July 23rd, 2021 Your Call
After clicking on each image to enlarge it, please leave a comment and let us know which one you like the best and why you made your choice. Image #1 was made at the wide open aperture, Image #2 was made at f/8, and Image #3 was created at f/16.
What’s Up?
It is 5:35am and Clemens and I are headed up to Lake Woodruff in Volusia County in search of large numbers of Swallow-tailed Kites gathering before they head to South America for the winter. Wish us luck. For the most part it will be a big challenge for me as I will be hand holding the SONY 600mm f/4 GM with the 1.4X TC and the a1 body.
Today is Friday 23 July 2021. The weather for Deland is looking less than ideal … Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.
Thanks for all the comments on yesterday’s images. I will be sharing my thoughts on those with you here soon.
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 well more than two hours to prepare and makes 208 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
The Situation
We have a nice patch of Sunshine Mimosa growing in a small patch of dirt right next to the pool machinery. I’ve seen spent blossoms before. I checked for flowers on Wednesday morning but there were none, and no buds as well, at least that I saw. After my Thursday morning walk, I walked out onto the pool deck to put my boots in the sun to dry and decided to take a peek at the low-growing mimosas that had multiplied over the past three years. I was surprised to see two blossoms. One was a bit ragged and the other one was perfect. I picked the beautiful blossom and set up for a green background in the front yard. As it was rather late and a breeze was developing, I moved my setup into the lee of the big oak tree in front of my house. The good news in those situation is that the breeze comes and goes.
Note that working wide open with the Metabones Adapter resulted in severe vignetting that could not be completely eliminated via the Vignettting slider during the raw conversion in ACR; I had to use a very soft clone stamp to make the corners perfect.
Sensitive Brier
Sensitive Brier (Mimosa nuttallii), with its smaller prettier blossoms, is more common at ILE than Sunshine Mimosa. It is sometimes called Catclaw Sensitive Briar because of the multitude of tiny barbs on the stems. You can see a decent image of this mimosa in the the blog post here.
Variety is the Spice of Flower Photography
Once I have my gear set up on a still flower in calm conditions, and have focused sharply exactly where I want, the process becomes quite automated. For this flower, I started at f/8 and shot exposures from +.7 stops to + 2 stops. I guessed that +1.0 would have been best. Those were acceptable but when I evaluated the images in RawDigger it showed that +1.3 stops was best. Working in Av mode with Exposure Compensation enables me to work very quickly and to learn more about exposure once the images are downloaded by evaluating them in RawDigger. Then it is a simple matter of varying the aperture and shooting series of five images at different exposures. If you wish to change the size of the image in the frame or try a different image design, rinse and repeat.
Note that in Image #1 there were no dust spots. In Image #2 there were two. In Image #3, where I stopped down to f/16, I had to use the Spot Healing Brush to eliminate about 20 dust spots, many of them nasty. Note also in Image #3 that some background detail was brought up even though it was a good twenty feet to the grass background.
SONY and artie
Switching to SONY, first with the a9 and the a9 II, and then with the remarkable a1, has enabled me (and others, like Mike De Rosa as seen recently 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. Most of the time I am using one of two AF methods that together, cover about 99% of the commonly-encountered bird photography situations. Learn more by joining 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 my 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. We are now up to an astounding 69 lucky and blessed photographers! Early on, we discussed the myriad AF options. I gave my opinion as to the best one for flight and general bird photography.
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 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.
July 22nd, 2021 Following Up
Everything below in today’s post has to do with questions raised in the recent blog post here. Wanna learn? Keep reading.
What’s Up?
I spent most of Wednesday morning watching the Milwaukee Bucks defeat the Phoenix Suns for the 2021 NBA Championship. After the game, I reveled for hours in the celebration and the commentary. When the Bucks were down 2-0 in the best of seven series, I was telling my friends that they would win. They proceeded to take the last four games. Congrats to the whole Bucks team, in particular to Final MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. The tall, skinny teenager was the fifteenth pick in the 2013 NBA draft.
Adapted from the Wikipedia article here.
Giannis Adetokunbo was born in Athens, Greece, on December 6, 1994, the son of immigrants from Nigeria. Three years earlier, his parents had moved from Lagos, leaving their firstborn son, Francis, under the care of his grandparents. Although Adetokunbo and three of his four brothers were born in Greece, they did not automatically receive Greek citizenship. For the first 18 years of his life, Adetokunbo could not travel outside the country and was effectively stateless, having no papers from Greece or Nigeria. He was eventually issued Greek citizenship on May 9, 2013, less than two months before the 2013 NBA Draft. Adetokunbo grew up in the Athens neighborhood of Sepolia. His parents, as immigrants, could not easily find work, so Giannis and his older brother, Thanasis, helped by hawking watches, handbags and sunglasses in the streets. In 2007, Adetokunbo started playing basketball. After gaining Greek citizenship in 2013, his official surname became Αντετοκούνμπο, the Greek transcription of Adetokunbo, which was then transliterated letter-for-letter and officially spelled on his Greek passport as Antetokounmpo. Because many could not pronounce his surname, he quickly became known as the “Greek Freak.” Antetokounmpo obtained Nigerian citizenship in 2015.
Giannis is now 6′ 11″ tall, has filled out to a svelte 242 pounds, and earns $25 million a year. From humble beginnings, he sits atop the sports world with his teammates as NBA champions. I’d be remiss in not recognizing the contribution of forward Khris Middleton (as well as the rest of the team and the oft-maligned coach, Mike Budenholzer). Without Middleton’s clutch shooting the Suns would have won the series.
Thanks to the many who left insightful comments at yesterday’s A Zebra at ILE ??? Your Thoughts? Be Honest. Be Brutal blog post here. I will be sharing my thoughts on the Zebra Swallowtail image here soon. There is lots to learn.
Today is Thursday 22 July 2021. I will begin packing today for my Auto Train trip after which I will be spending all of August on Long Island. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.
Thanks for all the comments on yesterday’s images. I will be sharing my thoughts on those with you here tomorrow.
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 207 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
Wind Direction Question
Two days ago, I wrote:
Study the image and see if you can determine the wind direction on this clear sunny morning. Leave a comment if you figure it out.
Three folks took a stab at it. In reality, being able to read the wind the moment you get to the beach, or even before you leave your house, is a vitally important skill for bird photographers. In the cell phone image above, you needed to note the birds in the air. The one landing bird was angling slightly away from us. The other birds in the air were doing the same but angling a bit more to our left. Understand that when the birds on the ground are involved in doing this or that, especially when the wind is fairly light, they will often not be affected at all by the wind. On a windy day at the beach, most birds resting on the ground will be facing directly into the wind. On the other hand, birds taking flight, will always fly directly into the wind, even a fairly gentle wind. The sun comes up roughly in the east. Birds flying directly away from us would show that the wind was from the west. Above, they were angling away to our left; that clearly indicated that the wind was from the west/southwest. In the morning, that wind is not conducive to good flight photography. That’s why we were atop the ladder working at 1200mm photographing the chicks.
Wing or No Wing?
In the same post, I wrote:
Of the three tern chick images, which one is best, and why? Do you like the one with the wing in the upper left, the one with the wing in the upper right, or the one with the clear light-blue sky? Be sure to let us know why you made your choice.
Ten folks left a comment on the wing question. Seven of those folks liked Image #4 best, the one with the wing of the adult eliminated. The other three preferred Image #3, the one where I moved the wing from the upper left corner to the upper right corner. With regards to the wing versus no wing question. Please understand that I cannot tell you what to like and what not to like. But for me, either image with the wing of the adult is far stronger than the final, cleaner version with the wing dispatched. Why? The chick is reacting to the adult flying by. Heck, they react to any bird flying by whether or not it is their parent. The adults recognize the chicks by sight and by call. The chicks recognize the adults only by call.
The wing tells a story, and helps to move the viewer’s eye around the frame. Coming from “Mr. Clean, Tight, and Graphic, that may be a surprise to many. If anything, the ones with the wing are different. By leaving the wing in either corner, the viewer is forced to think: Why did the artist choose to leave the wing? What is the story being told?
You might try this on for size: Image #4, the sterile image, would have zero chance in any prestigious photo contest. #2 would at least have a chance. #3 would not be eligible for most contests because the wing was moved from one side of the frame to the other.
The always-creative Denise Ippolito wrote:
I like the wing in the upper right corner- number 4 looks a bit sterile to me 🙂 but it is a fabulous shot either way.
Then, the highly skilled (and former BAA student) Cliff Beittel wrote:
#3. I agree with Denise, and better with the wing than without. The wing creates tension (with the promise of release), tells a story, gives the eye and brain more to explore instead of just locking on the throat. I like the giant photographers too.
Now this might surprise you even more. I like Image #2 (above), the best — the original with the adult’s wing in the upper left corner. Why? Because that was the reality. I will admit, however, that the image design is better balanced with the wing flopped and placed in the upper right corner.
This Just In
At 10:11am, three hours after publishing this, I finally realized why I prefer the original image with the wing in the upper left corner. With the wind from the west/southwest, the adult was flying from right to left as I viewed the scene. We are seeing the dorsal part of the adult left wing. With the wing flopped, the bird would have had to have been flying in the opposite (wrong) direction … If that makes any sense.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
July 21st, 2021 What’s Up?
Most of the time, I know a day or two in advance what the subject of an upcoming blog will be. I woke this morning with no clue. So I decided to look at my ILE July 2020 file. I was surprised to see flowers, flowers, and more flowers. Along with a very few butterflies and cranes. Right now the fields are too soft and too wet to drive on safely, so no cranes. And there are just not many flowers around.
Anyhoo, I found today’s featured image, processed it, and prepared this blog post. Today is Wednesday 21 July. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.
Thanks for all the comments on yesterday’s images. I will be sharing my thoughts on those with you here tomorrow.
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 one hour to prepare and makes 206 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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Your Thoughts?
Zebra Swallowtail is my favorite butterfly. This is a beautiful specimen. They are uncommon and skittish so getting a great image is a huge challenge.
Enlarge the image and examine it critically and ask yourself, what do I like about it? Then ask yourself, what don’t I like about it. Then share your thoughts by leaving a comment. Where do you think the focus was? What one thing could the butterfly have done that would have resulted in a perfect image?
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Image #1A: RawDigger screen capture for the Zebra Swallowtail on Carolina Red Root blossom image
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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 line are dead-solid perfect. With 195 OvExp pixels out of 51,000,000 this is a dead-solid perfect exposure.
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.
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