your current and correct e-mail address 🙂

a-1 Group members can receive the two e-mails by sending a PayPal for $50.00 (with the words a-1 v2.021/v2.02 Firmware updates in the Subject line) to birdsasart@verizon.net or by calling the office at 863-692-0906 with a credit card to pay the $50.00. No worries if you have already updated to v2.02 — pay the $50.00 and I’ve got you covered.

If you are not a member of my a-1 group and would like to update your camera body and get all of my current setting on it, you will need to either send a PayPal for $125.00 (with the words a-1 v2.021/v2.02 Firmware updates in the Subject line) to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 with a credit card to pay the $125.00.

All of the images in today’s blog post were created with my v2.02 CAMST202.DAT on my α-1 mirrorless camera body.

This image was created on 30 November 2024 down by the lake at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Standing at full height below the hill just north of the parking circle, I used the handheld peashooter rig, the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 98mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2500: 1/2000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:23:02am on a very cloudy morning. Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Sandhill Crane lying down with bill touching the ground

Mastering the Process

Some things never change:

1- See the shot that you want.
2- Working in Manual Mode, set an appropriate shutter speed for the situation.
3- Set the aperture, usually wide open for bird photography (unless you are very close to the subject).
4- Adjust the exposure by changing the ISO; strive to expose to the right.
5- Pick an AF method, pattern, and/or point that will best allow you to create the image that you’ve envisioned.

Some might ask, “Why such a fast shutter speed for a bird lying on the ground?” As there were three birds atop the small rise, I was hoping for a fight, some courtship dancing, or a copulation. I had framed an image with three birds in the frame when suddenly something strange happened.

A First-ever Crane Behavior

Over the past two plus decades, I have spent many hundreds, perhaps thousands of hours, observing and photographing the behavior of the local Sandhill Cranes. Never before Saturday morning had I seen a bird lie on the ground and then seemingly stick the tip of its bill in the ground for five seconds. I was quite puzzled. Things began to make sense when a few moments later a fourth crane flew in and drove off the other two cranes that had surely been a mated pair.

I surmised that the odd behavior was of a submissive nature. Any thoughts?

And yes, a very large crop was needed to isolate the single bird on the ground from the two in the background.

This image was also created on 30 November 2024 down by the lake at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Seated in the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 478mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 3200. 1/2500 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:10:37am on a then cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Cattle Egret taking flight

Advanced Flight Photography From Your Vehicle

For the last few mornings, a large flock of Cattle Egrets has been on the pier before sunrise feasting on a huge hatch of midges. When the first fisherman shows up, they disperse. Large groups usually wind up on the South Peninsula where they continue to forage for the tiny flying insects. The groups move across the field like an advancing army, always traveling either north or south. On Saturday morning they were moving from south to north. The birds in the back of the flock would take flight one at a time and fly to the north to the front of the pack. By almost constantly moving my SUV as the flock morphed to the north, Bob in the back seat and I in the driver’s seat had some good chances on the birds taking flight. This was my narrow favorite from a group of five keepers. We were both using the 200-600. Being able to zoom out saved the day of Image #2.

This image was also created on 30 November 2024 down by the lake at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Seated in the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Robus RC-5570 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted 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: 1/2000 second at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 8:20:14am on then cloudy bright morning. Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #3: Cattle Egret capturing midge

When Everything is Perfect, Stay on the Shutter Button Until it is Not

The bird was foraging atop a small ridge. Its body was square to the imaging sensor for several seconds. Tracking: Zone grabbed the bird’s eye and stuck with it. The bird was facing south so the north wind splayed the feathers on its back. As it grabbed for a midge, I pressed and held the shutter button down. I created about 100 images before the bird turned away. One was perfect.

To emphasize the bug, a large crop was executed.

This image was also created on 30 November 2024 down by the lake at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Again, seated in the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Robus RC-5570 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted 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: 1/1000 second at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect. AWB at8:45:33am on then cloudy morning. Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #4: Turkey Vulture on The Perch

“An Appropriate Shutter Speed”

With the bird sitting placidly on The Perch, 1/1000 second was more than fast enough to create a handsome portrait. With no reason at all to stop down, the aperture was left at the wide open aperture, f/5.6. Next, I raised the ISO until Zebras covered the sky and there was a smattering of zebras on the ivory white tip of its bill.

Mastering the process will enable you to create pleasing images in any conditions.