Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

What’s Up

Tuesday morning was still and gorgeous on the water in Tampa Bay. I was aboard the Hooptie Deux with Captain James (Froggy) Shadle and four clients: Peter Dominowski, Brendan Burns, Joh Hoiles, and Lorvey Stark. In the pre-dawn, I taught pleasing blur techniques, a new one for all the clients. As the sun rose, we had a great time with bathing Brown Pelicans in golden water. Once the sun up, we got out of the boat only to find that the spoonbills were few and far between. We did have lots of good chances on Brown Pelicans in flight. When the action slacked off a bit we moved to a new location and enjoyed non-stop action with breeding plumage White Ibises in flight. When the light got harsh, I taught the group how to create backlit flight images of the ibises overhead by turning around and facing the sun! All in all, we had a great morning and everyone learned a ton. Peter Dominoskwi had his first flight photography experience with his brand new a1 and was (properly) amazed.

I forgot to check the wind direction before heading back to the wading bird rookery in Brandon at 5:00pm on Tuesday. What little wind there was was from the northeast. With the still conditions few birds were flying. And those that did fly were landing into the wind. I took about 100 images and left. I kept one of a perched Wood Stork …

Today is Wednesday 30 March 2022. The morning forecast for Gibsonton is for partly cloudy with a decent wind from the southeast. I am meeting Froggy and Brenda at the dock at 6:30am. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post about an hour to prepare and makes twenty 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 …

Unsolicited e-Mail from Jon Hoiles

Thanks again for a wonderful morning at Gatorland. As I said on Sunday, it was an awesome experience for me, not only meeting you, but having the 1:1 time in the field. I was half-expecting to get a few tips and then we’d go shoot, and that would have been good with me. But to get a solid 2.5 hours of hands-on, no-holds-barred photography training time from the best just blew me away. Thank you! I sincerely appreciate how you helped with both the technical aspects of operating the camera (and even the tripod head!) and the creative process of composing an image and using the light to your advantage. And the role of the wind in bird photography! I don’t think I would have gotten the backlit egret with rim-light image if I had been using manual with auto-ISO.

Gatorland In-the-Field Instruction: Saturday April 2 2002, 2 1/2 hours from 7:00 – 9:30am for a ridiculously low $200.00. Limit two photographers.

Please contact me via e-mail to reserve a spot. Payment by cash or check on site is fine.

This image was created on Monday 28 March 2022 at a rookery in Brandon, FL. I used the no-longer-available Induro GIT 304L/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 800. The exposure for the Cattle Egrets that were flying in was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/3200 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the image was more than one full stop too dark. AWB at 6:32:59pm on a sunny afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed very well. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #1: The Photo Mechanic screen capture for the Black-crowned Night-Heron carrying nesting material image

The Under-exposed Original

I was getting some great stuff on incoming Cattle Egrets with decent backgrounds when the Black-crowned Nigh-Heron above appeared right in front of me, so close that I could barely fit it in the frame. I had no time to increase the exposure at all much less increase it the 3 clicks that were needed. And not only was the night-heron much darker overall than the Cattle Egrets, but is was slightly shaded as it approached the nest. So I did what I espouse here often: I pressed the shutter button and created a four frame sequence.

I loved the sharpness and the nesting material but I absolutely hated shadow on the left underwing. I spent a half-hour trying to lighten that shadow, but was still not happy. Before you scroll down to Image #1A to see my creative solution, try to figure out what I did.

Cupped Wings Cause Underwing Shadows

Though the night-heron was right on sun angle when I pressed the shutter button, the cupped left wing resulted in the ugly dark shadow under that wing. What to do?

The Lesson

Other than trying to shoot birds in flight right down sun angle, there is nothing that you can do to prevent the dark underwing shadows caused by cupped wings. Because such shadows come and go almost instantly, a 30 frames/second camera body with science-fiction like autofocus is a huge advantage. While editing the pelican and ibis flight shots from, more than 50% of the 2000+ deleted images were the result of unpleasant underwing shadows. Images with evenly lit underwings are highly desired, but are rarer than hen’s teeth.

This image was created on Monday 28 March 2022 at a rookery in Brandon, FL. I used the no-longer-available Induro GIT 304L/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 800. The exposure for the Cattle Egrets that were flying in was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/3200 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the image was more than one full stop too dark. AWB at 6:32:59pm on a sunny afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed very well. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version. Image #1A: The cropped, optimized version of the Black-crowned Night-Heron carrying nesting material image

The Solution

I hated the dark shadow so much that I simply eliminated it with a vertical crop. As you can see, sharp a1 images can stand up to healthy crops.

I added some canvas on the top and cleaned and softened the background in Photoshop. Details are included in Digital Basics II. Learn the location of the rookery in Brandon in the BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide. The rookery islands are extremely active this year.

SONY and artie

Switching to SONY, first with the a9 and the a9 II, and then to the remarkable a1, has enabled me (and others, like Mike De Rosa as seen a while ago in the blog post here), to create images of birds in flight and in action that I could not have even dreamed of when using Canon for 33 years and then Nikon for more than two. Right now I am using only two AF methods. that They cover about 99% of the commonly-encountered bird photography situations. Learn more by joining (or by earning your way into) the group!

From Long-ago IPT veteran Keith Kennedy via e-mail

Absolutely great information. I am calling Jim in a few minutes to order a couple of Delkin 128GB UHS-II cards. Your timely email has saved me a ton of money! Many thanks

In the same vein, via e-mail from John LeClair

Well, e-mail #21 alone was worth the price of admission!

From Pamela Viale, after receiving artie’s a1 settings along with detailed instructions on how to copy them to her SONY a1 via e-mail

This e-mail group has been an incredible boon to me! Thank you so much!

From Joe Barranco via e-Mail

Thanks for your great ideas on the A1 set up. I have been getting MANY more keepers doing things your way!

From Barbara White via e-Mail

Wow, I just gotta say – I learn so much from the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info group! My camera is on my desk, and I’m always picking it up and changing something that I’ve read about in the e-mails.

Thanks, Barbara

From Janet Horton via e-Mail

Hi Artie, Mystery solved. Yes, I was able to replicate what you did. I forgot that you have to set self-timer using the upper dial. I am used to that being a MENU selection.

Thanks much, Janet

SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group

The SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group is going great guns as more and more folks chime in with thoughtful questions and experience-based answers. As the a1 is becoming more readily available, more and more folks are getting their hands on this amazing body. The group is now up to an astounding 113 lucky and blessed folks. Early on, we discussed the myriad AF options. I gave my opinion as to the best one for flight and general bird photography. The best news is that all who wish, can request an e-mail that includes a .DAT file with my a1 settings on it, and explicit directions on how to load my settings onto your a1; talk about convenience! I am now offering a .DAT file compatible with firmware update 1.20. I finally finished the consolidated Sony a1 CAMSETA2 INFO & GUIDE and distributed it yesterday. New a1 folks will now receive three e-mails instead of the previous 28! It is a lot easier on me and is an incredible resource for folks new to the a1.

All who purchased their Alpha a1 bodies via a BAA affiliate link will receive a free subscription to the Sony Alpha a1 Set-Up and Info Updates group after shooting me their receipts via e-mail. (Note: it may take me several days to confirm B&H orders.) This same service may be purchased by anyone with an a1 body via a $150.00 PayPal sent to birdsasart@verizon.net indicating payment for Alpha a1 Info & Updates. Alternatively, folks can call Jim weekdays at 1-863-692-0906 to pay via credit card. New members will receive composite e-mails that summarize all previous discussions.

Typos

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

What’s Up?

Despite a less than favorable breeze from the NW, I had a great Sunday morning at Gatorland with Nikon shooter Jon Hoiles. Conditions were vastly improved as compared to last Saturday. There were many more pairs of Great Egrets and several photographable nests with chicks. There was a nice Cattle Egret and one super-spiffy Snowy Egret. I created exactly 1200 images and kept 76 after the first edit. I will be sharing lots more stuff from that session here on the blog very soon.

Jon — who has a z9 on backorder, was working with his brand-new Nikon Z6 II Mirrorless camera body. I helped Jon figure out a few things with the AF system. He was a quick study. Though we did not do any flight photography, I was quite impressed with the Z6 II. It goes for $3500.00 less than the Z9 and you can actually get one. The unassailable fact is that dSLRs are on their way out for bird photography. The current crop of digital bodies is just too good. Apologies to the Nikon and Canon folks; the a1 is by far the best of the lot.

I went down to the lake late in the day to check on the crane nest. The bird still sits and there was no sign of chicks. Sky conditions looked good but with a 15mph+ wind from the west by slightly north, I turned around and drove home.

Unsolicited e-Mail from Jon Hoiles

Thanks again for a wonderful morning. As I said on Sunday morning, it was an awesome experience for me, not only meeting you, but having the 1:1 time in the field. I was half-expecting to get a few tips and then we’d go shoot, and that would have been good with me. But to get a solid 2.5 hours of hands-on, no-holds-barred photography training time from the best just blew me away. Thank you! I sincerely appreciate how you helped with both the technical aspects of operating the camera (and even the tripod head!) and the creative process of composing an image and using the light to your advantage. And the role of the wind in bird photography! I don’t think I would have gotten the backlit egret with rim-light image if I had been using manual with auto-ISO.

Jon grew up in Alabama and attended the University of South Alabama. Following undergraduate studies, he joined the Navy as a Laboratory Officer, served 20 years, and retired in 2020 at the rank of Commander while serving as the Director of the Navy Blood Program. Upon retirement, he moved to Louisiana for about a year, then recently moved to Tampa. Today he works (at home) as a Product Manager for a medical device company based in the San Francisco Bay area that markets a pathogen reduction technology that improves the safety of the blood supply.

He started bird photography in 2011 while stationed in Okinawa, Japan. At the time he was shooting pictures of the Japanese landscape, but kept running into a group of Japanese bird photographers in the field. After a while, he bought a super-telephoto lens and joined his Japanese friends photographing kingfishers, Black-faced Spoonbills, and many more. He’s been shooting off and on ever since (as Navy life allowed for it), and now that he’s here in Florida, is absolutely loving it! He says, “The birds here in Florida are absolutely amazing; they re-kindled my interest in bird photography.

I am looking forward to Tuesday!”

Jon had so much fun and learned so much that he signed up for Tuesday morning on the spoonbill boat. (There is room for you on Wednesday — details below). While Brendon Burns looks 16, Jon looks about 24. As he served in the Navy for 20 years, I am thinking that he is a bit older than that. In any case, my blessings continue: over the weekend I met two very fine young men who love bird photography and want very badly to improve their skills. Jon sent some JPEGs last night via e-mail. Like Brendan, his images were quite excellent …

Today is Monday 28 March 2022. I will be heading down to the lake early at least to check on the yet un-hatched Sandhill Crane nest. I have an AirBnB in Brandon for Monday and Tuesday nights so that I will not be too far from Gibsonton where we will be meeting Captain James Shadle aboard the Hooptie Deux. Speaking of spoonbills, the Tuesday morning trip is sold out. There are still three openings for Wednesday morning. Details below. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post about an hour to prepare and makes eighteen 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 …

Very Short Notice Hooptie Deux Roseate Spoonbill Opportunities

Morning Roseate Spoonbill Sessions: 7-10am on the boat

Tuesday 29 March 2022: $500 includes the boat fees, waders, and in-the field instruction.
Limit 5 photographers/sold out.
Wednesday 30 March 2022: $500 includes the boat fees, waders, and in-the field instruction.
Limit 5 photographers/openings: 3.
Add a working brunch with image review: $125.00.
Add Monday and/or Tuesday afternoon at a nearby wading bird rookery: $150.00.

As above, there are 3 spots left on the Wednesday morning Hooptie Deux spoonbill trip. Please contact me via e-mail to reserve a spot. Payment by cash or check before boarding the boat will be fine.

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 27 March 2022 at Gatorland in Kissimmee, FL. I used the no-longer available Induro GIT304L Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted-Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). ISO 640. 1/1000 sec. at f/8 (wide open) in Manual Mode. The exposure, determined using Zebra technology, was dead-solid perfect when evaluated in RawDigger. AWB at 8:55:38am on a clear sunny morning. Tracking: Spot S Bird Face/Eye detection performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Great Egret in breeding plumage with leaf shadow tattoo

Photographing Birds in Filtered Light

I have long railed against photographing birds in filtered light, when part of the bird is lit by direct sun and part is in shadow. My thoughts were simple: never do it. So, when I first looked at this bird with the shadow of a plant on it, I said, “No way, Jose.” But then I put the lens on it and thought, “That looks pretty cool.” So, I made a few images making sure to press the shutter button only when the eye was in the clear. I shared the image on the back of the camera with Jon who said, “It looks like a Mike Tyson face tattoo.” Thus, the title of today’s post.

Like it or Hate It?

Whenever you try something totally new and different, there is always a chance that everyone will hate the photo. Do you like today’s featured image, or do you hate it? Either way, why?

Image #1A: RawDigger screen capture for the Great Egret in breeding plumage with leaf shadow tattoo image

Dead-Solid Perfect!

Images where the G channel gets 2/3rds of the way from the 8000 to the 16000 line are perfect exposures. Images where the G channel gets right up to the 16000 line are dead-solid perfect. With 1353 OvExp pixels out of 51,000,000, this is a dead-solid perfect exposure. Note that most of the OvExp pixels are on the brightest white features in the lower right corner of the image. They are as close to insignificant as you can get, and since all the over-exposure is in one channel, the GREEN channel, detail was easily restored during the raw conversion. The pixels needed to restore detail are borrowed from the R and B channels.

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, and your in-camera histogram are completely 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 (pink) Adapted 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 when I struggled with R5 exposures and when I was learning 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, he z we struggled. We asked questions. We learned about Max-G values. We could not figure out why the Max G values varied by camera system. 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 quickly and easily evaluate your exposures and raw file brightness using an 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.