Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

116

This post marks 116 straight days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H and Amazon links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we do ask that you use our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

We would of course appreciate your using our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon major gear, video, electronic, household, and personal purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

This blog post took 2 hours to create. Enjoy!

Answers Old & New

In an effort to have this blog be interactive, I ask lots of questions. At times, I am remiss in following up on them. Today’s post is designed to rectify that. Working from newer to older.

Image Questions

In, The Photoshop CS-6 Basic Tab “Tonal Adjustment” Sliders blog post on 21 March, I asked with regards to the image above:

Why f/22?

With most but not all lenses, working at apertures of f/22 or smaller with pinhole light sources will yield pleasing starburst patterns as seen in the image above. With longer lenses, it helps if the sun is just peeking above a mountain ridge or through some leaves. Remember, you do not want to be pointing longer focal length lenses at the sun when it is out at full strength. I’d say that you’d want to stay away from anything longer than 100mm to ensure that you not damage your retina. Elinor Osborne got this correctly in her comment.

Why -1 1/3 stops?

Though the sun is bright it is well off center and relatively small in the frame. Thus, it does not have any great effect on the meter reading. What the meter is seeing and influenced by is that huge dark blue sky. Remember that the blue sky directly overhead is about two stops darker than the sky near the horizon; I needed to under-expose from the meter reading to prevent blowing out the WHITEs of the geese and to bring the sun into a manageable range. Mission accomplished.

BAA Fine Art Prints

In the same post, Sharon Hallowell left this comment: “I really love this image and have come back several times to view it! Where would I look to purchase this as a print?

All BAA images are available as either traditional photographic or canvas prints. We offer a great variety of sizes and all are signed by yours truly. To purchase a print as a gift or for your home or office, or to learn more, click here.

Exposure Questions from “What’s So Funny?”

In the What’s So Funny? blog post, I needed 1 2/3 stops of underexposure for the preening Great Egret image to avoid burning out the rim-lit WHITEs. The dark, shaded background would influence the meter towards overexposure.

With the Brant’s Cormorant image the exposure danger was the possibility of over-exposing the almost fluorescent blue of the bird’s gular sac. Best way to avoid that is to work in Manual mode, make a test image, and check for blinkies on the gular sac highlights.

Head Hunting Tips…/My Favorite

Though I liked all three Head Hunting Tips… images, my favorite, like most of you, was #3, Yellow-buff Background (above). Like the other 2 images it featured a gorgeous breeding plumage Great Egret, but I loved the soft light and the killer background colors. To attain those I had to raise the tripod by pulling the legs in and then carefully choosing my perspective.

I wish only for 1 degree more of head turn towards us.

My Favorite/Simplicity, Undoing the BLUEs, and More…

In Simplicity, Undoing the BLUEs, and More…, where all who responded preferred Image #2: Tree Stand on Snowy Ridge, I liked both images equally. For me, the soft light and sensuous curves in image #1 are quite special.

Mint Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS & 400mm f/4IS DO Lenses for Sale

Friend and multiple IPT veteran Larry Master is offering a mint condition Mint Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS Lens for sale for $8750. This great lens, my favorite for 3 years, the Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM lens, sells new at B&H for $13,218.00. Yesterday they were offering one in mint condition for a ridiculous $10,249.90; it sold overnight. Go figure. Larry’s lens will save you a ton of dough and you will have a great lens with lots of reach. Larry is selling the lens as he purchased the 600 II on my advice.

The sale includes a Lenscoat, an Aquatech soft lens cap that fits like a glove, a Kirk Enterprises LP30 plate (not recommended by me), the lens trunk and leather cover, and insured shipping by UPS Ground to US addresses only. Personal checks only; your new lens will be shipped only after your check clears.

Larry is also offering a Canon 400mm f/4 IS DO lens, used perhaps twice since it was purchased new, in absolute mint condition for $4799. It retails new for $6,499 at B&H.

The sale includes the fabric lens case, all original materials, a LensCoat, and insured shipping by UPS Ground to US addresses only. Personal checks only; your new lens will be shipped only after your check clears. I owned and used a 400 DO for years; at 4.28 pounds it is a great lens for folks wishing to gain extra reach without excessively heavy gear…. I used it often with both TCs and made sharp images.

Interested folks may contact Larry on his cell phone at 518-645-1545 or via e-mail.

Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshops

Saturday March 29 and Saturday April 4, 2014. 7:15am till 10:15am & 4:00pm till dusk. Lunch, image review, and Photoshop session included. Limit 6. Small groups are likely: $399. Both: $749.

The cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s Pass is not included.

Gatorland is so good right now that I am going back next Saturday (March 29). The Snowy and Cattle Egrets are in way early and there are many in full breeding plumage. Here’s the story: last week there were about two dozen photographers at Gatorland on Saturday past. Aside from two decent photographers–I can tell by where you are pointing your lens…, nobody had a clue as to how to make a good image…. Yesterday it was even worse; pretty much no one had a clue. Most folks just stand in one spot and point and shoot. Without regard for light angle or background. Join me on this, the 3rd Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop and you will learn to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. A big part of the above is that you will learn how and why you must work in Manual mode 90% of the time at Gatorland. That is exactly what Jim Weerts learned on Saturday past.

At lunch we will review my images, take a look at five of your best images from the morning session (for those who opt to bring their laptops), and process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time. Last Saturday all 3 folks had a great time and learned a ton. And the weather for this coming Saturday is looking good.

Payment in full via credit card is due upon registering. Please call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 to register. Ask for me if you have any questions.

Last Saturday’s Gatorland Kudos

Via e-mail from Jim Weerts:

Thanks, Artie, for your kind hospitality, the Gatorland adventure, and sharing your expertise! I did indeed fall into it and for that I’m most appreciative. My father told me a long time ago that when I retire, I must retire to something else! Well, photography has filled the bill for me and the challenge to keep learning is the best part of it. You certainly pushed me hard last weekend and I hope to keep up with this adventure including with your blog. I did review the “Working in Manual Mode” material on your blog and will focus on this more as time allows.

The best part of the week-end included learning to look for the distractions in the background, understanding the wind direction and what it presents, and lining up my shadow with the target. Using Manual mode is a new favorite particularly with the changing situations like lighting, background and birds or wildlife. Learning new techniques with the 5D MK III (like rear focus and changing AF points), plus adding more knowledge about some of the rear buttons on the camera all added to the experience. Previously, I had not been able to make any changes on the fly that finally happening now, thanks to somebody teaching me how to do that! Beyond all of this, seeing the subject in new ways and new dimensions just opens up more fun! Thanks my new friend, for so much! I loved it! And “Thanks” for your talents! Jim Weerts

Lake Blue Cypress/Osprey Heaven with Jim Neiger

Jim Neiger and I are offering full day Osprey Heaven In-the-Field Workshops in early to mid-April. Possible dates are as follows: April 8, 9, 11, & 12, 2014. If you are interested please shoot me an e-mail; group size will be strictly limited to four hand holding photographers.

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

Everyone buys something from Amazon, be it a big lens or deodorant. Support the blog by starting your search by clicking on the logo-link below. No purchase is too small to be appreciated; they all add up. Why make it a habit? Because I make it a habit of bringing you new images and information on an almost daily basis.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂

114

This post marks 114 straight days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H and Amazon links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we do ask that you use our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

We would of course appreciate your using our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon major gear, video, electronic, household, and personal purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

New friend Jim Weerts (say wurtz) and old friend and multiple IPT veteran Peter Hawrylyshyn (say Hah-ver-LISH-in spent long and great day at Gatorland yesterday.

Getting Lazy?

In response to yesterday’s Coming Clean blog post here, only a single readers chose to note any of the many changes that I made during the image optimization process. You are invited to click here and leave a comment if you spot any of the many changes.

The Question

Recently Brad Smith contacted me via e-mail and wrote in part:

I wanted to buy the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Extender 1.4X, but have heard from a couple of respected users that the lens is sluggish for use with birds in flight on the 5D Mark III (much better on the 1D X, but I do not own that body).

My Response

Initial AF acquisition with a 5D III will always be a bit slower than with the 1D X because of differences in the power of the camera batteries. (Even with the Canon BG-E11 Battery Grip for 5D Mark III cmera with the extra Canon LP-E6 Rechargeable Lithium-Ion battery (7.2V, 1800mAh), the camera only uses one battery at a time. But in all other respects the AF system of the 5D III is superb right on par with the AF system of the 1D X in terms of AF tracking accuracy. In addition, all lenses are a bit slower in initial AF acquisition with a TC in place as compared to using the lens alone….

Now don’t get me wrong here, the 1D X kills the 5D III for flight because of its faster initial focusing acquisition and its blazingly fast frame rate. My two main points here are that the 5D Mark III is a more than adequate body for flight photography and that it would do just fine with the 200-400 even with the internal TC in place.

During a follow-up phone conversation I promised that when I went our with Jim Neiger on Friday past that I would do all of my flight photography with the 200-400 with the internal TC in place. So I did. That rig, as you can see here, did just fine as I had predicted with the Ospreys. I did have some trouble with Barred Owls flying at high speed right down the lens barrel. I am not positive that the 1D X would have done better but I suspect that it would have been able to re-acquire focus faster than the 5D III in this difficult and specialized situation. Come to think of it I have never been very good with birds flying right at me…. Jim Neiger is so skilled in this area that it would make most folks sick to watch him in action….

BTW

After our phone conversation Brad Smith kindly use one of our affiliate links to order a 200-400. Thanks a stack Brad. If you have any gear questions please feel free to shoot me an e-mail.

Operator Error

When you have a great flight situation, have a zoom lens in your hand, fail to get the bird centered in the frame, catch the perfect, fully lit wingspread, and wind up clipping the wingtips, there is only one place to look: in the mirror.

APTATS I to the Rescue

Using the techniques detailed in the 4th tutorial in APTATS I, “Clipped Feather Tip Repair,” it took me only ten minutes to more than salvage the Osprey image with the 3 clipped primaries. I used the tip of the 5th primary to replace the missing tip of the 4th primary. And I used the tip of the first primary to replace the missing tips of the 2nd and 3rd primaries. I did work both large and carefully. The advanced knowledge of Layer Masking that I picked up from APTATS II was of course quite helpful in fine-tuning the various wingtip layers.

APTATS I & II

Learn the details of advanced Quick Masking techniques in APTATS I. Mention this blog post and apply a $5 discount with phone orders only. Learn advanced Layer Masking Techniques in APTATS II. Mention this blog post and apply a $5 discount with phone orders only. Buy the pair, APTATS I and APTATS II and we will be glad to apply at $15 discount with phone orders only.

Digital Basics

Are you tired of making your images look worse in Photoshop? Do you have no clue as to how I optimized the images above? Everything above plus tons more is detailed in my Digital Basics File, an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. It includes my complete digital workflow, dozens of great Photoshop tips, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding canvas, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro basics, my killer image clean-up techniques, Digital Eye Doctor, creating time-saving actions, and lots more.

The DPP RAW Conversion Guide

After seeing the accurate colors that I get from my DPP RAW conversions, Japan in Winter co-leader Paul McKenzie switched to DPP conversions and Denise Ippolito is considering doing the same. Now that is amazing…. To learn why I use Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP) to convert every image that I work on, click here.

Saturday March 29, 2014. 7:15am till 10:15am & 4:00pm till dusk. Lunch, image review, and Photoshop session included. Limit 6. A very small group is again likely: $399.

The cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s Pass is not included.

Gatorland is so good right now that I am going back next Saturday (March 29). Enticement tomorrow. Head portraits of Great Egrets are pretty much guaranteed even with an intermediate zoom lens. Nest building and flight likely. Here’s the story: last week there were about two dozen photographers at Gatorland on Saturday past. Aside from two photographers nobody had a clue as to how to make a good image…. Yesterday it was even worse; pretty much no one had a clue… Most folks just stand in one spot and point and shoot. Without regard for light angle or background. Join me on this, the 3rd Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop and you will learn to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. A big part of the above is that you will learn how and why you must work in Manual mode 90% of the time at Gatorland. That is exactly what Jim Weertz learned yesterday.

At lunch we will review my images, take a look at five of your best images from the morning session (for those who opt to bring their laptops), and process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time. Last Saturday all 3 folks had a great time and learned a ton. And the weather for this coming Saturday is looking good.

Payment in full via credit card is due upon registering. Please call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 to register. Ask for me if you have any questions.

Lake Blue Cypress with Jim Neiger

Over the next two weeks Jim Neiger and I will be offering full day Osprey Heaven In-the-Field Workshops. Rates and potential dates will be announced soon. If you are interested please shoot me an e-mail; group size will be strictly limited to four hand holding photographers.

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

Everyone buys something from Amazon, be it a big lens or deodorant. Support the blog by starting your search by clicking on the logo-link below. No purchase is too small to be appreciated; they all add up. Why make it a habit? Because I make it a habit of bringing you new images and information on an almost daily basis.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂

112

This post marks 112 straight days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H and Amazon links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we do ask that you use our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

Note: We almost never have Mongoose M3.6 heads in stock. We sell them as fast as we get them. We had three in stock the other day. Now we have none in stock…. The best way to ensure getting one of these great heads for your intermediate or super-telephoto lens is to call Jim now and place your order. You are then ensured of getting one from our next shipment. We will not of course bill your credit card until the item ships or drop-ships.

We would of course appreciate you using our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon major gear, video, electronic, household, and personal purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

I prepared this blog post in about 1 1/2 hours on Thursday evening and plan to publish it early on Friday. I will be spending the morning on Jim Neiger’s pontoon boat on Lake Blue Cypress photographing Ospreys. I believe that there may be an opening on Jim’s last Osprey Heaven workshop. Click here and scroll down for contact info and the skinny on all of Jim’s upcoming workshops.

The Photoshop CS-6 Basic Tab “Tonal Adjustment” Sliders

When I first started poking around Photoshop CS-6 about six months ago, I noted the new Whites slider on the Basic tab so I called Tim Grey to get his take on the CS-6 Exposure sliders, especially on the new White slider. He kindly explained things to me as I took careful notes in an e-mail to myself. I have no intention of using CS-6 for my RAW conversions as I greatly prefer the colors that I get from Canon’s DPP (Digital Photo Professional); they match what I call the color space in my mind if that makes sense…. In any case, over the past month several folks have asked about the new slider in CS-6 so I went looking for the e-mail. No luck. Yesterday I e-mailed Tim asking if the information that I was seeking was available online.

Here is his answer:

Artie,

Tim

I urge everyone who converts their RAW files in either Photoshop or Lightroom (where the conversion sliders are quite similar) to watch “Basic Tonal Adjustments,” the first of the three videos you will find at the link. (Note: the 2nd video covers HSL–Hue/Saturation/Luminance–adjustments; the 3rd video deals with making grayscale conversions. The 3 videos play consecutively. In this blog post, I will–though I found the other 2 interesting and informative–be discussing only the 1st video.) BTW, Tim has a really cool speaking voice.

Tim begins by setting the white point by adjusting the Exposure slider while holding down the Alt key (the Option key on a Mac) until clipping shows and then backing off a bit “till the whites look good.” Next he recommends doing the exact same thing with the Whites slider, and again suggests backing off a bit so that the brightest whites maintain details. Then he adjusts the Blacks slider, again while holding down the Alt key (the Option key on a Mac) until clipping appears, and then backing off a bit while considering the overall image.

He explains that moving the Highlights slider is similar to moving the Whites slider but that the changes with the former affect a wider range of tonalities than with the latter. He continues in the same vein: moving the Shadows slider is similar to moving the Blacks slider but the changes with the former affecting a wider range of tonalities than with the latter. He adjusts the Shadows and Highlights sliders after first adjusting the Exposure slider followed by the Whites and Blacks sliders.

As I have been looking through last year’s Bosque file recently I chose a fish eye image for my ACR test drive.

Be sure to check out Tim’s Photoshop CS-6 Raw Workshop video set here. Those of you who are not receiving Tim’s “Ask Tim Grey eNewsletter (Providing Answers to Photographers for Over a Dozen Years…) are missing tons of great free info almost every day. Learn more on Tim’s ten year anniversary blog post here. It is a wonderful and interesting read.

Basic Tonal Adjustments for the Snow Goose Fisheye Image

If you click on the screen capture above you will be able to note the values on the various sliders. First I moved the Exposure slider to the left to -0.05 darkening the image overall just a bit. Next I experimented a bit and found that by first moving the Highlights slider to the left to -56 and the Whites slider to the left to -9 that I was able to bring down the starburst so that it showed no clipping. I moved the Blacks slider to the clipping point and then backed off just a bit to -18. That left the sky a very dark blue so I moved the Shadows slider to +50 and was happy with my tonal adjustments.

Image Questions

Why f/22?

Why -1 1/3 stops?

Another Gatorland Short-Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop

Saturday March 22, 2014. 7:15am till 10:15am & 4:00pm till dusk. Lunch, image review, and Photoshop session included. Limit 6/Openings 5. A very small group is again likely: $399.

Special Incentive: those who sign up at the last minute, i.e., today, Friday March 21, 2014, are invited to be at my house on Sunday tomorrow for a free one hour photo session with Sandhill Crane colts and chicks…

You will need to call before 9pm; if no answer be sure to shoot me an e-mail before 6pm with a callback number.

You can see a slew of great Gatorland images from the previous Saturday Short-Notice Gatorland IPT here.

The cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s Pass is not included.

Gatorland is so good right now that I am going back this Saturday to try for tiny Great Egret chicks in the nest. Head portraits of this species in full breeding plumage are pretty much guaranteed even with an intermediate zoom lens. Nest building and flight likely. Here’s the story: there about two dozen photographers at Gatorland on Saturday past. Aside from one photographer from Slovakia and another, from the UK, wearing a blue and white checked shirt, nobody had a clue as to how to make a good image…. Most folks just stand in one spot and point and shoot. Without regard for light angle or background. Join me on this, the 2nd Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop and you will learn to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. A big part of the above is that you will learn how and why you must work in Manual mode 90% of the time at Gatorland. That is one of the things that Dana-see her e-mail below, and Chris Billman learned last Saturday.

At lunch we will review my images, take a look at five of your best images from the morning session (for those who opt to bring their laptops), and process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time. Last Saturday all 3 folks had a great time and learned a ton. And the weather for this coming Saturday is looking good.

Payment in full via credit card is due upon registering. Please call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 to register. Ask for me if you have any questions.

UK Puffins & Gannet IPT

Details for this great trip have been finalized; we already have 4 folks signed up; we need just one more for the trip to go. The limit is 10. Please e-mail me for complete info if you are interested.

Bosque del Apache 2014 BIRDS AS ART/A Creative Adventure Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). NOV 29-DEC 3, 2014. Totaling 4 FULL-DAYS: $1449. Leaders: Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito. Introductory Slide program: 7:00pm on Sunday 11/29.

There are now 9 photographers signed up!

Tens of thousand 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 6th 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 (11/29 through 12/2), 4 morning (11/30 to 12/3) photography sessions, an inspirational introductory slide program after dinner on your own on Saturday, 11/29, 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 7/25/2014. If you cancel, we will be glad to apply a credit applicable to a future IPT for the amount you have paid less a $100 processing fee, only if the trip sells out. If we do not receive your check for the balance on or before the due date we will try to fill your spot from the waiting list. If your spot is filled, you will lose your deposit. If not, you can secure your spot by paying your balance.

Please 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 2014 A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART “Creative Photography Instructional Photo-Tour.” (IPT). NOV 24-25, 2014. 2-FULL DAYS: $729. Leaders: Denise Ippolito & Arthur Morris. Introductory Slide program: 7:00pm on Sunday 11/23. 3 signed up.

Get Out of Your Box!

The Creative Bosque IPT is perfect for folks who want to learn to think outside the box, to create new and different images. This workshop is the perfect add-on for folks who are planning on attending the Festival of the Cranes. Learn to unleash your creative juices at the wondrous Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in San Antonio, New Mexico with two great leaders including the amazingly talented and creative Denise Ippolito. In-the-field instruction will include tips on gear set-up, on creating a variety of pleasing blurs, on getting the right exposure, and on designing pleasing images. And lots more. From vertical pan blurs to subject motion blurs to zoom blurs to multiple exposures we will cover it all. If conditions are perfect, we will not hesitate to take advantage of them to do some traditional bird photography. This workshop will include an inspirational introductory slide program on Sunday evening, 11/23, after dinner on your own, two morning and two afternoon photography sessions, all lunches, a digital workflow and Photoshop session after lunch on Monday, and an image critiquing session after lunch on Tuesday.

A $329 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Your balance, payable only by check, will be due on 7/25/2014. If 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. If 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.

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!

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Amazon

Everyone buys something from Amazon, be it a big lens or deodorant. Support the blog by starting your search by clicking on the logo-link below. No purchase is too small to be appreciated; they all add up. Why make it a habit? Because I make it a habit of bringing you new images and information on an almost daily basis.

Some folks with browser problems are not seeing the Amazon logo links. They can use the affiliate link here to support the blog.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂

Another Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop

Right Now, It’s Just Me!

Saturday March 22, 2014. 7:15am till 10:15am & 4:00pm till dusk. Lunch, image review, and Photoshop session included. Limit 6/Openings 6. A very small group is again likely: $399.

The cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s Pass is not included.

Gatorland is so good right now that I am going back this Saturday to try for tiny Great Egret chicks in the nest. Head portraits of this species in full breeding plumage are pretty much guaranteed even with an intermediate zoom lens. Nest building and flight likely. Here’s the story: there about two dozen photographers at Gatorland on Saturday past. Aside from one photographer from Slovakia and another, from the UK, wearing a blue and white checked shirt, nobody had a clue as to how to make a good image…. Most folks just stand in one spot and point and shoot. Without regard for light angle or background. Join me on this, the 2nd Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop and you will learn to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. A big part of the above is that you will learn how and why you must work in Manual mode 90% of the time at Gatorland. That is one of the things that Dana-see her e-mail below, and Chris Billman learned last Saturday.

At lunch we will review my images, take a look at five of your best images from the morning session (for those who opt to bring their laptops), and process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time. Last Saturday all 3 folks had a great time and learned a ton. And the weather for this coming Saturday is looking good.

Payment in full via credit card is due upon registering. Please call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 to register. Ask for me if you have any questions.

Gatorland In-the-Field Kudos

This via e-mail from Dana Campbell of Maryland who signed up virtually at the last second:

It was a wonderful day today! You taught me so much; I am still thinking about it all. I will now go back and read the archives, practice, and make some equipment changes/new purchases (Mongoose M3.6) soon. It was an honor and a pleasure to have met you and spent the day learning from you. You were so patient and generous sharing your knowledge and talent as well as a wonderfully nice and fun person! I hope to be able to join you again soon for an IPT. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Sincerely, Dana

UK Puffins & Gannet IPT

Details for this great trip have been finalized. Please e-mail me for complete info.

110

This post marks 110 straight days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H and Amazon links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we do ask that you use our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

Note: We almost never have Mongoose M3.6 heads in stock. We sell them as fast as we get them. We had three in stock the other day. Now we have none in stock…. The best way to ensure getting one of these great heads for your intermediate or super-telephoto lens is to call Jim now and place your order. You are then ensured of getting one from our next shipment. We will not of course bill your credit card until the item ships or drop-ships.

We would of course appreciate you using our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon major gear, video, electronic, household, and personal purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

This blog post took only 1 1/2 hours to prepare. Enjoy.

Is It Too Cute or Is It Phony? Or Both?

I’ve tricked you before. Asked if there were any tell-tale signs of Photoshop hanky panky while presenting an image that was virtually untouched. So I ask again here, do you see any signs of poor Photoshop work? Or do you think that the image file here is an accurate representation of the original capture. If the former, please be specific. Be sure to click on the image to view the larger size as you do your sleuthing.

Nickerson Baby Beach-nesting Birds IPT: 3-Full Days/July 15-17, 2014: $1199. Introductory meet and greet: 8pm, Monday, July 14, 2014. Co-leaders Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito

Join us on Long Island, NY next summer to photograph Black Skimmers, Common Terns with chicks, American Oystercatcher families, and possibly some just-hatched Black Skimmer chicks. The opportunities will include chances to photograph a variety of breeding behaviors including courtship feeding, display flight and combat, and copulations. Car-pooling is recommended; if we opt to return to the beach before 5pm there is a $30/vehicle parking fee that is not included so it is best to share that expense. Parking in the morning is free.

A $499 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Your balance is due 2 months before the date of the IPT and is also non-refundable. If 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. If 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.”) Though we prefer a check, 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

Denise’s Card

As I mentioned above, the skimmers were both low in numbers and late nesting last July. Typically there would be lots of nests and more than a few small chicks on those dates. All of Neesie’s images above were made within 2 weeks of the IPT and the skimmer chicks in particular give a much more typical picture of activity in mid-July.

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

Everyone buys something from Amazon, be it a big lens or deodorant. Support the blog by starting your search by clicking on the logo-link below. No purchase is too small to be appreciated; they all add up. Why make it a habit? Because I make it a habit of bringing you new images and information on an almost daily basis.

Some folks with browser problems are not seeing the Amazon logo links. They can use the affiliate link here to support the blog.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂

Another Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop

Saturday March 22, 2014. 7:15am till 10:15am & 4:00pm till dusk. Lunch, image review, and Photoshop session included. Limit 6. A very small group is again likely: $399.

The cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s Pass is not included.

Gatorland is so good right now that I am going back this Saturday to try for tiny Great Egret chicks in the nest. Head portraits of this species in full breeding plumage are pretty much guaranteed even with an intermediate zoom lens. Nest building and flight likely. Here’s the story: there about two dozen photographers at Gatorland on Saturday past. Aside from one photographer from Slovakia and another, wearing a blue and white checked shirt, nobody had a clue as to how to make a good image…. Most folks just stand in one spot and point and shoot. Without regard for light angle or background. Join me on this, the 2nd Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop and you will learn to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. A big part of the above is that you will learn how and why you must work in Manual mode 90% of the time at Gatorland. That is one of the things that Dana-see her e-mail below, and Chris Billman learned last Saturday.

At lunch we will review my images, take a look at five of your best images from the morning session (for those who opt to bring their laptops), and process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time. Last Saturday all 3 folks had a great time and learned a ton. And the weather for this coming Saturday is looking good.

Payment in full via credit card is due upon registering. Please call Jim or Jennifer at 863-692-0906 to register. Ask for me if you have any questions.

Gatorland is Gatorland–Why Join Me?

I spotted the situation above from 50 yards away. It was being totally ignored by all of the other photographers. I called Dana over and she was thrilled. We went over the exposure–be sure to get just a very few blinkies on the rim lit highlights, and talking about moving up or down a bit to ensure the darkest background. Chris joined in a bit later. Most amazingly, nobody else was in the least bit curious as to what we were doing….

Join me next Saturday at Gatorland to see what you have been missing and to get your eyes opened!

Thanks to Denise Ippolito for helping me to fine-tune this image. There will be lots more on this photo here soon.

Image Question

Why did I need -1 2/3 stops for this image?

Gatorland In-the-Field Kudos

This yesterday via e-mail from Dana Campbell of Maryland who signed up virtually at the last second:

It was a wonderful day today! You taught me so much; I am still thinking about it all. I will now go back and read the archives, practice, and make some equipment changes/new purchases (Mongoose M3.6) soon. It was an honor and a pleasure to have met you and spent the day learning from you. You were so patient and generous sharing your knowledge and talent as well as a wonderfully nice and fun person! I hope to be able to join you again soon for an IPT. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Sincerely, Dana

Your Help is Needed

Locations where fresh water abuts salt are often a mecca for birds. Many decades ago at many of the great east coast birding locations–Edwin B. Forsythe NWR (formerly Brigantine) in New Jersey, Bombay Hook in Delaware, and my beloved Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (JBWR) in New York City, salt marsh was purposely destroyed to create fresh water impoundments in close proximity to salt water. Less notable sites like Wolfe’s Pond Park on Staten Island, NY are no less extraordinary.

At JBWR two such impoundments have existed since the early 1950s: the West Pond and one of my soul places, the East Pond. The late Max Larson showed me my first breeding plumage Curlew Sandpiper on the West Pond well before I even thought about photographing birds. And it was there that I saw a juvenile Broad-billed Sandpiper, a mega rarity from Asia. Hurricane Sandy put the hurt on the West Pond in October 2012. The West Pond was breeched and the former avian fresh water haven once again became part of Jamaica Bay which is of course completely saltwater.

Douglas Futuyma posted “Birder Action Needed to Restore Jamaica Bay WR West Pond” to the ABA (American Birding Association) blog:

New York’s famed Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge (JBWR) has been damaged beyond recognition. It will never again be such a wonderful resource for birds and birders unless it is repaired – and that may depend on the voice of birders (and bird photographers) everywhere.

Whether by personal experience or by its reputation, birders throughout North America and beyond know the refuge. Some came from far and wide to see the Broad-billed Sandpiper, the first in the lower 48 states, in 1998; others came there to see their first Spotted Redshank, Fulvous Whistling-Duck, Sage Thrasher, White-faced Ibis, Reddish Egret, or King Eider; countless birders have enjoyed the diverse winter waterfowl, seasonal shorebirds, and summer herons and terns that a walk around the West Pond. More than 330 species of birds have been seen in the Refuge, owing to the unusual proximity of a freshwater Pond to a saltwater bay, together with saltmarsh, tidal flats and groves of trees. Five federally Endangered or Threatened species, 8 of 10 New York State Endangered species, and all 19 New York Species of Special Concern have occurred on the West Pond. Some of these have bred almost annually, and many other species use the refuge for resting and refueling during migration. BirdLife International and the National Audubon Society have designated Jamaica Bay an official Important Bird Area (IBA)

You can read the whole thing here.

The West Pond, and The Birder’s Coalition for Gateway, needs your help. Please click here, sign the petition, and spread the word on Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere. The petition route successfully stopped the shooting of Snowy Owls at various NYC airports. Your help here can help to get the West Pond restored to its former glory. Please take a moment to click and sign.

108

This post marks 108 straight days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H and Amazon links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we do ask that you use our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

This blog post took well more than 3 hours to prepare. Enjoy. And learn.

Huge Thanks!

Huge thanks to the many readers who continue to use the BAA B&H and Amazon Affiliate links for purchases large and small. March has gotten off to a great start with folks buying several Version II Super-teles, several 1D X bodies, and a 200-400. Way to go and greatly appreciated. It is wonderful to see so many folks being appreciative of the streak. Remember, every purchase helps no matter how small and getting in the habit of using the BAA links will not cost you one penny more.

What’s So Funny?

When I see images like this on my laptop, I often wonder whether the bird was yakking, yawning, or gular panting. Or perhaps it was laughing….

The gular skin or pouch is the blue skin that we see in the image above. I believe that the tan feathers to the right of the gular skin may be part of the gular region. Doug Wechsler, feel free to chime in here. Digested bits of food to be fed to small chicks may be held in the gular pouch. We frequently notice the gular region when a variety of birds, most especially cormorants, are engaged in gular flutter to help keep them cool.

I had always called this behavior “gular panting” but while doing the research for this post I learned that the correct term is “gular fluttering.”

From “Patterns of Panting and Gular Flutter in Cormorants, Pelicans, Owls, and Dvoes” (Bartholomew, Lasiewski, & Crawford) here:

Most birds pant when subjected to heat stress, but some supplement evaporation from the respiratory tract by fluttering the gular area. Gular flutter occurs in at least the following taxa: cormorants, pelicans, boobies, anhingas, frigate-birds, herons, owls, doves, , roadrunners, colies, and many gallinaceous species.

They go on to note that in Double-crested Cormorant, a species closely related to the Brandt’s Cormorant depicted in the image here, that the rate of gular flutter varies from 645 to 730 per minute and was relatively constant over a wide range of ambient temperatures, body temperatures, and breathing rates.

Exposure Question

What is the primary exposure danger when creating an image like this.

Image Optimization and Bill Cleanup

Image optimization here was relatively straight-forward. After converting the image in DPP I dust-spotted the image, selected the bird’s head, face, and bill, and ran a layer of my favorite NIK 50/50 custom preset (50% Tonal Contrast & 50% Detail Extractor) and painted that out on the tan feathers using a Regular Layer Mask. Notice the difference in the detail on the face in the animated GIF above. With all the fluffy stuff on the bill, especially near the tip, bill cleanup took about 10 minutes as I need to work large and carefully. I used all of my usual cleanup tools: the Spot Healing Brush, the Clone Stamp Tool at various opacities, and the Patch Tool. I darkened the bill a bit using Selective Color on a layer after selecting the bill using the Quick Selection Tool. The bit of Eye Doctor work that I did is also evident in the animated GIF.

Digital Basics

Everything mentioned above and tons more are detailed in my Digital Basics File. Are you tired of making your images look worse in Photoshop? Do you have no clue as to what I was talking about above? Digital Basics is an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. It includes my complete digital workflow, dozens of great Photoshop tips, the use of Contrast Masks, several different ways of expanding canvas, all of my time-saving Keyboard Shortcuts, Quick Masking, Layer Masking, and NIK Color Efex Pro basics, my killer image clean-up techniques, Digital Eye Doctor, creating time-saving actions, and lots more.

The DPP RAW Conversion Guide

After seeing the accurate colors that I get from my DPP RAW conversions, Japan in Winter co-leader Paul McKenzie has switched to DPP conversions and Denise Ippolito is considering doing the same. Now that is amazing…. To learn why I use Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP) to convert every image that I work on, click here.

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

Everyone buys something from Amazon, be it a big lens or deodorant. Support the blog by starting your search by clicking on the logo-link below. No purchase is too small to be appreciated; they all add up. Why make it a habit? Because I make it a habit of bringing you new images and information on an almost daily basis.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂

106

This post marks 106 straight days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H and Amazon links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we do ask that you use our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

Note: though we almost never have Mongoose M3.6 heads in stock we do have a few on the shelf right now. We are still waiting for more CR-X5 plates. As always, the best way to ensure getting one of these great heads for your intermediate or super-telephoto lens (if they are out of stock) or one of the great CR-X5 plates is to call Jim and place your order. You are then ensured of getting one from our next shipment. We will not of course bill your credit card until the item ships or drop-ships.

We would of course appreciate you using our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon major gear, video, electronic, household, and personal purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

This blog post took about 3 hours to prepare. Enjoy. And learn.

Huge Thanks!

Huge thanks to the many readers who continue to use the BAA B&H and Amazon Affiliate links for purchases large and small. March has gotten off to a great start with folks buying several Version II Super-teles, several 1D X bodies, and a 200-400. Way to go and greatly appreciated. It is wonderful to see so many folks being appreciative of the streak. Remember, every purchase helps no matter how small and getting in the habit of using the BAA links will not cost you one penny more.

Simplicity

As we saw with the image of the two bamboo leaves in the “Special Hokkaido Treats” blog post here, simple image designs can be both powerful and artistic. Both images here illustrate that concept very nicely. I had had my eye on those little snow hills for a while and planned to do them at the end of our second uphill walk to the Monkey Park. But I had forgotten the tripod collar for my 70-200. Pat Lillich kindly loaned me whole her rig. I put it on my tripod and went to work. I created about 20 images and wound up keeping only this one, the first in the series. It is amazing how often our initial vision yields the most pleasing image design….

Image Question

Why f/20?
Why did I use a tripod for this image?

Undoing the BLUEs

After giving the Animated GIF above a few seconds to play, it is easy to see that the original image had a tremendous BLUE cast. AWB was a big mistake, but one that was easily dealt with during the image optimization process. Most of the work was done with a simple mouse click during the RAW conversion in DPP. I simply went to Click White Balance. That brought all the RGB values to within a point or two of each other. I also lightened the image nearly 2 stops; see my thoughts on getting the right exposure with snow below.

When I brought the image into Photoshop the RGB #s still looked pretty good but the image, especially the shadows, still looked BLUE. So I duplicated the entire image (Control A, Control J) and opened Hue/Saturation on that layer (Control U). I chose the BLUE channel from the dropdown menu and moved the Saturation slider to the right. The BLUE cast was obvious so I moved the Saturation slider all the way to the left to totally desaturate the BLUEs. Now the RGB values for the brightest WHITEs read 231, 231, 231. The WHITEs were now perfectly WHITE. And bright.

As I had lightened the image 1.7 stops during the DPP conversion all that was left to do was add a layer of my NIK custom 50/50 (Tonal Contrast/Detail Extractor) at 50% Opacity. Thanks again to Pat Lillich who made this image possible.

Tree Stand on Snowy Ridge

As you can see by looking at the original image immediately below, the success of this image is largely due to the superb image optimization. It took me quite a while to get something that looked better than decent…. See the details below. The original was about a stop underexposed and was totally flat; there was not much color and pretty much no contrast.

But again, the simple compositional approach worked very well.

The Image Optimization Process

After lightening the image during DPP conversion I opened the image in Photoshop. As it was obvious I should go Black and White with this image I brought it into NIK Silver Efex Pro and went with High Contrast Green. Then I ran a layer of NIK Color EFEX Pro Detail Extractor, added a Regular Layer Mask, and erased the snow on the hill as I wanted to keep that white and without detail. That was followed by a layer of NIK Viveza with Structure increased to the max to bring up the detail in the clouds. Again I added a Regular Layer Mask; this time I erased the effect on the trees and the foreground hill. By now there was tons of detail in the clouds but they were looking a bit grainy so I went with Filter/Blur/Surface Blur on a layer at about 6/12, added another Regular Layer Mask, and again erased the trees and the foreground snow. Voila!

Getting the Right Exposure with Snow Scenes on Cloudy Days

Both images here were created with an EC of +1 2/3 stops. Both were underexposed. As it turned out the opening image needed nearly four stops of over-exposure. The trees image needed nearly three stops of over-exposure. In each case, I did not push the exposure far enough to the right. With the scenes being overall light-toned there were no dire effects as a result of lightening the images during conversion. But it is always better to get things right in-camera. We had several situations where the best exposure was +4 stops off the snow. Live and learn.

Note: had the sun been out the EC would have likely been +1/3 or +2/3 with Canon, 0 or -1/3 with Nikon. Why? Because the meters are a lot smarter when the sun is out at full strength than they are in cloudy, overcast, pre-dawn light or when the subject is in the shade.

Your Favorite?

Take a moment to let us know which of these two you would hang on your wall. And please let us know why. BTW, all BAA images are available as signed prints, either traditional or canvas. Click here for more info.

IPT Info

Many of our great trips are filling up. With 5 Canadians and another couple signing up for our 4-DAY Bosque IPT; that workshop is filling up quickly. See especially info on the Holland, and Nickerson Beach IPTs. Two great leaders on most trips ensure that you will receive individual attention, have all of your questions answered, and learn a ton including how to think like a pro, see the situation, and get the right exposure every time. In addition you will have fun, and make lots of great images. Click here for IPT details and general information.

Holland 2014 7 1/2-Day/8-Night: A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART/Tulips & A Touch of Holland IPT. April 17-April 24, 2014: $4995 Limit: 12/Openings: 5

We still have room for 5 more flower photographers on this great trip.

Join Denise Ippolito, Flower Queen and the author of “Bloomin’ Ideas,” and Arthur Morris, Canon Explorer of Light Emeritus and one of the planet’s premier photographic educators for a great trip to Holland in mid-April 2014. Day 1 of the IPT will be April 17, 2014. We will have a short afternoon get-together and then our first photographic session at the justly-famed Keukenhof. Most days we will return to the hotel for lunch, image sharing and a break. On Day 8, April 24, we will enjoy both morning and afternoon photography sessions.

The primary subjects will be tulips and orchids at Keukenhof and the spectacularly amazing tulip, hyacinth, and daffodil bulb fields around Lisse. In addition we will spend one full day in Amsterdam. There will be optional visits the Van Gogh Museum in the morning and the Anne Frank House in the afternoon; there will be plenty of time for street photography as well. And some great food. On another day we will have a wonderful early dinner at Kinderdijk and then head out with our gear to photograph the windmills and possibly some birds for those who bring their longs lenses. We will spend an afternoon in the lovely Dutch town of Edam where we will do some street photography and enjoy a superb dinner. All lodging, ground transportation, entry fees, and meals (from dinner on Day 1 through dinner on Day 8) are included. For those who will be bringing a big lens we will likely have an optional bird photography afternoon or two.

Click here for additional info or to register.

Join me for the 2014 Tanzania Summer Safari!

2014 Tanzania Summer Safari, 14-day African Adventure/leave the US on August 9. Fly home on August 24: $12,999.

Co-leaders Todd Gustafson & Arthur Morris. The limit is 12. Three photographers/van; you get your own row of seats. Our trip is a bit more expensive than the average safari for good reason. It is the best. We have the best driver guides with a total of decades of experience. They have been trained over the years by Todd and by me to drive with photography in mind. We have the best and most knowledgeable leaders. We stay in the best lodges and camps. We hope that you will join us for what will be Todd’s 35th African safari, and my 8th.

If you are seriously interested please e-mail me; I will be glad to send you the illustrated PDF with the complete itinerary and deposit info.

What else makes this expedition unique?

•Pre-trip consultation and camera equipment advice
•Award-winning photographers as your guides
•A seamless itinerary visiting the right locations at the best time of year
•Hands-on photography instruction in the field
•Specially designed three roof-hatch photo safari vehicles
•Proprietary materials for preparation, including free copy of “A Photographer’s Guide to Photographing in East Africa.”
•Post-safari image critiques

All-inclusive (double-occupancy) except for your flights to and from Kilamajaro Airport, bar drinks, soda & water (except at the Intimate Tented Camp where everything is free for our entire stay), tips for drivers and camp staff, personal items, and trip insurance.

Breathe deeply, bite the bullet, and live life to its fullest; we all get only one ride on the merry-go-round… Join me on this great trip. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

The Southern Ocean…

If you would like to explore the possibility of joining me on the Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris Antarctica/The Extended Expedition Voyage< trip: Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and Falkland Islands: December 13, 2014 to January 10, 2015, click here for additional information and then shoot me an e-mail.

The DPP RAW Conversion Guide

To learn why I use Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP) to convert every image that I work on, click here.

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

Everyone buys something from Amazon, be it a big lens or deodorant. Support the blog by starting your search by clicking on the logo-link below. No purchase is too small to be appreciated; they all add up. Why make it a habit? Because I make it a habit of bringing you new images and information on an almost daily basis.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂

104

This post marks 104 straight days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H and Amazon links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we do ask that you use our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

Note: though we almost never have Mongoose M3.6 heads in stock we do have a few on the shelf right now. We are still waiting for more CR-X5 plates. As always, the best way to ensure getting one of these great heads for your intermediate or super-telephoto lens (if they are out of stock) or one of the great CR-X5 plates is to call Jim and place your order. You are then ensured of getting one from our next shipment. We will not of course bill your credit card until the item ships or drop-ships.

We would of course appreciate you using our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon major gear, video, electronic, household, and personal purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

This blog post took about 3 hours to prepare. Enjoy.

Huge Thanks!

Huge thanks to the many readers who continue to use the BAA B&H and Amazon Affiliate links for purchases large and small. March has gotten off to a great start with folks buying several Version II Super-teles, several 1D X bodies, and a 200-400. Way to go and greatly appreciated. It is wonderful to see so many folks being appreciative of the streak. Remember, every purchase helps no matter how small and getting in the habit of using the BAA links will not cost you one penny more.

This image was created with the Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod, the Mongoose M3.6 head, the Canon EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens, Canon 2x EF Extender III (teleconverter), and the EOS-1D Mark IV (now replaced by the Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 2500. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop as framed: 1/250 sec. at f/6.3 in Tv Mode. Central sensor/Rear Focus AI Servo AF active at the moment of exposure (and then cropped to a square). Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.

We Meet

I first met Srdjan Mitrovic and his wife, Zorica Kovacevik, on a pre-voyage bus trip to Tierra del Feugo National Park, Argentina, the day before we boarded the ship for my first Cheesemans’s Extended Southern Ocean Expedition (The Falklands, South Georgia, and Antarctica). It was my 2nd such trip.

We were with a large group of birders hot to find a Magellanic Woodpecker. Then bingo, there was a group of 3 right in front of us pecking away at a rotted log on the ground. With so many folks in close proximity it was impossible to make an image and getting close was not an option unless we wanted to risk getting lynched. The birders all checked the species off their lists and when the birds flew off the birders dispersed.

As the only serious photographers Srdj and Zorica and I were the only ones left. I think that it was Zorica who said, Too bad, I would have loved to have gotten a good photograph. After introducing myself Zorica exclaimed, “Oh my God, are you really the Arthur Morris? I can’t believe it!” “Yup, that’s me,” I said, ” but listen up. The birds came down once to feed it is highly likely that they will repeat the same behavior. Let’s follow them.”

We did. And for the next three hours we photographed the group at close range.

Image Question

In the image above, how did I wind up at ISO 2500?

The Voyage

Though I spent a lot of money to make the first Cheesemans’ trip and had no clients, I found myself–as expected–doing lots of teaching both in the field and on the ship during image reviews and Photoshop sessions. Srdj and Zorica often stuck close by. We has a ton of fun. After I met Zorica at Keukenhof in 2013, we reconnected and she and Srdjan wound up joining me on the recently concluded Japan in Winter IPT.

I created the image above of them at Fortuna Bay, South Georgia in late December 2012 as they photographed from atop a small rocky knoll.

The Geisha Connection

When the Japan in Winter IPT concluded, seven of us continued on the Kyoto to soak up some Japanese culture. From the get-go Zorica talked of going to the geisha districts, or possibly seeing a geisha. We did lots of walking tours. One night, as we were looking for a restaurant, a geisha accompanied by two Japanese gentlemen, was walking down the narrow street coming right at us.

I was amazed when a very excited Zorica took out her cell phone, touched the woman’s arm to get her attention, and asked if she could take her picture. I was more amazed when the geisha said yes. The two men stood off to the side and took a few snaps. Zorica kindly sent me three images; my favorite is above.

Though many folks routinely trash Wikipedia I often find the entries helpful. There is lots of confusion as to exactly what a Geisha is. I found the Wikipedia Geisha entry here quite helpful.

Maiko Transformation Studio Shiki

Everyone is familiar with the brochure racks in most tourist hotels. Zorica found a brochure advertising the Maiko Transformation Studio Shiki, a place that would transform any woman into a Geisha and any man into a Samurai with full make-up and costumes. They made an appointment online and off they went. I thank them profusely for giving me permission to use the images here. And you gotta admit, they look pretty darned good.

Me thinks that most folks (including me) would be too self-conscious to do something like this. Heck, I am scared to get on a dance floor unless I am drunk and I have not been drunk in several decades…

Amazingly Courageous & Loving Life and Each Other

To me, getting transformed was a courageous act. I am curious, how many of you out there would try something like this without trepidation? Please leave a comment and let us know.

Srdjan, a software engineer for Google, is one of the nicest men you could ever hope to meet. He is funny–not sure if I mentioned the Saturday Night Hans and Franz connection, but we spent a good deal of time laughing. He routinely treats Zorica like his queen, granting her every request with a loving smile. And they always treat each other with uncommon respect, always smiling and laughing. And holding hands.

Breathe deeply, bite the bullet, and live life to its fullest; we all get only one ride on the merry-go-round… Join me on this great trip. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

The Southern Ocean…

If you would like to explore the possibility of joining me on the Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris Antarctica/The Extended Expedition Voyage: Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and Falkland Islands: December 13, 2014 to January 10, 2015, click here for additional information and then shoot me an e-mail.

If you’d like to learn from the two folks who created the images in the composite above do consider one of the trips below. Denise Ippolito’s images: Japanese leaf painting, skimmer in flight, curved Keukenhof paths with tulips, copulating terns, & pink dahlia. Artie’s images: Snow Geese snowstorm blur, crane landing silhouettes, Leopard with prey in tree, King Penguin, & vertical tulip. Note: Denise alone will be leading the Torres del Paine workshop.

A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours (IPTs)/Two great leaders: Arthur Morris & Denise Ippolito.

Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART www.BIRDSASART-blog.com for the latest images, info, & education
Denise Ippolito/A Creative Adventure www.deniseippolito.com: get yourself out of the box!

Denise’s e-books: Bloomin’ Ideas, A Guide to Filters & Effects, The Softer Side of Macro, & more. Free Monthly Creative MiniMag: www.deniseippolito.com/magazine

Nickerson Baby Beach-nesting Birds IPT, Long Island, NY: 3-Full Days/July 22-24, 2014: $1199.

Black Skimmers, Common Terns with chicks, American Oystercatcher & Piping Plover families; breeding behaviors including courtship feeding, display flight and combat, and copulations. Gulls and shorebirds.

UK Puffins IPT. Early July, 2014.

Details TBA. Please e-mail to be placed on the interested list.

Tanzania Serengeti Summer Safari: Leave US: August 9—return: August 24, 2014: $12,999.

Co-leaders: Arthur Morris & Todd Gustafson. Wildebeest/The Great Migration, cats, elephant, giraffe, zebra, birds & more. Please e-mail for brochure.

Swan Island Dahlia Farm IPT, Canby, OR, September 8-12, 2014: 5 FULL DAYS: $1699.

Leader: Denise Ippolito. 40 acres with 350+dazzling varieties of dahlias in a plethora of colors, shapes and sizes. Sharpen your technical skills and boost your creative juices. Daily assignments, image sharing, and Photoshop sessions.

Bosque del Apache 2014 A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART “Creative Photography Instructional Photo-Tour.” (IPT). NOV 24-25, 2014. 2-FULL DAYS: $729.

Leaders: Denise Ippolito & Arthur Morris. Introductory Slide program: 7:00pm on Sunday 11/23. This IPT is perfect for folks who want to learn to think outside the box, to create new and different images. Learn to unleash your creative juices at the wondrous Bosque del Apache, NWR in San Antonio, NM.

Bosque del Apache 2014 BIRDS AS ART/A Creative Adventure Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT). NOV 29-DEC 3, 2014. Totaling 4 FULL-DAYS: $1449

Leaders: Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito. Introductory Slide program: 7:00pm on Sunday 11/29. Tens of thousand 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.

Antarctica/The Extended Expedition Voyage: Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and Falkland Islands: December 13, 2014 to January 10, 2015.

Please e-mail for details.

BAA offers a wide range of books, e-Guides, and educational materials and photographic accessories at the lowest prices around—25+ years of experience, and the best advice you can get. We will not sell you junk. Access the BAA Store here or call us at 1-863-692-0906.

Questions? Please e-mail us at birdsasart@verizon.net or photographybydenise221@gmail.com.

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

Everyone buys something from Amazon, be it a big lens or deodorant. Support the blog by starting your search by clicking on the logo-link below. No purchase is too small to be appreciated; they all add up. Why make it a habit? Because I make it a habit of bringing you new images and information on an almost daily basis.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂

102

This post marks 102 straight days with a new educational blog post. With so many folks getting in the habit of using our B&H and Amazon links why quit now? To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we do ask that use our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

Note: we almost never have Mongoose M3.6 heads in stock. We sell them as fast as we get them. The best way to ensure getting one of these great heads for your intermediate or super-telephoto lens is to call Jim and place your order. You are then ensured of getting one from our next shipment. We will not of course bill your credit card until the item ships or drop-ships.

We would of course appreciate you using our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon major gear, video, electronic, household, and personal purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

This blog post took about 1 1/2 hours to prepare. Enjoy.

Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop

Saturday March 15, 2014. 7:15am till 10:15am & 3:30pm till dusk. Lunch, image review, and Photoshop session included. Limit 6/Openings: 4. A very small group is likely: $399.

The cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s Pass is not included.

For the past few years the Great Egrets have been nesting earlier and earlier. Head portraits of this species in full breeding plumage are very likely. Nest building and flight likely. In the field you will learn to spot good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system.

At lunch we will review my images, take a look at five of your best images from the morning session (for those who opt to bring their laptops), and process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time.

Payment in full via credit card is due upon registering. Call me all day on Sunday at 863-692-0906. If I am in the pool or napping, please shoot me an e-mail with a call back time and number. Weekdays you will get Jim or Jen. Ask for me if you have any questions.

BAA’s Economic Survival

In 2001, BAA sold the rights to images for more than $220,000 with VIREO (Visual Resources in Ornithology) as our only stock sales outlet. In other words, we sold lots of images ourselves. In tax year 2011, with images with Corbis and Visuals Unlimited, the total for image sales dropped to under $20,000. No matter how you slice it that represent a decline of more than 90%. Today, it is difficult to sell an image. With the handwriting on the wall I knew that we would need to adapt to survive. We have. We grew the mail order business via the BAA Online Store, we realized that creating income by selling information in digital form (PDFs)and MP4 Video Tutorials) would help save me from becoming a WalMart greeter, and we came to depend on the workshop business in the form of BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours to remain more than solvent.

More recently our B&H and Amazon Affiliate link have done well and provided significant income as more and more folks have been using them in appreciation for my somewhat insane efforts here on the blog. As always, my #1 goal is to help folks become better photographers.

It’s a Strange, Strange Business Indeed

Of late, the tour business has been hard to figure out. Here is a current example. In 2012 denise and I sold out our Nickerson Beach Workshop–see the opening image above. In 2013 it was a sell-out plus one over the limit. We were joined by John Van de Graaff, Doug West, Allan and Pat Lillich, Mike Goldhamer, Harry Hersh, Geri George, Lawrence Tawa, Paul Pinto Jr and his Dad, Brent Bridges, John Haedo, Tim Thompson, and Mark Hardymon. Though the season was late and as nature would have it, Black Skimmers were in short supply, we all had a great time with the Common Terns (especially the small chicks) and the American Oystercatcher families. Everyone went home smarter, more skilled, and very happy.

It is interesting to note that of the 13 folks, there were only 2 newcomers, the talented Paul Pinto Jr. and Larry Tawa from the West Coast. Larry signed up for Bosque last year but had to cancel at the last minute. We began advertising our 2014 Nickerson trip about 6 months ago. One old friend has been threatening to sign up but so far we have no registrants. As I said, things have been strange.

Two years ago I scheduled a San Diego IPT. When nobody signed up, I scrapped it. This year I planned a short-notice trip there and sold it out within one week. Go figure.

International Trips

International trips are just as strange. We sold out Holland with 12 last year, this year we have 7. Interested folks should sign up soon as we need to release the extra hotel rooms. Peter Kes will be joining us for the weekend. I sold out the recent Japan trip by invitation only in one day and am in the process of doing same with my 2016 Japan in Winter IPT. Galapagos 2015 is filling nicely. On the other hand, after doing a Camargue horses trip last year, dozens of folks e-mailed denise expressing interest. We put together a great trip but after several months with nobody signing up we were forced to cancel. Within a week of taking the trip down we received more than a dozen e-mails from folks ready and anxious to leave a deposit. Last year the Tanzania summer safari that I co-led with Todd Gustafson went with a group of 14. We are going again this year, right now with one client. I expect the UK puffins and gannets trip to sell out within days, but in reality, who knows?

As I’ve said, Go figure.

Denise’s Card

As I mentioned above, the skimmers were both low in numbers and late nesting last July. Typically there would be lots of nests and more than a few small chicks on those dates. All of Neesie’s images above were made within 2 weeks of the IPT and the skimmer chicks in particular give a much more typical picture of activity in mid-July.

Nickerson Baby Beach-nesting Birds IPT: 3-Full Days/July 15-17, 2014: $1199. Introductory meet and greet: 8pm, Monday, July 14, 2014. Co-leaders Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito

Join us on Long Island, NY next summer to photograph Black Skimmers, Common Terns with chicks, American Oystercatcher families, and possibly some just-hatched Black Skimmer chicks. The opportunities will include chances to photograph a variety of breeding behaviors including courtship feeding, display flight and combat, and copulations. Car-pooling is recommended; if we opt to return to the beach before 5pm there is a $30/vehicle parking fee that is not included so it is best to share that expense. Parking in the morning is free.

A $499 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. Your balance is due 4 months before the date of the IPT and is also non-refundable. If 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. If 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.”) Though we prefer a check, 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

Join Denise Ippolito and me for four great days of photography and learning at one of our soul places. Please click on the card to enjoy a larger version.

The Business of Bosque Workshops

Perhaps a dozen years ago I ran four 3-DAY Bosque IPTs with a limit of 16 photographers. They always sold out well in advance. As the years went by I cut down on the number of Bosque Workshops, made them longer, and reduced the group size. Until last year the plan was working fabulously well with my traditional Thanksgiving dates. Last year I had only a single photographer along for the whole ride with several more signing up for the short version after the holiday. In contrast, the 4-day Bosque 2014 IPT already has 8 folks signed up. Go figure….

As noted here previously, pretty much anyone with a camera is now qualified to lead a photography tour. While some appreciate great leaders with decades of experience, others are not. From where I sit, it is all about value. For now, I am doing just fine. Who knows what the future will bring? I surely don’t but I suspect that I will continue to do just fine. And so will denise.

Click here for the Instructional Photo-Tour schedule and complete IPT details.

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

Everyone buys something from Amazon, be it a big lens or deodorant. Support the blog by starting your search by clicking on the logo-link below. No purchase is too small to be appreciated; they all add up. Why make it a habit? Because I make it a habit of bringing you new images and information on an almost daily basis.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂

The Streak Gets to 100

This post marks 100 straight days with a new blog post. Who’d of thunk it? Not me for sure. The streak may be extended for at least another day or so, or not. Or more…. To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we ask that use our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

Note: we almost never have Mongoose M3.6 heads in stock. We sell them as fast as we get them. The best way to ensure getting one of these great heads for your intermediate or super-telephoto lens is to call Jim and place your order. You are then ensured of getting one from our next shipment. We will not of course bill your credit card until the item ships or drop-ships.

We would of course appreciate you using our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon major gear, video, electronic, household, and personal purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

This blog post took about 1 1/2 hours to prepare. Enjoy.

Floored!

A decade ago I spend a good deal of my waking time engaged in online piss-fights. Many of them got quite ugly. I remember an Italian guy posting something to the effect that it was simply not possible to create a sharp image with a telephoto lens and a teleconverter. What I had to say was not pretty. And it went on back and forth for days. I was doing my best at the time, but….

That in mind I was absolutely floored to receive the following BPN Private Message from John Haig:

I wanted to take a moment to thank you, for all the lessons over the years. They started way back, reading your articles and with the purchase of “The Art of Bird Photography”. They have continued through your newsletter/blog and forum posts. I have learned a lot of great technical details from you. More importantly, I learned to really think about the images I make.

Best Regards, John

The Work

When I read John’s PM I had to read it again to make sure that he was talking about me. He was. And yes, I was floored. At times we continue to see our old selves being unable to note or acknowledge personal growth. It was great to receive John’s PM. In retrospect, my growth began after I started doing The Work of Byron Katie: Who would you be without your story?. I learned of Byron Katie from my good friend, my health and personal adviser, Dr. Cliff Oliver of San Diego, CA. Simply put, The Work helps you learn to love what is by asking four simple questions and turning them around. It was not until I began doing The Work on my late-wife Elaine’s death–breast cancer in 1994–that I came to be completely at peace with it. But doing The Work spun off to other areas of my daily life; most especially, it helped me learn to stay out of those energy-sapping, time consuming, totally worthless online confrontations. I still slip every once in a while, but I pretty much avoid them. You will never convince the nay-sayers, especially the very few bitter unhappy folks who derive pleasure from spreading their poison.

Loving what is is a great way to be. I hope that before they put me in a box that I have the opportunity to attend a Byron Katie event and to give her a hug. Two of her can’t miss works are “Loving What Is: Four Questions That Can Change Your Life” and “I Need Your Love – Is That True?: How to Stop Seeking Love, Approval, and Appreciation and Start Finding Them Instead.” I am still working on the latter :). In any case I am much more at peace than I was six years ago. And it’s nice to have someone notice it so thanks John!

Do The Work For Free

Learn more about the work here. You can get started doing the work for free by downloading the “Judge Your Neighbor” worksheet here. Answer the four questions at the bottom of the sheet and do the turn-arounds. You will be well on your way to finding peace.

Gatorland Short Notice Saturday Full-Day In-the-Field Workshop

Saturday March 15, 2014. 7:15am till 10:15am & 3:30pm till dusk. Lunch, image review, and Photoshop session included. Limit 6. A very small group is likely: $399.

The cost of your Gatorland Photographer’s Pass is not included.

For the past few years the Great Egrets have been nesting earlier and earlier. Head portraits of this species in full breeding plumage are very likely. Nest building and flight likely. In the field you will learn to spot good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system.

At lunch we will review my images, take a look at five of your best images from the morning session (for those who opt to bring their laptops), and process a few of my images in Photoshop after converting them in DPP. That followed by Instructor Nap Time.

Payment in full via credit card is due upon registering. Call me all day on Sunday at 863-692-0906. If I am in the pool or napping, please shoot me an e-mail with a call back time and number. Weekdays you will get Jim or Jen. Ask for me if you have any questions.

IPT Info

Many of our great trips are filling up. With 5 Canadians and another couple signing up for our 4-DAY Bosque IPT; that workshop is filling up quickly. See especially info on the Holland, and Nickerson Beach IPTs. Two great leaders on most trips ensure that you will receive individual attention, have all of your questions answered, and learn a ton including how to think like a pro, see the situation, and get the right exposure every time. In addition you will have fun, and make lots of great images. Click here for IPT details and general information.

Holland 2014 7 1/2-Day/8-Night: A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART/Tulips & A Touch of Holland IPT. April 17-April 24, 2014: $4995 Limit: 12/Openings: 5

We still have room for 5 more flower photographers on this great trip.

Join Denise Ippolito, Flower Queen and the author of “Bloomin’ Ideas,” and Arthur Morris, Canon Explorer of Light Emeritus and one of the planet’s premier photographic educators for a great trip to Holland in mid-April 2014. Day 1 of the IPT will be April 17, 2014. We will have a short afternoon get-together and then our first photographic session at the justly-famed Keukenhof. Most days we will return to the hotel for lunch, image sharing and a break. On Day 8, April 24, we will enjoy both morning and afternoon photography sessions.

The primary subjects will be tulips and orchids at Keukenhof and the spectacularly amazing tulip, hyacinth, and daffodil bulb fields around Lisse. In addition we will spend one full day in Amsterdam. There will be optional visits the Van Gogh Museum in the morning and the Anne Frank House in the afternoon; there will be plenty of time for street photography as well. And some great food. On another day we will have a wonderful early dinner at Kinderdijk and then head out with our gear to photograph the windmills and possibly some birds for those who bring their longs lenses. We will spend an afternoon in the lovely Dutch town of Edam where we will do some street photography and enjoy a superb dinner. All lodging, ground transportation, entry fees, and meals (from dinner on Day 1 through dinner on Day 8) are included. For those who will be bringing a big lens we will likely have an optional bird photography afternoon or two.

Click here for additional info or to register.

Join me for the 2014 Tanzania Summer Safari!

2014 Tanzania Summer Safari, 14-day African Adventure/leave the US on August 9. Fly home on August 24: $12,999.

Co-leaders Todd Gustafson & Arthur Morris. The limit is 12. Three photographers/van; you get your own row of seats. Our trip is a bit more expensive than the average safari for good reason. It is the best. We have the best driver guides with a total of decades of experience. They have been trained over the years by Todd and by me to drive with photography in mind. We have the best and most knowledgeable leaders. We stay in the best lodges and camps. We hope that you will join us for what will be Todd’s 35th African safari, and my 8th.

If you are seriously interested please e-mail me; I will be glad to send you the illustrated PDF with the complete itinerary and deposit info.

What else makes this expedition unique?

•Pre-trip consultation and camera equipment advice
•Award-winning photographers as your guides
•A seamless itinerary visiting the right locations at the best time of year
•Hands-on photography instruction in the field
•Specially designed three roof-hatch photo safari vehicles
•Proprietary materials for preparation, including free copy of “A Photographer’s Guide to Photographing in East Africa.”
•Post-safari image critiques

All-inclusive (double-occupancy) except for your flights to and from Kilamajaro Airport, bar drinks, soda & water (except at the Intimate Tented Camp where everything is free for our entire stay), tips for drivers and camp staff, personal items, and trip insurance.

Breathe deeply, bite the bullet, and live life to its fullest; we all get only one ride on the merry-go-round… Join me on this great trip. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

The Southern Ocean…

If you would like to explore the possibility of joining me on the Cheesemans’ Ecology Safaris Antarctica/The Extended Expedition Voyage< trip: Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia and Falkland Islands: December 13, 2014 to January 10, 2015, click here for additional information and then shoot me an e-mail.

The DPP RAW Conversion Guide

To learn why I use Canon’s Digital Photo Professional (DPP) to convert every image that I work on, click here.

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

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Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂

Jet Lag Update

After reading comments left on the last two blog posts (big time thanks to Jerry Murray and Colin Bradshaw), I consulted my San Diego health guru, Dr. Cliff Oliver. He suggested getting some time-release melatonin and taking a small dose at bed-time. I could not get the time release stuff in Lake Wales so I got the regular in the 3mg dose. I cut one tablet in half, took that just before bedtime–11:00pm, made one pit stop during which I took the remaining 1/2 of the pill, fell quickly back to sleep, and woke up refreshed at 7:30am. It was one of my best night’s sleep in a decade. (My ice baths, which I began when I got back, always help with sleep via fewer pit stops.) Like Cliff on Facebook and learn a ton about Wellness here.

The Streak

This post marks 98 straight days with a new blog post, a record by far that should be extended for at least another day or so, or not. Or more…. To show your appreciation for my efforts here, we ask that use our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. We sell only what I use and depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

You can find the following items in the store: Gitzo tripods, Mongoose M3.6 and Wimberley heads, plates, low feet, and accessories, flash brackets, , Delkin e-film Pro Compact Flash Cards, LensCoat products, and our unique line-up of educational materials including ABP I & II, Digital Basics, Site and Set-up e-Guides, Canon and Nikon Camera Users and AF e-Guides, and MP-4 Photoshop video tutorials among others.

We would of course appreciate you using our B&H and Amazon affiliate links for all of your B&H and Amazon major gear, video, electronic, household, and personal purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above we would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and visiting the BAA Online store as well.

This blog post took about 1 1/2 hours to prepare. Enjoy.

Gear Bag for Holland

Now that I am back from Japan, I am looking forward to the Holland IPT. I will be traveling light. For me at least 🙂 Here, is the gear that I will be bringing along with an explanation of why for each item:

Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM lens. This will likely be my most used lens on the tripod. I will hand hold it using the techniques that Denise Ippolito taught the group on the last Tulip IPT and use it on the tripod with the Canon Tripod Mount Ring D for 100mm f/2.8L IS Macro lens. The lens does not come with a tripod collar. A separate purchase is required. You can save well more than $100 by going with the Vello Tripod Collar D (Black) for Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM Macro lens. I will surely use the 100 macro lens on a tripod a lot more than denise will even though she uses the older non-IS model that she loves. I did not own this lens at the time of the Holland trip last year; I can’t wait to get back and see what I can do with it.

Canon EF 180mm f/3.5L Macro USM lens. This was my former favorite macro lens. It gives you a bit more reach and a narrower angle of view than the 100 macro lenses. I use it often with a 1.4X III TC.

Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM lens with Internal 1.4x Extender. Last year I brought my Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens into the Willem-Alexander Pavilion at Keukenhof there was lots of staring going on. This year the 2-4 will be my long lens for the tulips. With an external 1.4X III in place it will give me 784mm of reach that will be great for isolating single flowers. In addition, it should be great for our optional afternoon of Purple Heron flight photography and possibly for Great-crested Grebe as well.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens. This versatile intermediate telephoto lens is perfect for the tulip fields. Last year I used it often to create both sharp images as well as zoom, pan, and shiver blurs. (Learn more in A Guide to Pleasing Blurs by Denise Ippolito and yours truly.)

Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM lens. Never leave home without a short zoom lens. I replaced the older Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM lens with the 24-70II because the latter is clearly sharper and because it meshes perfectly with my 70-200 f/2.8 L IS II. On this trip I will be hand holding this lens whenever I use it.

Canon Extender EF 1.4X III. I will have two along as I never travel without a back-up for my most valuable accessory. I will one available when I need extra reach either with the 180 macro or the 200-400.

Canon Extension Tube EF 25 II & Canon Extension Tube EF 12 II. I am bringing two of the former and one of the latter to allow for closer focusing. I often use them in combination. Be sure to stop down a bunch whenever using an extension tube to prevent vignetting.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III DSLR camera body. For the superb image quality of the 5D III’s 22.3 megapixel files the lightweight 5D III is my go-to camera body for flowers. And don’t forget the in-camera HDR and in-camera Multiple Exposure features.

Canon EOS-1D X Digital camera body. The 1D X is my primo bird photography body so I will use it for the Purple Herons and have it along as my back-up body. You should never make a big trip without a back-up camera body. Renting a body from BorrowLenses using our affiliate link is a great option.

Gitzo 3532 LS carbon fiber tripod & the Mongoose M3.6 head. This combination works every bit as well with my Macro lenses as it does with my 600 II and will allow me to photograph the Purple Herons in flight off a tripod should my arms get weary.

Did I miss anything?

Questions

If you have any questions on what I am bringing or on any of the gear above, feel free to ask by leaving a comment.

Learning on BPN (BirdPhotographers.net/It Ain’t Just Birds!

I am consistently amazed that in addition to teaching others through honest critiques done gently how much I learn while offering helpful critiques. For a great example, see Iain Barker’s Chaffinch post here. There is a great example of making accurate Curves adjustments and I learned a ton about using Hue/Saturation to attain the right colors.

See the newly designed Home Page here, see all of our great forums here, or visit the Avian Forum here. The Avian Forum alone has had 48,311 images posted for critiquing and 437,372 Replies. That’s a lot of learning!

Holland 2014 7 1/2-Day/8-Night: A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART/Tulips & A Touch of Holland IPT. April 17-April 24, 2014: $4995 Limit: 12/Openings: 5

Act soon: this trip is not far off.

Join Denise Ippolito, Flower Queen and the author of “Bloomin’ Ideas,” and Arthur Morris, Canon Explorer of Light Emeritus and one of the planet’s premier photographic educators for a great trip to Holland in mid-April 2014. Day 1 of the IPT will be April 17, 2014. We will have a short afternoon get-together and then our first photographic session at the justly-famed Keukenhof. Most days we will return to the hotel for lunch, image sharing and a break. On Day 8, April 24, we will enjoy both morning and afternoon photography sessions.

The primary subjects will be tulips and orchids at Keukenhof and the spectacularly amazing tulip, hyacinth, and daffodil bulb fields around Lisse. In addition we will spend one full day in Amsterdam. There will be optional visits the Van Gogh Museum in the morning and the Anne Frank House in the afternoon; there will be plenty of time for street photography as well. And some great food. On another day we will have a wonderful early dinner at Kinderdijk and then head out with our gear to photograph the windmills and possibly some birds for those who bring their longs lenses. We will spend an afternoon in the lovely Dutch town of Edam where we will do some street photography and enjoy a superb dinner. All lodging, ground transportation, entry fees, and meals (from dinner on Day 1 through dinner on Day 7) are included.

For those who will be bringing a big lens we will likely have an optional bird photography afternoon or two. If we get lucky, the big attraction should be gorgeous Purple Herons in flight at a breeding marsh. We would be photographing them from the roadside. And we might be able to find a few Great-crested Grebes at a location near Keukenhof.

You will learn to create tight abstracts, how to best use depth-of-field (or the lack thereof) to improve your flower photography, how to get the right exposure and make sharp images every time, how to see the shot, and how to choose the best perspective for a given situation. And you will of course learn to create a variety of pleasingly blurred flower images. If you bring a long lens, you will learn to use it effectively for flower photography. Denise’s two favorite flower lenses are the Canon 100mm macro and the Canon 24-105mm zoom. Mine are the Canon 180mm macro lens and the Canon 600mm f/4L IS II, both always on a tripod and both often used with extension tubes and/or the 1.4X teleconverters. Denise hand holds a great deal of the time. For flower field blurs denise uses the same lenses mentioned above. My favorite is the 70-200 often with a 1.4X TC but I use both the 24-105 and the 600 II as well. Both of us use and love the Canon EOS-5D Mark III for all of our flower photography. The in-camera HDR and Multiple Exposure features are a blast.

One of the great advantages of our trip is that we will be staying in a single, strategically located hotel that is quite excellent. Do note that all ground transfers to and from Schipol will be via hotel shuttle bus.

What’s included: Eight hotel nights. All ground transportation except for airport transfers as noted above. In-the-field instruction and small group image review and Photoshop sessions. All meals from dinner on Day 1 through dinner on Day 8. The hotel we are staying in often offers both lunch and dinner buffets. The food is excellent. Whenever you order off the menu be it at the hotel or at one of the several fine-dining spots that we will be enjoying at various locations, only the cost of your main course is included. On these occasions the cost of soups, appetizers, salads, sodas and other beverages, alcoholic drinks and wine, bottled water, and desserts are not included. This is done in part in hopes that folks will be less inclined to enjoy an eight course dinner so that we can get to bed early. As with all A Creative Adventure/BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours both the photo sessions and the days are long. Nothing that we do however will be demanding. Being able to sit down on the ground with your gear is, however, a huge plus. Anyone in halfway decent shape should be fine.

Snacks, personal items, phone calls, etc. are not included.

Beware of seemingly longer, slightly less expensive tours that include travel days and days sitting in the hotel doing nothing as part of the tour. In addition, other similar trips have you changing hotels needlessly. The cost of this years trip is a bit higher than last years to reflect our increased experience and the extra hotel night that is included. One final note on other similar trips: the instructors on this trip actually instruct. On other similar trips the instructors, though usually eminently qualified, serve for the most part as van drivers….

Happy Campers only please. A non-refundable deposit of $1,000 per person is required to hold your spot. The second payment of $2,000 due by October 30, 2013. The balance is due on January 15, 2014. Payments in full are of course welcome at any time. All payments including the deposit must be made by check made out to “Arthur Morris.” As life has a way of throwing an occasional curve ball our way, you are urged to purchase travel insurance within 15 days of our cashing your check. I use and recommend Travel Insurance Services. All payments are non-refundable unless the trip fills to capacity. In that case, all payments but your deposit will be refunded.

All checks should be made out to “Arthur Morris” and sent to: Arthur Morris, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Please fill out the paperwork here and include a signed copy with your deposit check.

IPT Info

Many of our great trips are filling up. With 5 Canadians signing up for our 4-DAY Bosque IPT, that workshop is filling up quickly. See also the info on the South Florida and Nickerson Beach IPTs. Two great leaders on most trips ensure that you will receive individual attention, have all of your questions answered, and learn a ton including how to think like a pro, see the situation, read the light and the wind direction, and get the right exposure every time. In addition you will have fun, and make lots of great images. Click here for IPT details and general information.

For couples or friends signing up at the same time for the tulip trip, a $200/person discount will be applied to the final payment.

Click here for complete details and lots of wonderful images with our legendary educational captions. Click here and see item one for lots more tulip images.

UK Puffins and Gannets in Flight IPT: early July 2014.

Please e-mail if interested. Details TBA very soon.

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

Everyone buys something from Amazon, be it a big lens or deodorant. Support the blog by starting your search by clicking on the logo-link below. No purchase is too small to be appreciated; they all add up. Why make it a habit? Because I make it a habit of bringing you new images and information on an almost daily basis.

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos, wrong words, misspellings, omissions, or grammatical errors. Just be right. 🙂