December 8th, 2017 Stuff
On Thursday morning it was foggy-dark so Anita and I searched for new perches. We wound up finding and setting up three, but so far none can compare to The Perch. I worked on photos and blog posts, visited Publix and ART chiropractor TJ McKeon in town, swam my slow 1/2 mile plus, visited a dying neighbor and his wife, and then relaxed for the rest of the day. Anita flies back to Toronto today.
5D Mark IV Still on Sale!
Right now you can purchase a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with the BG-E20 Battery Grip for the crazy low price of $3199. I am not sure how long this Black Friday sale will last …
Blog regular Bill Hill was so excited when he read of this sale that he forgot to use my affiliate link. 🙂 He wrote, “I still think the 5D Mark IV sale is is too good to be true. I will believe it when it arrives. Thanks for the heads up.
Note: Bill went for the one with the free battery grip and the free Canon PIXMA PRO-100 Wireless Professional Inkjet Photo Printer.
The Streak
Today makes one hundred thirty-three days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about 90 minutes 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 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 might include system, camera body, accessory, and lens choices and decisions.
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 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm DO lens have been dropping steadily. You can see the complete listings here.
After a two month lull, sales have picked up over the past six weeks, especially the sale of big glass. I should be listing another Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS Lens soon; if you would like advance notice, please shoot me an e-mail
Recent Sales
Mike Newman sold a Canon EF 600 F4/L USM IS II USA lens in like-new condition for the record-low BAA price of 9,398.00 within two days of listing it in early December.
Steve Cashell sold his Canon EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM lens in near-mint condition for a very low $7898 in mid-November.
In late November Mansoor Assadi sold his Canon EOS-1DX Mark II professional digital camera body in like-new condition for a BAA record-low $3998 and his Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body in excellent condition for a very low and fair $999.
Mansoor Assadi sold his Canon EOS 5D Mark III digital camera body in excellent condition for a very low $1299 in early November.
Robert Blanke sold his Canon EOS-1DX Mark II professional digital camera body in like-new condition for the BAA record low/shock the world price of $3999 an hour after it was listed.
IPT veteran Duncan Douglas sold his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM Super Telephoto Lens (the “old five”) in early November for #3699.
Chesley Swann sold a Canon EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS Zoom Lens (the original 1-4) in excellent condition for the very low price of $529 in mid-November.
Mike Lawie sold his Canon EOS 7D Mark II body in near-mint condition for the BAA record-low price of $923 and his Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM zoom lens in excellent condition also for a BAA record low price: $448. Both in mid-November.
Gary Wade sold his Canon EF 400mm f/2.8L IS II USM Lens in near-mint condition for the record-low BAA price of $7449 in mid-November.
Multiple IPT veteran Shelly Goldstein sold his Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS USM Super Telephoto Lens (the “old five”) in excellent condition for the $3899 a week after it was listed.
Peter Noyes sold his Nikon D-810 Digital SLR Camera Body in excellent condition for $1499 two hours after it was listed.
Multiple IPT veteran Shelly Goldstein sold his Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM Super Telephoto lens in like-new condition for $9,399 in early November before it was even listed …
Multiple IPT veteran Dr. Gil Moe sold his Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM zoom lens in excellent plus condition for $449 in mid-October.
Francois Botha sold his Canon EF 400mm f/4 DO IS (the old 400 DO) for the BAA record low price of $2098 within days of listing.
Stephen November sold his Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS USM Lens with Internal 1.4x Extender in near-mint condition for $8399 just two days after it was listed in early October.
New Listings
Nikkor 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 G ED VR Lens
Steve Ellis is offering a used Nikkor 28-300mm 3.5-5.6 G ED VR lens in excellent condition for $599. The lens has some very minor wear on the finish. The sale includes the original box, soft case, manual, lens hood, front and rear lens caps, and insured shipping via UPS Ground to US addresses only. Personal checks only; the lens will be shipped only after your check clears.
Contact Steve via e-mail or call him at 1-203-247-4912 (Eastern time zone).
The 28-300 focal length range makes this lens very versatile. It is a great travel and B roll lens and a great lens to have at Bosque. It sells new at B&H for $964.95. artie
AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR Lens
Steve Ellis is also offering a used AF-S NIKKOR 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 G ED VR lens in near-mint condition for $1499. The sale includes the original box and everything that came in it including the front and rear lens caps and insured shipping via UPS Ground to US addresses only. Personal checks only; the lens will be shipped only after your check clears.
Contact Steve via e-mail or call him at 1-203-247-4912 (Eastern time zone).
This is an incredibly versatile lens. It is great for general natures and travel and B roll stuff. It sells new at B&H for $2,296.95 artie
Nikon-compatible PocketWizard Stuff
Steve Ellis is also offering the following PocketWizard Stuff for $249: Two PocketWizard FlexTT5 with ControlTL Transceivers and one PocketWizard MiniTT1 with ControlTL Transmitter. Both are like-new having been used only once. The sale includes the original boxes and everything that came in them along with insured shipping via UPS Ground to US addresses only. Personal checks only; the PocketWizards will ship only after your check clears.
Contact Steve via e-mail or call him at 1-203-247-4912 (Eastern time zone).
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The ACR Screen Capture for Image #1
Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Anita North
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You Snooze You Lose …
Last Saturday afternoon I was feeling a bit lazy and opted to stay in and get some work done while Anita went down to the lake for sunset and had a really neat Anhinga on The Perch with a colorful sunset sky. My bad …
A Massive Underexposure
As you can see by glancing at the RGB histogram (with no data to the right of center), Anita’s image above was a big under-exposure. Anita likes to keep her shutter speeds up when photographing with long effective focal lengths and at times loses sight of the correct exposure. I optimized Image #1 below. After watching me do that, Anita optimized her Image #2 also below. I actually did my RAW conversion in DPP 4 (as did Anita). I chose to show the original in ACR as once an image is converted in DPP 4 the RAW files show the adjustments. I could have gotten quite similar results had I opted to convert the image in ACR. Do note that ACR conversions are covered in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II).
Summing Up the Lesson
Do not forget that digital images that look like absolute garbage on the back of the camera or on your monitor can often be turned into excellent photographs with a bit of knowledgeable tender loving care.
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This image was created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL on the evening of Saturday, December 2, 2017 by Anita North. She used the Induro GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod/Wimberley-mounted Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering -1 1/3 stops: stops: 1/1600 sec. at f/8 was a big under-exposure. 5:27pm on a clear evening.
Five AF points up and one to the left of the center AF point/AI Servo/Surround/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected Af point was on the center of the Anhinga’s tail of the departing bird.
Image #1: Anhinga taking flight
Image courtesy of and copyright 2017: Anita North
Image optimization by your truly
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Anhinga X Greater Roadrunner Hybrid!
I could not stop smiling when I first saw Anita’s image of an Anhinga leaving the perch running. Yes, running like a roadrunner! I knew that this under-exposed image needed saving.
My Image Optimization
With Anita watching carefully over my shoulder, I converted the image in DPP 4. Because of the excessive noise resulting from the under-exposure I used my 5D IV recipe for ISO 1600 rather than the one for ISO 800. Then I moved the Brightness slider to +1.33, pulled the Color fine-tune dot below the line and well to the right, increased the Contrast to +1, and increased the Color saturation to +2. I only very rarely touch either the Contrast or the Color saturation sliders. I find using the Color Fine-tune dot to be tremendously helpful and efficient when it comes to managing color balance.
Once I had the image into Photoshop I added Canvas right using techniques from APTATS II. Then I ran two Neat Image reductions that worked great on most of the background. But the dark strips at the background needed more help. As I did not realize that a simple solution to the excessive noise was at hand until after I had done most of the work on this blog post. I will share the improved version of this image with you in a future blog post.
Anita’s Image Optimization
Anita did a fine job optimizing the crazy stretch. Behavior-wise, understand that when an Anhinga had been sitting on a given perch for a while and then stretches it usually indicates that it will be taking flight momentarily.
Image Questions
A- Which of Anita’s two images is the strongest, Image #1 or Image #2. Be sure to let us know why you made your choice.
B- Do you prefer the darker sky tones in Image #1 or the lighter sky tones in Image #2?
Thanks!
Many thanks to Anita North for allowing me to share her two images with y’all here in today’s blog post.
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The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II) will teach you an efficient Mac or PC/Photo Mechanic/Photoshop workflow that will make it easy for you to make your images better in Photoshop (rather than worse). That true whether you convert your images in DPP 4 or ACR. See the blog post here to learn lots more and to read a free excerpt.
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)
The few things mentioned above (and tons more) are 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. The new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. 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.
You can learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of their Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. And 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.
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 :).
December 7th, 2017 Stuff
On Wednesday morning we headed down to the lake in thick fog and photographed a female Anhinga drying her wings on the perch for about 45 minutes as the sun broke through.
Here is some of the other stuff that happened on Wednesday:
1-I had the roof of my house pressure washed: $300.00.
2-I agreed to have the many bad seams on the metal roof repaired and to have the roof coated with a ceramic sealant: $7,000.00.
3- (After a flat on Saturday morning) I had four new tires put on my Sequoia, new brake linings, and balancing and alignment: $752.53.
I swam a leisurely half mile.
Loving what is 🙂
On Wednesday evening we headed down to the lake to find a grackle on the perch. NG. We drove around a bit and returned to check the perch one last time as the western sky colored up. The Anhinga was back. I got all set up and made a single frame at 840. As the bird leaned forward I switched from Left Large Zone to Center Large Zone and got two nice frames of the take-off. 🙂
5D Mark IV Still on Sale!
Right now you can purchase a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with the BG-E20 Battery Grip for the crazy low price of $3199. I am not sure how long this Black Friday sale will last …
Blog regular Bill Hill was so excited when he read of this sale that he forgot to use my affiliate link. 🙂 He wrote, “I still think the 5D Mark IV sale is is too good to be true. I will believe it when it arrives. Thanks for the heads up.
Note: Bill went for the one with the free battery grip and the free Canon PIXMA PRO-100 Wireless Professional Inkjet Photo Printer.
The Streak
Today makes one hundred thirty-two days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about 90 minutes 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 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 might include system, camera body, accessory, and lens choices and decisions.
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This image was created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL on the morning of Saturday, December 2, 2017, just about 24 hours after Anita North and I had erected the perch. I used the Induro GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and my favorite Osprey photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop as framed: 1/800 sec. at f/11 in Manual mode. AWB. 8:27am on a clear morning.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: extrapolated to -10.
Upper Large Zone/AI Servo/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system selected a cluster of three AF point, one of which fell squarely on the bird’s eye. The other two were on the bird’s upper breast and the top of the back.
Image #1: Osprey wing stretch
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The First Osprey
It only took us about 45 minutes to set the perch and tie it off. Then we took a short ride to see how the vultures were doing and make a few crane images. Then we went back to check out new perch. It was finely adorned by the lovely Osprey that you see above. Working behind some chest high bushes, we set up, me working at 12000mm, Anita at 1000mm. With a minute the bird did a beautiful wing stretch. Anita made some very fine horizontals.
Anita’s Osprey Wingstretch
Anita was just to my left for the wingstretch working with the 500mm and the 2X III TC. I loved her RAW file. Even as a beginner Anita was able to make sharp images and once she began working with both teleconverters she continued to excel at making sharp images. She processed the image using a technique that someone taught (or mis-taught) her and completely ruined the sky. I grabbed the RAW and converted it in DPP 4 (as she had). In Photoshop I moved the bird left in the frame using techniques from APTATS II and then cropped a bit from the right and above. Total time in Photoshop: 40 seconds. I chose to leave the tiny bright scars at the bend of the perch so that you can see what I do with each perch image. My repairs are done using a series of small warped Quick Masks that are refined with the addition of Regular Layer masks. Then I use the Patch Tool and the Clone Stamp Tool to tidy things up if needed. Anita has improved her techniques by light years while attending several IPTs over the past few years. She needs to work more on her post-processing skills.
General post processing advice for all: keep things simple. Convert your Canon images in DPP 4 and then follow the simple directions for optimizing your images in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II). KISS 🙂
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This image was created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL on the morning of Saturday, December 2, 2017, just about 24 hours after Anita North and I had erected the perch. I used the Induro GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and my favorite Osprey photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop as framed: 1/800 sec. at f/11 in Manual mode. AWB. 8:27am on a clear morning.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: extrapolated to -10.
Upper Large Zone/AI Servo/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The system selected a cluster of three AF points, one of which fell squarely on the bird’s eye. The other two were on the bird’s upper breast and the top of the back.
Image #3: Osprey classic side view
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The Second Osprey
Anita went down to the lake that evening just before sunset while I opted to take it easy 🙁 Big mistake; she made some wonderful silhouettes of an Anhinga doing all sorts of things. I will share those with you here soon. The next morning dawned clear and beautiful. The next morning we checked the perch right after sunrise but it was empty. We made a wiggle and when we return the same bird graced the perch. With a different wind direction we were afforded a different basic pose.
Your Favorite
Please take a moment to let us know which of today’s featured images you like best. Be sure to let us know your reasons.
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2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….
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2018 San Diego 3 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT #2: Sunday, JAN 28 thru and including the morning session on Wednesday, JAN 31, 2018 and a free morning session the day before the IPT starts: 3 1/2 days (+1/2!): $1699. Limit: 8: Openings: 7.
Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Saturday, Jan 27, 2018.
San Diego IPT #2: Shorter and Less Expensive!
Please remember: I go with one.
Join me in San Diego near the end of January to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (usually nesting and displaying) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Wood Duck and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seal (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lion; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Please note: formerly dependable, both Wood Duck and Marbled Godwit have been declining at their usual locations for the past two years …
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San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects. With annual visits spanning more than three decades I have lot of experience there….
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With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography. And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You can do most of your photography with an 80- or 100-400 lens …
Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?
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Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings.
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The San Diego Details
This IPT will include four 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, three 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, three lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. Dinners are on your own so that we can get some sleep.
A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. Or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance is payable only by check. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.
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 :).
December 6th, 2017 Stuff
Tuesday morning at DeSoto was much better than it was on Monday morning. We started off with a young and an adult Yellow-crowned Night-Heron in a beautiful setting in sweet early morning light. Then we made a wiggle. I concentrated on fishing and posing Snow Egrets and some foraging Ruddy Turnstones. An unexpected bonus was an approachable first-winter plumage Red Knot.
Lunch at the Seaporch Cafe was great again. And again I had the Artisan Salad with rare skirt steak added. Yummy and easy on my blood sugar.
Back at ILE the sunset was nice but there were no birds anywhere near the new perch.
5D Mark IV Still on Sale!
Right now you can purchase a Canon EOS 5D Mark IV with the BG-E20 Battery Grip for the crazy low price of $3199. I am not sure how long this Black Friday sale will last …
Blog regular Bill Hill was so excited when he read of this sale that he forgot to use my affiliate link. 🙂 He wrote, “I still think the 5D Mark IV sale is is too good to be true. I will believe it when it arrives. Thanks for the heads up.
Note: Bill went for the one with the free battery grip and the free Canon PIXMA PRO-100 Wireless Professional Inkjet Photo Printer.
The Streak
Today makes one hundred thirty-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 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 might include system, camera body, accessory, and lens choices and decisions.
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This image was created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL on the morning of Sunday, December 3, 2017, just about 24 hours after Anita North and I had erected the perch. I used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 214mm) and my favorite predawn photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops as framed: 1/60 sec. at f/5.0 in Tv mode. AWB. 7:15am on a clear morning.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: extrapolated to -3.
Right Large Zone/AI Servo/Shutter Button AF performed to perfection.
The Perch!
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Erecting the Perfect Perch
I have been meaning to get down to the lake and set up some dead tree perches ever since I moved to Indian Lake Estates about two decades ago. Just before Anita arrived I did plant one nice perch about six feet high. I’ve been hoping for a red-shouldered. So far as I know nothing has landed on it. When Anita got here we used a post-hole digger to erect a second one about 8 feet tall: still too short. As I mentioned in blog post recently, we went out with my hand-saw looking for a tall skinny dead tree perch maybe 15 feet or so tall We saw two candidates in a burned wood lot; as I was exploring I saw the perfect perch, lying on the ground. No sawing needed. We opened the rear hatch and the passenger-side-window of my Sequoia and stuffed the perch in the car.
We each had on a pair of waders. I knew just where I wanted to put the tall perch. I had seen an Osprey land on the top of the cluster of bushes several days in a row. We made our way out carefully to the cluster with a pair of loppers, some heavy cord, and a box cutter. Ans the perch of course. I clipped away lots of dead branches at the bottom of the bushes for better access. Our plan was to plant the tall new perch between the two main stalks of the bush complex and tie it off with the cord. And that is just what we did.
We were very proud of ourselves as we drove away to check out the vultures. When we returned 20 minutes later an Osprey was sitting on the beautiful parch. Photos soon!
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2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….
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2018 San Diego 3 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT #2: Sunday, JAN 28 thru and including the morning session on Wednesday, JAN 31, 2018 and a free morning session the day before the IPT starts: 3 1/2 days (+1/2!): $1699. Limit: 8: Openings: 7.
Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Saturday, Jan 27, 2018.
San Diego IPT #2: Shorter and Less Expensive!
Please remember: I go with one.
Join me in San Diego near the end of January to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (usually nesting and displaying) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Wood Duck and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seal (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lion; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Please note: formerly dependable, both Wood Duck and Marbled Godwit have been declining at their usual locations for the past two years …
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San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects. With annual visits spanning more than three decades I have lot of experience there….
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With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning there is usually some excellent flight photography. And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You can do most of your photography with an 80- or 100-400 lens …
Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?
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Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings.
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The San Diego Details
This IPT will include four 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, three 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, three lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. Dinners are on your own so that we can get some sleep.
A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855. Or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance is payable only by check. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.
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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