Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

What’s Up?

We had a great morning that began at denise’s tree. We followed that up with three great red barns. Then a quick coffee break. We finished the morning up with some mustard fields panos and two more great red barns. Then an indoor picnic-style deli lunch, Photoshop and image critiquing and sharing sessions. Our afternoon consisted of lots of wagon wheels and 100-year old farming implements.

This blog post, the 151st in a row, took about 1 1/2 hours to prepare. It was published just after midnight on Monday, June 8.

Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L USM Macro Lens

Price reduced $200 on 6/7/2015!

Multiple IPT veteran Carl Zanoni is also offering a used Canon EF 180mm f/3.5 USM macro lens in like new condition for a ridiculously low $975. The sale includes the E-72 II 72mm (front) lens cap, the (rear) lens dust cap E, the ET-78 II lens hood, Tripod Mount Ring B (tripod collar), the LZ1324 lens case, the original box, and insured shipping via UPS Ground to US addresses. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Carl by e-mail or by phone at 860 306 9651 (eastern time).

I have owned and used the 180 macro for more than 10 years. It is the primo telephoto macro lens. It is sharp with and without a 1.4X TC. It offers a narrow field of view that goes a long way to eliminating back distracting background element. It is great for flowers and all sorts of bugs, butterflies, and dragonflies as well as for frogs and toads.

Just in Case You Thought That I Was Exaggerating…

Sometimes you get lucky. I knew when I hit with a huge thud that I might have done some serious damage. As I have said here before, I was most fortunate not to have broken anything. Functionally, I am doing just fine. Though the swelling persists, it has decreased greatly. I am walking well with just minor discomfort. Thanks for the image Phil!

Image Question

How would the image have been improved if Phil had moved about one yard to his left?

Rick Newman

Rick Newman is the son of many multiple IPT veteran Lou Newman. He is a super young man; he is happy and smiling and fit. It is hard to believe that he is 51. He is far beyond thrilled that he joined the IPT. He says every day that he cannot believe how much he has learned from denise and from me. He likes to shoot everything and anything and our greatest task has been to help him refine his vision and hone his techniques. In addition, he has learned to see and work with the light, and to avoid the clutter that dominated his images at first. Thanks for the image Rick!

2015 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) JAN 8 thru the morning of JAN 12, 2016: $1899 (Limit: 10)

Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the day before the IPT begins
Two great leaders: Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito

Join us in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s and Double-crested Cormorants in breeding plumage with their amazing crests; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Duck; other species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lions likely; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice landscape opportunities as well.

Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?

This IPT will include five 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, four 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, five lunches, after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions, and a thank you dinner. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility.

A $499 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. Or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 11/1//2015. 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. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

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We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

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Amazon Canada

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

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

My hip is feeling fine and my black and blue and yellow and purple bruise is getting larger by the hour. The 2nd Palouse IPT got off to a great start. This blog post, the 149th in a row, took about 1 1/4 hours to prepare. It was published just after midnight on Saturday, June 6.

A Real Trouper

IPT veteran Phil Frigon’s flight from Wichita, KS to Denver was delayed inbound by fog in Denver. He missed his connecting flight and wound up first on a short wait list for the flight to to Spokane, WA. He was the only one on the wait list to make it. He got into GEG after 1:00am and picked up his rental car; amazingly two folks had stayed on duty to serve the folks on the delayed flight. He made it to the IPT hotel at 3:10am and met the group at 3:55am sharp for our first morning photo session. Phil photographed hard from the dark of pre-dawn and was the last one back to the cars well after dusk. As I said, a real trouper.

The First Morning

Our prayers for clouds, at least for some light ones on the eastern horizon, went unanswered. After the orange glow of predawn we concentrated on the 90 degree sidelit rolling hills to the south. With most of the frame in shadow, the sunlit hill lit up beautifully.

5D Mark III/7D Mark II HDR Tip

In early morning light Art Vivid is often over the top with the color, especially with the GREENs (which actually have lots of YELLOW). My strategy in those situations is to switch from Art Vivid to Natural and boost the color temperature from AWB to 7500 or 8000K.

Trooper vs. Trouper Update: 4:36am Pacific Time

I originally published this blog as ‘a real trooper.” Stuart Frohm alerted me to the fact that “a real trouper” is the correct English usage. Though “he’s a real trooper” is by far used more frequently and–as is often the case with the English language, will likely soon supplant the originally and still correct “he’s a real trouper.” Thanks Stu; I had never even thought of the alternative….

The Palouse IPTs

Rolling farmlands provide a magical patchwork of textures and colors, especially when viewed from the top of Steptoe Butte where we will likely enjoy spectacular sunrises and possibly a nice sunset. We will photograph grand landscapes and mini-scenics of the rolling hills and farm fields. We will take you to some 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 us for this trip. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. 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.

After 6 days of back-breaking scouting work in early June 2014 we found all of the iconic locations and, in addition, lots of spectacular new old barns and breath-taking landforms and views. On three additional scouting days in 2015 we discovered several more truly amazing locations. We will teach you what makes one situation prime and another seemingly similar one a waste of your time.

What’s included: In-the-field instruction, guidance, lessons, and inspiration, our newfound but very extensive knowledge of the area, all lunches, motel lobby grab and go breakfasts, and Photoshop and image sharing sessions when possible. There will be a meet and greet at 7:30pm on the evening before each workshop begins.

You will learn and hone both basic and advanced compositional and image design skills. You will learn to get the right exposure every time. You will learn to develop your creative eye. You will learn the basics of HDR (high dynamic range) photography. You will learn a variety of in-camera creative techniques. Most importantly you will learn to see the situation and to create a variety of top-notch images. Do see both of our blogs for lots more on that in the coming weeks. You will learn how the quality and direction of light combine to determine the success of your images. And–please don’t gasp–we will be working quite a bit with sidelight when creating landscapes. Lastly, we will be doing some infrared photography.

To Sign Up

A non-refundable $699 deposit is due now. The balance will be due on February 15, 2016. 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. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

With the spectacular success that we enjoyed in 2015 it seems quite likely that this one will fill up very quickly. Please let me know via e-mail that you will be joining us. Then you can either call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 during business hours or send us a check to leave a deposit; the latter is preferred. If by check, please make out to “Arthur Morris” 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 us via e-mail: artie or denise.

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.

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We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

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Amazon Canada

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

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?

One Palouse IPT down. One day off almost done. One more of each to go. This morning’s outing to denise’s tree wound up being a bit of a painful adventure for me. Read on. We did a bit more scouting in the afternoon and after two pretty boring hours of driving we hit the mother lode…. Image soon. Friday’s blog post will announce the 2016 A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Palouse Instructional Photo-Tours.

This blog post, the 147th in a row, took about two hours to prepare. It was published just after midnight on Wednesday.

Hip-Wrecked in the Prairie…

It is about noon on Wednesday and I am lying in bed with a big ice bag on my left hip.

That we left the hotel at 4:05am on the first of our almost two full days off speaks volumes about our dedication, but more so about our love of and passion for photography and the creative process. After I made this image from the road and after denise was happy with her images, I climbed a small rise with the circle lens, the Canon EF 8-15mm f/4L fisheye on the tripod via a Wimberley P-5 camera body plate. After I was happy with my images I made my way down the slope. Denise was waiting on the road with a helping hand.

Realizing the danger, I said, “Boy, I need to be careful not to fall.” On the next step my right foot went into about a foot deep hole that was hidden below the matted prairie grasses. I pitched forward face first toward the rock hard gravel road and twisted my body to my right to save my 5D III and the $3,000 B&H affiliate loaner lens (thanks a stack Izzy Flamm). The lens and camera body were fine but having landed full force and squarely on the point of my left hip, I knew immediately that I was not.

It hurt like the dickens and my hip muscles seized up almost immediately. Within the hour the left hip began to swell and soon it felt as if there were a basketball in my jeans, near the left hip of course. I did one round of ice treatment at 11:00am and am looking forward to the next one at 1:30pm. I got some Arnica gel from the local pharmacy and applied it liberally. All in all I am feeling pretty good pain-wise right now (just before 1pm on as I continue typing) and though I am a bit concerned about the swelling, the injury does not at all seem as if it will be a debilitating one.

I spoke at length with good friend Dr. Cliff Oliver of San Diego who stated that without any sharp pain that any type of fracture, even a hairline fracture, is is unlikely. I feel most fortunate….

Important note: in situations like this, beating yourself up does not help anything. Always remember that you were doing your best. Accidents happen and I am pretty sure that this will turn out to be a minor one.

A Funny Tale…

The image immediately above was created by denise ippolito on our 2014 Palouse region scouting trip. Denise fell in love with the tree the moment that she saw it. Having not been to the tree in a year and not even knowing if it would be still standing, we made our way to it. As we approached the general area we saw a gorgeous tree right next to the road just to the east, gently backlit by a well muted sun. The group was thrilled with the new find and everyone made lots of conventional and infrared images with wide angle lenses.

We moved on but did not see denise’s tree from last year until we turned the car around. “There’s denise’s tree!” I cried out happily. We got the group out and photographed the tree in the draw with intermediate telephoto lenses. Next we visited one of our favorite locations that kept everyone busy for more than two hours. On the way home, we passed denise’s tree from 2014 and made a left turn. As we did we both realized that denise’s tree from last year and our “new” morning silhouette tree were one and the same.

At lunch we learned that everyone but us had realized immediately that it was the very same tree….

Note: the road in the long view that is just beyond the tree is hidden by the gentle slope that I had climbed up…. And fallen down 🙂

2015 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) JAN 8 thru the morning of JAN 12, 2016: $1899 (Limit: 10)

Meet and Greet at 7:00pm on the day before the IPT begins
Two great leaders: Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito

Join us in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s and Double-crested Cormorants in breeding plumage with their amazing crests; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Duck; other species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lions likely; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice landscape opportunities as well.

Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?

This IPT will include five 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, four 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, five lunches, after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions, and a thank you dinner. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility.

A $499 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. Or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 11/1//2015. 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. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

Facebook

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Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use this link:

Amazon Canada

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

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?

We went to the crooked barn, my very favorite in the entire Palouse Region. And we were finally blessed by a cloudy day. A great time was had by all as we covered the basics of creating originals for stitched panos and HDR captures. On Monday afternoon we are heading for Palouse Falls State Park.

This blog post, the 145th in a row, took about 2 hours to prepare. It was published just after midnight on Monday.

Predicting the Weather

The weatherpersons in the Palouse are as bad as they are everywhere else. They have been predicting rain for several days now; we have not seen a drop. Today was guaranteed “cloud cover all day” everywhere we looked. After the spectacular sunrise that you see here, it was much too sunny. None-the-less, we made soup from the proverbial stone, did lots of solid teaching, and made some really good images to boot. We will be announcing the dates for next years Palouse IPTs soon.

My techniques for creating the originals for the stitched pano were much better than last time: rear focus AF, set WB, and Manual Mode. Not to mention the tripod…. The six images were successfully stitched together in Photoshop: File > Automate > Photomerge.

The Developing Situation

Once the line of purplish clouds materialized going a lot wider was the obvious choice. I switched out the 200-400 for the 70-200 making sure to turn the 5D III off when changing lenses to prevent or at least minimize greatly the chance of accumulating sensor dust. The trick is to make sure to remember to turn the camera back on.

Seeing the Layered Hills

I had moved the group about 150 yards north in anticipation of the sun becoming much more muted when it hit the cloud layer. It did exactly that and our move opened up the view to the distant stacked hillsides. We advised folks to go as long as possible and to work just to the left of the sun.

Your favorite?

Which of the 3 images do you like best? Please be sure to let us know why.

Nickerson Beach/JBWR (possibly…)/Black Skimmer/Oystercatcher/migrant shorebird IPT: August 13-16, 2015. 3 1/2 DAYS: $1399.

Meet and greet on the evening of WED August 12. Limit 10/Openings 5.

Most of our seven photo sessions will be spent at Nickerson beach photographing the nesting Black Skimmers. In flight, sometimes battling. Carrying fish. Chicks of varying sizes from a very few just-hatched to lots of fledglings. It is likely that we will get to see some Great Black-backed Gulls preying on the juvenile skimmers. They swallow them whole. There will be lots of gulls to photograph as well as some Common Terns. Locally breeding shorebird species include American Oystercatcher–pretty much guaranteed, Willet, which is likely, and Piping Plover, which is probable but we need to get lucky with those to get close….

Save a space by calling Jim or Jen at the office and arranging to leave your deposit of $499. I hope to see you there.

JBWR?

If local conditions are ideal we may visit Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge to photograph southbound migrant shorebirds on one or possibly two mornings. Even if we do not visit JBWR we should get some good chances with the migrant shorebirds at the beach, especially Sanderling and Semipalmated Plover. Red Knot and others are possible.

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge In-the-field Instructional Photo Workshop/Scouting Session. August 12, 2015. Morning only: $250. Cheap!

The tide will be pretty good at the East Pond…. If I learn that conditions there are un-photographable we will do Nickerson Beach as a back-up. This will work either as an add-on for out of town folks coming for the IPT above or as a stand alone session. Either way, you will, as always, learn a ton. And we might even get some good images.

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We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use this link:

Amazon Canada

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

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

Our prayer for clouds was answered for a few hours at least, and we all got to sleep an extra hour on Saturday morning. And on the way back to the hotel, we found some killer canola fields, yellow gold.

This blog post, the 143rd in a row, took about 1 1/2 hours to prepare. It was published just after midnight on Sunday.

Bosque IPTs Heating Up

Interest and registrations and for both Bosque IPTs have picked up greatly over the past two weeks. See below for complete details.

New World: Infrared

I recently had a 5D Mark II in excellent condition converted to infrared at 720nm (nanometers). Thanks a stack to Mark Hilliard for helping an infrared dummy approach competence. When all of my RAW images were coming out of camera bright rose pink/red he suggested that I set a Custom White balance off the grass. It worked like a charm. I have learned a lot about infrared in short order and will be sharing lots more with your here soon.

Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM Lens

The 11-24 is both a behemoth (2.6 pounds!)and a landscape shooter’s dream wide angle zoom. It is as expected superbly sharp. I started using it on Friday and have since come up with a lot more uses for it. I will be sharing some of those hear with you there soon.

Your Choice?

Which image do you like better, the infrared or the Art Vivid in-camera HDR? Why?

Bosque del Apache 2015 BIRDS AS ART/A Creative Adventure Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). 3-FULL DAY IPT: NOV 22-24, 2015. $1149. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. Meet and greet and introductory slide program after dinner on your own at 7:00pm on SAT NOV 21.

Tens of thousands of Snow Geese, 10,000 Sandhill Cranes, ducks, amazing sunrises, sunsets, and blast-offs. Live, eat, and breathe photography with two of the world’s premier photographic educators at one of their very favorite photography locations on the planet. Top-notch in-the-field and Photoshop instruction. This will make 21 consecutive Novembers at Bosque for artie. This will be denise’s 7th workshop at the refuge. Nobody knows the place better than artie does. Join us to learn to think like a pro, to recognize situations and to anticipate them based on the weather, especially the sky conditions, the light, and the wind direction. Every time we make a move we will let you know why. When you head home being able to apply what you’ve learned on your home turf will prove to be invaluable.

This workshop includes 3 morning and 3 afternoon photography sessions, an inspirational introductory slide program after dinner on your own on Saturday, 11/21, all lunches, and after-lunch digital workflow, Photoshop, and image critiquing sessions.

There is never a strict itinerary on a Bosque IPT as each day is tailored to the local conditions at the time and to the weather. We are totally flexible in order to maximize both the photographic and learning opportunities. We are up early each day leaving the hotel by 5:30 am to be in position for sunrise. We usually photograph until about 10:30am. Then it is back to Socorro for lunch and then a classroom session with the group most days. We head back to the refuge at about 3:30pm each day and photograph until sunset. We will be photographing lots of Snow Geese and lots of Sandhill Cranes with the emphasis on expanding both your technical skills and your creativity.

A $449 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 7/25/2015. If you cancel and the trip fills, we will be glad to apply a credit applicable to a future IPT for the full amount less a $100 processing fee. 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. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check (made out to “Arthur Morris.”) You can also leave your deposit with a credit card by calling the office at 863-692-0906. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

Bosque del Apache 2015 BIRDS AS ART/A Creative Adventure Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). 4-DAY IPT: (three full and two 1/2 DAYS) NOV 28-DEC 2, 2015. $1499. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. Meet and greet at 3pm on SAT NOV 28 followed by an afternoon photo session at the crane pools and the introductory slide program after dinner on your own.

Tens of thousands of Snow Geese, 10,000 Sandhill Cranes, ducks, amazing sunrises, sunsets, and blast-offs. Live, eat, and breathe photography with two of the world’s premier photographic educators at one of their very favorite photography locations on the planet. Top-notch in-the-field and Photoshop instruction. This will make 21 consecutive Novembers at Bosque for artie. This will be denise’s 7th workshop at the refuge. Nobody knows the place better than artie does. Join us to learn to think like a pro, to recognize situations and to anticipate them based on the weather, especially the sky conditions, the light, and the wind direction. Every time we make a move we will let you know why. When you head home being able to apply what you’ve learned on your home turf will prove to be invaluable.

This workshop includes 4 afternoon (11/28through 12/1), 4 morning (11/29 to 12/2) photography sessions, an inspirational introductory slide program after dinner on your own on Saturday, 11/28, all lunches, and after-lunch digital workflow, Photoshop, and image critiquing sessions.

There is never a strict itinerary on a Bosque IPT as each day is tailored to the local conditions at the time and to the weather. We are totally flexible in order to maximize both the photographic and learning opportunities. We are up early each day leaving the hotel by 5:30 am to be in position for sunrise. We usually photograph until about 10:30am. Then it is back to Socorro for lunch and then a classroom session with the group most days. We head back to the refuge at about 3:30pm each day and photograph until sunset. We will be photographing lots of Snow Geese and lots of Sandhill Cranes with the emphasis on expanding both your technical skills and your creativity.

A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 7/25/2015. If you cancel and the trip fills, we will be glad to apply a credit applicable to a future IPT for the full amount less a $100 processing fee. 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. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check (made out to “Arthur Morris.”) You can also leave your deposit with a credit card by calling the office at 863-692-0906. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

Facebook

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

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use this link:

Amazon Canada

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

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

What’s Up?

On Thursday we met BAA friend Dan Logen for a morning of scouting and photography. We met on Steptoe Butte and photographed for just a bit. After that Dan led the way….

This blog post, the 141st in a row, took about 1 hour to prepare. It was published just after midnight on Friday.

Struck It Rich!

Dan brought us to several old barns. As denise and I approached an open barn door at one of them, we both gasped. Parked right in front of us was the cutest kiddy car you have ever seen with a vibrant paint job that almost glowed. We ran back to the car for our tripods and rigs. Neesie went for her 24-105, I for my 70-200, both with our 5D Mark IIIs.

As I was working at 1/10 second on a tripod, I suggested to Dan the he might consider working on a tripod> He said, “I’m OK; I use Nikon gear.”

We learned later that the car had been built more than 50 years ago and on a good day, could make 15mph. Dann kindly shared several more miracles with us. We headed over to Moscow, ID in the afternoon to visit another old friend and do a bit more scouting. Our meet and greet with the first Palouse group was at 7:30 Thursday evening.

Bosque IPTs Heating Up

Interest and registrations and for both Bosque IPTs have been picking up greatly over the past two weeks. Click on the IPT tab on the too bar and scroll down for details.

Used Photography Gear for Sale

There has been lots of action on the Used Photography Gear page here. Stuff has been flying off the virtual shelves here almost every day; the following items have sold within the past week:

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens sold for $4999 by Jacques Bouvier on May 20, 2015.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II sold by Carl Zanoni for $1649 on May 19, 2015.
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM sold by Owen Peller for $799 on 5/19/15.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV sold by Gerald Barrack for $1599 in May, 2015.
Canon EOS 7D DSLR Digital Camera Body (with battery grip) sold for $579 by Barbara Garmon on May 23, 2015.
In addition, a sale is pending on Barbara Garmon’s old 100-400.

Selling Your Used Photo 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.

Brand New Listings: these four should sell almost instantly!

Canon 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens

Pat Lillich is offering a used Canon 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition (with only some minor wear on the hood knob) for a ridiculously low $9500: serial number 9000000194, new in July 2012. The lens sells new right now for $11,499 at B&H. The sale includes all original packaging and accessories, a RealTree LensCoat,the front cap, a black LensCoat TravelCoat, and a 4th Generation Design low foot. Recently sent to CPS for a Clean and Check and unused since. Has the letter “P” in silver paint on the base of the lens foot. Will hand deliver within 150 miles of San Jose, CA for an in person cash sale. Otherwise buyer pays insured FedEx shipping. The lens of course will not ship until your check clears.

Please contact Alan Lillich via e-mail or by phone at 408-348-7479 (Pacific time).

I own and use this amazing lens often. It is, simply put, the premier super-telephoto lens for bird, wildlife, and nature photography currently in production. It blows the Nikon 600 f/4 away with regards to both weight and sharpness. Many of the young guns hand hold it routinely often with the 1.4X III. Patrick Sparkman hand holds it often with the 2X III TC. Did I mention that the 4-stop IS system is so good as to be hard to believe.? You can own this great lens and save just a shade under $2,000 right now! BTW, both Pat and Alan take very good care of their gear.

Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO USM Lens

Stephan R. Leimberg is offering a used Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO USM Lens in excellent condition for $3699–another BAA lowest-price-ever for this item. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the leather front hood, the original case, and insured shipping via UPS Ground. Please contact Steve via e-mail or phone at 904-491-0474 (eastern time). Please e-mail for photos. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

I used this lens for several years with great success, especially for birds in flight and when working from various type of water craft. Gannets in Love was created with the 400 DO. You can that one and 13 other killer images that I made with my 400 DO here. The title of that blog post is “The Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO Lens: Fourteen Images that Prove that the Internet Experts are Idiots.”

Canon 500mm f/4L IS II USM Lens

Clemens Vanderwerf is offering a Canon 500mm/f4L IS II USM lens in near-mint excellent plus condition for $7,999.The lens was only used once during a trip to South Georgia in October 2012. The sale includes the LensCoat that has been on it since day one, an off-brand replacement foot, the fabric front cover, the rear lens cap, the lens strap, the warranty certificate, the lens booklet, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured UPS ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

This lens is super sharp and light. There is not a single scratch, ding, or chip anywhere on the paint.

Please contact Clemens via e-mail or phone at 954 608 8704 (eastern time).

I owned this lens and loved it and with the reach advantage of the 7D Mark II I am thinking hard about selling my 600 II and getting the new five….

Facebook

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

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use this link:

Amazon Canada

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

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).

What’s Up?

I got most of my packing done on Tuesday and headed into town for a check-up with Dr. Holmes. All good. Set the alarm for 3:00am this morning but woke at 2:50. As I type at 4:31am we are in the car. Jim is dropping me at MCO. I fly from Orlando to MSP where I meet co-leader Denise Ippolito for our flight to Spokane. We have 1 1/2 days for some advance scouting and meet the first Palouse IPT group on Thursday evening.

If you missed “A Comparison: The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II with TCs vs the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II,” be sure to see item one here.

This blog post, the 139th in a row, took about 1 1/2 hours to prepare. It should be published a bit before 4:50am on Wednesday morning. Sorry David 🙂

Bosque IPTs Heating Up

Interest and registrations and for both Bosque IPTs have been picking up greatly over the past two weeks. See below for complete details.

Used Photography Gear for Sale

There has been lots of action on the Used Photography Gear page here. Stuff has been flying off the virtual shelves here almost every day; the following items have sold within the past week:

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens sold for $4999 by Jacques Bouvier on May 20, 2015.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II sold by Carl Zanoni for $1649 on May 19, 2015.
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM sold by Owen Peller for $799 on 5/19/15.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV sold by Gerald Barrack for $1599 in May, 2015.
Canon EOS 7D DSLR Digital Camera Body (with battery grip) sold for $579 by Barbara Garmon on May 23, 2015.
In addition, a sale is pending on Barbara Garmon’s old 100-400.

Selling Your Used Photo 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.

Brand New Listings: these four should sell almost instantly!

Canon 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens

Pat Lillich is offering a used Canon 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in near-mint condition (with only some minor wear on the hood knob) for a ridiculously low $9500: serial number 9000000194, new in July 2012. The lens sells new right now for $11,499 at B&H. The sale includes all original packaging and accessories, a RealTree LensCoat,the front cap, a black LensCoat TravelCoat, and a 4th Generation Design low foot. Recently sent to CPS for a Clean and Check and unused since. Has the letter “P” in silver paint on the base of the lens foot. Will hand deliver within 150 miles of San Jose, CA for an in person cash sale. Otherwise buyer pays insured FedEx shipping. The lens of course will not ship until your check clears.

Please contact Alan Lillich via e-mail or by phone at 408-348-7479 (Pacific time).

I own and use this amazing lens often. It is, simply put, the premier super-telephoto lens for bird, wildlife, and nature photography currently in production. It blows the Nikon 600 f/4 away with regards to both weight and sharpness. Many of the young guns hand hold it routinely often with the 1.4X III. Patrick Sparkman hand holds it often with the 2X III TC. Did I mention that the 4-stop IS system is so good as to be hard to believe.? You can own this great lens and save just a shade under $2,000 right now! BTW, both Pat and Alan take very good care of their gear.

Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO USM Lens

Stephan R. Leimberg is offering a used Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO USM Lens in excellent condition for $3699–another BAA lowest-price-ever for this item. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the leather front hood, the original case, and insured shipping via UPS Ground. Please contact Steve via e-mail or phone at 904-491-0474 (eastern time). Please e-mail for photos. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

I used this lens for several years with great success, especially for birds in flight and when working from various type of water craft. Gannets in Love was created with the 400 DO. You can that one and 13 other killer images that I made with my 400 DO here. The title of that blog post is “The Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO Lens: Fourteen Images that Prove that the Internet Experts are Idiots.”

Canon 500mm f/4L IS II USM Lens

Clemens Vanderwerf is offering a Canon 500mm/f4L IS II USM lens in near-mint excellent plus condition for $7,999.The lens was only used once during a trip to South Georgia in October 2012. The sale includes the LensCoat that has been on it since day one, an off-brand replacement foot, the fabric front cover, the rear lens cap, the lens strap, the warranty certificate, the lens booklet, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured UPS ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

This lens is super sharp and light. There is not a single scratch, ding, or chip anywhere on the paint.

Please contact Clemens via e-mail or phone at 954 608 8704 (eastern time).

I owned this lens and loved it and with the reach advantage of the 7D Mark II I am thinking hard about selling my 600 II and getting the new five….

Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens

Kevin Hice is offering a used Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for a lowest-price-ever $4750. The sale includes the LensCoat that has been on it since day one, the lens trunk 300B (with a few insignificant scuffs), the fabric front cover, the rear lens cap, the lens strap, the CD, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured shipping via UPS Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

This lens is super sharp and great in low light. No scratches or chips on the paint even on the tripod foot.

Please contact Kevin via e-mail or phone at 701 460 6112 (central time).

I own and use the amazing lens often. It is great for hand holding and for flight, with or without either the 1.4X III or the 2X III TC. In all cases it is amazingly sharp in competent hands. Outdoor Photographer editor Rob Sheppard was stunned by the sharpness of my allo-preening Macaroni Penguins image that was created with the 300 II and the 2X III TC.

Photographing Morro Rock

Photographing Morro Rock well as a completely natural geographical feature is a challenge mainly because there is all sorts of junk at the bottom of the rock: dozens of light poles, several parking lots including one very large one, and a really ugly chain link fenced-off area. And if you try to photograph it from the waterfront in town, you are often dealing with views that are severely obstructed by all manner of boats. If you keep your eyes open on your way out of town you can usually find one spot that yields an unobstructed view…. I’d had a single promising location in mind and needed only to wait for a dead clear morning so that I could work with that sweet light. And I did.

Lots of Mistakes by Yours Truly

If you read the image caption above carefully you will note that in my haste to get back to those spectacular Long-billed Curlews, I made four basic mistakes that everyone should avoid when creating base images for stitched panos. How many can you identify and list?

Image Design Comment

I really love the two small green triangles in the lower right corner; I worked hard to get as much of that green in the frame as possible. The chain link fence is right below those.

The Black and White

A while back, Denise shared some really cool B&W images of Morro Rock that she found online; she and those inspired the B&W treatment here. Which do you prefer, the color version or the B&W? The latter was created in NIK Silver Efex Pro using the High Contrast Smooth pre-set. I simply open an image in SEP, click through whatever pre-sets looks mildly interesting, and then select and apply the one that I like best.

Bosque del Apache 2015 BIRDS AS ART/A Creative Adventure Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). 3-FULL DAY IPT: NOV 22-24, 2015. $1149. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. Meet and greet and introductory slide program after dinner on your own at 7:00pm on SAT NOV 21.

Tens of thousands of Snow Geese, 10,000 Sandhill Cranes, ducks, amazing sunrises, sunsets, and blast-offs. Live, eat, and breathe photography with two of the world’s premier photographic educators at one of their very favorite photography locations on the planet. Top-notch in-the-field and Photoshop instruction. This will make 21 consecutive Novembers at Bosque for artie. This will be denise’s 7th workshop at the refuge. Nobody knows the place better than artie does. Join us to learn to think like a pro, to recognize situations and to anticipate them based on the weather, especially the sky conditions, the light, and the wind direction. Every time we make a move we will let you know why. When you head home being able to apply what you’ve learned on your home turf will prove to be invaluable.

This workshop includes 3 morning and 3 afternoon photography sessions, an inspirational introductory slide program after dinner on your own on Saturday, 11/21, all lunches, and after-lunch digital workflow, Photoshop, and image critiquing sessions.

There is never a strict itinerary on a Bosque IPT as each day is tailored to the local conditions at the time and to the weather. We are totally flexible in order to maximize both the photographic and learning opportunities. We are up early each day leaving the hotel by 5:30 am to be in position for sunrise. We usually photograph until about 10:30am. Then it is back to Socorro for lunch and then a classroom session with the group most days. We head back to the refuge at about 3:30pm each day and photograph until sunset. We will be photographing lots of Snow Geese and lots of Sandhill Cranes with the emphasis on expanding both your technical skills and your creativity.

A $449 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 7/25/2015. If you cancel and the trip fills, we will be glad to apply a credit applicable to a future IPT for the full amount less a $100 processing fee. 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. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check (made out to “Arthur Morris.”) You can also leave your deposit with a credit card by calling the office at 863-692-0906. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

Bosque del Apache 2015 BIRDS AS ART/A Creative Adventure Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). 4-DAY IPT: (three full and two 1/2 DAYS) NOV 28-DEC 2, 2015. $1499. Two great leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. Meet and greet at 3pm on SAT NOV 28 followed by an afternoon photo session at the crane pools and the introductory slide program after dinner on your own.

Tens of thousands of Snow Geese, 10,000 Sandhill Cranes, ducks, amazing sunrises, sunsets, and blast-offs. Live, eat, and breathe photography with two of the world’s premier photographic educators at one of their very favorite photography locations on the planet. Top-notch in-the-field and Photoshop instruction. This will make 21 consecutive Novembers at Bosque for artie. This will be denise’s 7th workshop at the refuge. Nobody knows the place better than artie does. Join us to learn to think like a pro, to recognize situations and to anticipate them based on the weather, especially the sky conditions, the light, and the wind direction. Every time we make a move we will let you know why. When you head home being able to apply what you’ve learned on your home turf will prove to be invaluable.

This workshop includes 4 afternoon (11/28through 12/1), 4 morning (11/29 to 12/2) photography sessions, an inspirational introductory slide program after dinner on your own on Saturday, 11/28, all lunches, and after-lunch digital workflow, Photoshop, and image critiquing sessions.

There is never a strict itinerary on a Bosque IPT as each day is tailored to the local conditions at the time and to the weather. We are totally flexible in order to maximize both the photographic and learning opportunities. We are up early each day leaving the hotel by 5:30 am to be in position for sunrise. We usually photograph until about 10:30am. Then it is back to Socorro for lunch and then a classroom session with the group most days. We head back to the refuge at about 3:30pm each day and photograph until sunset. We will be photographing lots of Snow Geese and lots of Sandhill Cranes with the emphasis on expanding both your technical skills and your creativity.

A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 7/25/2015. If you cancel and the trip fills, we will be glad to apply a credit applicable to a future IPT for the full amount less a $100 processing fee. 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. Whether or not your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check (made out to “Arthur Morris.”) You can also leave your deposit with a credit card by calling the office at 863-692-0906. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.

Facebook

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

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use this link:

Amazon Canada

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

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?

Worked hard on planning a new trip or two to be announced here soon. Answered lots of e-mails and wrote this important blog post. My day began watching Steph Curry, the Golden State Warriors baby-faced assassin singlehandedly dismantle the hapless Houston Rockets in the NBA playoffs. Next on Tivo was the Chicago Blackhawks double over time, heart-stopping victory over the Anaheim Ducks who had been leading the series 2-1; it is all tied up now.

This blog post, the 137th in a row, took me a surprising two hours to write. I gave it a lot of thought.

Important to me/Please read…

the whole thing 🙂

I work very hard on the blog. I am not sure why. Last year I had a streak of 366 days in a row with a new, educational blog post. Right now the current streak is at 137. As always, I enjoy being the star of the show. I enjoy the attention. At times, I enjoyed stirring the pot and creating a bit of controversy. And I always strive to teach, often by asking questions and getting folks to think. The many wonderful e-mails that I receive and the many wonderful comments that I read are the icing on the cake. I know that I am doing something great here, but it is always nice when others folks voice their (unsolicited) confirmations.

Photography is, however, my job so let’s talk briefly about money. The blog (and the now occasional BAA Bulletin) promote the sales of information in digital form (read PDFs like Digital Basics) and as eBooks and eGuides (such as the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide and the 7D Mark II Guide). and the blog of course promotes the sale of photographic accessories such as Delkin flash cards and card readers, tripods, tripod heads, LensClens, LensCoat stuff, and dozens of other products, products that I have used and depending on for decades. Your support and patronage is of course greatly appreciated.

I often spend 10-20 hours or more per week on the blog, and thus, I view it as a part time job. The main remuneration comes from the use of my B&H affiliate links, especially for major purchases. B&H is a reliable, dependable firm that offers pretty much the lowest prices around plus great service and an unequaled return policy. Using my affiliate links is a great way to thank me for my efforts here on the blog and each use, whether for something small or a five figure lens, is greatly appreciated. And the best news it that using my affiliate links will not cost you one penny.

I have been frank about this here before; for my first several years as a B&H affiliate, my cut was 3%. A bit more than a year ago I received a raise to 3 1/2 percent. If you are kind enough to purchase a $2,000 lens or camera body, I get $70 credited to my account. When someone places a $10,000 order I make a very nice commission of $350.

The Challenges

I often receive e-mails like this:

Dear Art,

Joe

Dear Joe, Thanks for writing and for you kind words. Before I get too deeply into my answer, I need to ask: where do you live? Did you use my B&H affiliate links to purchase your new gear? Do you have our 1D X AF Guide?

Later and love, artie

Dear Art,

Love ya man, Joe

My commission on Joe’s sale would have been $587.93. And it would not have cost him one cent.

How would you respond to Joe’s request for help?

Another Typical e-Mail

Dear Artie,

Harry

Dear Harry,

I am glad that you enjoy the blog so much. Just so you know, when you purchase something that I teach you about and teach you to use we would appreciate it if you could use the link to the BAA Store right there in the post rather than purchasing it elsewhere. If you use our B&H link to purchase items that are in my store my profit on the item is usually about 90% less than if you had purchased it from the BAA Online Store….

For the lenses alone you use approximately 8.2 feet per 100 meters of focal length; for a 300mm lens you would set the target at 24.6 feet. When you add a TC, you split the difference. For example, if you are micro-adjusting the 300 with a 2X TC (600mm focal length the target should be at 49.2 feet but it is fine to split the difference by placing it halfway between 24.6 feet and 49.2 feet, or 36.9 feet. Or, you can think of it like this 450 X 8.2 feet = 36.9 feet.

In the future, please remember to buy your accessories and miscellaneous items from the BAA Store (if we carry them) and to use our B&H link for your major gear purchases.

later and love, artie

How would you have responded to Harry?

My Biggest Affiliate Frustration Tale

When the Canon Series II super-telephotos were released I got my hands on one of each and posted lots of images created with both the 500 II and the 600 II. Folks were very appreciative. At the time, it was fairly easy to have a BAA B&H affiliate order expedited. With such huge demand for the 100-400 II recently that has become more difficult to do though I have succeeded in more than a few instances. IAC, lots of folks generously used my links to purchase both the big lenses along with a 1D X or two.

An acquaintance/friend from the west coast was the very first to order a 600 II with my link. Several others sent me their B&H 600 II receipts via e-mail and I forwarded them all to my contact at B&H to be expedited. Somehow they screwed up. Numbers 2 and 3 on the list got their lenses right off the bat. Number 1 did not. He was understandably upset. So upset that he cancelled the entire order that he had placed using my B&H link: 1 600 II, one 500 II, and one 1D X body. So because of the screw-up with the expediting I lost my then 3% commission on a $30,000 sale.

Frustrating right?

Now try this on for size: the woman who was #2 on the list sent me her B&H receipt and stated that she had used my link.I had her order expedited and she got her lens right away. I carefully track all of the big sales to make sure that I receive credit. When I inquired as to why that sale never appeared in my account I was informed that the sale was indeed an affiliate sale, one made via CanonRumors.com…. The end result was that I lost my commission on sales of well more than $42,000. Hard to love that.

How local store supporters, overseas folks, those who write with questions, and all who enjoy the blog on a daily basis can do their part to help the support the BAA Blog.

Many times when I ask someone who professes that they love the blog if they used my B&H link, they write back, “I like to support my local camera store.” And quite often, it’s “I live in the UK or Down Under; using B&H does not make sense as I would get killed on import duties. Good friend and digital photography guru Tim Grey supported the work that he did for years on his DDQ e-mails using a share-ware system. Folks could sign up for free but were given the option of making a donation to keep him writing every day. For years I have stayed away from such a system but now I am ready to adapt a simple version.

All who enjoy and learn from the blog are invited to send a donation (the amount is up to you) using any of the following methods:

a-send a Paypal to us at BIRDSASART@verizon.net. Be sure to mention BAA-Blog Thanks
b-call Jim or Jen with a credit card in hand and let them know that you would like to make a BAA-Thanks payment.
c-On Tuesday, I will have Jim build a page in the store for the thank you donations.

Whatever you send it will be greatly appreciated.

Nickerson Beach/JBWR (possibly…)/Black Skimmer/Oystercatcher/migrant shorebird IPT: August 13-16, 2015. 3 1/2 DAYS: $1399.

Meet and greet on the evening of WED August 12. Limit 10/Openings 5.

Most of our seven photo sessions will be spent at Nickerson beach photographing the nesting Black Skimmers. In flight, sometimes battling. Carrying fish. Chicks of varying sizes from a very few just-hatched to lots of fledglings. It is likely that we will get to see some Great Black-backed Gulls preying on the juvenile skimmers. They swallow them whole. There will be lots of gulls to photograph as well as some Common Terns. Locally breeding shorebird species include American Oystercatcher–pretty much guaranteed, Willet, which is likely, and Piping Plover, which is probable but we need to get lucky with those to get close….

Save a space by calling Jim or Jen at the office and arranging to leave your deposit of $499. I hope to see you there.

JBWR?

If local conditions are ideal we may visit Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge to photograph southbound migrant shorebirds on one or possibly two mornings. Even if we do not visit JBWR we should get some good chances with the migrant shorebirds at the beach, especially Sanderling and Semipalmated Plover. Red Knot and others are possible.

Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge In-the-field Instructional Photo Workshop/Scouting Session. August 12, 2015. Morning only: $250. Cheap!

The tide will be pretty good at the East Pond…. If I learn that conditions there are un-photographable we will do Nickerson Beach as a back-up. This will work either as an add-on for out of town folks coming for the IPT above or as a stand alone session. Either way, you will, as always, learn a ton. And we might even get some good images.

Facebook

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

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use this link:

Amazon Canada

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

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

Got more done on my 2014 tax return on Friday; to me, doing my business taxes is like doing a jigsaw puzzle…. Put in one piece at a time and if you keep at it you will finish. Due to a snafu my ice bath was a balmy 65 degrees when I exited. This blog post, the 135th in a row, took about 2 1/2 hours to prepare. It was published automatically just after midnight on Saturday.

BIRDS AS ART BULLETIN #475

BIRDS AS ART BULLETIN #475 is online and can be accessed here. Item 1, A Comparison: The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II with TCs versus the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II, should be of special interest to blog folks. When you visit, be sure to take a crack at the exposure question.

• A Comparison: The Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II with TCs vs the EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II
• DPP 4 Educational Screen Capture
• The DPP 4 eGuide
• The 7D Mark II User’s Guide
• Used Photography Gear for Sale
• South Georgia October 2015
• BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) Info
• Your Help Needed and Appreciated/Affiliate Stuff

Used Photography Gear for Sale

There has been lots of action on the Used Photography Gear page here. The following items sold within the past week:

Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens sold for $4999 by Jacques Bouvier on May 20, 2015.
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II sold by Carl Zanoni for $1649 on May 19, 2015.
Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM sold by Owen Peller for $799 on 5/19/15.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV sold by Gerald Barrack for $1599 in May, 2015.
Canon EOS 7D DSLR Digital Camera Body (with battery grip) sold for $579 by Barbara Garmon on May 23, 2015.
In addition, a sale is pending on Barbara Garmon’s old 100-400.

Selling Your Used Photo 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.

Brand New Listing: this one should sell instantly!

Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens

Kevin Hice is offering a used Canon 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for a lowest-price-ever $4750. The sale includes the LensCoat that has been on it since day one, the lens trunk 300B (with a few insignificant scuffs), the fabric front cover, the rear lens cap, the lens strap, the CD, the original box with everything that came in it, and insured shipping via UPS Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

This lens is super sharp and great in low light. No scratches or chips on the paint even on the tripod foot.

Please contact Kevin via e-mail or phone at 701 460 6112 (central time).

I own and use the amazing lens often. It is great for hand holding and for flight, with or without either the 1.4X III or the 2X III TC. In all cases it is amazingly sharp in competent hands. Outdoor Photographer editor Rob Sheppard was stunned by the sharpness of my allo-preening Macaroni Penguins image that was created with the 300 II and the 2X III TC.

Featured Item

Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L USM Macro Lens

Price reduced $100 on 2/20/2015!

Multiple IPT veteran Carl Zanoni is also offering a used Canon EF 180mm f/3.5 USM macro lens in like new condition for $1075. The sale includes the E-72 II 72mm (front) lens cap, the (rear) lens dust cap E, the ET-78 II lens hood, Tripod Mount Ring B (tripod collar), the LZ1324 lens case, the original box, and insured shipping via UPS Ground to US addresses. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.

Please contact Carl by e-mail or by phone at 860 306 9651 (eastern time).

I have owned and used the 180 macro for more than 10 years. It is the primo telephoto macro lens. It is sharp with and without a 1.4X TC. It offers a narrow field of view that goes a long way to eliminating back distracting background element. It is great for flowers and all sorts of bugs, butterflies, and dragonflies as well as for frogs and toads.

The Motivation and the Creation

Denise Ippolito spotted some really low down magnolia flowers. In the past, she had taught me to appreciate dying, dead, or decaying flowers. In today’s featured image I photographed a small, somewhat neatly arranged pile of stalks that had fallen from the decaying carpel. The stalks, if that is the right term for them, were lying in the curved petal of the dead flower. The pinks and purples set against the whitish grey of the petals is an attractive combination for many.

It took quite a while to get the image framed as I wanted it. As the leaf-covered ground was less than firm and there was a pretty good breeze I was constantly adjusting things to achieve halfway decent framing. As I wanted to stay at ISO 400 I utilized my Av mode/Live View/2-second timer flower technique. Once I started creating some images that looked OK on the back of the camera I decided that I would run the aperture table by creating images at full stop intervals from f/2.8 to f/22. You can see the results and learn a stack in the animated GIF below.

The Animated Depth-of-Field GIF

Let the animated GIF above run through a full cycle or two, from f/2.8 through f/22 as follows: f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16, and f/22. The slight variations in framing were a result of the soft ground and the wind. The seven images in the animated GIF were created from the extracted JPEGs. Differences in exposure and in color balance were due to the sun coming in and out; this affected things even though the flowers were basically in the shade.

As the apertures get smaller and smaller as the GIF plays the differences in depth-of-field between the individual frames seem quite small. Until you go from f/22 back to f/2.8 where the relatively huge difference becomes dramatic. At first I liked the image created at f/4 best but I wound up optimizing the one made at f/.8.

The lesson here is that at close range with relatively high magnification the increases in depth-of-field as you go from one f/stop to the next are very small, but that the difference between f/2.8 and f/22 (six f/stops) is quite significant.

According to Depth-of-field Master.com, depth of field with the 7D II and the 100 macro at ten inches is 7/100 inch at f/8. That drops to 3/100 inch at f/2.8 and increases to only 21/100 inch (just a smidgeon more than 1/5 of a single inch) at f/22.

Important Realization…

Do understand that though there is a big difference in the look of the images at f/2.8 and f/22 that the bulk of that has to do with bringing up background detail rather than actual depth of field. As each stalk was about 1/2 inch (.5) long a total d-o-f of .2 inches does not cover a very large zone of sharp focus.

Your Favorite Aperture?

All things (exposure, sharpness, and color temperature) considered, which aperture do think yielded the nicest image? Do let us know why.

Facebook

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Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use this link:

Amazon Canada

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

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

I made some serious progress on my 2014 taxes today. After my long unplanned nap on Tuesday night I wound up staying up until after 2:00am watching the Chicago Blackhawks amazing triple overtime victory over the Anaheim Ducks. I e-mail older daughter Jennifer at 2:15am just before heading to bed. I was stunned to receive an immediate reply. She had stayed up to watch the whole thing. Like father, like daughter.

I finished Wednesday off with another cold ice bath–60 degree water when I got out after my 44 minutes. This blog post, the 133rd in a row, took about 2 hours to prepare. It should be published automatically just after midnight on Thursday.

Which Came First?

In the “Happiness Is. Bathing Beauty Tips & Which Came First?” blog post here, I asked,

Which image was created first in this two-frame sequence?

Image #1, the upper image in the composite above, was created first, the lower image, Image #2, was the second in this two-frame sequence. I matched the background elements and drew the red line to show the match. Since the bird in Image #1 was farther right against the background and Image #2 was farther left, Image #1 had to be created first.

Did I move the lens when creating this two-frame sequence?

Some folks hinted at the fact that Image #2 had been cropped and indeed it had been, from thr right and from below. Studying the composite above indicates that as the bird flapped, jumped and flew to our left I swung the lens to my left in an effort to better frame the image and keep an active AF point on the subject. So yes, I did move the lens between the two exposures. Not a lot, but definitely swung to my left.

Exposure Fine Point Question

For the most part I was photographing Marbled Godwits and Short-billed Dowitchers in the sweet early morning light. With those two species I went with Evaluative metering +2/3 stop; that worked out to be 1/1250 sec. at 6.3. Why did I go 1/3 stop darker with the breeding plumage black-bellieds?

The Exposure Fine Point Answer

The WHITEs on Black-bellied Plover are brighter than the highlights on the more muted species mentioned above, thus I went with a shutter speed that was 1/3 stop faster.

Ignorant Artie’s Lightroom Comments

In the “Lightroom. My Take. Denise’s Take. Your Take? More on Photo Mechanic and My Digital Workflow” blog post here, my main gripe was that Lightroom as I had seen and heard, was extremely slow to render images when folks are editing their work, that is,when they are picking their keepers.

Several Lightroom users commented that I was right. Others disagreed. At one point I spoke to digital photography expert Ellen Anon who said, “Jeez oh man! Lightroom is as slow as molasses.” On the Fort DeSoto Spring IPT one of the participants stated that for him Lightroom was lightning fast. I grabbed his Macbook Pro, hit the right arrow key, and learned that he was indeed correct. I had been ignorant of the fact that on a good laptop with Lightroom set up correctly, Lightroom did indeed provide fast viewing.

Please note: ignorant does not always have to mean “stupid.” It can mean “unaware.”

I opted not to join the fray as 83 folks left comments. So what’s the good news? Lots of folks got to voice their opinions and lots of folks shared their Lightroom tips and techniques. All in all the comments section there turned into a valuable resource for Lightroom users. I do not think that anyone provided and answer to one question that I posed: “As far as image processing is concerned, what can Lightroom do that Photoshop cannot?” Do understand that I never doubted for one second that Lightroom offers great cataloguing and keywording features.

Several of the folks who saw me using Photo Mechanic on recent IPTs were quite impressed and several switched, ordering through BAA to enjoy our discount. I continue to enjoy the speed and simplicity of my Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop CC workflow. I will be sharing a helpful Photo Mechanic Ingest tip with you here soon.

Photo Mechanic

Learn lots more about how I use PM here. Purchase Photo Mechanic from BIRDS AS ART and your license code will be sent to you via e-mail within 1-7 business days (usually within 1-3 business days). Your copy of Photo Mechanic will be delivered to you via electronic download from the manufacturer’s website.

Best News

Folks who subscribe to the blog can call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 weekdays before 2pm to receive a small PM discount. Or, if they wish to purchase Photo Mechanic in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store here, they can e-mail Jim for a discount code.

Integrating Photo Mechanic and Digital Photo Professional 4 (PM & DPP 4)

An e-Mail Conversation with Bill Hill

BH: One more thing if you have time. In your workflow, you “ingest” the files in Mechanic and then do you open the file in DPP4 for edit and transfer to Photoshop?

AM: Bill, you gotta read what I wrote here. Actually, I will save you some time; here is the important stuff:

Photo Mechanic Editing (Picking Your Keepers) Tips

I set the default so that the images are arranged by Capture Time when I open a folder. Before you sit down to your first PM editing session be sure to go to Preferences > Preview and then–under “Automatically advance to the next photo when:”– uncheck the “tag is changed” box. That way when you tag a keeper it does not automatically advance to the next frame. You need to do that only once. (Some folks prefer to leave that box checked but that messes up my increasingly feeble brain.”

I view my images in Photo Mechanic by simply selecting the first image in the folder and then hitting the spacebar to enlarge the image. After that, I hit the right arrow key to advance to the next slide. I hit letter “T” to tag my keepers. You can hit “T” again if you change your mind; this untags the image. When I am done editing the folder I set Filter view by to Untagged. Then I hit Command A (select all) and Command delete to delete all the rejected images. Done deal.

Here’s the best part: the folder in DPP will update automatically when you delete the rejects in PM. Then I go to DPP—both programs are open all the time–and do my RAW conversions for selected files.

To summarize, I Ingest and pick my keepers using Photo Mechanic, convert my RAW files in DPP 4 (hit Command + Right Arrow to open the image edit screen), and then bring the converted TIFF into Photoshop (Shift + Command + P). Fast and smooth. Again, the folder structures and the contents of each folder will be identical without your having to lift a finger. No libraries. No importing. No exporting. In other words, a piece of cake. With the icing.

For more than a decade I have been saying “If you are on a PC and are not using BreezeBrowser and Downloader Pro to download and edit your images you are nuts.” To that I can now add, “If you are on a Mac and not using Photo Mechanic to Ingest and edit your images (pick your keepers) you are nuts. Note: PM works on both PC and Mac platforms.

Learn why I switched to DPP 4 and how I use it to convert all of my Canon RAW files in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide (by Arash Hazeghi and Arthur Morris) here.

Due to a recent cancellation there are once again three slots open.

Bear Boat/Bears Catching Salmon IPT: September 1-8, 2015 from Kodiak, AK/6 FULL & 2 1/2 DAYS: $6699. Happy campers only! Maximum 8/Openings: 3, with two good friends threatening to sign up. Plus the leader: Arthur Morris.

Join me in Katmai National Park, AK for seven days of photographing Coastal Brown Bears (grizzlies) catching salmon, fattening up for the long winter. Other subjects will include Mew and Glaucous-winged Gulls in flight and dip-feeding on salmon roe. Did I mention that we live on a boat and that the food is great? Most of our photography will be done in a variety of famed locations: Geographic Harbor, Kinak Bay, and Kukak Bay. We once had 39 bears fishing the creek at Kukak….

It is mandatory that you be in Kodiak no later than the late afternoon of August 31, 2015 September to avoid missing the float planes to the boat on the morning of September 1. With air travel in AK being what it is, with the chance of fog or other bad weather–being on Kodiak on August 30 is an even better plan). I will be on Kodiak on August 30 to avoid any potential disaster. That said in my nearly a dozen bear boat trips I was delayed only once but since I was day early as noted above there was no harm, no foul.

We will take one or more float planes to the boat mid-morning on September 1. We will photograph bears fishing that afternoon and every day for the next six days (weather permitting of course). We should have bears catching salmon every day. In addition, we will get some nice stuff on Mew Gull and Glaucous-winged Gulls dining on roe and the remains of predated salmon. We may–depending on where the concentrations of bears are–get to photograph Harbor seals and some hauled out Steller’s Sea Lions (an endangered species). Halibut fishing (license required) is optional. On September 8, our last morning on the boat, those who would like to enjoy one last photo session will do so. The group returns to Kodiak via float plane midday. Most folks will fly to Anchorage and then continue on red-eye flights to their home cities.

The eight days will consist of six full days (Sept 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, & 7) of photography featuring lots of Coastal Brown Bears catching salmon as above plus a variety of other natural history subjects plus some nice scenic photography that I forgot to mention above. Plus the first afternoon and the last morning.

What’s included? 8 DAYS/7 NIGHTS on the boat as above. All meals on the boat. (The food is quite excellent.) National Park fees. One night’s double occupancy lodging on Kodiak; arrive: Sept 1/depart: Sept 2. The thank-you-in-advance dinner on Sept 1. In-the-field photo tips, instruction, and guidance. An insight into the mind of a top professional; 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 Photoshop instruction on the boat.

What’s not included: Your round trip airfare to and from Kodiak, AK (almost surely through Anchorage). All necessary lodging other than the cost of your double occupancy room on the night of August 31 should you opt to arrive early–we can arrange that in advance for you. We will let you know the cost of a single supplement for the one night if so desired. The cost of the round-trip float plane to the boat on September 2 and back to Kodiak on September 9. The cost of a round trip this year was $500. The suggested crew tip of $210.

Is this an expensive trip? Yes, of course. But with 6 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 $2,000 per person non-refundable deposit by check only made out to “Arthur Morris” is required to hold your spot. Please click here to read our cancellation policy. Then please print, read, and sign the necessary paperwork here and send it to us.

Your deposit is due immediately. That will leave a balance of $4699. The next payment of $2699 will be due on February 15, 2015. The final payment of $2000 is due on May 1, 2015.

I hope that you can join us for this wondrously exciting trip.

Facebook

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

Support the BAA Blog. Support the BAA Bulletins: Shop B&H here!

We want and need to keep providing you with the latest free information, photography and Photoshop lessons, and all manner of related information. Show your appreciation by making your purchases immediately after clicking on any of our B&H or Amazon Affiliate links in this blog post. Remember, B&H ain’t just photography!

Amazon.com

Those who prefer to support BAA by shopping with Amazon may use this link:

Amazon Canada

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

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 :).