July 20th, 2021 Need Your Help
Of today’s four featured images, which one do you like best? 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. In addition, you can learn a ton by considering the Wind Direction question below.
Many thanks. Much love.
What’s Up?
I slept late (for me), and woke to a still, gorgeous morning here at ILE. After eight great sessions on the second JAX IPT, I did not even think about going out to photograph. That, in part, because the fields down by the lake are too wet to drive on. I did get lots of work done, did my bursts and a swim, and ate well. I made some progress on my 2020 tax return, answered lots of Used Gear Page e-mails, and added four folks to the Sony A1 Info and Updates group, a one-day record!
If you are looking for a Sony SEL 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens, get in touch with Steve Elkins at Bedford asap and be sure to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout to save 3% and enjoy free second-day air Fed-Ex shipping.
Today is Tuesday 20 July 2020. I am beginning to think about packing for my trip to Long Island. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I 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 one hour to prepare and makes 205 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.
Canon EOS-1DX Mark II Professional Digital Camera Body
BIRDS AS ART Record-low Price!
BAA friend Ron Horn is offering a Canon EOS-1DX II in excellent plus condition for the BAA record low price of $2199.00. The camera has only 44,000 shutter actuations (rated to 400,000). Both LCDs are pristine and there are a few very minor cosmetic marks on the body. The sale does not include the original box but does include everything that came in it along with an extra battery, a custom Kirk L-bracket (approximately a $175.00 value), and insured ground shipping to the lower 48 states. Your item will not ship until your check clears.
Please contact Ron via e-mail
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 Ron’s dSLR ASAP. artie
Happiness Is …
Happiness is being very tall at sunrise at 1200mm with some tern chicks on the ridge. I am in the middle, Donna Bourdon is to my left, and Clemens Van der Werf is on my right. The ridge is dead center past the adults, the last bit of visible sand between the shadows of the two big lenses. It is a rare day when I am just about as tall as Clemens. We all took turns on the ladders. Being up on a ladder is also great for handheld flight as you can see the birds coming and you can get some nicer-than-sky backgrounds.
Wind Direction Question
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.
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The iPhone Photography e-Guide
To order your copy of the iPhone Photography e-Guide, please click here.
The PDF is sent link by e-mail for downloading: the file is relatively huge at 216 MB.
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Hard to Believe
Yes, Cliff has a great eye and wonderfully creative vision. Yet it is still hard for me to believe that he can make so many great images with “just“ an i-phone. Almost more amazingly Cliff captures with his iPhone and does all of his post-processing on the phone! In this great new e-Guide written for BIRDS AS ART you will learn to set up your iPhone quickly and efficiently and how to use it. In addition, there are dozens and dozens of tips on Cliff’s favorite apps and his favorite gear. Scroll down to the bottom to see the Table of Contents.
The iPhone Photography e-Guide: $20.00.
To order your copy of the iPhone Photography e-Guide please click here.
Dr. Cliff Oliver
Dr. Cliff Oliver is an award-winning photographer, former photography instructor for the San Diego Natural History Museum, cutting-edge integrative health care professional, and international workshop leader. He created and taught the first 5-day immersion iPhone photography workshop at Hollyhock, Canada’s premier Leadership Learning Center. He teaches quarterly iPhone photography classes at the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library School of the Arts (these include Art on the iPhone, iPhoneography, Portraits and Selfies, and Practicing in the Field). His images have been on the cover of WildBird magazine, on display at Scripps Oceanography Institute, and been honored with multiple first-place finishes in the International Exhibition of Photography Del Mar. The San Diego Natural History Museum’s, “Birds of the World” centennial exhibit featured several of his images. One of his iPhone images received an honorable mention in the Athenaeum 23rd annual juried exhibition. He has displayed images at Art Speaks: Expressions of Hope and Healing and has produced a series of books, called Zen I, II, III, IV, V, VI and VII that feature original images that promote inner peace. The last 4 books feature only images taken on the iPhone. He teaches individuals and groups the skills of capturing iPhone/mobile photographs and then how to create personalized works of art.
To see some of Cliff’s iPhone images, click here. Learn more about Cliff and what he does on his Center for Balance website here. And don’t forget, if I had never met Cliff I would be pushing up daisies somewhere. To request my Health Basics File that contains the whole story, please shoot me an e-mail by clicking here..
Induro’s GIT505XXL Grand Series 5 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod
Optimized for the highest level of stability and utilizing a flat modular magnesium alloy platform, the Induro GIT505XXL Grand Series 5 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod reaches to 81.3″ tall with the legs fully splayed, and without a center column, can get you as low as 5.5″. With a maximum load of 88.2 lbs., it is strong and sturdy enough for all bird photography applications. Each leg is divided into 5 sections and features half-turn twist locks for fast adjustments. Portability is maintained as well with a folded length of 27.6″. I ordered mine from B&H last week and got it just in time for the second JAX IPT. It got me where I needed to be!
I Was Lucky Early
I had spotted some chicks on the sand ridge in these images the day before, so I positioned my ladder to be right on sun angle as soon as the sun cleared the ever-present cloud bank on the eastern horizon. I was very lucky early on as I had clear views of several chicks atop the ridge. After that, it was very difficult to find a slot through the numerous adults (and young) blocking line of sight to the birds on the ridge.
This is the original image with the wing of a fly-by adult in the upper left corner.
Flopped
For this version, I flopped the upper part of the sky so that the wing would be — as suggested by friend and colleague Denise Ippolito, in the upper right hand corner. I selected the upper part of the sky and then used techniques from APTATS to flop the selection horizontally. The whole process took about 30 seconds.
You can learn advanced Quick Masking and Layer Masking techniques in the APTATS I & II Bundle. Save $15 by purchasing the pair.
The Wing is Gone
For the third version, I eliminated the wing completely. This actually turned out to be a bit more work than flopping the wing from left to right. Why? When I grabbed the upper right corner, flopped it, and moved it into place over the wing in the upper left corner, there was a bit of a tonality mis-match. A bit of work with the Patch Tool and Content-Aware Fill eliminated the mismatched tones.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
July 19th, 2021 What’s Up?
The last morning of the 2nd JAX IPT was more of the same, more of an early southwest breeze and more wind against sun condition. None-the-less, we had a great morning. Donna Bourdon did chicks on the face of the dune early and wrong-way flight after that. Then she joined Lou Newman and Maida at the wash-over pool. Clemens and I started atop the ladders with the crazy-tall tripods working tern chicks on top of the dune at 1200mm. A few on the edge of a nearby ridge were really gorgeous. After a while, I headed down the beach for chicks and Clemens did flight. With wind against sun conditions, the trick to flight photography is to find birds flying the wrong way, or those turning or banking. Finally I joined Donna, Lou, and Maida at the pool where we all got some great stuff on handsome young Laughing Gulls. Lou had two great chances on a Royal Tern feeding sequence.
We were back at the AirBnB for brunch by ten and on the road by 11:40am. Donna flying JAX to ATL to Chattanooga while Lou and Maida headed to Sarasota. After dropping me off at ILE, Clemens will grab his car and continue on to Fort Lauderdale.
All in all it was a great trip despite the often challenging conditions. And the All-Wheel Drive (AWD) on my BMW X5 did great on the soft sand. We never even came close to getting stuck 🙂 Today is Monday 18 July 2021. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I 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 204 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.
SONY a9 II Mirrorless Digital Camera Body
Wally Barkley is offering a Sony a9 II in near-mint condition for a BAA record-low $2694.00. The sale includes the original box and everything that came in it including one battery and the charger, strap. Insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only is also included. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Wally via e-mail or by phone at 1-231-675-6546 Eastern time zone.
As things worked out, the a9, and then the a9 ii, turned out to be life-changers for me. From the moment I tracked that first incoming Brandt’s Cormorant at LaJolla, I knew that at that time, the SONY a9 series bodies featured the world’ best AF. I upgraded to the a9 ii as soon as it was released for the slightly larger body size. At one point I owned two a9 ii bodies. A new a9 ii sells for $4,498.00 so you can save a very nice $1804.00 by grabbing Wally’s a9 ii ASAP. Not to mention that the new Sony A1 sells for $6498.00 … artie
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This image was created on 17 July 2021 on the last afternoon of the second JAX IPT. While seated on dry sand using the knee-pod technique, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 734mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2000 sec. at f/10 (stopped down one-stop) in Manual mode. AWB at 6:09pm on a sunny afternoon.
Wide AF-C/Bird-Eye/Face Detection AF was active at the moment of exposure and performed just about perfectly (as below). Click on the image to view a larger version
Image #1: Royal Tern chick begging
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The Best Option …
Before we headed out to the beach on Saturday afternoon, I said to the group, “With wind against sun, a good option is to get close to some chicks by the wash-over pool and wait for a parent bird to return with a fish. There is at least a chance that the chick will turn away from the wind to face the parent that will be landing into the wind. If you get lucky, you can get something decent with the chick facing you.” I got very lucky. Image #1 was my favorite from a nine frame burst created within the same second.
I scootched to my right to get squarely on sun angle with this chick. I had planned to get the camera on the ground and work off the rear screen. Lucky for me, I did not have time to do that. As the chick reacted to an adult flying by overhead at close range I acquired focus almost instantly and fired away. This chick went hungry for at least a while longer.
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Image #1A: AF point for the Royal Tern chick begging image
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Bird Eye/Face Detection Improved
Firmware update V1.10 completely eliminated the electronic viewfinder (EVF) problem that plagued a1 shooters from Day One. In addition, the performance of the already-amazing Bird Eye/Face Detection AF was significantly improved with the recent firmware update.
Note the small, proportionate crop from the right and from below. Tip: select Original Ratio from the Crop Tool drop-down menu.
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. With two folks joining yesterday, we are now up to an astounding 67 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. More recently, we have been in contact with folks at SONY sharing our thoughts, experiences, and frustrations with the EVF blackout problem.
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.
Beach Clean-Up
Most of the beach clean-up here was done with the Patch Tool. I used a bit of Content-Aware Fill. I did not use the Clone Stamp Tool at all. The clean-up job alone took about 25 minutes. I know that there will be a few out there who prefer the messy original version with the bits of shell and tiny feathers. I do not 🙂
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The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II).
You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a PayPal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand. Be sure to specify Digital Basics II.
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The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)
The Photoshop Tools used with all of my clean-up techniques along with dozens of other great Photoshop tips and techniques — along with all of my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts, are covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. While the new e-Guide reflects my MacBook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow, folks using a PC and/or BreezeBrowser will also benefit greatly by studying the material on DB II. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.
Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here. Note: all of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.
You can learn how and why I converted all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. More recently, I became proficient at converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw. About two years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One Pro 12 and continue to do so today.
You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
July 18th, 2021 Your Fave?
Please take a moment to leave a comment; let us know which of today’s two featured images you like best, and why you made your choice.
What’s Up?
Though the weather has been a challenge — nothing but sun all day every day, with a slight breeze from the southwest early each morning and a strong southeast wind in the afternoons, everyone has gotten lots of great images. On Saturday morning the wind switched to southeast earlier than it had on Friday so we had lots of more excellent flight photography. Again, we enjoyed some gorgeous clouds in the low western sky. At one point, I did head shots with the hand held 200-600 and the 2X teleconverter just to show that it can be done. Not surprising, Bird- Eye/Face tracking worked perfectly. Images soon.
Saturday afternoon was more of the same; we had a hard south wind blowing right at the bright sun. None-the-less, we had some success by sitting near the wash-over pool with long focal lengths and picking off chicks that faced us inadvertently while begging. With lots of birds right in front of us, we were getting head shots of adult and young terns until a sheriff’s vehicle with lights flashing drove slowly right through the birds while on patrol. When we got close to another group on the far side of the pool, a woman with her kid, about five, was teaching him to run through the flocks of resting birds. We left.
Today is Sunday 18 July, the last morning of the IPT. We are heading to the beach at 5:30am, and should be on the road back to ILE before noon. 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 more than an hour to prepare and makes 203 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 2021 late on the first morning of the second JAX IPT. While seated on wet sand using the knee-pod technique, 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. I seriously screwed up the exposure by accidentally turning off Zebras (with ISO on the rear dial): 1/2000 sec. at f/8 (stopped down one stop) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:34am on a sunny morning.
Tracking: Flexible Spot AF with Bird-Eye/Face Detection set performed perfectly.
Image #1: Royal Tern large chick swimming in run-over pool
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Wind Against Sun
In the afternoons there have been lots of tern chicks in the run-over pool and they have been fairly easy to approach. But with bright sun and a strong wind from the southeast, all of the birds in the water are facing directly away from the light. And that includes swimming birds, bathing birds, and birds resting or preening on the sand and chicks waiting to get fed. With those conditions, photography at the pool is pretty much impossible. On still mornings, or those with southeast or east winds, you have a very good chance to succeed. The out-of-focus grey in the foreground of each image is the wet sand that borders the pool.
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Image #1A: RawDigger screen capture for the Royal Tern large chick swimming in run-over pool image
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An Easy Over-Exposure Save
The rosy pink Ov-Exp warnings on the breast indicate that the raw file was significantly over-exposed. I had inadvertently turned off Zebras … Note, however, that all of the Ov-Exp pixels are in the G (GREEN) channel. In the RawDigger e-guide we mention that in situations where all of the Ov-Exp pixels are in a single channel, recovering such areas is easily done during the raw conversion by pulling the Exposure slider and the Highlight slider to the left as needed. Doing so restores actual detail to the Ov-Exp areas.
Note that I leveled the image and executed a small crop.
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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.
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This image was also created on 15 July 2021 late on the first morning of the second JAX IPT. While seated on wet sand using the knee-pod technique, I used the hand held Panning Ground Pod-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 500. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2000 sec. at f/10 (stopped down 1 2/3 stops) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:50am on a sunny morning.
Tracking: Flexible Spot AF with Bird-Eye/Face Detection set performed perfectly.
Image #2: Royal Tern small chick swimming in run-over pool
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More Difficult Butt-Advancing …
As this bird was smaller than the chick in Image #1, and was swimming toward a steeper bank on the edge of the pool, I needed to scootch forward to get over the bank (and right, to stay on sun angle). As noted previously, I worked very hard that morning. One of my goals had been to photograph swimming Royal Tern chicks, so it was all worth it.
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Designing and Creating Pleasing and Dramatic Natural History Images
A Video Webinar: $30 by electronic download
Order your copy by clicking here.
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Designing and Creating Pleasing and Dramatic Natural History Images
A Video Webinar
In this 1 hour 28 minute plus video you will learn and be inspired. We cover everything from the very basics to the fine points. After a brief bio, the topics include Behavior, Action, Diagonal Lines, and the Cuteness Factor; Birds in Flight — The Holy Grail of Bird Photography; Mis-Framing!; Basic Image Design/HORIZONTALS: Get the subject out of the center of the frame. Basic Image Design/VERTICALS: The center of the frame is generally fine; The Importance of BACKGROUND; Isolating the Subject; Other Elements of Composition; On Getting Low; Going Wide for Bird-scapes; Super-tight!; Working in Sunny Conditions; Working in Cloudy Conditions; Working in Foggy Conditions; Working in the Shade; Working in Bad Weather; Creating Back-lit Images; Creating Silhouettes; and Creating Pleasing Blurs.
Each segment of the program consists of an average of about 15 images that will drive home the points being made, educate you, and inspire. The instructions and advice, given clearly and concisely, are based on my near-38 years of experience photographing birds with telephoto and super-telephoto lenses. And on several decades of creating educational blog posts.
This presentation is based on the webinar that I did for the South Shore Camera Club in April. You can find some of the comments below along with comments from two of the folks who viewed the webinar the night before the DeSoto IPT began.
You can order your copy of Designing and Creating Pleasing and Dramatic Natural History Images/A Video Webinar by clicking here or by calling Jim with your credit card in hand at 863-692-0906.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
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