Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

What’s Up?

After aking Sunday off, I’ve gotten right back on track. I walked 2.8 miles this morning and am headed for the pool late today, Tuesday, September 17, 2019.

There will be some big news — possibly shocking to many — here soon …

There is lots of room on the Bosque IPT. Scroll down for details.

Nikon Menu Help Needed

Does anyone know how to save a Custom Settings Bank on a D850 (or similar Nikon body. I follow the instructions below and nothing happens 🙂

Please leave a comment or give me a buzz at 863-221-2372 if you know how to do it 🙂

Custom Settings Bank

Custom Settings menu

Custom Settings are stored in one of four banks. Changes to settings in one bank have no effect on the others. To store a particular combination of frequently-used settings, select one of the four banks and set the camera to these settings. The new settings will be stored in the bank even when the camera is turned off, and will be restored the next time the bank is selected. Different combinations of settings can be stored in the other banks, allowing the user to switch instantly from one combination to another by selecting the appropriate bank from the bank menu.

The default names for the four Custom Settings banks are A, B, C, and D. A descriptive caption up to 20 characters long can be added as described in “Text Entry” (0 Text Entry) by highlighting the menu bank and pressing 2.

This image was also created somewhere in South Africa by many multiple IPT veteran George Golumbeski. For this one he use the tripod-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS III USM lens with the Canon Extender EF 2X III and the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II dSLR. ISO: 1000: 1/500 sec. at f/9. Image #2: White-backed Vulture head portrait Image courtesy of and copyright 2019: George Golumbeski. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

The First-ever Used Like-New Canon 600 III for sale. Super-sharp Images: Leopard (at 840mm) and Vulture (at 1200mm) blog post here, featured two of George Golumbeski’s superb images. I wrote, Which of George Golumbeski’s two featured images do you like best? Scroll down to view and let us know why.

Both images garnered some support. Heck, they are both very strong images.

Jake Kneale wrote: I love the unusual framing of the vulture – it is really interesting. I also think the colours go very well together.

And Wayne commented: The vulture. The background and lighting are perfect along with the head angle as you stated …

My vote also went to the vulture. I love the sharp details of the face and neck and enjoyed the perfect 90-degree head angle that was perfect for this pose.

This image also was in St. Paul, AK by good friend Patrick Sparkman. For this flight image, he used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and the Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless digital camera body.. ISO: 800. Multi-metering. Exposure determined via the Zebra feature: 1/800 sec. at f/2.8. Image #3: Tufted Puffin incoming flight Image courtesy of and copyright 2019: Patrick Sparkman. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

My Favorite of Patrick’s Three Images

In the Patrick Sparkman’s SONY 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens visits the Pribilofs and is then put up for sale! Why? blog post here, I ran three of Patrick’s superb images and asked folks which one they liked best. All who commented went for the spectacular Red-legged Kittiwake head portrait and I liked that one a lot too. But for me, the Tufted Puffin flight shot above was and is a far stronger image. Flight shots of puffins are difficult at best and then you need to add in the fact that tufted is by far the most beautiful puffin in the world. The incoming pose is superb, we have a nice view of those orange feet, the image is mega-sharp, and the dark background is a perfect fit. Sign me up.

Used Gear Sales

I am proud to say that both George’s and Patrick’s big lenses sold the first day that they were listed for quite a lot more than they would have gotten selling to one of the big camera stores. And that includes B&H. It’s just the way it is. If you have a big lens to unload, please shoot me an e-mail.

Bosque del Apache 2019 IPT Notice the incredible variety of images that you can learn to make by developing your skills and your creative vision on a BAA IPT.

2019 Bosque del Apache IPT

Return to Bosque Reduced Rate Scouting IPT #1. NOV 26-28, 2019 — 3 FULL DAYS: $1199.00. Limit: 8/Openings: 6. Introductory Meet and greet at 7pm on MON 25 NOV.

Extra Day Options: Join me for one to three In-the-Field Days as follows: FRI 29 NOV, SAT 30 NOV, and SUN 1 DEC for only $300.00/day.

I quit going to Bosque several years ago as conditions had worsened each year for several seasons running. My understanding is that things have improved dramatically in recent years. Photography-wise, I know Bosque better than anyone. Join me to learn how wind and sky conditions influence bird photography, how to create dramatic sunrise and sunset silhouettes, how to be in the right place at the right time, and how to create contest-winning blurs. As usual, you will learn to get the right exposure every time, to use your camera’s AF system to create pleasing, balanced image designs, and to improve your flight photography skills.

We should get to photograph many thousands of Snow Geese, more than a few blast-offs, some Ross’s Geese, and lots of Sandhill Cranes in the water, taking flight and flying. Depending on local conditions we may get to shoot some ducks: point-blank American Wigeon and Wood Duck. With any luck, we might enjoy sunrises and sunsets that leave you in tears. Live, eat, and breathe photography with one of (if not the) world’s premier photographic educators at one of his very favorite locations on the planet. Top-notch Photoshop instruction. Join me to learn to think like a pro and to recognize situations and to anticipate them based on the weather. Every time we make a move, I will let you know why. When you get home, applying what you learned will prove to be invaluable.

Lunch is included.

To Register

To register, send your non-refundable $500 deposit — check made out to BIRDS AS ART — via US Mail to PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Or call Jim weekdays at 863-692-0906 to put your non-refundable deposit on a credit card. Balances must be paid in full by check no later than two months before the IPT. If you cancel, all but your deposit will be refunded only if the IPT sells out.

Travel Insurance

Travel insurance for both big international trips and US-based IPTs is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality travel insurance. Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options you can also purchase Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to include things such as sudden work or family obligation and even a simple change of mind. My family and I use and depend on the great policies offered by TIS whenever we travel. You can learn more here: Travel Insurance Services. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check or running your credit card. Whenever purchasing travel insurance, be sure to read the fine print carefully even when dealing with reputable firms like TSI.

What’s Up?

Inspired by friend and client Greg Gulbransen (and his great gallery), I have begun to work on a project that should have been completed at least a decade ago: a BIRDS AS ART Gallery. Do check out the After Hate sub-gallery here; Greg’s images and his writing are extraordinarily moving, and powerful.

There should be a decent chance to photograph Black Tern on the upcoming 2019 Fall Sandbar Secrets Fort DeSoto IPT. Scroll down for the complete details.

IPT News!

I learned last week that Mary van Deusen and her friend Patti Romano will be driving down from South Carolina to join UK Puffins and Gannets veteran Shonagh Adelman on the 2019 Fall Sandbar Secrets Fort DeSoto IPT at the end of this month. Then things got even better when DeSoto IPT veteran Jim Miller e-mailed letting me know that he would also be joining us. Everyone is excited. There are still two spots left on this great workshop.

IPT Updates

• The 2019 Fall Sandbar Secrets Fort DeSoto IPT/September 27-30, 2019: One-half and three FULL DAYS: $1499.00. Free Morning Session on Tuesday, October 1. Limit 6/Openings 2. Afternoon session on Friday, September 25 at 4pm, followed by three full days. We photograph till sunset on Monday, September 30
• The Return to Bosque Reduced Rate Scouting IPT. NOV 26-28, 2019 — 3 FULL DAYS: $1199.00. Limit: 8/Openings: 6. Extra Day Options: Join me for one to three extra In-the-Field Days at the end of the IPT as follows: FRI 29 NOV, SAT 30 NOV, and SUN 1 DEC for only $300.00/day.
• The 2020 San Diego 4 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT) WED JAN 8, 2020 thru and including the morning session on SUN JAN 12: 4 1/2 days: $2099.(Limit: 8/Openings: 5)

FlexShooter Pro News

All FlexShooter Pro BigFeet are now in stock in the BAA Online Store. You can click on the chart above or here for more information.

Coming Soon

The FlexShooter Mini

Several months ago I had a FlexShooter Mini to test on both the UK Puffins and Gannets IPT and the Galapagos Photo-Cruise of a Lifetime. It is a smaller, lighter (one pound!) version of the amazing FlexShooter Pro. I used it often with both the Nikon 500 PF and the SONY 100-400 GM with great success and in a pinch, I was able to make sharper images with the Nikon 600 and the TC-E14. All with the Mini mounted on the lighter Induro GIT 204. I suggested to developer/manufacturer Csaba Karai that the Mini needed a bit more spring tension. A new batch with my suggested changes should be in stock in about two weeks.

The FlexShooter Mini with the lighter Induro GIT 204 is dead-solid-perfect for those whose intermediate telephoto or telephoto zoom is their workhorse lens for bird and nature photography. It will sell for $579 plus shipping. Folks who wish to be assured of getting one from our first shipment can order theirs by phone by calling Jim at 863-692-0906 asap. Your card will not be charged until your Mini is shipped.

FlexShooter Pro Update

We currently have only four FlexShooter Pro heads in stock here. We have all but one of the BigFeet in stock (phone orders only for now: 863-692-0906) but are sold out of the new FLN-60 BigFoot that was recently re-designed for the Nikon 600 VR. Click here to access the pretty much complete FlexShooter Pro story with videos.

Money Saving Reminder

If you need a hot photo item that is out of stock at B&H, would enjoy free overnight shipping, and would like a $50 discount on your first purchase, click here to order and enter the coupon code BIRDSASART at checkout. If you are looking to strike a deal on Canon or Nikon gear (including the big telephotos) or on a multiple item order, contact Steve Elkins via e-mail or on his cell at (479) 381-2592 (Eastern time) and be sure to mention your BIRDSASART coupon code and use it for your online order. Steve currently has several D850s in stock along with a Nikon 600mm f/4 VR. He is getting folks the hot new SONY stuff: the 200-600, the 600 f/4 GM, and the 7R iv. And the wait-list is short for the Nikon 500 P.

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 on the morning of May 6, 2019 on the DeSoto Spring Sandbar Secrets IPT. I used the handheld Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and my souped-up Nikon D850 ISO: 1250. Matrix metering plus about 2/3 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. Natural light AUTO WB at 6:12:29pm on a fully cloudy afternoon.. One below center Group (grp) Continous AF was active at the moment of exposure as originally framed. Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune value: +1. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image #1: Black Tern, likely a first-summer bird Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

Speaking of Black Tern …

This species breeds in inland marshes from coast to coast across the US and southern Canada. When I lived in New York, I’d see them rarely in fall at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and more recently, at Nickerson Beach. I usually see them in Florida at Fort DeSoto in the fall. Running across the two birds featured in today’s blog post in spring was a first.

The bird shown in Image #1 is most likely in first-summer plumage. Many species of gulls, terns, and shorebirds have a distinct juvenile plumage that they wear for several months after fledging. That is followed by a molt to first-winter and then to first summer plumage. They do not molt into adult breeding plumage (see Image #2) until their second or third or even fourth years. I am pretty sure that most terns — including Black Tern — reach full adulthood in their second year.

This image was created on the morning of May 6, 2019 on the DeSoto Spring Sandbar Secrets IPT. I used the handheld Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and my souped-up Nikon D850 ISO: 1250. Matrix metering plus about 2/3 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode. Natural light AUTO WB at 6:12:50pm on a fully cloudy afternoon.. One below center Group (grp) Continous AF was active at the moment of exposure as originally framed. Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune value: +1. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here. Image #2: Black Tern, adult breeding Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.

Black Tern in breeding plumage

Black Tern in full breeding plumage with its black body and dark grey wings is a distinctively handsome bird. I am always excited when I find one. As today’s two images were created a mere 21 seconds apart, it is easy to figure out that they were hanging out on the sandbar together, mixed in with the royals, sandwiches, and Forster’s.

Exposure Question

The exposure settings for both of today’s images are identical: ISO 1250, 1/400 sec. at f/9. If the exposure and the histogram were perfect for Image #1, and the light was constant, what do we know for sure about Image #2? Note: if you cannot answer this question instantly, then you have some serious studying to do …

Image Clean-up Question

Would you have removed the strip of beach grass on the left side of Image #2? Why or why not?

Speaking of the 500 PF and the TC-E14 …

As noted here on many occasions, the Nikon 500 PF with the 1.4X teleconverter is a sharp, viable combination. The single negative is that as you move the selected AF point or array away from the center, AF performance suffers badly. When you get well away from the center, the rig will simply not acquire focus even in high contrast situations … And as compared to lugging around a 600mm f/4, working with the 500 PF with or without a TC is an absolute pleasure.

BIRDS AS ART

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

Fort DeSoto in fall is rife with tame birds. All of the images in this card were created at Fort DeSoto in either late September or very early October. I hope that you can join me there this September. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.

The 2019 Fall Sandbar Secrets Fort DeSoto IPT/September 27-30, 2019: One-half and three FULL DAYS: $1499.00. Limit 6/Openings 2.

Afternoon session on Friday September 25 at 4pm. That followed by three full days. We photograph till sunset on Monday, September 30

Added: a Free Morning Session on Tuesday October 1

Fort DeSoto, located just south of St. Petersburg, FL, is a mecca for migrant shorebirds and terns in fall. There they join hundreds of egrets, herons, night-herons, and gulls that winter on the T-shaped peninsula. With luck, we may get to photograph two of Florida’s most desirable shorebird species: Marbled Godwit and Roseate Spoonbill. Black-bellied Plover and Willet are easy. Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Great Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, and White Ibis are easy as well and we will almost surely come up with a tame Yellow-crowned Night-Heron or two along with some American Oystercatchers. We may very well get to see and photograph the amazing heron/egret hybrid that has been present for four years. We should get to do some Brown Pelican flight photography. In addition, Royal, Sandwich, Forster’s, and Caspian Terns will likely provide us with some good flight opportunities as well. Though not guaranteed, Wood Stork might well be expected. And we will be on the lookout for a migrant passerine fallout in the event of a thunderstorm or two.

On the IPT you will learn:

• 1- The basics and fine points of digital exposure; how to get the right exposure every time after making a single test exposure.
• 2- How and why to work in Manual mode (even if you’re scared of it).
• 3- How to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them.
• 4- Lots about bird behavior and how to use that knowledge to help you create better images.
• 5- To age and identify many species of shorebirds including sandpipers, plovers, dowitchers, and possibly yellowlegs.
• 6- To spot the good situations and to choose the best perspective.
• 7- To see, evaluate, and understand the light.
• 8- To design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system.
• 9- And perhaps most importantly, to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography.
• 10- How and when to access the magical sandbar safely.
• 11- More than you could ever imagine.

Morning sessions will run at least three to 3 1/2 hours, afternoon sessions 2 1/2 to 3 hours. There is never a set schedule on an IPT — we adapt to the conditions. There will be a Photoshop/image review session after lunch (included) each day. That will be followed by Instructor Nap Time. This IPT will run with only a single registrant (though that is not likely to happen). The best airport is Tampa (TPA). Once you register, you will receive an e-mail with the hotel information. Do know that it is always best if IPT folks stay in the same general area (rather than at home or at a friend’s place a good distance away).

Folks attending this IPT will be out in the field early and stay late to take advantage of sunrise and sunset colors; this is pretty much a staple on almost all BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tours. Doing so will often present unique photographic opportunities, opportunities that will be missed by those who need their beauty rest and those who need to get home for a proper dinner. I really love it when I am leaving the beach at 9:30am on a sunny morning after a great session just as a carful or two of well-rested photographers are arriving …

Payment in full is due now. Credit cards are OK for your $500 deposit. You can register by calling Jim or Jennifer during weekday business hours at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand. If you leave a deposit you will receive an e-mail with your balance statement and instructions for sending your balance check. If you wish to pay in full right off the bat, you can make your check out to BIRDS AS ART and send it via US mail here: BIRDS AS ART, PO BOX 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. You will receive a confirmation e-mail with detailed instructions, and clothing and gear advice in mid-August. Please remember that we will meet early on Saturday morning. Please shoot me an e-mail if you plan to register or if you have any questions.

IPT veterans and couples or friends signing up together are urged to e-mail for discount information.

If In Doubt …

If you are in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.

Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the BAA Online Store 🙂

To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog or Bedfords, for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.

As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.

I would, of course, appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links or Bedfords for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.

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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 :).