Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

What’s Up?

It is just before 1pm on Thursday 22 October. After leaving ILE at 4am, we just entered Alabama. We have just 90 miles to go to get to Gulfport, MS, but will be doing some shopping, sight-seeing, and scouting along the way.

Huge thanks to Dave Miner of New Orleans who e-mailed with some solid info about bird photography locations near Gulfport. We followed that up with a nice chat. And to Donna Dewhurst as well.

Canon EOS R5 Bodies Available from Bedfords!

Steve Elkins called to LMK that Bedfords will be getting several Canon R5 in a day or two. Scroll down to contact Steve and to save a handsome 3% on your order.

Please Remember

With income from IPTs approaching 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 can always help out by clicking here if they see fit.

The BAA Used Gear Page

The Used Gear page continues to be red hot! It is BAA Used Gear Page is the place to sell your used photographic equipment. We will help you to get your gear sold quickly for 20 to 60% or more than what the big guys are offering … Doubt me? Check out the Recent Sales list for the past ten months at the bottom of the page.

BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Great Topaz News!

Folks who use the BAA Topaz link to purchase Sharpen AI, DeNoise AI, or the Utility Bundle (or any other Topaz plugins) will receive a 15% discount by entering the ARTHUR15 code at checkout. To get the discount you must use my link and you must enter the discount code. Be sure to start with this link.

Topaz Stuff

As I said just a while back and have said often many times before, I should have listened sooner. If you, like me, are new to the Topaz party, please use this link to purchase. Right now I can wholeheartedly recommend both Topaz Sharpen AI and Topaz DeNoise AI. Though I have not yet worked with JPEGtoRAW AI or Gigapixel AI, I have installed both of these plug-ins and look forward to trying them on some I-Phone 11 images fairly soon. If you are thinking like me, consider the Utility Bundle that includes all four plug-ins mentioned above at a money-saving price.

Again, those who purchase Sharpen AI or DeNoise AI using my link, can e-mail to request a short Getting Started with Topaz e-Guide. I had a bit of trouble getting the two plug-ins installed and having them appear in the Photoshop Filter Menu. In addition, I will explain how to best learn about the two plug-ins by applying them on a Layer (in Photoshop). I amazed myself yesterday by completing this guide in the car on the way to and from Sebastian. Huge thanks to Anita for doing the driving. Please include a copy of your Topaz order when requesting the guide.

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.

116 sold to rave reviews. The SONY e-Guide by Patrick Sparkman and Arthur Morris

The Sony Camera User’s e-Guide (and Videos)

Click here to purchase the guide with one Camera Set-up Video. Be sure to e-mail us by clicking here to specify your camera body so that we can send you a link for the correct video.

Click here to purchase the guide with two Camera Set-up Videos. Be sure to e-mail us by clicking here to specify your two camera bodies so that we can send you links for the correct videos.

Click here to learn more about the SONY e-Guide.

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 overnight 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 (Eastern time). Be sure to mention the BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. 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 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.

This image was created at Fort DeSoto Park in Pinellas County, FL on the morning of 19 OCT 2020. I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 594mm) and the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body. Exposure was determined via Zebra evaluation with ISO on the rear dial as detailed in The Sony Camera User’s e-Guide and One Camera Set-up Video. ISO 1000: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. The raw file brightness was confirmed as dead-solid perfect by RawDigger. ABW at 7:53 am on a clear morning with just a hint of moisture in the air. Center Zone AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and worked well. Click on the image to see a larger version. Image #1: Royal Tern in butter light

Knee-Pod While Seated Perspective

To create Image #1, I was seated on the wet sand with my left knee bent. My left hand was on the zoom ring well out on the lens barrel and facing the sky. My left forearm was resting firmly on my left knee. That is the knee pod-technique that I use quite often. The lens was about 18 inches above the bird shooting down at it just a bit from a distance of twenty feet or so. I would guess that the angle of declination was less than five degrees.

The bird in Image #1 was just about to ruffle its feathers. In retrospect, I wish that I had placed the bird just a bit higher in the frame to give it a bit more space from the feet to the bottom frame-edge. When using Center Zone for images like this, make sure that the AF points are dancing on the bird’s face as you fire the shutter.

Click on the screen capture to view a larger version. Image #1A: Topaz DeNoise AI screen capture for Royal Tern in butter light at 300%

Topaz DeNoise AI Auto Tip

First off, view the image in DeNoise AI at 300 or 400% to see the incredible job that the plug-in does with the noise reduction on the background. At these high magnifications, you may see a bit of edge pixilation as a result of a bit too much sharpening. To eliminate that problem, try reducing the Enhance Sharpening setting by about 1/3 or 1/4. For this image, the Auto setting had Enhance Sharpening at 36; I reduced it to 24. Do note that in addition to the noise reduction DeNoise has sharpened the eye nicely and cleaned up the WHITEs as well.

This image was also created at Fort DeSoto Park in Pinellas County, FL on the morning of 19 OCT 2020. Again, I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (this one at 600mm) and the blazingly fast AF King, the Sony Alpha a9 II Mirrorless Digital camera body. Exposure was determined via Zebra evaluation with ISO on the rear dial as detailed in The Sony Camera User’s e-Guide and One Camera Set-up Video. ISO 1600: 1/2000 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. The raw file brightness was confirmed as dead-solid perfect by RawDigger. ABW at 7:49 am on a clear morning with just a hint of moisture in the air. Center Zone Continuous AF was active at the moment of exposure and worked well. Click on the image to see a larger version. Image #2: Royal Tern preening in butter light with bathing Black Skimmer in background

Lens Hood on the Beach!

Though I began doing it at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge in Queens, NY about thirty years ago, lying flat down on wet sand, mud, or muck is never a whole lot of fun. Unless you get great images. And those super-low perspectives are very special. At DeSoto last week, I practiced using the articulating rear Monitor to get super-low perspective images on the beach. Here is what I did:

• 1- With the camera to my eye, determined the correct exposure through the viewfinder as I normally would with SONY by getting a fair amount of Zebras on the tern’s neck.
• 2- Enabled the level on the rear Monitor and set Center Zone AF-C.
• 3- Pulled the articulating rear monitor screen out and up to about 75 degrees.
• 4- Placed the front of the 200-600 lens hood on the beach.
• 5- Held the bottom left side of the camera body about an inch above the sand.
• 6- Gripped the camera normally with my right hand with my index finger on the shutter button. I do not use a vertical grip with my SONY bodies. I noticed just the other day that when holding the cameras that I bend the pinky finger of my right hand and place it under the lower right corner of the camera body. This gives me a bit of extra support and came in especially handy when shooting with the lens hood on the beach as detailed above; it made it easier to level the camera and hold it steady.
• 7- Found the subject, framed and leveled the image, and acquired focus. With a bit of practice, this became easier than I thought it would.
• 8- Pushed the shutter button to make some images.

Note that it may be difficult for some folks with less than perfect near vision (like me) to see the head angle and to level the image perfectly using the level in the Monitor. To help with these concerns try the following:

• 1- Zoom out to frame the image a bit looser than you usually would. This gives you some extra canvas in case you need to level the image a few degrees.
• 2- Fire the shutter button more liberally than you usually would. When you cannot see exactly what is going on, it is better to make more images so that you do not miss anything really good …

Image #2

When I saw the skimmer land and begin to bathe, I immediately zoomed out and realized that the juxtaposition was pretty much perfect. I fired off about a dozen frames before the skimmer jumped up and flapped. In all of the frames but this one, the terns bill was buried in the feathers or its back. To come up with both the perfect preening head angle and a raised crest was quite lucky, especially when you consider that I was not even looking through the viewfinder!

When working low on the beach, you’d best have a paint brush on your person so that you can clean the sand off your gear as needed.

Note: it is much, much easier to frame the image, note the head angle, and follow that action when you are flat on your belly looking through the viewfinder. But it is a lot messier …

High Level Shutter Speed Question

Why did I opt to go with a shutter speed of 1/2000 second (along with a relatively high ISO) for each of today’s featured images when I could easily have dropped down to at least 1/1000 second (and cut the ISO by half or more)? The clue is in Image #2.

Click on the screen capture to view a larger version. Image #2A: Topaz DeNoise AI screen capture for Royal Tern preening in butter light with bathing Black Skimmer in background at 100%.

Topaz DeNoise AI Auto Tip

Even with the view at “only” 100%, it is easy to see the incredible job that the plug-in does with the noise reduction on the background. When I zoomed in to 400% here, I noted some edge artifacting as a result of a bit too much sharpening. After starting with Auto, I reduced the Enhance Sharpening setting from 40 to 30. Again, note that in addition to the noise reduction DeNoise has sharpened the eye nicely and cleaned up the WHITEs as well.

Which Perspective?

Which perspective do you prefer, seated or lens hood on the beach?

Typos

In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).