May 29th, 2019 Huge Late-registration UK Puffins, Gannets, and Red Kites Instructional Photo-Tour Discount Increased!
In an effort to fill a single remaining slot, I have increased the the late-registration discount for this great IPT from $3,000 to $3500. Scroll down for trip details. Please e-mail for additional information.
What’s Up?
While the morning photo sessions down by the lake have slowed down a bit, my 25-minute sunset sessions had been getting better and better each night. I absolutely killed it on Monday and continue to refine my techniques and framing. On Tuesday evening I was so engrossed in watching James Holzhauer continue his unprecedented run as Jeopary champion that I forgot to go down to the lake (depsite ideal conditions) 🙁 IAC, images soon. I’ve swum at least a mile for straight days, a new record, and plan on continuing unitl I fly to northern Ontario on June 6th. I will be back in the office late in the day on June 17th.
Today’s blog post took two hours to prepare.
FlexShooter Pro Updates
Jim shipped a load of FlexShooter Pro heads yesterday; tahnks to those who trusted us and ordered by phone. The FlexShooter Pro is now in stock here in the BIRDS AS ART Online Store
. We have about ten left and have already ordered a thrid batch of 20. If you have been living in a cave for the past three weeks you can learn about this great new head — I am using it for 100% of my tripod-mounted photogtraphy — here and here. Or see the video here.
I got my hands on the prototype for the new FLN-60 Bigfoot for the Nikon 600 VR. It is long enough to balance the 600 alone with any camera body and the best news is that the Wimberley F-1 Flash Bracket fits perfectly and mounts easily. I will post a photo for Brian Small and others here soon. We will have them in stock in about three weeks.
BIRDS AS ART
BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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 taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.
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.
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This image was created on the morning of Tuesday, May 29 2019 down by the lake near my home. Working while seated in the front seat of my SUV, I used the Induro GIT 304L/FlexShooter Pro-mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and the mega mega-pixel Nikon D850 DSLR. ISO 400. Matrix metering at about +1/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/9 in Manual mode was dead-solid perfect. AUTO1 WB at 7:2am on beautiful clear morning.
Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune value: a very significant +9. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here.
A single AF point one up and one to the left of the center AF point Continuous (C in Nikon/AI Servo with Canon) AF was active at the moment of exposure. The point was on the base of the crest just behind the bird’s eye.
Great Blue Heron scratching
Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
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The FlexShooter Pro on a Tripod in my Vehicle
Each session I become more and more comfortable and efficient at setting up the tripod inside my SUV while I am seated in the driver’s seat. It really opens up a whole new world. I will be doing a video on just how to do that as soon as we get some clouds down here. It will be offered for sale for $20 but will be free to all who have purcahsed a FlexShooter Pro from BIRDS AS ART. Once the car is re-positioned it takes only a few seconds to level the silver ball and get to work. I had been setting up the tripod in my vehicle for about 25 years using first the Wimberley V2 head and then the Mongoose M3.6 but doing flight or following action with either of those was pretty much impossible. While shooting flight and action on a trpod from your vehicle with the FlexShooter Pro is not a piece of cake (as compared to standing at full height behind your tripod, it is, as you have seen here recently 100% do-able.
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Great Blue Heron scratching
Before and after White Balance Adjustment
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White Balance Adjustment Tip
Whether I am doing a RAW conversion in ACR or Capture One Pro 12, I use the same White Balance trick. (It also works with DPP 4.)
- 1-Note the As Shot white balance. For ths GBH scratching image this value was K5690 and as you can see in the RAW (NEF) file, the left-hand photo above, the image was too warm and the sky was grey not blue.
- 2-Do a click White Balance adjustment by clicking on the brightest whites. This lowered the WB to K3851. Now the image was much too blue.
- 3-Re-set the As Shot WB and pull the slider to the left adjusting the WB to your taste. With today’s featured image I converted at K4655 (the right-hand image above shows the un-cropped converted TIFF.
It works every time. Note: at times, you may wind up at or very close to the As Shot WB, and at other times you might wind up at or very close to the Click WB value.
Note: this is just one of the many, many dozens of great post-processing tips detailed in The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II).
The 63% Crop!
As I created a long series of images depicting the GBH scratching, I knew that the pier railing was too ugly to be included in the image; milled lumber rarely makes an attractive perch. In addition the dark shadows and the whitewash on the wood were both very distracting. But I also knew that a super-sharp 45.7MP D850 image would stand up well to a large crop. A flattened 8-bit D850 image comes in at 130MB. My cropped and flattened 8-bit optmized image came in at 48.2MB. Thus, 63% of the original pixels were cropped away. Though I used only 37% of the original image, the sharpness and fine feather detail are remarkable.
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Great Blue Heron scratching
The Capture One Pro 12 Loupe
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The Capture One Pro 12 Loupe
One of the features that I love about Capture One Pro 12 is that it offers an adjsutable magnifying loupe (Keyboard shoartcut P.) You can set both the size of the loupe and the magnification. I opt for Large Loupe Size and 200% magnification while Patrick Sparkman keeps his at Medium and 100%. Horses for courses.
This feature is pretty much mandatory for editing SONY images because SONY does NOT embed a large JPEG in their RAW files as both Canon and Nikon do. So when I am editing in Photo Mechanic I am ubable to check my SONY images for crtical sharpness. That is where the C-1 Pro 12 Loupe comes in quite handy to say the least.
Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video
The Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 video is complete and will be posted here soon.
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Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All of the images on this card were created on the 2018 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT
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The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. Seahouses, Bempton Cliffs, and the Dunbar, Scotland Gannet boat to Bass Rock! Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 1
Please e-mail to learn about the very large late-registration discount
Join me in the UK in late June and early July 2019 to photograph Atlantic Puffin, Common Murre, Razorbill, Shag, and Northern Gannet, Red Kite, and more both in flight and at close range. We will also have great chances with Arctic and Sandwich Terns, both with chicks of all sizes; Black-headed, Lesser-Black-backed, and Herring Gulls, many of those chasing puffins with fish; Black-legged Kittiwake with chicks; plus Grey Seal. There will be tons of great flight photography. As on all IPTs, if you pay attention, you will learn a ton, especially about sky conditions and the relationship between light angle and wind direction and their effects on flight photography.
Why go all the way to Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine, endure a two-hour boat ride, and have to photograph Atlantic Puffins from a cramped blind usually in bright sun (and well off sun angle) when you can hop a red-eye flight from Newark, NJ and be in Edinburgh, Scotland early the next morning. First we drive down to Bridlington for easy access to Bempton Cliffs where our primary targets will be Northern Gannet in flight. We will also get to photograph Razorbill, Northern Fulmar, Herring Gull, and Black-legged Kittiwake. While in Bridlington we will spend one afternoon visiting a Red Kite feeding station that should provide lots of flight photography action.
While in Bridlington we will staying at the White Horse Inn in Cranswick, about twenty minutes from Bempton Cliffs. After 3 1/2 days of photography there, we drive down to Seahouses in Northumberland to the two lodges that will be our home base for a week. After a short boat ride each day we will have hundreds of puffins posing at close range all day, every day — usually in ideal cloudy-bright conditions. While we are in Seahouses we will do six puffin/seabird trips, all weather permitting of course; last year we did not miss a single landing. In five years we have averaged losing less than one half day per year to bad weather. We land at Staple Island in the mornings and then sail over to Inner Farnes for our afternoon sessions. In addition, we may enjoy a session or two photographing nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes at eye level from a rocky beach in Seahouses.
In Seahouses, we stay 7 nights in gorgeous, modern, upscale lodges with Wi-fi. They are beyond lovely with large living areas and lots of open space for the informal image sharing and Photoshop sessions. The bedrooms are decent-sized. Each lodge has one double bedroom and two twin bedrooms. (See the single supplement info below.) At the lodges we cook our own breakfasts each morning and prepare our own lunches to be brought on the six puffin boat trips. For dinners we will alternate cooking in the lodges with fine dining at several excellent local restaurants. We stay two nights at the Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. We will enjoy a fine-dining Thank You dinner at the Dunbar Hotel on the Tuesday evening before we fly home.
On the morning of Monday, July 8, 2019, the plan is to sleep late, pack, and head up to Dunbar Harbor, Scotland for lunch and an afternoon gannet boat chumming trip: flight photography until you cannot lift your camera. The next morning, Tuesday July 9, we will enjoy our second gannet boat chumming trip (both weather permitting). On both trips we will enjoy great views of the huge gannetry at Bass Rock. Included will be two nights lodging at the Pine Martin by Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. Very early on the morning of Wednesday, July 10, we will drive up to Edinburgh Airport so that everyone can make their flights home. No moaning please. You will need a flight that leaves at 8:30am or later. Not too much later is generally best.
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Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All images were created on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT
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The Details
This IPT is all-inclusive except for your airfare and alcoholic beverages. All ground transportation, lodging costs, meals, your National Trust membership, and all boat, entry, and landing fees are included. Weather permitting, we will enjoy three and one-half days (at least six sessions in all) at Bempton Cliffs, an afternoon with the Red Kites, six full days on the puffin boats, one amazing afternoon gannet chumming trip, and one spectacular morning gannet chumming trip.
IPT Details
If you are good to go sharing a room–couples of course are more than welcome, heck, we actually need two couples — please send your non-refundable $2,000/person deposit check now to save a spot. Please be sure to check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below. Your balance will be due on February 28, 2019. Please make your check out to “Arthur Morris” and send it to Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855.
Please shoot me an e-mail if you are good to go or if you have any questions.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance for big international trips is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality 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.
I truly hope that you can join me on this exciting venture.
If In Doubt …
If 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 New 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 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 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.
Facebook
Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right.
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 :).
May 27th, 2019 What’s Up
Just the usual. Gorgeous day after goregous day with fewer and fewer morning photo opps despite perfect sky conditions and southeast winds. And long afternoon swims. I finished editing Andrew McLachlan’s Focus on Frogs e-Book last week and am waiting for him to return the final edit. After mnay months of work, Joe Przybyla and I are finished with The BIRDS AS ART Middle of Florida Photography Site Guide. As soon as I get the final edit to and then back from Joe, I will make the PDF and get this great new work into the BIRDS AS ART Online Store. This lavishly illustrated guide details a number of little-known hotspots that can be quite productive. One of those little-known hotspots is Indian Lake Estates. The guide should be available for purchase in about a week.
Thanks to the many who have commented on the four final images in the 2018 B&H/BAA Bird Photography Holiday Contest. I will be tallying the results and awarding the prizes this week. If you would like to be heard click here and enjoy some great photography.
Please remember that using a BIRDS AS ART B&H affiliate link or the Bedford’s discount code (BIRDS AS ART) will not cost you a single cent and is a great way to
thank me for the hours that I put into the blog and time spent answering your e-mails. As always (and as below), feel free to write with gear questions when you are in need of advice.
Our second shipment of twenty FlexShooter Pro heads finally arrived late on Friday. We will be shipping to those who ordered by phone on Tuesday as Monday is a holiday. I will check out the new Nikon 600 VR Bigfoot on Tuesday and let you know what I have learned.
Huge Late-registration BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour Discounts
I an effort to fill a very few remaining slots, I am offering a $3,000 late registration discount on the UK Puffins, Gannets, and Red Kite IPT (one slot) and a $4,000 late registration discount on the Galapagos Photo Cruise of a lifetime (one slot) — the world’s very best Galapagos photo trip. We do the three world-class landings twice each: North Seymour, Hood, and Tower … Join us. Click here and scroll down for the trip details. Please e-mail with questions.
BIRDS AS ART
BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
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 taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.
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.
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This image was created on the late afternoono of Saturday, May 26 2019 down by the lake near my home. Working while seated in the front seat of my SUV, I used the Induro GIT 304L/FlexShooter Pro-mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens, the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III, and the mega mega-pixel Nikon D850 DSLR. ISO 800. Matrix metering at about +1 stop: 1/2000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode left the image overall dark despite the fact that the RED channel was toasted. AUTO1 WB at 8:06pm on a somewhat hazy evening (nine minutes before sunset). A somewhat muted sun was just out of frame right.
Nikon Focus Peaking fine-tune value: a very significant +9. See the Nikon AF Fine-tune e-Guide here.
Center Group (grp) Continuous (C in Nikon/AI Servo with Canon) AF was active at the moment of exposure. The array was centered on the bird’s rear flank as originally framed.
Osprey landing/sunset silhouette
Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
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More Smart or More Lucky?
Even though I had gotten into the pool fairly late in the afternoon, I had been planning to drive around Lake Walk-in-Water and explore the other side of the lake for afternoon bird photography oportunities (with the afternoon sun behind me). After I exited the pool and got dried off I still had more than enough time go exploring but thought that I’d best check the wind direction. Oops! 13mph from the northeast. Experienced bird photographers know that the last thing you want on a sunny afternoon is a northeast wind. With the sun setting in the southwest all the birds will be flying, landing, and facing away from you when you are on sun angle, that is, with the sun coming over the top of your heard.
Most folks do not realize that the worst wind for traditional front-lit bird photography is the best wind for doing silhouettes. Why? Looking right at the sunset (or the sunrise as well), the bird will be flying, landing, and facing toward you with the colorlful sky (if there is one) right behind them. So rather than drive 30 minutes toward poor conditions I took my time and headed down to the lake at 7:50pm.
As I approached my favorite perch, I saw that there was an Osprey on it (as had been the case each morning for the past two weeks). I set up the tripod in the front seat, leveled the FlexShooter Pro, and then approached slowly staying well back. The bird flew. I gave it a few minutes but impatient for action I drove a short ways to check out some cranes courting on a hill near the parking circle. That did not pan out so I looked back at the perch and saw that it was occupied again. I got back into position trying to line up my SUV with the brightest sky color. I shut off the engine and made two frames when the bird took flight again. It was now about 8:00pm so I decided to sit tight and wait for a bird to land. I was focused on the perch adjusting my exposure when suddenly the viewfinder was filled with a landing Osprey. The bird had flown in from the north and hung a quick u-turn to land into the wind. Totally surprised I followed my own oft-given advice: When unexpected action occurs, push the shutter button.
I created about 8 frames as the bird struggled to get its balance on the perch. A quick peek revealed what looked like some pretty decent images — the first one with the wings fully out-stretched looked fantastic. After re-positioning the vehicle, I tried a few more with both the bird and the sun in the frame but the sun was still much too bright for that. In moments, it had disappeared behind the far shore of the lake and I headed home.
The first few images including the one that I was sure was spectacular were no good. The bird had landed with its head down; silhouettes of head-less birds are rarely if ever successful. Today’s featured image, the fifth in the series, was the best of the lot with the head clear of the body and some nice light coming through the primaries. This image was converted in Capture One Pro 12 where I lightened the sky and blacked-up the Osprey a bit. I began experiemnting with the Color Editor and it turned out to be easier and more intuitive than I had at first glance. It is actually quite similar to the HSL (Hue-Saturation-Luminance) tab in ACR but in a completely different format.
In short, I was glad that I thought to check the wind direction and even gladder that I got lucky with the somewhat unexpected landing.
Bugged?
There is one thing about this image that bugs me. If there is something that bugs you, please do share by leaving a comment.
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Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All of the images on this card were created on the 2018 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT
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The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. Seahouses, Bempton Cliffs, and the Dunbar, Scotland Gannet boat to Bass Rock! Thursday June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday July 10.): $9,999. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 1
Please e-mail to learn about the very large late-registration discount
Join me in the UK in late June and early July 2019 to photograph Atlantic Puffin, Common Murre, Razorbill, Shag, and Northern Gannet, Red Kite, and more both in flight and at close range. We will also have great chances with Arctic and Sandwich Terns, both with chicks of all sizes; Black-headed, Lesser-Black-backed, and Herring Gulls, many of those chasing puffins with fish; Black-legged Kittiwake with chicks; plus Grey Seal. There will be tons of great flight photography. As on all IPTs, if you pay attention, you will learn a ton, especially about sky conditions and the relationship between light angle and wind direction and their effects on flight photography.
Why go all the way to Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine, endure a two-hour boat ride, and have to photograph Atlantic Puffins from a cramped blind usually in bright sun (and well off sun angle) when you can hop a red-eye flight from Newark, NJ and be in Edinburgh, Scotland early the next morning. First we drive down to Bridlington for easy access to Bempton Cliffs where our primary targets will be Northern Gannet in flight. We will also get to photograph Razorbill, Northern Fulmar, Herring Gull, and Black-legged Kittiwake. While in Bridlington we will spend one afternoon visiting a Red Kite feeding station that should provide lots of flight photography action.
While in Bridlington we will staying at the White Horse Inn in Cranswick, about twenty minutes from Bempton Cliffs. After 3 1/2 days of photography there, we drive down to Seahouses in Northumberland to the two lodges that will be our home base for a week. After a short boat ride each day we will have hundreds of puffins posing at close range all day, every day — usually in ideal cloudy-bright conditions. While we are in Seahouses we will do six puffin/seabird trips, all weather permitting of course; last year we did not miss a single landing. In five years we have averaged losing less than one half day per year to bad weather. We land at Staple Island in the mornings and then sail over to Inner Farnes for our afternoon sessions. In addition, we may enjoy a session or two photographing nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes at eye level from a rocky beach in Seahouses.
In Seahouses, we stay 7 nights in gorgeous, modern, upscale lodges with Wi-fi. They are beyond lovely with large living areas and lots of open space for the informal image sharing and Photoshop sessions. The bedrooms are decent-sized. Each lodge has one double bedroom and two twin bedrooms. (See the single supplement info below.) At the lodges we cook our own breakfasts each morning and prepare our own lunches to be brought on the six puffin boat trips. For dinners we will alternate cooking in the lodges with fine dining at several excellent local restaurants. We stay two nights at the Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. We will enjoy a fine-dining Thank You dinner at the Dunbar Hotel on the Tuesday evening before we fly home.
On the morning of Monday, July 8, 2019, the plan is to sleep late, pack, and head up to Dunbar Harbor, Scotland for lunch and an afternoon gannet boat chumming trip: flight photography until you cannot lift your camera. The next morning, Tuesday July 9, we will enjoy our second gannet boat chumming trip (both weather permitting). On both trips we will enjoy great views of the huge gannetry at Bass Rock. Included will be two nights lodging at the Pine Martin by Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. Very early on the morning of Wednesday, July 10, we will drive up to Edinburgh Airport so that everyone can make their flights home. No moaning please. You will need a flight that leaves at 8:30am or later. Not too much later is generally best.
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Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All images were created on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT
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The Details
This IPT is all-inclusive except for your airfare and alcoholic beverages. All ground transportation, lodging costs, meals, your National Trust membership, and all boat, entry, and landing fees are included. Weather permitting, we will enjoy three and one-half days (at least six sessions in all) at Bempton Cliffs, an afternoon with the Red Kites, six full days on the puffin boats, one amazing afternoon gannet chumming trip, and one spectacular morning gannet chumming trip.
IPT Details
If you are good to go sharing a room–couples of course are more than welcome, heck, we actually need two couples — please send your non-refundable $2,000/person deposit check now to save a spot. Please be sure to check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below. Your balance will be due on February 28, 2019. Please make your check out to “Arthur Morris” and send it to Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855.
Please shoot me an e-mail if you are good to go or if you have any questions.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance for big international trips is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality 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.
I truly hope that you can join me on this exciting venture.
If In Doubt …
If 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 New 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 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 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.
Facebook
Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right.
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 :).
May 25th, 2019 What’s Up?
Our second shipment of twenty FlexShooter Pro heads finally arrived late on Friday. We will be shipping to those who ordered by phone on Tuesday as Monday is a holiday. I will check out the new Nikon 600 VR Bigfoot on Tuesday and let you know what I have learned. We have been enjoying perfect weather every day along with some decent morning photography and my daily swims.
The 2018 B&H/BAA Bird Photography Holiday Contest Finalists!
Thanks to the generosity of the great folks at B&H, I am proud to announce the final four for the first-ever B&H/BAA Bird Photography Holiday Contest below. Please rate the four contest finalist images as noted below. The final placement of the winning and honored images will be announced soon.
Important, to me at least …
I learned yesterday that a guy who has visited and learned from the blog for years had recently purchased the Nikon 800mm VR lens with the dedicated 1.25X teleconverter. This gentleman has never been on an IPT. He often sends me photos for my comment and usually asks a few questions. I have always answered politely and in a timely fashion. When he began sending many images in a single e-mail, I suggested that he take advantage of the image critiquing service that I offer. He never took me up on that.
He told me that he had purchased the lens from B&H so I asked if he had used my affiliate link. The answer was “No.” I let him know that had he used my link as a way to thank me for the blog and the times that I spend answering e-mails like his it would not have cost him one penny more, that it was just a great way to say “Thank you.” I also let him know that my commission on a $16,296.95 sale would have been a tidy $570.39.
If you are purchasing new photo gear from B&H or Bedford’s, I would truly appreciate your writing for advice and using my affiliate links or discount codes. Again, doing so would not cost you one cent.
Huge thanks and gobs of appreciation to those who regularly use the BAA affiliate links and discount codes. With lots of love as well.
Please note: Today’s blog post took about five months and five hours to prepare 🙂
Huge Late-registration BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour Discounts
I an effort to fill a very few remaining slots, I am offering a $3,000 late registration discount on the UK Puffins, Gannets, and Red Kite IPT (one slot) and a $4,000 late registration discount on the Galapagos Photo Cruise of a lifetime (one slot) — the world’s very best Galapagos photo trip. We do the three world-class landings twice each: North Seymour, Hood, and Tower … Join us. Click here and scroll down for the trip details. Please e-mail with questions.
BIRDS AS ART
BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Contest-Related Used Gear Sales
Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM Lens
This is NOT Joe Sobelefsky’s lens 🙂
Eric Chen is offering a Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens in like-new condition for the BAA record-low price of $6998.00. The sale includes everything that came in the orignal box including the lens trunk, the lens strap, the front lens cover, the warranty card, a Realtree Max 4 LensCoat, a RRS replacement foot, the 52mm drop-in polarizer (a $229.00 value), a LensCoat Hoodie, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower 48 US addresses only. Your lens will not ship until your check clears unless another payment method is used.
Please contact Eric via e-mail or by phone at 1-413-210-3636 (Eastern time).
The 600 II has been the state of the art super-telephoto lens for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports for many years. When I was using Canon and could get it to my location, it was always my go-to weapon. It is fast and sharp and deadly alone or with either TC. With a new one going for $9,499, you can save a cool $2501.00 by grabbing Eric’s lens now. The lighter 600 III goes for $12,999.00! artie
Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/4E FL ED VR Lens
This is the very lens used to create the Painted Bunting image below
Chris Tricou is offering a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/4E FL ED VR lens in excellent condition for $8296.95. The sale includes the rear lens cap, the lens trunk, the original Nikon neoprene tough front lens cover that goes over the hood, a camo LensCoat, a black hoodie (neoprene front cover), the lens strap, the original product box, the low profile Nikon tripod foot, 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 Chris via e-mail or by phone at 225-445-6777 (Central time).
The 500 f/4 super telephoto lenses have been the world’s most popular for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports for many decades. This is Nikon’s latest/greatest version. It is super-sharp with the TC-14E III (the 1.4X teleconverter). This lens is relatively small and can be easily hand held by some folks. It is much easier to travel with, focuses closer than, and costs a lot less than the current Nikon 600 VR. This lens sells for $10,296.95. Grab Chris’s lens asap while $2000.00 for a pretty much new lens with extras. I loved my Canon 500 II. artie
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Learn the secrets of creating contest-worthy images in “A Guide to Pleasing Blurs.”
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Contest-Related Advertisement
A Guide to Pleasing Blurs
In A Guide to Pleasing Blurs by Denise Ippolito and yours truly, we discuss just about every technique ever used to create pleasingly blurred images. Ninety-nine point nine percent of pleasing blurs are not happy accidents. You can learn pretty much everything that there is to know about creating them in this instructive, well-written, easy to follow, beautifully illustrated e-Guide.
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 taking pre-orders for the new Nikon 500 P and the Nikon Z6 mirrorless camera body.
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.
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This image was created by BPN member Paul Burdett. He used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 400mm) with theC Canon crop factor body, the EOS 7D Mark II dSLR. ISO 640: 1/500 sec. at f/5.6.
Image #1: New Holland Honeyeater, Tasmania
Image courtesy of and copyright 2019: Paul Burdett
Click on the image to enjoy a larger version
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The New Holland Honeyeater Story
This bird was photographed on Bruny Island, Tasmania. The island is separated from the Tasmanian mainland by the D’Entrecasteaux Channel; its east coast abuts the Tasman Sea. The island is noted for various birds that are endemic to Tasmania, some of which are endangered. My wife and I stayed at Inala, an amazing private nature reserve on the island, where I was able to see and photograph the Forty-spotted Pardalote as well as a number of other endemic birds. This New Holland Honeyeater was spotted a few minutes after photographing the Pardalote, and posed quite nicely for me.
You can see what others (including me) thought of this image in Paul’s BPN post here.
My Thoughts and Comments
I fell in love with this bird and this image the moment I saw it on BPN. It reminded me of some sort of breeding plumage Yellow-rumped Warbler hybrid on steroids! Thanks, Paul for entering this one.
The Snow Geese Blast-off at Bosque Story
This image was taken at the main pond in Bosque Del Apache NM during my trip at the end of 2018. It was early evening and I was photographing Snow Geese on the road. After a while, they took off and landed far away in the pond. All the folks who had been photographing the birds on the road left. I stood there contemplating whether I should leave for crane pools or wait to see if the flock would blast off. With a muted sun behind me and overcast conditions, I stood waiting for more than 30 minutes. I composed the image, using the distant mountains as an anchor and waited for the birds to take off. I was just about to give up when the birds blasted off.
I learned a lot on your Gatorland IPT two years ago. I study your blog religiously and have also learned a ton in the Avian Forum; I joined BPN almost 3 years ago.
My Thoughts and Comments
As many of you know, I love blurs, especially ones that are well done. And I love that Krishna incorporated many of the things he has learned on BPN and in various BAA guides as well to come up with this fine image. His story reminds me in part of the story behind Blizzard in Blue — same place, same time of year, and lots of other photographers sitting in their cars because of the cold drizzle … Blizzard in Blue was runner-up in Composition and Form in a late-1990s vintage Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competition. Who’d a thunk it? Creative blurs before digital!
In A Guide to Pleasing Blurs (and elsewhere), I have written, The slower your shutter speed the less chance you have a creating a successful image but the more chance you have of creating a contest-winning image …
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This image was created by IPT veteran (and former BPN member) Joe Sobelefsky. He used the tripod-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens with my favorite Canon body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV dSLR.. ISO 2000: 1/1000 sec. at f/4.5. Processed in DPP4.
Image #3: Wood Duck pair courting
Image courtesy of and copyright 2019: Joe Sobelefsky
Click on the image to enjoy a larger version
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The Courting Wood Ducks Story
Each winter, during the freeze, I spend time prepping a location in Harford County, Maryland for Wood Ducks. The frozen mud in the marsh makes this the only time that you can move limbs, drop stumps, clean and reposition the nest boxes, perform needed maintenance, and build blinds. The arrival of my favorite waterfowl species is a time of pure bliss for me; I spend every spare moment for about three months in my blind photographing these beautiful ducks. Watching these elusive waterfowl interact, pair up, defend boxes, lay eggs, incubate and finally fledge their ducklings brings me to a place of inner peace that I have not experienced anywhere else on earth. Even though these are wild ducks, I feel as if I know them personally by the time that move on for the year.
My Thoughts and Comments
With Joe’s image, I love the soft light and the intimacy of the image. Note that there was plenty of depth-of-field even at the nearly wide open aperture of f/4.5. Why? The distance to the birds was relatively large.
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This image was created by Chris Tricou with the mono-pod mounted Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/4E FL ED VR lens with the Nikon crop factor body, the D500 dSLR. ISO 320: 1/2000 sec. at f/5.
Image #4: Painted Bunting displaying male
Image courtesy of and copyright 2019: Chris Tricou
Click on the image to enjoy a larger version
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The Painted Bunting Story
I had been exploring a piece of private property that I had been granted access to near Baton Rouge on the banks of the Mississippi River between the levee and the river itself. It is only accessible when the river is low. As I hiked I was blown away by the amazing diversity of wildlife as well as the density. I heard the calls of Painted and Indigo Buntings. I located a spot where the territories of three male painteds overlapped. I went back the next day and the light was perfect in the late afternoon. I was out of sight down by the waterline. I reached a massive excavator that I was able to hide behind and waited patiently. The birds came. This image shows one male displaying against another. I could not photograph them fighting as they were inside of the lens’s minimum focusing distance.
It was amazing to watch such beautiful birds behave as if I were not there.
My Thoughts and Comments
I love the soft light and have always loved male Painted Buntings. Heck, the ladies are not bad either. IAC, add in the spectacular naturally occurring behavior and your image will pretty much make everyone smile.
Please Rate the Four Contest Finalist Images
First off, apologies for being so tardy with the contest results. At one point I feared that I had lost all of the images and would have to re-run the contest. But once the hard drive from my first and now very defunct MacBook Pro was rescued, it was just a matter of time …
I have already made up my mind as to the contest winners and the distribution of the generous prizes from B&H but I did want to give everyone here a chance to voice their opinions. Please do so by rating the four finalist images with a numbered list from 1 to 4 with one being your contest winner. In addition, your thoughts on why you made your choices are of course welcome.
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Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All of the images on this card were created on the 2018 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT
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The New, Expanded 2019 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT. Seahouses, Bempton Cliffs, and the Dunbar, Scotland Gannet boat to Bass Rock! Thursday, June 27 (from EDI) through Tuesday, July 9, 2019 (on the ground; fly home on Wednesday, July 10.): $9,999. Limit 5 photographers/Openings: 1
Please e-mail to learn about the very large late-registration discount
Join me in the UK in late June and early July 2019 to photograph Atlantic Puffin, Common Murre, Razorbill, Shag, and Northern Gannet, Red Kite, and more both in flight and at close range. We will also have great chances with Arctic and Sandwich Terns, both with chicks of all sizes; Black-headed, Lesser-Black-backed, and Herring Gulls, many of those chasing puffins with fish; Black-legged Kittiwake with chicks; plus Grey Seal. There will be tons of great flight photography. As on all IPTs, if you pay attention, you will learn a ton, especially about sky conditions and the relationship between light angle and wind direction and their effects on flight photography.
Why go all the way to Machias Seal Island off the coast of Maine, endure a two-hour boat ride, and have to photograph Atlantic Puffins from a cramped blind usually in bright sun (and well off sun angle) when you can hop a red-eye flight from Newark, NJ and be in Edinburgh, Scotland early the next morning. First we drive down to Bridlington for easy access to Bempton Cliffs where our primary targets will be Northern Gannet in flight. We will also get to photograph Razorbill, Northern Fulmar, Herring Gull, and Black-legged Kittiwake. While in Bridlington we will spend one afternoon visiting a Red Kite feeding station that should provide lots of flight photography action.
While in Bridlington we will staying at the White Horse Inn in Cranswick, about twenty minutes from Bempton Cliffs. After 3 1/2 days of photography there, we drive down to Seahouses in Northumberland to the two lodges that will be our home base for a week. After a short boat ride each day we will have hundreds of puffins posing at close range all day, every day — usually in ideal cloudy-bright conditions. While we are in Seahouses we will do six puffin/seabird trips, all weather permitting of course; last year we did not miss a single landing. In five years we have averaged losing less than one half day per year to bad weather. We land at Staple Island in the mornings and then sail over to Inner Farnes for our afternoon sessions. In addition, we may enjoy a session or two photographing nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes at eye level from a rocky beach in Seahouses.
In Seahouses, we stay 7 nights in gorgeous, modern, upscale lodges with Wi-fi. They are beyond lovely with large living areas and lots of open space for the informal image sharing and Photoshop sessions. The bedrooms are decent-sized. Each lodge has one double bedroom and two twin bedrooms. (See the single supplement info below.) At the lodges we cook our own breakfasts each morning and prepare our own lunches to be brought on the six puffin boat trips. For dinners we will alternate cooking in the lodges with fine dining at several excellent local restaurants. We stay two nights at the Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. We will enjoy a fine-dining Thank You dinner at the Dunbar Hotel on the Tuesday evening before we fly home.
On the morning of Monday, July 8, 2019, the plan is to sleep late, pack, and head up to Dunbar Harbor, Scotland for lunch and an afternoon gannet boat chumming trip: flight photography until you cannot lift your camera. The next morning, Tuesday July 9, we will enjoy our second gannet boat chumming trip (both weather permitting). On both trips we will enjoy great views of the huge gannetry at Bass Rock. Included will be two nights lodging at the Pine Martin by Marston’s Inn in Dunbar. Very early on the morning of Wednesday, July 10, we will drive up to Edinburgh Airport so that everyone can make their flights home. No moaning please. You will need a flight that leaves at 8:30am or later. Not too much later is generally best.
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Images and card design copyright: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART. All images were created on the 2017 UK Puffins and Gannets IPT
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The Details
This IPT is all-inclusive except for your airfare and alcoholic beverages. All ground transportation, lodging costs, meals, your National Trust membership, and all boat, entry, and landing fees are included. Weather permitting, we will enjoy three and one-half days (at least six sessions in all) at Bempton Cliffs, an afternoon with the Red Kites, six full days on the puffin boats, one amazing afternoon gannet chumming trip, and one spectacular morning gannet chumming trip.
IPT Details
If you are good to go sharing a room–couples, of course, are more than welcome, heck, we actually need two couples — please send your non-refundable $2,000/person deposit check now to save a spot. Please be sure to check your schedule carefully before committing to the trip and see the travel insurance info below. Your balance will be due on February 28, 2019. Please make your check out to “Arthur Morris” and send it to Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855.
Please shoot me an e-mail if you are good to go or if you have any questions.
Travel Insurance
Travel insurance for big international trips is highly recommended as we never know what life has in store for us. I strongly recommend that you purchase quality 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.
I truly hope that you can join me on this exciting venture.
If In Doubt …
If 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 New 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 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 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 :).
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