Home Safely/Jet Lag Update/One Yakety Yakker Too Many?

Home Safely

After a stop at Junior’s Fish Market and the vegetable stand in Lake Wales I made it home safely to Indian Lake Estates at 6:00pm on Tuesday evening after flying out of Tokyo at noon the same day, connecting in Dallas (DFW). and arriving at the gate in Orlando (MCO) at 2:00pm.

Jet Lag Update

I hardly slept at all on my flights, maybe 2 hours in all at most, that in drips and drabs. When I got home I was exhausted but did not want to go right to bed. Or take a nap. I figured that if I could stay up for a while that I might get right back on schedule…. So I answered some e-mails and spent some time on BPN issues. I climbed into bed at 9:30pm, read for a bit, and soon it was lights out for me. I awoke at 12:15am. I was wide awake. Very wide awake. I thought that I was toast. After all, my body thought that it was 2:15pm in Japan. I almost got up to work on this blog post but decided to try reading again for a while. After I dropped the book a few times I turned out the light and slept till 6:30am. Right now I am feeling great. Swim at 11.

Kazuo Ishiguro

I was lucky to find a used copy of Kazuo Ishiguro’s When We Were Orphans to read on the flight home. Only 1530 yen; that 14.9435 US dollars. From NY Times Books: A search for identity masquerading as a detective novel. I had never heard of the author until I picked up the book at the book shop in Narita Airort. Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki in 1954 and moved to Great Britain at age 5. He is the author of 6 novels including including the international bestsellers The Remains of the Day (winner of the Booker Prize) and Never Let Me Go I need to read those two because this guy can write; even though I watched 3 movies on the plane I am already up to page 198….

Click here for more books by this fine author.

The Streak

This post marks 96 straight days with a new blog post, a record by far that should be extended for at least another day or so, or not. Or more…. To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we ask that use our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

We would of course appreciate you using our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon major gear, video, electronic, household, and personal purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

This blog post took roughly 3 1/2 hours to prepare. Enjoy and comment 🙂

Thanks a Huge Stack!

Thanks a stack to all who visit the blog regularly. February was a record month for the BAA B&H affiliate program. And dozens of folks are getting in the habit of using Amazon for both their minor household and entertainment purchases as well as for major purchases. Their kindness is greatly appreciated and it is great to see that the streak is paying dividends. Love you all. artie

This image was created with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon 2x EF Extender III (Teleconverter), and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2 1/3 stops off the snow in very in soft sunlight: 1/320 sec. at f/13 in Manual mode. Color Temperature: 6,000K. Central sensor (by necessity) Expand/AI Servo/Rear Focus on the center of the upper mandible as framed active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Be absolutely sure to click on the image to see a larger version. Image #1: Immature With Bill Open

More From Our Great Swan Morning

We enjoyed three great sessions with the Whooper Swans. See Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM Lens: Early Impressions for images from our sublime afternoon and 600 f/4 L IS II with 1.4X II TC and the 200-400 f/4L IS with Internal TC at Swan Lake for details of our wonderful morning at Lake Kussharo *say koo-SOR-row) on the way to Rausu (ROU-soo) for the sea eagles.

After the early morning flight and behavior action most of the huge swans laid down on the ice, tucked their heads into their back feathers, and went to sleep. At times, as shown in the image above, some of the birds would pick their heads up to talk to their neighbors. I followed my own advice from ABP II and elsewhere: when unexpected action occurs press the shutter button. I had been stopped down while photographing the sleeping birds (see the post here) and thought about trying to switch to a faster shutter speed for the image above but got lucky with the relatively slow shutter speed.

This image was created with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon 2x EF Extender III (Teleconverter), and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2 stops off the snow in very soft sunlight: 1/400 sec. at f/13 in Manual mode. Color Temperature: 6,000K. Central sensor (by necessity) Expand/AI Servo/Rear Focus on the bird’s cheek as framed active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Be absolutely sure to click on the image to see a larger version. Image #2: Adult With a Second Bird Calling

Contagious Yakking

With many groups of swans scattered about on the ice it was common that whenever one bird began to call and display that several of its neighbors would immediately chime in in similar fashion. Thus, when I made the image above the head of a second adult swan appeared in the frame.

Image Question

In the image above, do you like the 2nd bird in the frame? Would you remove it?

This image was created with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon 2x EF Extender III (Teleconverter), and the Canon EOS-1D X Digital SLR camera. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2 stops off the snow in very soft sunlight: 1/400 sec. at f/13 in Manual mode. Color Temperature: 6,000K. Central sensor (by necessity) Expand/AI Servo/Rear Focus on the bird’s cheek as framed active at the moment of exposure. Click here if you missed the Rear Focus Tutorial. Be absolutely sure to click on the image to see a larger version. Image #2: 2nd Bird Removed

The Image Repair

To create the image above from Image #2 I followed the steps in an APTATS II tutorial to eliminate the 2nd bird. For this technique to work effectively, the background needs to be uniform as was the case here. The repair took about 40 seconds. If I would take the time to set up an action as described in the text I could easily cut that time in half; please don’t ask my why I have failed to do so for the past 3 years….

Questions on Your Preferences

Which do you like better, the image with the 2 birds in the frame or the image with the 2nd bird removed? Be sure to let us know why you made your choice.

Of the 3 images here, which is your favorite. Why?

Yakety Yak

Click here to listen to the Coaster’s original 1958 version of Yakety Yak (don’t talk back).

Digital Basics

Do you like the look of my posted images? Learn everything that I know about using Photoshop in Digital Basics, an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. It includes my complete digital workflow, dozens of great Photoshop tips, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding canvas, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro basics, my killer image clean-up techniques, Digital Eye Doctor, and lots more.

APTATS I & II

Learn the details of advanced Quick Masking techniques in APTATS I. Mention this blog post and apply a $5 discount with phone orders only. Learn advanced Layer Masking Techniques in APTATS II. Mention this blog post and apply a $5 discount with phone orders only. by the pair, APTATS I and APTATS II and we will be glad to apply at $15 discount with phone orders only.

The DPP RAW Conversion Guide

After seeing the accurate colors that I get from my DPP RAW conversions, Japan in Winter co-leader Paul McKenzie is switching to DPP conversions and Denise Ippolito is considering doing the same. Now that is amazing…. To learn why I use Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP) to convert every image that I work on, click here.

If you’d like to learn from the two folks who created the images in the composite above do consider one of the trips below. Denise Ippolito’s images: Japanese leaf painting, skimmer in flight, curved Keukenhof paths with tulips, copulating terns, & pink dahlia. Artie’s images: Snow Geese snowstorm blur, crane landing silhouettes, Leopard with prey in tree, King Penguin, & vertical tulip.

A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours (IPTs)/Two great leaders: Arthur Morris & Denise Ippolito.

Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART www.BIRDSASART-blog.com for the latest images, info, & education
Denise Ippolito/A Creative Adventure www.deniseippolito.com: get yourself out of the box!

Denise’s e-books: Bloomin’ Ideas, A Guide to Filters & Effects, The Softer Side of Macro, & more. Free Monthly Creative MiniMag: www.deniseippolito.com/magazine

Nickerson Baby Beach-nesting Birds IPT, Long Island, NY: 3-Full Days/July 22-24, 2014: $1199.

Black Skimmers, Common Terns with chicks, American Oystercatcher & Piping Plover families; breeding behaviors including courtship feeding, display flight and combat, and copulations. Gulls and shorebirds.

UK Puffins IPT. Early July, 2014.

Details TBA. Please e-mail to be placed on the interested list.

Tanzania Serengeti Summer Safari: Leave US: August 9—return: August 24, 2014: $12,999.

Co-leaders: Arthur Morris & Todd Gustafson. Wildebeest/The Great Migration, cats, elephant, giraffe, zebra, birds & more. Please e-mail for brochure.

Swan Island Dahlia Farm IPT, Canby, OR, September 8-12, 2014: 5 FULL DAYS: $1699.

Leader: Denise Ippolito. 40 acres with 350+dazzling varieties of dahlias in a plethora of colors, shapes and sizes. Sharpen your technical skills and boost your creative juices. Daily assignments, image sharing, and Photoshop sessions.

Bosque del Apache 2014 A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART “Creative Photography Instructional Photo-Tour.” (IPT). NOV 24-25, 2014. 2-FULL DAYS: $729.

Leaders: Denise Ippolito & Arthur Morris. Introductory Slide program: 7:00pm on Sunday 11/23. This IPT is perfect for folks who want to learn to think outside the box, to create new and different images. Learn to unleash your creative juices at the wondrous Bosque del Apache, NWR in San Antonio, NM.

Bosque del Apache 2014 BIRDS AS ART/A Creative Adventure Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). NOV 29-DEC 3, 2014. Totaling 4 FULL-DAYS: $1449

Leaders: Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito. Introductory Slide program: 7:00pm on Sunday 11/29. Tens of thousand of Snow Geese, 10,000 Sandhill Cranes, ducks, amazing sunrises, sunsets, and blast-offs. Live, eat, and breathe photography with two of the world’s premier photographic educators at one of their very favorite photography locations on the planet.

Antarctica/The Extended Expedition Voyage: Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and Falkland Islands: December 13, 2014 to January 10, 2015.

Please e-mail for details.

BAA offers a wide range of books, e-Guides, and educational materials and photographic accessories at the lowest prices around—25+ years of experience, and the best advice you can get. We will not sell you junk. Access the BAA Store here or call us at 1-863-692-0906.

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IPT Info

Many of our great trips are filling up. See especially info on the Holland, Nickerson Beach, and Bosque IPTs. Two great leaders on most trips ensure that you will receive individual attention, have all of your questions answered, and learn a ton including how to think like a pro, see the situation, and get the right exposure every time. In addition you will have fun, and make lots of great images. Click here for IPT details and general information.