Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Stuff

By Sunday morning, my Think Tank rolling bag was packed with the photo gear I will be taking on the Japan trip. On Sunday, I packed one of my two checked bags, mostly with the cold weather stuff, boots, and heavy clothing: 49 3/4 lbs. I will be sharing the cold weather choices I made with you in a blog post after I get back. I sure hope those heated gloves work 🙂

I did my walk, my swim, and all of my exercises 🙂

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.

The Streak: 451

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 451 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a really great for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 at Fort DeSoto in the spring of 2016 with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) with the rugged, blazingly fast Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. ISO 1600. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/800 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB. Center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Shutter Button AF. The selected AF point was barely caught the edge of the lower neck; the four assist points and my Custom AF settings surely helped maintain focus. Click on the image to see a larger version. FocusTune/LensAlign Micro Adjustment: 0. Snowy Egret with greenback

Everything Came Together …

Today’s featured image is a seemingly simple one. A bird with a fresh-caught fish walking out of the surf. But on a closer look, most everything is close to perfect:

• The bird is perfectly square to the back of the camera. I saw the direction the bird was moving, quickly got ahead of it, and began making images as it came parallel to the imaging sensor. This ideal orientation of subject to the imaging sensor lasted maybe a second or two.
• The raised foot adds a feeling of motion to this still photograph.
• The head angle is perfect, turned about one degree toward us.
• The eye, face, and head are perfectly sharp. Thank the AF system for that.
• The position of the breaking wavelet is perfect, entering the frame from the lower right corner and framing the subject nicely. Images made on the shore where there are breaking waves are often ruined by the line of the break cutting through the bird. Best to have that line above or below the bird … Simply being aware of these lines can help you to know when to press the shutter button thus improving your chances of making a special image.
• The fish is nicely positioned and the eye is almost completely visible. Chalk that one up to good fortune.

Anything Else?

If you have — by careful observation — noted anything else that contributes to the success of this image, please share your thoughts by leaving a comment.

Better?

All things being equal, what might have made this a better image?

How Good?

Do you think that this image would make a worthy major international contest entrant? Why or why not?

This color-corrected version was created by Denise Ippolito.

An Improvement

Thanks to Denise Ippolito for sending along this color-corrected version. The WHITEs are whiter and the color of the background is definitely improved.

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.

Fort DeSoto Spring IPT/April 19-22, 2017. (meet & greet at 2pm on Wednesday April 19 followed by an afternoon session) through the full day on Saturday April 22. 3 1/2 DAYs: $1599. Limit 10. To save your spot, please call and put down a non-refundable deposit of $499.00.

I will be offering small group (Limit 3) Photoshop sessions on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning if necessary. Details on that TBA.

Fort DeSoto is one of the rare locations that might offer great bird photography 365 days a year. It shines in spring. There will Lots of tame birds including breeding plumage Laughing Gull and Royal and Sandwich Terns. With luck, we will get to photograph all of these species courting and copulating. There will be American Oystercatcher and Marbled Godwit plus sandpipers and plovers, some in full breeding plumage. Black-bellied Plover and Red Knot in stunning breeding plumage are possible. There will be lots of wading birds including Great and Snowy Egrets, both color morphs of Reddish Egret, Great Blue, Tricolored and Little Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, and killer breeding plumage White Ibis. Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork are possible and likely. We should have lots of good flight photography with the gulls and terns and with Brown Pelican. Nesting Least Tern and nesting Wilson’s Plover are possible.

We will, weather permitting, enjoy 7 shooting sessions. As above, our first afternoon session will follow the meet and greet at 2pm on Wednesday April 19. For the next three days we will have two daily photo sessions. We will be on the beach early and usually be at lunch (included) by 11am. We will have three indoor sessions. At one we will review my images–folks learn a ton watching me choose my keepers and deletes–why keep this one and delete that one? The second will be a review of your images so that I can quickly learn where you need help. For those who bring their laptops to lunch I’d be glad to take a peek at an image or three. Day three will be a Photoshop session during which we will review my complete workflow and process an image or two in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. Afternoon sessions will generally run from 4:30pm till sunset. We photograph until sunset on the last day, Saturday, April 22. Please note that this is a get-your-feet and get-your-butt wet and sandy IPT. And that you can actually do the whole IPT with a 300 f/2.8L IS, a 400 f/4 ID DO lens with both TCs, or the equivalent Nikon gear. I will surely be using my 500 II as my big glass and have my 100-400 II on my shoulder.

DeSoto in spring is rife with tame and attractive birds. From upper left clockwise to center: Laughing Gull in flight, adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, copulating Sandwich Terns, Roseate Spoonbill, Great Egret with reflection, Short-billed Dowitcher in breeding plumage, American Oystercatcher, breeding plumage Royal Tern, white morph Reddish Egret, and Snowy Egret marsh habitat shot.

What You Will Learn

You will learn to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to understand the effects of sky and wind conditions on bird photography, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you are scared of it).

The group will be staying at the Red Roof Inn, St. Petersburg: 4999 34th St. North, St Petersburg, FL 33714. The place is clean and quite inexpensive. Please e-mail for room block information. And please call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 to register. All will need to purchase an Annual Pass early on Tuesday afternoon so that we can enter the park at 6am and be in position for sunrise opportunities. The cost is $75, Seniors $55. Tight carpools will be needed and will reduce the per person Annual Pass costs. The cost of three lunches is included. Breakfasts are grab what you can on the go, and dinners are also on your own due to the fact that we will usually be getting back to the hotel at about 9pm. Non-photographer spouses, friends, or companions are welcome for $100/day, $350 for the whole IPT.

BIRDS AS ART Fort DeSoto In-the-Field Meet-up Workshop (ITFW): $99

Fort DeSoto Spring In-the-Field Cheap Meet-up Workshop (ITFW) on the morning of April 22, 2017: $99

Join me on the morning of April 22, 2017 for 3-hours of photographic instruction at Fort DeSoto Park. 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. This inexpensive morning workshop is 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.

To register please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours with a credit card in hand to pay the nominal registration fee. Your registration fee is non-refundable. You will receive a short e-mail with instructions, gear advice, and meeting place one week before the event.

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.

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 :).

Gatorland Mini-IPT: 1 1/2 days: AM and PM shooting sessions on Saturday, March 4 and a morning session on Sunday, March 5: $749. Limit 6/Openings 5.

Great Egrets in breeding plumage are a beautiful sight …

Gatorland Mini-IPT: 1 1/2 days: AM and PM shooting sessions on Saturday, March 4 and a morning session on Sunday, March 5: $749. Limit 6/Openings 4.

Join me in Kissimmee, FL in early March, prime time to to photograph Great Egrets in breeding plumage. We should get to make lots of head portraits with most any lens and to photograph them building nests, displaying, copulating, and flying. Eggs for sure. Tiny chicks likely. And most likely breeding Wood Storks as well. Learn to see, find, and make the shot in cluttered settings. Learn exposure and how to handle the WHITEs. Learn fill flash and flash as main light. Includes a working lunch on me on Saturday with image review and Photoshop. We may see and photograph some early Snowy Egrets and Tricolored Herons. And of course, we will see and photograph the captive American Alligators. All of the birds are free and wild.

To pay 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. Early entry both mornings and late stay on Saturday.

Stuff

On Thursday I finished up micro-adjusting my 400 DO II with both bodies and both 2X III TCs. And best of all, I came up with a simple way to confirm the accuracy of your micro-adjustment value. Hooray. I hope to finish the FocusTune/LensAlign tutorial soon.

I still had time for all of my workouts. The pool was back up to 76 degrees on another gorgeous weather day here in Central Florida. Jim and I are headed for a shot busman’s holiday early tomorrow: Gatorland. I want to give the Fujifilm gear one last shot and hope to have some decent flight photography chances … Jim will be using one of my 5D Mark IVs and my 100-400 II.

Huge Thanks!

Huge thanks to my good friend, BIRDS AS ART Webmaster Peter Kes, for preparing today’s guest blog post and sharing his Spanish Pyrenees experiences and his fine photographs with us in today’s blog post. Repeat: all of the images in today’s blog post were created by Peter. The text was edited by yours truly.

Be sure to note the perfect exposures and the excellent images designs.

Getting Lazy?

Most blog posts include a question or two to challenge you and make you think. The more folks who comment, the more everyone learns. Including me.

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.

The Streak: 448

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 448 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a really great for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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.

The view from the mountain lodge in Buseu Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF24-70mm f/2.8L II USM @ 39mm, 1/60sec, f/22, ISO 200

The Pyrenees

The Pyrenees offers a wild habitat for a number of bird and animal species. I tried to do some photography there years ago but was only marginally successful. This time I booked a hide photography trip to see the Bearded Vulture and the Bonelli’s Eagle, two species under great pressure humans via agriculture, hunting, habitat loss, and poisoning. The efforts put in place to protect these species and have had varying success.

Bearded Vulture swallowing a bone Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions EOS-1D X, EF600mm f/4L IS II USM, 1/1000sec, f/6.3, ISO 1600

Bearded Vulture

The Bearded Vulture (Lammergeier) population is now more or less stable with active feeding stations and strict protection of nesting sites. The population of about 300 birds is growing at approximately 1%/year. Bearded Vultures can live as long as 35 years usually raising from 5-10 young.

Juvenile Bearded Vulture Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS II, 1/1600sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600

More on Bearded Vulture

Bearded Vultures are familiarly known as the Lammergeier, which means Lamb Vulture, a colloquial and incorrect name for a bird that feeds exclusively on carrion; it does not kill anything. The name Lammergeier and the ignorance surrounding the bird and its habits has lead to wide scale persecution that has almost wiped out the entire population. Bearded Vulture feeds primarily on bones and carrion; in Spanish it is correctly named Quebrantahuesos, the one who crushes bones. They sometimes take large bones up into the sky and drop them on the rocks so that they splinter into smaller pieces that they can eat.

Image Design Question

In the image above, how might the image have been improved had Peter been able to move his tripod one to two inches to his right?

Bearded Vulture (wild) showing rust-colored plumage Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions EOS-1D X, EF600mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4x III, 1/400sec, f/5.6, ISO 800

Why Rust Colored?

In all images of wild adult Bearded Vultures, they are rust-colored but in fact they are not naturally rust-colored. Birds kept in captivity are white and show no rust-coloring at all. They get their rusty color by taking iron-rich sand baths to get rid of parasites. Note that the densest coloring occurs on the throat.

Stocking the feeding site with butcher’s waste Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS II, 1/1250sec, f/5.6, ISO 400

Chow Time

I photographed the vultures at a feeding site in an open field high up in the mountains. All the known vultures in the Pyrenees – Griffon Vulture, Black Vulture, Egyptian Vulture and Bearded Vulture – visit the site. The Black Vulture of Europe is Cinereous Vulture (Aegypius monachus), no relation to Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus) of the New World. The absent species in winter is the Egyptian Vulture; they migrate to Africa. All the others are resident species. Butcher’s waste is collected, transported up to the feeding site, and set out to help sustain the birds.

Griffon Vultures squabbling over food Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS II, 1/1250sec, f/4.0, ISO 1600

Feeding Dispute

When the butcher’s waste put out once a week, there is a brief feeding bonanza on the fleshy carrion and bones by the Griffon and Black Vultures. Soon thereafter, the Bearded Vultures take over the site. For the rest of the week they feed on the remaining bones. Feeding is done throughout the year. The best time to visit this location is in winter. In summer there are fewer visiting birds as one of the parents will remain near the nest site.

The feeding ground, with nine Bearded Vultures Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 100mm, 1/2000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600

Fun in the Blind …

Because of ongoing persecution of these beautiful birds, they are extremely shy around people. They will not approach the feeding site at all while humans are about or can be seen. We were taken to the hide very early in the morning in pitch dark and picked up in the late afternoon. The hide is not built for comfort and sitting in it for the whole day is in itself a challenge. Not only are the temperatures well below zero degrees C (32 F) but getting out of the hide is strictly prohibited for eight hours during the day. On a positive note, a packed lunch and drinks are provided.

I can only imagine what these hides must feel like in summer, when temperatures can soar over 40 degrees C (104F!). However, the experience and the photography were well worth it. If you are interested in visiting this site, please contact Peter Kes via e-mail.

Female Bonelli’s Eagle Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS II, 1/500sec, f/8, ISO 800

Bonelli’s Eagle

Bonelli’s Eagle is rare in Europe. The population is estimated at 600 pairs and has been steadily falling. A number of pairs breed successfully in the Pyrenees, in some cases with help from conservation efforts. I visited a location where a pair are fed pigeons. In cooperation with city councils and conservationists these pigeons are caught in cities where they have become a problem as there is little natural predation to control them. A number of years ago biologists experimented with a pair by providing as much protection for the breeding site as possible but with no active feeding. The couple were unable to catch enough food for their offspring and were never able to raise a successful brood. Suddenly they were gone and never returned to this particular location …

Male Bonelli’s Eagle with pigeon Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, 1/1250sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600

Protection + Pigeons = Success

At the location of the pair that I photographed, the pair is presented with live pigeons on a daily basis. The couple visits the feeding site regularly and for the 7th consecutive year have raised young successfully. It has been shown that without active feeding and nest site protection that the Bonelli’s Eagle numbers continue to fall.

Bearded Vulture on snowy hillside Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS II, 1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600

Fresh Snow

Photographing birds after a fresh snowfall is a pure delight.

Juvenile Bearded vulture in the snow and fog: the original Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS II, 1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200

The Bad Weather Original

On the second day of my visit, the weather turned bad. Low hanging clouds and heavy snowfall provided for magical scenes.

Juvenile Bearded vulture, the optimized image Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS II, 1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200

The Optimized Image

As the light and contrast were low, a simple Levels adjustment was needed to yield a rewarding result.

Flight and Action Gallery

Adult Bearded Vulture approaching the hide Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS II, 1/4000sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200

Above, Flight and Action I

Adult Bearded Vulture landing Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS II, 1/2500sec, f/5.6, ISO 3200

Above, Flight and Action II

Adult and juvenile Bearded Vultures squabbling Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS II, 1/2000sec, f/5.6, ISO 1600

Above, Flight and Action III

Preparing breakfast well before sunrise Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Peter Kes/Nature Notions 5D Mark IV, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 170mm, 1/10sec, f/5.0, ISO 6400

The Strongest Image?

Which of Peter’s images do you think is the strongest? Please let us know why.

Thanks Again!

Thanks again to Peter Kes for sharing this wonderful photo essay with us. Peter will be co-leading the UK Puffins and Gannets IPT with me this summer in the UK. Details below.

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 Monday July 10, 2017: $5999: Limit 10 photographers — Openings: 6). Two great leaders: Arthur Morris and BPN co-owner, BPN Photography Gear Forum Moderator, and long-time BAA Webmaster Peter Kes.

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. (We may opt to stay in Edinburgh on the night of July 11.) Price and details should be finalized at least six months before the trip but you will need to be a bit patient. It would be ideal if I can get all the work done by the end of September so that folks can arrange their flights then.

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.

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 :).

Stuff

On Tuesday I set up to LensAlign/FocusTune/micro-adjust my 400 DO II with both 5D Mark IV bodies and both sets of TCs. As usual, I had time to do some re-hab work on my right hip and my right shoulder along with my walk and my core exercises. No swim as the pool was down to 71 degrees on Tuesday morning!

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.

The Streak: 446

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 446 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a really great for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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.

Recent Successful Used Gear Sales

Activity in the last week has been hot!

Note: I missed adding several items below while I was in South America for ten weeks with limited internet access. If your item has sold but is still listed on the Used gear page please let me know via e-mail.

• Wayne Roth sold his Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/2.8G EDII VR lens in like-new condition for $3,500.00 in Late January, 2017, two weeks after it was listed.
• Teresa Mabry Reed sold both her Canon EOS-1D X in excellent plus condition for $2399 and her EOS Canon 5D Mark III also in excellent plus condition for $1429 within two days of listing them with BAA.
• Gene Scarborough sold a Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM super telephoto lens in excellent condition for $4049 one day after it was listed.
• Multiple IPT-veteran Mike Goldhamer sold his Canon EF 400mm f/4 IS DO lens in excellent condition for the record low price of $2100 a while back.
• Dear friend and multiple IPT veteran Patrick Sparkman sold his Canon EOS 5DS R with the Canon battery grip in like-new condition for $2899 back in early November.
• IPT veteran Gerold Hanck sold his Canon 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 telephoto zoom lens, the “old 1-4,” in excellent condition for $549.
• Henry Raymundo sold both his Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in excellent condition for $3999 and a Canon EOS 7D camera body in excellent condition for $399 back in November, 2016.

New Listing

Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM Super Telephoto Lens plus Extras!

Steve Traudt is offering a Canon 500mm f4L IS USM Super Telephoto Lens in excellent condition for $3950. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the lens trunk with keys, the original font lens cover, and insured ground shipping via FedEx to US addresses only. Extras include a green camo Lens Coat green, the Really Right Stuff LCF-50 foot (the original foot is also included) a Don Zeck Lens Cap and a Think Tank Glass Taxi bag (a $169 value). Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made. A cashier’s check is preferred.

Please contact Steve via e-mail or by phone at 970.260.7723 (Mountain time).

The old five is a fairly lightweight super-telephoto lens that work well with both TCs. It is fast and sharp. I used mine as my workhorse lens (along with the old 600mm f/4) for almost ten years to photograph birds and wildlife all over the world. Both have been replaced for me by their far more costly version II counterparts. The 500 f/4s have long been the world’s most popular super-telephoto lenses for wildlife and sports. With all the extras, Steve’s package is priced to sell quickly. artie

This in-camera Art Vivid HDR image was created on one of the 2016 Palouse IPTs with the with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender (with the internal TC engaged at 388mm) and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +/-3 stops) around a base exposure of +1 stop: 1/25 sec. at f/13 in Av mode. WB set to Color Temperature = 4000K. Live View with 2-second timer. I used Rear Focus/Live View Flexi-Zone AF to focus. Door of old truck,

My Approach to Photography

When I head into the field, it is rare that I have something specific in mind. I grab the appropriate gear and set out on a walk. When I see something that catches my eye, I try to envision what I want to do. Once that is done, I select the best tool (i.e., lens) for the job and get to work. While at the Round Barn last June, the bright colors on this old truck caught my eye. In post I worked to make the bright colors even brighter using Topaz Buz Sim.

Why K4000?

As regular readers know, when I am creating in-camera Art Vivid JPEGs, I almost always set the WB to color temperature 4000K to tone down the colors a bit as they tend to be over the top saturated with Art Vivid (but too boring using Natural). Art Vivid + K4000 produces a nice balance.

Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender Palouse Versatility

I will again be brining my EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender as my “big” lens to the Palouse (this June). Though I thought about going light with “only” my beloved 100-400 II, I will bring both mainly because the 200-400 offers me 784mm of full frame reach at f/8 with all AF points active. I will use both a lot.

Image Processing

Post processing here was quite simple. I brought the Art Vivid JPEG into Photoshop, leveled it, and then finished it off with the Topaz Bus Sim III filter to really juice up the colors.

Why f/13?

Why did I need to stop down from f/5.6 to f/13 for more depth of field?

Your Thoughts?

Love it? Hate it? Like it? Could care less? Be sure to let us know why you made your choice.



Topaz Simplify

I’ve been thrilled with the results whenever I’ve used Topaz Simplify. You can help support my efforts here on the BAA Blog by clicking on the logo link above if you would like to join in the fun. After you click, be sure to watch the great instructional video. You can see my favorite Buz Sim pelican here.

Topaz Simplify: Turn your photos into works of art. Create paintings, sketches, watercolors, cartoons, and more. Make your art uniquely personal instead of using cookie-cutter filters. Get better results faster with specialized digital art technology

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 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.

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 a friend, 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.

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 :).

Stuff

Same old, same old on Sunday with lots of re-hab work on my right hip and my right shoulder along with my walk, a chilly swim, and my core exercises. The Used Gear Page remains hot with lots of great stuff listed and lots of recent sales.

The upcoming Palouse IPT will be my last. Do consider joining what will likely be a small group. Scroll down for details.

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.

The Streak: 444

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 444 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a really great for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 is a tight crop of today’s featured image below. Eye of pelican covered by nictitating membrane

Bad Luck

You do just about everything right and wind up with a comical image of a nice pelican on a neat perch with a distant Pacific background, and best of all, its bill pouch is open and the image — made in low light — is very sharp. But upon closer examination you notice that the bird’s nictitating membrane is completely covering the eye … What to do? Check the adjacent frames to see if you have an image of the same bird with the same approximate framing with an eye that is both open and sharp. Bingo!

In DPP 4 I converted the base image, the one with the bad eye, and then copied the recipe and pasted it into the next frame, the one with the sharp, open eye. Then it was a simple matter of converting the second image (Command + D).

This image was created at La Jolla, CA with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens and my favorite bird photography camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/500 sec. at f/4 in Manual mode. (Should have been +2 stops.) Daylight WB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +7. Three AF points to the left and two rows up from the center AF point/Manual selection/AI Servo/Shutter button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the bird’s neck just below the visible patch of red, right on the same plane as the subject’s eye. Brown Pelican with bill open

Surgery for the Ruined-by-Nictitating-Membrane Image…

Once you open both images in Photoshop the rest of the work is a piece of cake. Paint a small Quick Mask (Q, B, D, X, Q) of the good eye, and the Move Tool (V) to position it roughly into place. Enlarge the area, reduce the Opacity of the top layer to about 50%, and move it so that the pupil is centered over the pupil on the layer below. Add a Layer Mask and paint away anything that is not needed. Now go back to the layer (not the mask). Hit Command T to engage the Transform Command. Now you can Rotate or Warp the new eye as needed. Total time: less than two minutes.

Everything above and tons more 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, NIK Color Efex Pro, and Digital Eye Doctor techniques, using Gaussian Blurs, Dodge and Burn, a variety of ways to make selections, how to create time-saving actions, and tons more.

Learn to convert your Can CR.2 RAW files in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide. Learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. You can learn to apply Neat Image noise reduction in The Professional Photographers Guide to Post Processing by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.

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.

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 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.

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 a friend, 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.

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 :).

Stuff

On Saturday I did lots of re-hab work on my right hip and my right shoulder along with a swim, a walk, and my core exercises.
I was glad to learn on Saturday afternoon that Wayne Roth sold his Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/2.8G EDII VR lens in like-new condition for $3,500.00 in Late January, 2017, two weeks after it was listed. The Used Gear Page remains hot with lots of great stuff listed and lots of sales.

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.

The Streak: 443

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 443 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a really great for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 at La Jolla, CA with the hand held the Fujifilm XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens (at 176.7mm) and the Fujifilm X-T2 Mirrorless Digital Camera body) outfitted with the Fujifilm VPB-XT2 Vertical Power Booster Grip. ISO 800. Pattern metering at about zero: 1/1600 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB. Shutter Button Continuous Autofocus. Additional AF information is unavailable. Patrick Sparkman at The Crevice

If I’ve Said It Once, I’ve Said — or Written It — 1,000 Times: When the Light is Bright …

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it 1,000 times: when the light is bright, think tight and work right on sun angle. Otherwise your images will be dominated by harsh, ugly, shadows. In the image above, Patrick is out on one of the three shelves that form the two crevices that make up the area that I recently named “The Crevice.” I just might rename it more properly as “The Crevices.” As he made his way out to the end despite my warning, my heart was in my throat. Note the wet, black rocks: have you ever tried to walk on oiled, melting ice? It is not possible for most folks, including and especially me, to stand on rocks like that much less walk on them. In any case, he made it safely out and back. Patrick claims that the his success on the black, treacherous slippery stuff was due to the great traction on his Hoka One Speed Goats (aka running shoes).

What drove him to take the risk? It was mid-morning on a blue sky day; he wanted to work tight and get right on sun angle … Consider the skill it took to get close to the resting flock of shorebirds with the big lens in hand without flushing them. Note Patrick’s skillful use of the knee-pod: left forearm resting on his bent left knee and left hand well out on the lens barrel.

This image was created at La Jolla, CA by Patrick Sparkman with the hand held (yes, hand held!) Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the new Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 200. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/500 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB. Three AF points up and two to the right of the center AF point/AI Servo/Surround/Shutter Button AF right on the bird’s eye. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +1. Image #2: Sanderling, adult in basic or winter plumage Image courtesy of and copyright 2017 Patrick Sparkman

The Payoff

The payoff? A sharp, perfectly exposed, lovely portrait of a winter plumage adult Sanderling (Calidris alba –white sandpiper) set against a background of Pacific blue. The only shadow in sight is along the underparts of the bird, that caused by the sun being relatively high in the sky.

Make a List …

Study everything above and leave a comment with a list of things that Patrick and I do differently. I think that regular readers who are paying attention might come up with five or six.

Images and card copyright Arthur Morris/BEARS AS ART 🙂

2017 Bear Boat Coastal Brown Bear Cubs IPTs: July 18-24, 2017 from Kodiak, AK: 5 FULL & 2 Half DAYS: $6699. Happy campers only! Maximum 8/Openings 3.

Join me in spectacular Katmai National Park, AK for six days of photographing Coastal Brown Bears. Mid-July is prime time for making images of small, football-sized cubs. The cubs, and these dates, are so popular that I had to reserve them three years in advance to secure them. There are lots of bears each year in June, but the mothers only rarely risk bringing their tiny cubs out in the open in fear of predation by rival bears. In addition to making portraits of both adults and cubs, we hope to photograph frolicking and squabbling youngsters and tender nursing scenes. At this time of year, the bears are either grazing in luxuriant grass or clamming. There will also be some two- and three-year old cubs to add to the fun. And we will get to photograph it all.

We will live on our tour operator’s luxurious new boat. At 78 feet long its 24 foot beam makes it quite spacious as well. And the food is great. We will likely spend most of our time at famed Geographic Harbor as that is where the bears are generally concentrated in summer. On the odd chance that we do need to relocate to another location we can do so quickly and easily without having to venture into any potentially rough seas. We land via a 25 foot skiff that has lots of room for as much gear as we can carry.

Aside from the bears we should get to photograph Horned and Tufted Puffin and should get nice stuff on Mew Gull, Glaucous-winged Gull, Black-legged Kittiwake, Harbor Seal, and Steller’s Sea Lion as well. A variety of tundra-nesting shorebirds including Western Sandpiper and both yellowlegs are also possible. Halibut fishing (license required/not included) is optional.

It is mandatory that you be in Kodiak no later than the late afternoon of July 17 to avoid missing the float planes to the boat on the morning of July 18. Again, with air travel in Alaska (or anywhere else for that matter) subject to possible delays, being on Kodiak on July 16 is a much better plan.

Barring any delays, we will get to photograph bears on our first afternoon and then again every day for the next five days after that, all weather permitting of course. On our last morning on the boat, July 24, those who would like to enjoy one last photo session will have the opportunity to do so. The group will return to Kodiak via float plane from late morning through midday. Most folks will then fly to Anchorage and to continue on red-eye flights to their home cities.

What’s included? 7 DAYS/6 NIGHTS on the boat as above. All meals on the boat. National Park and guide fees. In-the-field photo tips, instruction, and guidance. An insight into the mind of a top professional nature photographer; I will constantly let you know what I am thinking, what I am doing, and why I am doing it. Small group image review, image sharing, and informal Photoshop instruction on the boat.

What’s not included: Your round trip airfare to and from Kodiak, AK (almost surely through Anchorage). Your lodging and meals on Kodiak. The cost of the round-trip float plane to the boat and then back to Kodiak as above. The cost of a round trip last year was $550. The suggested crew tip of $200.

Have you ever walked with the bears?

Is this an expensive trip? Yes, of course. But with 5 full and two half days, a wealth of great subjects, and the fact that you will be walking with the bears just yards away (or less….), it will be one of the great natural history experiences of your life. Most folks who take part in a Bear Boat IPT wind up coming back for more.

A (now) $4,000 per person non-refundable deposit by check only made out to “BIRDS AS ART” is required to hold your spot. Please click here to read our cancellation policies. Then please print, read, and sign the necessary paperwork linked to here and send it to us by mail to PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. That leaves a balance of $2699 that will be due on February 15, 2017. I hope that you can join me for what will be a wondrously exciting trip.

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.

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 putting the finishing touches on this blog post while at the gate for my flight home on Thursday afternoon, Islip to Orlando. Had a nice visit with my Mom and with my younger daughter and two with Dr. Dan Holland at True Sports Care in Nesconset.

Great Galapagos IPT News

With two folks signed up for the August 2017 Galapagos trip there is now just one opening for a single male on the world’s greatest photographic trip to the archipelago, almost surely my last. I could squeeze in a desperate couple …

The Learning Never Stops …

In the recent Using Tv Mode to Attain a Minimum Shutter Speed. ISO Quiz, and Pushing the Limits … blog post here, nobody has yet come up with the ISO that I used for the hummer image. Are the guesses too high? Too low? Who knows? Do consider chiming in. In addition, there have been lots of comments on the use of Manual mode with Auto ISO and EC …

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.

The Streak: 440

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 440 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a really great for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 at La Jolla, CA with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mountedCanon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and my favorite bird photography camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 stops as framed: 1/400 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode. AWB. Center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF on the bird’s eye and re-compose. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version. FocusTune/LensAlign Micro Adjustment: +2 Image #1: high key Black Turnstone

About Light …

Image #1 was made in heavy overcast conditions. Image #2 was made at 9:30am on a sunny day, but there were light clouds softening the light so the shadows were faint. Compare with Image #1 in the first Learning About Light blog post here. In that image, the sun was out at full strength on a blue sky day. At 10:30am.

Which Light is Better?

Do you prefer the light in Image #1 or the light in Image #2? Either way, please let us know why.

Your Favorite

Which of today’s featured image is the strongest? Whether you like #1 or #2 best, let us know why you made your choice.

Height …

I was seated comfortably on a foot-high rock shelf when this bird came to rest. But getting low is not always the best choice; you actually need to look and think. Before I even made a single image I knew that I needed to get up and shoot with the lens about four feet up. Why?

Rear Focus and Re-Compose Question

Why was it pretty much imperative to be on a tripod for the creation of Image #1?

This image was created at La Jolla, CA with the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 560mm) with my very favorite bird photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +5. Center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter button AF. The selected AF point fell nicely on the side of the bird’s lower breast, pretty much on the same plane as the bird’s eye. Selection of the AF point, choice of the AF Area Selection Mode, and placement of the selected point — all as determined by the photographer in milliseconds — are instrumental when it comes to creating consistently sharp images. Well, not really milliseconds. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Image #2: Black Turnstone

Head Angle

Head angle is dependent on the bird’s posture and on the orientation of the bird’s body to the imaging sensor — aka the back of the camera. When the the bird facing us there are two very good head angles: staring straight down the lens barrel and looking 90 degrees to one side or the other, in other words, perfectly parallel to the imaging sensor. Again. For me, the head angle with image #1 is perfect.

When the bird is parallel to the imaging sensor, the very best head angle is usually when the bird’s head is turned one to three degrees toward us. I prefer that by far to having the bird’s head perfectly parallel to the back of the camera, again, when the bird is parallel to the back of the camera.

The best way to learn about head angle is to visit the Head Angle Fine Points thread on BirdPhotographers.Net by clicking here. It is a long post so grab some pretzels and a beer (or a healthier snack) if you really want to learn.

Selecting the Right AF Settings

As not everyone reads the educational image captions — a very big mistake as far as I am concerned BTW — I have cut and pasted this from the caption for Image #2:

Selection of the AF point, choice of the AF Area Selection Mode, and placement of the selected point — all as determined by the photographer in milliseconds — are instrumental when it comes to creating consistently sharp images. Well, not really milliseconds.

To start, I am constantly changing the location of my selected AF point. And by that I mean a lot, often every few seconds as the subject is moving or changing its position (as with preening pelicans for sure). I generally choose my AF Area Selection mode based on the situation, but may change is as the situation changes. One of the things that I love about the last few generations of Canon camera bodies is that you can set one AF point along with an AF Area Selection mode when working horizontally, and another AF point with the same or a different AF Area Selection mode when working vertically. As long as you have enabled the AF Point Orientation item on the menu the system will know whether you are working horizontally or vertically and remember the AF setting.

You select the AF point and the AF Area Selection mode based on your educated guess as to where on the subject you will be placing the selected AF point.

If you simply set and use the center AF point for all of your bird photography you have a lot to work on.

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.

Fort DeSoto Spring IPT/April 19-22, 2017. (meet & greet at 2pm on Wednesday April 19 followed by an afternoon session) through the full day on Saturday April 22. 3 1/2 DAYs: $1599. Limit 10. To save your spot, please call and put down a non-refundable deposit of $499.00.

I will be offering small group (Limit 3) Photoshop sessions on Sunday afternoon and Monday morning if necessary. Details on that TBA.

Fort DeSoto is one of the rare locations that might offer great bird photography 365 days a year. It shines in spring. There will Lots of tame birds including breeding plumage Laughing Gull and Royal and Sandwich Terns. With luck, we will get to photograph all of these species courting and copulating. There will be American Oystercatcher and Marbled Godwit plus sandpipers and plovers, some in full breeding plumage. Black-bellied Plover and Red Knot in stunning breeding plumage are possible. There will be lots of wading birds including Great and Snowy Egrets, both color morphs of Reddish Egret, Great Blue, Tricolored and Little Blue Heron, Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, and killer breeding plumage White Ibis. Roseate Spoonbill and Wood Stork are possible and likely. We should have lots of good flight photography with the gulls and terns and with Brown Pelican. Nesting Least Tern and nesting Wilson’s Plover are possible.

We will, weather permitting, enjoy 7 shooting sessions. As above, our first afternoon session will follow the meet and greet at 2pm on Wednesday April 19. For the next three days we will have two daily photo sessions. We will be on the beach early and usually be at lunch (included) by 11am. We will have three indoor sessions. At one we will review my images–folks learn a ton watching me choose my keepers and deletes–why keep this one and delete that one? The second will be a review of your images so that I can quickly learn where you need help. For those who bring their laptops to lunch I’d be glad to take a peek at an image or three. Day three will be a Photoshop session during which we will review my complete workflow and process an image or two in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. Afternoon sessions will generally run from 4:30pm till sunset. We photograph until sunset on the last day, Saturday, April 22. Please note that this is a get-your-feet and get-your-butt wet and sandy IPT. And that you can actually do the whole IPT with a 300 f/2.8L IS, a 400 f/4 ID DO lens with both TCs, or the equivalent Nikon gear. I will surely be using my 500 II as my big glass and have my 100-400 II on my shoulder.

DeSoto in spring is rife with tame and attractive birds. From upper left clockwise to center: Laughing Gull in flight, adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron, copulating Sandwich Terns, Roseate Spoonbill, Great Egret with reflection, Short-billed Dowitcher in breeding plumage, American Oystercatcher, breeding plumage Royal Tern, white morph Reddish Egret, and Snowy Egret marsh habitat shot.

What You Will Learn

You will learn to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to understand the effects of sky and wind conditions on bird photography, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode (even if you are scared of it).

The group will be staying at the Red Roof Inn, St. Petersburg: 4999 34th St. North, St Petersburg, FL 33714. The place is clean and quite inexpensive. Please e-mail for room block information. And please call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 to register. All will need to purchase an Annual Pass early on Tuesday afternoon so that we can enter the park at 6am and be in position for sunrise opportunities. The cost is $75, Seniors $55. Tight carpools will be needed and will reduce the per person Annual Pass costs. The cost of three lunches is included. Breakfasts are grab what you can on the go, and dinners are also on your own due to the fact that we will usually be getting back to the hotel at about 9pm. Non-photographer spouses, friends, or companions are welcome for $100/day, $350 for the whole IPT.

BIRDS AS ART Fort DeSoto In-the-Field Meet-up Workshop (ITFW): $99

Fort DeSoto Spring In-the-Field Cheap Meet-up Workshop (ITFW) on the morning of April 22, 2017: $99

Join me on the morning of April 22, 2017 for 3-hours of photographic instruction at Fort DeSoto Park. 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. This inexpensive morning workshop is 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.

To register please call Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours with a credit card in hand to pay the nominal registration fee. Your registration fee is non-refundable. You will receive a short e-mail with instructions, gear advice, and meeting place one week before the event.

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.

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 shopped in Suffolk County on Wednesday morning for some cold weather gear. And hung out with my Mom in the afternoon. Several folks singed up recently for the Fort DeSoto Spring In-the-Field Cheap Meet-up Workshop (ITFW) on the morning of April 22, 2017. For info on the Meet-up Workshop and the complete IPT, click here. I fly back to Orlando mid-afternoon on Thursday.

Great Galapagos IPT News

With two folks signed up for the August 2017 Galapagos trip there is now just one opening for a single male on the world’s greatest photographic trip to the archipelago, almost surely my last. I could squeeze in a desperate couple …

As Fate Would Have It ..

When I flew to Long Island late on Monday afternoon it was the first time that I could remember getting on a plane without a Think Tank rolling bag filled with photography gear … At security, I felt naked. “Where’s my gear bag?” The visit to my Mom would be a very short one and I had two appointments with Dr. Dan Holland at True Sports Care in Nesconset. And the weather was supposed to be horrific so at the last minute I decided to make the trip camera- and lens-less.

On Tuesday morning I looked out at my Mom’s backyard through a light drizzle and saw a duck with a lot of white on it. “Maybe it’s a soup duck” I thought. But I threw on my sweatshirt and headed out for a closer look. There, 40 feet away, in lovely, still, dark water was a pair of Hooded Mergansers. The male with its crest fully erect was showing off to his lady friend. Worse yet, as I got closer to the edge of the pond, the pair did not swim away from me … As fate would have it, I have zero good images of this gorgeous bird.

The Learning Never Stops …

In the recent Using Tv Mode to Attain a Minimum Shutter Speed. ISO Quiz, and Pushing the Limits … blog post here, nobody has yet come up with the ISO that I used for the hummer image. Are the guesses too high? Too low? Who knows? Do consider chiming in. In addition, there have been lots of comments on the use of Manual mode with Auto ISO and EC …

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.

The Streak: 440

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 440 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a really great for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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.

Recent Successful Used Gear Sales

Activity in the last week has been hot!

Note: I missed adding several items below while I was in South America for ten weeks with limited internet access. If your item has sold but is still listed on the Used gear page please let me know via e-mail.

• Teresa Mabry Reed sold both her Canon EOS-1D X in excellent plus condition for $2399 and her EOS Canon 5D Mark III also in excellent plus condition for $1429 within two days of listing them with BAA.
• Gene Scarborough sold a Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM super telephoto lens in excellent condition for $4049 one day after it was listed.
• Multiple IPT-veteran Mike Goldhamer sold his Canon EF 400mm f/4 IS DO lens in excellent condition for the record low price of $2100 a while back.
• Dear friend and multiple IPT veteran Patrick Sparkman sold his Canon EOS 5DS R with the Canon battery grip in like-new condition for $2899 back in early November.
• IPT veteran Gerold Hanck sold his Canon 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 telephoto zoom lens, the “old 1-4,” in excellent condition for $549.
• Henry Raymundo sold both his Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in excellent condition for $3999 and a Canon EOS 7D camera body in excellent condition for $399 back in November, 2016.

New Listings

Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM Super Telephoto Lens

This great package sold before it was listed!
Do see Brian Patteson’s similarly priced, similarly conditioned package on the Used Gear Page here.

James P. Nelson is offering a Canon EF 500 f/4L IS USM Super telephoto lens with amazing extras in like-new condition for $4,499. The sale includes the lens, the Rear Lens Cap, the ET-163 Lens Hood, the lens trunk, the ET-163 lens cover, a green camo LensCoat, the lens strap, a Wimberley P-40 lens plate, one each of the Canon Version II TCs: 1.4X and 2X, Canon Drop-in Circular Polarizing filter PL-C52 and insured ground shipping via major courier to US addresses only. All of the extras are in mint condition. Your items will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made. Payment by USPS money order or bank cashier’s check is preferred.

Please contact James via e-mail or by phone at 970-577-9884 (Mountain time).

The old five is a fairly lightweight super-telephoto lens that work well with both TCs. It is fast and sharp. I used mine as my workhorse lens (along with the old 600mm f/4) for almost ten years to photograph birds and wildlife all over the world. Both have been replaced for me by their version II counterparts. The 500 f/4s have long been the world’s most popular super-telephotos for wildlife and sports. With everything in Jim’s package in mint or like-new condition, his package is priced to sell quickly. artie

Canon EF 100-400 zoom f/4.5 – 5.6 L IS Telephoto Zoom Lens

James P. Nelson is also offering a Canon EF 100-400 zoom 1:4.5 – 5.6 L IS telephoto lens in excellent plus condition for a very low $549. The sale includes the Rear Lens Cap, the Front Lens Cap, the Canon ET-83C lens hood, a Wimberley lens plate, the tough fabric Canon lens bag, 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. Payment by USPS money order or bank cashier’s check is preferred.

Please contact James via e-mail or by phone at 970-577-9884 (Mountain time).

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

This image was created at La Jolla, CA with the hand held the Fujifilm XF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 R LM OIS WR lens (at 211mm) and the Fujifilm X-T2 Mirrorless Digital Camera body) outfitted with the Fujifilm VPB-XT2 Vertical Power Booster Grip. ISO 800. Pattern metering at about zero: 1/400 sec. at f/6.4 in Manual mode. AWB. Shutter Button Continuous Autofocus. Additional AF information is unavailable. Image #1: Displaying Brandt’s Cormorant on nest

Brandt’s Cormorants

When I got to San Diego I was thrilled to learn that the Brandt’s were once again nesting at La Jolla. And so was the IPT group. And with the unusual for San Diego mostly cloudy skies we had many chances to photograph this handsome species.

Picking the right tool for the job–161 or 1200mm?

You first job when you spot a nice situation is to visualize the image that you want to create and then pick the best tool (lens plus accessories) for the job. When I wanted to include most of the nest I went to the (Fujinon) 100-400. Note that the 161mm focal length worked out to effective 241.5mm. For additional stability, I braced my left forearm on the top of the wooden fence.

On another visit, there was a bird working on a nest about 5 feet closer than all the others. So I grabbed the tripod, the 500 II, the 2X III, and my now beloved 5D Mark IV and went to work creating verticals. I took about 200 images. The group was wondering exactly how I could possibly select one or two or five or ten to keep. At lunch one day, we looked at the images closely in Photo Mechanic. One image at a time I pointed out small differences that made a big difference. I wound up keeping about 40 images. On my second edit, I whittled those down to about 25. And on my Monday afternoon flight, I completed my third edit. Only seven images survived. Today’s featured image #2 turned out to be my very favorite (though it was quite a close decision).

This image was created at La Jolla, CA 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 my favorite bird photography camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +2 stops: 1/200 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. AWB. Two AF points to the right of the center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Shutter Button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was almost squarely on the bird’s eye. Click on the image to see a larger version. FocusTune/LensAlign Micro Adjustment: -5 Image #2: Tight head shot of Displaying Brandt’s Cormorant

Add Green Whenever Possible

I’ve realized for about as long as I have been photographing — 34 years this August — that adding green to an image is always a good idea. I think that that first that appeared in print in The Art of Bird Photography (ABP). Learn the basics of bird photography in ABP and add the digital follow-up, The Art of Bird Photography II (ABP II: 916 pages, 900+ images on CD only). Save $10 by ordering the two-book bundle here.

Your Favorite?

Please take a minute to leave a comment and let us know which of today’s featured images is your favorite. And be sure to let us know why.

Your General Approach?

Do you tend to shoot wide and include more habitat or to work tight? Either way, let us know why.

The San Diego Site Guide

In the San Diego Site Guide I share the secrets learned over almost four decades of visits to this great bird photography area. If you already own the guide but missed last year’s San Diego Grebe and Cormorant update, please shoot me an e-mail with a cut and paste of the title page in the Subject Line (or some other proof of purchase). New purchasers are invited to e-mail me their BAA Online Store receipt.

San Diego Site Guide Kudos

Dear Artie, Using your San Diego site guide was terrific!! It was clear, concise and led me straight to the Brown Pelicans, the bBreeding Brandt’s Cormorants, assorted ducks, etc. And along the way there were terrific landscape opportunities. The guide helped me maximize the limited time I had when I was was in La Jolla and nearby San Diego. If you are planning to visit San Diego/La Jolla in the winter and want to capture images of Brown Pelicans in breeding plumage, etc., buy the San Diego site guide. It’s as close as you can get to having Artie at your side when you can’t attend his IPT.

Best regards, Marc Schoenholz

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 Monday July 10, 2017: $5999: Limit 10 photographers — Openings: 6). Two great leaders: Arthur Morris and BPN co-owner, BPN Photography Gear Forum Moderator, and long-time BAA Webmaster Peter Kes.

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. (We may opt to stay in Edinburgh on the night of July 11.) Price and details should be finalized at least six months before the trip but you will need to be a bit patient. It would be ideal if I can get all the work done by the end of September so that folks can arrange their flights then.

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.

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 the new Facebook Page–see item next. Most of Monday was spent packing for the short trip to my Mom’s. The plan is to fly to Islip on Monday afternoon and return to Orlando relatively late on Thursday. Next: Japan.

Facebook News!

Because I’ve long hated the fact that my personal FB page limited me to 5,000 friends and that left several thousand folks with unrequited Friend Requests, I have created a FB page that will allow several hundred thousands of folks (hey, a guy can dream can’t he?) to follow BIRDS AS ART on Facebook. To visit the new page click here and be sure to like the photos, follow the page, or share the post. Your doing so will allow me to be much more active on FB. Huge tanks! artie

How to Like or Follow the New BAA Page on Facebook

To Like or Follow the New BAA Page on Facebook

Several folks have mentioned that they cannot find the Like or Follow tabs for the page … As you can see above, they are in the same spot they have always been in, on the left, right below the cover photo. All are invited to Like, Follow, or Share. See you there! artie

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.

The Streak: 438!

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 438 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a really great for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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.

Recent Successful Used Gear Sales

Note: I missed adding several items below while I was in South America for ten weeks with limited internet access. If your item has sold but is still listed on the Used gear page please let me know via e-mail.

• Teresa Mabry Reed sold both her Canon EOS-1D X in excellent plus condition for $2399 and her EOS Canon 5D Mark III also in excellent plus condition for $1429 within two days of listing them with BAA.
• Gene Scarborough sold a Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM super telephoto lens in excellent condition for $4049 one day after it was listed.
• Multiple IPT-veteran Mike Goldhamer sold his Canon EF 400mm f/4 IS DO lens in excellent condition for the record low price of $2100 a while back.
• Dear friend and multiple IPT veteran Patrick Sparkman sold his Canon EOS 5DS R with the Canon battery grip in like-new condition for $2899 back in early November.
• IPT veteran Gerold Hanck sold his Canon 100-400 mm f/4.5-5.6 telephoto zoom lens, the “old 1-4,” in excellent condition for $549.
• Henry Raymundo sold both his Canon 500mm f/4L IS USM lens (the “old five”) in excellent condition for $3999 and a Canon EOS 7D camera body in excellent condition for $399 back in November, 2016.
• Ramona Boone sold here Canon EOS-1D X in excellent condition for the BAA record-low price of $2359 in mid December just days after it was listed.
• Richard Goldman sold his Canon EOS 5D Mark III in excellent condition for the BAA record-low price of $1399, his Canon 100-400mm L IS Zoom lens, the old 1-4, in excellent condition for the BAA record-low price of $529. And his Canon EOS 24-105mm f/4 L IS Zoom lens, the original model, in excellent condition, for the BAA record-low price of $519. All within days of them being listed in mid-December.
• William B Ellison, Jr.sold his a used Canon EOS 5D Mark III in near mint condition for the then BAA record-low price of $1497 in early December.
• Ron Ozuna sold his Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens in near-mint condition for $2699 in early December.

New Listing

Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM Super Telephoto Lens

Brian Patteson is offering a Canon EF 500 mm f/4L IS USM super telephoto lens in near-mint condition for $4399. The sale includes the lens, the Rear Lens Dust Cap E, the ET-138 Lens Hood, the lens trunk, the E-163 front lens cover, green camo LensCoat, a Wimberley P-40 lens plate, one each of the Version II TCs: 1.4X and 2X, and insured ground shipping via UPS Ground (to US addresses only). The items will not ship until the check clears unless other arrangements are made. Payment by USPS money order or bank cashier’s check is preferred. Please contact Brian via e-mail or by text message or phone at (252) 216-9163.

The old five is a fairly lightweight super-telephoto lens that work well with both TCs. It is fast and sharp. I used mine as my workhorse lens (along with the old 600mm f/4) for almost ten years to photograph birds all over the world. Both have been replaced by their version II counterparts. The 500 f/4s have long been the world’s most popular super-telephotos for wildlife and sports. artie

This image was created at Pomacochas, Peru (home of the Marvelous Spatuletail) with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, a Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, with a Canon Extension Tube EF 12 II, and the rugged, blazingly fast, Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. ISO ???. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/60 sec. at f/6.3 in Tv mode. AWB. Fill flash at -1/3 stop with the Canon Speedlite 600EX-RT with a Better Beamer on the Mongoose Integrated Flash Arm via the Canon OC-E3 Off Camera Shoe Cord (2′). LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -1. Upper Large Zone AF/AI Servo/Shutter button AF activated two Af points that fell nicely on the bird’s upper neck right below the eye and the bird’s upper breast; enlarge the DPP 4 screen capture below to see the exact placement of the AF points. Chestnut-breasted Coronet

Using Tv Mode to Attain a Minimum Shutter Speed

I use this technique often. If you do not have ISO Safety Shift set, simply set Auto ISO. Now select a shutter speed that you are pretty sure will create a sharp image. With most of my telephoto lenses I am comfortable and confident at 1/60 sec. Next you need to enter the correct exposure compensation (EC) for the situation. Then acquire focus and push the shutter button. The camera will determine the ISO that you need.

Understand that there is nothing more complicated about using this technique than there is working in either Manual of Av mode. Why? In all three methods you need to be using the correct EC. Note: there is no way of actually setting an EC when working in Manual mode; you simply note how much plus or minus your chosen shutter speed/aperture combination is yielding by watching the exposure analogue scale … To move the indicator you simply change the shutter speed or the aperture.

Pomacochas

When I was not working at the spatuletail lek, there were some excellent hummingbird feeders at Pomacochas to keep me occupied. The two abundant species were Chestnut-breasted Coronet and Green Violet-ear.

ISO Quiz

Click on the featured image above, check out the noise levels, and consider the fine feather details. Then leave a comment with your guess as to the ISO that was set by the camera.

A DPP 4 Screen Capture for today’s featured image

A DPP 4 Screen Capture for Today’s Featured Image

Most will need to enlarge the image to see the two active AF points illuminated as little red squares. Note also that at (only) +1/3 stop that the image was about 1/2 stop under-exposed; the Brightness slider was set to +0.5.

Extension Tubes

Extension tubes are used primarily to allow you to get closer to the subject than the lens’s minimum focusing distance would allow. With the 500 II/1.4X III set-up adding a Canon Extension Tube EF 12 II will get me about 18 inches of close focus while costing me only a fraction of a stop of light. What most folks do not realize is that in addition, you will gain about 3% increased magnification even when you are working beyond the lens’s minimum focusing distance. Do not forget, however, that you will lose the ability to focus on distant subjects. I almost always use the Canon Extension Tube EF 12 II for my hummingbird photography. Be sure to mount the 1.4X TC on the lens with the 12 tube behind it; this maintains fully functioning AF.

I used this set-up almost exclusively for hummingbirds in Peru and tiny penguin chicks in The Falklands.

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 Monday July 10, 2017: $5999: Limit 10 photographers — Openings: 6). Two great leaders: Arthur Morris and BPN co-owner, BPN Photography Gear Forum Moderator, and long-time BAA Webmaster Peter Kes.

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. (We may opt to stay in Edinburgh on the night of July 11.) Price and details should be finalized at least six months before the trip but you will need to be a bit patient. It would be ideal if I can get all the work done by the end of September so that folks can arrange their flights then.

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.

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.

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?

Down to the lake with the Fujifilm gear again on Saturday morning and then worked on blog posts and did some exercising and stretching. Same old same old.

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.

The Streak: 436!

Today’s blog post marks a totally insane, irrational, illogical, preposterous, absurd, completely ridiculous, unfathomable, silly, incomprehensible, what’s wrong with this guy?, makes-no-sense, 436 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a really great for a long time now–please remember to use our B&H links for your major 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 Bleaker Island, The Falklands with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens and my favorite bird photography camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB. LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: +7. Three AF points up from the center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Shutter button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the right side of the neck band, right on the same plane as the subject’s eye. Magellanic Penguin braying display at burrow

Falling in Love Late in the Game

Having spent almost four full weeks on The Falklands I had seen lots of Magellanic Penguins on Sea Lion, on Saunders, and on Bleaker. While I did enjoy photographing this species at a small pond on Sea Lion where they liked to hang out, they were not my favorite bird by any means. That seems easy to understand considering that there is a plethora of nesting Rockhopper and Gentoo Penguins around along with many hundreds of nesting Black-browed Albatross. By December most of the penguin pairs had chicks and the albatross nests had begun hatching just before mid-month. In most of the locations the magellanics were a bit on the skittish side as compared to most of the other Falklands’s species.

There is a large concentration of nesting burrows just up from the gentoo landing beach on Bleaker. On my second from last afternoon there I saw lots of Magellanic Penguins displaying at or near their burrows. So I went to work. As it turned out, the birds at this particular location were silly tame. I sat for two hours trying to get some great stuff on the braying birds–they really do sound like donkeys. And while getting in position I noticed some really cute young of the year birds. By the end of that first afternoon I had fallen in love with the magellanics.

This image was also created on Bleaker Island, The Falklands, this one with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 176mm) and my favorite bird photography camera, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at -1 1/3 stops: 1/800 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB. Center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was just past the end of the base of the bird’s bill quite near and thus on the same plane as the curious penguin’s eye. FocusTune/LensAlign Micro Adjustment: +2. Magellanic Penguin at burrow entrance

Curious George

As I walked by the bird pictured in the image above in its burrow, it began staring at me while rotating its head, even turning its head completely upside down. It cracked me up. I set the tripod with 500 II on the ground and grabbed the 100-400II that hung from my shoulder by the Black Rapid Curve Breathe Camera Strap. I figured the exposure and made lots of images. When I was done, I walked on still laughing.

Exposure Question

Why -1 1/3 stop EC?

The Black Rapid Curve Breathe Camera Strap

The new Black Rapid Curve Breathe Camera Strap replaces the RS-7 that I used and loved for many years. Some may like the Integrated Underarm Stabilizer; I tried it for a while and then removed it and tossed it in the trash. Once you adjust the length to your taste, the new strap makes it easy to grab your intermediate telephoto lens in short order, just as the old one did.

The BAA Online Store

Thanks to all of you who patronize the (relatively) new BAA On-line Store. January was a record month. Apparently, folks like the new design, the ease of shopping, the fact that you can pay by credit card or by Paypal, the improved and virtually snafu-free process for getting your stuff shipped properly, and lastly, that you can access the new store via computer, cell phone including Android and iPhone, and iPad. Bad on me for sticking with the old store for so long; it was a frustrating nightmare at times for us too … Good on Jim for finding, creating, and stocking the new store; it surely was a lot of work.

Please remember, if B&H sells an item and we also sell it — for the same price or cheaper, we would greatly appreciate your purchasing from us. It takes a bit more time to order your cameras and lenses using the BAA B&H affiliate link and then switch over to the BAA On-line Store. But doing the blog takes up a bit of my time as does answering your photography and gear questions via e-mail. The latter is actually becoming a huge time burden …

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 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.

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 a friend, 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.

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 :).