July 26th, 2021 The East Pond
Homer Bald Eagles Winter 2021
Yes, this is an expensive (but competitively priced) trip. The price of the boat and the price of the fish have risen astronomically since my last visit in 2020. But the photography is beyond amazing. Flight photography with any lens till you cannot raise your arms, creative set-ups, lots of snow, we hope (earlier in the season is best for that), and lots of opportunities for point-blank head portraits and talon shots. If you are seriously interested in joining me for the world’s best Homer/Katchemak Bay Bald Eagle trip(s) — mid-FEB thru early MARCH 2022, please contact me immediately via e-mail for dates and details.
What’s Up?
One IPT veteran has signed up for Homer and several other folks are interested. Today, Monday 26 July 2021, I will be doing preliminary packing (and laundry) for my trip to Long Island. I will be on the Amtrak Auto Train with my X5 on Wednesday afternoon. I will be spending lots of time at Nickerson Beach and hopefully, if the water levels are low (for the first time in many years), at the East Pond at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, NY. The latter is back where my amazing life’s journey began. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, we hope that you too have a great day.
Kudos to Great Britain’s Men’s 100M Breaststroker Adam Peaty who won his second straight Olympic Gold medal last night. He is undefeated in this event for eight years and holds the 16 fastest times in history. Talk about total domination!
Remember that you can find some great photo accessories (and necessities!) 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 like me, who 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. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And it works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.
This blog post took about 90 minutes to prepare and makes 210 consecutive days with a new one. 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, and 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. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And doing so always earns my great appreciation.
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. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. Most recently the price of used Canon 600mm f/L IS II lenses have been dropping like a rock with the introduction of the 600 III. 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.
As used gear sales have slowed just a bit in recent months — especially with dSLR bodies, there are lots of great buys right now both below and on the Used Gear Page.
New Listings
Canon EOS-1DX Mark II Professional dSLR
IPT veteran Sheldon Goldstein is offering a Canon EOS-1DX Mark II camera body in like-new condition for $2,199.00. It was recently cleaned and checked by Canon Professional Services. The sale includes one extra battery, the dual battery charger, the front cap, the, DC Coupler, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Sheldon via e-mail or by phone at 646-423-0392 (Eastern time zone).
The 1DX Mark II is a rugged, fast Canon professional digital camera body. It features an excellent AF system and high quality image files with great dynamic range. When he used Canon, it was the first choice of Arash Hazeghi, the world’s premier photographer of birds in flight. This body is still in production and currently sells new for $4,499.00. Save a very sweet $2300.00 by grabbing Sheldon’s dSLR body ASAP. artie
Canon EF 100-400m f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM Zoom Lens
IPT veteran Sheldon Goldstein is offering a Canon EF 100-400m f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM zoom lens in excellent condition for $1499.00. The lens was recently cleaned and checked by Canon Professional Services. The sale includes a Wimberley P-20 lens plate (a $52.00 value), the rear lens cap, the front lens cap, the lens case and strap, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Sheldon via e-mail or by phone at 646-423-0392 (Eastern time zone).
This incredibly versatile zoom lens — with its amazing .98 meter close focus — was my favorite Canon telephoto zoom lens ever. By far. It is easy to hand hold, great for tight portraits, birds in flight, quasi-macro stuff, and lots more. For flight, it is even better with an R5! The lens sells new for $2399.00 so you can save some hard cash by grabbing Sheldon’s zoom lens now. artie
Please Remember
With income from IPTs now close to zero, 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 save 3% on every order and enjoy free second-day air shipping. In these crazy times — I am out at least forty to sixty thousand dollars so far due to COVID 19 (with lots more to come) — 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.
New and Better Bedfords Discount Policy!
You can now save 3% on all of your Bedfords photo gear purchases by entering the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout. Your discount will be applied to your pre-tax total. In addition, by using the code you will get 2nd day air shipping via Fed Ex.
Grab a Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III and save $14.99. Purchase a Canon EOS R5 and your discount will be $116.97. Purchase a Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and save a remarkable $389.94! Your Bedford’s purchase no longer needs to be greater than $1,000.00 for you to receive a discount. The more you spend, the more you save.
Money Saving Reminder
Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would enjoy free second-day 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 use it for your online order to save 3% and enjoy free 2nd-day air shipping. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The wait lists 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 a9 ii, 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.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs (remember those?) 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.
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This image was created on Thursday, 23 July 2021 late while sitting on a deck chair on Clemens Van Der Werf’s flats boat. I used the hand held 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. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel: 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:04am on a sunny morning.
Center Zone AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection grabbed the kites near-flank, fortunately, right on the same plane as the bird’s eye.
Swallow-tailed Kite right after taking a sip
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Will the Real Swallow-tailed Kite Please Swoop Down For a Sip?
I did manage to come away with one decent drinking kite image on Thursday morning …
Mega-challenging Bird Photography …
Why so difficult? With the birds at a distance, you needed to be at 840 or 1200mm. Using a tripod while standing in a floating boat trying to photograph rapidly moving subjects is totally out of the question. That means that you need to hand hold a 600mm f/4 lens with a teleconverter. Why not the SONY 200-600? While this versatile, easily hand holdable lens does well with the 1.4X TC with slow-moving and static subjects at close range, it would struggle greatly with fast birds flying erratically.
When the kites are swooping down for a drink, they present mostly as a dark birds. When they are flying against a background of dark trees and semi-tropical vegetation, it is difficult to even see them. My SONY rig did well when I could keep the subject relatively centered in the frame. But hand holding at 840mm is not my forté. If I found the subject in the frame and kept the bird centered, the AF system tracked beautifully. But, as I state here often, that is very difficult for me to do. I just opened an e-mail from Clemens with 17 very fine JPEGs. Ten of the images were of drinking Swallow-tailed Kites.
The Realities of Hand Holding Super-telephotos Lenses …
As I write often when critiquing Arash Hazeghi’s amazing flight shots — many made hand held at 1200mm — in the Avian Gallery on BPN, Stronger (sometimes younger) folks who have fast reflexes, stamina, superb fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, are in the best position to take advantage of the amazing AF systems in today’s best mirrorless camera bodies.
Clemens was using the Canon R5 with the 1.4X III TC and the EF 600mm f/4L IS III lens. I have no doubt that a1 AF system is more consistently accurate than the R5 AF system with any gear, and I am pretty sure that Clemens agrees. So why did he get so many more satisfactory drinking kite images? Because he is younger, stronger, has faster reflexes, more stamina, and far better fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination than me. In short, he is far better able to keep the birds in the middle of the frame when hand holding at 840mm than I am.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
July 25th, 2021 A Focus Stacking Question …
As far as I know, none of the SONY bodies feature auto focus-stacking. If I focus bracket manually — Focus Peaking would make that relatively easy, is there a program that will auto-assemble the focus-bracketed series? If yes, which one is easiest to use?
Homer Bald Eagles Winter 2021
This is an expensive trip. The price of the boat and the price of the fish have risen astronomically since my last visit in 2020. But the photography is beyond amazing. Flight photography with any lens till you cannot raise your arms, creative set-ups, lots of snow, we hope (earlier in the season is best for that), and lots of opportunities for point-blank head portraits and talon shots. If you are seriously interested in joining me for the world’s best Homer/Katchemak Bay Bald Eagle trip(s) — mid-FEB thru early MARCH 2022, please contact me immediately via e-mail for dates and details.
What’s Up?
As noted yesterday, we did not do too well with the Swallow-tailed Kites on Friday morning. Saturday was worse. Lots worse … It dawned totally foggy with a northwest wind. The sun broke through at about 8:30am and the wind dropped a bit. But with wind against sun conditions, every kite was flying away from us and from the light. The few birds that came down for a drink were flying directly away from us. So you would figure, not so bad, enjoying a peaceful morning in a beautiful canal lined with tropical vegetation and tall trees, many of which are topped by 20-50 roosting Swallow-tailed Kites. If but that had been true. As it was a weekend and there were about eight photo boats. The problem was that on the boats that were closest to us, there were several folks who would not shut up, jabbering away as loud as possible, mostly preaching ridiculous photography tenets. I did some cell phone videos of the kites circling upwards but good photo chances were close to zero … We did learn that Thursday had been the best day for photography in twenty years. 🙂 N.A.T.U.R.E photography: Not Always The Ultimate Recreational Experience …
Congrats to American Olympic swimmers Chase Kalisz (Gold) and Jay Litherland (Silver) for sweeping the Men’s 400 Meter Individual Medley in Tokyo last night (with GOAT Michael Phelps in the booth).
Today is Sunday 25 July 2021. I took my walk early to beat the heat and the afternoon thunderstorms. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, we hope that you too have a great day.
Remember that you can find some great photo accessories (and necessities!) 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 like me, who 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. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And it works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.
This blog post took about two hours to prepare and makes 209 consecutive days with a new one. 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, and 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. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And doing so always earns my great appreciation.
Please Remember
With income from IPTs now close to zero, 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 save 3% on every order and enjoy free second-day air shipping. In these crazy times — I am out at least forty to sixty thousand dollars so far due to COVID 19 (with lots more to come) — 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.
New and Better Bedfords Discount Policy!
You can now save 3% on all of your Bedfords photo gear purchases by entering the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout. Your discount will be applied to your pre-tax total. In addition, by using the code you will get 2nd day air shipping via Fed Ex.
Grab a Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III and save $14.99. Purchase a Canon EOS R5 and your discount will be $116.97. Purchase a Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and save a remarkable $389.94! Your Bedford’s purchase no longer needs to be greater than $1,000.00 for you to receive a discount. The more you spend, the more you save.
Money Saving Reminder
Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would enjoy free second-day 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 use it for your online order to save 3% and enjoy free 2nd-day air shipping. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The wait lists 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 a9 ii, 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.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs (remember those?) 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
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This image was created on 23 July 2021 aboard Clemens Van der Werf’s flats boat on Lake Woodruff in Deland, FL. While seated on a deck chair, I used the hand held Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 2000. Exposure determined (poorly) via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/1000 sec. at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 7:40am on a still, then cloudy morning.
Tracking: Flexible Spot AF-C performed perfectly by nailing the gator’s eye.
Image #1: American Alligator floating on calm morning
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The Swallow-tailed Kite Photo Story
From what I understand — and saw for two mornings, hundreds of Swallow-tailed Kites roost in the tall trees lining one very popular canal adjoining Lake Woodruff. At about 8 or 8:30am, they take flight in number. Many circle overhead on thermals as things warm up. A few swoop down to the water to drink. A wind from the southeast would be perfect. Despite a southwest wind on Friday morning, we had a very few chances to photograph the drinking kites. With early fog and a northwest wind, we had zero chances on Saturday morning.
In any case, today’s featured image was my favorite from our two morning adventure.
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This image was created on 23 July 2021 aboard Clemens Van der Werf’s flats boat on Lake Woodruff in Deland, FL. I used the hand held Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 2000. Exposure determined (poorly) via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/1000 sec. at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 7:40am on a still, then cloudy morning.
Tracking: Flexible Spot AF-C performed perfectly by nailing the gator’s eye.
Image #1A: Topaz DeNoise on the American Alligator floating on calm morning image
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Under-Exposures Yield More Noise
Click on the image to enlarge it and see the unusually high levels of noise for an ISO 2000 a1 original. RawDigger showed that in the very low light levels, the raw file was almost one stop too dark. Now note the after image on our right and see how beautifully Topaz DeNoise Low Light on Auto cleaned up the noise without any destructive posterization and without effecting the edges while actually improving the sharpness.
Topaz DeNoise
Be sure to click on the screen capture to see the complete elimination of noise in the after image on our right. And note that if anything, the fine details are sharper than in the original.
As regular readers know, I run DeNoise on virtually every image that I process immediately after executing the crop with the Delete Cropped Pixels box checked. For images made in sunny conditions, I used Standard. For images made in low light, I use Low Light. You can check all four methods by using the Comparison View but I rarely do that any more as I am confident as noted above.
Great Topaz News!
Folks who use the BAA Topaz link to purchase Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI, or the Utility Bundle (or any other Topaz plug-ins), will receive a 15% discount by entering the ARTHUR15 code at checkout. If the stuff is on sale (as it usually is), you save 15% off of the sale price! To get the discount you must use my link and you must enter the discount code. Be sure to start with this link.
Those who purchase Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI, or any other Topaz plug-ins using my link and then entering the ARTHUR15 code at checkout can e-mail to request a short Getting Started with Topaz e-Guide. Please include a copy of your Topaz receipt that shows the discount. Aside from the basics, the guide explains how to install the plug-ins so that they appear in the Photoshop Filter Menu.
RawDigger e-Mail Conversation with Saul Furstein
am: Hi Saul,
Re:
SF: I have read your The RawDigger E-Guide and have watched the two accompanying videos. I understand the value of getting the correct exposure in camera.
am: Or not 🙂
SF: I am confused. There was no mention of adjusting exposure in post-proocessing using software. Is there a reason that adjusting exposure with software is to be avoided?
am: Not at all. Exposing properly to the right gives you files with minimal noise and the most information. Doing so also yields cleaner, more natural color. I am pretty sure that it mentions that your raw files will often and usually should look washed out. So yes, we adjust the tonality of the image during post processing. Setting the Black (and white) points brings the images to life. And the Highlight Slider can be used to restore detail in the whites and highlights in properly exposed images.
Please LMK if you have any more questions.
Thanks with love, artie
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.
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RawDigger e-Guide with Two Videos
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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.
July 24th, 2021 What’s Up?
Several folks commented or e-mailed on the difficulty of photographing the Swallow-tailed Kites near Deland. They were 100% correct. It was my first time ever at this location. We have one more morning on Lake woodruff and I will use what I learned to do much better today than I did on Friday morning.
I forgot to mention yesterday that on Thursday evening I climbed into bed at 6:30pm anticipating a great night’s sleep and waking at 4:00am for the trip up to Deland. I have never ever have a problem falling asleep. I play one game of chess against a BOT on my i-phone, read for a bit, and then I am gone. Anyhoo, on Thursday night I simply could not fall asleep. Wide awake, I read for six hours before finally falling asleep at 12:30am. And I have no clue as to why …
If you are seriously interested in joining me for the world’s best Homer/Katchemak Bay Bald Eagle trip(s) in FEB/early MARCH 2022, please contact me immediately via e-mail for dates and details.
Today is Saturday 24 July 2021. The weather for Deland is looking less than ideal … Partly cloudy with a gentle northwest breeze. Clemens and I will be heading south after our morning session. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, we hope that you too have a great day.
Remember that you can find some great photo accessories (and necessities!) 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 like me, who 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. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And it works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.
This blog post took about two hours to prepare and makes 209 consecutive days with a new one. 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, and 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. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And doing so always earns my great appreciation.
Please Remember
With income from IPTs now close to zero, 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 save 3% on every order and enjoy free second-day air shipping. In these crazy times — I am out at least forty to sixty thousand dollars so far due to COVID 19 (with lots more to come) — 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.
New and Better Bedfords Discount Policy!
You can now save 3% on all of your Bedfords photo gear purchases by entering the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout. Your discount will be applied to your pre-tax total. In addition, by using the code you will get 2nd day air shipping via Fed Ex.
Grab a Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III and save $14.99. Purchase a Canon EOS R5 and your discount will be $116.97. Purchase a Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and save a remarkable $389.94! Your Bedford’s purchase no longer needs to be greater than $1,000.00 for you to receive a discount. The more you spend, the more you save.
Money Saving Reminder
Many have learned that if you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H and would enjoy free second-day 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 use it for your online order to save 3% and enjoy free 2nd-day air shipping. Steve has been great at getting folks the hot items that are out of stock at B&H and everywhere else. The wait lists 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 a9 ii, 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.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs (remember those?) 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
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This image was created on 15 July 2020 a few blocks from my home at ILE. I used the hand held Sony FE 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 560mm) and the 61-MP Sony Alpha a7R IV Mirrorless Digital Camera Body. ISO 800. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1000 sec. at f/9 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed this exposure to be dead-solid perfect (as seen in the screen capture below). AWB at 8:44am on a clear, sunny morning.
I screwed up the focus (by choosing the wrong AF Method) … Click on the image to view a larger version.
Image #1: Zebra Swallowtail on Carolina Red Root blossom
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Accurate and Honest Comments
Of the 39,479 approved comments on the blog, those left at the A Zebra at ILE ??? Your Thoughts? Be Honest. Be Brutal blog post here, were among the most insightful ever. The boys and girls did some fine work. So fine, that I am posting my replies here rather than on that post so that lots of folks can learn.
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Image #1A: AF point screen capture for the Zebra Swallowtail on Carolina Red Root blossom image
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Byron Prinzmetal
July 21, 2021 at 7:42 pm
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My guess is the af mode was not a spot mode but some wide Sony af mode that got the wing tips as they were the closest points. Hard to have everything right all the time especially when you might have also anticipated getting the butterfly in flight and then had the af mode set for capturing a wider af area for a moving object????? But fantastic image anyway you cut it … BP
Thanks, Byron. I wish that I liked it as much as you. I believe that I was using one of the tracking spot AF methods but they are not nearly as good on the 7r iv as they are on the a1. Even though I started on the butterfly’s head, the AF system drifted off the butterfly and grabbed a spot on the flower just to the left of the butterfly’s left hind wing — the bottom wing on our right. So the head and the antennae were well past the plane of focus … In a perfect world, however, I could have gotten the shot by going to a single point moved to the right center of the frame and placed on the butterfly’s head or at least on its thorax.
James Saxon
July 21, 2021 at 5:32 pm
Nice image. I want to comment on what you titled Raw Digger is not for the faint of heart. I have owned Raw Digger for a couple of months and still trying to wrap my arms around all the information in the guide. It takes looking at your histogram and exposure in a totally new light. I still don’t understand everything but the guide is a huge help when using the software. I am still learning to view my exposures in a different context. When I get it right it takes a lot less processing. I recommend the software but not without purchasing the guide to reduce the learning curve.
Hi Jim, It was great meeting you at Anahuac. And yes, exposing to the right does make post-processing a lot easier. You may be making things a bit too complicated. Once you have the Adapted (Pink) histogram set up, the only thing that matters is the G channel. In a perfect world, that will run right up to the 16000 line. If it makes its was up to the 2/3 mark between the 8000 line and the 16000 line, you have an excellent exposure. Oft times, we wind up only one third of the way from the 8000 line to the 16000 line. That is still a very good and very workable exposure. Many folks are making their lives difficult by not even reaching the 8000 line; their images are under-exposed by a stop or more, often by two stops. artie
Chris Davidson
July 21, 2021 at 2:17 pm
A nice Zebra Swallowtail image, Art! Looks to me like your focus point was around the middle of it’s right wing.
Catching this butterfly with it’s wings fully opened would most likely have given you the details you were looking for … That can be hard at times with some species, they seem to constantly flap their wings. Firing off a burst of images will often times give at least one frame with fully open wings. The out of focus plants in the background also detract a bit, a cleaner background would improve this as well. Of course it’s all easier said than done!!
Thanks, Chris. The AF point was actually on the flower to our left of the butterfly’s left hind wing. But you were at the right latitude. And yes, had the butterfly fully spread it wings and posed flat, the image would have been much sharper and much more striking. I don’t particularly mind the flower background but there are lots of nicer flowers. And yes, the difficultly here was that this delicate creature would land only for a brief moment … artie
Larry Master
July 21, 2021 at 2:10 pm
I like the image. It appears that your AF setting caused the camera to grab what it thought was an “eye” (the red spot). It would have been nice if the wings were more open and/or you had more depth of field with a lower f-stop and higher ISO. I had some success with a similar setup (A1 w/ 200-600 and 1.4) a week ago while leading a butterfly walk (here).
Thanks, Larry. I like it but do not love it; it is not critically sharp where it needs to be. I never set up Eye AF with the a7r iv. I am pretty sure that if I began AF with tracking: Flexible Spot with the a1 it would have locked on the insect’s head … artie
Mike Cristina
July 21, 2021 at 10:49 am
It’s a great shot. I wish the stem on the left wasn’t there but it was, so you had to keep it. The focus appears to be on the red spot and up the center of the right wing. Had he moved his left wing away from you, AND exposed his left antennae into view it might have been a better photo. But, alas, he didn’t know you were there.
Thanks, Mike. I am afraid that it does not work for me even though the butterfly is gorgeous and was a perfect specimen. See above for the actual location of the AF point … Good eye noticing that one antenna was partially hidden 🙁 artie
Adam
July 21, 2021 at 9:54 am
There are several things I like about the image including the composition with the butterfly canted to the right and the slight bend of the flowers to the left. As you observed, it’s an interesting specimen and one we don’t see around here. Obviously, you have little control over the background and flower so I won’t venture to comment on these issues. What would I have preferred to have seen? Both wings (L>R) are a bit oof (DOF v. motion?) and the head position is not optimal. Only one antenna is visible and the head is ever slightly shrouded by the wing. Also, the focus appears to be on the spots on the lower part of the wings so the head is not the focal point. The right tail flare (?) is lost in the shadow of the stem on the plant (from the butterfly?) Perhaps had you moved to the right a bit, all of these issues would have been obviated though with butterflies, they rarely pause but for a brief second.
Thanks for your insightful comment, Adam. Your analysis is spot on. Yes, I was pretty much dead on sun angle so that it the shadow of the butterfly on the stem. The image is badly front focused and the head is irrecoverably soft. I believe that you were referring to the tail when you mentioned the flare. I appreciate everyone’s honest and accurate comments. I thought that this image might make for some excellent educational fodder and it did.
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Image #1B: A tight crop of the head of the Zebra Swallowtail on Carolina Red Root blossom image
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Simply Not Sharp
Click on the image to enlarge it and you can easily see that the butterfly’s head is nowhere near sharp. It is well beyond the plane of sharp focus and in addition, only one of the antennae are visible. Paraphrasing the late Harry Chapin from Mr. Tanner:
The butterfly was beautiful, but unfortunately the presentation was not up to contemporary professional standards; full-time consideration of another endeavor might be in order.
If you are not familiar with the story songs of the late, great Harry Chapin, you might want to invest five minutes listening to this wonderful song here. The complete (and very touching) lyrics are available at the link.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
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