June 30th, 2023 Is Larger in the Frame Always Better?
Is larger in the frame always better? Which of today’s two featured images do you like best? Why?
The Last Post
In the previous blog post, I — as did all who commented, preferred Image #2, the skimmer with the fish, because of the fish and the inclusion of the beach grasses along the bottom frame edge. In short, the fish and the grasses trumped the dorsal view.
What’s Up?
I drove into upper Westside Manhattan on Thursday and enjoyed a delightful lunch with Great Gull Island (GGI) project director Helens Hays and assistant director Joe DiCostanzo. With 94 years of combined experience observing Common and Roseate Terns at GGI, it was great to have chance to reminisce, pick their brains about murderous beach nesting birds, and ask questions about Full Circle, the 2021 documentary movie celebrating Helen’s 50 years on Great Gull. Click here for a brief peek at the life of this extraordinary woman. Learn more in the 2012 NY Times article here.
After lunch I drove through New Jersey and spent the night near Wilmington, Delaware. Today is Friday 30 June 2023. I’ll head south after brunch to Lorton, VA where I will catch the Auto Train down to Florida. I should be home just after lunch tomorrow. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing today, I hope that you too have a great one.
Anyone who is interested in learning which Robus tripod would be best for them is invited to contact me via e-mail. Please include your height and LMK your biggest lens.
As is almost always the case, the vast majority of folks I saw in the field at Nickerson Beach, with gear valued at $5000 to $20,000 or more, had zero clue as to how to make a good bird photograph. These were the most common mistakes:
1- Standing when photographing birds on the ground.
2- Total disregard for sun angle.
3- A complete misunderstanding of effects of wind speed and direction on bird photography.
4- Zero understanding of bird behavior.
Many folks showed total disregard for both the nesting birds and for other photographers. And for the last few days, I watched a “professional” leader consistently have his clients in the wrong spot. That I had zero folks join an IPT and only two clients during my five week visit leaves me baffled and scratching my head.
If you would like to learn to be a better photographer, consider Joining me on a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT).
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This image was created on 12 June 2023 at Nickerson Beach, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. Seated on dry sand and working off the rear monitor with my reading glasses on behind my lowered Robus RC-5558-3 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod topped by the Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro, I used the Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 2500. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2500 sec. at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 7:18:12am on a cloudy morning with a breeze from the west.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the hi-res version.
Image #1: Black Skimmer just landed with presentation fish for mate
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A Magical Landing
Sometimes when you plunk yourself down in a nice spot, good things happen unexpectedly. Cloudy skies allowed me to work the western edge of the east colony at Nickerson without having to be worried about shooting into the sun. I considered the breeze from the west picked a spot, and sat behind my lowered tripod. The thirty skimmers to my right were setting up to nest, digging and sitting on scrapes, courting, and copulating. Magically, a skimmer with a freshly caught Atlantic Silversides (spearing) landed in a perfect spot to my left, albeit a good distance away. To be exact, 59.74 feet away.
I used the spearing as bait some sixty-odd years ago when fishing for snappers (baby Bluefish) on the docks near what became the Kings Plaza Mall in Brooklyn. I slowly swung my lens to the left, acquired focus using Tracking; Zone, and began making images. I was thrilled when the bird began walking. toward me while looking for a willing female. One approached, but was not interested either in the fish or the guy offering it. The focus distance for Image #2 was 39.43 feet. He walked a bit closer, swallowed the fish, and took flight. From the 50 or so images, I chose my two favorites for this blog post. The encounter was over in 59 seconds. For me, the experience was magical.
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This image was created on 12 June 2023 at Nickerson Beach, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. Seated on dry sand and working off the rear monitor with my reading glasses on behind my lowered Robus RC-5558-3 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod topped by the Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro, I used the Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 2500. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/2500 sec. at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 7:18:50am on a cloudy morning with a breeze from the west.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the hi-res version.
Image #2: Black Skimmer just landed with presentation fish for mate
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Presentation Fish
A presentation fish is a baitfish caught by and adult tern (or skimmer) and carried to the colony to be offered to a mate or a potential mate. The male often flies circles around the colony looking for his honey. Or for a new one. Sometimes when he lands near a female, the offering is accepted immediately. Sometimes he displays in circles holding the fish up by tilting his head back. Copulation often quickly once and if the fish is accepted. If it is not, he will often take flight in search of a different lady friend. Sometimes the male gives up, lands, and eats the fish himself.
I learned this new term, presentation fish, from biologist Joan Walsh while watching Full Circle (twice!) I knew Joan decades ago in Cape May, NJ. She married acclaimed artist/ornithologist/writer David Alan Sibley in 1993. They live in Concord, Massachusetts and have two sons. You can learn more about David in the NWF article Looking at Birds Through Creative Eyes.
The Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripods
For reasons that I do not understand, the prices of both the 3-leg section Robus RC-5558-3 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber tripod and the 4-leg section Robus RC-5558 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber tripod have been drastically reduced. They are available only from B&H and are currently priced at a ridiculously low $399.95, about 1/3 the price of a comparable Really Wrong Stuff (RWS) tripod. Right now, the 3-leg section version is my go-to tripod.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
June 28th, 2023 Your Call?
Both of today’s featured images are — for different reasons — excellent. Be sure to click on the images to view the larger, sharper, hi-rez versions. Which do you think is the stronger image? Why? I have a clear favorite that I will share with you here on Friday.
The Last Post
In the previous blog post, I like the color corrected version of Image #2, the tiny oystercatcher which is about to be brooded. Why? For me, sharp, cute, well-made images of newly hatched chicks are priceless. The choice between the rich, sweet, warm light of Image #1 and the cute chick in flat light was a tough one.
As to the exposure question, the shutter speed for Image #2 was incorrectly shown as 1/600 second rather than 1/640 second. Apologies for that typo.
The technically correct answer is that the exposure for image #2 was only 2 1/3 stops more than the exposure for Image #1. Why? Because in the strictest terms, exposure is only determined by the shutter speed and the aperture. The ISO is not to be considered as it is an after the fact adjustment. The shutter speed for Image #2 was 1 1/3 stops slower than for Image #1 — 1/640 as compared to 1/1600. And the aperture was one stop wider — f/6.3 as compared to f/9. One + 1 1/3 + 2 1/3 stops more light.
Those like me who have a hard time with the technically correct definition, would add in the ISO difference of one full stop — ISO 2500 for the second image as compared to ISP 1250 for the first image and state that Image #2 needed 3 1/3 stops more light.
What’s Up?
My Long Island visit is coming to an end. On Tuesday morning I walked the beach at low tide carrying only the Sony 70-200mm GM II lens and photographed sand and seaweed patterns. I will share several of those with you here.
When I was temporarily grounded because my trigger finger surgery incision was healing, there was sunny morning after sunny morning with blues skies and east winds and many sunny afternoons with a west wind. All perfect. Once I got back into action, the weather got pretty lousy. I rarely saw the sun after 16 June. And aside from the cloudy skies, the wind was almost always from the wrong direction. The saving grace was that heavy rains that were forecast for almost every day never materialized. And when it did rain, it was almost always at night.
As is almost always the case, the vast majority of folks in the field with gear valued at $5000 to $20,000 or more had zero clue as to how to make a good bird photograph. These were the most common and debilitating mistakes:
1- Standing when photographing birds on the ground.
2- Total disregard for sun angle.
3- A complete misunderstanding of effects of wind speed and direction on bird photography.
4- Zero understanding of bird behavior.
Many folks showed total disregard for both the nesting birds and for other photographers. And for the last few days, I watched a “professional” leader consistently have his clients in the wrong spot.
That I had zero folks join an IPT and only two clients during my five week visit leaves me baffled and scratching my head.
Today is Wednesday 28 June 2023. With partly cloudy skies and a W/SW wind in the morning, I opted to stay in. I will be visiting younger daughter Alissa this afternoon. Tomorrow I will be having lunch with Helen Hays who recently celebrated fifty years of running the Great Gull Island Tern Project for the American Museum of Natural History. There will be lots more on Helen here soon. Click here for a brief peek at the life of this extraordinary woman. Better is the 2012 NY Times article here.
I will be heading south to Lorton, Virginia on Friday and on the Auto Train on that afternoon. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too enjoy every day no matter the weather.
If you would like to learn to be a better photographer, consider Joining me on a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT).
The Fact$ of Life
The market for editorial sales of natural history images has virtually disappeared. The incomes of the world’s top stock photographers are down by at least 90%. Like me, most depend on income from photo trips, the sale of educational materials, and income from this or that affiliate program.
In 2001, BAA sold the publication rights to images for nearly one-quarter million US dollars. That amount dropped to about $20,000 by 2011, and in 2017, to slightly more than $2,000.00. We’ve stopped counting. IPTs used to fill within days. Now I am happy to go with one or two folks, but I’d much rather have you along. And so it goes. In 2009, I turned to creating educational blog posts, now to the tune of 4056. Yes, 4056 educational blog posts. So, please remember to use either my B&H or Bedfords affiliate links for your major purposes. It does not cost you one cent to do either.
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.
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. 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.
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This image was created on 15 June 2023 at Nickerson Beach, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. While seated on dry sand, I used the hand held Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 500. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open). RawDigger showed the exposure for the raw file to be 1/6 stop short of perfect. AWB at 5:59:43pm on a sunny afternoon.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version.
Image #1: Black Skimmer in flight — dorsal view
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Higher Standards for Flight Photography
When I shot Canon EOS dSLRs for more than three decades, making exceedingly sharp flight shots was a rarity. When I switched to Nikon for two years — in 2017 I believe, things got somewhat better. AF, however, was still inconsistent at best. And micro-adjusting was a huge pain in the you know where. With the vastly improved AF systems of today’s mirrorless camera bodies (especially the Sony a1) making razor sharp flight images with the bird in the center of the frame, a decent wing position, and a nice flight pose has become child’s play. I often delete hundreds of such images from a single good flight session.
To be noticed today, a flight shot needs one or more of the following:
1- A spectacular or at least very different flight pose.
2- A striking wing position.
3- Amazing light.
4- Extremely tight framing.
5- A glorious, dramatic, or unique background.
6- Interesting behavior.
7- Extreme sharpness.
8- Unusual placement of the bird in the frame.
Did I miss anything?
Image #1 qualifies mainly because of the dorsal view flight pose, the extremely tight framing, the extreme sharpness, and the diagonal placement of the bird in the frame.
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This image was created on 13 June 2023 at Nickerson Beach, Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. While seated on dry sand, I used the hand held Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 2000. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open). RawDigger showed the exposure for the raw file to be 1/6 stop short of dead-solid perfect. AWB at 7:30:54pm on a sunny afternoon.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version.
Image #2: Black Skimmer in flight with presentation fish
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What About #2?
The bird in the second featured skimmer flight image is carrying a small baitfish to present to a potential mate. The soft light, the inclusion of a strip of beach grass along the lower frame edge, the slightly angled flight pose, and the extreme sharpness combine to make this one special for me.
Which image wins the day? Why?
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
June 26th, 2023 Your Call?
Both of today’s featured images are quite good. If you were forced to choose only one, which would you rather have in your portfolio? Why?
What’s Up?
After taking the morning off, I walked the beach with the 200-600 on Sunday afternoon in less than ideal conditions with sunny blue skies and an east wind. In the Against All Odds! Success in Near-Impossible Conditions. Suggestions for Dealing with Seemingly Hopeless Situations blog post here, I wrote:
Suggestion #4 in Seemingly Hopeless Situations
Look for the one bird that does not care what direction the wind is blowing from. If the wind is not howling, foraging shorebirds or beach-nesters may sit on their edges while facing the “wrong” direction, i.e., not facing into the wind.
I followed my own advice and got lucky again.
Today is Monday 26 June 2023 and the scattered thunderstorm forecast was looking accurate as I headed to the beach. But it never rained at all. I had a decent morning with ruffling terns on clean sand and with the tiny oystercatcher chick featured in Image #2 below. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too enjoy every day no matter the weather.
The Fact$ of Life
The market for editorial sales of natural history images has virtually disappeared. The incomes of the world’s top stock photographers are down by at least 90%. Like me, most depend on income from photo trips, the sale of educational materials, and income from this or that affiliate program.
In 2001, BAA sold the publication rights to images for nearly one-quarter million US dollars. That amount dropped to about $20,000 by 2011, and in 2017, to slightly more than $2,000.00. We’ve stopped counting. IPTs used to fill within days. Now I am happy to go with one or two folks, but I’d much rather have you along. And so it goes. In 2009, I turned to creating educational blog posts, now to the tune of 4055. Yes, 4055 educational blog posts. So, please remember to use either my B&H or Bedfords affiliate links for your major purposes. It does not cost you one cent to do either.
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.
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. 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.
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This image was created on 25 June 2023 at Nickerson Beach, Long Island, NY. Seated on dry sand using the knee-pod technique, I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 400mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1250. 1/1600 second at f/9 (stopped down one stop) in Manual Mode. AWB at 7:22:48pm on a then totally sunny afternoon. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: American Oystercatcher settling onto two eggs in scrape nest
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Finally!
I headed east to the first jetty, and again, following another of my suggestions, made some good images of an American Oystercatcher hunting and catching mole crabs in the swash zone. The light was gorgeous. Then I circled back to the west and made a detour to check an oystercatcher nest that I had been photographing seemingly forever — would the eggs ever hatch? I was happy to see a single chick that was a day or two old — there were three eggs in the nest on Saturday morning. on Sunday afternoon there were just two. I sat down on sun angle hoping that that chick would return. The second adult landed nearby and invited the chick to brood. It did.
Perspective Question
Why didn’t I go lower for Image #1?
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This image was also created on 25 June 2023 at Nickerson Beach, Long Island, NY. Seated on dry sand using the foot-pod technique, I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2500. 1/640 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 7:50:17pm on after the sun ducked behind a big cloud to the west. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect.
Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: American Oystercatcher chick about to be brooded
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Different Light Led to a Different Approach
Once the sun disappeared, I moved to my left in hopes of photographing the chick that was sheltering under one of the adults while the other sat on the eggs. The adult got up and relocated and then the chick followed. That is when Image #2 was created.
A New Strategy
For too many decades in this and similar situations, I would always opt to focus on the adult and hope that the chick was covered by the depth of field. A few days ago, I switched tracks and now I do my best to focus on the chick and hope that the adult is covered by the depth of field. The new strategy worked perfectly here: the head of the adult was soft in the first few frames but as it approached the scrape it walked right into the plane of sharp focus.
On Light and Exposure
Note the huge difference in the color and quality of the light in the two images made less than 30 minutes apart. The first image features warm red and yellow light while the second one is much cooler and bluer.
Mid-Level Exposure Question
How many stops of light difference is there in the exposures for today’s two featured images?
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This image was also created on 25 June 2023 at Nickerson Beach, Long Island, NY. Seated on dry sand using the foot-pod technique, I used the handheld Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2500. 1/640 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 7:50:17pm on after the sun ducked behind a big cloud to the west. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect.
Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2A: Color corrected version: American Oystercatcher chick about to be brooded
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Color Corrected Version
I must have been tired and in a rush last night when I prepared Image #2 as there was a very significant BLUE/PURPLE cast even though the RGB values for the WHITEs were showing 250/250/251. So, when I got back to my AirBnb for brunch, I corrected the color in Color Mixer by desaturating the BLUEs and the PURPLEs and increasing the Luminance for those two colors. Much better.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
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