Stuff
I finished this blog post very early on the morning of Friday, May 11, 2018. It took about two hours to prepare. I was glad to learn that Charlie Curry’s Canon EOS 7D Mark II in near-mint condition sold for only $849 on the first day it was listed.
BIRDS AS ART
BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART
Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.
Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens
BAA Record-Low, Shock-the-world Price Reduced $395!
Greg Morris is offering a barely used EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in mint to like-new condition with extras for the BAA record low price of $8,999.00 (was $9394.00). The sale includes the LensCoat that has protected this lens since day one, a RRS stuff foot (installed), the original foot, the lens trunk, the original box and everything that came in it: front cover, rear cap, manuals, & the rest, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your personal of certified check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Greg via e-mail or by phone at 1-580-678-5929 (Central time).
WMD: Weapon of Mass Destruction!
The 600 II is the state of the art super-telephoto for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports. When I could get it to my location, it was my go-to weapon. It is fast and sharp and deadly alone or with either TC. With a new one going for $11,499, you can save a cool $2,500.00 by grabbing Greg’s might-as-well-be-new lens right now. artie
Nikon D850s Right Now!
D850s are at least 3 weeks back-ordered at B&H. I have helped several folks get a D850 in the past few days. Steve Elkins — see item next — has several on hand right now waiting for your phone call. From blog regular Gloria Matyszyk: My camera has shipped! Thanks for this great photography company connection!
Money Saving Reminder
If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!
Booking.Com
Several folks on the DeSoto IPT used the Booking.Com link below, got great rates, and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.
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This image was created by Clemens Van der Werf. He used the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens and the EOS-iD Mark IV (now replaced by the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II.) Image #1: Great Egret in early morning light, Alafia Banks, FL
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The Success of the Student Often Puts a Proud and Envious Smile on the Face of the Teacher
Arthur Morris — May 11, 2018. Indian Lake Estates, FL
When Clemens began taking IPTs, he had no interest in photographing birds or wildlife; he only wanted to learn to photograph his beloved Golden Retrievers and American’s Cup class sailing yachts. How’d that work out?
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This image was created by Clemens Van der Werf. He used the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the EOS-1DX (now replaced by the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II.) Image #2: Bison grazing in snow, Yellowstone National Park
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Exposure Control
Learning to get the right exposure in difficult situations is key to becoming a skilled photographer. In all of today’s featured images, especially with the bison above and the two whale shots below, Clemens shows that he has mastered that skill. Getting detail in the dark almost black face and the eye in bright sun with snow is a combination of three factors: working on sun angle, getting a great exposure, and skill with the RAW (CR.2) conversion and in Photoshop.
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This image was created by Clemens Van der Werf. He used the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x lens (at 400mm) and the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. Image #3: Humpback Whale Fluke with rainbow spray, Gribbell Island, British Columbia, Canada.
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Vision Plus Execution Equals Success
In the image above, Clemens showed wonderful imagination and skillful use of his gear to create a very special image.
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This image was created by Clemens Van der Werf. He used the Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4x lens (at 442mm) and the EOS-1D X (now replaced by the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II.) Image #4: Humpback Whale feeding on fish, Gribbell Island, British Columbia, Canada.
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Travel
Traveling to great places can make it a bit easier to create breath-taking natural history images. Clemens travels a lot and works hard at his craft.
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This image was created by Clemens Van der Werf. He used the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. Image #5: Burrowing Owl, large chick, Boca Raton Airport.
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Go Local
Finding great places near your home to photograph birds and wildlife can be wonderfully rewarding and is a lot less expensive than long-distance travel.
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This image was created by Clemens Van der Werf. He used the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. Image #6: Swallow-tailed Kite drinking/composite, Lake Woodruff, Deland, FL
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Getting Good at Photoshop
Clemens has worked hard at becoming quite proficient with Photoshop. It does not make much sense to learn to create great images only to ruin them during post-processing …
Thanks to Clemens
Thanks to Clemens for allowing me to share his images with you here today, for his continuing decade-long friendship, and his skill with a chain saw.
Your Favorite?
I know that it is a difficult request, but please do your best to pick as single favorite image and let us know why you made your choice.
Help Support the Blog
Please help support my (stupendous) efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.
As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
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, and for everything else in the new store, 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 those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.
Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.
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 :).
Had the pleasure of meeting Clemens years ago on captain shadles boat when he first began.
Super nice chap. We nick named him Tatonka as back then, his fieldcraft skills weren’t great. As is everyone when they begin. I remember his enthusiasm.
Fantastic to see his work now! Simply sublime imagery.
I think they are all great. I tend to be impressed when I see an image that I don’t think I could duplicate if I was at the same place with the same gear. For me, that image is the Kite Composite. I know how to make a composite, but I don’t think I could create one like this. If he posted a 45-minute behind the scenes how-to video on youtube, I’d watch the entire thing, twice.
Visually, I think the perfectly exposed and composed Bison in the Snow picture is my favorite.
The whale with the spray. Never seen a better image of that type.
Superb exposure and tonal range. All the rest of the images are great as well, but that whale stands out for me.
Thanks to Clemens, and congratulations on his great shots.
Hi, Artie. You have indeed taught many of us to be better photographers. My favorite of all these wonderful images is the whale flukes with rainbow spray.
The whale with the spray. Never seen a better image of that type.
Superb exposure and tonal range. All the rest of the images are great as well, but that whale stands out for me.
Thanks to Clemens, and congratulations on his achievements.
These are all excellent but I think my fav is the kite drinking since I’ve never seen that behavior and had no idea they drink while flying! The framing is perfect with a great sense of timing and telling a story.
I can’t just pick one. I love the rainbow spray whale frame…both for the degree of difficulty in handling multiple elements and more importantly the visual impact the image creates. The whale feeding with the open mouth is great. I love the action he captured along with the displaced water. Although the burrowing owl seems to be a relatively common subject, Clemens got perfect eye contact, perfect placement in the frame, and in an overcast soft sort of light that almost makes the bg look like a painting. And last but not least, I’m partial to Swallow-tailed Kites and loved seeing this creative take on one drinking. Thanks for sharing these photographs.
Always nice to see Clemens’ great images. Love the rainbow spray image. Thank you for featuring him.