Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Important Notice

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Supporting My Efforts Here

If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.

In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear.

What’s Up?

Today is Sunday 30 June. After nine great days of songbird photography, I am heading home two days early to get some air that is richer in oxygen. I hope to get a swim in late in the day. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too choose to enjoy the day.

Please remember to use the B&H links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!

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.

Summer On Long Island

Take a peek at the previous blog post and check out the July and August Nickerson Beach (& JBWR) IPT offerings on the IPT page here and consider joining us to learn a ton, make lots of great images, and improve your image processing skills.

This image was created on 13 August 2007 at Silver Salmon Creek Lodge in Alaska. I used the tripod/Mongoose mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS lens with the 2X teleconverter and the EOS-1D Mark III dSLR. ISO 800. 1/1000 second at f/8. The exposure was determined by histogram evaluation and experience. Image #1: Coastal Brown Bear (Grizzly) running with salmon, chased by a younger, blonde bear.

No More Bears?

I organized and led more than a dozen Coastal Brown Bear trips after the turn of the last century. It is highly doubtful that I will be returning to Katmai National Park again. They were great fun, and even better than that when the salmon were running. In addition to the bears I enjoyed fishing for (almost always, catching) halibut, eating fresh-caught salmon and fresh Tanner Crabs (right from the bay to a huge pot of boiling water), and, on occasion, photographing the odd bird or two.

Good Photos

Good photos, even those made with relatively ancient gear, often stand up well to the test of time. Note that the shutter speed, 1/1000 second was fast enough to stop both bears in their tracks.

This image was created on 16 October 2004 at Fort DeSoto Park in Pinellas county FL. I used the tripod/Mongoose mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4 L IS lens with the 1.4X teleconverter and the EOS-1D Mark II dSLR. ISO 800. 1/125 second at f/18. The exposure was determined by histogram evaluation and experience. Image #2: The Smiling Scallop

Another Oldie but Goodie

After locking up the tripod head as firmly as possible, I went with f/18 and a relatively slow shutter speed to ensure lots of depth of field (because the subject was right at the minimum focusing distance). At a given aperture, the closer you are to the subject, the less the depth of field will be. Depth of field increases as the distance to the subject increases.

Tip

If possible, stop down when working subjects at close range.

Fresh caught Alaskan seafood caught sustainably. Save $20 on your first order by clicking here.

Wild Alaska Salmon and Seafood Company

Ever since my two daughter sent me a big box of salmon filets and sea scallops from Wild Alaska Salmon and Seafood Company for my birthday a few years ago, I have been ordering salmon and scallops from them. Now that Junior’s Fish Market in Lake Wales is closing, I will be depending on Wild Alaska every month. I always order Sockeye filets and the Sea Scallops. The stuff comes frozen solid, is easy to prepare, and tastes pretty much as good as the fresh stuff would.

You can save $20 on your first order by clicking here. Eating wild caught seafood is about as healthy as you can go. The scallops are a real treat. When you sear them, be sure to cook them in the liquid that comes in the bag and be sure not to overcook them. I bake or broil the lightly seasoned salmon filets skin side down in olive or coconut oil.

Buy Direct from the Fisherman

Captain Tony has been fishing in Alaska since 1990. Wild Alaska is famous for their wild caught Sockeye and King Salmon! All of our other fish, including Ahi Tuna, Shrimp, Scallops, Cod, etc., are responsibly sourced, caught the right way and closely inspected by Capt. Tony to meet our high standards of quality and freshness. They catch and process all 5 species of wild pacific salmon, and source our other seafood products from high quality sustainable fisheries.

The stuff tastes great and is good for you. Internet orders to the continental United States are shipped from their fulfillment center in the Midwest allowing their seafood products to reach US customers in perfect condition. The flavor and texture of their salmon and other products remain fresher than fresh is because the stuff is frozen the same day it is caught.

Note

Nutritionally, if you are eating farm-raised salmon, you might as well be eating pop tarts. Sockeye salmon has the highest amount of Omega 3 of any fish with approximately 2.7 grams per 100-gram portion. Therefore, just one serving of Alaska salmon per week can help to lower cholesterol and the risk of heart disease. Scallops are widely considered one of the healthiest seafoods. Made up of 80% protein and sporting a low fat content, they can help you feel fuller longer and are rich in vitamins and minerals. They are also a great source of antioxidants. Dr. Morris 🙂

Typos

All questions and comments are welcome. With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.

What’s Up?

Photography has been so good in Colorado that I need to hit the sack early. We are heading to Red Rocks very early. Enjoy today’s 18 minute video featuring some really great photography. And leave a comment letting us know which three of Anita’s images you like best. It will not be easy

The World Class Nature Photography of Anita North. With Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

For the past ten years, Anita North has been traveling the globe striving to create a portfolio of stunning natural history images. She has visited many of the world’s top wildlife locations and enjoys re-visiting them as well. And while she loves creating beautiful photographs, she has a strong conservation ethic. And on many occasions, she has put her heart and her money where her mouth is. And she wishes that photographers and eco-tourists around the world would do more to support conservation efforts to preserve habitat and wildlife.

For the past three years, she has been away a lot more than she has been home!

Anita North is a retired neurosurgeon living in Toronto, Ontario Canada. In the summer of 2012 she came across an eagle with a broken left wing on the lake at her fishing camp in Northern Ontario, Basket Lake. She caught Walleye and Northern Pike every day and fed the bird she named Eddie for nearly five months. In 2013 she purchased a Canon 100-400 and an EOS 7D and was determined to create some good images of Eddie, the bird who changed her life.

By chance, we were on the same ship, the Ortelius, on a triple-header Southern Ocean photography cruise. I was leading a group. Curious as to who was the guy teaching photography to a small group — she had never heard of Arthur Morris or BIRDS AS ART, she joined the group on the spot. On our zodiac landings at various locations in Antarctica, South Georgia, and The Falklands, she stuck to me like glue and asked a zillion questions every day. And she attended each and every shipboard session. She really wanted to learn.

To continue her photographic education, she joined more than 25 BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours IPTs) and in short order she was consistently producing world class images of birds and other wildlife. Anita is one of my very best-ever students. I am incredibly proud of how hard she has worked, how much she has learned, and most of all of her wonderful portfolio. Do understand that she has thousands of images just as good as those in the video.