What’s Down?
I am finishing up this blog post just before dinner on Friday, October 30, 2015 in Stanley, The Falklands. We have a day trip to a Rockhopper Penguin colony and board the Ortelius tomorrow afternoon. Our visits to Bleaker–where today’s featured image was created–and to The Rookery on Saunders Island, were great. We flew back to Stanley, capital of the Falklands, this morning. The internet is not bad at the Malvina house so I am hoping that this and several other new blog posts will be published from the cloud during my time aboard ship.
While traveling in the Southern Ocean I will be 100% without internet from 1-14 NOV. Jim will be in the office doing his usually stellar job of minding the store and Jen will be here to help with with all things IPT related. You can reach either of them by phone at 863-693-0906. You can reach Jim by e-mail or Jen at e-mail (the latter with Attn. JEN in the Subject line).
Please refrain from e-mailing me from 23 OCT through 15 NOV. Fat chance on that. đŸ™‚
The BIRDS AS ART Blog and You
To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we do ask that you use our the B&H and Amazon affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your purchases. Doing so won’t cost you a penny and is the best way to thank me for the 15-20 hours I put in to bring you fresh and free educational material most every day. 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 (unless I am traveling without internet!)
You can find the following items in the store: 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.
And we still have a few Gitzo tripods in stock. I imagine that we will be phasing those out soon….
I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, meaning BAA, 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 image was created on Bleaker Island, on our first-ever land-based Falklands tour, with the Induro tripod/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the rugged professional body, the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 1000 (via ISO safety shift). Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/200 sec. at f/8 in Tv mode. AWB. Center AF point (by necessity)/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The active AF point was on the center of the bird’s breast. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. |
My New Lightweight 800mm Lens!
As I had envisioned, the new 400 DO II perfectly complements the 100-400II when either teleconverter is used. In addition, when working at 400mm, the additional stop of speed has proven useful at times. The latter is especially true for folks using it often with a 7D II in low light conditions where the difference between ISO 800 and ISO 1600 is huge (in terms of noise and image quality).
The tripod-mounted 400 II even with the 1D X in place travels easily on my shoulder; as compared to either the 500 II or the 600 II it seems nearly weightless (though in fact the actual difference in weight is not great). Perhaps this is because of its much lesser size and bulk.
Induro Tripods and Ballheads
Click here for complete info on Induro tripods and to learn which one is the best fit for you. Or click here or on the logo-link above to purchase via our OPG affiliate link.
First Induro Kudos
Dennis Zaebst left this on the original Induro blog post:
Hi Artie,
I just received my new GIT 304L from OPG after using your link above. Thanks for the great tip!
I am a convert from an older Gitzo (model 1320, really old). I love all the features of the new 304L tripod and I’m really impressed with it. It’s a really precision piece of equipment. One of the best features, but perhaps not emphasized enough above, are the quick-release leg locks. Just a quarter turn and they are released, and equally quick to lock. This is compared to my old Gitzo, requiring more than a full turn, taking about twice as long to set up and use, or to put away. I was always a bit frustrated with the Gitzo as the legs required a fairly hard pull to extend or collapse, and this was a bit awkward to deal with. Not so with the 304L.
Best, Dennis
Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack!
Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!
We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!
Amazon.com
Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may click on the logo-link immediately above.
Amazon Canada
Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here. Many thanks to those who have written.
Typos
In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).
What a gorgeous and moody image, Artie! Love the light and the gentoo’s forward movement captured by the water moving over its foot and dripping from its body. Thanks for sharing it!
Many thanks Kim. I wanted to mention in the post that the one lesson that I never get right is to carefully review all camera settings before heading into the field on the first day of a trip. Those should include AF Area Selection Mode, the selected AF point, the shooting mode, the ISO, and the WB…. I wound up severely over-exposing almost two dozen images of groups of gentoos and their reflections… All because I did not realize that I had had a high ISO set and did not realize that I was in Av mode rather than manual…. A deadly combo even when you are shooting RAW. artie