What’s Up?

On Wednesday morning, photography was again on the slow side. I’ve been working on wide, backlit silhouetted images of the vulture trees created from across the canal. The 400 f/2.8 is a perfect focal length for the shot. So far, I have some good but not great stuff.

Today is Thursday 8 December 2022. I will be spending my morning at Lake Wales Hospital having an endoscopy done. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes two hundred fifty-six 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.

Why I ‘m Always in a Hurry

Folks often ask me why I am in such a hurry. In part, I do not quite understand why. Perhaps part of the answer is that I do not want to miss anything.

On the evening that today’s featured image was created, I could not find the two flash cards that I had used that morning. The search took me more than five minutes. I finally found them on the dining room table, the first spot I had looked. Anyhoo, the sun was close to setting. I got into my SUV and drove quickly down to the lake to check out a new spot, a spot where a few wading birds had been roosting right before sunset. The Anhinga was there in a decent spot. I hurried to get my rig on the tripod and put the bird right in front of the sun. Hurrying, I set the ISO, the shutter speed, and the aperture so that there were considerable Zebras on the lower half of the sun, just what I wanted. As I framed the image, the bird began leaning forward so I fired and kept the shutter button pressed as it took off to the north/northwest. I wound up with five frames of the bird perched in the bush, and five of it taking flight. Only one, today’s featured image, was decent. You will see it below.

Had I been delayed just five more seconds, I would have missed the whole thing and gone home empty-handed.

The Adobe Camera Raw default settings screen capture for the Anhinga taking flight at sunset

On Exposure With the Sun in the Frame

Getting the right exposure for images like the one above is challenging. If you expose for the partially muted sun, the entire image will be black or many, many stops too dark. If you expose properly for the sky, the sun will be many, many stops over-exposed and pretty much impossible to work. With this image, RawDigger showed a significant 9444,000 Ov-Exp pixels, all on the sun, of course. None-the-less, for me, this was an excellent exposure, perhaps a perfect exposure.

The trick is to split the difference: by under-exposing the sky without making it too, too dark, you reduce the brightness of a partially muted sun.

The Adobe Camera Raw adjusted slider setting screen capture for the Anhinga taking flight at sunset

Saving the Over-exposed Sun

Check out the significant slider settings that created a fairly successful image:

Exposure: -0.05
Highlights: -83
Shadows: +17
Whites: -74
Blacks: -19

In addition, I did some Color Mixer work on the Reds, Oranges, and Yellows.

This image was created on 5 December 2022 down by the lake near my home. Standing at full height I used the I used the no-longer available (except from BAA) Induro GIT 304L tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 500. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1600 second at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 5:25:04pm with some broken clouds on the horizon just a minute or two before sunset. Tracking: Spot S/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #1: Anhinga taking flight at sunset

The Optimized Image

If you are looking for any image clean-up here, you will be disappointed. There isn’t any. I did consider getting rid of the red specks of light coming through the bird’s far wing and eliminating the branch that stuck into that same wing, but I figured what the heck.

Would you have made those two changes? Why or why not?

All images on this card were created by Arthur Morris on the Hooptie Deux at Alafia Banks

2023 Spoonbill Boat 1-1/2 DAY MINI-IPT: $1199.00.00. Limit: 5 photographers.

A full day on WED 15 FEB and the morning of Thursday 16 FEB 2023: 1 1/2 days.

Two morning and one afternoon photo session (weather permitting) via customized pontoon boat.

For early-arriving folks, artie is throwing in a free afternoon In-the-Field session at a little-known but very active rookery in North Tampa on Tuesday 14 February.

We will be leaving the dock in Gibsonton, FL very early for the morning sessions in hopes of photographing a pre-dawn White Ibis blast-off and creating some dramatic silhouettes or pleasing blurs. The morning sessions are planned for the Alafia Banks Roseate Spoonbill Rookery. We have several options for the afternoons including returning to Alafia. We may spend one afternoon on foot at the North Tampa rookery mentioned above. There will be lots of opportunities for flight photography of several species including and especially Roseate Spoonbill. Also likely for flight photography are nesting Brown Pelican, Great Blue Heron, and Double Crested Cormorant, many carrying nesting material. This IPT includes all boat and guide fees, in-the-field instruction from two great leaders, chest waders (feel free to bring your own of course to assure a perfect fit), and three working lunches (Monday thru Wednesday). For the most part we will be standing in mid-calf to knee-deep water behind our tripods. We help you get in and out of the boat safely with your gear. This is likely not the best trip for folks with mobility or balance problems. Note however that some folks opt to stay on the boat to photograph. They usually have lots of chances for flight photography of spoonbills and other species but are almost always pretty far away from the spoonbills that land.

Mid-February is prime time for photographing spoonbills at the absolute peak of breeding plumage. For unknown reasons, the spoonbills at Alafia are much more colorful than the birds that breed at Stick Marsh later in the season. The Hooptie IPT represents an incredible opportunity and I do hope that you can join us. All of the images on the cards were made on the Hooptie Duex during the last two weeks of February, prime time for the spoonies in mega-breeding plumage.

You may hold your spot with an e-mail request. Then, you may either secure your spot by calling Jim or Jennifer at the office at 863-692-0906 and leaving the $599 deposit on credit card or sending your check for payment in full to us as follows with the check made out to:

BIRDS AS ART

Please send it via US mail here:

BIRDS AS ART
PO BOX 7245
Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855

If you call to leave your deposit, you will be asked to mail your check for the balance ASAP. Be sure to give us your e-mail address.

Everybody Wants Spoonbills!

Roseate Spoonbill is one of if not the most sought after avian photographic subjects in Florida. They are generally hard to find and somewhat difficult to approach. They are relatively easy to find at Alafia Banks—heck, you can’t miss seeing them, but even there they can on some days be somewhat difficult to approach. On some days we may be able to get ridiculously close to them. The huge incentive to get out to Alafia Banks in mid-February is the chance to photograph this species at the height of its spectacular breeding plumage…. with long telephoto lenses. A 500 or 600 with a 1.4X TC is perfect for flight.

As above, there will — weather permitting — three boat trips — 2 mornings and 1 afternoon — on this MINI IPT. All to Alafia Banks for spoonbills and Brown Pelicans (with lots of flight photography often with the birds likely carrying nesting material), Double-crested Cormorants, ibises (both Glossy and White) in breeding plumage. Many of the White Ibises will be sporting their spectacular, distended, red, naked (un-feathered) throat pouches—typically larger in the females. In addition, we may get to photograph egrets including Great and Reddish, both in full breeding plumage, shorebirds, and more. There will be lots of flight photography opportunities. Afternoon trips either to Alafia Banks for spoonbills and more or to a more sheltered inland rookery location for a variety of nesting birds. In the event of horrific weather artie will either take the group to Fort DeSoto or will conduct an image review/Photoshop session. This IPT includes lunches on the full day with small group image sharing and review and some over-the-shoulder Photoshop instruction.

The 2023 Expanded Winter/Spoonbill Boat/DeSoto 4-DAY IPT: $2199.00.00. Limit: 5 photographers.

The 2023 Expanded Winter/Spoonbill Boat/DeSoto 4-DAY IPT

Bird photographers, especially those wishing to escape the snow, ice, and freezing winter temperatures to the north of sunny Florida, can add two mornings at Fort DeSoto an afternoon at the little-known but fabulous rookery north of Tampa, a second (free) afternoon at that same rookery, to the 1 1/2 days on the Spoonbill Boat. Shared lodging is a possibility that includes watching the Super Bowl at my home on Sunday 12 February and driving over early to DeSoto. DeSoto is one of the very few bird photography hotspots that has the possibility of being great on any day of the year. It is generally superb in winter with lots of wading birds, terns, both species of pelicans, many species of shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, and lots of flight photography.

You can hold your spot with an e-mail request. Then, you may either secure your spot by calling Jim or Jennifer at the office at 863-692-0906 and leaving the $599 deposit on your credit card or sending your check for payment in full to us as follows with the check made out to:

BIRDS AS ART

Please send it via US mail here:

BIRDS AS ART
PO BOX 7245
Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855

If you call to leave your deposit, you will be asked to mail your check for the balance ASAP. Be sure to give us your e-mail address.

Typos

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

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,

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.