What’s Up?
With the somewhat unstable weather (that is getting worse at the moment), Bosque has been quite excellent. The group is at least tied for the best-ever group. They are all eager to learn, attentive, and they ask tons of questions. Happy campers all. Today our morning session lasted six hours. I have been very, very busy and need to catch up on e-mails and Used Gear Page business …
Please take a moment to leave a comment and let us know which of today’s three featured images is your favorite. And why. Enjoy the holiday and don’t eat too, too much.
IPT Updates
- The 2020 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) WED JAN 8, 2020 thru and including the morning session on SUN JAN 12: 4 1/2 days: $2099.(Limit: 8/Openings: 5)
Click here for complete IPT info and details.
BIRDS AS ART
BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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 over $1000.00, 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. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H. Those include the SONY a7r IV, the SONY 200-600, the SONY 600mm f/4 GM, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is eager to please.
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 also created on November 25, 2019 on my last Bosque IPT scouting morning. For this one I used the Induro GIT 304L/FlexShooter Mini-mounted Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens (at 158mm) and the 61-megapixel monster, the Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 640. Exposure determined by Zebras: 1/15 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB at 6:25am on a slightly cloudy morning. Snow Geese, Sandhill Cranes, and ? |
Snow Geese, Sandhill Cranes, and ?
How well do you know Bosque? What are the blurred birds in flight?
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This image was created on November 26, 2019, the first morning of the 2019 Bosque IPT. For this one I used the Induro GIT 404/FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and the blazingly fast and accurate AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital Camera body. ISO 320. Exposure determined by Zebras: 1/13 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB at 7:07am on a cloudy morning. Snow Goose blast-off |
The Best of Both Worlds
There were two large groups of geese primed to blast-off. I brought the group to a spot where we could work both blast-offs as long as they did not go at the same time. My planned worked to beyond perfection …
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This image was created on November 27, 2019, the second morning of the 2019 Bosque IPT. Again I used the Induro GIT 304L/FlexShooter Mini-mounted Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens (at 100mm) and the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body. ISO 250. Exposure determined by Zebras: 1/8 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB at 6:421am on an overcast morning. Snow Geese, Sandhill Cranes, and ? |
Image Proocessing on a Blah Day …
It was a greyer than grey morning. Exposing to the right left the images looked totally washed out on the laptop. They looked a bit better after the RAW conversion in Capture One. But the magic happened in Photoshop where I ran an 80% layer of Image> > Auto Contrast and topped that off with a 60% opacity layer of Image > Auto Tone. I often use one or both of those on 10 to 20% opacity.
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A Guide to Pleasing Blurs
Learn everything there is to know about creating pleasingly blurred images in A Guide to Pleasing Blurs by Denise Ippolito and yours truly. This 20,585 word, 271 page PDF is illustrated with 144 different, exciting, and artistic images. The guide covers the basics of creating pleasingly blurred images, the factors that influence the degree of blurring, the use of filters in creating pleasing blurs, and a great variety of both in-the-field and Photoshop techniques that can be used to create pleasingly blurred images.
Artie and Denise teach you many different ways to move your lens during the exposure to create a variety of pleasingly blurred images of flowers and trees and water and landscapes. They will teach you to recognize situations where subject movement can be used to your advantage to create pan blurs, wind blurs, and moving water blurs. They will teach you to create zoom-blurs both in the field and during post-processing. Artie shares the techniques that he has used and developed for making blurred images of flocks of geese in flight at his beloved Bosque del Apache and Denise shares her flower blur magic as well as a variety of creative Photoshop techniques that she has developed.
With the advent of digital capture creating blurred images has become a great and inexpensive way to go out with your camera and have fun. And while many folks think that making successful blurred images is the result of being a sloppy photographer, nothing could be further from the truth. In “A Guide to Pleasing Blurs” Artie and Denise will help you to unleash your creative self.
If In Doubt …
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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 or Bedfords, 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.
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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 :).
Nice Blurs… I like the colors in the first image.
first one for me. It has better depth and contrasting colors. I like the 2nd one also. The third I’m not sure if those are birds or mosquitoes!! 🙂
Tom Graham
Here in beautiful sunny southern California. I must get to Bosque someday!!
Believe the other birds may be grackles in the first picture.
Snow Goose blast-off is my favourite, I like very much the amount of blur, it is easy on the eyes!
Happy Thanksgiving Birdheads! Number 2 is my pick for the symmetry, simplicity and beautiful blur. Hope you’re having a blast (no pun intended) at Bosque
Ed Dahlin
I feel the number 2 is my strong favorite. Just love it all and am not one who appreciates the blurred image!!
I am drawn to number 2, Snow Goose Blast Off. I find it to be the most pleasing blur– the visual texture it creates is amazing.
I, too, like the 1st one, especially the colors…it looks a lot like some I took, one of which won 1st prize at my church, for the 1st ever photo contest. I also like the rows and rows of birds.
I like the first one because of the dramatic colors in the sky, static birds on the water and the birds in flight being blurred. The image gives you a little of everything, dramatic color, wildlife and a touch of abstract, with the blur, thrown in for good measure. Happy Thanksgiving. Hope the weather improves.