March 21st, 2021 What’s Up?
Bill Schneider and I finished up his two days of private instruction in spectacular fashion at Stick Marsh on Saturday morning. We had dozens of spoonbills flying right at us and flaring to land. I was headed home before 10:00am. I will be sharing some of Bill’s images with you here in Monday’s blog post. I had been planning that for tomorrow, but the spoonbill photography was just too, too phenomenal to sit on. As below, I am hoping to sign up a few folks for this coming week as I am not sure how long this pink bonanza will continue.
As I have had several new sign-ups for the Alpha a1 group in recent days, I created a single Sony Alpha a1 Info and Set-up Group e-mail summarizing everything that we have come up with so far and clarifying some of the stuff we had been unsure of. See below for the details.
For the first time in a week, I got into the (warm) pool on a cool, windy afternoon. I enjoyed my swim tremendously. I will finish this short blog post early this morning on so that I can devote all day today, Sunday 20 March 2021, to finishing the Canon EOS R5 Camera User’s e-Guide. In fact, with cloudy skies and a north wind I have decided to stay in this morning to work on the guide.
Today is Sunday 21 March 2021. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you have a great day.
This blog post took about an hour to prepare and makes eighty-nine days in a row with a new one. Please remember to use my B&H affiliate links or to save money at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout.
The Stick Marsh Site Guide Subscription Service
Th Site Guide Subscription Service is a new concept. I will send a short site guide no later than this coming Monday that covers the basics. It will include a map of the rookery area with specific instructions and wind and weather advice. There were some good photographers at Stick Marsh yesterday. Many are skilled at hand-holding 500 and 600mm f/4 telephotos lenses. But with all due respect, none of them can come anywhere near me when it comes to analyzing the photo opps at a given location. With the exception of the aforementioned Fred — I think his full name was Fred Vaughn, every photographer got to their favorite spot and never moved. We moved around a lot and had great and different chances all day long. After each visit, you will receive an e-mail noting the best locations and anything new that I learned.
To sign up for the Stick Marsh Site Guide Subscription Service, send a PayPal for $100.00 to us at birdsasart@verizon.net and be sure to include the words Stick Marsh. Or, you can call Jim any day at 1-863-692-0906 to pay by credit card. At some point, we will get this item in the BAA Online Store.
I fully understand that you can go to Google Maps, find the Stick Marsh, visit, and likely make some good or great images. You might think, I can do fine just without artie’s advice. But you will do a whole lot better with it.
Please contact me via e-mail to explore the possibilities of morning In-the-Field Instructional Sessions at Stick Marsh.
The BAA Used Gear Page
The Used Gear page continues to be very active. The BAA Used Gear Page is the place to sell your used photographic equipment. We will help you to get your gear sold quickly for 30 to 70% or more than what the big guys are offering … Doubt me? Check out the Recent Sales list at the bottom of the page.
Used Gear Price Drops!
Canon EF 500 f4/L IS II USM Lens
Price reduced $350.00 on 21 MAR 2021!
Kirk Stitt is offering a Canon EF 500 f4/L IS II USM lens in excellent plus condition for a very low $4999.99 (was $5349.00). The sale includes a LensCoat, the rear lens cap, the lens trunk, the front lens cover, the lens 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 Kirk Stitt via e-mail or by phone at 1-900-800-9898 (Mountain time zone).
With the success of the Canon EOS R5 and R6 mirrorless bodies, the series II super-teles are in high demand. The 500 f/4 super-telephotos have long been the world’s most popular lenses for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. Canon’s Series II version is light, fast, super-sharp, and produces amazing images with both the 1.4X and 2X III TCs. The 500 II is relatively small, easily hand-holdable for some folks, and is much easier to travel with, focuses closer than, and costs a lot less than the 600 II or the 600 III!. Lastly, and you might find this amazing, the magnification for the 500 II is the same as it is for the 600 II: .15X. How is that possible? Magnification is calculated at the minimum focusing distance of the lens — 12.14 feet (3.7 meters) for the 500 II and 14.77 feet (4.5 meters) for the 600 II. Simply put, the 500 II focuses more than two feet closer than the 600 II. This lens sells new right now for $8999.00; you can save $4000.00 by purchasing Kirk’s lens now: if you are seriously interested, please do not tarry. artie
Sony Alpha a9 ii Mirrorless Digital Camera Body
BAA Record-Low Price
Price reduced $179.00 on 21 MAR 2021!
Arthur Morris, yours truly, is offering a SONY a9 ii conservatively rated as being in excellent plus condition for a BAA record-low $2998.00 (was $3177.00). The sale includes the original box and everything that came in it (except for the battery charger) and insured UPS ground shipping to lower-48 US addresses. I will throw in a copy of The Sony Camera User’s e-Guide and One Camera Set-up Video (a $100.00 value). Your new camera will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact artie via e-mail or by phone (or text) at 1-863-221-2372 (Eastern time zone).
From the moment I tracked that first incoming Brandt’s Cormorant, I knew that 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. I currently own two of them. A new a9 ii sells for $4,498.00; you can save an astounding $1500.00 by grabbing my a9 ii ASAP. Not to mention that the new Sony A1 sells for $6498.00 … artie
Fifteen out of Sixty-Six
Saturday morning at Stick Marsh was phenomenal. I’ve never experienced anything like it: incoming Roseate Spoonbills flaring to land and photographable with any handheld intermediate telephoto lens. With blue water backgrounds no less! The fifteen images above were my favorites out of 66 razor sharp Alpha a1 keepers. The focal lengths varied from 324 to 456mms.
If At All Possible …
If at all possible, find a way to meet me this Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and/or Friday morning (s) for one or more In-the-Field Instructional sessions. The weather right now is looking good for all four days with southeast winds that are ideal for morning flight photography. As I am not sure how long this fantastic opportunity will last as the breeding season progresses, out of town folks should consider flying or driving to get in on the action.
For folks who wish to do more than one morning session, lodging at my home is available. Alternatively, we can explore the possibility of getting lodging closer to Stick Marsh. If you are interested in learning the rates and exploring the possibilities, please contact me via e-mail or on my cell at 863-221-2372 ASAP (before 7pm eastern time).
Sony Alpha a1 Astounds
To learn exactly how I set up my Alpha a1 for flight to achieve results like those above, join the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group.
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 answers. I learned a ton recently in group e-mail exchanges with Geoff Newhouse, Craig Elson and James Spillman. Like the R5, the a1 is an incredibly complex camera body. But the sad news is that if you are doing bird photography right now, the Alpha a1 pretty much obliterates the competition with 51,000,000 gorgeous pixels and a science-fiction-like AF system …
All who purchased their Alpha a1 bodies via a BAA affiliate link receive a free subscription to the Sony Alpha a1 Set-Up and Info group. 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. New members will receive a composite e-mail that will bring them right up to where we are with the great camera body.
|
|
|
This image was created on 20 March 2021 at Stick Marsh. I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 374mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 640. Exposure determined with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. The exposure was shown to be 1/2 stop under by RawDigger: 1/3200 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:00am on clear morning.
Wide/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Image #2: Roseate Spoonbill incoming stretch landing pose
|
The Advantages of Sitting on the Grass …
This image, featuring the buttery-smooth background, was made while I was getting my butt damp.
I alternated between standing and sitting on the grass. The latter usually introduced a nice strip of o-o-f focus green marsh at the top of the frame. More importantly, it softened up the water by effectively moving the background farther from the subject. The images made when I was standing show more of the choppy water pattern. A nice beach chair just might be perfect. A 400mm f/2.8 lens in this situation would produce amazingly soft bokeh. On a clear, still morning, the backgrounds would be mind-bogglingly gorgeous.
I chuckle at the various internet experts who cautioned early on that the Alpha a1 did not play well with the 200-600 G lens. And Patrick and I laugh even harder when we read online that the 200-600 is not a sharp lens … The pair make a deadly combination for walk-around hand held bird photography. And you can add the 1.4X TC for even more versatility (and more reach)! And even the 2X n sunny days … And don’t forget that the a9 ii is no slouch when paired with the SONY 200-600.
Please note: If you purchase a new 200-600 (using one of my affiliate links of course), be sure to check the stability of the tripod mount (aka the lens foot). To do that, make sure that the lens foot is properly seated, then tighten the knob, hold the lens in your right hand, grab the lens foot with your left hand, and see if there is any play when you wiggle it. If there is, put it back in the box, get an RMA label, and have the seller ship you a new one.
On the Merritt Island IPT, I noticed that there was play in the lens mount with IPT veteran Jim Dolgin’s 200-600. The play is in the silver mount that you see when you remove the lens foot (as you should always do to save weight when hand holding). That silver mount should be rock solid. It is likely that Jim will need to have the lens repaired.
|
|
Image #2A: Topaz Sharpen AI on the head only of the Roseate Spoonbill incoming stretch landing pose image
|
Topaz Sharpen AI
As with almost ever image I process, today’s featured image was run through Topaz DeNoise AI. With many of my flight images, I select the head using the Quick Selection Tool, place it on a Layer, and see what Topaz Sharpen AI. Here, as suspected, the plug-in suggested that Stabilize would be best to correct the motion blur. Click on the screen capture above to see the huge improvement in sharpness in the After image on our right.
Great Topaz News!
Folks who use the BAA Topaz link to purchase Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI, or the Utility Bundle (or any other Topaz plug-ins), will receive a 15% discount by entering the ARTHUR15 code at checkout. If the stuff is on sale (as it usually is), you save 15% off of the sale price! To get the discount you must use my link and you must enter the discount code. Be sure to start with this link.
Those who purchase Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI, or any other Topaz plug-ins using my link and then entering the ARTHUR15 code at checkout can e-mail to request a short Getting Started with Topaz e-Guide. Please include a copy of your Topaz receipt that shows the discount. Aside from the basics, the guide explains how to install the plug-ins so that they appear in the Photoshop Filter Menu.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
March 20th, 2021 What’s Up?
Bill and I had maybe the worst morning ever at Merritt Island NWR. Sunrise was a dud. After that, the clear skies and wind against sun conditions were bad as expected. We did have a few good chances, but each of the birds flew away. 🙁 We reviewed many hundreds of Bill’s images during our midday break. I will be sharing three very fine ones with you here soon.
We dined early on Friday afternoon on yet more large lightly breaded and fried shrimps at Dixie Crossroads Restaurant. Then we paid one last visit to Blackpoint Wildlife Drive and with a cold, stiff, northwest wind right in our faces, we did better than expected. We had some fine Blue-winged Teal in still blue water (including some after-bath flapping) along with several dancing (but somewhat distant) Reddish Egrets and a fairly cooperative Green Heron. I called Bill over to the Green Heron and left. And then the bird caught a frog! Lucky Bill.
Today is Saturday 20 March 2021. The forecast for Stick Marsh is for clear skies with gentle northwest winds. We will surely see and photograph some handsome Roseate Spoonbills, but that is not the weather you dream of for morning bird photography …
I am headed home today and plan on finally finishing the BAA Canon EOS R5 Camera User’s e-Guide on Sunday and Monday.
Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you have a great day.
This blog post took about two hours to prepare and makes eighty-eight days in a row with a new one. Please remember to use my B&H affiliate links or to save money at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout.
The Stick Marsh Site Guide Subscription Service
Th Site Guide Subscription Service is a new concept. I will send a short site guide no later than this coming Monday that covers the basics. It will include a map of the rookery area with specific instructions and wind and weather advice. There were some good photographers at Stick Marsh yesterday. Many are skilled at hand-holding 500 and 600mm f/4 telephotos lenses. But with all due respect, none of them can come anywhere near me when it comes to analyzing the photo opps at a given location. With the exception of the aforementioned Fred — I think his full name was Fred Vaughn, every photographer got to their favorite spot and never moved. We moved around a lot and had great and different chances all day long. After each visit, you will receive an e-mail noting the best locations and anything new that I learned.
To sign up for the Stick Marsh Site Guide Subscription Service, send a PayPal for $100.00 to us at birdsasart@verizon.net and be sure to include the words Stick Marsh. Or, you can call Jim any day at 1-863-692-0906 to pay by credit card. At some point, we will get this item in the BAA Online Store.
I fully understand that you can go to Google Maps, find the Stick Marsh, visit, and likely make some good or great images. You might think, I can do fine just without artie’s advice. But you would do a whole lot better with it.
Please contact me via e-mail to explore the possibilities of morning In-the-Field Instructional Sessions at Stick Marsh.
Please Remember
With income from IPTs now at 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.
Wanted to Buy
If you have a Canon EF Extender 2X III (teleconverter) that you would like to part with, please contact me via e-mail. I have an interested buyer.
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. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.
|
|
The Roseate Spoonbill wing-tip
|
What I Did Not Mind
I did not mind the following:
The dark “dot” on the highlighted edge of the bill …
The long, vertical shadow above the bird’s right wing tip …
The rectangle of orange/brown colour at the bottom left of the image, under the bird’s right wing …
The hidden feet.
The Black background in the lower right corner of image.
The mysterious looking face in the background on the lower left side/corner area.
The shadow of the head against leading edge of the right wing.
The orange (branch?) poking in on the left side.
That the far wing tip is blurred slightly
That the primaries of the near wing are curled up a little …
And I was not hoping to get more color on the top of the far-wing.
In fact, not only did none of the above bug me; I never noticed a single one of them. In addition, I consider the curled primaries on the near wing a plus.
Oh, and yes, this image was my favorite of the three featured in the blog recent post here because of the sharpness, the sweet light, and the very sweet background.
What Did Bug Me
As noted by Bob Eastman, the first to leave a comment:
I did mind the long, small shadow of the curled (first) primary on the near wingtip. In the screen capture above, it is the shadow that runs from a to b. I originally thought that it was a piece of dried grass or debris.
It is amazing what you can see by taking a closer look:
The dark spot and shadow above and to the left of letter c were likely the result of a single disturbed feather.
I am not sure what the dark smudge below the letter d is …
Lastly, there is a faint shadow just to the left of the curved line, perhaps from the up-curved second primary.
As Cliff Beittel and others suggested, any or all of the above could easily be repaired in Photoshop.
|
|
|
This image was created on 17 March 2021 at the Stick Marsh in Fellsmere, FL. Once again, I used the Induro GIT 404L/Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro-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. Exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the thumb dial: 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed the raw file to be 2/3 stop under-exposed. AWB at 9:06am on a clear morning.
Wide/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Black-crowned Night-Heron adult in flight
|
Why Under-exposed?
Working in Manual Mode with Birds of Different Tonalities
I was set up for the brilliant white Great Egrets in flight. From those settings, I opened up 1/3 stop for the spoonbills (when I’d see them coming) as their WHITEs are less bright than whites on Great Egret. For this night-heron, I should have opened up two clicks (2/3-stop) because their WHITEs are not as bright as the WHITEs on the spoonies.
When this bird flew by unexpectedly, I was set up for the super-bright Great Egrets and did not have time to change the exposure. Thus, I wound up 2/3-stop too dark. If I see an Anhinga coming, I’ll raise the ISO 2 clicks. If I want to try for an all-black Fish Crow, I’d go with five or six more clicks of ISO.
Note: You can change the exposure with either the ISO or the shutter speed (in response to the tonality of the subject). Notice that I set the aperture to the wide open value to ensure a fast shutter speed. With almost all birds in flight, it is a waste to stop down “for extra depth of field” as enough depth of field to cover the bird is provided by the distance to the subject.
Sony Alpha a1 Image Quality
The night-heron image above represents only about 25% of the original pixels, what I would call a 75% crop. Nonetheless, the image quality of the master TIF file is superb.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
March 19th, 2021 What’s Up?
After a somewhat blah sunrise on Thursday, the last morning of the Merritt Island IPT, we were looking at getting back very early. The only thing that can save us, I said, is a feeding spree near the tour road with the birds on our left and the sun on our right. Donna and Bev wanted to get back early to check out of their AirBnB and begin their 2-day drive back to Chattanooga. We stopped briefly at a small pond for some Black-necked Stilts and an unusually tame breeding plumage Glossy Ibis. A drop-dead gorgeous Reddish Egret flew in to tussle with a less handsome reddish but quickly flew off.
I looked down the road to our right and saw several parked vehicles and some flashes of white. We are outta here now! A short drive brought us to a huge feeding spree right next to the tour road with the birds on our left and the sun on our right. More than 100 Snowy Egrets and several other species were fishing and dip-feeding in a pond that was about 30 X 40 feet. A six foot American Alligator paddled around the pound making half-hearted lunges at a few birds. We were rooting hard for him to get breakfast but the gator was an abject failure as a hunter.
You will learn more about this incredibly difficult situation and the amazing end to the story in a future blog post.
Good friend Bill Schneider arrived at about 3pm for two days of SONY a1 Set-up and In-the Field Instruction. After we went through the menus and set up his camera, he practiced with it a bit by taking a few snaps around the yard. We headed to the refuge at about 3:30pm. It was partly sunny with a strong south wind. I did not expect to find much. We came around a curve near Sign 3 when I spotted what I thought was Snowy Egret taking shelter from the wing behind a mangrove. I almost did not stop but something did not look right. A second glance revealed that it was the odd heron/egret that has been visiting the refuge each spring for about five years. We stayed with the bird for close to an hour and had some great chances with a very strange and very beautiful bird.
After leaving the bird, again sheltered by a mangrove, Bill said, I want a nice spoonbill. We quickly found one feeding in small bay next to the road and stayed with it for about 30 minutes. We headed home, downloaded and looked at our images, and headed late for another great dinner at Dixie Crossroads Restaurant in Titusville. If you are not in the restaurant at 8:00pm sharp they send you home. Please do not ask me how fast I was driving up US Route 1. But we made it. 🙂
Today is Friday March 19 2021. The forecast for today is for mostly sunny with north/northwest winds all day. That is bad for morning bird photography. We will be headed out at 6:30 in hopes of a decent sunrise.
Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you have a great day.
This blog post took about two hours to prepare and makes eighty-seven days in a row with a new one. Please remember to use my B&H affiliate links or to save money at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout.
Please Remember
With income from IPTs now at 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.
Wanted to Buy
If you have a Canon EF Extender 2X III (teleconverter) that you would like to part with, please contact me via e-mail. I have an interested buyer.
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. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.
The Stick Marsh Site Guide Subscription Service
Th Site Guide Subscription Service is a new concept. I will send a short site guide no later than this coming Monday that covers the basics. It will include a map of the rookery area with specific instructions and wind and weather advice. There were some good photographers at Stick Marsh yesterday. Many are skilled at hand-holding 500 and 600mm f/4 telephotos lenses. But with all due respect, none of them can come anywhere near me when it comes to analyzing the photo opps at a given location. With the exception of the aforementioned Fred — I think his full name was Fred Vaughn, every photographer got to their favor spot and never moved. We moved around a lot and had great and different chances all day long. After each visit, you will receive an e-mail noting the best locations and anything knew that I learned.
To sign up for the Stick Marsh Site Guide Subscription Service, send a PayPal for $100.00 to us at birdsasart@verizon.net and be sure to include the words Stick Marsh. Or, you can call Jim any day at 1-863-692-0906 to pay by credit card. At some point, we will get this item in the BAA Online Store.
I fully understand that you can go to Google Maps, find the Stick Marsh, visit, and likely make some good or great images. You might think, I can do fine just without artie’s advice. But you would do a whole lot better with it.
Please contact me via e-mail to explore the possibilities of morning In-the-Field Instructional Sessions at Stick Marsh.
A Perfect Storm of Perfection
Everything came together for the creation of this image. We arrived at Stick Marsh early and got into perfect position. The light was gorgeous. I had noted the flight pattern of this particular bird returning to its nest and alerted the group. (Donna Bourdon got a very similar image.) I had checked the exposure, and the Sony Alpha a1 AF system performed to perfection. This was my favorite image from the IPT Stick Marsh visit. I will share my favorite spoonbill image and reveal the tiny flaw in that image in tomorrow’s blog post.
Some might say that the head angle in today’s “perfect” image is poor as the bird is looking away. They might be right, but without that very head angle I would likely not have gotten the wings-fully spread angel pose … In that situation, I could not have done any better.
|
|
|
Click on the screen Capture to see a larger version.
Image #1A: Raw Digger screen capture for the Great Egret breeding plumage spotlit angel pose image
|
The RawDigger (pink) Adapted Histogram
The Adapted Histogram here shows an absolutely perfect exposure with zero OvExp pixels and the GREEN histogram 2/3 of the way from the 8000 line to the 16000 line.
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 has been especially helpful to me as I have struggled with R5 exposures and learned my new camera body, the Sony Alpha a1.
|
|
|
Click on the screen Capture to see a larger version.
Image #1B: Active AF points for the Great Egret breeding plumage spotlit angel pose image
|
Sony Alpha a1 Astounds
To learn exactly how I set up my Alpha a1 for flight to achieve results like this, join the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Group.
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 answers. I learned a ton recently in group e-mail exchanges with Geoff Newhouse, Craig Elson and James Spillman. Like the R5, the a1 is an incredibly complex camera body. But the sad news is that if you are doing bird photography right now the Alpha a1 pretty much obliterates the competition with 51,000,000 gorgeous pixels and a science-fiction-like AF systsem …
All who purchase their Alpha a1 bodies via a BAA affiliate link receive a free subscription to the Sony Alpha a1 Set-Up and Info Updates group. 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. New members will receive all back issues.
|
|
|
Click on the screen Capture to see a larger version.
Image #1C: Topaz DeNoise AI the Great Egret breeding plumage spotlit angel pose image
|
Topaz DeNoise AI
There was quite a bit of noise in the dark tones. Why? Because when we properly expose for the WHITEs, the dark tones are approximately 1 2/3 stops under-exposed. Click on the image to see how beautifully Topaz DeNoise AI on Auto cleaned up the background noise and sharpened an already sharp image beautifully and non-destructively. Confused? Read and study the section on Exposure Theory in the original soft cover The Art of Bird Photography.
Great Topaz News!
Folks who use the BAA Topaz link to purchase Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI, or the Utility Bundle (or any other Topaz plug-ins), will receive a 15% discount by entering the ARTHUR15 code at checkout. If the stuff is on sale (as it usually is), you save 15% off of the sale price! To get the discount you must use my link and you must enter the discount code. Be sure to start with this link.
Those who purchase Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI, or any other Topaz plug-ins using my link and then entering the ARTHUR15 code at checkout can e-mail to request a short Getting Started with Topaz e-Guide. Please include a copy of your Topaz receipt that shows the discount. Aside from the basics, the guide explains how to install the plug-ins so that they appear in the Photoshop Filter Menu.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
|
|
