Stuff
I had a great time doing the Understand Photography 100th podcast with Peggy Farren down in Naples, FL on Friday afternoon. We had a brief problem with the FaceBook connection in the middle of the show, but Joe Fitzpatrick got that fixed quickly and on we went. As soon as I have the YouTube link, I will post it here.
Amy is off to Iceland and Greenland for a short vacation. She left me lots of physical therapy homework.
Long Island Small Group Instruction
I will be returning to my old haunts on Long Island from 15-27 August, prime time for bird photography. If you would like to learn to get close to shorebirds — and others as with today’s image — in the mud, do consider joining me. For info on the Black Skimmer sessions and other IPTs click here and scroll down.
Shorebird Sessions
Join me at the East Pond at Jamaica Bay WR (JBWR) on the ideal tides to photograph southbound migrant juvenile shorebirds. With full frame bodies, a minimum of a 500mm lens with TCs is recommended. 400mm is OK with crop factor bodies and a 1.4X TC.
Important note: The Shorebird Mornings are dependent on suitable water levels at the East Pond. If the pond is flooded, the sessions will be conducted at Nickerson Beach where we will likely encounter some shorebirds as well as the skimmer and terns.
JBWR Shorebird Morning: Friday, AUG 24, 2018. 6:00 – 9:30am plus a working brunch: $375/session. Limit 4/Openings 3.
JBWR Shorebird Morning: Saturday, AUG 25, 2018. 6:00 – 9:30am plus a working brunch: $375/session. Limit 4/Openings 3.
Please inquire via e-mail for multiple session discounts.
To register, please call Jim or Jen with your credit card in hand: 863-692-0906. I hope that you can join me.
BIRDS AS ART
BIRDS AS ART is registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Selling Your Used Photo Gear Through BIRDS AS ART
Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog is a great idea. We charge only a 5% commission. One of the more popular used gear for sale sites charged a minimum of 20%. Plus assorted fees! Yikes. They went out of business. And e-Bay fees are now up to 13%. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please scroll down here or shoot us an e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly — I offer pricing advice to those who agree to the terms — usually sells in no time flat. Over the past year, we have sold many dozens of items. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 100-400, the old 500mm, the EOS-7D and 7D Mark II and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can always see the current listings by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab on the orange-yellow menu bar near the top of each blog post page.
Recent Sales
IPT veteran Bill Wingfield sold a Wimberley V-2 WH-200 Gimbal Head in very good condition for a ridiculously low $299.00 and a Gitzo GT3532LS Carbon Fiber tripod in good condition for only $249.00, both in early August.
IPT veteran Bill Wingfield sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS II USM lens in excellent to near-mint condition for $1049.00 in late July 2018.
Pierre Williot sold his Canon EOS 5DS R in like-new condition for the BAA record-low-by-far price of $1999.00 (was $2399.00).
Carolyn Peterson sold a Canon GPS receiver GP-E2 for EOS camera bodies in near-mint condition for $149 in mid-July.
BAA-friend “Bug” Bob Allen sold a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Zoom lens in excellent condition for the a BAA record low price of $527.00 in mid-July.
NANPA President Don Carter sold his Canon EF 70-200mm f/4L IS USM lens in excellent condition for the BAA record-low-by-far price of $525 the first day it was listed. Yours truly sold his like-new Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens for $699 in late June.
Ray Maynard sold his Canon 300mm f/2.8 L IS lens (the original version) in near-mint condition for the BIRDS AS ART record-low price of $2349.000 and a Canon 2X III teleconverter in near-mint condition for $285.00 both in mid-July.
Unsolicited, via e-mail, from Pierre Williot
I would encourage anyone who wants to sell some of their photographic equipment to contact Art. High-end photographic equipment can be difficult to sell. Art, with is widely read daily posts, will allow you to sell your equipment fairly easily for a reasonable price and commission. Please, seriously consider the price that he suggests as it can be hard to face the reality of the actual value of well loved equipment! Art is well aware of the current market for second-hand photographic equipment.
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. Patrick Sparkman saved $350 on a recent purchase!
Hard to Find Nikon Stuff Available Now
Steve Elkins has several Nikon D850s in stock right now. In addition, he has a Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens and an AF-S 180-400mm f/4E TC1.4 FL ED VR lens in stock! E-mail Steve about a special deal on either big Nikon lens. The 180-400, like its Canon counterpart, the EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM with Internal Extender 1.4x lens — is especially great for trips to Africa, the Southern Ocean, or the Galapagos.
Booking.Com
Several folks on the UK IPT used the Booking.Com link below for there Edinburgh hotels, got great rates, and saved a handsome $25.00 in the process. If you too would like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and to earn a $25 reward on your first booking. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
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 at Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge on August 18, 2016 with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III, and the Canon EOS-1D X Mark II. ISO 2000. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/1600 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. AWB at 8:598am on a cloudy dark morning.
One to the right of the center AF point/AI Servo (C in Nikon)/Shutter button/Expand AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was on the bird’s neck.
AF micro-adjustment: fine-tune: +6. See the The LensAlign/FocusTune Micro-Adjusting Tutorial e-Guide here.
Image #1: the original image capture for Black-crowned Night-Heron, juvenile scavenging American Eel
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The Story
I remember this morning from nearly two years ago very well. The shore of the East Pond was littered with the carcasses of eels that had most likely died as a result of botulism. There were several young night-herons partaking. All but the one in today’s featured image took flight as we approached cautiously. I created lots of images and each time I revisited the file I deleted a few more until last night when I was left with one. Though my single keeper was a bit underexposed and the mudflat was an absolute mess, I saw the potential. I created Image #2 just before I hit the sack on Saturday night.
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Image #2: This is the first optimized version of Black-crowned Night-Heron, juvenile scavenging American Eel
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The First Optimized Version
It took me about 30 minutes to create the first optimized version, Image #2 above. During the RAW conversion I increased the exposure a bit, set the WHITE and BLACK points, and cooled the image down a bit with the Color Temperature slider. Once I brought the TIFF into Photoshop and executed the 3X2 crop, I started on the background clean-up. My main weapon was the Patch Tool. In addition, I used Content Aware Fill and the Spot Healing Brush. Once the bulk of the clean-up was done I used a Quick Mask refined by a Regular Layer Mask to cover the dark smudge that merged with the young bird’s bill. I used one of my favorite tricks: I painted the Quick Mask larger than what was needed to cover the smudge. I moved it into place and then added a Regular Layer Mask. Then I painted away (B, D, X) the whole Quick Mask Layer. Then I zoomed in on the area, hit X, and painted the mask back in only where needed to cover the smudge. This is a trick that I use quite often. I did use the Clone Stamp Tool just once, to eliminate the glob of mud on the bird’s upper breast (as seen above in Image #1.)
Once the clean-up was complete. I used the Quick Selection Tool to select the face and the bill and the eel. I used the Lasso Brush to add (plus brush ) and remove (minus brush) refine the selection. I placed it on its own layer and ran my NIK Color Efex Pro 30-30 recipe. After merging that layer I painted a Quick Mask of the face, applied a Contrast Mask (Unsharp Mask at 15/65/0), and then pulled the Curve up ever so slightly on that layer only. Then the image was saved and the JPEG for Image #2 was created. Everything mentioned above is covered in detail in Digital Basics II. (See below for more info on that.)
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Image #3: This is the second optimized version of Black-crowned Night-Heron, juvenile scavenging American Eel
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Too Green?
When I woke on Sunday morning I looked at the first optimized version and thought, “It looks like there is a GREEN cast.” So I created a duplicate layer (Command J) and hit Command U (Hue Saturation). From experience, I knew that when an image looked too GREEN that it almost always was too YELLOW. So I went to the YELLOW channel and reduced the saturation 30 points to create the second version.
Your Favorite Color Balance?
Which version do you like best, the warmer, GREENer version seen in Image #2, or the cooler, more neutral version that is Image #3? Be sure to let us know why.
The Animated GIF
The animated GIF shows the before and after background clean-up versions of the warmer version. The horrific (and unavoidable) posterization is the result of creating the GIF.
Would You Remove a Cigarette Butt From and Otherwise Great Image?
Try answering these questions:
#1: Would you remove a cigarette butt from an otherwise great image? Why or why not?
#2: Do you think that the degree of background clean-up with today’s image was excessive? Why or why not?
Level?
Do you think that the optimized versions of today’s featured images need to be rotated? If yes, in which direction, clockwise or counter-clockwise? About how much?
If yes, what fooled me?
The Lesson
Images with horrific, ugly, cluttered backgrounds can often be cleaned up nicely to create a fairly pleasing image (if that course of action fits with your personal ethics).
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The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II).
You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand.
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The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)
Yes, everything mentioned above and tons more is covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. While the new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow, folks using a PC and/or BreezeBrowser will also benefit greatly by studying the material on DB II. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.
The two most recent and many of the older MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):
- The Wingtip Repairs MP4 Video here.
- The MP4 Crow Cleanup Video here.
Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.
Though I have become more proficient converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw, I continue to optimize my Canon image in DPP 4. You can learn how and why I converted (and still convert) nearly all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. And, yes, I still have many Canon images to work on. 🙂 The RAW conversions for all three of today’s featured images was straightforward once I entered my camera/ISO specific recipes (as detailed in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide). You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
Help Support the Blog
Please help support my efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. There is no problem using your Prime account; just click on the link and log into your Prime account. With love, artie
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 :).
