Shutter Priority -- Please Do Not Tell Me That Real Photographers Must Use Manual Mode 100% of the Time

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Which of today’s three featured images do you think is the strongest? Why?

What’s Up?

Conditions were perfect on Thursday morning: cloudy bright conditions with with an 18 mph wind from the southeast. There was not much going on until about 9am when the tide began to ebb. Both Bob and I had some very good chances with Ospreys catching and carrying fish. Bob of course had three chances with pelicans attacking an Osprey and trying to steal its fish. I had none of those :-(. I need to stay closer to Mr. Eastman as he appears to be the Pelican Whisperer.

We stayed in on Thursday afternoon with clear skies and an east wind. On Friday morning the forecast was for a northwest wind and clear skies at sunrise followed by increasing cloudiness. I told Bob that we might have some good sunrise silhouette opportunities. We did. Things were pretty dead again until the tide began to recede. Once again, the Ospreys began fishing and catching. With the W/NW wind in our face and the North Jetty closed, even the cloudy skies did not help much. Just before we left, we were at the end of the jetty and had a decent chance with an Osprey carrying a fish right above us.

On Friday evening, Bob wanted to shoot the rising full moon. I hung out on the beach doing mostly Sanderlings until the moon rose. I think that I made some nice blurs … The moon was lovely when it got over the low clouds.

Today is Saturday 16 November 2024. Mr. Eastman and Mr. Morris will be at Sebastian Inlet well before sunrise as is usual.

This image was created on 13 November 2024 on the Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More Extended IPT. Standing at full height on the South Jetty I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 415mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +2.0 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 800: 1/30 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 6:46:05am on a then cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect. Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Osprey with yellow-tailed menhaden

Shutter Priority — Please Do Not Tell Me That Real Photographers Must Use Manual Mode 100% of the Time

As folks who have joined me on an IPT and those who seriously study the blog or photo books in an effort to improve their bird photography know, I will go to Shutter Priority with Auto ISO at sunrise and sunset fairly often. The huge advantage is that it is far easier to make drastic changes in your settings than it is when working in manual model. See the details on that below the next image.

A Wild and Crazy Morning

At dawn on the mostly cloudy morning of Wednesday 13 November the inlet was alive with bait and diving birds. You could feel the energy. With a stiff wind from the east, the waves were breaking against the South Jetty rocks. Of today’s three featured images, this one best conveys the soft light and the chaotic action.

300mm f/2.8 G Lens vs 200-600 GM Lens

Though the 300mm f/2.8 G lens with the 2X TC is smaller and lighter and 1/3-stop faster than the 200-600, I prefer the latter for early mornings as it is more versatile. That versatility enabled me to zoom out to 415mm for Image #1. Had I been at 600mm with the 300/2X rig I would not have been able to get the whole bird in the frame. Zooming out is ideal for Sanderling flock blurs as well. Moments later I created Image #2 at 600mm (at the cost of only one click of ISO).

Though I’ve offered Bob Eastman the use of my 400mm f/2.8, he has opted to stick with his 200-600 for most of the trip; and he has been making many superb images with it. It proves my oft-stated point that folks with “only” a 200-600 can become excellent bird photographers in short order. With the announcement of the Sony a-1 II coming very soon, a-1 prices will plummet. It soon may be possible to get started with a used Sony a-1 and a new 200-600 GM for less than $5k!

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.

This image was created on 13 November 2024 on the Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More Extended IPT. Standing at full height on the South Jetty I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation (EC) on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +2.0 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 10000: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 6:58:20am on a then sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect. Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Brown Pelican adult in flight: downstroke

When Dealing with Vastly Different Shutter Speeds and Lighting Conditions, Working Faster and More Efficiently is Always Better

Twelve minutes after I created the Osprey blur, Image #1, above, the sun came out for a bit. The EC remained the same, +2.0 stops. All I needed to do was increase the shutter speed from 1/30 sec. at 1/2500 sec. So, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000 is six full stops, plus another 1/3 stop to get to 1/2500 sec. makes 6 1/3 stops. That means nineteen 1/3-stop clicks to increase the shutter speed from 1/30 to 1/2500 sec. That takes about 2.5 seconds. I did not have to manually change the ISO from 800 to 10,000 as AUTO ISO took care of that instantly.

Had I been working in Manual mode I would have needed 19 clicks to increase the shutter speed as needed, and then would have needed to raise the ISO from 800 to 10,0000! That would have taken about eleven 1/3 stop clicks plus the time needed to check the exposure. From Image #2 to Image #3 was even easier. I simply changed the EC from +2.0 stops to +1.0 stops. Everything else remained the same so that took perhaps one-half second. Having to change only one exposure parameter is always better than having to change two. And having to change only two exposure parameters is always better than having to change three.

Yes, you need to have a good understanding of exposure theory in order to set the correct EC, but that is also true when shooting in Manual mode. In and around sunrise and sunset Shutter Priority mode enables you to work quickly and efficiently no matter which way you are pointing your lens. The best way to learn Exposure Theory is to study and master the principles in the chapter on Exposure in The Art of Bird Photography.

A New Photoshop Trick!

It is a given that fine detail at ISO 10,000 will be lacking. When enlarged in Photoshop, the face and the bill of the pelican were total mush. So I tried something new and was very happy with the result. I will be sharing this technique and tons more new Photoshop stuff in Volume II of the Digital Basics III Video Series. You can expect to see the first offering in early to mid-December.

This image was created on 13 November 2024 on the Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More extended IPT. Standing at full height on the South Jetty I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +1.0 stop. AUTO ISO set ISO 320: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 7:08:57 am as the rising sun hit the light clouds to the east. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead perfect. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #3: Brown Pelican diving at sunrise

Sometimes, Everything Falls Perfectly Into Place

I set the exposure for the brightly colored sky nearest to the sun. I did not want to include the sun in the frame as that creates an exposure nightmare. When the pelicans dove in just the right spot, Tracking: Zone AF-C handled this contrasty situation with ease. At times, prayers are answered.

Typos

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