Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
December 6th, 2022

One Very Strange (and very beautiful) Bird!

What’s Up?

It was mega-foggy at 7:15am on Monday morning so I did not head down to the lake until 7:45am. It turned out to be a superb morning for dew-covered spider webs and wildflowers. It ended in surprise when I discovered today’s very strange featured bird at the Vulture Trees. A short sunset foray finds me with 662 yet-to-be-edited in the December 05 2022 day folder.

Today is Tuesday 6 December 2022. I will be heading down to the lake again this morning. This blog post took about two hours to prepare and makes two hundred fifty-four days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Today’s NANPA Tidbit

A cc:ed e-mail from Jon Vickery

Ms. Huning and Ms. Day,

Since I received no reply to my prior email, which was addressed to Susan, I can only assume you are ignoring me. I may be a new remember of NANPA, but I do have 67 years of life experience with a variety of organizations, both professionally, and by avocation.

I am very much opposed personally to your single-handed and single-minded approach to push us into this media organization (ASMP sic). My life experience tells me that it will ruin NANPA and cause it to lose its history and identity. I am particularly distraught that you are doing this on your own without asking the membership what it actually wants.

For heaven sakes, put it to a vote.

I can hardly believe that you care so little about the folks you are supposed to advocate for. It is a pity we cannot call for your resignation on a no-confidence basis.

Please, get out of this arrangement ASAP and start over. It is never too late to get out of a bad judgment call.

Jon L. Vickery M.D.

Article XII. Referendum

The NANPA Board is ignoring the Referendum despite this from the Bylaws:

Upon petition of ten percent of the individual members eligible to vote, a request for a vote of the members of NANPA upon any matter, not involving an amendment to the Articles of Incorporation or these Bylaws, may be addressed to the Board. If such matter is not inconsistent with these Bylaws, the Board shall present it to the membership for a vote.

This image was created on 5 December 2022 down by the lake near my home. Working from the driver’s seat of my SUV with the window raised as high as possible, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: ISO 400. 1/800 second at f/8 (stopped down two-stops) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead-solid perfect. AWB at 8:52:42am on a mostly sunny morning.

Tracking: Spot S/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.

Image #1: Turkey Vulture with many leucistic wing feathers<

Leucistic

leucistic (luːˈkɪstɪk) adjective

In zoology: having reduced pigmentation in the skin or feathers but normally colored eyes.

The Surprise

As I pulled up to the Vulture Trees, one bird flicked its wings briefly; at a glance, it seemed that there were too many white feathers. With its wings re-folded two thing were obvious:

1- The bird had lots of white in the flight feathers.

2- The bird had been crapped on at the overnight roost as there was lots of whitewash on its back and hind neck.

I took a few snaps out of curiosity. I looked elsewhere. When I took a second peek at the strong bird was stunned by its beauty as the bird had spread it wings fully in the sunning pose. It was immediately obvious that this was a spectacular example of leucism, a wide variety of conditions that result in the partial loss of pigmentation in an animal causing white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales, or cuticles, but not the eyes. It can be pronounced with either a soft “c” (luːSIZəm) or with a hard “c” (lu-KIZ-əm). A quick read of The Birds of North America #399 species account for Turkey Vulture found no mention of leucism in this species.

Be sure to click on the image to enlarge it and note that the white secondary feathers on the right wing are far more worn than the corresponding black secondary feathers of the left wing. Note also — I have no idea why, that this bird’s bill tip is many shades darker than the usually very white bill tips of normal Turkey Vultures.

If you have any neat images of a leucitic or albino bird, you are invited to shoot me a 1200-pixel wide JPEG via e-mail.

I created 89 images in all, auto-bracketing at the very end to ensure maximum detail in the dark feathers. The first 86 frames had the bird facing well away from me and were insta-deletes once I saw the winning pose at the end: the last three frames had the perfect head angle. — 90° for most over-the-shoulder poses. When photographing birds from behind, stopping down a stop or two for more depth of field will often render the whole bird sharp as 2-stops did with today’s featured image. In the lightest of the bracketed series, RawDigger showed 6030 OvExp pixels, all in the veins of the white primary feathers). As those were all in the GREEN channel, they were easily recovered during the raw conversion with the Highlights slider.

The Image Optimization and Clean-up

After converting the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw, I executed a small crop from the upper right corner and ran Topaz DeNoise on Low Light on the whole image. I did ten minutes work on the ugly orange branch stub just below the bird’s tail (seen in the Before image). For the most part, a series of small Quick Masks each refined by a Regular Layer Mask were used to re-craft that mess. Next was the task of eliminating the whitewash on the bird’s back and hind neck using my usual cadre of clean-up tools: the Spot Healing Brush for the small specks, and either the Patch Tool or Content-Aware Fill for the larger ones.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II).

You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a PayPal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand. Be sure to specify Digital Basics II.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)

The techniques mentioned above and tons more great Photoshop tips and techniques — along with my complete digital workflow, Digital Eye Doctor Techniques, and all my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts — are covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.

Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here. Note: most of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.

You can learn how and why I converted all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. More recently, I became proficient at converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw. About three years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One and did that for two years. You can learn more about Capture One in the Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video here. The next step would be to get a copy of Arash Hazeghi’s “The Nikon Photographers’ Guide to Phase One Capture One Pro e-Guide” in the blog post here. Today, I convert my Sony raw files in Photoshop with Adobe Camera Raw.

You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.

Typos

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

December 5th, 2022

Save Yourself From Too Many Images: Stringent Editing

What’s Down?

I inadvertently forgot to hit publish after finishing this blog post on Saturday night! I am publishing it on Monday morning so that you can enjoy two posts today. Or whenever.

Photo Mechanic Screen capture: 15 keepers from an 819-frame morning photo session

The Need for Stringent Editing

With 20- and 30-fps mirrorless camera bodies ruling the roost for bird photography, if you do not learn to edit ruthlessly you will soon find yourself (and your hard drives) buried in digital images. I rolled by The Perch and the Vulture Trees early on and there was not much doing. I grabbed the 400mm f/2.8 GM lens and worked some cranes, first in the South Field and later on the parking lot hill. In between I had an adult eagle in a pine tree and two different preening Great Egrets. I need to get the Osprey image to FWC as it is in dire need of repair.

After the first edit, I had 23 images in the day folder. Those included several runs of similars. After a quick second edit, I was left with the fifteen images in the Photo Mechanic screen capture above. Before you scroll down, click on the screen cap to enlarge it and see if you can pick out my two favorites, the two images that I chose to feature in today’s blog post.

For the first edit, if I am not sure about an image, I keep it. For the second edit, I pick the best from each group of similars, and if I am not sure, it is deleted. The keeper rate for this morning’ session was less than 2%, 1.831505% to be exact.

What’s Up?

I made it down to the lake twice on Saturday. As you can see above, the morning was spent photographing the usual suspects. There was enough around that I did not create a single vulture image. There was a colorful, fog-muted sunset with no silhouette-able birds in sight.

Today was 🙂 Sunday 4 December 2022. I headed down to the lake early. This blog post took about two hours to prepare and makes two hundred fifty-two days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

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

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

Money Saving Reminder

Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would like to enjoy getting 3% back on your credit card along with free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex Air shipping, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and check the box for Free Shipping. That will automatically upgrade to free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The waitlists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard-to-get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a 1, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager to please.

Important Note

As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the Amazon links on the blog (including the logo-link on the right side of each blog post page). My affiliate link works fine with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂



Gear Questions and Advice

Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are — out of ignorance — using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.

Today’s NANPA Tidbit

Early on in the Town Meeting, NANPA President Beth Huning, at the 12:06 mark, referring to the “agreement,” stated “it was not done behind closed doors.”
Had the board not been exposed, the agreement would have been completed in total secrecy. Perhaps Ms. Huning has a different understanding of what it means to do something behind closed doors.

If you would like an audio recording of this event, shoot me an e-mail. Apologies if you listen to the audio and hear a few muttered expletives.

This image was created on 3 December 2022 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Seated on wet grass I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 400. 1/2000 sec. at f/3.2 (stopped down 1/3-stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be 1/3 stop short of perfect. AWB at 7:46:27am on a sunny morning.

Tracking: (Upper) Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed very well by grabbing the bird’s right eye. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.

Image #1: Sandhill Crane facing torso portrait

The Search for Different

Living at Indian Lake Estates for 22 years now, I have created tens of thousands of images of Sandhill Cranes, yet I had never before made one very much like Image #1, _A1G8131. The birds began to walk right at me, probably out of curiosity. Upper Zone is my default AF location for photographing tall birds, so I rotated the lens to vertical and was amazed at how well the Tracking AF grabbed and held the bird’s eye. I liked and kept the next three frames, _A1G8139, _A1G8158, and _A1G8176. I created a series of more than 45 frames in seven seconds.

I liked _A1G8131 best because of the angled neck, the placement of the bird’s head in the extreme upper right of the frame, the cool look at the breast, and the incredibly smooth f/3.2 background. You gotta love the bokeh of the Sony 400mm f/2.8 GM lens. If you find yourself wishing that the bird’s breast was sharp, remember that stopping down enough to do that would have brought up tons of unwanted detail in the distant marsh.

During the post-processing a dark area below the bird’s tail was eliminated, the single feather that merged with bottom frame-edge was re-shaped, and most of the sand on the bird’s bill was removed. Using the mask feature in Topaz Sharpen AI, the head, face, and bill were sharpened.

This image was also created on 3 December 2022 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Standing at the base of the small hill adjacent to the parking circle at the base of the pier. I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 400. 1/2000 sec. at f/3.2 (stopped down 1/3-stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 8:52:15am on a mostly sunny morning.

Tracking: Spot (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed well by grabbing the bird’s upper neck. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.

Image #2: Sandhill Crane dancing into north wind

Lots of Work Here

As the two birds danced atop the hill, I had many chances, but with the fixed 400mm lens, every frame but one had clipped wings and feet and heads. Getting rid of the second bird in the frame took a lot longer than I thought it would. I began by using the Clone Stamp Tool and the Content-Aware Fill with the Divide and Conquer technique, but was not thrilled with the results. Next, was a horizontally flipped Quick Mask of the lower-left-corner that was used to cover part of the mess in the lower-right-corner. A large, very soft Clone Stamp Tool brush helped in that area. And last was a layer of 64.8-pixel Gaussian Blur painted in as needed via a Black (Hide-all or Inverse) Layer Mask.

This is a front-lit version of the dancing crane at sunset image in the AM & PM. 1200 & 200-600. What Excites Me 🙂 blog post here. The dancing poses are quite similar.

High Level Question

Why did I find it necessary to use Tim Grey Dodge and Burn to lighten the bird’s face and eye?

Your Call

Which of today’s two featured images is your favorite. Why? Which of the other 13 images in the screen capture do you like, if any?

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II).

You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a PayPal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand. Be sure to specify Digital Basics II.

The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)

The techniques mentioned above and tons more great Photoshop tips and techniques — along with my complete digital workflow, Digital Eye Doctor Techniques, and all my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts — are covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.

Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here. Note: most of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.

You can learn how and why I converted all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. More recently, I became proficient at converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw. About three years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One and did that for two years. You can learn more about Capture One in the Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video here. The next step would be to get a copy of Arash Hazeghi’s “The Nikon Photographers’ Guide to Phase One Capture One Pro e-Guide” in the blog post here. Today, I convert my Sony raw files in Photoshop with Adobe Camera Raw.

You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.

Typos

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

December 5th, 2022

Two Sony A7R IV Bodies To Go: One Regular, One Infrared

What’s Up?

I made it down to the lake on Sunday morning, created 581 images, and kept 28 after the first edit. Those included one nice frame of a Great Egret in the marsh; the rest were Sandhill Cranes and vultures. As is usual, I had fun and learned a bunch.

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

Today is Monday 5 December 2022. I will be heading down to the lake early. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes two hundred fifty-three days in a row with a new, educational post just for you. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.

Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.

Photographing Pelicans in Southern California with Arthur Morris from B&H Photo on Vimeo.

San Diego IPT #1 Late Registration Discount

Please shoot me an e-mail if you would like to the San Diego IPT #1 Late Registration Discount. Note that due to a cancellation, there is now a single opening on San Diego #2. Click here for complete details on all three upcoming San Diego IPTs. (BTW, I did not like the cormorant blur either.) As I am staying for five weeks, I have lots of free days for In-the-Field Instructional Sessions, again, e-mail for rates and details.

This image was created on 4 January 2020 on a San Diego IPT. I used the no-longer available except from BAA Induro GIT 304L/FlexShooter Pro (now replaced by the Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro)-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter, and the the 61-MP monster, the Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless Digital Camera Body. ISO 400. Exposure determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/1250 sec. at f/7.1 in Manual mode. AWB at 9:21:39am on a clear, sunny morning.

Upper Center Zone AF/C performed perfectly. Click on the image to see a larger version.

Image #1: Brown Pelican — Pacific race molting into breeding plumage –bill pouch distended

The Distended Bill Pouch Pose

If you missed the San Diego video, you can watch it above and learn about all the Pacific-race pelican plumages. The bird in Image #1 is a carpet-neck, that is, in pre-breeding plumage. In two weeks, the speckled black feathers on the back of the head will become a rich, dark brown with a tinge of mahogany. Rarely, after a head throw, the big birds will distend their bill pouches as you see above for only a few seconds revealing more of the red and olive colors than usual.

This image was created on the morning of 9 AUGUST 2020 in the southeast corner of Indian Lake Estates. Again, I used the Induro GIT 404L/FlexShooter Pro-mounted Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens with the Metabones Canon EF/EF-S Lens to Sony E Mount T Smart Adapter (Fifth Generation) and the 61MP monster, the Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless Digital camera body ISO 1600. Multi metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/30 sec. at f/16 in Av mode. This exposure was confirmed as perfect in RawDigger. AWB at 8:34am on a still sunny morning.

Manual focus using the combination of Manual Focus Toggle and Focus Magnifier tips from the SONY e-guide along with the 2-second timer. The stalk was stabilized by a Plamp to keep it from blowing in the faint breeze.

Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

Image #2: Green Lynx Spider

A7R IV with the Canon 180mm Macro Lens

I absolutely loved the A7R IV with the Metabones T Smart Adapter for my macro photography. The incredibly detailed files with luscious colors allowed for healthy crops. And the 180mm focal length yields a narrow angle of view along with a 1:1 Macro Reproduction Ratio; at the Minimum Focusing Distance of 1.57′, the size of the subject in life will be the size of the subject in a full frame image.

Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless Digital Camera

BAA Record-low Price!

Charlie Curry is offering a Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless Digital Camera in near mint condition with only 7358 shutter actuations for a BAA record-low $1699.00. The sale includes the original box, the manuals & cords, one battery and the charger, the front cap, the camera strap, a (no longer available) SmallRig L-bracket, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only — inquire for shipping to other locations.

Please contact Charlie via e-mail.

For the past several years you have seen the incredible detail in my a7r IV images made with a variety of SONY lenses and both teleconverters. Before the a1, I typically used my 7r IV for about 50% of my bird photography and my a9 II in pure flight situations. Used copies in 9+ condition are selling for a ridiculously high $2,448.50 at B&H. And the newer a7r IVA sells new right now on sale for $2998.00; the only “improvement” over the original a7R IV is more resolution in the rear monitor. Though this 61-MP body is especially attractive to landscape and macro photographers, it is great for birds as well; you can pretty much crop to your heart’s content. For static birds, it does great with the 200-600 G lens. For photographing birds in flight, it did very well with the 600mm f/4 GM. I do not, however, recommend using it with the 200-600 G lens for birds in flight. artie


old-grain-elevator-_mg_9089-palouse-wa

This infrared image was created on the Palouse IPT with the hand held Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM lens and a Canon EOS 5D Mark II converted to infrared at 720nm.

Image #3: Old grain elevator

The Palouse

I had a ton of fun in the Palouse, especially with Canon in-camera HDR Art Vivid captures, and with infrared.

Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless Digital Camera with LifePixel Full Spectrum Infrared Conversion

Charlie Curry is offering a Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless Digital Camera with LifePixel Full Spectrum Infrared Conversion in like-new condition with only 1171 shutter actuations for a silly low $1699.00. The sale includes the LifePixel box, the manuals & cords, one battery and the charger, the front cap, the camera strap, a (no longer available) SmallRig L-bracket, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only — inquire for shipping to other locations. Payment by cashier’s check only.

Please contact Charlie via e-mail.

As you can see above, I dabbled with infrared several years ago. And loved it. Getting Charlie’s a7R IV infrared body for the same price as the body alone is a huge steal as the conversions cost several hundred dollars. artie

Creating the World’s Best JPEGs (Video)

Creating the World’s Best JPEGs Video: $23.00

If you, like many, think that the JPEGs that are used every day on the blog look remarkably good, you will want to grab a copy of this 16-minute video. You will learn to create relatively small, high-quality JPEGs to varying size specifications. However you wish to size your JPEGs, you will learn to create and sharpen highly detailed JPEGs that can be saved while limiting the file size. The method that I use to generically sharpen all my JPEGs is unique. Sharpening the whole image saves a ton of time and with the values that I use, nobody has ever commented on over-sharpening and the final results are spectacular. In the video, I show you exactly how I create and sharpen JPEGs for the blog and how I create and sharpen JPEGs for BirdPhotographer’s.Net. With my recipe, you will learn to create JPEGs to your specific size requirements while at the same time, maximizing image quality and limiting the file size.

You can order your copy here in the BAA Online Store.

Typos

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