On Improving Your Bird Photography

Consider joining me on a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). The DeSoto, San Diego, Homer, and the yet-to-be announced July 2023 Jacksonville IPTs, and July 2024 Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime, all offer the opportunity for you to dramatically improve your skills both in the field and at the computer and to make some astounding images as well. Click here and see which IPT might be best for you.

What’s Up?

I walked early on Sunday morning and found the cooperative snake that is today’s featured subject. The water level in the lake is so high that many overflow ponds have been created in the North Field. At one of those yesterday I counted 10 Greater Yellowlegs (unusual for ILE), sixty Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (including one juvenile), and an assortment of herons and egrets. Then I headed home for a day of TIVO-ed NFL games.

As many folks who shoot Sony are still using some of the older camera bodies like the a7R III, the a7R IV, the a9, and the a9 II, I resurrected the info on The Sony Camera User’s e-Guide (and Videos) for those folks who for whatever reason are not using an a1. If you own one of the aforementioned bodies and do not have the guide, it would behoove you to scroll down, check it out, and get a copy.

Note: Everyone who is in the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group can receive a free copy of the The Sony Camera User’s e-Guide by request.

Today is Monday 3 October 2022. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took more almost three hours to prepare makes one hundred ninety-two days in a row with a new one.

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!

Instagram

Follow me on Instagram here. I am trying to feature both new and old images, especially images that have not appeared recently on the blog. Or search for birds_as_art.

BIRDS AS ART Image Optimization Service (BAA IOS)

Send a PayPal for $62.00 to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 and put $62.00 on your credit card. Pick one of your best images and upload the raw file using a large file sending service like Hightail or DropBox and then send me the link via e-mail. I will download and save your raw file, evaluate the exposure and sharpness, and optimize the image as if it were my own after converting the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw. Best of all, I will make a screen recording of the entire process and send you a link to the video to download, save and study.

Induro GIT 304L Price Drop

Amazingly, we have two, brand-new-in-the-box Induro GIT 304L tripods in stock. They are $699.00 each (were $799.00) and the price now includes the insured ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Weekday phone orders only: 863-692-0906. Order yours here while they last.

Image #1: iPhone image of small snake

The Discovery

While finishing my morning walk on Sunday, I noticed a small snake coiled on the railing of the pier right next to a light pole. I grabbed my iPhone, turned off a Billy Joel album, and made several images. By working at 2X and holding the phone out over the lake and shooting back, I was able to eliminate the light pole. As I start my walk in the dark, this image was created well before sunrise.

The Plan

My plan was to walk back to my vehicle that had been parked near the boat ramp, photograph the remnants of a natural Osprey nest that had been blown down by Hurricane Ian with the handheld Sony 24-105, and then drive back to the pier, grab my macro set-up and a tripod, and photograph the snake on the railing. That, of course, assuming that it was still there. It was, and as I had learned earlier, it was exceedingly tame and cooperative.

Image #2: iPhone image of the macro lens set-up

The Set-Up

I needed to get as far left as possible so that I could shade the subject with my torso and, at the same time, minimize the impact of the fleck of shed skin on the left side of the snake’s face below its left eye (as seen in Image #1). To do that, I splayed the legs of the tripod and rested it somewhat precariously on the pier railing. That done, I’d set the exposure, steady the rig, and focus manually. Considering the slow shutter speeds and the less-then-rock solid support system, I was surprised every image made on the tripod was razor sharp

The Canon 180mm Macro Lens with Sony

I absolutely love the 180mm focal length for macro, in part, because I have a “telephoto eye.” I see the world in small rectangles and love the backgrounds provided by lenses with narrow angles of view. As compared to the Sony FE 90mm f/2.8 Macro G OSS lens, a 180mm focal length will render the subject four times larger when photographed from the same distance. Why? The size of the subject in the frame is a function of the square of the focal length.

I sold my Canon 180 when I switched to Nikon about five years ago, and then purchased a used one from old friends Alan and Sarah Levine. Since that was the slowest and worst focusing lens ever made by Canon, I knew that all would be well using manual focus and focus peaking. That as described in detail in the Sony Camera (a7R III, a7R IV, a9, & a9 II) User’s e-Guide with One Camera Set-up Video and in the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group e-mails as well.

This rig has served me well for flowers, buds, bugs, and yes, the occasional snake. See the Green Lynx Spider image made with this lens and the Sony a7R IV in the blog post here.

This image was created on the morning of 2 October 2022 down by the lake near my home at ILE. I used the Induro GIT 304L/FlexShooter Pro-mounted Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens with the Metabones Canon EF/EF-S Lens to Sony E Mount T Smart Adapter (Fifth Generation) and The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera body. ISO 1600: 1/40 second at f/10 in Manual Mode. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial and was determined by RawDigger to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 7:42:30am in the shade of my body on a clear morning just after sunrise. Manual focus with (red) focus peaking. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version. Image #3: Eastern (Red) Ratsnake

Getting the Color Right was a Bear

It was a bear idiom: Something that is difficult to do or deal with, a task or burden

With the subject shaded by my torso, the raw file had a large BLUE color cast. Even after I dealt with that, the image still needed to be warmed up. Working on the converted TIF file and working on a new layer, I went Filter > Camera Raw Filter, hit “I” for the Eyedropper Tool, and clicked on the grayest thing I could find, the shaded section of snake skin just below the upper left corner. Voila! I had the color I was looking for.

102 sold to rave reviews. The SONY e-Guide by Patrick Sparkman and Arthur Morris

The Sony Camera User’s e-Guide (and Videos)

Click here to purchase the guide with one Camera Set-up Video. Be sure to e-mail us by clicking here to specify your camera body so that we can send you a link for the correct video.

Click here to purchase the guide with two Camera Set-up Videos. Be sure to e-mail us by clicking here to specify your two camera bodies so that we can send you links for the correct videos.

It is hard to believe that we sent out an early draft of the guide for review in early December 2019 after we had been working on it for several months. We thought that it was pretty good at that point but Ellen Anon and her son Josh both commented to this effect: not so fast!. Both took us to task by asking lots of good questions and making dozens of excellent suggestions. They did that for several versions of the guide and for that we are very thankful.

At one point Josh wrote, Remember there are free resources competing with your guide; you need to ensure your paid guide is above and beyond these and worth the money!

Here are the links that he provided:

Sony Alpha Focus Masterclass by Mark Galer, (Sony Ambassador) here.

Sony a7R IV Tips & Tutorial by Tony Northrup here.

Sony a9 Bird In Flight/Wildlife Photography Setup and Usage Guide by Mark Smith here

Now, ask yourself why I would be sharing these free resources with you? Some of the advice is halfway decent, some of it is confusing, some of it just plain wrong, and some of it is beyond insane. Good luck trying to figure out which is which … Highlights (lowlights?) include using back-button focus (and release!) and suggested Zebra values that ensure that you will never get anything close to a good exposure. Regular readers here already know that there is never any need to use back-button focus with SONY. If you missed that, the guide clearly explains why.

Later on in the process, Josh sent me another link (one that I can no longer find). IAC, I followed it and found that the creator took you through and explained all the SONY menu items exactly as detailed in the Help Guide, but never once told you what settings he used and why he used them.

In our new guide, we explain virtually every SONY menu item in detail that might be useful in bird, nature, or wildlife photography. And then we explain your options and state clearly which setting we use in different situations and why we go that route. This invaluable advice is based on many hundreds of hours in the field photographing birds and other natural history subjects.

In short, the SONY e-Guide is incredible. While I am proud of all the previously published Camera User’s Guides, my feelings about the SONY guide go far beyond that. The stuff on using Zebras with ISO on the Rear Wheel to get the right exposure every time is all Patrick Sparkman. Without his technical brilliance, this guide would not be nearly as valuable as it is. And like my good friend Dr. Cliff Oliver, Patrick is a superb researcher — if he does not know something, he will find it online very quickly, check it out, and draw his own conclusions. Not only are the SONY menus complex, but they offer a zillion options, many of which are hidden in sub-menus and Custom Settings. Patrick figured many of those out, I discovered a few, and blog regular Craig Elson came up with some incredibly helpful little menu tricks, tricks that solved some thorny problems. Thanks also to the eagle-eyed Dane Johnson who spotted a zillion typos and type-setting errors.

The longer and harder we worked on the guide, the more I wanted to price it at $200.00. But I did not want anyone to faint. The cost of the SONY Guide is $100.00. Your purchase includes the e-Guide itself and one of the four camera-specific videos. Extra camera videos cost $25.00 each. In each video, Patrick and I take you through all the relevant menu items. We urge you to follow along with your camera in hand. Here is short and timely excerpt from the guide:

Before You Begin

With the a7r iv, the a9, and the a9 ii, the last page of My Menu allows you to turn Display From My Menu on and off as needed. It is best to keep this On so that whenever you hit the Menu button on the camera, the last-viewed My Menu page will display. When you are setting up a new camera or working on your settings while following along with this guide, you should turn Display From My Menu to Off so that you do not have to scroll through endless menu items to find what you are looking for. With My Menu Off, hitting the Menu button will return you to the last viewed Menu screen.

Once you have read this far, we urge that you watch the video for your SONY body with the camera in hand while following all the instructions before consulting the remainder of this guide.

SONY Image Galleries with Educational Captions: page 48

The e-Guide is 103 pages. The guide contains 13 sections; among those are these:

The Introduction — This section contains a bit of the back-story on how the guide came to be.

Important Stuff — This section contains some important stuff 🙂

SONY Help Guides — Here you will find active links to the Help Guides for each camera body. Note: the Camera Manuals are pretty much useless.

Points of Emphasis In this section, we reinforce and expand upon many of the important concepts that are covered in the video.

Additional Info– Here we cover tons of new stuff that we discovered in the 3 1/2 months after we created the four videos.

Clarifications — In this section we detail nineteen fine points and sticky situations.

SONY Workflow — In this very short section we outline our SONY workflow. No great shock there!

SONY Image Gallery with Educational Captions (77 images.) This collection of stunning images is meant to inspire, educate, and show folks what is possible with SONY gear. There is tons of AF info in the captions. And lots more.

SONY Zebras Coaching Gallery (14 images.) Here we explain exactly what we did with the Zebras to come up with a perfect exposure.

Tracking Flexible Spot Gallery 8 images.) The images here demonstrate the use of SONY’s most valuable AF Area Mode.

Thanks! Here we thank the many folks who helped us to improve the guide.

About the Authors — Learn a bit about artie and Patrick.

SONY Zebras Coaching Gallery: page 89

So What Does the SONY Guide Cover?

Under Points of Emphasis

Note: items without comment are self-explanatory.

Using Zebras to Get the Right Exposure in Manual Mode — Patrick’s technique allows you to make perfect or near-perfect exposures quickly and consistently.
Using Zebras to Get the Right Exposure in Manual Mode Illustrated — Thanks to an amazingly cooperative crane, this item shows how Zebras are set in an actual shooting situation.
A Final Word on Zebras –We explain the fine points of using Zebras in bright sun versus using Zebras in the shade.
Using Zebras to Get the Right Exposure in Shutter (or Aperture) Priority This technique is used by artie at times when creating pleasing blurs.
Mechanical vs Electronic Shutter It is important to know which to use with each camera …
Silent Shooting — Silent Shooting is closely linked to Mechanical vs Electronic Shutter.
Card Slots 1 & 2
Auto Review — Really valuable info here.
Focus Areas and Focus Area Limit — Along with Zebras, the info here is the meat of the guide.
a7r iv vs. a9 ii — Comparing these two great bodies.
My Menu — Learning how and what to place on your My Menus helps folks operate their SONY bodies more efficiently.

SONY Image Galleries with Educational Captions: page 66

Additional Info

Enlarge Initial Position — Explains how to see the area of sharpest focus in an image; it only works before the images are downloaded.
Telephoto Lens Focus Range Limiter Switch — Explains how and why to set this important switch.
Initial Focus Acquisition Problems With Telephoto Lenses — The tips here and in DMF below might be worth the price of the entire guide.
Direct Manual Focus (DMF)
Camera Direct Manual Focus (DMF)
An Important AF Note for a9 ii Users — Learn about a problematic dial on the a9 ii.
Optical Steady Shot (OSS)
Optical Steady Shot (OSS) on Telephoto Lenses
Diopter-adjustment Dial
Firmware Updates
Touch Operation
Naming Your Camera Bodies — This can save you lots of hassles.
Saving/Loading Settings
Sensor Cleaning
Anti-dust Function — New to the a9 ii only.
Reg. Custom Shoot Set
Function Menu Set & the Fn Button — Learn to customize the screen that comes up after pushing the Fn button.
More on Face/Eye Priority in AF — Super-important if you want to use the fabulous Tracking Flexible Spot (M).
The SONY Histogram Our comments here will likely surprise you.
Display Quality/a7 Series Bodies
Saving Settings to the Mode Dial
Compressed vs. Uncompressed Raw
Image Review with the Control Wheel — This was a “duh” moment for artie.
When to Turn Off Zebras — Super-important.
SONY US Repair Advice — Also super-important.
Vertical Grip — yeah or nay?

Tracking Flexible Spot Gallery: page 96

Under Clarifications

Power Save Start Time
AEL Button
Using SONY with an Adapter
The Eye Sensor (Tiny Window Above the Viewfinder) — Valuable stuff here …
The Mysterious Viewfinder Blackout Problem — Dealing with SONY’s most annoying problem.
Assigning Finder/Monitor to a Custom Button
Another Possible Finder/Monitor Solution
Return to Center
Bright Monitoring — A must for astrophotography.
e-Front Curtain Shutter
Manual Focus Toggle — A fabulous tip for macro photographers (often combined with Focus Magnifier below).
The Top Wheels
If You Use Rear Button Focus
Focus Magnifier — Fabulous tips for macro photographers (combined with Manual Focus Toggle above).
The Viewfinder Level
Changing the Focus and Drive Modes
AF Illuminator
AF Sensitivity
Focus Peaking
Shutter Priority for Video

SONY Image Galleries with Educational Captions: page 73

What They’ve Been Saying

From Fred Innamorato via e-mail

Hi Artie, I want to thank you for making the Sony e-Guide and videos available and for the work you put into the blog as well as for your books that teach us how to photograph birds and also for your camera User’s Guides. There is just no possible way I would have been able to get my Sony a9 ii camera settings so technically correct for doing birds in flight on my own without this guide. in my opinion, Sony should pay you for taking on the task of educating their customers. Sony has created an amazing camera but they fail to explain to their customers how to take full advantage of it. I appreciate that you know and have access to some very competent people with the technical backgrounds to assist you in your field experimentation to come up with the best and most practical and useful Menu Settings for bird photography. We all will benefit from your unique ability to pull this together. I am especially happy with your instructions on how to use the Zebra Settings for getting proper exposures. I really can’t thank you enough Artie for making my bird photography hobby so much more enjoyable than it would have been otherwise. My photography brings me great satisfaction. Sharing quality photographs with my family and friends has generated lots of interest in my hobby and why I do it. Life is good!

I highly recommend the purchase of your Sony e-Guide and Video(s). This information is just not available anywhere else. Even from Sony …

Fred Innamorato

Via e-Mail from Jerry Barrack

Hi Art,

I want to thank you again for your help with selling all of my Canon gear. Your advice on pricing was right-on as most items sold very quickly. As much as I loved my Canon equipment, the advances made by Sony with regard to autofocus made it a no-brainer for me to switch.

And thanks also for the SONY e-Guide, the Sony a9 video, and your Capture One Simplified video. After resisting using manual exposure for many, many years, I switched over to Patrick’s and your Zebras system with ISO on the rear wheel. I cannot believe how easy it is. It just shows that you can teach an old dog new tricks! My only complaint is that it now takes a lot longer to edit because nearly all of the images are properly exposed and in focus. The SONY focusing system along with the stuff I learned in the guide continues to amaze me. I just finished shooting Purple Martins and the percentage of sharp ones is unbelievable.

Thanks again for all your help. Stay safe and well.

Jerry

Blog comment by IPT veteran Barry Barfield

I have been actively using the set up from artie’s Sony e-Guide now for about four weeks. With my a9 ii and the 200-600 rig is easy to get the right exposure 99% of the time. I could never have figured out the settings suggested on my own, so thank you artie and Patrick. If you have Sony A9, A9ii, or one of the A7r bodies covered – you should get this guide today. Barry, Australia

From Peter Noyes via e-mail

Artie, In March, I purchased your e-Guide and Camera Set Up Video for the SONY a-7r iv mirrorless camera body. Both were great saving me a lot of time allowing me to spend more time outside enjoying my camera. The guide is surely worth a lot more than the purchase price to me.

Peter

From Thomas Bourne via e-mail

Artie, You and Patrick have done an outstanding job. Even though I own the a7 ii with its limits, I can see how you think and work. The guide was quite helpful to me. At 79 – and in great health, I may have enough time left to get another camera. Stay healthy!

Tom

Typos

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

Homer IPT Multiple Trip Discounts Increased

Save $1,500.00 by doing back-to-back trips. Save $2500 by doing all three trips. Please e-mail for couples’ discount info.

On Getting Better

Consider joining me on a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). The DeSoto, San Diego, Homer, and the yet-to-be announced July 2023 Jacksonville and July 2024 Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime all offer the opportunity for you to dramatically improve your skills both in the field and at the computer and to make some astounding images as well. Click here and see which IPT might be best for you.

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

2023 Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPTs

IPT #1: MON 20 FEB 2023 through the full day on FRI 24 FEB 2023. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

IPT #2: SAT 25 FEB 2023 through the full day on THURS 2 MAR 2023. Six full days/24 hours on the boat: $6600.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 3.

IPT #3: FRI 3 MAR 2023 through the full day on TUES 7 MAR 2023. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers. Openings: 3.

Save $1,500.00 by doing back-to-back trips. Save $2500 by doing all three trips.

These trips feature non-stop flight photography as well as many opportunities to create both environmental and point-blank portraits of one of North America’s most sought-after avian subjects: Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Other reliable subjects will include Sea Otter, Glaucous-winged and Short-billed (formerly Mew) Gulls.

In addition, we should see Common Murre, Black Guillemot, Pelagic Cormorant, two or three species of loons, and a smattering of ducks including two species of merganser, all three scoters, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, Harlequin, and Long-tailed Ducks. Close-range photographic chances for these species will require a ton of good luck. Some of these species, especially when in flocks, can, however, often be used effectively when creating bird-scapes.

If we need to be out early, we will be the first boat out. If conditions are great, we will stay out. And when there is a chance for sunset silhouettes, we will stay out and be in the right spot.

We will be traveling through gorgeous wilderness country; landscape and scenic opportunities abound.

Also featured is a professional leader, often referred to as the world’s most knowledgeable bird photography trip leader, who is conversant in Canon, Nikon, and Sony.

All images from Kachemak Bay in 2022!

What You Will Learn

You will learn practical and creative solutions to everyday photographic problems. You will learn to see the shot, to create dynamic images by fine-tuning your compositions, to best utilize your camera’s AF system, and how to analyze the wind, the sky conditions, and the direction and quality of the light. This is one of the very few trips Homer trips available where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun. You will learn to be a better photographer. But only if that is what you want.

You will learn to get the right exposure when it is sunny, when it cloudy-bright, when it is cloudy, when it is cloudy-dark, or when it is foggy. Not to mention getting the right exposure when creating silhouettes.

You will learn to make pleasing blurs working in manual mode and to create silhouettes working in Shutter Priority mode.

Most importantly you will learn to pick your best flight images from tens of thousands of images.

You will enjoy working with the two best and most creative boat captains on their sturdy, photography-spacious, seaworthy, open-deck crafts.

The second and third IPTs are the only Bald Eagle workshops that feature an incredibly helpful first mate.

Only five photographers (not the usual six), plus the leader.

Small group Photoshop, Image Review, and Image Critiquing sessions.

All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK

What’s Included

One four hour or two two-hour boat trips every day (weather permitting), all boat fees and boat-related expenses (excluding tips), ground transportation to and from the dock and back to the hotel each day, in-the-field instruction and guidance, pre-trip gear advice, small group post-processing and image review sessions, and a thank you dinner for all well-behaved participants.

What’s Not Included

Your airfare to and from Homer, AK (via Anchorage), the cost of your room at Land’s End Resort, all personal items, all meals and beverages, and tips for the boat captain and/or the first mate.

Please Note

On great days, the group may wish to photograph for more than four hours. If the total time on the boat exceeds 20 hours for the five-day trips, or 24 hours for the second trip, the group will share the additional expense at a rate of $225/hour.

Some folks may wish to rent their own vehicle to take advantage of local photographic opportunities around Homer.

Deposit Information

A $3000 non-refundable deposit/trip is required. You may pay your deposit with credit card or by personal check (made out to BIRDS AS ART) and sent via US mail only to Arthur Morris. PO Box 7245. Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Your balance, due 90 days before the date of departure, is payable only by check as above.

In Closing

I have been going to Homer off and on for close to two decades. Every trip has been nothing short of fantastic. Many folks go in mid-March. The earlier you go, the better the chances for snow. The only way to assure that you are on the best of the three trips is to sign up for all three. Can you keep up with me? If you have any questions, or are good to go for one, two, or all three trips, please let me know via e-mail or give me a call on my cell phone at 863-221-2372.

What’s Up?

I walked, rope flowed, and swam twice each on Friday. It was relatively cold (64°) and clear in the early morning. With the strong wind from the northwest, I bundled up with two sweatshirts, a woolen watch cap, and gloves. The birds, all facing and flying away from the light, were acting strangely after Hurricane Ian. There were more than one hundred vultures flying, on the ground, and roosting on various structures near the base of the pair. I saw several groups of three or four cranes in flight, calling loudly as if asking, “What’s going on here?” Both adult eagles were perched in the nest tree when I went by. My walk to the end of the pier just before sunset revealed that the “T” at the end of the pier had been noticeably twisted by the force of the wind and the waves on Thursday evening.

Today is Saturday 1 October 2022. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took more than 90 minutes to prepare makes one hundred ninety days in a row with a new one.

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!

Instagram

Follow me on Instagram here. I am trying to feature both new and old images, especially images that have not appeared recently on the blog. Or search for birds_as_art.

BIRDS AS ART Image Optimization Service (BAA IOS)

Send a PayPal for $62.00 to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 and put $62.00 on your credit card. Pick one of your best images and upload the raw file using a large file sending service like Hightail or DropBox and then send me the link via e-mail. I will download and save your raw file, evaluate the exposure and sharpness, and optimize the image as if it were my own after converting the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw. Best of all, I will make a screen recording of the entire process and send you a link to the video to download, save and study.

Induro GIT 304L Price Drop

Amazingly, we have two, brand-new-in-the-box Induro GIT 304L tripods in stock. They are $699.00 each (were $799.00) and the price now includes the insured ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Weekday phone orders only: 863-692-0906. Order yours here while they last.

Please Remember

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

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

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

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

Money Saving Reminder

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

Important Note

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

Gear Questions and Advice

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

This image was created on 26 February 2020 on an Instructional Photo-Tour at Kachemak Bay, Homer, AK. While crouching, I used the hand held Sony 70-200mm f/2.8 lens (now replaced by the greatly improved Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens) at 200mm and the Sony a9 II (now replaced by The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.) The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. ISO 800: 1/2000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide-open) in Manual mode. AWB at 1:25:32 pm on a cloudy morning. Flexible Spot (M) AF/C performed well. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Bald Eagle in snow bird-scape

What You See is What You Get!
Depth of Field (DOF) at the Wide-Open Aperture

With more than enough shutter speed (1/2000 sec.) for a static subject, many folks might ask, Why didn’t you stop down?

The answer was in the viewfinder. At the default settings, all modern camera bodies offer viewing at the wide-open aperture. Even when stopped down considerably, you view the subject and the scene as it would appear at the wide-open aperture. So, with DOF, when working at the wide-open aperture, what you see is what you get!

In other words, if all the feathers on a subject look sharp in the viewfinder, they will be sharp in the final image (assuming a fast-enough shutter speed and/or good to excellent sharpness techniques). When I looked through the viewfinder when creating this image at Kachemak Bay, it was obvious that the whole bird was sharp. Thus, there was zero need to stop down “for more depth of field.”

Try it, you’ll like it. For nearly all my bird photography, I work at the wide-open aperture unless I can clearly come up with a good reason to stop down. On IPTs, I will always let the group know when and why I am stopping down.

Image Design Question

Crouching when creating this image was vital to its success. Why? If you are confused, ask yourself, “How image would this image have been different if artie had been seated or had been standing at full height?”

Image #1A: a7INFO screen capture for the Bald Eagle in snow bird-scape image

The a7INFO Screen Capture

As always, a7INFO provides us with two bits of important information:

1- the location of the AF points.

2- the focus distance (7.81 meters as highlighted in blue, on the right).

Note: because of limitations in the Sony EXIF, the AF Area mode provided in by a7INFO is rarely correct and almost always confusing. It will not correlate with the AF Area and/or Tracking mode that was used to create the image.

Image #1B: PhotoPills screen capture for the Bald Eagle in snow bird-scape image

PhotoPills

There are many free and excellent DOF apps and websites. I recently began using PhotoPills. You can learn a ton by listing your preferred DOF site often. Once you know the focus distance, the rest is child’s play. It is not important to select your exact camera model. Just be sure to select one with the same sensor size as yours. The Sony A1 is a full frame body so I went with the Sony a9 as it is also full frame. Select the aperture from the dropdown menu and type in the focus distance (while selecting the correct units for the latter).

The last three lines of data are the most important. The depth of field is .25 meters. That is distributed almost equally before and beyond the point of focus, in this case, the plane of the eagle’s neck (as we learned in the a7INFO screen capture above). The DOF in front, .12 meters, converts to 4.7 inches. The DOF behind, 1.3 meters, converts to 5.1 inches. While Bald Eagle is a large bird, the width of its body is well less than 9.8 inches. This shows clearly that the DOF at f/2.8 is more than enough to “cover” the subject, that is, to render all the feathers sharp.

And it proves that what you see is what you get.

Typos

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