January 30th, 2018 Stuff
The pelican photography was very good on Tuesday morning for about an hour. Then we did lots of gorgeous Western Gulls. Then we made a wiggle and spent more than an hour with the nesting Brandt’s Cormorants. We abandoned Rubio’s for lunch for a day and tried a Five Guys Burgers and Fries. The burgers were great and all the toppings are free at this chain. We headed to my favorite afternoon low tide beach and did very well with the Marbled Godwits. Lee Sommie went off by himself and spent a lot of time with a tame Whimbrel that I had pointed out. We are headed back to the cliffs in hope of lots of pelicans in flight photography.
There are two openings on the spoonbill IPT. Click here for complete info. If anyone would like to join me shooting spoonbills for 1 1/2 days, February 19 (full day) and February 20 (morning session only), please get in touch via e-mail.
Nikon Part Help Needed
If you can find me one of these in stock anywhere: Nikon BL-5 Battery Chamber Cover for MB-D12 Battery Pack, please contact me via e-mail immediately.
The Streak
Today makes one hundred eighty-three days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. 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 folks 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 January 28 at La Jolla, CA with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 300mm) and the mega mega-pixel Nikon D850 DSLR.. ISO 400. Matrix metering probably -1/3 stop as framed: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode was about a 1/2 stop underexposure. AWB at 7:45am in early morning light.
Center Group/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Brown Pelican, Pacific race, on final approach
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Trying to Explain …
I shared today’s featured image with skilled flight photographer Arash Hazeghi, one of our crack Avian Moderators on BirdPhotographers.Net. He responded, “Looks good but I can’t believe you couldn’t get that with Canon. With all due respect, a pelican is no challenge for yours truly; try an incoming peregrine or kestrel.”
Arash is 100% correct. I could have gotten today’s featured image with Canon gear. Could have. And Arash and Patrick Sparkman and other top bird photographers would have nailed sharp focus on this one with any halfway decent camera body because of their superior skills, strength, hand-eye coordination, and stamina. But for me, I might or might not have gotten this one sharp with my Canon gear. How do I know? Because that is the reality I experienced for the past two decades when my success rate in simple situations like this was from 20-40%. With my new Nikon gear my success rate in these situations has risen to well more than 90%.
Now don’t get too, too excited. As I wrote in response to a comment yesterday, there are more than a few things that I hate about Nikon camera bodies. I will be sharing them with y’all here fairly soon.
This One Works for Me: Nikon D-850/200-500 for Flight
I love this image because the bird is gorgeous, the pose with the fully extended wings is quite nice, and the underwings are evenly lit but for the shadow of the body on the base of the far wing. That was caused by being the light was a bit from my right at the moment the image was captured. This was one of six perfectly sharp on the eye frames.
I am getting more more comfortable using the D-850 for flight with my 200-500 but I still feel a bit more comfortable with the D5 and its blazing 12 fps. Right now I am leaning toward keeping both the D5 and the D-850. Tomorrow I will share a single flight image that explains perfectly why I switched … The good news is that my brain is getting used to zooming the 2-5 in and out. I am not fully there yet, but am improving. I am using my esti-zoom technique more and more with success; I start at 500mm and then zoom out quickly to an approximated focal length as the bird approaches, re-acquire focus, and resume firing.
Help Support the Blog
Please help support my (stupendous) 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.
Facebook
Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.
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 :).
January 29th, 2018 Stuff
We had better luck with the pelicans on the first official day of the second San Diego IPT especially with some decent chances on flying birds. Then we had some excellent opportunities with the California Sea Lions. Lunch at Rubio’s, a nap, a Photoshop session, and a late afternoon with the gulls and Willets and too many people at Coronado. The relationship between this group and me could best be described as a love fest; lots of sweet folks who are interested in becoming better photographers and who ask lots of questions.
It looks as if I will get to bed before 9pm this evening, Sunday 28 JAN. Good night!
Nikon Part Help Needed
If you can find me one of these in stock anywhere: Nikon BL-5 Battery Chamber Cover for MB-D12 Battery Pack, please contact me via e-mail immediately.
The Streak
Today makes one hundred eighty-two days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. 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 folks 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.
Is the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR Lens a Piece of Crap?
Is the Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens a piece of crap? Many internet experts would answer yes And many folks who have actually shot with the lens would say yes. Ans many who use it with the 45-mega pixel beast, the Nikon D-850 would say yes. And most who have used it with the Nikon AF-S Teleconverter TC-14E III would say yes. I have been using my 200-500 for less and a week and I would say that it is a versatile, relatively lightweight, superbly sharp photographic tool with either the D5 or the D-850. With or without the TC-14E III. Take a close look at today’s two featured images and you be the judge.
Yes, I know that the images made with my soon-to-arrive Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 600mm f/4E FL ED VR lens will be considerably sharper. That said both of today’s images are more than professionally sharp, sharp enough to sell, and sharp enough to make large, gorgeous prints
A Bit of Bad Luck …
I spent a full 30 minutes doing head portraits of this handsome adult Western Gull. I was working against a variety of background tones from deep blue to brilliant white and everything in between as the waves crested and broke. It was, therefore, mandatory to work in Manual mode so that the changing background tonalities would not throw off the meter as would have happened had I been in an Automatic mode such as Av or Tv(S). The bird was amazingly cooperative so when I was sure that I had what I wanted I got up and walked over to Lee Sommie who had been photographing a Spotted Sandpiper. I happened to glance up just as my good gull friend let go a huge yawn. I love image #2 (that was a vertical crop of a horizontal original) but could not help but think of the image I might have gotten had I been a bit more patient. The large high quality of the original D-850 image file left me with a more than respectable 57.8mb flattened 8-bit master file.
Which Is Your Favorite?
Do you like the tight head portrait or the vertical yawn? Please let us know why.
Help Support the Blog
Please help support my (stupendous) 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.
Facebook
Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.
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 :).
January 28th, 2018 Stuff
I met the second IPT group of seven for the free morning session early on Saturday morning. A half hour after sunrise things were shaping up to be as bad as Friday. Then a gorgeous pelican landed right in front of us but it was down a bit in a crevice. After ten minutes it popped up on a nice rock and posed for a long time. Then a second gorgeous bird landed down below to our right. I got everyone in position and we had another half hour of fun. Then a third gorgeous bird landed on perfect sandstone perch to the left of the first bird. I move everyone to sun angle and we enjoyed another great session. There were only about five birds total, but three of them very quite beautiful in excellent situations.
I am putting the finishing touches on this blog post while waiting for the group to arrive for our introductory program at 7pm on Saturday night.
The Streak
Today makes one hundred eighty-one days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about an hour to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections and my continuing insanity willing.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. 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 folks 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 January 26 at La Jolla, CA with the hand held Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens (at 500mm) and the mega mega-pixel Nikon D850 DSLR.. ISO 800. Matrix metering probably at +2/3 stop off the blue sky: 1/3200 sec. at f/6.3 in Manual mode. AWB at 4:05pm on a clear sunny afternoon.
Group/Shutter Button AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Brown Pelican, Pacific race, face-flight image
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The First Nikon D-850 Image
Both Patrick Sparkman and I are head over heels in love with the D-850 image files. The colors, especially the Pacific BLUEs, are stunningly vibrant. The image quality is as good at it was with the Canon 5DS R. With the absence of an anti-aliasing filter, both produce incredibly sharp images with the megapixel edge going to the 5DS R (50 to 45). But the dynamic range of the D-850 is the better of the two as is high ISO noise control. And, as previously noted, when it comes to birds in flight, the AF system of the D-850 (and the D5) blow away anything Canon has ever produced. Note: in some simpler AF situations, both Nikon bodies run into occasional problems. As others have reported, I have not encountered and pixel shake/pixel smear problems with the D-850 that I had with the 5DS R (with birds and wildlife).
I chose to share today’s pelican face-flight shot with you first to illustrate the great crop-ability of the D-850 images. The converted TIF file here was 130 mb. After leveling and cropping, today’s featured image weighed in at 30mb. That works out to a paltry 23% of the original file size yet with 77% of the image cropped away, the optimized file is sharp, shows zero degradation, and features amazingly vibrant colors. I have actually varied my shooting style as a result of the crop-ability of the D-850, often working looser than usual while knowing the IQ will stand up to a healthy crop.
During this morning’s free session I was helping a client with their 5D Mark IV. I zoomed the wrong way and my brain could not remember how to change the ISO. I must be making ergonomic progress with my Nikon gear. 🙂
Nikon D-850 AF and Frame Rate
At this point in time, I have a bit more confidence in the AF system of the Nikon D5 DLSR than I do in the AF system of the D-850 . That even though the AF systems are identical. I hope to get over those feelings because the file size and image quality if the D-850 are stupendous. The frame-rate of the D5 is an impressive 12 fps. With the D-850 out of the box it is 7 fps. But, you can add the Nikon MB-D18 Multi-Power Battery Pack and the Nikon EN-EL18b Rechargeable Lithium-Ion Battery and BL-5 Cover Kit from B&H and the Nikon MH-21 Quick Charger for Nikon EN-EL4 & EN-EL4a Battery from Bedford Camera to boost that to 9fps.
Alternatively, you can purchase the whole kit and kaboodle: Nikon MB-D18 Multi-Power Battery Pack with EN-EL18b Battery Kit. The latter option is perfect for those who do not own a Nikon D5 and/or those who will wind up with two D-850 bodies (for the price of one Nikon D5).
My immediate problem is that I am not sure if I will keep the D5 or return the loaner body and go with two D-850s. As yet I have not been able to get a BL-5 (battery) Cover for the Nikon MB-D18 Multi-Power Battery Pack so I have not been able to get the D-850 (7 fps) up to 9fps. This has made my decision more difficult … My gut feeling is that I will wind up with two D-850s. Note: Everything D-850 is in huge, huge demand, as in “pre-order only.”
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The full frame original capture
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The Full Frame Original Capture
I included the full frame image to depict the 77% crop. The image quality of the optimized version speaks for itself.
Help Support the Blog
Please help support my (stupendous) 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.
Facebook
Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.
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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