What’s Up?
Tuesday was dark, dingy, overcast, and gray; it rained softly most of the day. I never got down to the lake even once as I had to run lots of errands in town. I answered lots of e-mails and worked on a few images.
Today is Wednesday 21 April 2021. The forecast for this morning is for cloudy with a 10mph northwest wind. I will be heading down to the lake early to check on the three young Sandhill Cranes. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you have a great day.
This blog post took more than an hour to prepare and makes 119 consecutive days with a new one. Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, for example, is available from B&H and/or Bedfords and is also available in the BAA Online Store, that it would be great if you purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to save money at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And doing so always earns my great appreciation.
Sales Tax Update
In the blog post here, I covered the site-by-state tax situations with regards to Bedfords, B&H, and the B&H Payboo card. Please understand that all of the tax situations are subject to change at a moment’s notice. For example, the day after that blog post was published, Colorado sent Bedfords a notice that they now have NEXUS, so they had to add CO to their list of sales tax states.
Important Note: If a retailer does not charge sales tax, consumers are (generally) required to self-assess and pay the sales tax to their local state and or city. Individual tax compliance is, of course, a personal choice.
Please Remember
With income from IPTs now at zero, please, if you enjoy and learn from the blog, remember to use one of my two affiliate programs when purchasing new gear. Doing so just might make it possible for me to avoid having to try to get a job as a Walmart greeter and will not cost you a single penny more. And if you use Bedfords and remember to enter the BIRDSASART code at checkout, you will save 3% on every order and enjoy free second-day air shipping. In these crazy times — I am out at least forty to sixty thousand dollars so far due to COVID 19 (with lots more to come) — remembering to use my B&H link or to shop at Bedfords will help me out a ton and be greatly appreciated. Overseas folks who cannot order from the US because of import fees, duties, and taxes, are invited to help out by clicking here to leave a blog thank you gift if they see fit.
New and Better Bedfords Discount Policy!
You can now save 3% on all of your Bedfords photo gear purchases by entering the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout. Your discount will be applied to your pre-tax total. In addition, by using the code you will get 2nd day air shipping via Fed Ex.
Grab a Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III and save $14.99. Purchase a Canon EOS R5 and your discount will be $116.97. Purchase a Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and save a remarkable $389.94! Your Bedford’s purchase no longer needs to be greater than $1,000.00 for you to receive a discount. The more you spend, the more you save.
Money Saving Reminder
Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would enjoy free second-day air shipping, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order to save 3% and enjoy free 2nd-day air shipping. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The wait lists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard to get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a9 ii, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager to please.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs (remember those?) 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 in Katchemak Bay, AK — across from Homer — on one of the two 2020 Bald Eagle IPTS. I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens (at 170mm) and the former AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital Camera Body. ISO 500. Exposure determined via t\Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel: 1/3200 sec. at f/3.2 (stopped down 1/3 stop)in Manual (M) mode. AWB at 3:08am on a cloudy afternoon. Center Zone AI Servo AF was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Bald Eagle perfect t-shot |
Perfect Tee Shots Golf
Not many know that in my early twenties I was a pretty fair golfer. My home course was Marine Park in Brooklyn, built on a garbage dump near the Kings Plaza Mall. As a senior, I was captain of the Brooklyn College golf team. Though a four-handicap at my best, I always choked in the big tournaments. One year, I missed qualifying for the second round of the New York State Public Links Championship by one stroke. After starting with a triple bogey seven on a short par four (with three balls in the water on one hole!), I played the best seventeen holes of my life on a tough course to shoot 80. Ask me someday about the late Dom Ferrone, who — as a huge long-shot, won the MGA Intercollegiate Championship in 1968. He became the head teaching pro at Calloway Gardens for several decades, and like Luis Grunauer, died too young. He called me “Boom-boom.”
That brings us to the perfect tee shot. For me, that was a 300-yard fade right down the middle of the fairway. I was always long, but not always straight.
While searching the web for info on Dom, I came across this link to an interview article for SaviorLabs as an Edge of Innovation Podcast that I did more than three years ago with : Living the Dream as a Nature Photographer With Arthur Morris, by Paul Parisi. You can read it or listen. I just read the whole thing and found it quite interesting, especially the part about my sixth grade teacher, Mrs.McMenamin. It’s short and a great read. And Paul has a great voice.
In my early twenties, I had the great pleasure of playing many rounds with the late Charlie Owens, a Black paratrooper who played on the PGA and the Senior Tour, once winning two of three events on the latter. While checking him out as I worked on this blog post, I learned that he died in 2017 at age 85 while living in Winter Haven, FL, just 45 minutes from my home. I would have loved to have visited him.
Perfect T-Shots in Bird Photography
In bird photography a t-shot is an image of a bird in flight that is flying directly overhead. They usually work best when the bird is gliding with flat wings rather than when flapping. In a perfect world, the bird’s wings are symmetrical. Todays’ featured image checks all the boxes.
What Do Snow and White Sand Have in Common?
Both snow and light-toned sand can act as reflectors that light the underwings of birds in flight, even on cloudy days (as with today’s featured image). I schedule my Homer IPTs (2022 dates to be announced soon) very early, in hopes of photographing during a blizzard 🙂 and in hopes of having snow on the ground. Aside from acting as a reflector, fresh snow makes for clean, gorgeous, studio-like backgrounds.
Image Question
Should I have placed this bird a bit lower in the frame? Why or why not?
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144 sold to rave reviews. The SONY e-Guide by Patrick Sparkman and Arthur Morris |
The Sony Camera User’s e-Guide (and Videos)
Click here to purchase the guide with one Camera Set-up Video. Be sure to e-mail us by clicking here to specify your camera body so that we can send you a link for the correct video.
Click here to purchase the guide with two Camera Set-up Videos. Be sure to e-mail us by clicking here to specify your two camera bodies so that we can send you links for the correct videos.
Click here to learn more about the SONY e-Guide.
Folks who have used my B&H affiliate links or purchased their SONY gear are invited to e-mail for discount information.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
I like the bird positioned where it is. It doesn’t need room in the frame to fly, especially because it’s looking down right at you.
For folks with pickled livers!!!! faster version of shuffleboard!! Just jokin’ but Keep the pool…. & camera gear!
Bird looks great right where it is!
So sorry to hear about L.G. Praying for his family and friends.
Howdy Artie
Wow I love the Eagle shot, I was looking to try that with the Turkey Vultures, from the picture I sent you. I just have to stay at it. Was he coming in to land?
I was a wack em at golf lost many balls but had fun!
Pickle ball is similar to Tennis but a smaller court and a little different rules. Lot of retirement places have courts with Pickle ball lines.
Always with love b
Thanks, Bob. If you have a 70-200mm, think about coming to Homer with me in 2022.
with love, a
I wouldn’t move the eagle down. The world isn’t symmetrical and making the wing tips equidistant in the frame would feel just a little “too-too” perfect.
I like the bird positioned where it is. The wings make an almost perfect diagonal between opposite corners. The bird is so symmetrical itself that a symmetrical positioning on the sky makes sense to me. Seems like with the bird lower its right wing would look heavy and destroy the symmetry.
Artie, try pickleball. You might sell all your cameras.
Mike
What is pickleball???
a
It’s THE most popular up-and-coming sport in the world. Combine tennis, badminton, Ping-Pong and wiffleball. Google it if you dare