What’s Up?
After getting up at 3:30am on Sunday I took a nap from 10am till 1pm and then spent most of the rest of the day in a jet-lag induced zombie-like state. I skipped my swim as the pool was down to 72 degrees and skipped my ice bath because I fell asleep on the couch. Jet lag; what fun!
I learned on Sunday that the sales of Cheryl Slechta’s Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens and her Canon EF 24-105mm f/4 L IS are pending. As is the sale of Ted Krug’s EOS 5D Mark III and Asta Tobiassen’s Canon 100-400mm. Same with Kimsey Mcculloch’s Canon 24-70, 400 f/5.6L, and 70-200 f/2.8L IS II. All after being listed for a single day. And Patrick Sparkman’s EOS 5D Mark III just sold for the full asking price, $1799.
The Streak
Today’s blog post marks 118 days in a row with a new educational blog post. This post took me about an hour to assemble including the time spent on the image optimization. As always–and folks have been doing a great job recently–please remember to use our B&H links for your major gear purchases. Your doing so is always greatly appreciated.
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This image was created on last summer’s Nickerson Beach IPT with the Induro GIT 304L/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens and the rugged Canon EOS-1D X. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2 1/3 stops: 1/1000 sec. at f/4 in Tv mode. Color temperature 8500K. Center AF point/AI Servo Expand/Shutter Button AF as originally framed was active at the moment of exposure. One of the assist points just caught the rear part of the tern’s upper wing. Click on the image to see a larger version. Common Tern at sunrise |
Common Tern at Sunrise
This image was created with a light yellow sky background with a tinge of pink (as seen in the screen capture below) even with +2 1/3 stops EC the RAW file was still way underexposed on the bird so I decided to go the other way. I created the silhouette by blackening the bird with a Levels adjustment and then got the color tones that I wanted with a Color Balance adjustment.
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This is a DPP 4 Quick Check screen capture. Folks who do there editing (picking their keepers) in DPP 4 will use this after Selecting All. |
The DPP 4 Quick Check Window
I ran this to give you an idea of what the RAW file for today’s featured image looked like.
Duh!
In yesterday’s blog post I explained how I had accidentally wound up creating JPEGs for more than a day on the recently concluded Japan in Winter IPT by inadvertently hitting a button on the back of the camera and then turning the thumb wheel one click counter-clockwise. You can read the whole sad story in the JPEG Mystery blog post here.
At 8:07am Harald Bornmann left this comment:
Mystery Solved
There is an easy solution: EOS-1DX Instruction Manual page 335: Custom Function C.Fn4: Display/Operation, Recording card, image size setting. Set it to Off: Disable card/image size selection button.
I responded soon thereafter as follows:
Harald, Many thanks. You are a genius. I tried it and it works.
So far, not too bad; you can’t know everything.
Senility is a terrible thing…
Then I received the following via e-mail from blog regular Mike Cristina:
Artie, Didn’t you teach us to disable the raw vs jpeg option button in the blog post here: https://www.birdsasart-blog.com/baa/2013/02/01/canon-eos-1d-x-firmware-update-1-2-1-no-more-tears-no-more-jpegs/?
Mike
This valuable feature was introduced with Firmware Update 1.2.1 for the Canon EOS-1D X. It is recommended that all 1D X owners set C. Fn 4 Record card, image size setting to OFF to prevent accidentally switching to JPEG capture. If you need to change your settings you can always do it via the RED/SHOOT2 menu at Image type/size.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste. And to think that I actually take a bunch of supplements that are supposed to improve brain function and memory…
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From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmer head portrait, American Oystercatcher dining on surf clam flesh, Common Tern at sunset, Common Tern adult swallowing flatfish, Black Skimmer in flight, newborn Common Tern chick, American Oystercatcher with chick, fresh juvenile Common Tern (with fill flash), and Common Terns copulating. |
Nickerson Beach Terns/Skimmers/Oystercatchers Instructional Photo-Tour (IPT): July 18-22, 2016. 4 1/2 DAYS: $1899
Meet and greet at 3pm on the afternoon of Monday, July 18. Limit 10/Openings 9.
The primary subject species of this IPT will be the nesting Common Terns. The trip is timed so that we will get to photograph tiny chicks as well as fledglings. There will be lots of flight photography including adults flying with baitfish. Creating great images of the chicks being fed is a huge challenge. In addition to the terns we will get to photograph lots of Black Skimmers courting, setting up their nesting territories, and in flight (both singles and large pre-dawn flocks blasting off). Midair battles are guaranteed on sunny afternoons. And with luck, we might even see a few tiny chicks toward the end of the trip. We will also get to photograph the life cycle of American Oystercatcher. This will likely include nests with eggs and tiny chicks, young being fed, and possibly a few fledglings.
Nesting Piping Plover is also possibly. There will be lots of gulls to photograph; most years I am able to find a few Lesser Black-backed Gulls of varying ages in addition to the Herring, Ring-billed, and Great Black-backed Gulls. You will learn to identify and age the various gull species. There will likely be some Willets feeding along the surf and with luck we might get to photograph a handsome juvenile or two. In addition to the locally breeding shorebirds, we will likely get to see some southbound migrant arctic-and sub-arctic breeding shorebird species such as Sanderling, Semipalmated Plover, and maybe even Red Knot.
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From upper left clockwise to center: Black Skimmers with tiny chick, Common Tern landing with baitfish for young, fledged Common Tern chick in dunes, American Oystercatchers/display flight, adult Common Tern with pipefish for chick, Common Tern fledgling in soft light, American Oystercatcher on nest with eggs, American Oystercatcher 3-egg clutch, battling Black Skimmers. |
The IPT Logistics
The tour will begin with a meet and greet on the afternoon of Monday, July 18, 2016. That will be followed by our first shooting session at the beach. From Tuesday through and including all of Friday we will have two photography sessions daily. Our morning sessions will start very early so that we are on the beach well before sunrise. We usually photograph for about four hours. Then we will enjoy a group brunch. We will always have a midday break that will include a nap for me. That followed by our daily afternoon classroom sessions that will include image review, workflow and Photoshop, and a review/critique of five of your trip images. Folks are always invited to bring their laptops to brunch for image sharing. I always have mine with me but heck, I am a big show-off. Afternoon in-the-field sessions generally run from 5pm through sunset.
Breakfasts are grab what you can. Four brunches are included. Dinners (if at all) will be on your own as we will often get back to the hotel at about 9pm. There is a fridge in every room and a supermarket within walking distance of the hotel so nobody should starve. You will learn a ton during the nine shooting sessions, the four in-classroom sessions, and even at lunch. Early morning and late afternoon parking is free. If we want to head back to the beach early we will need to arrange tight carpools and share the $30/vehicle parking fee. Non-photographer spouses, friends, or companions are welcome for $100/day, $450 for the whole IPT.
Save a space by calling Jim or Jen at the office at 863-692-0906 and arranging to leave your deposit of $599–credit cards are accepted for deposits only. Your balance will be due on April 18, 2016. I hope that you can join me for what will be an exciting and educational IPT.
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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.
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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 🙂
