May 7th, 2021 What’s Up?
On Thursday morning I stayed in to finish yesterday’s blog post while Anita went down to the lake. Again, she came back with some fine images. I ran some errands in town, had a great swim, and answered lots of e-mails. Thanks to the many who purchased the video webinar on day one.
Today is Friday 7 May 2021. The forecast is for clear with a gentle breeze from the north/northwest. We will probably head down to the lake early to see what’s up. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you have a great day.
This blog post took less than an hour to prepare, and makes 134 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 if you 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 always earns my great appreciation.
Please Remember
With income from IPTs greatly reduced, 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
|
|
Designing and Creating Pleasing and Dramatic Natural History Images
A Video Webinar: $30 by electronic download
Order your copy by clicking here.
|
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. Below are 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.
Anita North
Though I have been inspired by and learned from you for several years, doing the webinar the night before the IPT began was particularly noteworthy. I should watch it or create and study a cheat-sheet based on it before every shoot. In the video you cover all the bases: assessing the location, the weather, the light, the wind direction, and the sun angle. You talked about finding good opportunities, isolating the subject, composing the image, getting low or high, seeing the background, leaving an unproductive location trying somewhere else, and lots more. Photographing birds at the beach is a big challenge on all accounts and doing the session the night before was terrific and helpful. I was attentive and focused on what I needed to do. The webinar reminded me of the walk-around check-list that pilots are trained to do before they fly.
Donna Bourdon
Doing the webinar as the introductory program for the DeSoto IPT was a stroke of brilliance. When we headed out each of the next four days, I was inspired and felt completely prepared. Your instructional style is always easy to relate to, especially as you describe the attention to detail in each of the photographs that you shared in the webinar. You reminded us of the importance of getting low, of paying attention to the image design, particularly at the bottom of the frame, and to trust the focus tracking. These instructions improved my images a thousand-fold. I always avoided getting low because I don’t like sand all over me and my camera. But because of the inspiring images and your comments during the webinar, I decided to challenge myself. As is usual, you were right. What a difference it made to be at or near eye level with our subjects rather than be shooting down on a beautiful bird. I also started trusting the focus tracking on the Canon R5 and wasn’t disappointed; thanks again for helping me set it up correctly. It tracked perfectly and I was able to set up pleasing compositions in camera instead of during post-processing. Thank you Artie for always encouraging me to be my best.
|
|
|
This image was created on 1 May 2021 down by the lake at ILE. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 1000. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/200 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:05:16am on a heavily overcast morning.
Wide/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #1: Sandhill Crane colt lying down
|
Lying Down on the Job
Cranes do not spend a lot of time lying down in the grass. So when I see one lying down, I strive to make a few good images before they stand back up. For Image #1 I set up the tripod very close to the canal, the lowest spot available, just a few inches above the point where I would have been right on the bird’s level. But …
|
|
|
This image was created on 1 May 2021, 34 seconds after Image #1, both down by the lake at ILE. I used the Induro GIT 304L/Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 1000. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/160 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:05:50am on a heavily overcast morning.
Wide/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #2: Sandhill Crane colt lying down
|
Think and Work Fast!
Wanting to try a different perspective before the young crane stood up, I moved up the slope a bit and re-leveled the rig via the Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro. Thirty-four seconds after I made the first image I made this one. In bird and nature photography, being totally familiar with your gear allows you to move and make changes quickly. Even a second or two can mean the difference between getting the shot and missing it. Note also that I added 1/3 stop to the exposure, and because I had moved a bit closer to the subject, the bird in Image #2 was larger in the frame.
Your Call
Compare the two images. Which is the stronger one? Why? Is lower always better?
|
|
Image #2A: AF Point for the Sandhill Crane colt lying down image
|
When I Said “Worked Perfectly …”
When I said worked perfectly, I was not kidding. A new a1 costs $6498.00 plus the cost of two very expensive Sony CFexpress Type A TOUGH Memory Cards. Folks who used a link to purchase their A1s receive free membership in the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group. The cost is $150.00 for those who did not. It baffles me that folks who have spent almost $7,000 on their camera body, are unwilling to spend 2% of the purchase price to learn how to best use their cameras …
Sony Alpha a1 AF
The performance of the Sony Alpha a1 AF system at any focal length (when the a1 is set up properly as detailed in the in e-mails to the Sony Alpha a1 Info & Updates group), continues to amaze me. Early on, there was lots of discussion within the group with many preferring multiple back button approaches. For me a simple shutter button approach with the right AF settings that yield 99% sharp-on-the-eye images is best. By far. It is super-simple and mega-effective. In the next SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group e-mail, I will be sharing what I have learned as to when and it what situations it is best to abandon Zone. We have already learned to limit the AF Area choices and to switch AF Areas quickly and conveniently. The default method of switching AF points with the C2 button is both slow and cumbersome.
SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group
The SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group is going great guns as folks chime in with thoughtful questions and experience-based advice. We are now up to an astounding 41 folks. 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, they can call Jim weekday afternoons 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.
May 6th, 2021 What’s Up?
After many, many consecutive days of photography, I opted to take a day off on Wednesday. Anita went down to the lake and came back with some beautiful wing-stretch images of the large surviving colt.
I spent several hours working on this blog post and getting the webinar into the BAA Online Store. Those who are confident that they will learn from the video and anxious to watch and learn from it, can skip all the fanfare below and order their copy of Designing and Creating Pleasing and Dramatic Natural History Images/A Video Webinar by clicking here.
Today is Thursday 6 May 2021. It is cloudy-dark and still at 7:00am so I am taking another day off to get some work done. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you have a great day.
This blog post took about four hours to prepare, and makes 133 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 if you 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.
The Bluer Sky
Thanks to the many who posted thoughtful comments yesterday. Yes, Clemens shot and processed darker than I did. But as he was photographing from about two feet higher than I was, he was seeing a different portion of sky. As things were, I was pointing my lens up at the subject into a part of the sky with lots of clouds, while Clemens had set his image against a lower, darker, and bluer section of the sky.
The point that I thought that I was making (and failed miserably to do), is that on a clear day, the sky darkens by about two stops as you raise your lens from just above the horizon to directly overhead.
Low Carb Seafood Curry
I never work from a recipe but often create my own. I tried this last night with spectacularly delicious results.
Cut up ten ounces of Brussels sprouts, place in a foil wrap, pour on two ounces of avocado oil, season with salt and pepper, loosely seal the foil wrap, and place on a hot barbecue while you prepare the seafood curry as below.
1- Sautée 1/2 large yellow onion and two stalks of celery in Avocado oil for five minutes.
2- Slowly pour in two ounces of no sugar added almond milk.
3- Add curry powder to taste.
4- Salt to taste
5- Stir and simmer until the sauce begins to thicken.
6- Slowly pour in two more ounces of no sugar added almond milk.
7- Add six ounces of jumbo shrimp and six ounces of scallops (or 12 ounces of chicken or lamb).
8- Simmer and continue to stir gently for about five minutes until the protein is done.
Once the sprouts are well done — I love mine crispy on the grill, add them to the curry and serve two. Enjoy.
|
|
Designing and Creating Pleasing and Dramatic Natural History Images
A Video Webinar: $30 by electronic download
Order your copy by clicking here.
|
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.
Anita North
Though I have been inspired by and learned from you for several years, doing the webinar the night before the IPT began was particularly noteworthy. I should watch it or create and study a cheat-sheet based on it before every shoot. In the video you cover all the bases: assessing the location, the weather, the light, the wind direction, and the sun angle. You talked about finding good opportunities, isolating the subject, composing the image, getting low or high, seeing the background, leaving an unproductive location trying somewhere else, and lots more. Photographing birds at the beach is a big challenge on all accounts and doing the session the night before was terrific and helpful. I was attentive and focused on what I needed to do. The webinar reminded me of the walk-around check-list that pilots are trained to do before they fly.
Donna Bourdon
Doing the webinar as the introductory program for the DeSoto IPT was a stroke of brilliance. When we headed out each of the next four days, I was inspired and felt completely prepared. Your instructional style is always easy to relate to, especially as you describe the attention to detail in each of the photographs that you shared in the webinar. You reminded us of the importance of getting low, of paying attention to the image design, particularly at the bottom of the frame, and to trust the focus tracking. These instructions improved my images a thousand-fold. I always avoided getting low because I don’t like sand all over me and my camera. But because of the inspiring images and your comments during the webinar, I decided to challenge myself. As is usual, you were right. What a difference it made to be at or near eye level with our subjects rather than be shooting down on a beautiful bird. I also started trusting the focus tracking on the Canon R5 and wasn’t disappointed; thanks again for helping me set it up correctly. It tracked perfectly and I was able to set up pleasing compositions in camera instead of during post-processing. Thank you Artie for always encouraging me to be my best.
Joe Usewicz
Excellent program last night. Zoom is not easy. Stopping for questions, as well as the quality of questions, really worked out well.
Phill Bird
Great program last night, Artie. Thanks very much for inviting your followers to attend. Your photos and instruction are inspiring.
Elinor Osborn
Thanks for the invitation to last night’s program. It was very informative and beautiful as usual.
Bruce Boswell
Absolutely wonderful program last night. Thanks so much for inviting us to the zoom presentation. At the end I wanted to see more!
Michael Pollak
Thanks for last night’s excellent and informative presentation. The examples of your photography you shared were very inspiring.
Walt Foreman
Thank you for setting up last night’s webinar so blog readers could join in. It was enjoyable and educational! The webinar was a great success from my audience point of view. And I’m sure there were plenty of other people “out there,” like me, who wanted to jump in with “cosmos” and “lenticular”! The energy was there in both directions, even if you mainly felt your own generous expenditure.
|
|
|
This image was created on 2 May 2021 on Lake Blue Cypress working from Clemens Van der Werf’s flats boat. I used the hand held Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 2500. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/640 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 6:55am with a cloud in front of the rising sun.
Wide/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #1: Osprey with whole Black Crappie in low light
|
My Favorite?
From the start, I liked the tighter image, #2 below, best. But after a while, I came to appreciate the wider view and the softer light in Image #1 (immediately above). I still love them both, but might actually give a slight edge to the wider, cooler version that better shows the habitat. Go figure.
|
|
|
This image was also created on 2 May 2021 on Lake Blue Cypress working from Clemens Van der Werf’s flats boat. Again, I used the hand held Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 1600. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/1000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:04am in very soft golden light.
Wide/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly.
Image #2: Osprey with whole Black Crappie in soft, sweet light
|
Why the Larger, Heavier, More Difficult to Hand Hold 600mm f/4?
In the Osprey with Black Crappie: Cool Light/Warm Light. And Hand Holding a 600mm f/4 Lens … blog post here, Why would I hand hold the much heavier 600mm f/4 GM when the 200-600 G with my second a1 body lay on the deck?
Many folks brought up depth-of-field issues. But depth-of-field had nothing to do with my decision (and little to no effect on either image). Scroll down to learn more about long lenses and depth-of-field. In low light, I went with (and will always go with) the 600f/4 because of its speed; working at f/4 saves you 1 1/3 stops of either shutter speed or ISO. With both featured images I went with a shutter speed that would likely yield a sharp image. Had I used the 200-600 for the Image #1, I would have had to raise the ISO from 2500 to 6400 to maintain the 1/640 sec. shutter speed. For Image #2, I would have had to raise it from 1600 to 4000 to stay at 1/1000 sec. Don’t forget that the boat was rocking a bit in the breeze.
Byron Prinzmetal and Chris Loffredo flirted with the correct answer while mentioning depth-of-field. Kudos to Adam, who hit the nail on the head when he wrote, The answer is in your settings, Tv 1/1000, f/4, ISO 1600. Had you used the 200-600 at f/6.3 you would have had to adjust by 1 1/3rd stops either dropping the Tv or increasing the ISO (or both).
Folks who read the fine print can try this on for size: in general — when hand holding in difficult situations, the closer you are to the subject at a given focal length, the more shutter speed you will need to make a sharp image. Here is an easy way to grasp this concept: if you are shooting a flock of distant geese at a shutter speed of 1/30 sec. while panning smoothly, many of the birds will look quite sharp. If you are photographing a single goose flying by you at close range at the same shutter speed, the best result would be an extreme angelic blur. As we had gotten a lot closer to the subject, I instinctively raised the shutter speed from 1/640 sec. for the first Osprey image to 1/1000 sec. for the second image.
|
|
|
This image was created on 3 May 2021 near Coleman Landing at Shady Oaks from Clemens Van der Werf’s flats boat. I used the hand held ??? lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 1250. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/800 sec. at f/???? in Manual mode. AWB at 7:53am with some heavy cloud cover on the eastern horizon.
Wide/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #1: this is a representation of the raw file for the Boat-tailed Grackle feeding young image
|
Aperture/Depth-of-Field Multiple Choice Question
In the Aperture/Depth-of-Field Multiple Choice Question. And Turn-around is Fair Play: Viveza Revisited blog post here, the following appeared:
Aperture/Depth-of-Field Multiple Choice Question
There is a much too much background detail in the original image above. Scroll down to see the optimized image.
What aperture was used for the image above?
a:f/4
b: f/6.3
Subject to Background Distance: More Important Than Aperture!
Only a few folks proffered an opinion; those were split right down the middle. Adam flirted with the right answer without nailing it. What folks often miss (and Adam hinted at), the distance from the subject to the background plays a far more important role in the background than the aperture. If you photograph a warbler at f/2.8 with a wall of leaves behind it the leaves will be unpleasantly in focus and thus, distracting. If you photograph a perched Bald Eagle at f/16 with a garbage dump background that is a mile away, the dump will be rendered as a pleasing out-of-focus wall of color.
The focal length and the distance to the subject will also affect the look of the background. If the focal length and the distance from the subject to the background remain constant (as with the two Osprey images above), the background will appear softer as you move closer to the subject. That is why the background in the second Osprey image appears softer and more detail-less than the background in the first Osprey image.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
May 5th, 2021 What’s Up?
On Tuesday, Clemens, Anita, and I had another very good morning at Lake Blue Cypress. The highlight was a just-fledged Osprey on a relatively clean (but tall) perch. I got lots of practice hand holding at 1200mm. Clemens kindly dropped me back at the dock at 8:45am so that I could make my dental cleaning appointment. He and Anita stayed out for another two hours looking for and photographing Osprey chicks.
Today is Wednesday 5 May 2021. It is still and cloudy. Anita headed down to the lake to visit with the two crane families. I opted to take the morning off. Wherever you are, and whatever you are doing, I hope that you have a great day.
I will be addressing the points raised in the last two blog posts tomorrow. Promise.
This blog post took less than an hour to prepare and makes 132 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 if you 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 greatly reduced, 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
|
|
|
This i-phone image was created on 4 May 2021 by Anita North.
Image #1: artie and Clemens
Image Courtesy of and copyright 2021: Anita North
|
artie and Clemens
I’ve got Clemens by about twenty years. And though it is hard to tell from this image — he’s pretty much sitting while I am pretty much standing, he’s got me by about eight inches. Clemens will often stand up on the platform we are leaning against and has been known to place his big Yeti cooler on the platform and stand on top of the cooler! All that while I have some trouble just standing up in the boat …
|
|
|
This image was created on 3 May 2021 by Clemens Van der Werf. He used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 397mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 1250: 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:17:17am on a clear, sunny morning.
Wide/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Image #2: Snail Kite extracting meat from snail
Image Courtesy of and copyright 2021: Clemens Van der Werf
|
Clemens and SONY
Clemens has used Canon gear for all of his nature photography for more than a decade. Anita kindly loaned him a 200-600/a1 rig. He created this image while standing atop the platform at the back of the boat. With just a very bit of instruction, Clemens — not unexpectedly, began making great images from the get-go. He was quite impressed with the AF system, and when I loaned him my 600 GM, he was amazed its light weight. He also loved the a1’s 30 fps frame rate as it enabled him to catch the shell of the snail in flight! He has the Canon 600mm f/4L IS II lens and his main camera body is the 1DX III. Together, those weigh a proverbial ton.
Note that I have removed the lens hood from the 600 GM to save a bit of weight.
A Different Vision
I was standing on the deck at the back of the boat hand holding the 600 when the kite landed quite close to us right down sun angle. After making a very few frames, I went for the gusto by adding the 1.4X TC to get me tighter at 840mm. I figured that it would take a minute or two for the bird to extract the meat from the shell. After the first edit I kept 23 images made at 840 and three made at 600.
On Processing Differences …
I’ve long said that if you process an image on Monday and then again on Tuesday while working in the same ambient light, that the results will vary. Often considerably. It would be expected then, that images of the same subject made in the same light just a minute or so apart would have a different look when processed by to different photographers. In the image that Clemens processed, the kite is much darker than the same bird in my image. Image processing is always done to one’s personal taste.
A Sky Question
This is a tough one, but there are lots of clues above. Apart from processing tastes, why is the sky in Clemens’ image so much bluer than the sky in my image? When I asked Clemens why his sky was bluer, he could not figure it out …
|
|
Image #2A: RawDigger screen capture for the Snail Kite with extracted meat from snail image
|
RawDigger
Clicking on the screen capture to enlarge it will enable you to see the the 2,586 OvExp pixels are all from the specular highlights (that were toned down during the post-processing). Note that out of 51,000,000 pixels, those worked out to zero percent OvExp. In other words, the raw file brightness was dead-solid-perfect.
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 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 as I struggled with R5 exposures and learned my new camera body, the Sony Alpha a1.
|
|
RawDigger e-Guide with Two Videos
|
The RawDigger e-Guide with Two Videos
by Arthur Morris with Patrick Sparkman
The RawDigger e-Guide was created only for serious photographers who wish to get the absolute most out of their raw files.
Patrick and I began work on the guide in July 2020. At first we struggled. We asked questions. We learned about Max-G values. We puzzled as to why the Max G values for different cameras were different. 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.
|
|
