Enough Variety; It Was Eagle Time -- 27 March: Part IV

Which is Your Favorite Image?

Why?

What’s Up?

I felt great all day on Saturday with the most energy I’ve had since getting back from Georgia. I did my bursts and a 50-length swim and needed only a single nap! I forgot to mention in yesterday’s blog post that I brought the 600mm f/4 on the boat only once during the entire trip — on the morning of the amazing 27 February! It turned out to be a great decision.

On Saturday morning, the two-colt crane family was –as predicted — back in their usual haunts at the south end of the south field. I spent a quality 30 minutes with them with the 200-600 and had a ton of fun. I shot a few Ospreys as well. The newest baby crane was in the North Field on my second pass. And I created 300 Purple Martin flight shots and kept none. All in all, it was an excellent morning.

Today is Sunday 24 April 2022 and I will again be heading down to the lake today for a short photo session. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about an hour to prepare and makes forty-four days in a row with a new one.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

BIRDS AS ART Image Optimization Service (BAA IOS)

Send a PayPal for $62.00 to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 and put $62.00 on your credit card. Pick one of your best images and upload the raw file using a large file sending service like Hightail or DropBox and then send me the link via e-mail. I will download and save your raw file, evaluate the exposure and sharpness, and optimize the image as if it were my own after converting the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw. Best of all, I will make a screen recording of the entire process and send you a link to the video to download, save and study.

And Please Remember

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Brand-New and As-Good-As-Ever Bedfords BAA Discount Policy

Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, or to any prior purchases.

Money Saving Reminder

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would like to enjoy getting 3% back on your credit card along with free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex 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 check the box for Free Shipping. That will automatically upgrade to free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The waitlists 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 a 1, 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.

Important Note

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Please Remember Also

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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. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

This image was also created on 27 February 2022 on the second Homer IPT. I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 280mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the rear wheel. ISO 1600: 1/2000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 11:28:18am on a white sky morning. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Bald Eagle adult — large in the frame dorsal view

Eagles, Eagles, Eagles …

After our sight-seeing tour around an historic bay in very low light conditions, things began to brighten up. We headed to the frozen waterfalls but the tide was not ideal, so we worked offshore for an hour as the day brightened. We had dozens of eagles around the boat. I got greedy and just managed to fit this adult eagle into the frame. I love the dorsal view and the spread tail. Would you have left the row of evergreen treetops in the lower right corner of the frame? Why or why not?

This image was also created on 27 February 2022 on the second Homer IPT. I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 111mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the rear wheel. ISO 2500: 1/2000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 11:47:41am on a white sky morning. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Bald Eagle immature flaring in flight right next to the boat

You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me!

111mm? Really? As noted here previously, the variety of short focal lengths provided by the Sony 700-200mm f/2.8 II with the 1.4X TC is tremendously valuable on the eagle boat. The incredibly smooth and fast zooming came in handy here as the young eagle was so close to the boat that I needed to zoom out quickly almost all the way to the widest focal length of 98mm. We teach you to esti-zoom, to estimate the focal length that you will need when the bird gets to the optimal location in advance. That technique worked to perfection for Image #2.

This image was created on 27 February 2022 on the second Homer IPT. I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 228mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the rear wheel. ISO 1000: 1/2000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 12:25:07pm in bright white sky conditions. Center Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #3: Bald Eagle banking/vertical original!

Vertical Original Bank Shots

Though I honestly do not consider myself a very good flight photographer, over the years I have become somewhat proficient at creating vertical original images of banking eagles. It is not an easy skill to master, and few folks even accept the challenge of trying. Most find it easier just to zoom way out, create horizontal images of the banking birds, and then crop to a vertical. I enjoy the challenge of getting far more pixels on the subject by holding the camera on end. This image is un-cropped, but I did move the bird slightly down in the frame using techniques from APTATS I & II — Save $15 by purchasing the pair.

Do consider joining me in Homer to learn this difficult skill when conditions are just right.

Homer 2022 Bald Eagle Highlights and Handholding Compositional Tips by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Enjoy and be inspired by just a few Homer Bald Eagle highlight images. Hand holding intermediate telephoto lens will always yield slightly different compositions. Learn more about that topic in this short (3:14) video.

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

2023 Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPTs

IPT #1: MON 20 FEB 2023 through the full day on FRI 24 FEB 2023. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers

IPT #2: SAT 25 FEB 2023 through the full day on THURS 2 MAR 2023. Six full days/24 hours on the boat: $6600.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 4.

IPT #3: FRI 3 MAR 2023 through the full day on TUES 7 MAR 2023. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers. Openings: 4.

Save $1,000.00 by doing back-to-back trips. Save $1500.00 by doing all three.

These trips feature non-stop flight photography as well as many opportunities to create both environmental and point-blank portraits of one of North America’s most sought-after avian subjects: Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Other reliable subjects will include Sea Otter, Glaucous-winged and Short-billed (formerly Mew) Gulls.

In addition, we should see Common Murre, Black Guillemot, Pelagic Cormorant, two or three species of loons, and a smattering of ducks including two species of merganser, all three scoters, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, Harlequin, and Long-tailed Ducks. Close-range photographic chances for these species will require a ton of good luck. Some of these species, especially when in flocks, can, however, often be used effectively when pleasing creating bird-scapes.

If we need to be out early, we will be the first boat out. If conditions are great, we will stay out. And when there is a chance for sunset silhouettes, we will be in the right spot.

We will be traveling through gorgeous wilderness country; landscape and scenic opportunities abound.

Also featured is a professional leader, often referred to as the world’s most knowledgeable bird photography trip leader, who is conversant in Canon, Nikon, and Sony. You will learn practical and creative solutions to everyday photographic problems. You will learn to see the shot, to create dynamic images by fine-tuning your compositions, to best utilize your camera’s AF system, and how to analyze the wind, the sky conditions, and the direction and quality of the light. This is one of the very few Homer trips available where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun. You will learn to be a better photographer.

You will learn to get the right exposure when it is sunny, when it cloudy-bright, when it is cloudy, when it is cloudy-dark, or when it is foggy. Not to mention getting the right exposure when creating silhouettes.

You will learn to make pleasing blurs working in manual mode and to create silhouettes working in Shutter Priority mode.

Most importantly you will learn to pick your best flight images from tens of thousands of images.

You will enjoy working with the two best and most creative boat captains on their sturdy, photography-spacious, seaworthy, open-deck crafts.

The second and third IPTs are the only Bald Eagle workshops that feature an incredibly helpful first mate.

Only five photographers (not the usual six), plus the leader.

Small group Photoshop, Image Review, and Image Critiquing sessions.

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

What’s Included

One four hour or two two-hour boat trips every day (weather permitting), all boat fees and boat-related expenses (excluding tips), ground transportation to and from the dock and back to the hotel each day, in-the-field instruction and guidance, pre-trip gear advice, small group post-processing and image review sessions, and a thank you dinner for all well-behaved participants.

What’s Not Included

Your airfare to and from Homer, AK (via Anchorage), the cost of your room at Land’s End Resort, all personal items, all meals and beverages, and tips for the boat captain and/or the first mate.

Please Note

On great days, the group may wish to photograph for more than four hours. If the total time on the boat exceeds 20 hours for the five-day trips, or 24 hours for the second trip, the group will share the additional expense at a rate of $225/hour.

Some folks may wish to rent their own vehicle to take advantage of local photographic opportunities around Homer.

Deposit Information

A $3000 non-refundable deposit/trip is required. You may pay your deposit with credit card or by personal check (made out to BIRDS AS ART) and sent via US mail only to Arthur Morris. PO Box 7245. Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Your balance, due 90 days before the date of departure, is payable only by check as above.

In Closing

I have been going to Homer off and on for close to two decades. Every trip has been nothing short of fantastic. Many folks go in mid-March. The earlier you go, the better the chances for snow. The only way to assure that you are on the best of the three trips is to sign up for all of them. Can you keep up with me? If you have any questions, or are good to go for one, two, or all three trips, please let me know via e-mail or give me a call on my cell phone at 863-221-2372.

Typos

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