More Fort DeSoto in Fall, Ladies, and Make Your Hotel Reservations Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

The Streak Continues: 286

After falling asleep early on the couch last night I was up and working just after 4:00am this morning, just a bit earlier than average. This blog was published at about 5:45am from my home in Indian Lake Estates, FL. Yesterday I enjoyed another long swim of just under a mile and another short nap. I spent four more solid hours working on the DPP 4.0 RAW Conversion eGuide, learning a ton as I go. This post, which took me about 3 hours to prepare, makes 286 in a row. 365 is well within sight….

As always, I would appreciate your using the BIRDS AS ART B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases, using our Amazon logo-link for all of your household purchases, and visiting the BAA Online Store for your tripod, tripod head, LensCoat, miscellaneous, accessories, and eGuide purchases as well. Please remember, web orders only. 🙂

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.

For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Purchasing the items listed above from B&H actually hurts us :). 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.

Used Photography Gear Sales Updates

Mike Gotthelf’s 800mm f/5.6L IS and Walt Anderson’s EOS-1D Mark IV both sold this week. And amazingly, Brent Bridges sold his old 500 within two hours of publication of the blog. And then he sold his two Series II TCs that afternoon. Talk about effective….

Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charges a minimum of 20% plus assorted fees! Yikes. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Click here to see all the current listings.

Used Gear Cautions

Though I am not in a position to post images of gear for sale here or elsewhere, prospective buyers are encouraged to request for photos of the gear that they are interested in purchasing via e-mail. Doing so will help to avoid any misunderstandings as to the condition of the gear. Sellers are advised to take care to photograph their used gear with care against clean backgrounds so that the stuff is represented accurately and in the best light; please pardon the pun :).

This winter plumage Sandwich Tern was photographed on September 16, 2012 at Fort DeSoto Park with the hand held Canon 500mm f/4L EF IS II lens, the Canon 1.4x EF tele-extender III, and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 3200. Evaluative metering +2 stops off the sky: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. Central Sensor Surround/AI Servo Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure just caught the trailing edge of the bird’s right wing as originally framed. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image for a larger version.

More Fort DeSoto in Fall

Fort DeSoto in fall can be a paradise for photographing terns in flight. Mornings are usually best as are south winds or any wind with an easterly component. You can position yourself upwind from a rooting flock and wait for other birds to land. Better yet is to find them feeding on baitfish close to shore as was the case for the image above. In addition to the Sandwich Terns (seen on both of today’s images), there are always Royal Terns and Ring-billed Gulls along with adult and first winter Laughing Gulls in the mix.

Click here for more on hand holding the 500 II at DeSoto.

This winter plumage Sandwich Tern was also photographed on September 16, 2012 at Fort DeSoto Park with the hand held Canon 500mm f/4L EF IS II lens, the Canon 1.4x EF tele-extender III, and the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 3200. Evaluative metering +3 stops off the sky: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. Central Sensor Surround/AI Servo Rear Focus AF active at the moment of exposure just caught the trailing edge of the bird’s left wing as originally framed. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image for a larger version.

Ladies, and Make Your Hotel Reservations Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

So far, two very nice ladies have signed up for the Fort DeSoto IPT. Scroll down in this blog post for details. St Augustine IPT veteran Catherine Costolo is coming down from Atlanta. And Deirdre Sheerr-Gross, who lives in New London, NH, about 1½ hours northwest of Boston, will be visiting Florida in October and joining the IPT. Deirde is a multiple IPT veteran; she has been on more than half a dozen in the very few years that she has been photographing.

Come on guys, whatcha waiting for?

Last night I made my reservations at the Beachcomber Beach Resort, 6200 Gulf Blvd, St. Petersburg (St. Pete Beach), FL 33706 (727-367-1902). The very nice Ava told me that they expect to sell out on the weekend quite soon so if you are thinking of joining us for some great bird photography and tons of learning and fun, please do not wait too long to register.

This was the original image from which the previous image was created.

The Image Optimization

I did the RAW conversion in DPP 4.0. As you can see by checking the before and after optimization images above, the Peripheral illumination adjustment does a great job with vignetting. And Arash’s customized settings for the 1D X for both Luminance and Chrominance Noise nailed the dark tones. Then, as always, the image was brought into Adobe Photoshop CS-6. I selected the dark tones with the Quick Selection Tool, applied a Contrast Mask (to add selective sharpening to that layer only), and then lightened the selection by pulling up the curve. Then, using techniques from APTATS I & II the bird was re-positioned in the frame, fine tuned first by adding a Regular Layer Mask and then with a single large Quick Mask, also fine-tuned with the addition of a Regular Layer Mask. After the crop to increase the subject size I saved my master TIFF file and then created my 1200 pixel wide JPEG optimized to less than 395kb for use on both the blog and on BPN.

The DPP RAW Conversion Guide

To learn why I use Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP) to convert every image that I work on, click here. Coming soon: The DPP 4.0 RAW Conversion Guide by Arash Hazeghi and Arthur Morris. The more that I use DPP 4.0 for my RAW conversions the more I am impressed with it. I will be putting in several more hours of work today editing and adding to our new eGuide. Note: at present, DPP 4.0 will work only with 1D X and 5D III images.

Digital Basics

Everything that I did to optimize today’s image is covered in detail in my Digital Basics File–written in my easy-to-follow, easy-to-understand style. Are you tired of making your images look worse in Photoshop? Digital Basics File is an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. It includes my complete digital workflow, dozens of great Photoshop tips, details on using all of my killer image clean-up tools, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding and filling in canvas, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro basics, Digital Eye Doctor, Tim Grey Dodge and Burn, how to create time-saving actions, and tons more.

APTATS I & II

Learn the details of advanced Quick Masking techniques in APTATS I. Learn Advanced Layer Masking Techniques in APTATS I. Mention this blog post and apply a $5 discount to either with phone orders only. Buy both APTATS I and APTATS II and we will be glad to apply at $15 discount with phone orders only. Please call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 weekdays to order.

Fort DeSoto in fall is rich with tame birds. All of the images in this card were created at Fort DeSoto in either late September or early October. I hope that you can join me there this October. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

First-ever BIRDS AS ART In-the-Field/Meetup Workshop Session (ITF/MWS): $50

Join me on the afternoon of October 10, 2014 for 3-hours of photographic instruction at Fort DeSoto Park. Beginners are welcome. Lenses of 300mm or longer are recommended but even those with 70-200s should get to make some nice images. Teleconverters are always a plus.

You will learn the basics of digital exposure and image design, autofocus basics, and how to get close to free and wild birds. We should get to photograph a variety of wading birds, shorebirds, terns, and gulls. This inexpensive afternoon workshop is designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to meet you there.

To register please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours with a credit card in hand to pay the nominal registration fee. Your registration fee is non-refundable. You will receive a short e-mail with instructions, gear advice, and meeting place at least two weeks before the event.

Obviously folks attending the IPT will be out in the field early and stay late to take advantage of sunrise and sunset colors. The good news is that the days are relatively short in October. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

Fort DeSoto Fall IPT/October 11-13, 2014. 3 FULL DAYs: $1099. Limit 8.

Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds in fall. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, night-herons, gulls, and terns who winter on the T-shaped peninsula that serves as their wintering grounds. With any luck, we should get to photograph two of Florida’s most desirable shorebird species: Marbled Godwit and the spectacular Long-billed Curlew. Black-bellied Plover and Willet are easy, American Oystercatcher likely. Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, and Tricolored Heron are easy as well and we will almost surely come up with a tame Yellow-crowned Night-Heron or two. We should get to do some Brown Pelican flight photography. And Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, and Caspian Terns will likely provide us with some good flight opportunities as well. Though not guaranteed Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork would not be unexpected.

Folks who sign up for the IPT are welcome to join us on the ITF/MWS on Friday afternoon as my guest. See above for details on that.

On the IPT you will learn basics and fine points of digital exposure and to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. And you will learn learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you’re scared of it).

At lunch (included) we will review my images–folks learn a ton watching me edit–why keep this one and delete that one. If you opt to bring your laptop, we will take a look at five of your best images from the morning session. We will process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time.

If you decide to register and are traveling to attend this IPT, please make your reservations at the Beachcomber Beach Resort, 6200 Gulf Blvd, St. Petersburg (St. Pete Beach), FL 33706 (727-367-1902) as soon as possible as rooms for the weekend days are scarce: ARR: 10 OCT/DEP 14 OCT. I stayed there on my last DeSoto visit and was quite happy with it. Lodging is tough in Florida at this season…. The best airport is Tampa (TPA). It is always best if IPT folks stay in the same hotel so if you are interested it would be a good idea to register now and make your hotel reservations as well. We can, however, coordinate easily with local folks who opt to stay at home either by cell phone or e-mail.

Because of the relatively late date, payment is full is due upon registration either by check or credit card. If the former, please e-mail us immediately so that we can save you a spot. If the latter, please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand to register . Your registration fee is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out with eight so please check your plans carefully before committing. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions, gear advice, and first morning meeting place about one month before this IPT.

BAA Site Guides are the next best thing to being on an IPT.

Fort DeSoto Site Guide

Can’t make the IPT? Get yourself a copy of the Fort DeSoto Site Guide. Learn the best spots, where to be when in what season in what weather. Learn the best wind directions for the various locations. BAA Site Guides are the next best thing to being on an IPT. You can see all of them here.

Important Bosque Festival of the Cranes Event Registration Notice

Registration for all Festival of the Cranes workshops, seminars and programs is open. Please click here and read carefully to avoid missing out on several wonderful and inexpensive educational opportunities. Please do not tarry as we expect all of the BAA/A Creative Adventure sessions to sell out quickly, especially the early morning In-the-Field Workshops. You can click http://www.festivalofthecranes.com“>here to register.

There is still lots of room in the seminar and the free program. With just a single opening the Thursday In-the-Field Workshop (ITF-W) is almost sold out. Friday and Sunday are close to a sell-out. Somewhat inexplicably Saturday has only 2 folks signed up…. The seminar and the ITF-Workshops represent a chance to learn a ton cheap.

Bosque del Apache Photography Two-Part Seminar

Bosque del Apache Photography Two-Part Seminar. Thursday, NOV 20, 2014. 2:00-4:30 pm at the refuge visitor center with Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito: $50.00. Click here to register.

Part I: Bosque del Apache Photography Basics

Artie and Denise will cover the basics of lens selection, tripod and head selection, image design, getting the right exposure, autofocus options, and the relationship between light direction and wind direction, and will give an overview of the best photographic opportunities at the refuge. Artie and Denise have more than 26 years of experience photographing Bosque and count it high on their list of soul places.

Part II: Creative Photography at Bosque del Apache

Artie and Denise will teach you to think outside the box when photographing at the refuge (and elsewhere!). You will learn to create a variety of pleasingly blurred images by using slow shutter speeds, by photographing moving subjects, and by zooming or by panning with the lens during the exposure. They will teach you to take advantage of spectacular lighting and weather conditions. They will also cover post processing creative techniques.

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