My Sunday morning photo session began with an adult Bald Eagle perched in a pine tree. Next was a shaded, backlit Osprey with a fish in a pine tree. Then I relocated the very small Killdeer chicks. I finished up with two Wild Turkey hens with poults in two in the wildflowers. But for the Killdeer chicks, none of the images were even halfway decent.
Shoot me an e-mail for Jacksonville IPT #1 late registration discount details.
Today is Monday 6 June 2022. The forecast for this morning is for partly cloudy skies with a gentle NNE breeze. I am — of course — headed down to the lake early. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes eighty-three days in a row with a new one.
Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!
BIRDS AS ART Image Optimization Service (BAA IOS)
Send a PayPal for $62.00 to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 and put $62.00 on your credit card. Pick one of your best images and upload the raw file using a large file sending service like Hightail or DropBox and then send me the link via e-mail. I will download and save your raw file, evaluate the exposure and sharpness, and optimize the image as if it were my own after converting the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw. Best of all, I will make a screen recording of the entire process and send you a link to the video to download, save and study.
Another Induro GIT 304L Price Drop
Amazingly, we have two, brand-new-in-the-box Induro GIT 304L tripods in stock. They are $699.00 each (were $799.00) and the price now includes the insured ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Weekday phone orders only: 863-692-0906.
And Please Remember
You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.
Please remember that if an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Brand-New and As-Good-As-Ever Bedfords BAA Discount Policy
Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, or to any prior purchases.
Money Saving Reminder
Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would like to enjoy getting 3% back on your credit card along with free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex Air shipping, your best bet is to click here, place an order with Bedfords, and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If an item is out of stock, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592 (Central time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and check the box for Free Shipping. That will automatically upgrade to free 2nd Day Air Fed-Ex. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The waitlists at the big stores can be a year or longer for the hard-to-get items. Steve will surely get you your gear long before that. For the past year, he has been helping BAA Blog folks get their hands on items like the SONY a 1, the SONY 200-600 G OSS lens, the Canon EOS R5, the Canon RF 100-500mm lens, and the Nikon 500mm PF. Steve is personable, helpful, and eager to please.
Important Note
As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the Amazon links on the blog (including the logo-link immediately above). My link works with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂
Please Remember Also
Please, if you enjoy and learn from the blog, remember to use one of my two affiliate programs when purchasing new gear. Doing so just might make it possible for me to avoid having to try to get a job as a Walmart greeter and will not cost you a single penny more. And if you use Bedfords and remember to enter the BIRDSASART code at checkout, you will (still!) save 3% on every order and enjoy free second-day air shipping. In these crazy times — I lost about fifty thousand dollars in income due to COVID 19 — remembering to use my B&H link or to shop at Bedfords will help me out a ton and be greatly appreciated. Overseas folks who cannot order from the US because of import fees, duties, and taxes, are invited to help out by clicking here to leave a blog thank you gift if they see fit.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of photographers whom I see in the field and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear, especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.
This image was created on 5 June 2022 at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from my SUV, I used the BLUBB supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 800. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/800 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:31:35am on a partly sunny morning. As below, RawDigger showed the exposure was dead-solid perfect.
Tracking: Spot S AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #1: Five-day old Killdeer chick
Birds are Creatures of Habit …
In other words, bird behavior is often repetitive. I saw the two very small chicks just to the left of the pier on Saturday morning. So, on Sunday morning, I kept my eyes peeled for the two little cuties and found them in the field just to the left of the base of the pier. They were in precisely the same spot as the previous set of Killdeer twins that I had photographed a month ago.
This same principle will often apply to specific behaviors. If a gull or a crane stretches a wing and you miss the shot for whatever reason, be ready for bird to do the exact same thing in a few minutes. You may often wish to adjust your settings.
Your Call
What is your favorite part of today’s featured image?
In general, if you are working with a super-telephoto lens that offers Full-time Direct Manual Focus (DMF), it is best to have that switch set to ON. Then, if the focus is so far off that the AF system is effectively blind, you can simply adjust the focus manually by turning the focus ring. Once the subject is partially in focus, half-press the shutter button; focus acquisition will be instantaneous.
When using the BLUBB from your vehicle (or anywhere else for that matter), photographing birds moving from one side of the frame to the other with a super-telephoto lens can be problematic. With DMF ON and the focusing ring resting on top of the BLUBB, accurate focus will be thrown off as you pan. Why? Because with DMF ON, the manual focus ring will affect the focus when it turns even ever-so-slightly.
To eliminate that problem, I recently began using a Panning Ground Pod placed atop the BLUBB. This allows me to pan without having the manual focus ring throw off the focus. The big advantage for BIRDS AS ART is that publicizing this information would help sell more BLUBBs. But simply mounting the lens on the Panning Ground Pod when it is needed can be a pain in the a _ _. And even with the large flat surface of the BLUBB, stability becomes an issue.
While waking up in bed this morning at about 4:15am — no worries, I go to bed very early, I came up with a far better, more elegant solution. When working from your vehicle with a with a super-telephoto lens that has a DMF switch, simply turn the DMF switch to OFF. When the manual focusing ring turns as you pan, AF will not be affected. Note that in most cases, with DMF turned ON, you cannot pre-focus manually when using a BLUBB because it is impossible to turn the manual focus ring as it is rests on the BLUBB.
One advantage of using a Panning Ground Pod and placing it atop the BLUBB is that panning is smoother. Another way to get smooth panning while shooting a big lens in the car is to learn to set up a tripod inside the car. See the $10.00 video here to learn how I do it. BTW, if you do that, the Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro is the way to go as it allows you to level and lock the silver ball so that you are always working square to the world.
Image #1A: The RawDigger Screen Capture for the Five-day old Killdeer chick image
Ho Hum, Another Perfect Exposure
What can I say? The combination of Zebras live in the viewfinder (with your camera set up properly) and post-capture study of the raw files in RawDigger makes it pretty much child’s play to come up with perfect exposure after perfect exposure. It would be impossible to overstate how much I have learned by studying RawDigger and how much better my exposures have become since I started with the program almost two years ago. The raw file brightness for today’s featured image is perfect with the G channel barely making the 16000 line. The 114 OvExp pixels are from the specular highlight in the chick’s eye. Out of 51 million pixels, they are insignificant at best. The raw file brightness is perfect.
RawDigger — not for the faint of heart …
Nothing has ever helped me learn to create perfect exposures to the degree that RawDigger has. I think that many folks are reluctant to learn that most of their images are underexposed by one or more full stops and that highlight warnings in Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture One, Photo Mechanic, and the in-camera histograms are bogus as they are based on the embedded JPEGs. Only your raw files tell the truth all the time. Heck, I resisted RawDigger for several years … Once you get over that feeling, RawDigger can become your very best exposure friend no matter what system you are using. On the recent IPTs and In-the-Field sessions, we have demonstrated that fact. Convincingly.
The RawDigger Adapted (pink) Histogram
In the RawDigger e-Guide, you will learn exactly how to set up the Adapted “pink” RawDigger Histogram and how to use it to quickly and easily evaluate the exposure or raw file brightness of images from all digital cameras currently in use. RawDigger was especially helpful to me as I struggled with R5 exposures and learned my new camera body, the Sony Alpha a1.
RawDigger e-Guide with Two Videos
The RawDigger e-Guide with Two Videos
by Arthur Morris with Patrick Sparkman
The RawDigger e-Guide was created only for serious photographers who wish to get the absolute most out of their raw files.
Patrick and I began work on the guide in July 2020. At first, we struggled. We asked questions. We learned about Max-G values. We puzzled as to why the Max G values for different cameras were different. IPT veteran Bart Deamer asked lots of questions that we could not answer. We got help from RawDigger creator Iliah Borg. We learned. In December, Patrick came up with an Adapted Histogram that allows us to evaluate the exposures and raw file brightness for all images created with all digital camera bodies from the last two decades. What we learned each time prompted three complete beginning to end re-writes.
The point of the guide is to teach you to truly expose to the mega-Expose-to-the-Right so that you will minimize noise, maximize image quality, best utilize your camera’s dynamic range, and attain the highest possible level of shadow detail in your RAW files in every situation. In addition, your properly exposed RAW files will contain more tonal information and feature the smoothest possible transitions between tones. And your optimized images will feature rich, accurate color.
We teach you why the GREEN channel is almost always the first to over-expose. We save you money by advising you which version of RawDigger you need. We teach you how to interpret the Max G values for your Canon, Nikon, and SONY camera bodies. It is very likely that the Shock-your-World section will shock you. And lastly — thanks to the technical and practical brilliance of Patrick Sparkman — we teach you a simple way to evaluate your exposures and the raw file brightness quickly and easily the Adapted RawDigger histogram.
The flower video takes you through a session where artie edits a folder of images in Capture One while checking the exposures and Max-G values in RawDigger. The Adapted Histogram video examines a series of recent images with the pink histograms and covers lots of fine points including and especially how to deal with specular highlights. The directions for setting up the Adapted Histogram are in the text.
If we priced this guide based on how much effort we put into it, it would sell it for $999.00. But as this guide will be purchased only by a limited number of serious photographers, we have priced it at $51.00. You can order yours here in the BAA Online Store.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
So, What Do You Think That I Did On Saturday Morning?
On Friday morning, I made more than 2000 photographs of various Ospreys. So, what do you think that I did on Saturday morning?
What’s Up?
Rain showers had been forecast for ILE on Saturday from dawn until 5pm. Though it was dreary for most of the day, the sun did peak through several times. I was down to the lake early and made a very few images. But I liked one; it is today’s featured image. It sprinkled for two minutes or so several times in the afternoon. Go figure. I culled my images from the Lake Blue Cypress boat trip, keeping 203 after the first edit (out of 3029). Many of the keepers are series of from three to ten similar images, most of which will wind up in the trash bin after the second edit.
I saw two very small Killdeer chicks and their protective parents running around just south of the pier. I wondered why I had not seen the adults there before. Then I realized that the two chicks were almost surely from the protected nest in the North Field. I was not able to make any images of them.
Shoot me an e-mail for Jacksonville IPT #1 late registration discount details.
Today is Sunday 5 June 2022. The forecast for this morning is for partly cloudy, but when I peeked out the back door at 5:00am, all that I saw were stars. It was warm and humid and very still. I will be heading down to the lake early. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes eighty-two days in a row with a new one.
Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!
BIRDS AS ART Image Optimization Service (BAA IOS)
Send a PayPal for $62.00 to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 and put $62.00 on your credit card. Pick one of your best images and upload the raw file using a large file sending service like Hightail or DropBox and then send me the link via e-mail. I will download and save your raw file, evaluate the exposure and sharpness, and optimize the image as if it were my own after converting the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw. Best of all, I will make a screen recording of the entire process and send you a link to the video to download, save and study.
Another Induro GIT 304L Price Drop
Amazingly, we have two, brand-new-in-the-box Induro GIT 304L tripods in stock. They are $699.00 each (were $799.00) and the price now includes the insured ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Weekday phone orders only: 863-692-0906.
Wanted to Buy
If you have any Canon Series III teleconverters (the 1.4X III or the 2X III) that you’d like to get rid of, please shoot me an e-mail if you are interested in turning them into cash. I have an interested buyer.
Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART
Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission on items priced at $1,000 or more. With items less than $1000, there is a $50 flat-fee. One of the more popular used gear sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. If you are interested, please click here, read everything carefully, and do what it says. To avoid any misunderstandings, please read the whole thing very carefully. If you agree to the terms, please state so clearly via e-mail and include the template or templates, one for each item you wish to sell. Then we can work together to get your stuff priced and listed.
Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice only to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past years, we have sold many hundreds of items. Do know that prices for used gear only go in one direction. Down. You can always see the current listings by clicking here or on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.
New Listings
Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift Lens
Blog regular Alice Garland is offering a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift lens in near-mint condition for $549.00. The sale includes the front and rear lens caps and insured shipping via major courier to the lower 48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears or other arrangements are made.
Please contact Alice at via e-mail or by phone at 1-509-954-4253 (Pacific time zone).
This specialty lens is used for portraiture, architectural, food, and landscape photography, the latter especially by folks photographing flower-fields. They offer precise control of depth of field. The newer “L” version of this lens sells new for $2,199.00 and is back-ordered pretty much everywhere. artie
Mixing a short telephoto field of view with perspective- and depth of field control, the TS-E 90mm f/2.8 from Canon is a tilt-shift lens well-suited to producing well-corrected imagery with a slightly compressed perspective. Up to +/- 8° of tilt is possible, for focus control, and +/- 11mm of shift, to adjust perspective and composition. The tilt-shift mechanism can be rotated +/- 90° for applying movements in any direction, and a tilt-locking mechanism can be used while shooting for greater stability. The lens also employs a Gaussian-type optical design to maintain image quality throughout the aperture range and a Super Spectra coating has been applied to individual element to reduce flare and ghosting for increased contrast and color accuracy.Canon & B&H
Canon Extender EF 2X II (teleconverter)
BIRDS AS ART Record Low Price
Blog regular Alice Garland is offering a Canon Extender EF 2X II (teleconverter) in excellent condition for a BIRDS AS ART record-low $148.00. The sale includes the front and rear lens caps and insured shipping via major courier to the lower 48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears or other arrangements are made.
Please contact Alice at via e-mail or by phone at 1-509-954-4253 (Pacific time zone).
As regular readers know, TCs are so important to what I do that I always travel with three 1.4X teleconverters and two 2X teleconverters. (Note: they do fail on occasion …) In addition, TC AF performance and results are much improved with the Canon mirrorless bodies like the EOS R5 and the EOS R3. artie
This image was created on 4 June 2022 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Standing at full height, I used the no longer available Induro GIT 304L/Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 800. 1/100 sec. at f/5.6 (stopped down two stops) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be perfect. AWB at 7:34:25am on dreary morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: Osprey — twin chicks in the nest
What I Did on Saturday Morning
I love bird photography. So, I went down to the lake and made more Osprey images. I had visualized today’s featured image for several weeks and had been waiting for the chicks to be large enough to stand up in the nest and be visible. And I knew that only a cloudy day would work. On both counts, Saturday 4 June was the day.
Do You Like This Image?
Why or why not?
Fat Boy Firsts
For the first time, I worked with the 400 f/2.8 on a tripod. And for the first time (other than accidentally), I stopped down, two full stops in this instance. I wanted to be sure that the large nest and all the moss was sharp. The plan worked well. Note the placement of the chicks in the upper left corner.
Be sure to click on the image to better see the AF point — a green circular crosshairs with a red box inside it.
Image #1A: A7INFO screen capture for the Osprey — twin chicks in the nest image
Fat Boy AF
As stated here recently, all Tracking:AF-C Methods with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled are faster and more accurate with an f/2.8 lens than they are with slower lenses. As seen in the screen capture above.
For Eagle-eyed Readers Only
Image #1 is virtually the same as the image seen in 1A. But I did eliminate two tiny things that bugged me. If you can spot one of them, you are doing very well.
A7INFO
A7INFO is an ExifViewer for Sony e-mount cameras. It reveals the AF point or points used to create Sony raw files. In addition, it accurately lists the Focus Distance; this is very helpful when studying depth of field. The program was created by Wolfram Söns of Cologne, Germany. Click here to learn more about A7INFO.You can download the correct version for your computer here. While you’re at it, be sure to leave a donation to support Wolfram’s efforts; $10.00 is suggested.
Note: at present, there is no app that I know of that can tell you after the fact what AF method you were using to create a given raw file … A 7INFO does indicate what it calls AFAreaModeSetting, along with other AF info, but most of it does not correlate with the settings we see on the camera.
Perspective Question
Would setting on a ladder and working with a much taller tripod have helped this image? Why or why not?
Flight Photography at Jacksonville Till You Can’t Lift Your Lens! with Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Join me on the beach at Huguenot Memorial Park to learn about photographing terns in flight. 8,000 pairs of Royal Terns nest there and there are birds in the air all the time, often carrying all kinds of fish and crabs for their young. Learn about how the relationship between the wind and the sun impacts flight photography and about the best gear for shooting birds in flight. Join me on a workshop at Jacksonville this summer.
Cute & Beautiful: Photographing Chicks in Jacksonville, FL with Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
There is an amazing beach near Jacksonville, FL where 8,000 pairs of Royal Terns and 12,000 pairs of Laughing Gulls (along with a few other species) breed each summer. As this video shows, photographing the chicks is easy in the summer. And there is tons of great flight photography as well. If you want to improve your bird photography skills, consider joining me on an Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT).
Click on the composite image to enjoy the incredible quality of the hi-res JPEG.
Clockwise from upper left clockwise and back around to the center: Royal Tern in flight with squid for chick; Royal Tern chick on beach; Royal Tern in flight with shrimp for young; Royal Tern chick — double overhead wing stretch; Royal Tern landing with greenback for chick; Royal Tern in flight with juvenile mahi mahi for chick; Brown Pelican — large chick preening; Laughing Gull in fresh juvenal plumage; Royal Tern chick begging; Many Royal Terns with many chicks on face of dune.
Jacksonville IPT: #1: 4 FULL DAYS — the afternoon of 16 June thru the morning of MON 20 June 2022: $2,099.00. (Limit 6 photographers)
Jacksonville IPT #2: 4 FULL DAYS — the afternoon of FRI 1 JULY thru the morning of TUES 5 July 2022: $2099.00 (Limit 6 photographers)
Jacksonville IPT #3: 4 FULL DAYS — the afternoon of FRI 15 JULY thru the morning of TUES 19 July 2022: $2099.00 (Limit 6 photographers/Openings: 5)
Ride with me: add $200.00. I do not like to disappoint: each trip will run with one participant. If necessary.
I first visited the breeding bird colony at Jacksonville in late June 2021. I was astounded. There were many thousands of pairs of Royal Terns nesting along with about 10,000 pairs of Laughing Gulls. In addition to the royals, there were some Sandwich Terns nesting. And there are several dozen pairs of Brown Pelicans nesting on the ground. Flight photography was non-stop astounding. And photographing the tern chicks was relatively easy. Folks could do the whole trip with the Sony 200-600, the Canon 100-500 RF, or the Nikon 500 PF or 200-500 VR. With a TC in your pocket for use on sunny days. Most of the action is within 100 yards of where we park (on the beach). As with all bird photography, there are times when a super-telephoto lens with either TC is the best tool for the job.
Morning sessions will average about three hours, afternoon sessions about 1 1/2 hours. On cloudy mornings with favorable winds, we may opt to stay out for one long session and skip the afternoon, especially when the afternoon forecast is poor. Lunch is included on the first three days of the IPT and will be served at my AirBnB. After the first lunch there will be an introductory program. On days two and three we will do image review and Photoshop after lunch.
We will be based somewhere west and a bit north of Jacksonville where there are many AirBnB possibilities. The deposit is $599.00. Call Jim at the office any weekday at 863-692-0906 to pay by credit card. Balances must be paid by check.
What You Will Learn on a Jacksonville IPT
1- First and foremast you will learn to become a better flight photographer. Much better.
2-You will learn the basics and fine points of digital exposure. Nikon and Canon folks will learn to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure, and SONY folks will learn to use Zebras so that they can be sure of making excellent exposures before pressing the shutter button.
3- You will learn to work in Manual exposure mode even if you fear it.
4- You will learn to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography, especially the photography of birds in flight.
5- You will learn several pro secrets (for each system) that will help you to become a better flight photographer.
6- You will learn to zoom out in advance (because the birds are so close!) 🙂
7- You will learn how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them.
8- You will learn to spot the good and the great situations.
9- You will learn to understand and predict bird behavior.
10- You will learn to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system.
11- You will learn to choose the best perspective.
12- You will learn to see and control your backgrounds.
13- You will learn to see and understand the light.
14- You will learn to see and create pleasing blurs in pre-dawn situations.
15- You will learn to be ready for the most likely event.
And the best news is that you will be able to take everything you learn home with you so that you will be a better photographer wherever you are and whenever you photograph.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Clemens and I had a spectacular sunrise at Lake Blue Cypress. The morning, however, bore no resemblance to the weather forecast All things considered, we enjoyed a great, cloudy-bright morning with many Ospreys. We did lots of scenics; the Cypress Trees are gorgeous. I did lots of blurs of single trees. And the 400mm f/2.8 shined for flying Ospreys in the cloudy-bright conditions. I created 3029 yet un-culled images. On the way home, Clemens’ boat trailer had a flat tire on the driver’s side. Actually, it was more of a mini-blow-out. Miraculously, the tire blew as Clemens stared at it while we were stopped for coffee at the Yeehaw Junction Pilot truck stop. Had it occurred earlier or later, we would have been changing the tire on SR 60 with traffic whizzing by us five feet away at 65mph. Yikes.
Today is Saturday 4 June 2022. The forecast for dark and dreary with drizzle followed by rain. I will be heading down to the lake just because. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about two hours to prepare and makes eighty-one days in a row with a new one.
Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn! Shoot me an e-mail for Jacksonville IPT #1 late registration details.
Induro GIT 304L Price Drop
Amazingly, we have two, brand-new-in-the-box Induro GIT 304L tripods in stock. They are $749.00 (was $799.00) and the price now includes the insured ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Weekday phone orders only: 863-692-0906.
Wanted to Buy
If you have any Canon Series III teleconverters (the 1.4X III or the 2X III) that you’d like to get rid of, please shoot me an e-mail if you are interested in turning them into cash. I have an interested buyer.
BIRDS AS ART Image Optimization Service (BAA IOS)
Send a PayPal for $62.00 to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 and put $62.00 on your credit card. Pick one of your best images and upload the raw file using a large file sending service like Hightail or DropBox and then send me the link via e-mail. I will download and save your raw file, evaluate the exposure and sharpness, and optimize the image as if it were my own after converting the raw file in Adobe Camera Raw. Best of all, I will make a screen recording of the entire process and send you a link to the video to download, save and study.
This image was created on 24 February at Kachemak Bay, across from Homer, AK. Standing on an open deck work boat, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 400. 1/8000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide-open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be perfect. AWB at 9:28:37am on cloudy-bright morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: Glaucous-winged Gull taking flight
The Beginning of the End
The day after Harry Lerner loaned me his Sony 400mm f/2.8 GM lens for the first time, he offered it to me again. So anxious was I to give it a second go-round, I photographed the first thing that flew by. Even though it was “just a gull.” Not to mention that I love gulls. Close to three decades ago, I wrote an article entitled “Go for the Gulls” for the then-prestigious Birder’s World magazine. Gulls make great subjects for bird photographers striving to improve their skills. When you point your lens at a gull, it will often do something interesting quite soon.
This image was created on 24 February at Kachemak Bay, across from Homer, AK. Standing on an open deck work boat, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 400. 1/8000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide-open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 9:30:00am on partly cloudy/very bright morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Bald Eagle flat flight
Autofocus Needs Light to See
Just as we do, autofocus needs light to see. The more light, the better AF sees (and performs). With the ultra-wide for-a-super-telephoto-lens aperture of f/2.8, the performance with AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection is improved considerably. You get to see the tiny green box indicating Eye tracking more often than you do when working with slower lenses. That was quite evident yesterday when photographing Ospreys in flight.
This image was created on 24 February at Kachemak Bay, across from Homer, AK. Standing on an open deck work boat, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 400. 1/2000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide-open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 9:30:00am on then cloudy bright morning.
Tracking: Spot S AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: China Poot scenic
Good Photographs are Where You See Them
For as long as I have been photographing birds, I have seen the world in small, 2X3 frames (or boxes if you would).
When I looked up at the mountainside and saw the tree, the ridge, and the snow-covered peaks topped by a small fog bank, I thought, “There just might be a nice image there that fits into a 400mm box. I switched to Tracking: Spot S AF-C, focused on the tree, and recomposed right. Since there is no Tree/Eye AF I stuck with Bird/Eye AF. It stuck like glue and tracked the tree as I pointed the lens to my right. I was glad to see that I was right about the image design.
This image was created on 24 February at Kachemak Bay, across from Homer, AK. Standing on an open deck work boat, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 400. 1/3200 sec. at f/2.8 (wide-open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be perfect. AWB at 9:59:16am on then cloudy bright morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #4: Bald Eagle tight flight
The Final Nail in the Coffin
When I saw the raw file for this point-blank flight shot, I thought, “I just might purchase a 400 2.8.” Though it took me more than three months to pull the trigger, I am thrilled with the performance of Fat Boy. And I am finding new uses for the lens every day, and discovering the many previously un-realized advantages of the f/2.8 aperture. After three hours of photographing Ospreys in flight yesterday, however, I would admit that my right shoulder was a bit sore.
The Huge Lesson Repeated
First, note that all of today’s featured images were created at the wide-open aperture, f/2.8. Then note that the birds in Images #1 &2 are sharp from wing tip to wing tip. And note that in the mountain-top scenic, everything is sharp. It is all about the distance to the subject. For example, the eagle in Image #2 was 35.07 meters from the camera (according to the EXIF as displayed by A7INFO). The depth of field with a full frame camera body is .63 meters on either side of the point of focus. That is more than deep enough to cover the whole bird.
In Image #4, there is a slight fall-off of sharpness at the talons, the tips of the tail feathers, and the trailing edges of the wings. That is because the eagle is a large bird and because the total depth of field at 19.3 meters is .39 meters, about 1.3 feet. But with the eye sharp, who cares? Not me for sure.
Homer 2022 Bald Eagle Highlights and Handholding Compositional Tips by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Enjoy and be inspired by just a few Homer Bald Eagle highlight images. Hand holding intermediate telephoto lens will always yield slightly different compositions. Learn more about that topic in this short (3:14) video.
All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK
2023 Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPTs
IPT #1: MON 20 FEB 2023 through the full day on FRI 24 FEB 2023. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers
IPT #2: SAT 25 FEB 2023 through the full day on THURS 2 MAR 2023. Six full days/24 hours on the boat: $6600.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 4.
IPT #3: FRI 3 MAR 2023 through the full day on TUES 7 MAR 2023. Five full days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers. Openings: 4.
Save $1,000.00 by doing back-to-back trips. Save $1500.00 by doing all three.
These trips feature non-stop flight photography as well as many opportunities to create both environmental and point-blank portraits of one of North America’s most sought-after avian subjects: Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Other reliable subjects will include Sea Otter, Glaucous-winged and Short-billed (formerly Mew) Gulls.
In addition, we should see Common Murre, Black Guillemot, Pelagic Cormorant, two or three species of loons, and a smattering of ducks including two species of merganser, all three scoters, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, Harlequin, and Long-tailed Ducks. Close-range photographic chances for these species will require a ton of good luck. Some of these species, especially when in flocks, can, however, often be used effectively when pleasing creating bird-scapes.
If we need to be out early, we will be the first boat out. If conditions are great, we will stay out. And when there is a chance for sunset silhouettes, we will be in the right spot.
We will be traveling through gorgeous wilderness country; landscape and scenic opportunities abound.
Also featured is a professional leader, often referred to as the world’s most knowledgeable bird photography trip leader, who is conversant in Canon, Nikon, and Sony. You will learn practical and creative solutions to everyday photographic problems. You will learn to see the shot, to create dynamic images by fine-tuning your compositions, to best utilize your camera’s AF system, and how to analyze the wind, the sky conditions, and the direction and quality of the light. This is one of the very few Homer trips available where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun. You will learn to be a better photographer.
You will learn to get the right exposure when it is sunny, when it cloudy-bright, when it is cloudy, when it is cloudy-dark, or when it is foggy. Not to mention getting the right exposure when creating silhouettes.
You will learn to make pleasing blurs working in manual mode and to create silhouettes working in Shutter Priority mode.
Most importantly you will learn to pick your best flight images from tens of thousands of images.
You will enjoy working with the two best and most creative boat captains on their sturdy, photography-spacious, seaworthy, open-deck crafts.
The second and third IPTs are the only Bald Eagle workshops that feature an incredibly helpful first mate.
Only five photographers (not the usual six), plus the leader.
Small group Photoshop, Image Review, and Image Critiquing sessions.
All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK
What’s Included
One four hour or two two-hour boat trips every day (weather permitting), all boat fees and boat-related expenses (excluding tips), ground transportation to and from the dock and back to the hotel each day, in-the-field instruction and guidance, pre-trip gear advice, small group post-processing and image review sessions, and a thank you dinner for all well-behaved participants.
What’s Not Included
Your airfare to and from Homer, AK (via Anchorage), the cost of your room at Land’s End Resort, all personal items, all meals and beverages, and tips for the boat captain and/or the first mate.
Please Note
On great days, the group may wish to photograph for more than four hours. If the total time on the boat exceeds 20 hours for the five-day trips, or 24 hours for the second trip, the group will share the additional expense at a rate of $225/hour.
Some folks may wish to rent their own vehicle to take advantage of local photographic opportunities around Homer.
Deposit Information
A $3000 non-refundable deposit/trip is required. You may pay your deposit with credit card or by personal check (made out to BIRDS AS ART) and sent via US mail only to Arthur Morris. PO Box 7245. Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Your balance, due 90 days before the date of departure, is payable only by check as above.
In Closing
I have been going to Homer off and on for close to two decades. Every trip has been nothing short of fantastic. Many folks go in mid-March. The earlier you go, the better the chances for snow. The only way to assure that you are on the best of the three trips is to sign up for all of them. Can you keep up with me? If you have any questions, or are good to go for one, two, or all three trips, please let me know via e-mail or give me a call on my cell phone at 863-221-2372.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
