I spent most of the day on Saturday at the Kennedy Space Center with my two girls and three of their four kids. The highly touted shuttle launch simulator was somewhat of a disappointment. I headed back to the car for a nap after a late lunch and wound up working the whole time on the laptop and then working every minute of the two hour drive home.
Thanks to all who commented on yesterday’s blog post with encouraging words for my grandson Idris.
On a musical note: if you missed Aretha Franklin’s rendition of Natural Woman while accompanying herself on the piano in a tribute to honoree Carole King at the Kennedy Center Honors in 2015 you will surely want to click here. But only if you have a heart and a soul. It is a stirring performance. Thanks to younger daughter Alissa for sharing it with me.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 124 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. For best results use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only.
This image was created at Indian Lake Estates with the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 340mm) and the mega mega-pixel Canon EOS 5DS R. ISO 400. Evaluative metering at zero: 1/500 sec. at f/10. Color temperature: 8,000K.
61-Point Automatic Selection/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure (as is always best when hand holding). The system selected a single AF point on the bird’s cheek. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Sandhill Crane calling at sunset
Taming a Super-bright Sun
A good portion of the sun in the RAW file for today’s featured image was a detail-less 255, 255, 255. In another frame taken just a minute later the sun was nicely muted but I was too tight at 400mm and the calling pose was not as striking as in today’s featured image so I decided to try to tone the sun down. I started with a large Quick Mask of the area to the left of the sun. I moved it to cover the sun and then reduced the Opacity of the layer to about 15%. Next I refined that layer with a Regular Layer Mask. Then I used the Clone Stamp Tool and several additional smaller Quick Masks but each time I was a bit disappointed in the result. Twice during the process I went with a 60 pixel Gaussian Blur. I think that the final version looks pretty darned good; it is certainly a huge improvement as compared to the original image below.
If you have any suggestions on how I might have done better please leave a comment.
61-Point Automatic Selection AF
I have often gone to Automatic Selection AF with previous Canon cameras in similar situations, especially with long-necked birds in vertical frames so its effectiveness here was no surprise at all. As I stated the other day, 61-Point Automatic Selection AF with the 5DS R is, however, vastly improved in a variety of different sections. I will be addressing those in coming blog posts and will be including comments on the 1DX II as well.
Photo Mechanic screen capture showing completely over-exposed sun just before sunset
Photo Mechanic Screen Capture
The Photo Mechanic screen capture shows that the setting sun was totally over-exposed in the RAW capture. If you work dark enough to eliminate blinkies on the sun in situations like this you will wind up with the bird silhouetted against a black sky; those do not work too well; in effect, you need to “give away the sun.” On rare occasion, as with today’s featured image, a save is possible.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Gitzo tripods, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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 we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. I just learned that my account was suspended during my absence; it should be up and running by Monday at the latest.
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 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I am finishing up this blog post in the car on the way to the Kennedy Space Center with older daughter Jennifer and her two kids, Sam and Maya, and younger daughter Alissa-visiting from Long Island with her youngest, Idris.
Bill Moore’s near-mint 600 II sold to KW McCulloch for the full asking price of $9499 before it was even listed.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 123 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. For best results use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only.
Everybody’s Doing It…
Everybody’s buying and selling used gear on the BAA Used Gear Page. Sales recently have been through the roof. The sale of three of the twelve items that I posted to the Used Gear Page this morning are pending after only four hours.
Selling your used (or like-new) photo gear through the BAA Blog or via a BAA Online Bulletin 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 recently folded. And eBay fees are now in the 13% range. The minimum item price here is $500 (or less for a $25 fee). If you are interested please e-mail with the words Items for Sale Info Request cut and pasted into the Subject line :). Stuff that is priced fairly–I offer free pricing advice, usually sells in no time flat. In the past few months, we have sold just about everything in sight. Do know that prices on some items like the EOS-1D Mark IV, the old Canon 500mm, the EOS-7D, and the original 400mm IS DO lens have been dropping steadily. Even the prices on the new 600 II and the 200-400 with Internal Extender have been plummeting. You can see all current listings by clicking < here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab now on the the left side of the second yellow-orange menu bar at the top of each blog post.
Brand New Listings
Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II Lens
New Record Low BAA Price
Bryan Holliday is offering a used Canon 600mm f4L IS II lens in near-mint condition for the record low BAA price of $9,498. The sale includes the Really Right Stuff replacement foot LCF-53, both original Canon feet, a Forest Green LensCoat, the tough nylon front lens cover, the rear cap, the lens trunk with keys, the lens strap, the manual, and insured ground shipping via major courier. Local pickup in Phoenix, AZ is an option. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Bryan via e-mail or by phone at 623-326-3920 (Mountain time).
The 600 II is thestate of the art super-telephoto for birds, nature, wildlife, and sports. If I can get it to a location, it is my go-to weapon. It is fast and sharp and deadly either alone or with either TC. artie
Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS Lens with Internal 1.4 Extender
KW McCulloch is offering a used Canon EF 200-400mm f/4L IS lens with Internal 1.4X Extender in excellent plus condition for the record low BAA price of $8994. The sale includes the lens trunk, the original leather front lens cover, the rear lens cap, and insured shipping via UPS Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears or other arrangements are made.
Please contact KW by e-mail or by phone at 361/727-2652 (Central time).
This is the world’s best lens for a trip to Africa. It kills also in the Galapagos and in South Georgia, the Falklands, and Antarctica. And I use mine a lot at Bosque and other dusty places where the built-in TC helps to keep your sensor clean. The lens sells new at B&H right now for $10,999. You can save a slew of dollars by grabbing KW’s lens now. artie
Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS Lens
Another New Record Low BAA Price
Price Reduced $300 on 3-4-16!
KW McCulloch is also offering a used Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS lens in very good plus condition for the record low BAA price of $4499 (was $4799). Cosmetically the lens shows that it has been well used; it it is functionally perfect. The lens was cleaned and checked by Canon in 2015. The sale includes a LensCoat, the lens trunk, the original leather front lens cover, two soft front lens covers, the rear lens cap, and insured shipping via UPS Ground. Your item will not ship until your check clears or other arrangements are made.
Please contact KW by e-mail or by phone at 361/727-2652 (Central time).
The old six was my go-to super-telephoto lens for well more than a decade, heck, probably for two decades if you include the monstrously heavy original version. Today I use and depend on the newer, lighter version, the Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens. Note, the new six sells for a hefty $11,499. The old six is super sharp, works great with both TCs, and offers near-maximum reach along with three focal lengths: 600, 840, and 1200… artie
This image was created at Indian Lake Estates, FL by my 7-year old grandson Idris with the hand held Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens (at 70mm) and the amazing Canon EOS 7D Mark II. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/4. AWB converted by Grandpa Arthur at 8000K.
65-point Automatic Selection/Shutter Button AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure (as is always best when hand holding). The system activated the center AF point. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Sandhill Cranes dancing at sunset
It MUST be Genetic…
On the afternoon of Saturday May 4, 2016 I headed down to the lake by my home to photograph cranes with my grandson Idris. Idris is seven years old. He is autistic, and grandfatherly pride aside, he is at the brilliant end of the scale. Before Aspergers was eliminated from the terminology of autism, Idris would have fit the classic pattern: brilliant but easily frustrated when things do not go as planned. I set up the 70-200 f/2.8L IS lens with a 7D on it and, in the safety of my office, showed Idris how to hold the rig: left hand half way out on the lens barrel on the zoom ring with your palm to the sky, the last three fingers and the thumb of the right hand on the grip, and the right index finger on the shutter button.
At first he had a bit of difficulty simply holding the lens to his eye but got the hang of it fairly quickly. I figured the 65-point Automatic Selection/Shutter Button AF might be easiest for him so I set that up. I taught him to press the shutter button half way to acquire focus. At times he got it right and at times not. Likewise he sometimes got the hang of zooming in and out and sometimes not.
We tried vertical but he could not handle that quite yet.
Once we were in the field he liked to try to figure out what zoom setting he should be at before raising the camera.
I was hoping that he might make one nice image of a crane feeding with the bird sharp and fairly large in the frame. He came close but that did not happen. He often wound up zooming out much too much so that there were houses in the distant background included in his frame. As there was a halfway decent sunset shaping up I sort of ignored him to concentrate on making a nice head portrait or two of a calling crane with a nice orange sky background. When we were ready to head back to my house, Idris showed me what looked like a few nice silhouettes on the rear LCD of the 7D II but alas, when we got back to the house and downloaded the photos, those were not sharp.
I continued going through his images when I came across a sharp series of four images of silhouetted dancing cranes. Today’s featured image is the best of the lot. What amazed me was that when I had tried to get him create the type of image that I though he should make, the results were pretty bad. But when left to his own devices, the results were quite spectacular, especially when you consider that simply holding the rig to his eye was a challenge.
The next lesson will be learning to use the in-viewfinder level. Or not. Perhaps I should just leave him free to play and explore. In any case, I am quite proud of him. I should have mentioned that he was tremendously excited by the process. He showed me lots of what were to him, really good images…
Idris and Grandpa Arthur photographing Sandhill Cranes at Indian Lake Estates. Cell phone image by Alissa Morris.
As you can see by this image, younger daughter Alissa has always had a good eye for composition.
Idris and Grandpa Arthur
Less than an hour after first picking up the 70-200/7D II combo, Idris was showing pretty darned good form. And within 20 minutes of when this image was taken, he created his first masterpiece.
Idris learned a lot, and so did I. I hope that we both have many more opportunities in the future to do the same.
If anyone wishes to leave a message for Idris I will make sure that he sees it.
Nothing
The tile of today’s blog post, “Maybe it’s genetic,” reminded me of a great song from A Chorus Line; I saw it four times, three on Broadway and once in Fort Lauderdale. It is one of my favorite songs ever. You can hear a version sung by Natalie Cortes from the final performance of the show by clicking here and then clicking on the fourth YouTube video logo. The words are below. (“It must be genetic” at the 1:41 mark.) The ending of the song is quite just..
I’m so excited because I’m gonna go
to the High School of Performing Arts!
I mean, I was dying to be a serious actress.
Anyway, it’s the first day acting class-
and we’re in the auditorium and the teacher,
Mr. Karp… Oh, Mr. Karp…
Anyway, he puts us up on the stage with
our legs around each other,
one in back of the other and he says:
“Okay… we’re going to do improvisations.
Now, you’re on a bobsled. It’s snowing out.
And it’s cold…Okay…GO!”
Ev’ry day for a week we would try to
Feel the motion, feel the motion
Down the hill.
Ev’ry day for a week we would try to
Hear the wind rush, hear the wind rush,
Feel the chill.
And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
To see what I had inside.
Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
And I tried, I tried.
[Spoken]
And everybody’s goin’ “Whooooosh, whooooosh …
I feel the snow… I feel the cold… I feel the air.”
And Mr. Karp turns to me and he says,
“Okay, Morales. What did you feel?”
[sings]
And I said…”Nothing,
I’m feeling nothing,”
And he says “Nothing
Could get a girl transferred.”
They all felt something,
But I felt nothing
Except the feeling
That this bullsh*t was absurd!
[Spoken]
But I said to myself, “Hey, it’s only the first week.
Maybe it’s genetic.
They don’t have bobsleds in San Juan!”
[sings]
Second week, more advanced, and we had to
Be a table, be a sportscar…
Ice-cream cone.
Mister Karp, he would say,”Very good,
except Morales. Try, Morales,
All alone.”
And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
To see how an ice cream felt.
Yes, I dug right down to the bottom of my soul
And I tried to melt.
The kids yelled, “Nothing!”
They called me “Nothing”
And Karp allowed it,
Which really makes me burn.
The were so helpful.
They called me “Hopeless”,
Until I really didn’t know
Where else to turn.
[Spoken]
And Karp kept saying,
“Morales, I think you should transfer to Girl’s High,
You’ll never be an actress, Never!” Jesus Christ!
Went to church, praying, “Santa Maria,
Send me guidance, send me guidance,”
On my knees.
Went to church, praying, “Santa Maria,
Help me feel it, help me feel it.
Pretty please!”
And a voice from down at the bottom of my soul
Came up to the top of my head.
And the voice from down at the bottom of my soul,
Here is what it said:
“This man is nothing!
This course is nothing!
If you want something,
Go find another class.
And when you find one
You’ll be an actress.”
And I assure you that’s what
Fin’lly came to pass.
Six months later I heard that Karp had died.
And I dug right down to the bottom of my soul…
And cried.
‘Cause I felt… nothing.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Gitzo tripods, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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 we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. I just learned that my account was suspended during my absence; it should be up and running by Monday at the latest.
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 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
I enjoyed my visit to Gatorland and made more than a few good images. I gave more than a few free lessons and sold a few books and CDs. Got back to ILE at 12:30, swam–the pool is up close to 80 degrees–and took a relatively short nap of 80 minutes. I took a 56 degree ice bath, hit the sack at 9:30, and woke on Friday morning at 3:30am. After working for an hour, I shut off my bedside lamp and slept until 6:45am. Progress.
I learned on Thursday of the tentative sales of Sam Hogue’s Nikon D4 body, Nigel Boon’s Canon 70-200 f/2.8L IS II lens, and Jim Keener’s 7D Mark III. Where are all the Nikkor lens buyers? You can see all of the current listings here or by clicking on the Used Photo Gear tab now on the the left side of the second yellow-orange menu bar.
600 IIs
I still have a Canon 600 II in excellent plus condition for a Canadian buyer at a ridiculously low price. Many folks are curious so here’s the story: the Canadian dollar is very weak. You can purchase a 600 II cheap. But to legally bring one into the US requires that the lens be declared. My understanding is that the duty is a large one, so large that the very low price is negated. All interested buyers are invited to contact me via e-mail to learn more.
Right now it looks as if KW Mcculloch will be purchasing Bill Moore’s as yet unlisted near-mint 600 II for $9499. The good news is that I have another fine 600 II in the queue. If you are interested in that one, please shoot me an e-mail.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 122 days in a row with a new educational blog post. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. For best results use one of our many product-specific links; after clicking on one of those you can continue shopping with all subsequent purchases invisibly tracked to BAA. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated. Please remember: web orders only.
One AF point to the right and two up from the center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Rear Focus AF as framed was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point fell on the center of the green lores just forward of the eye. Click here to see the latest version of the Rear Focus Tutorial. Click on the image to see a larger version.
Blacklit breeding plumage Great Egret
Blacklit???
What the heck is blacklit you ask? It is a photograph featuring a strongly backlit–often white or light-toned subject–set against a totally BLACK background.
Blacklit Subject Primer
1-Choose a perspective where the bird is strongly backlit and the background is in deep shade with no sunlight on it at all.
2-Having the sun directly behind the subject intensifies the effect of the backlight; in today’s image the sun is coming from the left and behind.
3-The best exposure is one that yields only a very few blinkies in the rim light at most.
4-Using lots of flash to light the shaded side of the subject is an option.
Using Flash for Blacklit Subjects?
In #4 above I used lots of flash to light the shaded side of the subject: TTL +1 stop. Zero would have been a bit better as some of the images in the series looked slightly over-flashed.
Better Beamer Question
I had my Better Beamer with me. And the Integrated Flash Arm for my Mongoose M.3.6 . Why should you NOT use a Better Beamer in strongly backlit situations?
Missed Opportunity…
Though there were about 20 photographers in early, only one person photographed this bird and its mate, but she was at all not in position to come up with the black background… Remember, the two big secrets to becoming a better nature photographer are attention to small details and the ability to see the light…
This is an unsharpened 5DS R eyeball crop of today’s featured image
5DS R Eyeball Crop
I would love to hear what you think of the sharpness and image quality based on what you see in this super-tight crop.
Please Remember to use our Affiliate Links 🙂
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 BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod heads, Gitzo tripods, Wimberley heads and plates, LensCoats and accessories, and the like. 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 we are always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. I just learned that my account was suspended during my absence; it should be up and running by Monday at the latest.
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 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 visiting the BAA 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 🙂
