Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

What’s Up?

Bald Eagle photography for the first three days of the Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT was non-stop spectacular. Day four, Wednesday 23 February was so-so. We had no wind and with the continuing warm weather, the birds were not very hungry. Anita North is leaving a day early (today) to get back to Canada. On March 2nd she is flying to Churchill, Manitoba to photograph Polar Bears for three weeks at Wat’chee Lodge adjacent to Wapusk National Park about 40 miles south of town. The average temperature is about -45° Centigrade (-49 Fahrenheit). Plus the wind chill. We wish her luck.

Please be sure to enlarge each image and then leave a comment letting us know which is the winning entry.

Today is Thursday February 24. The forecast is for rain in the morning with some clearing in mid-morning. The good news is that they have predicted rain almost everyday and we have not seen a single drop yet. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.

This blog post took about an hour to prepare, and makes 1 day in a row with a new one.

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links on this page and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords. And please consider joining a BAA IPT.

Please Remember

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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.

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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 20 February 2022, the first day of the Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPT. I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 280mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras. ISO 1600. 1/1600 second at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 4:38.23pm on a then-cloudy bright afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Bald Eagle over mountain I

The Eagle-Over-the-Mountain Shot

From previous experience, I knew where we had to be to try for the eagle-over-the-mountain shot. The afternoon began sunny and then some light clouds took over — perfect for what I wanted. As there were lots of great photo opps, most folks stuck with run-of-the-mill flight shooting. Don’t get me wrong, the can result in some spectacular flight poses including banking and up-side down birds. I paid some attention to the eagle-over-the-mountain shot, but Anita North, who had seen some of my efforts from previous years, tried exclusively to create a good one. When she would show my an image, I would give her a Larry David-like, “Nah …, I don’t think so.” She kept at it for more than an hour. Finally she showed me one and I said, “That looks pretty good.”

One of today’s images is Anita’s, and one is mine.

This image was created on 20 February 2022, the first day of the Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPT. I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 280mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras. ISO 1600. 1/2500 second at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 4:35:37pm on a then-cloudy bright afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Bald Eagle over mountain II

The Eagle-Over-the-Mountain Photo Contest

Each of us thinks that our image is the strongest. We need your help. Your job for today is to identify the stronger of two images. Please leave a comment letting us know which you feel is the stronger image, and let us know why you made your choice. Ties are allowed.

If you want to make a guess as to which image is mine and which one is Anita’s, go for it. I would be very proud of either image.

Typos

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

What’s Up?

The first day of the first Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT exceeded everyone’s expectations. By far. We enjoyed non-stop flight action for the whole day. It has been insanely warm with temps in the high thirties reaching into the low forties and that pattern is supposed to continue for the remainder of my visit. On Sunday, there was a slight breeze from the northeast and I knew exactly were to be. We had gorgeous eagles landing on a gorgeous lichen-covered perch with their underwings lit by light reflected off the snow. As there is some rain in the forecast, we maximized our time in the field yesterday by making two boat trips that totaled more than seven hours. We will be headed out early again today.

Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took about an hour to prepare, and makes 99 days in a row with a new one.

Please Remember

Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links on this page and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords. And please consider joining a BAA IPT.

This image was created on 19 February 2022, the scouting day for the Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPT. I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 280mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras. Multi Metering +1.3 stops in Shutter Priority. AUTO ISO set ISO 320. !/3200 second at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 4:07:13 on a somewhat foggy afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: This JPEG represents the raw file for the “golden” eagle image

Shutter Priority

In some situations, I use and recommend going to Shutter Priority with AUTO ISO and exposure compensation. The main requirement is a background of relatively consistent tonality. With a sort of foggy sky with the halo of the sun peeking through, my plan was to make images of the eagles that flew through the bright circular portion of the sky that surrounded the sun. I use this same technique for sunsets at ILE. In both cases, images made with the sun in the frame will feature an over-exposed sun, and images made well away from the sun will be a bit under-exposed.

RawDigger showed that today’s image was about 2/3 stop under-exposed. I knew that I should have been at +2 stops (or more) …

With the image exposed well to the right — see the Photo Mechanic histogram above, the image looks totally washed out. As it should. You can see that the sky does have some yellow/gold in it. All that is required to create something striking is a decent knowledge of Photoshop. You can learn everything that you need to know about optimizing avian photographers in Digital Basics II.

This image was created on 19 February 2022, the scouting day for the Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPT. I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter (at 280mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras. Multi Metering +1.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 320. !/3200 second at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 4:07:13 on a somewhat foggy afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1A: “golden” eagle

A “golden eagle” in Homer

The golden eagle in today’s featured image is — of course, a Bald Eagle (in silhouette) against a foggy golden sky.

The Most Valuable Lens

In two full day’s on the eagle boat, I have used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens for about 90% of my photography. When I am trying to create sharp images in very low light situations, I go with the lens alone. In brighter conditions, or when creating pleasing blurs in low light, I add the Sony FE 1.4x teleconverter.

The 70-200 f/2.8 II/1.4X TC/a1 rig is insanely light, the zoom is amazingly fast and smooth, and the images are super-sharp. AF never fails when you are using the prime lens alone, but with the TC added, both Anita North and I have had this rig miss totally on rare occasion: the the camera fails to acquire focus at all. 99% of the time (even with the TC in place), initial focusing acquisition is close to instantaneous (and always accurate). This rig is so light that when I go with the 200-600 G lens, it feels very heavy (by comparison).

Typos

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