Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

What’s Up?

Wednesday morning was close to a bust photographically. I did see another pair of cranes copulating and I spotted a Purple Gallinule in the marsh just to the north of the pier after my less-than-inspiring blur session. It was cloudy most of the day, but the sun broke through just after 5:00pm so I headed down to the lake as there was a nice wind from the east. But there were lots of clouds. Thinking that my chances were somewhere between Slim and None, I brought the laptop so that I could work on this blog post. And did. Unfortunately, None was the victor — the sun ducked behind a cloud and then quickly disappeared for good.

Today is Thursday 13 January 2022, packing day. I leave for San Diego early on Friday. The forecast for the morning is for solidly cloudy with a breeze from the northeast. I will likely head down to the pier for some blurs and then check on the eagle nest. Then I need to get to work packing. 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 64 consecutive days with a new one.

This image was created on 11 January 2022 at Indian Lake Estates. Standing outside of my SUV, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) ISO 1250. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/400 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:45:06am on a barely sunny morning. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #1: Turkey Vulture on The Perch II, facing to the right

A Strange Morning

Monday had been a strange morning. It was cold with a brisk wind from the northwest. I walked out onto the pier with the big lens in one hand and the tripod in the other. There were dozens of Turkey Vultures on the pier railing. I had set up without a TC and the a1 was set up for blurs. So when the vultures took off and some of them landed on the railing a bit farther out on the pier, I made a few images. One of those turned out to be pretty cool. You will see it here at some point; it is entitled No Room at the Inn. I got to my favorite morning blur spot halfway out on the pier and saw a load of Cattle Egrets in the relatively distant marsh. As nothing was taking flight and I was freezing, I went back to the car and grabbed my bright yellow Emperor Penguin expedition parka. Again the vultures were on the railing with lots more on both sides of the pier. As it did not look as if any birds would be leaving the roost anytime soon I grabbed the 200-600 with my second a1 and set up for blurs. I went upwind of the vultures in hopes of making some pleasing blurs. I tried but that was about it.

Then the sun came over the big cloud in the east. There had been a vulture on The Perch, so I doubled back and was surprised to see that it was still there. I was glad that it did not fly off at my careful approach. I made some images and left the bird where I had found it. With my RawDigger education, I can always get the exposures very close to perfect especially with subjects that I know well. None-the-less, I am always experimenting to see if I can determine the difference between perfect and dead-solid perfect exposures in the field. With RawDigger you are constantly learning.

It is nice to see that after six months of inactivity, several species of birds have been using The Perch fairly regularly for the past few weeks.

This image was created on 11 January 2022 at Indian Lake Estates. Standing outside of my SUV, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) ISO 2500. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/1000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:45:42am on a barely sunny morning. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version. Image #2: Turkey Vulture on The Perch II, facing the camera

Your Call

Which is the stronger image? Which pose do you like best? Why? Which is the more elegant photograph?

Image #2A: RawDigger screen capture for the Turkey Vulture on The Perch II, facing the camera image

White Sky/Dark Subject

In white sky/dark subject situations, you must over-expose the sky to come up with a good exposure for the dark subject. I did just that here to the tune of 7,000,000 Ov-Exp pixels. I could have actually gone a bit lighter. Note the beautiful detail on the vulture’s black breast.

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 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 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.

Which is the Best Image?

All are invited to leave a comment letting us know which of today’s six featured images they like best, and why they made their choice.

Thanks for all the comments on the Black Vulture images in yesterday’s blog post. The consensus pick was Image #4 with the interesting background. My pick was Image #2, the vertical with the somewhat crazy flight pose.

What’s Up?

On Monday morning, I enjoyed another great photo session at ILE. It began on the pier with 321 blurs. Those included eight keepers after the first edit. I took a few snaps of the eagle before and after the sun hit the nest. I am pretty sure, but not positive, that the bird was feeding a chick … Next up was a Cattle Egret on a piling at the boat ramp dock in super-sweet early morning butter light. I kept nine of 96. Each featured a lovely green background. When something spooked the egret, I followed the movement and I saw three Killdeer on the boat ramp in the shade of my SUV. Two of them bathed. In just 2 minutes 18 seconds, I created 269 images; 23 of those survived the first cut. Then I drove to the parking circle to check out The Perch. On the way, I saw two cranes atop the small knoll just to the north. I positioned the car on sun angle and working off the BLUBB, I made a bunch of ordinary images at 840mm with the 600mm f/4, the 1.4X TC, and the a1. Then things got really exciting. In all, I created 482 images of the cranes on the rise. Keep reading below to learn what happened next.

Sunset on Monday was another cloudy bust. Today is Tuesday 11 January 2022. Clearing skies with a north wind are in the forecast. I will get down to the lake for at least a while. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day. This blog post took more than three hours to prepare (including the time spent on the six image optimizations) and makes 62 consecutive days with a new one.

Please remember that 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 save 3% 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.

Sony Alpha 1 Bodies in Stock at Bedfords/free card offer!

Steve Elkins of Bedfords let me know recently that he had several Sony a1 bodies in stock. If one of them has your name on it, please click here and be sure to enter the BIRDSASART coupon code check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. Right now, in lieu of the 3% credit refunded to the card you used for your purchase, you will receive a Sony 160GB CFexpress Type A TOUGH Memory Card, a $399.99 value!

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 10 January 2022 at Indian Lake Estates. Working from the front seat of 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 using Zebra technology with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1250 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:06:41am on a mostly sunny morning. Tracking: Spot S AF-C performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a higher-res version. Image #1: Sandhill Crane female inviting copulation

The Invitation

The two cranes began walking down the back side of the small hill. One of them leaned forward, almost as if bowing. This indicates one of two things:

A- The bird is about to take flight

B- The female is beginning a sequence of behaviors inviting the male to copulate.

In this case it was B. The bird that had leaned forward had been the female. She walked toward me and spread her wings low and to the side as you see in Image #1. This was a clear invitation to the male to copulate. I was vertical at 840mm. The moment that I saw the male walking up behind the female, I knew that he had accepted. Even as I made a few images, I knew that I would need to remove the teleconverter and switch from vertical to horizontal ASAP to avoid clipping wings and more.

This image was created on 10 January 2022 at Indian Lake Estates. Working from the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). ISO 800. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/2000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:06:58am on a mostly sunny morning. AF Method unknown, but whatever it was, it performed amazingly well. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a higher-res version. Image #2: Sandhill Crane pair copulating, male with foot raised over female’s head

The Good News and the Bad News

Faced with a rapidly-developing, pretty-much-perfect situation, my heart was pounding. You might think it strange that after 38 years of bird photography I could still get so excited. It took me 16 seconds to remove the TC, remount the camera body, turn the lens to horizontal on the BLUBB, and adjust the exposure (albeit incorrectly). During the time that it had taken me to remove the TC, the male had mounted the female. I noted way too many Zebras, so I increased the shutter speed. But I increased it only two clicks from 1/1250 sec. to 1/2000 sec. As the aperture went from f/5.6 to f/4 when I removed the TC, I should have gone three clicks to 1/2500 sec. As a result of this error, all of the raw files were over-exposed to varying degrees, some by as much as 1/3 stop. The over-exposures were all in the bright tones of the under-primary feathers. I used the knowledge gained from working with RawDigger for the past three years — all of the Ov-Exp pixels were in the G channel — and the techniques detailed in the Saving the Whites Video to successfully process the six images featured here today.

This image was created on 10 January 2022 at Indian Lake Estates. Working from the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). ISO 800. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/2000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:06:58am on a mostly sunny morning. AF Method unknown, but whatever it was, it performed amazingly well. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a higher-res version. Image #3: Sandhill Crane pair copulating

Pedal to the Metal

Because I had to remove the TC, I was a bit late to the party. From there, it was all over in less than four seconds. I do not remember releasing pressure on the shutter button. There were 87 images in the sequence. I opted to keep only 13. I clipped a wing in only two images; all the rest were quite excellent. But you simply cannot keep all the good ones with the a1.

Note: Images #2-5 are all quite similar, but there are small differences in each photo the led me to keep this or that image and to discard many others. The determining factors had to do primarily with differing head and wing (and even foot) positions, mostly with respect to the male bird, the one on top 🙂

This image was created on 10 January 2022 at Indian Lake Estates. Working from the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). ISO 800. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/2000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:06:59am on a mostly sunny morning. AF Method unknown, but whatever it was, it performed amazingly well. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a higher-res version. Image #4: Sandhill Crane pair copulating, male’s wings raised for balance

AF Method

AF Method unknown, but whatever it was, it performed amazingly well.

On my gripped a1, I have three AF Methods enabled. But only two are enabled on my other a1. With the camera set up properly, the camera remembers both the AF Method and the position of the point or zone when you switch from vertical to horizontal. I am 100% sure that for Image #1, the vertical, I was using Tracking: Spot S. But in all the excitement, I am not sure if I was using that or Tracking: Zone. But it did not matter: every one of the 87 images in the copulation series was sharp.

This image was created on 10 January 2022 at Indian Lake Estates. Working from the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). ISO 800. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/2500 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:07:01am on a mostly sunny morning. AF Method unknown, but whatever it was, it performed amazingly well. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a higher-res version. Image #5: Sandhill Crane pair copulating, male biting head of female

More Fine-Feather Detail?

After clicking on each image to view the high-res version, please leave a comment if you think that one of today’s images shows more fine-feather detail than the other five. If yes, which one. If they all look the same to you, you are invited to leave a comment stating that. Your answer will help me out quite a bit.

This image was created on 10 January 2022 at Indian Lake Estates. Working from the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). ISO 800. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/2500 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:07:01am on a mostly sunny morning. AF Method unknown, but whatever it was, it performed amazingly well. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a higher-res version. Image #6: Sandhill Crane pair copulating, male dismounting

The Dismount

All good things must come to an end. To dismount, the male stepped over its mate. Less than five minutes after driving away from the knoll, I was about five seconds too late another pair of cranes copulated on the South Peninsula. Let’s hope that there are lots of crane chicks this season.

The Saving the WHITEs (and lots more!) Video image

The Saving the Whites (and lots more!) Video

My two biggest challenges when optimizing images are getting the BLUEs just right, and restoring detail to the WHITEs and highlights of properly exposed raw files. There are four things that I do to accomplish the latter. All are covered in detail in this 21+ minute video, along with a dirty trick to try if the first four do not work perfectly. Sit with me at my laptop as I teach you how to save the WHITEs. I begin with the raw conversions of two different raw files, today’s featured Snowy Owl image, and Joe Usewicz’s spoonbill image that was featured in the Extraordinary Over-Exposed (?) Spoonbill/Saving the WHITEs Optimization blog post here.

In addition to learning how to save the WHITEs (in both images), you will learn how to expand canvas using the amazingly convenient Content-Aware Crop Tool, to set the White Balance (color temperature), to set the WHITE and BLACK points, see Digital Eye Doctor and RawDigger in action, learn to make a Color Range Selection, and lots more.

To purchase your copy of the Saving the Whites Video (and lots more!) video, you can send a PayPal for $37.00 to us at birdsasart@verizon.net, call Jim in the office at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand, or visit the item in the BAA Online store by clicking here.

After clicking on each image, check out the nice detail in the white face of the owl in the optimized version (Image #1), with the virtually absent detail in the face of the owl in the Photo Mechanic screen capture (Image #1A). As I have been saying here often for two decades, properly exposed raw files will often appear washed out with little detail in the highlights …

Typos

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