Two Spots Left on JAX IPT #2. Tips, Tips, & More Tips: Chick-Feeding, Flight/Fight, and When the Light is Bright ...

A Tough Choice …

Which of today’s three featuered images is the strongest? Please leave a comment and let us know why you made your choice.

What’s Up?

As often occurs when I am home, a ton of work got done yesterday. Most of the morning was spent preparing the Michael De Rosa blog post. I did get my swim in between the passing thunderstorms, and took a late-afternoon walk while dodging raindrops. After my walk, I headed down to the lake without my gear. I was glad to see both 2-colt crane families doing well. On my walks and drive-arounds, I keep my eyes open looking for blooming wildflowers, but despite the numerous downpours, there are simply not very many flowers around. In addition, the rain-soaked North and South Fields as well as the South Peninsula are too soggy to drive on safely. Doubt me? See the Hilariously Stuck in the Mud blog post here for proof.

So even though today, Sunday 4 July 2021, dawned clear and still (and humid for a change), I opted to stay in this morning. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Bedfords currently has zero names on their a1 wait-list, and is expecting five more Sony Alpha 1 bodies soon. Click here to order yours and be sure to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout to save 3%, enjoy free 2nd-day air Fed-Ex, and earn free entry into the SONY Alpha a1 Info and Updates group (a $150 value!).

This blog post took about two hours to prepare (including the time I spent on the image optimizations) and makes 189 consecutive days with a new one. Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords and is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to save 3% 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.

JAX IPT #2

Limit Four/One Opening or a Couple

Photography, especially of birds in flight, was so phenomenal at the Jacksonville Royal Tern/Sandwich Tern/Laughing Gull/Brown Pelican rookery that I will be returning in ten days. The only time I have experienced such non-stop flight action was on the gannet boat in Scotland. Two folks have committed to attending the 4-DAY IPT starting with the afternoon session on WED 14 July and ending with the morning session on SUN 18 July. It will be worth flying for this one. Couples are welcome! As I committed to running this one with just one photographer, it is a go!

Please e-mail immediately or call my cell if you would like to join me or learn the details; arranging for a great AirBnB will be one of the keys to success so the sooner the better. Or call my cell at 863-221-2372.

Price Drop!

Sony a9 ii Mirrorless Digital Camera Body

Price reduced $103.00 12 JUNE 2021
Price reduced $200.00 3 JULY 2021
BAA Record-low Price

Multiple IPT veteran Larry Master is offering a Sony a9 ii mirrorless digital camera body in near-mint condition (with a very low shutter count of 2340) for $2695.00 (was $2998.00). There is a single, almost microscopic scratch on the rear monitor. The sale includes the original box and everything that came in it, along with insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your new camera will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Larry via e-mail or by phone at 1-518-645-1545 (Eastern time zone).

As things turned out, the a9 and then the a9 ii turned out to be life-changers for me. From the moment I tracked that first incoming Brandt’s Cormorant, I knew that SONY a9 series bodies featured the world’ best AF. I upgraded to the a9 ii as soon as it was released for the slightly larger body size. At one point I owned two a9 ii bodies. A new a9 ii sells for $4,498.00 so you can save a very nice $1803.00 by grabbing Larry’s a9 ii ASAP. Not to mention that the new Sony A1 sells for $6498.00 … artie

This image was created on 30 June 2021 on a beach near Jacksonville, FL. I used the Induro GIT 304L/ Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mountedSony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 640. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/3200 sec. at f/4.5 (stopped down 1/3 stop) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:11am on a sunny morning with a bit of haze in the eastern sky. Wide/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version. Image #1: Royal Tern feeding chick

Chick-Feeding Tip

Creating good images of terns feeding their chicks is a huge challenge. Most of the time, either the adult or the chick is facing away from the camera. My best advice is to get on an incoming bird with a fish and hold the shutter button down … By taking advantage of today’s high-frame-rate camera bodies, you just might come up with a winner.

“My mama always said, ‘Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’” Forrest Gump as played by Tom Hanks.

Well, feeding sequences are a lot like boxes of chocolates; you never know what you are gonna get. For me, the spectacular landing pose of the adult with the fish pretty much makes up for the fact that the little tan and dark brown speckled chick is angled away from us.

This image was created on 30 June 2021 on a beach near Jacksonville, FL. I used Induro GIT 304L/ Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mountedSony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 640. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/3200 sec. at f/5 (stopped down 2/3 stop) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:16am on a sunny morning with a bit of haze in the eastern sky. Wide/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to see a larger version. Image #2: Laughing Gulls mobbing Royal Tern to steal fish meant for chick

The #1 Flight/Fight Tip

Photographing midair avian battles is extremely difficult. There is never any indication that a fight is about to start, and the action is usually over in a few seconds at most. Getting a good look at all of the faces of the combatants is nearly impossible. And the more birds involved in the squabble, the less chance you have of getting decent — much less excellent, head angles. On sunny days, most of the fights you see are likely to be well off sun angle.

My very best advice is that you do not hesitate: get on the action as soon as is humanly possible, trust your camera’s AF system by assuming and anticipating that it will acquire focus, and then hold the shutter button down. If you follow that advice, and you get lucky, you just might come up with a few decent frames. I got really lucky here as six images from a 12-frame sequence were decent. The frame after this one was slightly stronger but the face and bill of the gull at the top of the frame is blocked by the tern’s right wing. Not surprisingly, all twelve frames were made in less than a single second. As I said, you must not hesitate.

As noted in the the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info group e-mails, when you are in Wide with Bird Eye and Face Tracking enabled, the Alpha 1’s AF system will revert to a zone-like AF and use multiple AF points to achieve success when it is impossible to detect an eye or a face. In any case, all of the images in the sequence were sharp where they needed to be sharp. Though I was stopped down 2/3-stop, it was primarily the distance to the subject that rendered all of the birds relatively sharp.

This image was created on 30 June 2021 on a beach near Jacksonville, FL. Standing at full height, I used the Induro GIT 304L/ Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted-Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera (Body Only). ISO 640. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/800 sec. at f/11 (stopped down one stop) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed this exposure to be perfect. AWB at 10:0Oaam on a clear sunny morning. Wide/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Image #3: Royal Tern chick begging

When the Light is Bright …

I’ve been saying and doing it for decades: when the light is bright, think tight and get right on sun angle. Many folks think that a clear blue sky at 10:00am is death on bird photography. It often is, unless you give my advice a try. You just might be amazed at how often it works.

Like the Least Tern chicks, the Royal Tern chicks come in a variety of flavors! There are brown ones, all-white ones, buff-colored ones, and tan ones. And each of those come either plain or with sprinkles (aka speckled). This is one of my favorites: pure white with black speckles. You can see a trace of the egg tooth near the tip of the upper mandible. I like the bit of blue on the lores and the pink skin on the chin and the neck.

SONY and Me

Switching to SONY, first with the a9 and the a9 II, and then with the remarkable a1, has enabled me (and others, like Mike De Rosa as seen in yesterday’s blog post here), to create images of birds in flight and in action that I could not even have dreamed of when using Canon and then Nikon.

From Joe Barranco via e-Mail

Thanks for your great ideas on the A1 set up. I have been getting MANY more keepers doing things your way!

From Barbara White via e-Mail

Wow, I just gotta say – I learn so much from the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info group! My camera is on my desk, and I’m always picking it up and changing something that I’ve read about in the e-mails.

Thanks, Barbara

From Janet Horton via e-Mail

Hi Artie, Mystery solved. Yes, I was able to replicate what you did. I forgot that you have to set self-timer using the upper dial. I am used to that being a MENU selection.

Thanks much, Janet

SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group

The SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group is going great guns as more and more folks chime in with thoughtful questions and experience-based answers. As the a1 is becoming more readily available, more and more folks are getting their hands on this amazing body. With two folks joining yesterday, we are now up to an astounding 64 lucky and blessed photographers! Early on, we discussed the myriad AF options. I gave my opinion as to the best one for flight and general bird photography. More recently, we have been in contact with folks at SONY sharing our thoughts, experiences, and frustrations with the EVF blackout problem.

All who purchased their Alpha a1 bodies via a BAA affiliate link will receive a free subscription to the Sony Alpha a1 Set-Up and Info Updates after shooting me their receipts via e-mail. (Note: it may take me several days to confirm B&H orders.) This same service may be purchased by anyone with an a1 body via a $150.00 PayPal sent to birdsasart@verizon.net indicating payment for Alpha a1 Info Updates. Alternatively, folks can call Jim weekdays at 1-863-692-0906 to pay via credit card. New members will receive composite e-mails that summarize all previous discussions.

Typos

With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.