February 6th, 2025
High Capacity Delkin CF Express Type A 4.0 Memory Cards
At present, there is no longer a need to change a memory card in the field. Both the new Delkin 480GB and 960GB cards have more than enough storage for 99.9% of field applications. Using these new cards, I have never hit the buffer with my a-1 ii despite hammering the shutter button on occasion. Regular readers know that I have been depending on Delkin cards for just about a quarter century. In that time I have never lost a single image due to card failure. I’ve put my Delkin cards in the washing machine and dryer and — after two days, recovered one from a bag of barbecued spare-rib fat and bones. I got the images off those cards without a problem. Most amazingly, after dropping a card in the parking lot at Nickerson Beach IPT, participant Carlotta Grenier found the card near the ladies’ room four days later after it had been run over by numerous vehicles. After consulting with Delkin, I ripped the mangled cover off the card, put it into the Delkin card reader, and got to enjoy each and every image. I sent the card back to Delkin and they kindly sent me a brand new one. Please do not try that with Sony or San Disk or any of the many cheaper off brand cards.
At a recent dinner in San Diego, Delkin founder, president, and CEO Martin Wood told how his folks were able to recover the data from an industrial card that survived a military jet fighter crash that burned for more than two hours at 2000° F.
The specs for both the Delkin 480GB and 960GB cards are identical:
Max Read Speed: 1830 MB/s
Max Write Speed: 1710 MB/s
Min Sustained Write Speed: 500 MB/s
Records Raw 8K, 6K, and 4K Video
Records High Bitrates and Frame Rates
Records Raw Photos and Rapid Bursts
To help facilitate card usage in almost any environment and keeping your content safe, Delkin has built its BLACK Series with a rugged design that is water and shock proof and is resistant to temperature extremes. In order to further enhance reliability and functionality, the BLACK Series is serialized and protected by a limited lifetime warranty and a 48-hour replacement guarantee upon registration with Delkin.
I have never bought the story that putting all your eggs in one basket is a big mistake. Having to use multiple cards during a single shooting session greatly increases the chances of losing one or more.
You can order your Delkin cards and their great card readers from BIRDS AS ART by clicking here. I recommend minimizing your per GB costs by going with the Delkin Devices 960GB BLACK CFexpress Type A 4.0 Memory Card.
What’s Up?
With the heavy fog (as predicted), I was not excited about heading down to the lake on Tuesday morning. But boy, I was glad that we went out. Bob and I made some excellent images and I learned some new stuff about exposure and on optimizing foggy morning images. Though the weather was much better on Wednesday morning, we did not do quite as well. Strange both mornings was a young Black Skimmer, only the second one I’ve seen at ILE in 25 years. It did not look to be too well on Tuesday but had a lot more life in it on Wednesday.
I’ve been getting a lot more work done on my 2024 taxes. I was glad to learn that the newer of my two Sony a-1 bodies sold the first day it was listed. The market for used copies of this great camera body is, as expected, holding up well. I am keeping the older one for now as a back-up for the Homer trip. I am not sure when I will receive my second a-1 ii. If you order an a- ii be sure absolutely sure to use one of my links to get the three set-up e-mails for free. Otherwise you will either need to go it alone or send a PayPal for $227.43 to birdsasart@verizon.net.
Bob is dropping me off at the Orlando Airport early next Monday and then beginning his drive back to a very cold Wisconsin.
On Wednesday evening we enjoyed a nice sunset with the skimmer and a White Ibis available for silhouettes. None were inspiring.
Today is Thursday 6 February. Though I have a ton of organizing and packing to do, we will surely head down to the lake for a short morning session. Whatever you opt to do today, we hope that you have a great day and that you too choose to be happy.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
In the Last Blog Post
In the last blog post, Four Very Special San Diego Not Flying Duck Images. Part I here, my very favorite image was the Northern Shoveler drake. Why? A good photo of this species in soft light had been eluding me for several decades. In addition, I loved the swirly water. Thanks to Dr. Fish for suggesting that I lighten that one. And to Anthony Ardito for suggesting that I lighten the Wood Duck drake head portrait.
For me, the other three images were tied for 2nd place as each was very strong.
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These four raw files (each exposed well to the right), were created on 4 February 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE while working from the front seat of my SUV with my BLUBB-supported super-telephoto rig.
Photo Mechanic screen capture of four foggy morning photos
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Exposing Way to the Right
Note that all of today’s featured images were created at either +2 or +2.3 stops (once again in Shutter Priority mode with EC on the thumb Wheel and AUTO ISO). Why? With the uniformly light-toned backgrounds, working in Shutter Priority as above allowed me to quickly and efficiently set my shutter speed, add a ton of light, and concentrate on making sharp images.
The key to getting the color right in each image was the final step: running a layer of Average Blur Color Balance as detailed in Digital Basics II. I should do a short video on this one …
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This image was created on 4 February 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Working from the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering +2.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 640. 1/125sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. Amazingly, RawDigger showed even +2.3 stops was not enough; the exposure here was a full /3 sto short of perfect. AWB at 7:45:46am on a very foggy morning.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #1: Mottled Duck and grasses on foggy morning
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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The Image Clean-Up
By clicking on the Photo Mechanic composite screen capture above to enlarge it, you can see that I did some neat clean-up work on the grasses, especially the clump below the bill. All done with the Remove Tool as detailed in the Digital Basics III Video Series. The pleasingly arranged grasses that I opted to leave create a peaceful easy mood.
Not to mention that the contrast and color are improved 1000% from the raw file.
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This image was also created on Tuesday 4 February 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Again, working from the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering +2.0 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 400. 1/125sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect. AWB at 7:50:06am on a very foggy morning.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #2: Black Skimmer in worn first winter plumage
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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It’s Better Side …
On Tuesday morning, this young skimmer’s right eye was cloudy and barely open. Thus, I waited for the look-back pose to create a pleasing image. As mentioned above, the bird looked much better on Wednesday. But the left side of its face was still its best side.
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This image was also created on 4 February 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Again, working from the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering +2.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 400. 1/125 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. Even though this one was created at +2.3 stops, RawDigger showed that it was a full half stop too dark. AWB at 7:51:45am on a very foggy morning.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #3: Mottled Duck pair, male with yellow bill on our left
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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A Double Miracle!
Like today’s first two images, this one was created at the wide open aperture to save on ISO. As the ducks were swimming (albeit slowly), the sharpness of this image involved two miracles:
1- There is almost no motion blur on the heads — both eyes are sharp.
2- The two ducks were exactly on the same plane; both eyes are razor sharp.
Do remember that if you are using a long lens on a beanbag, you must remember to turn off Direct Manual Focus (DMF) to avoid throwing off the focus accuracy. With Sony, the switch is conveniently on the barrel of the GM lenses. G lenses (like the 200-600), do not offer this feature. With Canon, I believe that you need to turn DMF on and off via the menu. I am not sure with Nikon.
It is always good to be lucky but folks who do things gooder always tend to be luckier. Gooder is a Bob Eastman-ism for correctly or better.
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This image was also created on 4 February 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Again, working from the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering +2.0 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 1250. 1/125 sec. at f/8 (stopped down two stops) in Shutter Priority mode. Again, RawDigger showed that the exposure was a full /3 stop short of perfect. AWB at 7:57:17am on a very foggy morning.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #4: Killdeer preening tail feathers
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Two For the Price of One
While photographing the young skimmer, I noticed a preening Killdeer perhaps five yards further up the shoreline. Good photographers keep their eyes moving at all times in search of something better 🙂
I am not sure how or why I wound up at f/8 here as stopping down two full stops cost me both shutter speed and ISO. I did eventually make a few frames of the skimmer sleeping at 1200mm at f/8 and then at f/16 to be used in a future blog post on stopping down for bird photography. That inspired by a question left in a comment by Thomas Redd at the Los Tres Amigos Do a Tiny, Feisty Colorful Jewel blog post here.
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Image #4A: Square crop of the Killdeer preening tail feathers image
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Your Call?
Which version of the preening Killdeer do you prefer, Image #4 at 3X2, of #4A, the square crop of the same photo. Why?
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
February 4th, 2025 Your Challenge
Your challenge today is a tough one as each of today’s featured images is quite strong. Once again, I ask you to judge them by placing the strongest image first and your least favorite last. Your comment might look like this: 2, 3, 1, 4. Feel free to justify one or more of your choices. I will share my rankings with you here in the next blog post.
Sony Alpha 1 (a-1) Mirrorless Camera Body
Your truly, Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART Is offering his rarely used backup Sony a-1 (ILCE-1) mirrorless camera body in excellent plus plus condition for a ridiculously low $3,498.00. This body has been updated to Firmware 3.00 that reportedly improves Bird Face-Eye tracking to levels attained by the a1-ii. The camera has my current a-1 set-up on it. The sale includes the current Buttons and Dials Guide and the Info Sheet, the original product box, one battery, the charger, the camera 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 artie via e-mail or y text to 863-221-2372.
I have used Sony a-1 bodies as my workhorse cameras for more than three years. They produce stunning 51MP files with vivid natural colors. The AF system is science-fiction-like. They are rugged and dependable and 30 frames per second is nothing to sneeze at. With a brand new A-1 ii going for $6498.00, you can save an even $3000.00 by grabbing my nearly as good as new copy ASAP Right now, B&H is offering a used a-1 in 9+ condition for $4,097.00.
artie
What’s Up?
As expected (by me, at least), our direct flight from San Diego to Orlando was blessedly uneventful. After being in the air for only a shade over four hours to fly across the country. Due to horrendous traffic on I4, it took us well more than two hours to get back to my home at Indian Lake Estates. Just for the record books, the flight covered 2431 miles in about 250 minutes, about 9 miles/minute or 540 mph. The car ride covered 77 miles in about 140 minutes, .55 miles/minute or about 33mph. All distances as the crow files. Go figure.
Monday morning dawned completely foggy so Bob Eastman and I went more than two full days without making a single bird photograph. Practically unthinkable. I was glad to learn that Dane Johnson sold his second a-1 body (in recent weeks) for $3550.00.
Today is Tuesday 4 February 2025. The forecast for the next three mornings at least is for fog, fog, and more fog. Big time bummer. I have lots of work to do getting ready to fly to Anchorage, AK next Monday for the 2025 Homer IPTs. Whatever you opt to do today, I hope that you have a great day and choose to be happy.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
In the Last Blog Post
As was clearly stated in the last blog post here, Bob Eastman’s spectacular top shot of a leaving the scene male Cinnamon Teal was the strongest image. By far. I did forget to mention that another factor that often comes into play with Bob’s great success is that he is always more shutter button aggressive than I am.
Anyhoo, asked to pick the second best photo, several were mentioned; #2, the landing-in-soft-light Mallard drake, #5, the hen Lesser Scaup touching down, and #6, the braking Gadwall hen each garnered two votes. Image #4, the landing hen teal got a single vote.
My favorite was #5, the hen Gadwall on final approach because of the sharpness, the super-soft background, and the elegant braking pose. Thanks to all who commented.
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This image was created on 10 January at Santee Lakes Regional Preserve on the Expanded San Diego 2025 IPT. Seated on a dirt bank, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 478mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering +0.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 2000: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect. AWB at 3:46:47pm on a sunny afternoon.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #1: Gadwall drake — front end vertical portrait
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Duck Too Close — What to Do?
If a duck is so close to you that it does not fit into the frame, simply turn your camera body on end and go for a front-end vertical portrait. In general, the lower you can get, the better. At Santee, the problem is that it is usually impossible or at least very difficult to get close to water level as the banks around the lakes are raised at least a foot or two.
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This image was created on 12 January at Santee Lakes Regional Preserve on the Expanded San Diego 2025 IPT. Seated on a dirt bank, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and the and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the Sony a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 800: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect. AWB at 8:12:59am on a sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #2: Northern Shoveler drake floating
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Getting Lucky on a Usually Shy Species
There are lots of Northern Shovelers at Santee Lakes Regional Preserve. They are exceedingly difficult to photograph. As many as several hundred are seen regularly surface feeding in large swirling groups of many dozens in the vicinity of aeration outflows in the middle of the first two lakes. They are not at all interested in tossed scratch, a supplemental treat for ducks made from a mix of grains and seeds. If you spot a handsome male swimming by the near bank and attempt to get into position, it will immediately turn tail and swim directly away from you until it reaches the other side of the lake. As the males are a high contrast subject, photographing them in anything but sweet light is a hopeless endeavor.
Several of us were sitting by the Wood Duck Oak Tree early one morning when a gorgeous male shoveler floated right by us at fairly close range. Because it was angled slightly away from me the rear half of the duck was in the shade. As Anita North taught me last week, I used a Linear Gradient in Adobe Camera Raw and subtracted the background. I’ve been struggling to learn to use a Linear Gradient for more than two decades and I am thrilled to have it down now. It will be one of the new techniques featured in Volume II of the Digital Basics III series that should be available in mid-April 2025.
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Image #2A: Northern Shoveler drake floating (lighter)
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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A Lighter Version for Dr. Fish
Perhaps I have been in a dark zone …
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This image was created on 24 January at Santee Lakes Regional Preserve on an Expanded San Diego 2025 IPT. Seated on the dirt bank, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering -0.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 1600: 1/3200 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 3:22:34pm on a sunny afternoon.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #3: Wood Duck drake head portrait
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Road As Background
At times, several of the duck species that come to the scratch climb up out of the lake onto the bank or the road to forage for dropped tidbits of grain and seed. The drake woodie paused on the asphalt road for several seconds and gave me time to adjust the exposure compensation to avoid blowing the white patches. Making images that show the purple cheek patch requires exposing well to the right along with a healthy dose of reflectance luck.
Speaking of Shutter Priority with Exposure Compensation (EC) and AUTO ISO
As we saw in the previous blog post here, using shutter priority for ducks in flight often leads to spotty, inaccurate results for a variety of reasons. (Remember that for the same reasons, similar results come with Manual mode.) When doing swimming ducks or posing waterfowl, however, you generally have a bit more time, and you know which species you will be photographing at a given moment, and have a pretty good idea as to the tonality of the background. Thus, it is easy to pick your shutter speed, use Zebras to dial in the correct EC, and create consistently good or excellent exposures.
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Image #3A: Wood Duck drake head portrait
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Lighter, for Anthony
After Anthony Ardito left the comment below, I realized that he had a good point. So, I brought the image back into Photoshop and pulled up the curve. What do you think?
Anthony Ardito: February 4, 2025 at 9:45am
Yes #3 is quite stunning with the head peaking in from the left frame. That composition makes it really stand out! And I know you say exposure was dead on, but I think it would look even better brightened up just a tad.
My response
Thanks, Anthony. Do understand that exposure and presentation brightness are unrelated.
much love, artie
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This image was created on 31 January 2025 at Santee Lakes Regional Preserve. Seated on a dirt bank, I used the Robus RC-5570 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter, and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 1250. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering +1.0 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 2500: 1/500 sec. at f/8 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was 1/3 stop short of perfect. AWB at 4:42:48pm on a sunny afternoon.
Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #4: Ring-necked Duck hen sipping
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Why 1200mm for Swimming Ducks?
Even when sitting, the pleasing reflections of live or dead vegetation are often confined to the far side of the pond. I go to 1200mm and try to be patient enough to wait for some ducks to swim through the pretty colors. Windless conditions are of course best as choppy water breaks up the reflections. A second benefit of working with super-long focal lengths is that your angle of declination is reduced. With more distant subjects, it often appears that you are photographing from a very low perspective.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
February 2nd, 2025 What’s Up?
Friday was ducks all day. On Saturday morning at La Jolla Bob Eastman and I created some predawn blurs. Then we spent some time at Children’s Pool working the Harbor Seals. Two had newborn pups. Last we worked the gulls by The Green Patch and some cooperative shorebirds at The Crevice: a handsome Whimbrel and a very busy Spotted Sandpiper. There was an occasional fly-by group of Brown Pelicans. Bob created a really neat image of an adult Black Oystercatcher harassing a pelican that was apparently diving for fish. We spent Saturday afternoon packing for our flight to Orlando that leaves at 10:48am tomorrow. Longtime friend Patrick Sparkman (AKA Sparky Patman) and wife Robin joined Bob and me for dinner at our AirBnB on Saturday evening. Patrick co-wrote the original Sony Guides with me and was responsible for developing the Zebra setting values that are still used with great success on the a-1 and a-1 ii bodies
Today is Sunday 2 February 2025. It’s been a great trip but I am ready to get home and get ready for Homer and the Bald Eagles. Our flight is scheduled to leave at 10:48am. Jim is picking us up at MCO at about 7:00pm as we lose three hours flying west to east.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
In the Last Blog Post
In the Thrilled To Say That I Was 100% Wrong blog post here, my rankings were 4, 1, 3, 2. Colleen O’Connor, the Irish Lass, agreed. All but one of the many folks who commented went with #4 as the strongest. Many went with #2 as second best and David Pugsley, a very fine photographer picked that as his number one image. For me, #2 was boring in part because the bird is not brightly colored. I loved the dynamic flight pose of #1 and the bright breeding plumage of #3.
Thanks to all who left a comment.
Your Call?
As Mr. Bob’s spectacular Cinnamon Teal top shot, Image #7 below, is clearly the pick of today’s litter, the question for today is Which of the other six flying duck images is the strongest?
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This image was created on 10 January at Santee Lakes Regional Preserve on the Expanded San Diego 2025 IPT. Standing at full height, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 326mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering -0.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 1000: 1/4000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was 2/3 stop short of being perfect. AWB at 3:27:04pm on a sunny afternoon.
Zone AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #1: Ring-necked Duck head in flight — wings fully down
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Sony a-1 ii Does Fast and Erratic Ducks in Flight
The ducks at Santee are challenging flight subjects: but for Mallard, they are small, fast and often erratic flyers; several species flash their white wing linings when braking to land; some, like the ring-necked and Wood Duck drakes, have small slashes of white or bright silvers while others are more uniformly toned, in other words, an exposure nightmare; at times, many fly right at us at all at once so picking out the more desirable species adds to the challenge.
Throw in sometimes changing light and varying background tonalities, and you really have your work cut out for you. If you are blessed to own more than one telephoto lens, simply selecting the best one can test you. Fixed or zoom? Focal length? Tripod or hand hold? One thing that you can be sure of is that whatever way you go it will be wrong at least some of the time.
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This image was created on 29 January at Santee Lakes Regional Preserve. Seated on a dirt bank, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and the The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 1000. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering +1.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 4000: 1/3200 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was very close to dead solid perfect. AWB at 4:20:00pm on a then cloudy afternoon. .
Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #2: Mallard drake braking to land
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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The Exposure Mode Challenge
For the many reasons noted above, deciding whether to work in Manual Mode or in Shutter Priority Mode with AUTO ISO is a tough choice. This year, I did the flying ducks almost exclusively working in Shutter Priority Mode with AUTO ISO and Exposure Compensation on the Thumb Dial. Bob stuck with Manual mode. Either way, one thing is for sure:
1- Your exposure will be less than perfect about half the time, often well less than perfect.
Why? You never know what’s coming at you so there is no time for most folks to make any changes in the exposure settings. In addition, the wing positions are changing constantly so you never know if the white wing linings will be revealed when the wing are full raised or hidden when the wings are fully down. For me, working in Shutter Priority mode when photographing ducks in flight gives me the greatest chance of getting it right.
When a cloud covered the sun, I immediately dialed in +1.7 stops of EC; the result was a dead solid perfect exposure.
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This image was created on 29 January at Santee Lakes Regional Preserve. Seated on a dirt bank, I used the Robus RC-5570 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering at zero. AUTO ISO set ISO 640: 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect. AWB at 3:37:45pm on mostly sunny afternoon.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #3: Ring-necked Duck drake splash landing
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Dead Solid Perfect Exposure at Zero EC
The bright white markings on the bill and the very white breast combined with the splashing water at touchdown yielded a dead solid perfect exposure when this drake ring-necked hit the water. See the next image and remember that you never know what duck will be flying at you at high speed.
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This image was created on 29 January at Santee Lakes Regional Preserve. Seated on a dirt bank, I used the Robus RC-5570 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering at zero. AUTO ISO set ISO 640: 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was more than a full stop under-exposed. AWB at 4:02:07pm on mostly sunny afternoon.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #4: Cinnamon Teal hen on final approach
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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More Than a Stop Too Dark at Zero EC
Mallards and Ring-necked Ducks are the two most common subjects at Santee Lakes. The trick is to pick out something different when as many as a dozen ducks are flying right at you. I knew that zero EC would avoid over-exposing any bright whites on a sunny afternoon unless I had a drake Wood Duck fly in against a dark green background. Anyhoo, when I got on this incoming Cinnamon Teal hen at the last second, there was simply no time to add one full stop of light for the relatively mid-toned subject. With today’s amazing mirrorless camera bodies, however, it is a lot easier to deal with significant under-exposures than it is to deal with significant over-exposures. As with film, you cannot give away the whites.
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This image was created on 31 January at La Jolla, CA. Seated on the dirt bank, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering +0.3 stops AUTO ISO set ISO 1600: 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 3:49:11pm on a sunny afternoon.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #5: Lesser Scaup hen touching down
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Separating the Hens
Female Ring-necked Ducks and female Lesser Scaups are fairly similar. The former always show a distinct white ring around the bill while the latter always have dark, rich chocolate brown heads. At Santee, the ring-necks outnumber the scaups by at least 30 to one.
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This image was created on 31 January at La Jolla, CA. Seated on the dirt bank, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 1000. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering =0.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 400: 1/4000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 4:22:33pm on a sunny afternoon.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #6: Gadwall hen on final approach
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Fortuitous
Feeding the waterfowl at Santee is encouraged. The always pleasant volunteers who man the pay booth are happy to sell us bags of scratch, healthy duck food, for $2.00 a pop. “You want ten bags of scratch???”
AI Overview: scratch is a supplemental treat for ducks made from a mix of grains and seeds. It’s meant to encourage natural foraging behaviors and provide an energy boost.
Tossing handfuls of scratch in the right location will often result in dozens of ducks flying right at you, all in a hurry to get in on the free food. Late in the day on Friday we got very lucky. With more than a hundred ducks right in front of us, someone on the east shore of the lake began feeding directly opposite of us. They all flew away. I had been working at 1200mm with the big lens on the tripod when the ducks that had left us began flying back to us in anticipation. I quickly grabbed the a-1 ii and mounted it onto my 300mm f/2.8 that had been placed carefully on the bank. When this hen Gadwall flew in high, I was thrilled in part because like Lesser Scaup, Gadwall is uncommon at the preserve, and in part because the high flyers yield the softest, sweetest backgrounds. Especially at f/2.8.
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This image was created on 31 January 2025 at La Jolla, CA by my good friend Bob Eastman. Standing at full height, he used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1600. 1/3200 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 3:54:22pm on a sunny afternoon. RawDigger showed the exposure to be within 1/2 stop of dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Spot (XS) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #7: Cinnamon Teal drake — dorsal view, flying away
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Bob Eastman
Image Optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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Bob’s Eastman’s Trusty Sony 200-600 G Lens with the Sony a-1
It has become a standing joke. As I am deciding on which lens to use for a photo session, Bob will always chime in with, “I think I’ll take my two to six.” It is his only long telephoto lens and as you have seen here, he consistently created some fabulous images. Things were no different at Santee. More than ten years my junior, Mr. Bob is stronger, has faster reflexes, and better hand-eye coordination than I. Thus, he is better able to get on the smallest, fastest flying ducks like Cinnamon Teal. I would trade all six of my images above for Bob’s spectacular top shot of the drake cinnamon showing the sky blue greater coverts and the green feathers of the speculum.
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The Photo Mechanic screen capture shows the full frame original.
Image #6: Cinnamon Teal drake — dorsal view, flying away
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Bob Eastman
Image Optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
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The Photo Mechanic Screen Capture
The Photo Mechanic Screen capture above shows the crop I used when optimizing Bob’s fabulous image. The problem was that the light blue reflections in the lower right corner drew the viewer’s eye from the subject. I use several tools and techniques to eliminate the somewhat distracting bright reflections.
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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 techniques I used to optimize all of today’s featured images and tons more great Photoshop tips and techniques — along with my complete digital workflow, Digital Eye Doctor Techniques, and all 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. 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.
Please note: the Divide and Conquer technique was inadvertently omitted from DB II. It is detailed in a free excerpt in the blog post here.
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: most 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 three years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One and did that for two years. You can learn more about Capture One in the Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video here. The next step would be to get a copy of Arash Hazeghi’s “The Nikon Photographers’ Guide to Phase One Capture One Pro e-Guide” in the blog post here. Today, I convert my Sony raw files in Photoshop with Adobe Camera Raw.
You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.
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The Digital Basics III Video Series
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The Digital Basics III Video Series
I realized more than a year ago that my digital workflow had changed significantly and was toying with the idea of writing a Digital Basics III. More recently, I learned and began working with two great new Photoshop Tools, the Remove Tool and the Luminance Targeted Adjustment Tool. The former is like a smarter Spot Healing Brush Tool on steroids and the latter is a step up from the fabulous Color Mixer Tool. During that same time frame, I came up with a new and improved 2-step noise reduction technique. I still use Divide and Conquer, Quick Masks, Layer Masks, an expanded array of personalized keyboard shortcuts, and tons of other stuff from both versions of Digital Basics.
As soon as I realized that I did not want to take on another large writing project, I realized that by creating a series of videos I could much more easily share all the details of my current digital workflow and much more easily incorporate additional new tips, techniques, and tools as I went. And so, The Digital Basics III Video Series was born.
Save $26 by ordering the first five videos in Volume I by clicking here. The videos will be most valuable for folks using the latest version of Photoshop (2024) or Lightroom along with Topaz DeNoise AI and Topaz Sharpen AI.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
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