Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Stuff

I am feeling pretty good with just a trace of congestion left from last week’s cold. I slept great on Monday night and got a lot done on Tuesday, just not sure what. I hope to get back in the pool tomorrow.

Coming in the next blog post: Why I Rarely Use Back Button Focus Anymore …

2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. Monday July 3 through Wednesday July 12, 2017: $5999 + $1499: Limit 10 photographers — Openings: 5). The (really cheap) two-day Gannet/Bass Rock Add-on is now part of the trip.

Please call 863-692-0906 for info on the substantial Late Registration Discount.

Here is some great info on the July 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT: I have finalized the cottage and vehicle rental arrangements. We have room for several additional folks, at least for a couple and single. And I am in position, as noted above, to offer a rather substantial late registration discount. Please call us at 863-692-0906 or get in touch via e-mail. Scroll down for additional details and our travel plans.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

Important Mongoose Notice

I received this e-mail on Tuesday from Dennis Zaebst

Hi Artie, I bought a Mongoose 3.6 tripod head last year and, although I like many of its features, I had a problem recently. The problem occurred when I placed my tripod with the head attached in the back of a pickup truck with the tripod and head laying flat on the floor of the steel bed. We were driving over very rough gravel roads in Namibia, Africa. When I retrieved the tripod and tripod head, I discovered the head had fallen apart; i.e. the two screws which hold the parts of the head together had vibrated out of the head and were lost. I searched for the two screws, but could not find them. They must have fallen out on the road somewhere. The tripod head of course was useless without the two long screws.

Fortunately, I had a beanbag with me, and was able to use that for the rest of the trip. But I was planning on some photos of stars there (very dark skies), and couldn’t do that. I was wondering if you have had this happen or heard of someone who had this happen. If I am the first to report this happening, then perhaps I can save someone else from a similar fate. I sent the head back to 4GD, and when I did finally talk to someone there, he told me they will put a sticky substance on the screws to keep them tight under severe vibration. The substance will still allow the head to be disassembled when necessary. Best regards, Dennis​

Comments are welcome. How would you respond to Dennis’s e-mail?

BIRDS AS ART June 3-4 Gatorland In-the Field Instructional Meet-Up Sessions

Last of the Season!

Join me in Kissimmee, FL for all or part of the weekend of June 3-4, 2017. We should get to photograph several species of nesting herons and egrets as well as Wood Stork, American Alligator (captive), and more. We should get to make lots of head portraits of all the bird species and to photograph both small chicks and fledged young. Learn to see, find, and make the shot in cluttered settings. Learn exposure and how to handle WHITEs. All of the birds are free and wild. These inexpensive sessions are designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to see you there.

June 3-4, 2017 Schedule

• Saturday June 3 Meet-up Morning (early entry): 7:30 till 10:30am: $99.
• Lunch and Image Review: $99.
• Saturday afternoon till closing (late stay): $99.
• Sunday June 4 Meet-up Morning, (early entry): 7:30 till 10am: $90.

Cheap Canon lens rentals available: 600 II, 500 II, 400 DO II, or 200-400.

To pay for one or more sessions in full via credit card, call Jim or Jen in the office weekdays at 863-692-0906. You will be responsible for the cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s pass or passes. Please shoot me an e-mail with questions.

Selling Your Used Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charges a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar above.

Unsolicited, via e-mail, from Gerry Keshka

Hi Artie, I wanted to share how much I appreciate your Used Gear “service.” You have posted how you help sellers, but the other side of the equations is how much this service helps buyers. I have purchased three lenses (Canon 200-400, 500 f4 II, and 70-200 f/2.8) all lovely experiences and I saved almost $5K over retail. Each of the sellers was delightful, willing to help me assess if the purchase was right for me by sharing their experience with the lens. Each lens was in the condition advertised (or better), and typically included several “add-ons” that would have cost several hundred dollars.

Unsolicited, via e-mail, from Sandra Calderbank

Hi Artie, I wanted to take a few minutes to thank you. I have sold two camera bodies on your BAA used gear site. Your friendly expertise and knowledgeable, trustworthy buyers have made this an extremely satisfying experience. Selling on BAA Used Gear page is the best transaction experience I have ever encountered. Thank you for all you do for our photography community. Sincerely, Sandra

Unsolicited, via e-mail, from Tom Phillips

Artie, Thanks so much. I sent your check via my online banking. I never expected the 400 DO II and the 1DX II to sell within minutes of your posting the ad! I know that the 300 f/2.8 II is still up, but still, the results have been amazing. Another plus is that James McGrew is a professional artist and photographer and he was really looking and wanting that combo and is appreciative and excited to be able to find a great deal. Tom.

Recent Successful Used Gear Sales
The Big Ticket Items Continue to Sell Like Hotcakes on the Used Gear Page in May!

• The sale of Philip Laing’s Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for $7299 is pending.
• IPT veteran Kerry Morris sold a used Used Canon EF 400mm f/4 IS DO lens (the old 400 DO) in very good plus condition for the record low BAA price of $2099 in mid-May.
• David Ramirez sold his Canon EOS 5D Mark III in near-mint condition for $1449 in late-May.
• The sales of multiple IPT veteran Dr. Gil Moe’s Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, his 1.4X III TC, and his Xtrahand vest were all pending as of the first day of listing.
• Hisham A. sold his Wimberley WH-200 Tripod Head in excellent condition for $449 in early May.
• Larry Peavler sold a Canon Extender EF 2X III in like-new condition for $299 within days of posting it in mid-May.
• Tom Phillips sold his Canon EOS-1DX Mark II (Premium Kit) in near-mint condition for $4499 and his Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II USM lens in like-new condition for $5,798 both within hours of listing them in mid-May.
• Ron Paulk sold his Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM zoom lens in excellent condition for $1100 and the Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT & Canon ST-E3-RT Transmitter/package for $425 on May 14, 2017, the day after it was listed.
• Larry Peavler sold a Canon EF 100-400 zoom f/4.5 – 5.6 L IS Telephoto Zoom lens, the old 1-4, in excellent condition for $549 soon after it was listed.
• Ron Paulk sold his Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Lens in excellent condition for $999and his Canon EF 100mm Macro f/2.8L IS USM lens in excellent condition for $549 the day they were listed.
• Ron Paulk sold a Canon EOS-1D X Professional Digital Camera Body in excellent condition for $2699 and a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens in mid-May before they were listed and is kindly sending me a check for the 2 1/2%.

New Listings

Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Sale pending after one day!

Brooke Miller is offering a Canon EOS 5D Mark III in excellent condition for $1399. The sale includes the front cap, the camera strap, one battery, the charger, the original product box, the manual, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Brooke via e-mail.

I owned and used this superb, full frame, 22mp digital body for several years. It was always my first choice for scenic, Urbex, and flower photography until I fell in love with the 5DS R (for a lot more money!). artie

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens

Brooke Miller is also offering a Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for the shock-the-world, BAA record low price of $1398. The sale includes the front and rear lens caps, the zippered lens case with strap, a LensCoat, the original product box, the manual, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Brooke via e-mail.

The 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens is amazingly versatile. I still own one and have made zillions of great images with it. It works well with both the 1.4X III and the 2X III TCs, even with the 7D II! It is easily hand holdable. It is great for tame birds, landscapes, urbex, indoor stuff likes concerts and recitals, and just about anything you want to photograph. artie

Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens

Sale pending after one day!

Brooke Miller is also offering a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens (the old 100-400) in excellent condition for the going rate of $549. The sale include the front and rear lens caps, the zippered lens case with strap, the original product box, the manual, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

The old 100-400 was and is a superb lens. I made hundreds of sale-able images with mine including the one used on the front cover of Scott Weidensaul’s “Return to Wild America”. Contrary to reports by the internet idiots the lens is -– in competent hands -– sharp at all focal lengths and it is sharp wide open. It is extremely versatile and would make a great starter lens for those interested in bird, wildlife, and general nature photography. artie

Please contact Brooke via e-mail.

Sigma 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 APO DG OS (optical stabilizer) Lens for Canon AF

Brooke Miller is also offering a Sigma 50-500mm F4.5-6.3 APO DG OS (optical stabilizer) lens for Canon AF in like-new condition for the giving-it-away price of $749. The sale includes the front and rear lens caps, the lens case with strap, a LensCoat, the original product box, the manual, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Brooke via e-mail.

I have seen many sharp images made with this popular lens on several IPTs. This item sells new for $1659 at B&H so you can save more than $900 by grabbing Brooke’s lens. artie

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM Lens Lens

Larry Peavler is offering a Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens in excellent condition with only a few tiny scratches on the lens hood for $499. The sale includes the front and rear lens caps, the hood, the lens pouch, and insured ground shipping via UPS to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Larry via e-mail by phone at 1-317-908-0729 (Eastern time.)

I rarely make a trip or head out to the beach without my 24-105 in my Xtra-hand vest. Whenever I leave this versatile B-roll lens behind, I wind up regretting it. I use it for bird-scapes, photographer-scapes, landscapes, mini macro scenes like bird feathers, dead birds, and nests with eggs (the latter only when and if the nest can be photographed without jeopardizing it) and just about anything else that catches my eye. While I am nowhere near as good as Denise Ippolito with this lens, I have made lots of good and saleable images with mine, the old version. artie

Canon EF Extender 1.4X

Philip Laing is offering a Canon EF Extender 1.4X III in near-mint condition for $329. The sale includes the front and rear lens caps, the LP811 pouch, the original box, the instruction sheet, the USA warranty card and insured ground shipping via UPS to U.S. addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made. Please contact Phillip via e-mail or by phone at 208-983-2390 (Pacific time).

As regular readers know the 1.4X III TC is so important to what I do that I routinely travel with three of them. artie

Canon EF Extender 2X

Philip Laing is offering a Canon EF Extender 2X III in near-mint condition for $329. The sale includes the front and rear lens caps, the LP811 pouch, the original box, the instruction sheet, the USA warranty card and insured ground shipping via UPS to U.S. addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made. Please contact Phillip via e-mail or by phone at 208-983-2390 (Pacific time).

Canon EOS-1D Mark IV

IPT veteran Stuart Hahn is offering a Canon EOS-1D Mark IV in very good plus condition for $1300. The body is in perfect mechanical condition but does show signs of use: some scratches on the finish. The LCD screens have been covered with protectors since day one so they are without scratches. Photos available upon request. The sale includes the original box and everything that came in it and insured ground shipping via UPS to U.S. addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Stuart via e-mail or by phone at 916-485-1630 (Pacific time).

Two dependable, rugged 1D Mark IVs served as my workhorse professional bodies for several years. artie

Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II Lens + RRS lens plate

IPT veteran Stuart Hahn is offering a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens in mint condition for $1549. The sale includes the front and rear lens caps, the zippered lens case with strap, the original product box, the manual, a RRS 97L-C lens plate, and insured ground shipping via UPS to U.S. addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Stuart via e-mail or by phone at 916-485-1630 (Pacific time).

The 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens is amazingly versatile. I still own one and have made zillions of great images with it. It works well with both the 1.4X III and the 2X III TCs, even with the 7D II! It is easily hand holdable. It is great for tame birds, landscapes, urbex, indoor stuff likes concerts and recitals, and just about anything you want to photograph. artie

This image was created on a UK Puffins and Gannets IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 330mm) and the world’s best value in a digital camera body, the Canon EOS 7D Mark II. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/640 sec. at f/10 in Manual mode. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: 0. Two AF points to the left of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Rear Focus AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Arctic Tern screaming head portrait

Mis-named IPT?

It is quite possible that the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT should have been named the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets and Arctic Terns IPT. Why? On our afternoon landings we get to photograph adult Arctic Terns, Arctic Terns on their nests with eggs and young, Arctic Tern chicks of all ages, Arctic Tern in flight, and Arctic Terns landing at their nests with fish. And with the 2017 trip being a bit later than usual, there is an excellent chance that we will get to photograph the incredibly handsome fledged juveniles of this species.

Arctic Terns are next to impossible to photograph in the US and difficult to photograph anywhere in the world. But on Inner Farnes where the are completely acclimated to visitors, the are about as easy as can be. If you’d like to join me on the UK IPT this July, scroll down for details and then take advantage of the late registration discount.

7D II/100-400II Rocks Northumberland

Since I went 100% to full frame about two years ago I often forget how good the 7D II was and is. This 1.6X crop factor body opened up bird photography to the masses; you easily hand holdable 400mm lens becomes an easily hand holdable (effective) 640mm lens. Add the 1.4X III TC and you are up to 896mm. The 7D II shines in either sunny or cloudy bright conditions. It is 100% conceivable that someone could do the entire UK IPT with only this wonderful combo. And don’t forget that when I am working at 1000 or 1200mm I will often be dead in the water when it comes to photographing action and behavior …

Why f/10?

Why did I stop down almost 2 full stops to f/10 to create this image?

This image was also created on a UK Puffins and Gannets IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (this one at 278mm) with the world’s best value in a digital camera body, the Canon EOS 7D Mark II. ISO 800. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/500 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: 0. Two AF points up and two to the left of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Rear Focus AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the chick’s neck directly below the eye. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Arctic Tern chick begging

Hand Holding Freedom

Hand holding allows you to get into position, to get the best perspective, to get higher or especially lower, a lot faster than if you are working with a tripod. This freedom will yield exponential increases in your creativity. For this image, I was able to set on a path without bugging anyone; if I have been on a tripod I would surely have blocked the way for some folks. Score another one for hand holding. And the great four-stop IS systems on the newer Canon lenses work even better than advertised. In the past year I have found myself enjoying the freedom of hand holding more and more every month.

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. Click on the card to enjoy a spectacular larger version.

2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. Monday July 3 through Wednesday July 12, 2017: $5999 + $1499: Limit 10 photographers — Openings: 5).
All who register will be required to join the (really cheap) two-day Gannet/Bass Rock Add-on. See below for details.

Please call 863-692-0906 for info on the substantial Late Registration Discount.

Here are the plans: take a red eye from the east coast of the US on July 2 and arrive in Edinburgh, Scotland on the morning of Monday July 3 no later than 10am (or simply meet us then at the Edinburgh Airport–EDI, or later in the day at our cottages if you are driving your own vehicle either from the UK or from somewhere in Europe). Stay 7 nights in one of two gorgeous modern country cottages.

There are five days of planned puffin/seabird trips and one morning of gannet photography, all weather permitting of course. In three years we have yet to miss an entire day because of weather… In addition, we will enjoy several sessions of photographing nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes at eye level.

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. Click on the card to enjoy a spectacular larger version.

The Details

We will get to photograph Atlantic Puffin, Common Murre, Razorbill, Shag, and Northern Gannet; Arctic, Sandwich, and Common Terns, the former with chicks of all sizes; Black-headed, Lesser-Black-backed, and Herring Gulls, many chasing puffins with fish; Black-legged Kittiwake with chicks. We will be staying in upscale country-side lodging that are beyond lovely with large living areas and lots of open space for the informal image sharing and Photoshop sessions. The shared rooms are decent-sized, each with a private bathroom. See the limited single supplement info below.

All breakfasts, lunches and dinners are included. All 5 puffins boat lunches will need to be prepared by you in advance, taken with, and consumed at your leisure. I usually eat mine on the short boat trip from one island to the other. Also included is a restaurant lunch on the gannet boat day.

If you wish to fly home on the morning of Monday July 10 we will get you to the airport. Please, however, consider the following tentative plans: enjoy a second Gannet boat trip on the afternoon of Monday July 10 and book your hotel room in Dunbar. If all goes as planned, those who stay on for the two extra days will make a morning landing at Bass Rock, one of the world’s largest gannetries. We will get everyone to the airport on the morning of Wednesday July 12.

Great News on the UK Puffins and Gannets/Bass Rock Extension

On the morning of Jul 10, 2017, we will sleep late and head up to Dunbar Harbor for lunch and an afternoon Gannet boat chumming trip: flight photography until you cannot lift your camera. One gannet boat trip is included in the IPT but everyone always wants more.

Then, as a possible mega bonus — we are scheduled to make a Bass Rock landing on the morning of Tuesday July 12, 2017. I am hoping to go two for two! If not, we do another chumming trip for flying gannets.

Included will be two nights lodging at the wonderful Dunsmuir hotel, two fine dining meals there, any additional meals, all boat, guide, and landing fees, and all transportation including the early morning transfer to the Edinburg Airport on the morning of WED July 12.

So far all five sign-ups are maximizing their travel dollars by signing up for the extension in part because I priced it so cheaply at $1499 despite my greatly increased costs.

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. Click on the card to enjoy a spectacular larger version. Scroll down to join us in the UK in 2016.

Deposit Info

If you are good to go sharing a room–couples of course are more than welcome–please send your non-refundable $2,000/person deposit check now to save a spot. Please be sure to check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below. Your balance will be due on March 29, 2017. Please make your check out to “Arthur Morris” and send it to Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. If your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

Please shoot me an e-mail if you are good to go or if you have any questions.

Single Supplement Deposit Info

Single supplement rooms are available on a limited basis. To ensure yours, please register early. The single supplement fee is $1575. If you would like your own room, please request it when making your deposit and include payment in full for the single supplement; your single supplement deposit check should be for $3,575. As we will need to commit to renting the extra space, single supplement deposits are non-refundable so please be sure that check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance for big international trips is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality insurance. Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options you can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. My family and I use and depend on the great policies offered by TIS whenever we travel. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check of running your credit card. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print careful even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

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 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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

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 :).

What’s Up

I spent most of Sunday working on several To Transfer image folders, doing third and fourth edits and creating about 200 new slide show JPEGs. Once I get the files double backed up on the office Drobos, I can get some serious stuff off the laptop in preparation for my four upcoming trips. We keep one set of the Drobo disks at Jennifer’s house, the other in a heavy duty safe in the garage.

I was thrilled to learn on Sunday that multiple IPT veterans Pat and Stokes Fishburne are driving up from Fort Myers on Saturday and will be joining me at Gatorland on Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. That leaves me free for Saturday morning. In any case, there is lots of room for you all day on Saturday and on Sunday morning. There is so, so much to learn.

Scroll down for info on the Palouse IPT late registration discount.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

BIRDS AS ART June 3-4 Gatorland In-the Field Instructional Meet-Up Sessions

Last of the Season!

Join me in Kissimmee, FL for all or part of the weekend of June 3-4, 2017. We should get to photograph several species of nesting herons and egrets as well as Wood Stork, American Alligator (captive), and more. We should get to make lots of head portraits of all the bird species and to photograph both small chicks and fledged young. Learn to see, find, and make the shot in cluttered settings. Learn exposure and how to handle WHITEs. All of the birds are free and wild. These inexpensive sessions are designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to see you there.

June 3-4, 2017 Schedule

• Saturday June 3 Meet-up Morning (early entry): 7:30 till 10:30am: $99.
• Lunch and Image Review: $99.
• Saturday afternoon till closing (late stay): $99.
• Sunday June 4 Meet-up Morning, (early entry): 7:30 till 10am: $90.

Cheap Canon lens rentals available: 600 II, 500 II, 400 DO II, or 200-400.

To pay for one or more sessions in full via credit card, call Jim or Jen in the office weekdays at 863-692-0906. You will be responsible for the cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s pass or passes. Please shoot me an e-mail with questions.

This image was created on the May 14 Gatorland In-the-Field Meet-up session with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the rugged, blazingly fast Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. ISO 400. Evaluative metering -1/3 stop: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -1. One row up and one to the right of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was just to the right of the bird’s eye. Cattle Egret in breeding plumage, squawking

Cattle Egret Surprise

On my mid-May Gatorland visit, I was both pleased and surprised to find several really good looking breeding plumage Cattle Egrets on nests, a full six weeks after the first influx of this handsome species with their cherry and yellow bills and their magenta/purple eye make-up. In prior years, early to mid-May was prime time for the breeding plumage Cattle Egrets so the late March birds were actually the atypical ones.

A Great Combo Either Way …

One of my very favorite situations is to have a shaded subject set against a sunlit background. The opposite, a sunlit subject set against a shaded background (as with today’s featured image) can be pretty nifty as well. In the former situation, you need to guard against underexposing the subject, in the latter, you need to guard against overexposing the subject.

Exposure Question

With the background so black, why did I only need 1/3 stop of underexposure?

Critique Today’s Image

Positives? Negatives? Exposure? Image design? Sharpness? Impact?

The Image Optimization

After converting the image in DPP 4 I brought it into Photoshop and, aside from the bill clean-up seen above in the animated GIF, did not do a whole lot. The only other thing of note was running a 20% Linear Burn on the brightest WHITEs after selecting them with a Color Range Selection. As is usual for the clean-up work I used the Patch Tool, the Clone Stamp (for dividing and conquering), the Spot Healing Brush for the small spots, and again, my new friend, Content Aware Fill (Shift-Delete). I have been using that more and more in recent weeks.

Almost everything above is detailed in my Digital Basics File, an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. It includes my complete (former PC) digital workflow, dozens of great Photoshop tips, details on using all of my image clean-up tools, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding and filling in canvas, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, the basics of Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro, Digital Eye Doctor techniques, using Gaussian Blurs and Dodge and Burn, a variety of making selections, how to create time-saving actions, and tons more.

I am working on an all new Current Workflow e-guide that better reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. It will include a section on ACR conversions and a simplified method of applying Neat Image noise reduction. Along with all of the Photoshop stuff from Digital Basics that I still use. Learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here.

Palouse 2016 Horizontals Card

Why Different?

Announcing the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour

In what ways will the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour be different from the most other Palouse workshops?

There are so many great locations that a seven-day IPT (as opposed to the typical three- or five-day workshops) will give the group time to visit (and revisit) many of the best spots while allowing you to maximize your air travel dollars. In addition, it will allow us to enjoy a slightly more relaxed pace.

You will be assured of being in the right location for the given weather and sky conditions.

You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills.

You will learn to design powerful, graphic images.

You will visit all of the iconic locations and a few spectacular ones that are much less frequently visited.

You will learn long lens landscape techniques.

You will learn to master any exposure situation in one minute or less.

You will learn the fine points of Canon in-camera (5D Mark III, 5DS R, and 7D II) HDR techniques.

You will learn to create this look in Photoshop from a single image while winding up with a higher quality image file.

You will be able to share a variety of my exotic Canon lenses including the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens and the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens, aka the “circle lens.”

You will learn to use your longest focal lengths to create rolling field and Urbex abstracts.

You will learn when and how to use a variety of neutral density filters to create pleasing blurs of the Palouse’s gorgeous rolling farmlands.

As always, you will learn to see like a pro. You will learn what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.

You will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images.

You will learn to use super-wide lenses both for big skies and building interiors.

You will learn when, why, and how to use infrared capture; if you do not own an infrared body, you will get to borrow mine.

You will learn to use both backlight and side-light to create powerful and dramatic landscape images.

You will learn to create the very popular detailed, slightly grungy, slightly over-saturated look in Photoshop.

Palouse 2016 Verticals Card

The 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour. June 8-14, 2017. Seven full days of photography. Meet and greet at 7:30pm on Wednesday, June 7: $2,499. Limit 10/Openings: 5.

Call 863-692-0906 or e-mail for Late Registration Discount Info

Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will enjoy spectacular sunrises and at least one nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. I will bring you to more than a few really neat old abandoned barns and farmhouses in idyllic settings. There is no better way to improve your compositional and image design skills and to develop your creativity than to join me for this trip. Photoshop and image sharing sessions when we have the time and energy…. We get up early and stay out late and the days are long.

Over the past three years, with the help of my friend Denise Ippolito, we found all the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and vistas. What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, my extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions. As above, there will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before the workshop begins.

To Sign Up

Your non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to hold your spot. Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining this IPT. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours to arrange for the payment of your deposit; if by check, please make out to “BIRDS AS ART” and mail it to: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail: artie.

Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options. You can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

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 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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

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 :).

What’s Up

I got lots of work done on Friday while listening to Billy Joel all day on YouTube. And reading lots on him. Friday night I attended Grandson Sam Egensteiner’s HS Graduation ceremony. He will be attending Emerson College in Boston in the fall.

If you would like to take advantage of the late registration discount and join the small group (currently six) on the Palouse ITP, scroll down for details.

I am amazed by the fact that the sales of two Canon 500mm f/4L IS II lenses became pending within days of each other this week.The BAA Used Gear Page is surely the place to buy and sell big glass. Why settle for pennies on the dollar from the big boys when you can get a fair price here?

Where are all the Photoshop Fraud Experts?

I did something major in Photoshop with yesterday’s image and nobody is close. Feel free to chime in here.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

BIRDS AS ART June 3-4 Gatorland In-the Field Instructional Meet-Up Sessions

Last of the Season!

Join me in Kissimmee, FL for all or part of the weekend of June 3-4, 2017. We should get to photograph several species of nesting herons and egrets as well as Wood Stork, American Alligator (captive), and more. We should get to make lots of head portraits of all the bird species and to photograph both small chicks and fledged young. Learn to see, find, and make the shot in cluttered settings. Learn exposure and how to handle WHITEs. All of the birds are free and wild. These inexpensive sessions are designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to see you there.

June 3-4, 2017 Schedule

• Saturday June 3 Meet-up Morning (early entry): 7:30 till 10:30am: $99.
• Lunch and Image Review: $99.
• Saturday afternoon till closing (late stay): $99.
• Sunday June 4 Meet-up Morning, (early entry): 7:30 till 10am: $90.

Cheap Canon lens rentals available: 600 II, 500 II, 400 DO II, or 200-400.

To pay for one or more sessions in full via credit card, call Jim or Jen in the office weekdays at 863-692-0906. You will be responsible for the cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s pass or passes. Please shoot me an e-mail with questions.

This image was created on the May 14 Gatorland In-the-Field Meet-up session with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the rugged, blazingly fast Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1/3 stops: 1/125 sec. at f/9. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: 1. One row to the right and four up from the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure as originally framed. The selected AF point was squarely on the bird’s eye. Tricolored Heron chick

Finding the Slot. Again.

As we have seen in several recent blog posts, so much of photographing at a rookery involves finding a narrow window through the vegetation, being able to get a lens on the subject. The best way to learn to find the slot is to photograph with me at places like Gatorland and keep your eyes open. If you can’t make it, don”t give up when you spot an attractive subject in a cluttered setting. Move left, move right, move up, and move down. Sometimes you might need to go way left or way right to find your window …

Those Reddish Brown Tones …

The reddish browns on fledgling Tricolored Heron chicks are some of my all time favorite tones in all of nature. Am I missing anything with similar colors? I cannot think of any off the top of my head. If you can, please leave a comment.

Motion Blue Clue …

Take a close look at the specular highlights in the “Before” frame of the animated gif above; the streaks there indicated that the subject was moving at the moment of exposure.

The Image Optimization

After converting the image in DPP 4 I brought it into Photoshop and, aside from the bill clean-up seen above in the animated GIF, did not do much. The only other thing of note was a strong Contrast Mask (Unsharp Mask at 20/80/0) on the eye and the lores as there was a bit of motion blur showing there. As is usual for the clean-up work I used the Patch Tool, the Clone Stamp (for dividing and conquering), the Spot Healing Brush for the small spots, and my new friend, Content Aware Fill (Shift-Delete). Last was my quick and easy NeatImage noise reduction on the whole image.

Almost everything above is detailed in my Digital Basics File, an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. It includes my complete (former PC) digital workflow, dozens of great Photoshop tips, details on using all of my image clean-up tools, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding and filling in canvas, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, the basics of Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro, Digital Eye Doctor techniques, using Gaussian Blurs and Dodge and Burn, a variety of making selections, how to create time-saving actions, and tons more.

I am working on an all new Current Workflow e-guide that better reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. It will include a section on ACR conversions and a simplified method of applying Neat Image noise reduction. Along with all of the Photoshop stuff from Digital Basics that I still use. Learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here.

Palouse 2016 Horizontals Card

Why Different?

Announcing the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour

In what ways will the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour be different from the most other Palouse workshops?

There are so many great locations that a seven-day IPT (as opposed to the typical three- or five-day workshops) will give the group time to visit (and revisit) many of the best spots while allowing you to maximize your air travel dollars. In addition, it will allow us to enjoy a slightly more relaxed pace.

You will be assured of being in the right location for the given weather and sky conditions.

You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills.

You will learn to design powerful, graphic images.

You will visit all of the iconic locations and a few spectacular ones that are much less frequently visited.

You will learn long lens landscape techniques.

You will learn to master any exposure situation in one minute or less.

You will learn the fine points of Canon in-camera (5D Mark III, 5DS R, and 7D II) HDR techniques.

You will learn to create this look in Photoshop from a single image while winding up with a higher quality image file.

You will be able to share a variety of my exotic Canon lenses including the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens and the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens, aka the “circle lens.”

You will learn to use your longest focal lengths to create rolling field and Urbex abstracts.

You will learn when and how to use a variety of neutral density filters to create pleasing blurs of the Palouse’s gorgeous rolling farmlands.

As always, you will learn to see like a pro. You will learn what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.

You will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images.

You will learn to use super-wide lenses both for big skies and building interiors.

You will learn when, why, and how to use infrared capture; if you do not own an infrared body, you will get to borrow mine.

You will learn to use both backlight and side-light to create powerful and dramatic landscape images.

You will learn to create the very popular detailed, slightly grungy, slightly over-saturated look in Photoshop.

Palouse 2016 Verticals Card

The 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour. June 8-14, 2017. Seven full days of photography. Meet and greet at 7:30pm on Wednesday, June 7: $2,499. Limit 10/Openings: 5.

Call 863-692-0906 or e-mail for Late Registration Discount Info

Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will enjoy spectacular sunrises and at least one nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. I will bring you to more than a few really neat old abandoned barns and farmhouses in idyllic settings. There is no better way to improve your compositional and image design skills and to develop your creativity than to join me for this trip. Photoshop and image sharing sessions when we have the time and energy…. We get up early and stay out late and the days are long.

Over the past three years, with the help of my friend Denise Ippolito, we found all the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and vistas. What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, my extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions. As above, there will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before the workshop begins.

To Sign Up

Your non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to hold your spot. Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining this IPT. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours to arrange for the payment of your deposit; if by check, please make out to “BIRDS AS ART” and mail it to: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail: artie.

Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options. You can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

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 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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

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 :).

What’s Up

On Wednesday I continued to feel a bit better and got some more work done on the BAA Current Workflow Guide. If I weren’t so meticulous the going would be a lot faster 🙂

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

BIRDS AS ART June 3-4 Gatorland In-the Field Instructional Meet-Up Sessions

Last of the Season!

Join me in Kissimmee, FL for all or part of the weekend of June 3-4, 2017. We should get to photograph several species of nesting herons and egrets as well as Wood Stork, American Alligator (captive), and more. We should get to make lots of head portraits of all the bird species and to photograph both small chicks and fledged young. Learn to see, find, and make the shot in cluttered settings. Learn exposure and how to handle WHITEs. All of the birds are free and wild. These inexpensive sessions are designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to see you there.

June 3-4, 2017 Schedule

• Saturday June 3 Meet-up Morning (early entry): 7:30 till 10:30am: $99.
• Lunch and Image Review: $99.
• Saturday afternoon till closing (late stay): $99.
• Sunday June 4 Meet-up Morning, (early entry): 7:30 till 10am: $90.

Cheap Canon lens rentals available: 600 II, 500 II, 400 DO II, or 200-400.

To pay for one or more sessions in full via credit card, call Jim or Jen in the office weekdays at 863-692-0906. You will be responsible for the cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s pass or passes. Please shoot me an e-mail with questions.

This image was created on the May 15 Gatorland In-the-Field Meet-up session with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 220mm) and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/80 sec. at f/9. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: 0. One row up and three to the right of the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand /Shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point fell on the top of the base of the upper mandible. Snowy Egret chicks in nest

How Many Birds?

How many Snowy Egret chicks are visible in the photo above? Please give your reasons.

Why the Teleconverter?

Considering that I wound up at only 220mm why did I have the 1.4X TC in place? Here is a related question with a different answer: why didn’t I remove the teleconverter before making today’s featured image?

Photoshop Hanky-Panky?

Can you spot any major Photoshop changes in today’s featured image? Where and what? Be sure to state your proof (if any).

My Thoughts on Avoiding Filtered Light …

There have been several active nests in this large bush this year. When the sun is on one of the nests, the light is almost always varied (or filtered). By this I mean that that the nest is partly in shade and partly sunlit. Here is my rule: never photograph a bird in varied (or filtered) light. When a nest is either completely lit or is completely shaded, the opportunities can be consistently outstanding. And the same is of course true on cloudy days. The best news is that much of this bush is shaded for a good portion of the morning. The problem is that folks do not realize the potential at these times. I have consistently seen groups of folks photographing at this location when the birds are partly in the shade and partly lit by the sun. Once the nest is fully shaded, they seek other subjects. This always leaves me mystified.

Tip for photographing birds in harsh sunlight after 8:30am: find a subject in the shade.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

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 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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

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 :).

What’s Up

I am feeling a bit better each day. The nasty cough is gone. All that I am left with now is a bit of sticky nasal congestion. Yuck!

See the late registration discount info on the Palouse IPT below.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This image was created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL with the BLUBB-supported Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III and the blazing fast, rugged Canon EOS-1D X Mark II DSLR Camera Premium Kit with 64GB Card and Reader. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 stops: 1/400 sec. at f/6.3 (was somewhat of a too light estimate). AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: 5. Upper Large Zone/Shutter Button/AI Servo AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system selected two AF points that fell on the bend of the wing. Though this would seem to be just ahead of the plane of the bird’s eye the image was sharp enough. Image Sandhill Crane colt on a foggy morning

My Honest Thoughts on the Foggy Crane Might Surprise You …

In the recent Exposure in the Fog/Please Rate This Image blog post here, I posted the image above and this as well:

Your Call

On a scale of zero to 10 with zero being an insta-delete and 10 being a BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition entrant, how would you rate this image? Why?

On a scale of zero to 10 with zero being very poor and 10 being excellent how would you rate this image on:

Composition:

Exposure:

Color:

Sharpness:

Impact:

I will share my ratings with you here soon.

My Responses

On a scale of zero to 10 with zero being an insta-delete and 10 being a BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition entrant, how would you rate this image? Why?

am: I’d give it a two. Aside from it’s value in this educational exercise and what I might have learned, it is simply not too exciting. When I started working on it I thought that I might have been able to make it look pretty good. I was wrong 🙂

On a scale of zero to 10 with zero being very poor and 10 being excellent how would you rate this image on:

Composition: Three. It is a bit too tight in the frame.

Exposure: Exposure with the RAW file was right on. The optimized image is a bit too dark for my taste. But lightening it did not help.

Color: I have big problems with the color; I’d give it a one. The image is overall muddy. The RGB values on the gray areas are perfectly neutral yet the colors are not at all pleasing. I’m left wondering if the problems with the muddy colors were a result of exposing

Sharpness: Though the eye is relatively sharp, the fine feather detail is pathetic. Overall I’d give it a two in this category. Why the problem? As I struggled awkwardly to frame the image with the lens on the BLUBB, the lens was moving a bit at the moment of exposure.

Impact: I’d give the optimized image a zero on its own and a one when compared to the RAW file.

Thanks to all who commented so honestly on the image when it was originally posted.

With the long days there will be tons of time for image review and Photoshop sessions on the Palouse IPT. You are of course invited to join us.

Palouse 2016 Horizontals Card

Why Different?

Announcing the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour

In what ways will the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour be different from the most other Palouse workshops?

There are so many great locations that a seven-day IPT (as opposed to the typical three- or five-day workshops) will give the group time to visit (and revisit) many of the best spots while allowing you to maximize your air travel dollars. In addition, it will allow us to enjoy a slightly more relaxed pace.

You will be assured of being in the right location for the given weather and sky conditions.

You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills.

You will learn to design powerful, graphic images.

You will visit all of the iconic locations and a few spectacular ones that are much less frequently visited.

You will learn long lens landscape techniques.

You will learn to master any exposure situation in one minute or less.

You will learn the fine points of Canon in-camera (5D Mark III, 5DS R, and 7D II) HDR techniques.

You will learn to create this look in Photoshop from a single image while winding up with a higher quality image file.

You will be able to share a variety of my exotic Canon lenses including the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens and the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens, aka the “circle lens.”

You will learn to use your longest focal lengths to create rolling field and Urbex abstracts.

You will learn when and how to use a variety of neutral density filters to create pleasing blurs of the Palouse’s gorgeous rolling farmlands.

As always, you will learn to see like a pro. You will learn what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.

You will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images.

You will learn to use super-wide lenses both for big skies and building interiors.

You will learn when, why, and how to use infrared capture; if you do not own an infrared body, you will get to borrow mine.

You will learn to use both backlight and side-light to create powerful and dramatic landscape images.

You will learn to create the very popular detailed, slightly grungy, slightly over-saturated look in Photoshop.

Palouse 2016 Verticals Card

The 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour. June 8-14, 2017. Seven full days of photography. Meet and greet at 7:30pm on Wednesday, June 7: $2,499. Limit 10/Openings: 5.

Call 863-692-0906 or e-mail for Late Registration Discount Info

Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will enjoy spectacular sunrises and at least one nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. I will bring you to more than a few really neat old abandoned barns and farmhouses in idyllic settings. There is no better way to improve your compositional and image design skills and to develop your creativity than to join me for this trip. Photoshop and image sharing sessions when we have the time and energy…. We get up early and stay out late and the days are long.

Over the past three years, with the help of my friend Denise Ippolito, we found all the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and vistas. What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, my extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions. As above, there will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before the workshop begins.

To Sign Up

Your non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to hold your spot. Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining this IPT. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours to arrange for the payment of your deposit; if by check, please make out to “BIRDS AS ART” and mail it to: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail: artie.

Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options. You can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

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 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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

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 :).

What’s Up

By Friday dinner I was feeling much better. I met up with Michael Hankes and we headed for DeSoto. While exploring on Tierra Verde we spotted a great blue with a big black snake, probably a racer. He did not like us and walked down to the shore of a nearby lake. As we followed he went over the bank. When we got it back in sight, it had already swallowed the snake. Zero pix. We did get some decent stuff on a few spoonbills.

The weather got worse as we checked out a few spots in the park. At one point, as we were getting our gear ready, I asked Mike, “Do you think it’s safe?” He said, “What are the chances of getting hit by lighting?” Five seconds later we had our answer: BHAM and FLASH. And I mean big BHAM and huge bright FLASH! We got back in the car and decided to head for dinner.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This image was created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL with the BLUBB-supported Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III and the blazing fast, rugged Canon EOS-1D X Mark II DSLR Camera Premium Kit with 64GB Card and Reader. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 stops: 1/400 sec. at f/6.3 (was somewhat of a too light estimate). AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: 5. Upper Large Zone/Shutter Button/AI Servo AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system selected two AF points that fell on the bend of the wing. Though this would seem to be just ahead of the plane of the bird’s eye the image was sharp enough. Image Sandhill Crane colt on a foggy morning

The Foggy Morning Original

The JPEG above represents the converted TIFF file. I actually added one full stop of light via the brightness slider during the RAW conversion. It was tough to get the lens on the bird as the colt was walking away from my vehicle that was not squared up with the bird. When the bird turned toward me I figured, it does not cost me anything to push the button so what the heck. I created two frames. This one was sharp, the other was not.

Would you keep this image and attempt to optimize it?

This image was created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL with the BLUBB-supported Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III and the blazing fast, rugged Canon EOS-1D X Mark II DSLR Camera Premium Kit with 64GB Card and Reader. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 stops: 1/400 sec. at f/6.3 (was somewhat of a too light estimate). AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: 5. Upper Large Zone/Shutter Button/AI Servo AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system selected two AF points that fell on the bend of the wing. Though this would seem to be just ahead of the plane of the bird’s eye the image was sharp enough. Image Sandhill Crane colt on a foggy morning

The Optimized Image

I thought that ACR’s DeHaze would have worked magically with this image but it did not so I want back to basics: a Levels Adjustment, a Curves Color Balance adjustment, my NIK 30-30 recipe on the bird only, and the full treatment NeatImage noise reduction.

Your Call

On a scale of zero to 10 with zero being an insta-delete and 10 being a BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition entrant, how would you rate this image? Why?

On a scale of zero to 10 with zero being very poor and 10 being excellent how would you rate this image on:

Composition:

Exposure:

Color:

Sharpness:

Impact:

I will share my ratings with you here soon.

Palouse 2016 Horizontals Card

Why Different?

Announcing the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour

In what ways will the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour be different from the most other Palouse workshops?

There are so many great locations that a seven-day IPT (as opposed to the typical three- or five-day workshops) will give the group time to visit (and revisit) many of the best spots while allowing you to maximize your air travel dollars. In addition, it will allow us to enjoy a slightly more relaxed pace.

You will be assured of being in the right location for the given weather and sky conditions.

You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills.

You will learn to design powerful, graphic images.

You will visit all of the iconic locations and a few spectacular ones that are much less frequently visited.

You will learn long lens landscape techniques.

You will learn to master any exposure situation in one minute or less.

You will learn the fine points of Canon in-camera (5D Mark III, 5DS R, and 7D II) HDR techniques.

You will learn to create this look in Photoshop from a single image while winding up with a higher quality image file.

You will be able to share a variety of my exotic Canon lenses including the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens and the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens, aka the “circle lens.”

You will learn to use your longest focal lengths to create rolling field and Urbex abstracts.

You will learn when and how to use a variety of neutral density filters to create pleasing blurs of the Palouse’s gorgeous rolling farmlands.

As always, you will learn to see like a pro. You will learn what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.

You will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images.

You will learn to use super-wide lenses both for big skies and building interiors.

You will learn when, why, and how to use infrared capture; if you do not own an infrared body, you will get to borrow mine.

You will learn to use both backlight and side-light to create powerful and dramatic landscape images.

You will learn to create the very popular detailed, slightly grungy, slightly over-saturated look in Photoshop.

Palouse 2016 Verticals Card

The 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour
June 8-14, 2017. Seven full days of photography. Meet and greet at 7:30pm on Wednesday, June 7: $2,499. Limit 10/Openings: 7.

Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will enjoy spectacular sunrises and at least one nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. I will bring you to more than a few really neat old abandoned barns and farmhouses in idyllic settings. There is no better way to improve your compositional and image design skills and to develop your creativity than to join me for this trip. Photoshop and image sharing sessions when we have the time and energy…. We get up early and stay out late and the days are long.

Over the past three years, with the help of my friend Denise Ippolito, we found all the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and vistas. What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, my extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions. As above, there will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before the workshop begins.

To Sign Up

Your non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to hold your spot. Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining this IPT. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours to arrange for the payment of your deposit; if by check, please make out to “BIRDS AS ART” and mail it to: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail: artie.

Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options. You can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

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 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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

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 :).

What’s Up

I spent a good part of Tuesday fighting a quick-developing but nasty sore throat using a mega-gargling protocol from Dr. Oliver. Right now, Tuesday evening at 6:36 as I type, I seem to at least be holding me own. Time will tell.

Free Friday Afternoon Desoto In-the-Field Session

Sign up (details below) for the four DeSoto sessions and join Machine-gun Mike Hankes and me for a free Friday instructional outing from 4pm till sunset.

Black Grouse Hen Mystery Answers

From the Black Grouse Hen Mysteries blog post here:

I created Image #1. Multiple IPT participant Anita North created Image #2.

The focal length for Image #1 was 1200mm.
The shutter speed for Image #1 was 1/250 sec. (ISO 800 at f/9).
The focal length for Image #2 was 600mm.
The shutter speed for Image #2 was a surprising 1/500 sec. (ISO 800 at f/4).

The shutter speed for Image #2 was quite surprising. Most folks thought that it would have been a lot slower. The high shutter speed gives you an idea that that lady was really moving when the bird decided to split.

Though the seemingly simple Image #1 was one of my very favorites of the trip, I loved Anita’s blur, mostly for the fact that she pushed the shutter button when most folks would not have thought to try. Hers is one accidental pleasing blur that turned out superbly. Thanks Anita for allowing me to share your image with the group here.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This image was created on the 2017 Spring For DeSoto IPT by participant Ed Blanton with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-17E II (at 270mm — 405mm full frame equivalent), and the Nikon D500. ISO 400. Matrix metering -1 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/5.6. Image #1: Great Egret and marsh grasses. Image courtesy of and copyright 2016: Ed Blanton

Somebody Listened …

After each IPT, the group is invited to submit five of their favorite images for an online critique. All of the image critiques are shared with the group. I was pleased to see that Ed Blanton opted to follow my advice and photograph the fine looking Great Egret foraging along the edge of the marsh. I like Ed’s image design with the marsh grasses playing a big role in the success of the image. The bird is sharp and well back in the frame and the final tonality of the optimized photo was right on. Thanks Ed for joining us on the IPT and for allowing me to share your image here on the blog.

Notice …

Notice that there are grasses both in front of and behind the bird … That of course varied a bit as the bird foraged.

This image was created on the 2017 Spring For DeSoto IPT with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/250 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -5. Center Large Zone AF/AI Servo/shutter button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system activated a cluster of three AF points that caufht the bottom of the base of the bird’s bill, right on the same plane as the bird’s eye. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Image #2: Great Egret and marsh grasses

The Big Misconception

In the original Ignored … Tripod Basics and An Advanced Tripod Tip, Large Zone AF Info, and Image Questions blog post here, I posed two questions:

#1: Why did I want to get 9 inches lower (quickly)?

#2: Why, once I acquired and held focus, did I opt to create long series of images. In other words, why did I opt to make a lot of images in this specific situation?

Pretty much everyone who commented nailed #2; I created several long series of images in hopes of getting one where the arrangement of grasses around the bird’s head and neck were pleasingly perfect. With Image #2, immediately above, I believe that I did just that. No grasses intersect with the bird’s head or upper neck and the bird is framed just right (for me).

The answers to #2 revealed the big misconception: most folks thought that my wanting to get low had to do with the grasses around the bird’s head. By taking a look at the situation revealed in Image #1 you can see or imagine that my being 9 inches higher or low would have little effect on the image as far as the juxtaposition of the bird’s head and the marsh grasses. Why? Both were pretty much on the same plane with some grasses just in front of the bird and some just behind.

Elinor Osborn left this comment for #1: To get the grass up closer to the bird’s head? To get the strip of green at the top? To get level with the bird’s eye and bill? Her #1 did not make much sense to me. Her #2 was bingo. Her #3 was true but, due to the extremely long focal length (1200mm), it was true only to a very small degree.

Elinor added: The green oof background at the top matches the green on the bird so well. The grass and the OOF green make this a gorgeous composition.

So yes, the reason that I wanted to get lower was to include the strip of color at the top. The color came from the distant marsh grasses on the other side of the lagoon, perhaps 200 yards away.

Below, verbatim, is an excerpt from the Chapter II, Advanced Composition and Image Design, in The Art of Bird Photography II. It is quite on point. (ABP II: 900+ images, 918 pages, on CD only.)

Creative Vision

Are some folks born with an artistic eye? Can the skills needed to design photographs that are compositionally pleasing and those needed to create dynamic and powerful images be taught? If a group of photographers looks out on a grand scene and only one or two see the most powerful composition instantly, is there hope for the others? Is it possible for one person to teach another to see and think creatively? For the past two decades I have struggled with the answers to these questions. I believe that the answer to each of them is “Yes.” Some folks are—for sure—born with an artistic eye while others are not, but the folks in the latter group can learn to design images that are both pleasing and powerful; they can learn to develop and improve their creative vision.

Folks with creative vision venture afield with eyes wide open, looking about in all directions. As they observe the natural world, much of it looks ordinary, but there is often something that catches their eye. Why? There are countless factors that come into play. Color (either bright hues or the more subtle earth tones) may provide the initial spark. Shapes, lines (especially diagonal and curved lines), textures, reflections, silhouettes, and movement often play a role, as can the quality and direction of the light. For bird photographers it can be a new species or a plumage they have not seen before, interesting behavior, or even a common bird in a wonderful setting that catches their eye. When you see something that sparks your interest, ask yourself, “Is what I see interesting enough or beautiful enough to photograph?” (When a situation is really good you will scarcely be able to contain your excitement…) Now visualize the image that you would like to create and decide which lens would best be used to capture it. In bird photography, the choice is often—but not always—your longest lens.

Do you need to change your position to make the image that you want? Do you need to get closer or move farther away? How would moving left or right or up or down affect the angle of the subject relative to the imaging sensor or the film plane, the arrangement of compositional elements within the frame, or the play of light upon the subject? Some may need to physically change their position in order to see how a change in perspective would affect the image. Others are able to imagine how the image would look if they were, for example, to move ten feet left and kneel (rather than stand) behind their (lowered) tripod. If you fit into the former category, the best advice that I can give is to begin by physically changing your position and noting how each new perspective affects the image. Do this often enough and one component of your creative vision will improve: you will find that in more and more situations you will be able to “see” from other vantage points without having to physically change your position. This is one big key to developing your creative vision.

In situations where there seems to be nothing exciting to photograph, or when low light levels are a problem, creative photographers may think about slow shutter speeds and the possibility of creating some intentional (or necessary) blurs. And in addition, they will sometimes think this way even when there is lots of light. In these cases, choosing and using a low ISO or a slow film can help you get a shutter speed that is slow enough to yield the blurred results that you want. For single birds flying close to the camera, a shutter speed in the range of 1/30 to 1/125 second will yield pleasing blurs, while shutter speeds as slow as 1/6 second (or even slower) will create pleasingly blurred images of distant flocks. An option for creating blurred bird-scapes is to move or shake the camera during relatively long exposures while hand-holding or by shaking the lens or panning with it when working on a tripod.

I tend to view the world “tele-photographically,” that is, as if looking through a telephoto or super-telephoto lens. I see the world in small rectangular frames (either horizontal or vertical ones) at various focal lengths. Four of my favorites are 700, 840, 1000, and 1200mm. Walking down Broadway, most folks would be taken in by the grandeur, by the kaleidoscope of color and the tumult, and by the sheer height of the buildings. My eye would more likely be drawn to the reflections in a skyscraper’s mirrored windows or the craggy features of a sleeping wino, this the result of years of looking through long lenses at a variety of natural history subjects. It is, for the most part, how I see the world.

The next section in ABP II’s Chapter II is Guidelines for Advanced Composition and Image Design. It has been some time since I revisited ABP II but I must say with complete modesty that the writing is simple and straightforward (and brilliant) and the concepts covered and detailed are exactly what folks need to improve their nature photography. It is surely the most under-appreciated work in existence on how to become a better bird photographer.

As with many of the chapters in ABP II, the chapter on Advanced Composition and Image Design is followed by a gallery. The Composition and Image Design gallery features 81 images each with its own BAA legendary educational caption.

On a related topic, as far back as the original The Art of Bird Photography, I wrote something to this effect, “Wouldn’t it be nice if we could simply walk up to our subjects and physically move the other elements in our images around in the frame. As that of course would be impossible the only way for us to do that is to change our perspective, to move left or right or up or down.” That is as true today as it was two decades ago.

You can save $10 by ordering the two-book bundle here. Do just that and get to work.

BIRDS AS ART May 20-21 Fort DeSoto In-the Field Instructional Meet-Up Sessions

Sign up for the the four sessions below and Friday afternoon is free!

Join me in Tierra Verde, FL for all or part of the weekend of May 20-21, 2017. Beginners are welcome. Lenses of 300mm or longer are recommended but even those with 70-200s should get to make some nice images. Teleconverters are always a plus. You will learn the basics of digital exposure and image design, autofocus basics, and how to get close to free and wild birds. We should get to photograph a variety of wading birds, shorebirds, terns, and gulls. These inexpensive sessions are designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to meet you there.

May 20-21, 2017 Schedule

• Saturday May 20 Meet-up Morning: 6:30 till 10:00am: $99.
• Lunch and Image Review: $99.
• Saturday afternoon: 4pm till sunset: $99.
• Sunday May 21 Meet-up Morning, Meet-up Morning: 6:30 till 10:00am: $99.

Cheap Canon lens rentals available: 600 II, 500 II, 400 DO II, or 200-400.

To pay for one or more sessions in full via credit card, call Jim or Jen in the office weekdays at 863-692-0906. You will be responsible for the cost of your park entry fee. Please shoot me an e-mail with questions.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

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 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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

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 :).

What’s Up

Gatorland was great on Sunday morning especially with the small Snowy Egret chicks in the nest. The two clients, Marj Kao and Char Hulse (who was in Orlando for the weekend) had a great time and learned a ton. It was Marj’s third BAA meet-up. Char had only rarely pointed her lens at a bird before and was amazed by both Gatorland and by how much she learned in such a short time. It took us a while to figure out the blinkies on her Nikon D-500.

I was glad to learn yesterday that multiple IPT veteran and all around nice guy, Dwayne Marrott is also joining us in the Palouse. That makes five. There is still room for you.

The Used Gear Page (see more below) continues to perform amazingly well especially with high ticket stuff. The above-mentioned Dwayne Marrott purchased Ron Paulk’s Canon 16-35 and his 100 Macro. In addition, Ron sold his ST-E3-RT Transmitter. And the sale of the Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM Zoom lens is pending. The sale of Tom Phillips’ 1DX II and 400 DO II is also pending. As I said, amazing.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

Selling Your Used Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charges a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar above.

Unsolicited, via e-mail, from Gerry Keshka

Hi Artie, I wanted to share how much I appreciate your Used Gear “service.” You have posted how you help sellers, but the other side of the equations is how much this service helps buyers. I have purchased three lenses (Canon 200-400, 500 f4 II, and 70-200 F2.8) all lovely experiences and I saved almost $5K over retail. Each of the sellers was delightful, willing to help me assess if the purchase was right for me by sharing their experience with the lens. Each lens was in the condition advertised (or better), and typically included several “add-ons” that would have cost several hundred dollars.

Unsolicited, via e-mail, from Sandra Calderbank

Hi Artie, I wanted to take a few minutes to thank you. I have sold two camera bodies on your BAA used gear site. Your friendly expertise and knowledgeable, trustworthy buyers have made this an extremely satisfying experience. Selling on BAA Used Gear page is the best transaction experience I have ever encountered. Thank you for all you do for our photography community. Sincerely, Sandra

Recent Successful Used Gear Sales
Big Ticket Items Continue to Sell Like Hotcakes on the Used Gear Page in April and May!

• Larry Peavler sold a Canon EF 100-400 zoom f/4.5 – 5.6 L IS Telephoto Zoom lens, the old 1-4, in excellent condition for $549 soon after it was listed.
• Ron Paulk sold his Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Lens in excellent condition for $999and his Canon EF 100mm Macro f/2.8L IS USM lens in excellent condition for $549 the day they were listed.
• Ron Paulk sold a Canon EOS-1D X Professional Digital Camera Body in excellent condition for $2699 and a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens in mid-May before they were listed and is kindly sending me a check for the 2 1/2%.
• Hisham A. sold a Canon EOS 7D Mark II in excellent plus condition for the BAA record low price of $847 in early May.
• John Stuhlmuller sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS Lens with Internal 1.4 Extender in mint condition with lots of extras for a very low $8149 in early May.
• John Stuhlmuller also sold his Canon EOS 5DS R digital camera body in like-new condition with lots of extras for an amazingly low $2799, also in early May.
• Multiple IPT veteran and good friend Doug Holstein sold his Canon 500mm f4/L IS USM Super Telephoto lens and a 1.4X II teleconverter, both in in excellent condition, for the great low price of $3699 in early May, 2017.
• Larry Peavler sold his Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for the amazingly low price of $4199 soon after it was listed in late April.
• KW McCulloch sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS lens with Internal 1.4X Extender in excellent plus condition for $8294 in mid-April.
• Stan Hoyt sold his Canon 500mm f4L IS USM Super Telephoto lens in like-new condition (with extras) for the great low price of $3899 soon after it was listed in mid-April.
• Leonard Malkin sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f2/.8 L IS lens excellent condition for $899 in mid-April, 2017.
• Paul Abravaya sold his Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II lens in excellent condition for $5,799 soon after it was re-listed in mid-April.

New Listings

Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM Lens

Multiple IPT veteran Duncan Douglas is offering a lightly used Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in like-new condition (but for some small scratches on the bottom of the original lens foot) for $4199. The sale includes the original box, lens trunk, the lens strap, the front leather cover, the rear lens cap, a 4th Generation Designs CP-51b replacement foot with all the wrenches, the original Canon lens foot, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made. The lens is expected back today, Monday May 15, 2017 after being cleaned and checked by Canon.

Please contact Duncan via e-mail.

The 500 f/4s have been the world’s most popular telephoto lenses for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. I owned and used and loved my “old five” for many years. We have sold more than a few recently for $3999 and even two for $3799. Bill’s lens is priced a bit higher as it is in pristine condition. If you don’t have the cash for the 500 II and can handle the additional 1 1/2 pounds (exactly) then this is your next best option. The 500 II goes for $8999 so you will be saving a cool $4,800 and getting a virtually brand new lens to boot. artie

Canon EOS 5D Mark III with a RRS L-bracket

David Ramirez is offering a Canon EOS 5D Mark III (with extras) in near-mint condition (but for two small rub marks/nicks on the upper part of the body. Photos available upon request) for $1449. The camera had only 7963 shutter actuation’s on it. It has had Vello glass screen protectors on both LCDs from the beginning. Included are the original box, one battery, the charger,the discs, the strap,the manual, the front lens cap, a RRS L-bracket, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact David via e-mail or by phone at 541-892-3726 (Pacific time.)

I owned and used this superb, full frame, 22mp digital body for several years. It was always my first choice for scenic, Urbex, and flower photography until I fell in love for a while with the 5DS R (for a lot more money!). In addition, I loved my 5D III body for birds with my big lenses and both TCs. artie

Canon Extender EF 2X III

Price reduced $70 on May 15, 2017.

Larry Peavler is also offering a Canon Extender EF 2X III in like-new condition for $299 (was $369). The sale includes the TC pouch, the front and rear caps, the original product box, and insured ground shipping via UPS to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Larry via e-mail by phone at 1-317-908-0729 (Eastern time.)

The 2X III TC is a valuable accessory for folks who can use it to make sharp images with f/2.8 or f/4 telephoto lenses. artie

This image was created on the 2017 Finland IPT by somebody with the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. Image #1: Black Grouse hen on lekking ground Image copyright 2017: ???

Black Grouse Hen Mysteries …

One of today’s images was created by yours truly, Mr. Famous Bird Photographer. The other was created by one of the IPT participants. Please leave a comment and let us know which one I made and which one was created by the for now un-named participant.

Then try your hand at these:

Image #1 focal length? (Note: a TC might or might not have been used to create each image …)
Image #1 shutter speed?
Image #2 focal length? (Note: a TC might or might not have been used to create each image …)
Image #2 shutter speed?

Your Favorite?

Please also let us know which of the two images you feel is the stronger of the two. And let us know why you made your choice.

This image (of the same bird) was also created on the 2017 Finland IPT by somebody with the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. Image #2: Black Grouse hen leaving lekking ground Image copyright 2017: ???

Black Grouse Hens …

Black Grouse hens rarely visit the lekking grounds. Our guide noted that the females visit most often on windless mornings. On the very calm morning of May 4, 2017, our second morning in the Black Grouse hides, his prediction came true. We were all thrilled.

Palouse 2016 Horizontals Card

Why Different?

Announcing the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour

In what ways will the 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour be different from the most other Palouse workshops?

There are so many great locations that a seven-day IPT (as opposed to the typical three- or five-day workshops) will give the group time to visit (and revisit) many of the best spots while allowing you to maximize your air travel dollars. In addition, it will allow us to enjoy a slightly more relaxed pace.

You will be assured of being in the right location for the given weather and sky conditions.

You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills.

You will learn to design powerful, graphic images.

You will visit all of the iconic locations and a few spectacular ones that are much less frequently visited.

You will learn long lens landscape techniques.

You will learn to master any exposure situation in one minute or less.

You will learn the fine points of Canon in-camera (5D Mark III, 5DS R, and 7D II) HDR techniques.

You will learn to create this look in Photoshop from a single image while winding up with a higher quality image file.

You will be able to share a variety of my exotic Canon lenses including the Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens and the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L Fisheye USM lens, aka the “circle lens.”

You will learn to use your longest focal lengths to create rolling field and Urbex abstracts.

You will learn when and how to use a variety of neutral density filters to create pleasing blurs of the Palouse’s gorgeous rolling farmlands.

As always, you will learn to see like a pro. You will learn what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.

You will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images.

You will learn to use super-wide lenses both for big skies and building interiors.

You will learn when, why, and how to use infrared capture; if you do not own an infrared body, you will get to borrow mine.

You will learn to use both backlight and side-light to create powerful and dramatic landscape images.

You will learn to create the very popular detailed, slightly grungy, slightly over-saturated look in Photoshop.

Palouse 2016 Verticals Card

The 2017 BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tour
June 8-14, 2017. Seven full days of photography. Meet and greet at 7:30pm on Wednesday, June 7: $2,499. Limit 10/Openings: 7.

Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will enjoy spectacular sunrises and at least one nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. I will bring you to more than a few really neat old abandoned barns and farmhouses in idyllic settings. There is no better way to improve your compositional and image design skills and to develop your creativity than to join me for this trip. Photoshop and image sharing sessions when we have the time and energy…. We get up early and stay out late and the days are long.

Over the past three years, with the help of my friend Denise Ippolito, we found all the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and vistas. What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, my extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions. As above, there will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before the workshop begins.

To Sign Up

Your non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to hold your spot. Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining this IPT. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours to arrange for the payment of your deposit; if by check, please make out to “BIRDS AS ART” and mail it to: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail: artie.

Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options. You can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

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 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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

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 :).

What’s Up?

On the flight from Helsinki to JFK I watched three movies. The first was “Patriots Day.” It dealt with the Boston Marathon bombing, the capture of the perpetrators, and Boston Strong. It was good and moving if a bit contrived. I cried a lot especially at the end. The second was “Live By Night” starring Ben Affleck as a tommy-gun-toting, rum-running gangster during prohibition. It held my interest and I cried at the very end. The third, “Hidden Figures” was the best by far. It documented the lives of three Black women who did much of the math for the US space program (while gaining little appreciation at the time). As it was very moving I cried a lot. It is definitely worth a watch. I searched on line to check on the veracity and as it turns out, pretty much everything having to do with the three amazing ladies was spot on accurate. The film took some big hits with the bits of theatric license taken with some of the composite characters. I had not problem with those embellishments.

I will be finalizing the cottage rentals for the UK Puffins and Gannets trip on Monday. After that folks may or may not be able to join us so best to let me know via e-mail asap if you would like to attend.

Selling Your Used Gear Through BIRDS AS ART

Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charges a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the right side of the yellow-orange menu bar above.

Unsolicited, via e-mail, from Gerry Keshka

Hi Artie, I wanted to share how much I appreciate your Used Gear “service.” You have posted how you help sellers, but the other side of the equations is how much this service helps buyers. I have purchased three lenses (Canon 200-400, 500 f4 II, and 70-200 F2.8) all lovely experiences and I saved almost $5K over retail. Each of the sellers was delightful, willing to help me assess if the purchase was right for me by sharing their experience with the lens. Each lens was in the condition advertised (or better), and typically included several “add-ons” that would have cost several hundred dollars.

Unsolicited, via e-mail, from Sandra Calderbank

Hi Artie, I wanted to take a few minutes to thank you. I have sold two camera bodies on your BAA used gear site. Your friendly expertise and knowledgeable, trustworthy buyers have made this an extremely satisfying experience. Selling on BAA Used Gear page is the best transaction experience I have ever encountered. Thank you for all you do for our photography community. Sincerely, Sandra

Recent Successful Used Gear Sales
Big Ticket Items Continue to Sell Like Hotcakes on the Used Gear Page in April and May!

• Ron Paulk sold a Canon EOS-1D X Professional Digital Camera Body in excellent condition for $2699 and a Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens in mid-May before they were listed and is kindly sending me a check for the 2 1/2%.
• Hisham A. sold a Canon EOS 7D Mark II in excellent plus condition for the BAA record low price of $847 in early May.
• John Stuhlmuller sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS Lens with Internal 1.4 Extender in mint condition with lots of extras for a very low $8149 in early May.
• John Stuhlmuller also sold his Canon EOS 5DS R digital camera body in like-new condition with lots of extras for an amazingly low $2799, also in early May.
• Multiple IPT veteran and good friend Doug Holstein sold his Canon 500mm f4/L IS USM Super Telephoto lens and a 1.4X II teleconverter, both in in excellent condition, for the great low price of $3699 in early May, 2017.
• Larry Peavler sold his Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition for the amazingly low price of $4199 soon after it was listed in late April.
• KW McCulloch sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS lens with Internal 1.4X Extender in excellent plus condition for $8294 in mid-April.
• Stan Hoyt sold his Canon 500mm f4L IS USM Super Telephoto lens in like-new condition (with extras) for the great low price of $3899 soon after it was listed in mid-April.
• Leonard Malkin sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f2/.8 L IS lens excellent condition for $899 in mid-April, 2017.
• Paul Abravaya sold his Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II lens in excellent condition for $5,799 soon after it was re-listed in mid-April.

New Listings

Canon EOS-1DX Mark II Digital Camera Body

Tom Phillips is offering a lightly used Canon EOS-1DX Mark II (Premium Kit) with extras in near-mint condition (with about 3,000 shutter actuations) for the BAA record-low price of $4499. The sale includes the original box, the strap, all manuals, DVDs, the battery w/end cap, the Canon LC-E19 battery charger, a Sandisk USB 3.0 CFast card reader, a Sandisk 64GB CFast card, in short, everything that came in the box plus two extra Canon LP-E19 batteries (a $338 value), a large eyecup, a RRS L-Bracket, a Lexar 64GB Compact Flash card, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Tom via e-mail or by phone at 1-214-668-0162 (Central Time Zone).

The 1DX II is currently Canon’s rugged, blazingly fast, flagship professional digital camera body. I own and use mine for birds in flight and action. artie

Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II USM Lens

Tom Phillips is also offering a Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO II USM lens in like-new condition for the BAA record-low price of $5,798. The sale includes the original box, the front leather hood, the rear cap, the lens strap, the lens trunk, the Canon shipping box, a Don Zeck lens cap, a RRS LC-52 low foot (attached), the original Canon lens foot, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Tom via e-mail or by phone at 1-214-668-0162 (Central Time Zone).

I own and use my 400 DO II with and without both teleconverters for a variety of bird photography situations. It makes a great walk-around hand holdable lens with a one full stop advantage over the 100-400 II. It is imminently hand holdable for most folks. It is super-sharp at 400, 560, and 800mm. Tom’s like new-lens will save you exactly $1,101! artie

Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens

Tom Phillips is also offering a Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for a very attractive $4,199. The sale includes the original box, the front leather hood, the rear cap, the lens strap, the lens trunk, the Canon shipping box, and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Tom via e-mail or by phone at 1-214-668-0162 (Central Time Zone).

The 300 f/2.8 autofocus lenses have long been the first choice for the world’s best hawks in flight photographers with and without a 1.4X TC. With both TCs it makes a great hand holdable walk-around lens. Tom’s like new-lens will save you an incredible $1,999! I owned and used several versions of the 300 f/2.8 lens for many years until finally replacing the 300 f/2.8 II with the 400 DO II about a year ago. artie

Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Lens

Ron Paulk is offering a Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM Lens in excellent condition for $999. The sale includes the lens pouch, the front and rear lens caps, and insured shipping to US addresses via FED-EX Ground. Your lens will ship after your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Ron by e-mail or by phone at 360-391-2090 PDT.

The 16-35 II is a superb landscape lens that can be used on occasion to create some stunning bird-scapes as well. Purchase Ron’s lens and save an even $500 on the cost of a new Series II model. artie

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM Zoom Lens

Ron Paulk is also offering a Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 II USM zoom lens, also in excellent condition, for $1199. The sale includes the original product box, the lens pouch, the front and rear lens caps, and insured shipping to US addresses via FED-EX Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Ron by e-mail or by phone at 360-391-2090 PDT.

The 24-70 II is an another superb landscape lens, faster and sharper than the both the 16-35 and the 24-105 (where their focal length ranges overlap). Purchase Ron’s lens and save an even $500 on the cost of a new one. artie

Canon EF 100mm Macro f/2.8L IS USM Lens

Ron Paulk is also offering a Canon EF 100mm Macro f/2.8L IS USM lens in excellent condition for $549. The sale includes the lens pouch, the front and rear lens caps, and insured shipping to US addresses via FED-EX Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Ron by e-mail or by phone at 360-391-2090 PDT.

I own, use, and love the 100 IS macro lens both hand held and on a tripod for much of my flower photography. (The lens mount requires a separate purchase.) One the tripod, I use it often with the 1.4X III TC. It is super sharp and at f/2.8, superbly fast. Purchase Ron’s lens and save an even $200 on the cost of a new one. artie

Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT & Canon ST-E3-RT Transmitter

Ron Paulk is also offering a Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT & ST-E3-RT Transmitter, both in excellent condition for $425. The sale includes the original box for flash, the leather case for the flash, and insured shipping to US addresses via FED-EX Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Ron by e-mail or by phone at 360-391-2090 PDT.

I own and use the Speedlite 600EX-RT whenever I use flash. artie

Wimberley V-2 Tripod Head

$260 in extras added!

Hisham A. is offering a Wimberley WH-200 Tripod Head in excellent condition for $449. The sale includes insured ground shipping to US addresses via major courier. On May 13 he added the following to sweeten the deal: the Wimberley F-9 flash bracket and the Canon off-camera shoe cord (OC-E3).

Please contact Hisham via e-mail or by phone at 720 771 2693 (Eastern time).

Gitzo GT 4542LS

Price reduced $100 on May 13, 2017.

Hisham A. is also offering a Gitzo Series 4 Systematic 4 Section Long Tripod GT4542LS in excellent condition for $649 (was $749). The sale includes insured ground shipping to US addresses via major courier.

Please contact Hisham via e-mail or by phone at 720 771 2693 (Eastern time).

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. Click on the card to enjoy a spectacular larger version.

2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. Monday July 3 through Wednesday July 12, 2017: $5999 + $1499: Limit 10 photographers — Openings: 5).
All who register will be required to join the (really cheap) two-day Gannet/Bass Rock Add-on. See below for details.

Here are the plans: take a red eye from the east coast of the US on July 2 and arrive in Edinburgh, Scotland on the morning of Monday July 3 no later than 10am (or simply meet us then at the Edinburgh Airport–EDI, or later in the day at our cottages if you are driving your own vehicle either from the UK or from somewhere in Europe). Stay 7 nights in one of three gorgeous modern country cottages.

There are five days of planned puffin/seabird trips and one morning of gannet photography, all weather permitting of course. In three years we have yet to miss an entire day because of weather… In addition, we will enjoy several sessions of photographing nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes at eye level.

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. Click on the card to enjoy a spectacular larger version.

The Details

We will get to photograph Atlantic Puffin, Common Murre, Razorbill, Shag, and Northern Gannet; Arctic, Sandwich, and Common Terns, the former with chicks of all sizes; Black-headed, Lesser-Black-backed, and Herring Gulls, many chasing puffins with fish; Black-legged Kittiwake with chicks. We will be staying in upscale country-side lodging that are beyond lovely with large living areas and lots of open space for the informal image sharing and Photoshop sessions. The shared rooms are decent-sized, each with a private bathroom. See the limited single supplement info below.

All breakfasts, lunches and dinners are included. All 5 puffins boat lunches will need to be prepared by you in advance, taken with, and consumed at your leisure. I usually eat mine on the short boat trip from one island to the other. Also included is a restaurant lunch on the gannet boat day.

If you wish to fly home on the morning of Monday July 10 we will get you to the airport. Please, however, consider the following tentative plans: enjoy a second Gannet boat trip on the afternoon of Monday July 10 and book your hotel room in Dunbar. If all goes as planned, those who stay on for the two extra days will make a morning landing at Bass Rock, one of the world’s largest gannetries. We will get everyone to the airport on the morning of Wednesday July 12.

Great News on the UK Puffins and Gannets/Bass Rock Extension

On the morning of Jul 10, 2017, we will sleep late and head up to Dunbar Harbor for lunch and an afternoon Gannet boat chumming trip: flight photography until you cannot lift your camera. One gannet boat trip is included in the IPT but everyone always wants more.

Then, as a possible mega bonus — we are scheduled to make a Bass Rock landing on the morning of Tuesday July 12, 2017. I am hoping to go two for two! If not, we do another chumming trip for flying gannets.

Included will be two nights lodging at the wonderful Dunsmuir hotel, two fine dining meals there, any additional meals, all boat, guide, and landing fees, and all transportation including the early morning transfer to the Edinburg Airport on the morning of WED July 12.

So far all five sign-ups are maximizing their travel dollars by signing up for the extension in part because I priced it so cheaply at $1499 despite my greatly increased costs.

Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. Click on the card to enjoy a spectacular larger version. Scroll down to join us in the UK in 2016.

Deposit Info

If you are good to go sharing a room–couples of course are more than welcome–please send your non-refundable $2,000/person deposit check now to save a spot. Please be sure to check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below. Your balance will be due on March 29, 2017. Please make your check out to “Arthur Morris” and send it to Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. If your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

Please shoot me an e-mail if you are good to go or if you have any questions.

Single Supplement Deposit Info

Single supplement rooms are available on a limited basis. To ensure yours, please register early. The single supplement fee is $1575. If you would like your own room, please request it when making your deposit and include payment in full for the single supplement; your single supplement deposit check should be for $3,575. As we will need to commit to renting the extra space, single supplement deposits are non-refundable so please be sure that check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance for big international trips is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality insurance. Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options you can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. My family and I use and depend on the great policies offered by TIS whenever we travel. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check of running your credit card. Whenever purchasing travel insurance be sure to read the fine print careful even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

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 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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

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 :).

What’s Up?

After my 23-hour door to door trip home from Oulu, Finland on Wednesday, I was home just after midnight. I endured two four-hour layovers. I did not sleep a wink on the 8-hour flight from Helsinki to JFK but slept like a rock for two hours on the flight to Orlando. I managed to get some sleep and was in bed till almost 7am. I enjoyed a nice swim on Thursday afternoon.

Folks who wish to support my efforts here on the blog may once again do so by utilizing the Amazon or the Amazon Canada links near the bottom of each blog post page.

Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks 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.

Please Don’t Forget …

As always–and folks have been doing a really great job for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major and minor gear purchases. For best results, use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only. And please remember also that if you are shopping for items that we carry in the BAA Online Store (as noted in red at the close of this post below) we would of course appreciate your business.

This image was created on the Fort DeSoto IPT with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 560mm) and my favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/15 sec. at f/9 in Tv mode. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +7. Center Large Zone/AI Servo/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The AF system activated three AF points in the left center of the frame (see the DDP 4 screen capture below). None of the AF points were anywhere near the bird. Black Skimmer skimming at dawn.

Pre-dawn Tip …

When walking along the beach in the pre-dawn with a 100-400 II on your shoulder you can try this technique if you like blurs:

• 1-Set your camera to Tv mode.
• 2-If you have ISO safety shift set, set your ISO to 400. If not, set Auto ISO.
• 3-Choose a shutter speed in the range of from 1/8 to 1/60 sec. In general, the slower your shutter speed ,the lower your chances of success, but the higher your chances of creating something memorable. 1/15 sec. is a great place to start and often produces pleasing results.
• 4-Start with lots of plus exposure compensation; +3 works well for flight.
• 5-Adjust your exposure compensation for darker backgrounds. For today’s featured image I dropped down to + 1 2/3 stops as the Gulf water was darker than the sky. +2 or +2 1/3 would have been better …
• 6-when something flies or runs by pan with the subject, acquire focus, and hold the shutter button down while trying to match the speed of the subject with your panning rate.

Like It or Hate It?

Let us know if you like this image. Be sure to let us know why. Blur-haters are welcome as long as they give a reason or two.

This is the DPP 4 screen capture for today’s featured image.

The DPP 4 Screen Capture

Notice that the active AF points (illuminated in red) were on the background and not on the subject (due to operator error). It is likely that the AF system was tracking properly and when the AF points dropped off the subject the system did not try to acquire the background for two reasons:

• 1-there was no contrast at all on the background.
• 2-my custom case 3 settings tell the system to stay with the subject for as long as possible before beginning to search. Recent but informal field tests show that the system will continue tracking the subject for close to two full seconds even when there is detail and contrast in the background.

Notice that I was not able to completely remove the BLUE/CYAN cast during the RAW conversion. That was done later in Photoshop.

Notice that even with the addition of nearly a stop of light during the RAW conversion that I needed to further brighten the image during the optimization.

Notice that I moved the color Fine-tune dot away from BLUE/CYAN.

The Image Optimization

The image optimization was fairly straightforward. I did some color correction work to reduce the BLUE/CYAN cast. Most notable was that I ran my NIK Color Efex Pro 50-50 Recipe on a layer planning to add an Inverse (Hide-all or Black) Layer Mask and paint the effect in on the bird. But I loved the way it brought up some background detail. I simply reduced the opacity of that layer to 80% and went with that. While it is rare to use so much 50-50 on the background when it works, it works.

A Guide to Pleasing Blurs

Pleasing blurs, as some folks believe, are not out of focus mistakes. If you would like to learn how to create these increasingly popular images, get yourself a copy of A Guide to Pleasing Blurs by clicking here.”

“A Guide to Pleasing Blurs” by Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito is a 20,585 word, 271 page PDF 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.

The book is laid out in landscape format to make for easy viewing and easy reading on any decent computer monitor.

DeSoto in spring is rife with tame and attractive birds. From upper left clockwise to center: breeding plumage Dunlin, dark morph breeding plumage Reddish Egret displaying, breeding plumage Laughing Gull/front end vertical portrait, breeding plumage Laughing Gull with prey item, Laughing Gull on head of Brown Pelican, screaming Royal Tern in breeding plumage, Royal Terns/pre-copulatory stand, Laughing Gulls copulating, breeding plumage Laughing Gull/tight horizontal portrait, Sandwich Tern with fish, and a really rare one, White-rumped Sandpiper in breeding plumage, photographed at DeSoto in early May.

BIRDS AS ART May 20-21 Fort DeSoto In-the Field Instructional Meet-Up Sessions

Join me in Tierra Verde, FL for all or part of the weekend of May 20-21, 2017. Beginners are welcome. Lenses of 300mm or longer are recommended but even those with 70-200s should get to make some nice images. Teleconverters are always a plus. You will learn the basics of digital exposure and image design, autofocus basics, and how to get close to free and wild birds. We should get to photograph a variety of wading birds, shorebirds, terns, and gulls. These inexpensive sessions are designed to give folks a taste of the level and the quality of instruction that is provided on BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-tours. I hope to meet you there.

May 20-21, 2017 Schedule

• Saturday May 20 Meet-up Morning: 6:30 till 10:00am: $99.
• Lunch and Image Review: $99.
• Saturday afternoon: 4pm till sunset: $99.
• Sunday May 21 Meet-up Morning, Meet-up Morning: 6:30 till 10:00am: $99.

Cheap Canon lens rentals available: 600 II, 500 II, 400 DO II, or 200-400.

To pay for one or more sessions in full via credit card, call Jim or Jen in the office weekdays at 863-692-0906. You will be responsible for the cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s pass or passes. Please shoot me an e-mail with questions.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂

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 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.

I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use the logo link above.

Amazon Canada

Many kind folks from north of the border, eh, have e-mailed stating that they would love to help us out by using one of our affiliate links but that living in Canada and doing so presents numerous problems. Now, they can help us out by using our Amazon Canada affiliate link by starting their searches by clicking here.

Facebook

Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.

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 :).