What’s Up?
The north wind eased up a bit on Thursday morning so I drove down to the lake for an hour and made some nice images of the usual suspects — Cattle Egret, Little Blue Heron, Sandhill Crane, and Turkey Vulture. And, I had some fun when I created two source images for a LBH stitched, skinny vertical, panorama.
On my Vitamin D walk I counted a record high 20 Forster’s Tern on the pier railing, along with a single adult Bald Eagle. I am doing a bit of cold therapy in addition to my daily swims.
Yesterday afternoon, Jim distributed DB III Volume I/#3 to all who purchased the series.
Today is Friday 22 December 2023. The forecast is for cloudy with a breeze from the northeast. I will be heading down to the lakeshore and bringing some salmon skins along. Wherever you are and whatever you choose to do, I hope that you too have a great day.
Please remember to use the B&H and Amazon links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!
You can find some great photo accessories (and necessities, like surf booties!) on Amazon by clicking on the Stuff tab on the orange/yellow menu bar above. On a related note, it would be extremely helpful if blog-folks who, like me, spend too much money on Amazon, would get in the habit of clicking on the Amazon logo link on the right side of each blog post when they shop online. As you might expect, doing so will not cost you a single penny, but would be appreciated tremendously by yours truly. And doing so works seamlessly with your Amazon Prime account.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
B&H Simplified
To ensure that I get credit for your B&H purchases, you can always click here. The tracking is invisible but greatly appreciated. And, you can use your PayBoo card. You must use the website to order. B&H will reopen on Fri April 14. Thanking me for the past 4000 educational blog posts could not be any easier and will not cost you one penny. Please shoot me your B&H receipt for major purchases.
Bedfords Simplified
Click here to start your search. Choose standard shipping, and when you get to the payment page, enter BIRDSASART in the discount code box and hit apply. You will be upgraded to free second day air Fed-Ex and receive 3% cash back on your credit card once your stuff ships. Either is greatly appreciated by yours truly.
B&H
Many folks have written recently stating that they purchased a Sony a1 from B&H and would like their free membership in the Sony 1 Info and Updates Group, a $150.00 value. When I check my affiliate account, their orders have not been there. When I let them know that they get credit for B&H purchases only if they use one of the many B&H affiliate links on the blog or begin their searches with this link, they are always disappointed. If in doubt, please contact me via e-mail and request a BH link. I am always glad to help and to guide you to the right gear.
Bedfords Amazing BAA Discount Policy
Folks who have fallen in love with Bedfords can now use the BIRDSASART coupon code at checkout to enjoy a post-purchase, 3% off-statement credit (excluding taxes and shipping charges) on orders paid with a credit card. The 3% credit will be refunded to the card you used for your purchase. Be sure, also, to check the box for free shipping to enjoy free Second Day Air Fed-Ex. This offer does not apply to purchases of Classes, Gift Cards, prior purchases.
Visit the Bedfords website here, shoot Steve Elkins an e-mail, or text him on his cell phone at (479) 381-2592.
Important Note
As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small percentage when you purchase from Amazon after using any of the Amazon links on the blog (including the logo-link on the right side of each blog post page). My affiliate link works fine with Amazon Prime and using it will not cost you a single cent. Huge thanks, BTW 🙂
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. And the same is true in spades when ordering new camera bodies or lenses. My advice will often save you some serious money and may help you avoid making a seriously bad choice. Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. If you are desperate, you can try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up.
The Digital Basics III Video Series
I realized about a year ago that my digital workflow had changed significantly and was thinking about writing a Digital Basics III … More recently, I have learned and begun working with two great new Photoshop Tools, the Remove Tool and the Luminance Targeted Adjustment Tool. The former is like a smarter Spot Healing Brush Tool on steroids and the latter is a huge step up from the fabulous Color Mixer Tool. During that same time frame, I came up with a new and improved 2-step noise reduction technique. I still use Divide and Conquer, Quick Masks, Layer Masks, an expanded array of personalized keyboard shortcuts, and tons of other stuff from both versions of Digital Basics.
As soon as I realized that I did not want to take on another large writing project, I realized that by creating a series of videos I could much more easily share all the details of my current digital workflow and much more easily incorporate additional new tips, techniques, and tools as I went. And so, The Digital Basics III Video Series was born. You can check out Volume I/#1 here and Volume I/#2 here.
You might opt to purchase single videos or to subscribe to Volume I and save $26 by ordering the first five videos in one fell swoop. You can purchase the five videos in Volume I by clicking here. The videos will be most valuable for folks using the latest version of Photoshop (2024) or Lightroom along with Topaz DeNoise AI and Topaz Sharpen AI. Check out the amazing stuff in Volume I/#3 below.
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Digital Basics III Volume I/#3 image
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Digital Basics III Volume I/#3
In DB III Volume I/#3 you will sit beside me as I optimize three more images on my no longer available 16″ MacBook Pro (M2 Max, Silver). In each image I will take you through the complete and current BAA Digital Workflow. In Volume I/#3 we will cover the use of the new Remove Tool, the new Luminance Targeted Adjustment Tool (L-TAT), my new 2-step noise reduction techniques, and tons of image clean-up including Divide and Conquer. We will be using several Quick Masks and learning to refine them with Regular Layer Masks. You will learn how and when to expand canvas using Content-Aware Crop — a real time saver. As the last step in my workflow, you will learn how to use the three options available under Image > Tone, Contrast, and Color to perfect the look of your image by applying one or more of them and reducing the Opacity to taste.
In #3, you will also learn to replace the head of a bird with the more attractive head of the same bird from another frame. You will learn to create an image that shows the shadow side detail of the bird and a second image processed as a silhouette, both from the same, properly exposed raw file. We evaluate each raw file in RawDiggger, go through every step in the raw conversion in Photoshop 2024, create and save a master file, create a high quality JPEG, and then properly close the image.
As you follow along in this 58+ minute video, you can pause and/or rewind to maximize your learning.
You can purchase DB III/Volume I/#3 alone for $25.00 here, or you can opt to purchase the Volume I series, videos #1 to 5, for the bargain rate of $99.00 for the first five videos. To do that, click here. The plan is to publish about one video per week or ten days. If the project is well received, there will be future volumes. I have already picked images for DB III, Volume I, #’s 4&5.
Retroactive Discount Savings
If you have previously purchased a single video and learned a lot, you can upgrade to the complete DB III Volume I series and save $26.00 by calling Jim at 863-692-0906 weekdays, Monday through Friday at noon.
Apple 16″ MacBook Pros (M3 Max, Space Black)
I was stunned recently to learn that my relatively new, very much beloved, souped-up-to-the-max Apple 16″ MacBook Pro (M2 Max, Silver) is no longer in production. It has been replaced by many versions of the 16″ MacBook Pros (M3 Max) laptops. Huge thanks to both Mike Lavigne and Sarah Lane; last week, after consulting me on their laptop choice, each of them used my B&H affiliate link last week to purchase a new, souped up Apple 16″ MacBook Pros (M3 Max)!
If you go for one of the machines below, be sure to add three years of Apple Care, the world’s greatest customer service.
Amazingly, the top of the line version is now in stock in black: Apple 16″ MacBook Pro (M3 Max, Space Black). That was not the case just last week.
I prefer silver. If you want the Apple 16″ MacBook Pro (M3 Max, Silver) model, it will be built for you and available in two to four weeks after you place your order.
If your budget will not allow you to go for the top-of-the-line models above (128GB of RAM with an 8TB Solid State Hard Drive), or if you can go with a 4TB SSD, you can begin by checking out the Apple 16″ MacBook Pro (M3 Pro, Space Black) and then upgrading to your specifications as needed. As always, feel free to e-mail me with questions or for advice.
Head Replacement
In the original image, one of the first in the series, the female’s head was totally obstructed by grasses. I saved another image from the series where we could at least see the female’s eye. (In Photo Mechanic, I use a yellow color tag to denote images being saved as source material.) We converted both images using the same settings, then painted a Quick Mask of the head from the source image, moved it roughly into place on the main image, then fine-tuned the placement and refined the Quick Mask with the addition of a Regular Layer mask. Then we removed some of the grasses that were blocking parts of m’lady’s bill.
Going Both Ways
As long as gently backlit images are exposed properly to the right, you have the option of going both ways with the optimizations. First, we aimed to make a fairly natural looking image that revealed detail on the shaded side of the bird. When that image was saved, we re-converted the image and went for the dynamic silhouetted look. Again, both master .TIF files were prepared from the same raw file.
Easy-Peasy
I had planned on processing this Nickerson Beach Black Skimmer blast-off blur for nearly a year. It is the first image on the video and was intended to review the basics of my current workflow.
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Clockwise from the upper left: in pink/purple predawn reflections; squabbling over feeding territory; with wings raised; with sand flea; ruffling after bath; on the edge of the surf with one foot raised.
Be sure to click on the composite image to view a larger, sharper high-res version.
Morro Bay Long-billed Curlew Images
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2024 Morro Bay 3 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT): WED 7 FEB through the morning session on SAT 10 FEB 2024: $1999 (Limit: 6 photographers/Openings: 3).
There will be a short Meet and Greet after dinner on your own at 7:00pm on TUES 6 FEB 2024.
Join me in one of the most beautiful and scenic places on the planet to photograph a large variety of birds of sea and shore. As above, the star of the show will be Long-billed Curlew. There will be lots of Marbled Godwits, Whimbrels, and Willets as well, and lots of the smaller shorebird species like Black and Ruddy Turnstone. Black Oystercatcher is likely and we should get to photograph large flocks of Western Sandpipers in flight over the bay. With any luck we should enjoy some colorful sunrises and sunsets. There are lots of gulls including Western, California, and Mew. There is one location where we may get to photograph Western, Clarke’s, Eared, and Pied-billed Grebe, Lesser Scaup, and Common Loon. We may run into some passerines including Anna’s Hummingbird, Brewer’s Blackbird, and White-crowned Sparrow. And we have a chance for several species of raptors. Yikes, I almost forgot California Poppy, California Ground Squirrel, and Sea Otter.
The Details
This IPT will include four 3-hour morning photo sessions and three 2-hour afternoons (all times are approximate and dependent on conditions, most especially the weather), three working (image review and Photoshop) brunches (included), and of course tons of great in-the-field instruction photographic instruction. Each working brunch will be followed by Instructor Nap Time (INT). On cloudy days with a poor afternoon forecast, we may — at the leader’s discretion, stay out in the morning for a single long session and skip the afternoon. To ensure very early starts and that you get some sleep, breakfasts and dinners will be your responsibility. This IPT will run with only a single registrant as I do not like disappointing anyone.
Your $699 deposit is due now. Credit cards are OK for that. You can register by calling Jim during weekday business hours before noon Eastern time at 863-692-0906 with a credit card in hand. Once you leave a deposit, you will receive an e-mail with your balance and instructions for sending your check two months before the trip begins. 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 two months before the trip. 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 may e-mail for discount information.
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Clockwise from the upper left: Great Egret fishing at sunset; pair of Western Gulls; Bird-Sh_t Rock at sunset; pan blur of the beach north of the rock on a foggy morning; shorebird flock over bay at sunset; Wild Turkey tom strutting.
Be sure to click on the composite image to view a larger, sharper high-res version.
Morro Bay Miscellaneous
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Getting Up Early and Staying Out Late
Folks attending this IPT will be out in the field as early as possible and stay out late to take advantage of sunrise and sunset colors as is pretty much the case 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 sleep and those who need to get home for a proper dinner. I really love it when I am leaving the beach on a sunny morning after a great session just as a carful or two of well-rested photographers are arriving. Or watching folk leave the beach just before the western sky lights up.
What You Will Learn
I short, you will learn more than you could ever have dreamed of. All will learn the basics and fine points of digital exposure. Nikon and Canon folks will learn to get the right exposure every time after making a test exposure, and SONY folks will learn to use Zebras so that they can be sure of making excellent exposures before pressing the shutter button. Everyone will learn how to approach free and wild birds without disturbing them, to understand and predict bird behavior, to identify many species of shorebirds, to spot the good situations, to choose the best perspective, to see and understand the light, and to design pleasing images by mastering your camera’s AF system. Most importantly, you will surely learn to evaluate wind and sky conditions and understand how they affect bird photography. And you will learn how and why to work in Manual mode. The best news is that you will be able to take everything you learn home with you so that you will be a better photographer wherever and whenever you photograph.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
