Due to a registrant’s family illness, I have had a cancellation on both Homer IPTs. If you’ve been dreaming of eagles and are interested in joining me for one or for both IPTs, please get in touch via cell phone or text to 863-221-2372 immediately. Time is very short.
What’s Up?
Incredibly, Brown Pelicans have been relatively scarce for the past few days. On Monday morning, using mostly the 300mm f/28 GM lens with the 2X TC and my newly beloved a-1 ii, I made some lovely Western Gull images that are featured in today’s blog post. On Monday afternoon, I experimented with the tripod mounted 600mm f/4GM/2X TC/a-1 ii and had some good chances on flying pelicans. My findings will be detailed in the next post. Tuesday morning was the toughest (i.e., worst) morning of the trip. There were no pelicans at the point and not much flying at the Bridge Club. My goal was to make some nice flight shots of the newly arrived Heermann’s Gulls. I got one very nice one, a nice top shot or two of Royal Tern, and a decent image of a fly-by pair of Black Oystercatchers. On Tuesday afternoon Bob Eastman and I headed to Santee Lakes Regional Park. The ducks were in a flying mood and the wind was right. Even so, it is a very challenging situation: widely varying subject tonalities, varying lighting conditions, ducks in flight at varying distances, and at times, too many ducks in the air at once.
Today is Wednesday 29 January 2025. Bob and I will be headed back to La Jolla for what looks to be another cloudy morning. Whatever you opt to do, we hope that you too choose to have a great day.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
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Wild Alaska Salmon and Seafood Company
Ever since my two daughters sent me a big box of salmon filets and sea scallops from Wild Alaska Salmon and Seafood Company for my birthday a few years ago, I have been ordering salmon and scallops from them. Now that Junior’s Fish Market in Lake Wales is closing, I will be depending on Wild Alaska every month. I always order Sockeye filets and the Sea Scallops. The stuff comes frozen solid, is easy to prepare, and tastes pretty much as good as the fresh stuff would.
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This image was also created on 27 January 2025 at La Jolla, CA. Standing at full height, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi Metering +1.0 stop in Shutter Priority mode. AUTO ISO set ISO 200: 1/125 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open). AWB at 7:12:53am on a then cloudy morning. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect:
Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #1: Western Gull on poop covered rock
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
The White-washed Rocks
The white-washed sandstone rocks often catch my eye. The patterns can be beautiful. For this one, I placed the bird in the upper right corner to create a poop-streaked vertical bird-scape with the patterns of the whitewash dominating the image. The gull is probably in its third year.
iPhone 15+. JPEG from the raw file. Time: 7:10:44 AM; Model: iPhone 15 Pro Max; Focal Length: 6.8mm; ISO: 80; Aperture: 1.8; Shutter: 1/120 sec. Exp Comp +1.1 stops.
Image #2: Western Gull on poop covered ridge image
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Your Ever-present Wide Angle Lens
As I approach age 79, one of my main goals is to go lighter and lighter. I cannot remember the last time I headed out with two rigs. Nor can I remember carrying an extra lens. I have become something of a one-trick pony. I enjoy the challenge of walking around with a single lens and seeing what I can do, knowing full well that what I have in my hand will not always be the best or most appropriate focal length. Anyhoo, I never have a wide angle lens with me in the field. But I almost always have my iPhone. The result: another small-in-the-frame poop-scape.
Just as I was putting the cell phone back into my pocket, the bird executed and held a perfect wing-stretch pose. It did not, however, hold it long enough for me to get any shots with the 300mm f/2.8. Another negative: though I made sure to capture in raw, the image quality of the optimized image is quite suspect. At best.
This image was also created on 27 January 2025 at La Jolla, CA. Standing at full height, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 1000. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/2000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 7:34:53am on a then sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #3: Western Gull — head, neck, and upper breast portrait
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Storm Clouds on the Horizon
The morning forecast on Monday called for clouds and drizzle. By 7:20am, however, the sun broke through. There was a big storm cloud to the west so the Pacific Ocean became a stunning indigo blue black, a perfect backdrop for the breeding plumage adult Western Gulls. Pelicans would have been nice, but there weren’t any. Needless to say, I made lots of images that included a few good ones. It is hard to beat the color scheme.
Note that when you properly expose for the bright whites, the ocean is rendered at least one stop underexposed. That makes the water bluer and blacker and pleasingly increases the contrast to the dramatic levels seen in this and the following image.
This image was also created on 27 January 2025 at La Jolla, CA. Again, standing at full height, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (stopped down 1/3 stop — gasp!) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 7:56:59am on a then sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #4: Western Gull — beginning yawn
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Almost Left Too Soon. Again.
Bob and I had decided to move the car down the hill and then head over to the Bridge Club. On our way to the steps, we saw a nice adult Western Gull resting on a rock. I knew that I had the exposure set correctly for the situation so I instinctively raised my lens and framed the shot. Within a second, the bird began a tremendous yawn. I simply pushed the shutter button and continued firing until the yawn quit. I was happy. Bob, who had not raised his lens, was pissed.
This image was also created on 27 January 2025 at La Jolla, CA. Again, standing at full height, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (stopped down 1/3 stop — gasp!) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 7:57:01am on a then sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #5: Western Gull — wide yawn
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Open Wide Please!
What began as a simple yawn quickly became cavernous. I was shocked to see that the a-1 ii lost focus for three frames mid-sequence. But was thrilled to see that the beginning and the end of the run were tack sharp on the bird’s eye, even in Image #5 where we can barely get a glimpse of the eye with the bird looking right down the lens barrel.
Image #5A: 100% crop of the Western Gull — wide yawn image
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
The 100% Crop
The huge crop here yielded a spectacular, perfectly illuminated look at the inside of the gull’s mouth. I remember making a shot very much like this at La Jolla, on film, I think. That was probably close to three decades ago. The photo might be in The Art of Bird Photography.
With their stunning 51MP raw files, sharp Sony a-1 and the a-1 ii images can stand up to immense crops. The creation of Image #5A involved discarding a shade under 95% of the original pixels. In short, the crop-ability of sharp a-1 and a-1 ii images is astounding.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #6: Western Gull taking flight
Flight Photography Off the Tripod
If you cannot easily hand hold a given lens for flight photography, the only solution is to put the lens on a tripod. Though I tried a monopod for a while, and found the Wimberley Mono-Gimbal Head to be great for those who use a monopod, I have given up on them. Why? If you are going to carry something in the field to stabilize your (heavy) lens you might as well go for the most stable solution. With one-point contact, all monopods move around far too much for my taste. With a Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro atop my Robus RC-5570 Vantage Series 3 Carbon Fiber Tripod, flight photography off a tripod is an absolute pleasure. With three points of contact, stability is ensured and fatigue is eliminated. And as with most skills, the more you practice, the better the results. That goes double for flight photography.
Pre-Capture
Pre-Capture on the Sony a-1 ii was 100% responsible for the creation of this image. I keep mine set to 0.3 seconds. Always shooting at 30fps, that means that each and every time I press the shutter button to begin a new sequence that ten previously recorded raw files will be saved to the card. Interestingly enough, I have never hit the buffer with my a-1 ii. That is due in part to the fact that when doing flight photography, I cannot keep the bird in the center of the frame long enough to slow down the camera. I can, however, do that when shooting a fight or action sequence. Though such opps are rare, I have yet to hit the buffer.
Vasili Chernishoff uses his remarkable Canon EOS R1 Mirrorless Camera for bird photography. As I do, he leaves Pre-Capture on at all times. I believe that at present, the only option for him is for 0.5 seconds. Working at 40 fps, that means that 20 pre-capture images will be saved every time he presses the shutter button. In no way is that the major factor for the obscene number of images that he created last week, in excess of 80,000. He needs to learn to stop shooting specks (tiny-in-the-frame birds and quit shooting when the background becomes distracting. In short, he needs to learn to be more selective by separating the good situations from the bad situations.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Due to a family illness, I have had a cancellation on both Homer IPTs. If you are interested in joining us for one or for both, please get in touch via cell phone or text to 863-221-2372 immediately.
My Call
The Brown Pelican flight image in the last blog post is my very favorite pelican image. Ever. In addition, it is easily one of my top ten all time best photos. Ever Several folks pretty much agreed. Elle summed up my feelings perfectly when she left this comment:
January 25, 2025 at 3:16pm
I am enamored of this one because it is unusual and artistic. I love the curve of the wing leading the viewer’s eye to the beak and the bird’s eye. I love all the orange details in the head against the complementary deep blue background. The texture of the feathers contrasts beautifully with the smoothness of the background.
Thanks, Elle!
What’s Up?
After a cloudy morning session on Sunday morning, Vasili Chernishoff headed back to LA a happy man. When we got back to the AirBnB, I finished cherry picking his best images from the more than 80,000 he created during a week of shooting. I had picked nearly 300 pretty good ones. We sat together at my laptop and got that file down to below 200 after a second edit.
On Saturday morning, Bob Eastman and Vasili headed down to the Brandt’s Cormorants while I hung out with the pelicans for a bit. I grabbed my 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II lens and headed down the hill. I did not make it far when I spotted a gorgeous male Allen’s Hummingbird. I quickly headed back to our SUV and grabbed the 600mm f/4 GM, both teleconverters, and my now beloved a-1 ii. The bird flew away but returned quickly. I called Bob to let him know. I kept shooting and the bird kept flying away and returning. I called Bob a second time and told him to come quickly and to bring Vasili. We all got in on the action. After less than 50 minutes, I created 6048 raw files. I kept 40 and processed four of those for today’s blog post.
I could not help but think of Jim Brandenburg’s amazing Zen/quasi-religious self assignment, Chased by the Light. Having “lost his passion for photography,” Jim gave himself a challenge: for ninety days between the autumnal equinox and the winter solstice, he would make only one photograph a day. The result? Immense personal growth, an exquisite book and a National Geographic article that featured all 90 images. I have a signed copy of the fancy version of that book that is inscribed, “To the master, in the name of shared passion.” It is beyond a prized possession.
Things are quite a bit different today with mirrorless cameras that capture at 30, 40, and even 120 frames per second, and can even save as many as 120 frames recorded before you even press the shutter button. I guess the question is, “In retrospect, do I feel at all guilty? The short answer is “No, not at all.” I love what I do and I love being alive to be able to enjoy today’s amazing mirrorless technology.
Today’s post features six very special male Allen’s Hummingbird images, four by yours truly and one each by Bob and Vasili. Oh, and by the way, Go Chiefs! Go Patrick (Mahomes)! Condolences to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. Again
Today is Monday 27 January 2025. Bob and I will be headed back to La Jolla for what promises to be another cloudy, drizzly morning. Whatever you opt to do, we hope that you too choose to have a great day.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #1: Allen’s Hummingbird male — wing raised display
Image copyright 2025: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Getting the White Sky Exposure Right
With the relatively dark hummingbird set against a near white sky when the clouds covered the sun, I knew that I needed to add a ton of light to the exposure to avoid under-exposing the subject. I raised the ISO until the sky was completely Zebra-ed and then hit a convenient button to turn them off so that I could compose the image.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #2: Allen’s Hummingbird perched male side view
Image copyright 2025: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Changing Perches
The bird switched perches often, fly off, and then return to one of about four favorite perches. Note that though the background for Image #2 was the distant cliff wall, the exposure remained exactly the same as it was in Image #1. Why? The amount of light falling on the subject had not changed.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #3: Allen’s Hummingbird male scratching
Image copyright 2025: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Why 6048 Images?
Not really sure. I can only say that photographing a tiny, feisty bird at 1200mm is a difficult challenge. I stuck with 1/500 second at ISO 2500 rather than going to a faster shutter speed and a much higher ISO. At 1/500th, I knew that I would lose some images to motion blur. Even perched hummingbirds rarely sit still. They are constantly looking around. As the position of their head changes, the reflectance of the gorget, the richly colored feathers about the neck, changes almost constantly. So, to capture the brilliant iridescence of the gorget feathers, making lots of images never hurts. And when they display or scratch or spread their wings, the best policy is to keep the hammer down.
Iridescence is the optical phenomenon where a surface appears to change color depending on the angle of illumination or viewing. The word “iridescent” comes from the Greek word iris, which means “rainbow”. (Google AI Overview).
This image was created on 25 January 2025 at La Jolla, CA during an In-the-Field session by my good friend Bob Eastman. Standing at full height, he used the hand held 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 6400. 1/2500 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 9:23:05am on a partly cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be within 1/6 stop of dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Spot (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #4: Allen’s Hummingbird male — raised wings display
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Bob Eastman
Image Optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Bob’s Eastman’s Trusty Sony 200-600 G Lens
It became a standing joke. As Vasili and I were deciding on which lens to use for a session, Bob would opine, “I think I’ll take my two to six.” It is his only long telephoto lens and as you have seen here, he consistently created some fabulous images. As the hummers at this spot are ridiculously tame, Bob was able to get closer than Vasili and I as his Minimum Focusing Distance (MFD) is roughly half that of the 600mm f/4 primes, 7 feet as compared to about 13. None-the-less, Bob’s optimized image utilized slight more than 25% of the original pixels, a further testament as to the quality of sharp Sony a-1 raw files. Kudos to Bob for raising the ISO enough to create a perfect exposure in difficult conditions.
Image #4A: The Photo Mechanic Screen Capture depicting the full frame original for Image #4, Allen’s Hummingbird male — raised wings display.
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Bob Eastman
Large High ISO Sony a-1 Crops
As noted above, sharp a-1 files can stand up to relatively large crops. In this case, 75% of the original pixels were discarded. Note also the cleanup job that I did on the leaves.
Sony Alpha 1 (a-1) Mirrorless Camera Body (with Extras!)
Price reduced $200.00 on 27 January 2025
Used Gear Page regular, IPT Veteran, and BAA friend Dane Johnson is offering his rarely used backup Sony a-1 (ILCE-1) mirrorless camera body in like-new condition for a ridiculously low $3,598.00 (was $3,798.00). This body has been updated to Firmware 3.00 that reportedly improves Bird Face-Eye tracking to levels attained by the a1-ii. The sale includes a like-new Really Right Stuff Modular L-plate set (a $215.00 value), a Sony 160GB CFexpress Type A TOUGH Memory Card (a $268.00 value), the original product boxes, the owner’s manual, the USA warranty card, the body cap, the camera strap, one battery and the charger, the cords, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Dane via e-mail or by phone at 559-593-0989 (Pacific time zone).
I have used Sony a-1 bodies as my workhorse cameras for three years. They produce stunning 51MP files with vivid natural colors. The AF system is science-fiction-like. They are rugged and dependable and 30 frames per second is nothing to sneeze at. With a brand new A-1 ii going for $6498.00, you can save $3100.00 (plus the two great extras) by grabbing Dane’s pretty much as good as new copy ASAP Right now, B&H is offering a used a-1 in like-new condition for $4,397.00. That makes Dane’s body package an absolute steal. artie
This image was created on 25 January 2025 at La Jolla, CA during an In-the-Field session by my good friend Vasili Chernishoff. Standing at full height, he used the Gitzo tripod/Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro-mounted Canon RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM lens with the Canon Extender RF 2x and the remarkable Canon EOS R1 Mirrorless Camera. ISO 8000. The exposure via the in-viewfinder histogram and JPEG review: 1/1000 second at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect. AWB at 9:29:44am on partly cloudy morning.
Bird-Eye/Face AF-C performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #5: Allen’s Hummingbird male — raised wings display
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Vasili Chernishoff
Image Optimization by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Well Done Vasili!
Though Vasili needs to continue to work on being more selective, he created some outstanding images. As I cherry picked his 80,000 photos (sorry, Jim Brandenburg), I was incredibly impressed by the Bird Face-Eye tracking accuracy and the high ISO performance with regards to the noise levels. I loved Vasili’s choice of perspective and the angled line of the perch. You will be seeing more of Vasili’s excellent images here soon.
Huge Thanks to Anita North!
Huge thanks to Anita North who helped me with the optimization of Vasili’s fine image. The sky to the left of the subject was bright. Anita explained to me by phone how to apply a Linear Gradient in Camera Raw while subtract the subject. This is a technique that I have been trying — without success, to learn for about 20 years. I think that I’ve got it now!
Multiple IPT veteran Vasili Chernishof is learning a ton. And he is also shooting a ton. Yesterday I cherry picked 211 of his very best images from three flash cards (two 1TB and one 2TB) that held more than 40,000 images. Yes, 40 thousand. He surely needs to learn to be more selective. Right now — “I’m learning my new camera” — he shoots long sequences of anything that moves regardless of the often mega-distracting backgrounds. And he needs to learn to make consistently good exposures. I continue to be impressed by the AF system of his Canon EOS R1 Mirrorless Camera. With “only” 24MP he is shooting at 40 fps with 0.5 second pre-capture. Except for the rare instance where he completely misses focus, probably more than 99% of his images are sharp on the bird’s eye. Most impressive is the AF performance with birds in flight at 1200mm with the RF 600m f/4 and the RF 2X teleconverter. My gut feeling that AF accuracy is better at 1200mm than the Sony a-1 ii with the 600mm f/4 GM and the 2X TC. And that, my friends, is saying a lot. The difference however might be operator error (on my part), but I do not think so.
Every session has been wonderful and productive. We’ve been doing great at Santee with Wood Ducks and ducks in flight in general. There is a gorgeous leucistic Wood Duck hen that has been very productive. Pelican flight was fabulous on Friday morning. On Friday night we left Santee early after a great session and headed to La Jolla for sunset. The sunset was spectacular but zero birds flew in the color.
Today is 25 January 2025. With some cloudy weather and a bit of drizzle in the forecast, we are headed out early to La Jolla. Whatever you opt to do, we hope that you too choose to have a great day.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
Should You Upgrade to or Purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
I ordered my second a-1 ii five days ago. Every day that I use it, the more I am amazed by speed and accuracy of the Bird Face-Eye tracking in AF-C.
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention at Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is vastly improved as compared to both the a-1 and the a9 iii and that the 51MP files are to die for. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature!
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 ii sells new for $6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but surely not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSEa1ii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version.
Image #1: Brown Pelican Pacific race mega-breeding plumage tight flight
How Good is This One?
Your honest opinion is valued. Be sure to click on the image and then let us know your overall impression. What do you like? What don’t you like? I will share my thoughts on this image in the next blog post.
You’ve Heard it Here Before
Autofocus with the top-of-the-line mirrorless bodies is so good that when you can no longer fit the whole bird in the frame, the best course of action is to keep firing. Why? Bird photography is like the proverbial box of chocolates.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
On Tuesday past, our first morning with multiple IPT veteran Vasili Chrnishoff, there were few pelicans on the main cliff but we did well with them in flight near the bridge club. With the tripod-mounted 600mm f/4 GM lens/1.4X TC/a-i ii combination, I made my favorite/best-ever flight image of a stunning breeding plumage Pacific race Brown Pelican. I will share that one with you here at some point. It was slow afternoon at Santee but for a lovely leucistic hen Wood Duck that made our afternoon. On a partly to most cloudy Wednesday morning, we did well with the pelicans and some spiffy Double-crested Cormorants . Again I went forth with the hand held 400mm f/2.8 and both TCs. Later in the morning I switched to the tripod-mounted 600mm f/4, again with both TCs. Vasili showed up with the Canon 100-300mm f/2.8 lens and his brand new Canon EOS R1 mirrorless body along with a Canon 600mm f/4 and nothing TCs. The 100-300 is an intriguing rig; with the 2X TC in place, he has a very sharp, very versatile 200-600mm f5.6 lens that is hand holdable for him. At the long end, it is a third stop faster than the Sony 200-600, but is larger and bulkier And with the 2X TC in place, it weighs 1 1/2 pounds more. It is a great rig for La Jolla.
In today’s post, learn how and why the knee pod technique — taught here for at least a decade, can save the day when photographing bird behavior. In more than three decades of photographing Brown Pelicans on both coasts, I have never before seen the attacking behavior depicted in today’s featured image. And then it happened (albeit with a twist), twice in a three day period. You gotta love bird photography.
Today is Thursday 23 January 2025. The tres amigos will be headed out early to Coronado in search of Marbled Godwits and Heermann’s Gulls. Whatever you opt to do, we hope that you too choose to have a great day.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
Should You Upgrade to or Purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
I ordered my second a-1 ii four days ago. Every day that I use it, the more I am more amazed by speed and accuracy of the Bird Face-Eye tracking in AF-C.
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention at Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is vastly improved as compared to both the a-1 and the a9 iii and that the 51MP files are to die for. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature!
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 ii sells new for $6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but surely not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSEa1ii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
This image was created on 17 January 2025 by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART on the last morning of the 2025 Extended San Diego IPT at La Jolla, CA. Sitting in the red dirt on a sandstone cliff getting my pants filthy, I used the knee pod technique with the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 559mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/4000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect: AWB at 9:59:03 am on a mostly sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed with science-fiction-like accuracy.
Image #1: Brown Pelican Pacific race breeding plumage attacking a honeybee
Image by Yours Truly — Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
A Knee Pod Technique Advantage
One of the great advantages of sitting and resting your left forearm on the top of your left knee is that you do not have to hold the lens up while waiting for action. I made a few static images of this bird when that very thought entered my mind; if this bird does something neat all I need to do is push and hold the shutter button. Not three seconds after that thought passed my mind, the bird violently swung its bill at a tiny bug.
Sony a-1 ii AF tracked the bird’s eye without missing a beat despite the frantic movement. When I magnified the image, it was clear that the offending insect was a honeybee. Check out the two tighter crop of this image below.
This image was created on 17 January 2025 by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART on the last morning of the 2025 Extended San Diego IPT at La Jolla, CA. Sitting in the red dirt on a sandstone cliff getting my pants filthy, I used the knee pod technique with the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 559mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/4000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect: AWB at 9:59:03 am on a mostly sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed with science-fiction-like accuracy.
Image #2: A tight crop of the fifth frame in the sequence. Brown Pelican Pacific race breeding plumage attacking a honeybee image
Image by Yours Truly — Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
The Bee
In this frame, it seems fairly obvious that the honeybee was fighting back and was in no way happy with the pelican’s actions. Perhaps it was trying to sting the bird’s eye …
Image 2AB: This is an even tighter crop of the fifth frame in the sequence. Brown Pelican Pacific race breeding plumage attacking a honeybee image
Image by Yours Truly — Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
The Sharpness and Detail
In short, Sony a-1 ii autofocus is indeed beyond belief. Yes, the bee in this photo was pretty much right on the same plane as the pelican’s eye. And in addition, the shutter speed, 1/4000 second, was fast enough to freeze the bee in flight. Anyhoo, the sharpness and detail in all of these images is remarkable.
Note that with the huge crop here, the details are beginning to get a bit crunch.
This image was created on the magical nearly 9,000 images for me morning of 19 January at La Jolla. CA. Sitting in the red dirt on a sandstone cliff getting my pants filthy, I used the hand held Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 1000: 1/2500 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 10:39:26am on a blessedly cloudy to cloudy-bright morning.
Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed with science-fiction-like accuracy.
Image #2: Brown Pelican Pacific race juvenile attacking a just preened feather
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
More Unexpected Action
This young pelican was preening its belly when a preened feather took to the air, caught by a gust of wind. The pelican was pissed and reacted in the same manner as the bird in Image #1 when it was bugged by the honeybee, swinging its bill about violently in an effort to swat it away. Again, a-1 ii autofocus was Johnny on the eye. Both of the action sequences were over in a fraction of a second resulting in about six images. Had I been standing for either of these moments, I would never have been able to hold the lens in place long enough to have the action develop. And if I had to lift the lens from the rest position and frame the image, I would have come up with nothing. Best of all is that it is a lot easier to move around the cliffs with a hand holdable lens and your knee pod that it is to maneuver around with your rig on a tripod.
I’ve never seen a bird attack one of its own feathers before.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Which of two of today’s five featured images do you like best? Please be so kind as to leave a comment and let us know why you made your choices.
2025 San Diego IPT Feedback
Via e-mail from Adrian Whitchelo-Scott
Good morning Artie,
A huge thank you for an outstanding IPT. I learned a great deal from your wisdom and knowledge from exposure to choosing the ideal shutter speed and so much more. Kindly extend a thank you to Bob for taking on the task of driving us around. I hope to participate in another IPT in the future. In the meantime, I will be watching my sun angle!
Be well,
Adrian (Yo Adrian)
From many multiple IPT veteran, USN retired fighter pilot Warren Robb in a blog comment; January 19, 2025 at 2:13 pm
I would also like to add that for me observing and photographing these amazing birds was great fun and a personally rewarding experience. Your expert guidance on first “seeing the shot” and the mechanics of capturing a properly exposed image with the right gear was invaluable. Thank you Artie for another great IPT.
What’s Up?
After hearing that hundreds of pelicans were hanging out on the closed Ocean Beach Pier, Bob Eastman and I drove down early on Sunday morning to check things out. There were no pelicans there so we headed north to La Jolla. Early on, there were no pelicans. As multiple IPT veteran Vasili Chernishoff would be driving down on Monday, I was thinking, “Boy, I am glad Vasili is not here today.”
Some birds began landing on the cliff, so we walked up the hill and headed down the steps. The clouds to the east provided a respite from the almost constant sunshine of the past ten days. For the first time on this trip, I opted to use the 400mm f/2.8 GM (with both TCs in my fanny pack). No tripod. On what turned out to be a cloudy day, it was the perfect choice.
Bob and I carefully got into position as more and more pelicans landed below us. There were about 15 photographers behind us and all but one of them did not bother to see what we were doing — photographing the birds on the westernmost corner of the lower shelf.
Early on, the few gorgeous birds, one luscious breeding plumage adult and a chocolate covered cherry — a brown young pelican with a glorious fluorescent orange bill pouch, were blocked by other pelicans. With patience, we had many great chances. For me, the clouds were to die for. Bob and I were giddy. At about 8:15, I happened to turn around and was shocked to see that all the photographers had left. The place was empty.
As the perched birds were well below me, all of today’s images were made while I was sitting in the red dirt on a sandstone cliff getting my pants filthy. I did not mention below that while moving around while seated, my palms became covered with gull and pelican poop and my new a-1 ii covered in red dirt dust. You gotta love getting down and dirty!
When the smoke cleared, I had created 8,957 images and kept 367 after the first edit, a less than 4% keeper rate. About 75% of the keepers will make their way to the trash bin after the second and third edits. For the first time in a quarter century of digital photography, I had filled two 160GB cards. That before 9:00am. Then I filled a third card and started on a backup UHS II card. All Delkin, of course. It was one of the best days I have ever experienced in La Jolla. I wound up thinking, “I wish Vasili had been here.” That afternoon I stayed in to watch the two more NFL games.
In the previous blog post, most everyone picked the head shot as their favorite. Multiple IPT veteran and great BAA-friend Pat Fishburne liked Image #5: Brandt’s Cormorant female on seaweed nest best. I also liked that one best because I worked so hard to get it — the perfect framing was a big challenge.
On Monday morning about eight teenagers were having a party on the pelican cliffs, replete with a big picnic basket. On the lower shelf. Zero pelicans landed. And no birds landed on the down the hill cliffs either. There was nary a pelican in sight. It was hard to believe that we were in the same place as the day before. We headed to the bridge club and worked the Royal Tern flock and enjoyed a few nice flyby Brown Pelicans. Then I said to Bob, “Let’s head down the coast to the Green Patch and see if we can rustle up some shorebirds.
When we arrived, there was one Black-bellied Plover; we both made some excellent images with our 200-600s. Though it was still early, we turned to give up and head back to the AirBnB. “Come back,” I yelled to Bob as a handsome first winter Black Oystercatcher flew in and landed pretty much right in front of me. We both got some killer images. Then a Willet flew in and after a few minutes, it nailed a small black crab and I nailed it with its breakfast. Then we worked two Black Turnstone and finally a tame Spotted Sandpiper was hunting and catching flies. 5,228 images and 124 keepers later, Vasili arrived at our new AirBnB. The keeper rate was less than 2 1/2%, but the good ones were really good.
Today is Tuesday 21 January 2025. Bob, and Vasili and I will be headed early to La Jolla to see if we will be the dog, or the hydrant. Whatever you opt to do, we hope that you too have a great day.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
The Befores and Afters for Images #1, 3, 4 & 5.
Merge Avoidance & Seeing the Crop In the Field
The pink coded images represent the raw files, i.e., the originals. The aqua coded photo depict the optimized images. Most of the time, if two avian subjects are merged in an image, overlapping, it is exceedingly difficult or impossible to do the cleanup because the patterns of the edge feather detail are far too complex for any selection method that I know of. When there is some interesting behavior going on and the subjects are overlapping, the best course of action is often to wait until the two subject are not touching. If the action is frantic, disregard my advice and fire away. That said, removing the second subject is a lot easier without any avian merges.
The cloudy skies were a blessing as they allowed us to photograph until nearly 11:00am. But note the dreary looking gray ocean in the raw files. Color Mixer enables you to bring out and brighten the blues. I used Divide and Conquer to cut up the offending birds in Images #1 and 5 and then remove the sections using the Patch Tool. All as detailed in the two offerings below.
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II).
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. Be sure to specify Digital Basics II.
The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)
The techniques mentioned above and tons more great Photoshop tips and techniques — along with my complete digital workflow, Digital Eye Doctor Techniques, and all my personalized Keyboard Shortcuts — 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. 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.
Please note: the Divide and Conquer technique was inadvertently omitted from DB II. It is detailed in a free excerpt in the blog post 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. Note: most of the videos are now priced at an amazingly low $5.00 each.
You can learn how and why I converted all of my Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 in the DPP 4 RAW Conversion Guide here. More recently, I became proficient at converting my Nikon RAW (NEF) files in Adobe Camera Raw. About three years ago I began converting my Nikon and Sony RAW files in Capture One and did that for two years. You can learn more about Capture One in the Capture One Pro 12 Simplified MP4 Video here. The next step would be to get a copy of Arash Hazeghi’s “The Nikon Photographers’ Guide to Phase One Capture One Pro e-Guide” in the blog post here. Today, I convert my Sony raw files in Photoshop with Adobe Camera Raw.
You can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair.
The Digital Basics III Video Series
The Digital Basics III Video Series
I realized more than a year ago that my digital workflow had changed significantly and was toying with the idea of writing a Digital Basics III. More recently, I learned and begun working with two great new Photoshop Tools, the Remove Tool and the Luminance Targeted Adjustment Tool. The former is like a smarter Spot Healing Brush Tool on steroids and the latter is a step up from the fabulous Color Mixer Tool. During that same time frame, I came up with a new and improved 2-step noise reduction technique. I still use Divide and Conquer, Quick Masks, Layer Masks, an expanded array of personalized keyboard shortcuts, and tons of other stuff from both versions of Digital Basics.
As soon as I realized that I did not want to take on another large writing project, I realized that by creating a series of videos I could much more easily share all the details of my current digital workflow and much more easily incorporate additional new tips, techniques, and tools as I went. And so, The Digital Basics III Video Series was born.
You can save $26 by ordering the first five videos in Volume I by clicking here. The videos will be most valuable for folks using the latest version of Photoshop (2024) or Lightroom along with Topaz DeNoise AI and Topaz Sharpen AI.
This image was created on 19 January at La Jolla. CA. Sitting in the red dirt on a sandstone cliff getting my pants filthy, I used the hand held Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/1250 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 8:28:56am on a cloudy to cloudy-bright morning.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed with science-fiction-like accuracy.
Image #1: Brown Pelican Pacific race breeding plumage looking at neighbor with bill pouch distended.
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
In the Field Seeing and Planning
When I saw the bird on the right with its big pouch distended, I knew that removing the extraneous bird would be a snap so the key was making images when there was no overlap. A 3X2 crop eliminated most of the second bird. Before digital, we would never press the shutter button when the second bird was a distracting element. Things, however, have changed drastically for the better.
This image was also created on 19 January at La Jolla. CA. Sitting in the red dirt on a sandstone cliff getting my pants filthy, I used the hand held Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/3200 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect: AWB at 8:49:04am on a cloudy to cloudy-bright morning.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed with science-fiction-like accuracy.
Image #2: Brown Pelican Pacific race breeding plumage on final approach to a cliff landing.
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
The Bare Sony 400mm f/2.8 GM for Flight
Though the lightweight Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens weighs only 4 ounces less than the 600mm f/4, it is far easier for me to hand hold than the six. It is nowhere near as long physically and all the weight is at the rear. Being seated when doing flight with this lens is a huge advantage; by resting your left arm on your bent left knee, you only need to raise the lens a few inches to swing it into action. The soft backgrounds at f/2.8 are to die for.
With image #2, several pelican heads were eliminated from the bottom of the frame by the pano crop.
Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens
Price reduced a shocking $600.00 on 13 July 2024 Price reduced a shocking $400.00 on 20 January 2025
Used Gear Page veteran Robert Hollyer is offering a Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens in Like-New condition for a BAA record low $8998.00! (was $9,998.00). The sale includes the front lens cap, the rear lens cap, the lens hood, the lens strap, that hard case & strap, the original product box, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Bob via e-mail or by phone at 1-206-359-0018 PST.
I purchased my Sony 400mm f/2.8 two years ago to complement my 600mm f/4. Robert is selling his because he rarely uses it, opting instead for the 600mm f/4! It is far easier for me to handhold the 4 ounces lighter, much smaller, and better balanced 400 f/2.8 than it is to handhold the 600mm f/4. The 400 kills for flight with or without the 1.4X teleconverter. This lens sells new right now for $11,998.00 at B&H and there are used copies going for $10998.00 as well. Act quickly to save a handsome $3,000.00 by grabbing Robert’s might-as-well-be-new 400mm GM lens. And remember, you can’t beat the f/2.8 bokeh! artie
This image was also created on 19 January at La Jolla. CA. Sitting in the red dirt on a sandstone cliff getting my pants filthy, I used the hand held Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/3200 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 8:28:56am on a cloudy to cloudy-bright morning.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed with science-fiction-like accuracy.
Image #3: Brown Pelican Pacific race braking to land.
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Vertical Original Flight!
Vertical original flight shots are rarer than the proverbial hen’s teeth. I attempt them most often in Homer with the eagles with the far lighter 70-200 f/2.8. With the 1.4X TC in place on the 400mm f/2.8, I started turning to vertical because the birds were too close to fit into a horizontal frame. Fitting the whole bird in the frame here was a complete miracle.
This image was also created on 19 January at La Jolla. CA. Still sitting in the red dirt on a sandstone cliff getting my pants filthy, I used the hand held Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 640. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/5000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 10:01:25am when the sun peeked out briefly.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed with science-fiction-like accuracy.
Image #4: Brown Pelican Pacific race preening back with bill pouch distended.
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
A Rare Sunny Moment
Let me rant here for a bit. Sony Zebras are a huge advantage for all types of photography, nature or otherwise. Neither Nikon nor Canon offers in-viewfinder evaluation of exposure. Those folks need to have the viewfinder cluttered by a histogram and then check for blinkies (highlight alerts) after each new situation. With Image #4, the sun came out when my eye was to the viewfinder. I simply raised the shutter speed until I noted faint Zebras on the white stripe on top of the pelican’s head. Another dead solid perfect exposure.
Another rant. As far as I can figure, if you are using a Nikon Z8 or Z9 and working in an automatic exposure mode, you need to press a button and then dial in exposure compensation. I hated that when I used Nikon and it still makes zero sense to me on a high end mirrorless camera body.
And the same is true if you are using AUTO ISO in Manual mode. To me, the latter approach is insanity though it seems to be a big favorite with Nikon folks. Nobody should be using AUTO ISO in Manual mode. Why? Manual mode is about having 100% control of the exposure parameters. If you use AUTO ISO you are ceding control to the camera’s metering system. If you do get a good exposure, it is the result of sheer luck.
Can Exposure Compensation be assigned to a dial with either of the Nikon bodies that I mentioned? If you know how to do that, please leave a detailed comment.
This image was created on 19 January at La Jolla. CA. Sitting in the red dirt on a sandstone cliff getting my pants filthy, I used the hand held Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel. ISO 800: 1/1250 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 10:06:23am on a cloudy to cloudy-bright morning.
Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed with science-fiction-like accuracy.
Image #5: Brown Pelican Pacific race breeding plumage preening
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Seeing the Crop and the Clean-up In the Field
Once you realize the potential of your high-end mirrorless camera body, you can learn to visualize the crop and the clean-up in the viewfinder. At times, the top of the adult bird’s head merged with the preening young pelican to our right. I simply waited until there was some space between the top of the adult’s head and the young bird.
The trick to pulling off what I call the “horizontal bill preening images” is to press the shutter button when the plane of the bird’s face and the bill are perfectly parallel to the back of your camera body, aka the imaging sensor.
Should You Upgrade to or Purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
I ordered my second a-1 ii three days ago.
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention at Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is vastly improved as compared to both the a-1 and the a9 iii and that the 51MP files are to die for. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature!
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 ii sells new for $6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but surely not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSEa1ii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
The recent dearth of pelicans has not stopped Bob and me from making some great images every day. On Friday morning, we met recently retired San Diego PD Detective Sergeant Juan Gonzales early at La Jolla. Juan is looking to get into and improve as a bird photographer. He showed up with Nikon gear: a brand new Nikon NIKKOR Z 180-600mm f/5.6-6.3 VR Lens (Nikon Z) and a Nikon Z8 Mirrorless Camera. I quickly got him squared away on sun angle, getting the right exposure, wind direction, and flight photography. Like many beginning bird photographers with their first long lens, proper framing consistency was a problem. But — do not be shocked, he made some very good images. I will be sharing a few of them with you here soon. He did quite well considering his total lack of experience with bird photography.
Late in the morning I finally found a sweet breeding pelican teed up for Juan. He got a few frames of the bird but had to head back to his car for a third battery. Right after he left, the bird had a fight with a honeybee. A-1-ii Tracking: Zone nailed the eye in every frame of a wonderful sequence. I will share the best one or two here soon.
Bob and I headed back to La Jolla on Friday afternoon and worked the Brandt’s Cormorants as hundreds of tourists passed by; many stopped to chat about the amazing birds as close as three feet away on the breeding ledge below the sidewalk. We ended a great day with an early dinner at the Promiscuous Fork. I tried something brand new: I used only the 300mm f/2.8 with the a-1 ii. It was an eye-opening experience and the results merit a YouTube instructional video.
I finally got around to ordering my second a-1 ii body yesterday, this one from B&H as I had several Gift Cards to use. I got my first one from Steve Elkins at Bedfords.
On Saturday morning Bob and I headed to Coronado Beach — conditions were perfect with a gentle east breeze and clear skies. We worked several small flocks of relatively tame Marbled Godwits in the sweet early morning light. Next was an assortment of gulls and smaller shorebird species. For me, the rest of the day was NFL football. Go Patrick! Go Chiefs!
Today is Sunday 19 January 2025. We will be headed out somewhere early. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, we hope that you too choose to have a wondrously happy day.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Sony a-1
BAA friend and brilliant bird in flight photographer Arash Hazeghi is offering a Sony a-1 in excellent plus condition for $3850.00. The best news is that Arash is leaving his personal birds in flight settings on this a-1. The camera has had an LCD protector screen in place since Day One so the LCD is pristine. There is a bit of paint loss on the EV (Thumb) dial and on the flash hot shoe, the latter from normal flash use. Photos of the camera are available upon request. The camera has been used with electronic shutter virtually 100% of the time; the mechanical shutter count should be very low if any. The sale includes all the original accessories (still wrapped), the original box and paperwork, one extra Sony OEM FZ100 battery, a RRS camera body baseplate (made in USA), a Watson dual charger with USB output, and fully insured FedEx shipping with tracking — direct signature will be required upon delivery — US addresses only.
I have used Sony a-1 bodies as my workhorse camera bodies for three years. They produce stunning 51MP files with vivid natural colors. The AF system is science-fiction-like. They are rugged and dependable and 30 frames per second is nothing to sneeze at. If you are looking to get into bird photography with Sony, a used a-1 is the way to go! With a brand new a-1 ii going for $6498.00, you can save a bundle by grabbing Arash’s body today. Right now, B&H is offering a used a-1 in like-new condition for $4,397.00. Do the math. artie
This image was created on 15 January on the 2025 San Diego IPT. Standing at full height above the breeding shelf, I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens (AT 200mm) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 2000. Exposure was poorly determined with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/3200 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was one full stop too dark (due to operator error). AWB at 8:11:29am in the shade on a sunny morning.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #1: Brandt’s Cormorant inbound with seaweed for the nest
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Incoming Flight
The standard flight lens for the Brandt’s Cormorants returning to their nests just below the sidewalk near the Bridge Club is a 70-200mm f/2.8. No teleconverter is necessary. Early mornings are best. Even with a super-fast mid-range telephoto lens, high ISOs are required. Even though you will be working in the shade early and late in the day, my great preference is for cloudy (rather than for clear) days. Folks with f/5.6 or f/6.3 lenses will need to use ridiculously high ISOs in order to obtain decent exposures with the required high shutter speeds.
Though I urged folks on the IPT to bring along a 70-200 2.8 lens even if they had to rent one, only Warren Robb had one along. Super-fast lenses are a huge plus when shooting the Brandt’s Cormorant nesting shelf in La Jolla.
This image was created on 16 January on the 2025 San Diego IPT. Leaning on the railing above the breeding shelf, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and the Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/250 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 8:29:06am in total shade on a sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #2: Brandt’s Cormorant breeding plumage male head portrait
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Easy-Peasy Head Shots
There are several spots along the railing where you can get very close to the cormorants, sometimes as close as two feet, much too close to focus. Anyhoo, there are lots of chances to create head portraits of the handsome males as well as the females and young birds from last year. Fast lenses are ideal but are not a vital as with the flight photography.
To get as low as possible and ensure a distant background without any distractions, I leaned over the railing and worked off a-1 ii’s the tilted rear screen. With my reading glasses on and the level activated.
Image #2A: unsharpened 100% crop of the Brandt’s Cormorant breeding plumage male head portrait
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Amazing Detail
The combination of an a-1 or an a-1 ii, the 1.4X TC, and the 300mm f/2.8 GM lens provides incredibly rich and sharp detail in competent hands, even at the wide open aperture.
Enlarge the photo by clicking on it and you can see me in the center of the bird’s pupil along with the railing. Just to our left, you can see the head of a second cormorant peeking above the horizon.
This image was also created on 16 January on the 2025 San Diego IPT. Leaning on the railing above the breeding shelf, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/500 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 9:18:40am in total shade on a sunny morning.
Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #3: Brandt’s Cormorant breeding plumage male displaying
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Hey Honey; Look at Me!
The male Brandt’s display all day and pretty much all season long. They are quite impressive as they tip their heads back, partially spread and vibrate their wings, and show off their turquoise blue gular pouches. Good photographs can be created with just about any focal length up to and including 1200mm.
This image was also created on 16 January on the 2025 San Diego IPT. Standing at full height above the breeding shelf, I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens (AT 145mm) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 160. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/30 sec. at f/4 (stopped down one stop for no particular reason) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 7:34:04am in total shade on a sunny morning.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #4: Brandt’s Cormorant landing at shelf
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
The Early Morning No Light District
In the early mornings, the hills and homes of La Jolla block almost all light until an hour or more after sunrise. Not to mention that the prime nesting shelf is in the shade for most of the day. Thus, very early and very late are the prime times for creating pleasing blurs. Folks who hate blurs get to sit on their hands for an hour or two. Everyone in the IPT was open to at least trying.
You can get varying degrees of blurring by experimenting with different blur speeds. With Image #4, I love the two blurred nests that frame the incoming bird.
This image was also created on 16 January on the 2025 San Diego IPT. Leaning on the railing above the breeding shelf, I used the hand held Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens (AT 146mm) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 400. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/250 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 7:34:04am in total shade on a sunny morning.
Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #5: Brandt’s Cormorant female on seaweed nest
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Should You Upgrade to or Purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
I will be purchasing my second a-1 ii today.
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP file are to die for. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature!
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 ii sells new for $6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but surely not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSEa1ii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
We finally struck gold with the pelicans on Wednesday morning with many dozens of them flying in and landing right below us. No matter, the Extended 2025 San Diego IPT is winding down. Multiple IPT veteran Judy Stepenaskie had to leave a day early so say goodbye to her beloved cat. New friend Adrian Whitchelo-Scott and the Irish Lass, Colleen O’Connor, were done after our Wednesday morning session. Colleen, somewhat overcome by how much she had learned and improved, was quite emotional as we said goodbye. Adrian is headed back up to the LA wildfires. We are all praying for his safely.
Today is Thursday 16 January 2025. Multiple IPT vets Warren Robb and Dietmar Haenchen are doing one last morning with Bob and me, a post-IPT session at La Jolla. Warren is flying back to Texas this afternoon and we are dropping Dietmar at the Rental Car Center as he is staying on a few days with friends. Whatever you choose to do, we hope that you too choose happiness.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Should You Upgrade to or Purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
I will be purchasing a second a-1 ii quite soon.
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP file are to die for. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature!
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 ii sells new for $6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but surely not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSEa1ii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
This image was created on 15 January 2025 by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART while leading the 2025 San Diego IPT at La Jolla, CA. Standing at full height, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 397mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. Multi Metering +1.0 stop. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. AUTO ISO set ISO 400: 1/15 sec. at f/6.3. RawDigger showed the exposure be perfect: AWB at 6:49:47am in the shade two minutes before sunrise on yet another clear morning.
Zone AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #1: Brown Pelican Pacific race breeding plumage braking to land
Image by Yours Truly — Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Hard to Believe I
After noting the EXIF data for each image, it is hard to believe that each of today’s three featured images was created with the same versatile, hand hold-able for most rig, the Sony 200-600 G Lens & a-1 ii. As noted previously, the Bird Face-Eye Tracking with the a-1 ii is vastly improved as compared to both the a-1 and the a9 iii. Though not shown with any of today’s images, one area of huge AF improvement is the ability of the camera to track the eve of a pelican or other large bird that is flying away from you and turning. It is quite remarkable.
This image was also created on 15 January 2025 by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART while leading the 2025 San Diego IPT at La Jolla, CA. Crouching a bit, I used the braced, hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 481mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. Multi Metering +1.0 stop. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/8 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect: AWB at 8:43:21 am on a sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #2: Brown Pelican Pacific race breeding plumage on rock
Image by Yours Truly — Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Hard to Believe II
It is hard to believe that you can make a hand held image of a static bird at 1/8 second. Even with my arm securely supported and braced by the wooden railing above the cliff. Why such a slow shutter speed? When I saw the waves breaking behind the subject, I knew that they would look swirly-sweet at a ridiculously slow shutter speed (if and only if the subject was sharply rendered). I attribute the success of this image to the remarkable improvement in the Sony Optical Stabilization System (OSS) that had previously been somewhat lacking as compared to Canon and Nikon.
To prove that point, I was amazed when (after being inspired by my comments in the field), Dietmar showed me a sharp pelican photo that he had created at 1/8 second with his EOS R7 (also hand held and also securely braced).
This image was also created on 15 January 2025 by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART while leading the 2025 San Diego IPT at La Jolla, CA. Standing at full height, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 404mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/4000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure to be dead solid perfect: AWB at 9:22:02am on a sunny morning.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #3: Brown Pelican Pacific race breeding plumage dorsal view in gliding flight
Image by Yours Truly — Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Hard to Believe III
It is hard to believe the consistently accurate Bird Face-Eye tracking with the a-1 II. If you get and keep the bird in the middle of the frame as you half press the shutter button, it will grab and track the bird’ eye accurately 99% of the time. While picking your flight shot keepers, it is no longer necessary to enlarge the image and check the eye for critical sharpness. When I was using Canon dSLR (for 34 years, 19 of them as one of the 55 original Explorers of Light, and still a Canon Explorer of Light Emeritus — whatever that means),I would be shocked when a flight shot was sharp on the eye. Since switching to Sony, I am now even more shocked when a flight shot is not sharp on the eye.
Please understand that my comments above refer to dSLR gear. The current high end Canon and Nikon mirrorless camera bodies feature superb, vastly improved AF systems (though perhaps not quite as good as with the Sony bodies). Zebra technology for stills and the light weight of both the Sony bodies and lenses are the main reasons that I feel Sony is currently the best system for bird photography.
After enlarging Image #3 by clicking on it, most will find the color, clarity, sharpness, and fine feather detail also hard to believe considering the low cost of the Sony 200-600: $1998.00. Pair a new one with a used Sony a-1 and you are right there for less than $6K. With my settings on your Sony mirrorless camera body and five minutes of instruction, you will be able to begin creating superb images right out of the box. Please be sure to use one of my two affiliate links to reap the benefits of doing so.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
The San Diego IPT is turning into a love fest. Everyone is getting along great and everyone is learning a ton. On Monday, there were zero pelicans on the main cliff. We started off doing Western Gull pink/purple sky setting full moon-scapes. Then lots of California Sealions, Black Oystercatchers, and finally, some decent chances with the pelicans by the Bridge Club. We headed to Coronado for the afternoon and saw only two Heermann’s Gulls; in most years, there would be many dozens of that most handsome gulls at this location. We did well with Ring-billed and Western Gulls both on the beach and in flight, and ended with glorious sunset silhouettes of the gulls with colorful, streaked wet sand backgrounds. Then it was off to the AirBnB for dinner.
I was glad to learn that I sold my second Sony a-9 iii body and that Dane Johnson sold his Sony a-1 as well. He already has his a-1 ii. I will be selling at least one of my two remaining a-1 bodies. I will be purchasing a second a-1 ii today.
Speaking of today, it is Tuesday 14 January 2025. We will be headed out early in hopes of proper breeding plumage Pacfic race Brown Pelicans. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, we hope that you too choose to have a wondrously happy day.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Should You Upgrade to or Purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
I will be purchasing my second a-1 ii today.
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP file are to die for. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature!
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 ii sells new for $6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but surely not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSEa1ii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
Sony Alpha 1 (a-1) Mirrorless Camera Body (with Extras!)
Used Gear Page regular, IPT veteran, and BAA friend Dane Johnson is offering a rarely used Sony a-1 (ILCE-1) mirrorless camera body (Firmware v2.02) in like-new condition for a ridiculously low $3,798.00. The sale includes a like-new Really Right Stuff Modular L-plate set (a $215.00 value), a Sony 160GB CFexpress Type A TOUGH Memory Card (a $268.00 value), the original product boxes, the owner’s manual, the USA warranty card, the body cap, the camera strap, one battery and the charger, the cords, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Dane via e-mail or by phone at 559-593-0989 (Pacific time zone).
I have used Sony a-1 bodies as my workhorse cameras for three years. They produce stunning 51MP files with vivid natural colors. The AF system is science-fiction-like. They are rugged and dependable and 30 frames per second is nothing to sneeze at. If you are looking to get into bird photography with Sony, a used a-1 its the way to go! With a brand new a-1 ii going for $6498.00, you can save $2800.00 (plus the two great extras) by grabbing Dane’s pretty much as good as new copy ASAP Right now, B&H is offering a used a-1 in like-new condition for $4,397.00. That makes Dane’s body package an absolute steal. artie
This image was created on 11 January on the 2025 San Diego IPT. Standing at full height I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and the The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 1000. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 8:08:59am on a sunny morning.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #1: Western Gull jumping up to a higher perch
Image copyright 2025 Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Sony a-1 ii/1.4X TC/300mm f/2.8 GM Rig
This lightweight combination is the deadliest setup I have ever had in my hands for photographing birds in flight and in action at fairly close range. Over the weeks, I have come to realize that the Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is vastly improved as compared with the a-1, especially with birds in flight. I love the larger body with more room on the grip for the fingers (of your gloved hand), I love the rear screen that tilts both ways, and the greatly improved in-camera body Optical Stabilization System (OSS).
This image was created by Warren Robb on 13 January on the 2025 San Diego IPT. Standing at full height he used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1000. 1/4000 second at f/4 (wide open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 9:24:26am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be dead solid perfect.
Zone AF-C AF with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Brown Pelican sub-adult in flight
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Warren Robb
Warren Robb
Warren Robb, retired US Navy fighter pilot, had us all on the edge of our seats at dinner in the AirBnB as he told the harrowing story of taking off and landing on his carrier in a driving rainstorm during the Vietnam War. The cockpit was drenched when he entered his aircraft (an A-7E) and got strapped in. Not surprisingly, he could not see the target for his load of ten 500 pound bombs. As you cannot land on a carrier with your bombs, he was told to jettison them over the jungle. None of several bomb release methods worked so he was ordered to fly 200 miles south, land at the airbase in Danang, and have the bombs off-loaded. He was surprised when they ordered him back to the USS Kitty Hawk as all the other planes had already been landed.
When he got to the ship, he couldn’t see a thing as the rain still poured down. During and instrument landing, the rule is that if you cannot see the carrier at 1/2 mile 200 feet, you must abort the landing. He told the landing officer that he could not see the ship. The guy told him to keep coming. So, on blind faith, he did after turning on his taxi light as instructed. The first things he saw were other planes on the deck as the plane’s hook caught the three wire!. Later, Warren thanked the guy and told him that having him turn on the taxi light was a great idea. The guy confessed that he had never seen the plane until it landed but that it sounded good!
Warren summed things up by saying that his scariest landing ever had been quite an e-ticket ride.
On Sunday, Warren borrowed my Sony 400mm f/2.8 GM lens to do the Brandt’s Cormorants. He liked it a lot. On Monday, he borrowed my Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM lens and fell in love instantly. He will be ordering one when he sells his Canon EF 500mm f/4 L IS II lens here on the BAA blog (soon). “I can’t believe how light and easy it is to hand hold” he said after our morning session. If you might be interested in this lens, shoot me an e-mail.
This image was also created by Warren Robb on 13 January on the 2025 San Diego IPT. Standing at full height he used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 800. 1/4000 second at f/4 (wide open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 9:55:30am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be dead solid perfect.
Zone AF-C AF with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Brown Pelican non-breeding adult head throw
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Warren Robb
Right Response, Right Place, and Right Lens
We were past the bridge club doing flight, sea lions, and Black Oystercatchers and working hard to get anything decent. I had called “15 minute warning” at 9:45 but I decided that we should head back to the big SUV a bit earlier. I, of course, was the last to leave. Just as I took the 600 off the tripod, a pelican landed on a nice rock. I caught Warren’s attention and signaled to him to come quickly and bring the rest of the group. Just as he got on the bird, it did a lovely head throw.
You can see that we were a bit off sun angle. I explained why to the group:
1- We were square to the plane of the subject’s body.
2- We avoided a very ugly rocks and sealion background and exchanged for a Pacific Ocean background.
As I was at 840mm, I managed only some tight head and bill pouch images.
For those who did not use my link to purchase their Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM lens, you can order your a copy here for $209.93.
Click on the image to enlarge and to be able to read the fine print.
The BAA Sony 300mm f/2.8 Lens Guide
Impressed by my (or Pat’s) Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) images? Use either my Bedfords or B&H affiliate link to purchase your Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM lens and shoot me your receipt via e-mail and request a copy of the first-ever BAA Lens Guide. I thought that it would take only minutes to create this guide, but I was dead wrong. In the process of creating it, I learned a ton about the lens. And even better, I discovered a simple yet potentially fatal flaw that was resulting in sporadically unsharp flight images. The set-up fix is simple. Just be sure to use one of my affiliate links and get the guide for free.
If not, you can purchase a copy here for $209.93. Yes, it never hurts to use my links and it never costs you one penny more. And if you contact me via e-mail before you make a major purchase, I can often save you some money.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Which of today’s featured images is your favorite? (It’s OK to mention several). Why did you make your choice(s)? Note: all but Bob’s images were optimized by yours truly using the techniques detailed in DB II and in the DB III Video Series, Volume I.
Please note: you will be seeing some of Colleen O’Connor’s images here soon. She is staying nearby with her husband.
What’s Up?
San Diego is fantastic. The photo opps have been fantastic. The group is fantastic. Six of us are staying in a large AirBnB place and everyone has been getting along fantastically. We have been having our fantastic brunches at Cafe Vahik where we are routinely teased and insulted by the fantastic owner and chef, Vahik himself — No bagel for you! Everyone in the group has been enjoyed the fantastic dinners prepared by Bob Eastman and me.
Yesterday, I created 8508 images that I have not looked at yet!!! Thank God that it was not a great day. Or was it?
Today is Sunday 12 January 2025. We are headed early back to Santee Lakes to try for some fire-in-the-mist and some Wood Ducks. And yes, we all hope that you too choose to have a fantastic day.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Should You Upgrade to or Purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
I will be purchasing a second a-1 ii quite soon.
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP file are to die for. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature!
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 ii sells new for $6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but surely not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSEa1ii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
Sony a-9 iii Mirrorless Camera Body
The First Buyer Changed Their Mind
Yours truly, Arthur Morris, AKA artie, is offering a Sony a9 iii Mirrorless camera body (Firmware v1.00), this one in excellent plus plus condition for a ridiculously low $3998.00. The sale includes the original product box, the body cap, the battery charger, one battery, the strap, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Your purchase will also include my latest a9 iii Set-up e-mail, the new Buttons and Dials Guide, and the new INFO Sheet. This body already has my latest settings on it so you will be good to head out and start making great images as soon as you review the e-mailed materials.
This camera’s incredible frame rate, an unheard of 120fps, gives you at least four times as many wing positions and flight poses as the other top-of-the-line mirrorless camera bodies. With the incredible AF system that is even better than the AF system of the a-1 with Firmware v2.02, most every single image will be sharp on the bird’s eye. And the raw files can stand up to decent crops. A new one sells at B&H for $5,998.00. B&H has two used a9 iii bodies list right now, one for $5,217.95 and another for $55217.95! And KEH is offering a used like-new a9iii for $5823.00! Used Gear Page regular Karen McCormick sold a used a9 iii for $4298.00 last month. If you have been thinking of an a9 iii, grab my lightly used a9 iii right now and save a sweet $2,000.00. artie
ps: You can see some of my a9 iii images in the blog post here.
This image was created on 10 January 2025 by Bob Eastman on the 2025 Extended San Diego IPT at La Jolla, CA. Standing at full height, he used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 467mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:56:50am.
Tracking: Spot XS/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #1: Pacific race Brown Pelican head throw
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Bob Eastman
Bob Eastman and His Trusty 200-600
Head throw images are challenging and difficult. After coming to La Jolla for more than 30 years, I have only a very few that I am proud of. So, what does Bob do? He makes a great one while I am standing next to him helping Judy Stepenaskie with her framing of the same bird. To make matters worse; I had called the head throw one minute before it happened. Man, you gotta love it.
This image was created at La Jolla, CA on 10 January 2025 by multiple IPT veteran Warren Robb on the 2025 Extended San Diego IPT. Standing at full height, he used the hand held 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 via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel: ISO 1250. 1/3200 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:20:39am.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #2: Pacific race Brown Pelican adult preening
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Warren Robb
Warren Robb, USN Retired Fighter Jet Pilot
One our pre-IPT morning I signaled Bob to bring Warren and Judy to me because I had a lovely sub adult pelican teed up and isolated. The first three images here are of that same bird. Though it was the BAS (best available shot), only one of the other 15 photographers made their way to our spot. You gotta love it. Warren nailed this over-the-back preening shot.
This image was created by multiple IPT veteran Judy Stepenaskie at La Jolla, CA on the 2025 Extended San Diego IPT. Standing at full height, she used the hand held Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1 L IS USM lens (at 500mm) and the impressive Canon EOS R6 Mark II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using the in-viewfinder histogram and confirmed after evaluation of blinkies on the JPEG. AWB at 11:52:22am on a sunny morning. ISO 1000: 1/2500 sec. at f/7.1.
Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Pacific race Brown Pelican sub-adult
Image Courtesy of and Copyright 2025: Judy Stepenaskie
Judy’s Beauty!
Judy joined me at Nickerson Beach last summer and learned to use her Canon gear. You can read the whole story and see some of her fantastic images from that trip here. As she has not had many chances to practice bird photography since then, she needed a bit of extra help on our first morning. I am super-impressed by the clean, bright colors of the R6 ii images.
This image was created on 10 January 2025 by (Yo) Adrian Whitchelo-Scott on the 2025 Extended San Diego IPT at Santee Lakes Preserve in Santee California. Seated on the bank, he used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 467mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority -0.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 320: 1/1000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 3:58:40pm.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #4: Ring-necked Duck drake swimming
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Adrian Whitchelo-Scott
AWS
My first contact with Adrian was this past Wednesday when he left a question on a YouTube Video. That afternoon he purchased a new Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens from Bedfords using my discount code. I sent him the Firmware 2.02 settings for his a-1 and he loaded them right up. He got his new lens on Friday morning, got into his car, and drove down from LA for the entire San Diego IPT. He made it in time for a complimentary afternoon session at Santee Lakes. You will be hard put to find a nicer human being.
This image was created by multiple IPT veteran Dietmar Haenchen on the 2025 San Diego IPT. Standing at full height he used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens (at 214mm) with the Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R and the Canon EOS R7 Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via the histogram and blinkies review. Aperture Priority +1.0 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 6400: 1/500 sec. at f/5.6. (wide open). AWB at 9:04:57am with the cliff in the shade on a sunny day.
Image #5: Brandt’s Cormorants on nesting wall.
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Dietmar Haenchen
14 Years Ago!
Dietmar attended a San Diego IPT 14 years ago. He joined me on a Galapagos trip in 2017. I was thrilled when I learned that he would be joining me in San Diego. Dietmar is to be commended for the creativity he employed to come up with this delightful almost whimsical image. I am impressed with the raw files from his relatively inexpensive Canon body.
This image was created ON 11 January 2025 by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART while leading the 2025 San Diego IPT at La Jolla, CA. Seated on the bank, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 800. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 4:06:44pm on a sunny afternoon. Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #6: Cinnamon Teal drake braking to land surrounded by three perfectly placed, out-of-focus Ruddy Ducks
Image by Yours Truly — Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Your Truly
I was thrilled yesterday afternoon to have a chance on a drake Cinnamon Teal in flight. I was so excited that I did not look at the sequence on the back of the camera in the field. I wanted to first see them on the laptop. When I finally did, I was thrilled. We had some great flight photography chances as a result of thrilled scratch (duck food) throwing by yours truly. Everyone in the group helped by yelling on command as I tossed a load of grain and seeds into the pond. Feeding the ducks is encouraged at Santee where they are glad to sell you the scratch for $2 bucks a bag!
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Which of today’s four featured images is the strongest photo? Why did you make your choice?
What’s Up?
Bob Eastman and I left my home at 3:30am ET on Thursday and — after our blessedly uneventful flight, landed in sunny San Diego at 9:15am Pacific Time. We visited Cliff Oliver in La Jolla and enjoyed a great brunch at Cafe Vahik. We had several hours to kill before picking up Warren Robb at the airport at about 5:00pm; his flight from Dallas was delayed. Then it was delayed again. So, we picked up Warren and Judy together just after 7pm. Miracle of miracles.
Today is Friday 10 January 2025. The four of us will be up early for a pre-IPT day with the pelicans. Whatever you opt to do, we hope that you too choose to have a great day as well.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Should You Upgrade to or Purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
I will be purchasing a second a-1 ii quite soon.
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP file are to die for. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature!
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 ii sells new for $6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but surely not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSEa1ii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
Sony a-9 iii Mirrorless Camera Body
The First Buyer Changed Their Mind
Yours truly, Arthur Morris, AKA artie, is offering a Sony a9 iii Mirrorless camera body (Firmware v1.00), this one in excellent plus plus condition for a ridiculously low $3998.00. The sale includes the original product box, the body cap, the battery charger, one battery, the strap, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Your purchase will also include my latest a9 iii Set-up e-mail, the new Buttons and Dials Guide, and the new INFO Sheet. This body already has my latest settings on it so you will be good to head out and start making great images as soon as you review the e-mailed materials.
This camera’s incredible frame rate, an unheard of 120fps, gives you at least four times as many wing positions and flight poses as the other top-of-the-line mirrorless camera bodies. With the incredible AF system that is even better than the AF system of the a-1 with Firmware v2.02, most every single image will be sharp on the bird’s eye. And the raw files can stand up to decent crops. A new one sells at B&H for $5,998.00. B&H has two used a9 iii bodies list right now, one for $5,217.95 and another for $55217.95! And KEH is offering a used like-new a9iii for $5823.00! Used Gear Page regular Karen McCormick sold a used a9 iii for $4298.00 last month. If you have been thinking of an a9 iii, grab my lightly used a9 iii right now and save a sweet $2,000.00. artie
ps: You can see some of my a9 iii images in the blog post here.
This image was created on 5 January 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE, FL. Standing on the pier, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 477mm) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. Shutter Priority +1.3 stops: 1/3200 sec. at f/9 (wide open) AUTO ISO set ISO 5000. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the Thumb Wheel. AWB at 5:33:27pm just before sunset.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #1: Boat-tailed Grackle flying by the sun image
Why the Un-needed Teleconverter?
Looking at the focal length of “only” 477mm, it is easy to see after the fact that I did not need the TC. I mounted it, however, thinking that I would need more reach for the occasional Great Blue Heron or Great Egret that might fly by. None did, so I tried for the impossible shot — a fly-by grackle at fairly close range. I took about 40 frames. In 39 of them I either whiffed completely or cut off the bird’s head or tail or wings )or some combination thereof. Thus, Image #1 was somewhat of a miracle.
The Trick
The trick to making images like this before the color develops is to frame the bird against a portion of sky near the sun without including the sun in the frame. Your properly exposed raw file will look boring, but the golden yellow is there for the taking by those who are competent at processing their raw files.
ISO 5000
Once again, we see an absolutely sharp, clean image with virtually zero noise in the background, that in part from the a- ii’s impressive 50MP stacked BSI CMOS sensor and in part from my relatively new 2-step note reduction technique. That as detailed in DB II and in the DB III Video Series, Volume I.
This image was also created on 5 January 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Standing on the pier, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 200mm) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. Shutter Priority +1 stop: 1/125 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) AUTO ISO set ISO 640. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the Thumb Wheel. AWB at 6:03:00pm well after sunset.
Image #2: Pier at sunset
The Versatile 200-600
Most folks do not think that a long telephoto zoom lens would be fabulous for landscape and scenic photography. For my style, however — clean, tight, and graphic, it is ideal. Here, I love the clean edges left and right and the reflections under the pier itself. In case you have not noticed yet, the sunset was quite impressive. We did have to wait until about 15 minutes after the time of sunset for the color to develop.
This image was also created on 5 January 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Standing on the pier, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 280mm) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. Shutter Priority +1 stop: 1/125 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open). AUTO ISO set ISO 1600. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the Thumb Wheel. AWB at 6:05:25pm well after sunset.
Image #3: Cattle Egrets at sunset
Caught with My Pants Down
Since no birds had flown by once the color became brilliant, I was at my landscape shutter speed (1/125th sec.) when this small flock of Cattle Egrets flew unexpectedly through the brilliant color. Had I seen them coming, I would have raised the shutter speed to at least 1/1250 or 1/2000 sec. You can’t get ’em all.
Lens: iPhone 15 Pro Max back triple camera 6.765mm f/1.78
iPhone 15 Pro Max image by yours truly, Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Image #4: The ILE Pier at Sunset
Your Dependable Ultra-Wide Angle Kit
Most cell phones offer super-wide angle options. I believe that the iPhone 15 Pro Max offers three different lenses. And, with the touch of a control, I capture in raw. I just wish that that setting would stick.. As noted here previously, it is a lot more convenient to carry an iPhone than it is to lug a 12-24 or a 24-70.Do not be shy about using your cell phone for scenics and more.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Which of today’s two featured Turkey Vulture images do you like best? What do you like about it?
Sony a-9 iii Mirrorless Camera Body
Yours truly, Arthur Morris, AKA artie, is offering a Sony a9 iii Mirrorless camera bodies, this one in excellent plus plus condition for a ridiculously low $3998.00. The sale includes the original product box, the body cap, the battery charger, one battery, the strap, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Your purchase will also include my latest a9 iii Set-up e-mail, the new Buttons and Dials Guide, and the new INFO Sheet. This body already has my latest settings on it so you will be good to head out and start making great images as soon as you review the e-mailed materials.
This camera’s incredible frame rate, an unheard of 120fps, gives you at least four times as many wing positions and flight poses as the other top-of-the-line mirrorless camera bodies. With the incredible AF system that is even better than the AF system of the a-1 with Firmware v2.02, most every single image will be sharp on the bird’s eye. And the raw files can stand up to decent crops. A new one sells at B&H for $5,998.00. B&H has two used a9 iii bodies list right now, one for $5,217.95 and another for $55217.95! And KEH is offering a used like-new a9iii for $5823.00! Used Gear Page regular Karen McCormick sold a used a9 iii for $4298.00 last month. If you have been thinking of an a9 iii, grab my lightly used a9 iii right now and save a sweet $2,000.00. artie
ps: You can see some of my a9 iii images in the blog post here.
Important BAA Blog Notices 🙂
#1: It has come to my attention that the e-mail addresses for some folks who were previously receiving blog notifications did not make it into the new Newsletter data base. Please go to the blog and click on the Subscribe tab on the lower yellow/orange menu bar at the top of the page and re-subscribe. It is the third one in from the right.
#2: At least two folks have e-mailed stating that the link to the new blog post that they are now receiving via Newsletter is not an active link. Please understand that the link is an active link and that the problem is caused by the recipient’s e-mail settings. How do I know that? Both folks replied to the sending e-mail and when it arrived in my Inbox the link was active..
If that is the case, and you cannot figure out how to rectify the problem, simply save the BAA Blog address as a Favorite. When you receive the e-mail notifying you of a new post with the seemingly dead link, go to the blog from your Favorites menu and click on the BAA Blog. The Home page with the three latest posts will appear. Now, click on the tile of the top post and you will be good to go, to enjoy and learn from the blog, and to leave a comment.
What’s Up?
On Sunday night, Bob Eastman and I enjoyed our second consecutive incredible sunset. There were few birds, but we stayed out on the pier till 30 minutes after the sun had gone down photographing the grand scene with our cell phones. On Monday morning, we played around with a Cattle Egret flock for a while and then photographed some vultures at the desiccated Coyote skeleton. Pickings were slim both for the vultures and the photographers. At 8:52am, I said to Bob, “Eight minute warning” and continued the countdown every minute or two until the clock in my SUV struck nine. As we were about to turn north to head home, Bob said, “An Osprey just landed in the small bay and is taking a bath. Hey, there are two of them.” Before I got my vehicle into position, one flew off and circled around in flight. We had some good chances and were stunned when the bird landed right in front of us right down sun angle about five feet from the shore, bathed, and took flight right at us into the southeast wind.
After some high fives, we turned around and headed for my house. Again. And again, Bob interrupted me. This time he said, “There’s a Turkey Vulture with its wings raised on the Skinny Perch.” I drove a big circle on the South Peninsula to get on sun angle and avoid scaring the bird. We went to work. It was obvious that the wet, bedraggled bird had just emerged from a bath and was drying its wings. I moved the car to get a bit closer and put the wind right behind us albeit a bit off sun angle. Within a few seconds, the bird lifted off and flew right at us. Thanks to Pre-Capture on the a-1 ii, I got some frames of the bird just before it lifted off as well as the entire take-off. I lifted the lens off the BLUBB- and got some nice flight shots as well.
We surely made hay with our fifteen minutes of overtime!
I stayed in all day on Tuesday to start packing for San Diego. Today is Wednesday 8 January and as my photo gear is already packed, I will be taking the whole day off again. I still have to finish packing and tie up lots of loose ends. Whatever you choose to do, I hope that you choose to have a happy and productive day. Jim is taking Bob and me to the airport at 3:30am on Thursday for our non-stop flight to San Diego.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Should You Upgrade to or Purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
Aside from the improved ergonomics — more room for cold weather gloves and a more comfortable position for the shutter button — both as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP files are to die for. Tracking: Spot XS and Wide are so much better with the a-1 ii that I have activated both of them. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature! On the other hand, in my opinion, the Speed Boost feature on the a-1 ii is a total waste for bird photography. Why? You want to be at 30 fps all the time.
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 II sells new for 6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
All that said, I will be purchasing a second a-1 ii ASAP. As Bob would say, “Gooder is goober.”
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSETii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
This image was created on 1 January 2025 (HNY!) down by the lake near my home at ILE, FL. Seated in the front seat of my SUV I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 622mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. Shutter Priority -1 stop (1): 1/2000 sec. at f/11 (stoped down 2/3-stop) AUTO ISO set ISO 125. The exposure determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the Thumb Wheel. AWB at 7:30:45am just after sunrise.
Tracking: Spot S/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #1: Turkey Vulture diving off perch at sunrise image
What Pre-Capture Can Do For You
Before you can realize the advantages of Pre-Capture, you need to understand exactly how it works. You must, of course, have the feature turned on. Next, you must be half-pressing the shutter button so that autofocus is tracking the bird, usually the eye or the face. Then, when you fully depress that shutter button the camera will save the images recorded during the pre-set duration. On my a-1 ii, I keep Pre-Capture turned on with the Pre-Capture Rec Time set to 0.5 seconds. At 30 fps, that gets me the 15 images that were registered by the camera body before I fully pressed the shutter button and began shooting. Magic!
When the vulture dived off the perch, I said to Bob in back seat, “Darn! I missed that.” I absolutely did not press the shutter button until an instant before the bird disappeared into the blackness of the trees below the perch. I was stunned later that morning when I saw that Pre-Capture had recorded and saved the perfect frame of the take-off, Image #1 above.
In this case, Pre-Capture saved the day even though I was slow to act.
The Time Has Never Been Better!
With the Sony 200-600 available for less than $2K (new) and the price of a-1 bodies falling, there has never been a better time to change your life. As you see in above and have seen in many recent blog posts, the versatility of this inexpensive lens often trumps the faster, far more expensive fixed focal length telephoto lenses offered by Sony: the 600mm f/4, the 400mm f/2.8, and the 300mm f/2.8.
Use one of my affiliate links and I can have you set up making great images in a matter of minutes, just as I’ve done with Bob Eastman, the amazing Anita North, Pat Fishburne (at age 86!), Andrew Schonbek, Steve and Elizabeth Shore, Carolyn Johnson (at age 80), Geri Georg, and too many more to remember. They all switched. You can do it too!
This image was created on 6 January 2024 down by the lake near my home at ILE, FL. Seated in the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter, and Sony’s Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. ISO 1000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/2500 second at f/6.3 (stopped down 1/3-stop in error) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 9:12:13am on sunny morning.
Zone AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #2: Turkey Vulture taking flight from the Skinny Perch
Another Pre-Capture Plus
With Image #2, I was right on the bird and focusing accurately when it began to take off. Even so, human reaction time is far from instantaneous. And those reaction times become incrementally longer as you age. As I will be 79 this coming June, I need all the help that I can get. With Image #2, Pre-Captured enabled me to capture a complete, all-encompassing sequence.
Realize This
With both of today’s featured images, the lens was supported by my BLUBB. A tripod or monopod would do the trick as well. When hand holding, stamina comes into play. Depending on the weight of your rig, the wait for a bird to take flight can tax your strength to the point of exhaustion. Many times, when you relax and lower your lens, the bird will leave the perch. In those cases, not even Pre-Capture can help you.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Which is your single favorite image in today’s post? Why did you like it best?
What’s Up?
Bob Eastman and I did very well on Sunday morning, first with three tame Limpkins in the bay left of the pier in the pre-dawn light. We were checking out a large flock of Cattle Egrets feeding on the South Peninsula when two white birds flew in to join them. My brain said, “Snow Geese.” But, I thought, there are no Snow Geese in Central Florida.. So, I tried to realize the geese into just two more egrets. They, however, decided not to land and flew out over the lake. We made a few not-so-great images but they were images of two Snow Geese. They flew around in great circles and eventually flew right towards us pretty much on sun angle. We both got some decent images. I was stunned. After we checked the south end of the South Peninsula we drove back north. Suddenly Bob said, “Watch it!” I had nearly run over the two geese. We got out of my vehicle and made some very nice images. These birds were undoubtedly pushed south by the polar vortex conditions in the north central states and Saturday morning’s brisk north wind helped them make it to the sunshine state.
Snow Goose is very rare in Central Florida; it is not even on the Polk County eBird checklist.
Taking a step back, we did well on Saturday morning with a flock of eye-level Cattle Egrets on the hill just south of the bathroom by the parking circle; we got some flying in and some flying out. Saturday evening was strange. When Bob and I got down to the lake about 30 minutes before sunset, we both noticed that the sun seemed super bright. You could barely glance at it without hurting your eyes. We drove around for a while and got nuthin’. Then we decided to walk out on the pier and see what flew by. You guessed it: we got nuthin’. A few minutes after the sun had set, we were walking back to my SUV when our favorite pair of cranes walked by. I said to Bob, “Perhaps we should reconsider.” Keep reading below to learn why I made a u-turn, what I was hoping for, and the gifts that awaited us.
Today is Monday 6 January 2025. We will be heading down to the lake early to see if the Snow Geese stuck around. Whatever you are doing, we hope that you choose to be happy.
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Should You Upgrade to or purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP file are to die for. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature!
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 II sells new for 6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSETii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
This image was created on 4 January 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Standing to the left of the pier, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 243mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +1.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 8000: 1/640 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open). RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 6:00:22pm, 18 minutes after the time of the clear sunset.
Tracking: Spot XS/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #1: Sandhill Crane pair ready to head to bed in the marsh
Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Why I Made a U-turn
When I saw the two cranes walking southwest across the parking circle, I said to Bob, “Not so fast. We might get them crossing the shallow bay to head to their evening roost in the marsh.” Most evenings they cross the bay heading southwest so getting a decent image of them is difficult. Just about 6:00pm they stopped on the shore of the small bay for a moment. The challenge was to get high enough to separate their heads from the marsh and wide enough to get some sky color. The good news was that they were not walking directly away from us. When I decided to head back rather than to head home, I figured that an image like this was about the best we could hope for.
This image was also created on 4 January 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE about three minutes before I created Image #1. Again standing to the left of the pier, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 485mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +1.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 10000: 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 5:56:15pm, 15 minutes after the time of the clear sunset.
Wide AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #2: Sandhill Crane pair — courtship dancing
Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
The Amazing Gift!
At about four minutes before six, we were blessed when the two cranes began to dance. I was a bit closer to the action than Bob and, being my usual pixels-on-the-bird greedy self, zoomed in more than he did. As a result, I clipped lots of wings. This one is pretty much full frame. With both birds sharp and parallel to the sensor, two good head angles, and a decent background, this was the best of the 26 sharp keepers. The action lasted about two minutes; in that time, I created more than 200 images.
a-1 ii High ISO Performance
Though I have been using my new camera for only about a week, I have been quite impressed with the high ISO performance in terms of noise. While you will surely loose some fine detail when working at ridiculously high ISOs, the noise-reduced files are quite clean. Click on both images to enlarge them and check out the nearly noise-free backgrounds. I did, of course, use my double noise reduction technique (as detailed in DB II and in the DB III Video Series, Volume I).
This image was also created on 4 January 2025 by Bob Eastman down by the lake near my home at ILE. He was behind me and to my right, kneeling. He used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 245mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) Shutter Priority at 0. AUTO ISO set ISO 2500: 1/1600 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open). AWB at : 5:56:34pm, 15 minutes after the time of the clear sunset.
Tracking: Spot XS/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #4: Sandhill Crane pair — courtship dancing
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Almost the Exact Same Instant, by Bob
Though the cameras indicated the Images #2 and #4 were created 19 seconds apart, the two bodies were never synchronized. I would bet that the two photos were created within a second or two at most of each other. Why? The pose of the female bird, on our right in both images, is virtually identical while the larger male, on our left, was dancing.
There are several reasons for the difference in the color and tonality of the backgrounds:
1- Bob was shooting much darker than I was resulting in an under-exposed raw file with deeper colors.
2- Color is in the eye of the person doing the processing.
This image was also created on 4 January 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE less than about 20 seconds before I created I created Image #2. Standing to the left of the pier, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 485mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +1.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 4000: 1/800 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 5:55:53pm, about 13 minutes after the time of the clear sunset.
Wide AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #5: Sandhill Crane male courtship run
Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
A Late Addition
I woke very early on 6 January and decided to add another of my dancing crane images. I wanted to process one more towards orange so that I could be like Bob. At one point in the courtship dance, the male would run frantically away from the female to our left (south) and then turn around and run frantically back to her (as in Image #5).
Notice that soon after this image was made, I raised the shutter speed from 1/800 sec. to I/1250 sec. to ensure that the images would be sharp. With Image #5, I was lucky to get it really sharp at “only” 1/800 sec. If you missed the Shutter Speeds for Bird Photography video, you can view it here.
The Time Has Never Been Better!
With the Sony 200-600 available for less than $2K (new) and the price of a-1 bodies falling, there has never been a better time to change your life. As you see in this blog post and have seen in many recent blog posts, the versatility of this inexpensive lens often trumps the faster, far more expensive fixed focal length telephoto lenses offered by Sony: the 600mm f/4, the 400mm f/2.8, and the 300mm f/2.8.
Use one of my affiliate links and I can have you set up making great images in a matter of minutes, just as I’ve done with Bob Eastman, the amazing Anita North, Pat Fishburne (at age 86!), Andrew Schonbek, Steve and Elizabeth Shore, Carolyn Johnson (at age 80), Geri Georg, and too many more to remember. They all switched. You can do it too!
iPhone 15 Pro Max image by yours truly, Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Focal Length: (mm): 15.7
Lens: iPhone 15 Pro Max back triple camera 15.66mm f/2.8
ISO: 200
Aperture: 2.8
Shutter: 1/60
Time: 6:09:04 PM
Image #5: Snowy Egret foraging 27 minutes after sunset
What’s to Learn?
1- The richest colors often appear long after the time of sunset. Don’t give up too early (as we almost did).
2- iPhones offer almost unlimited depth of field.
3- It is a lot easier to carry an iPhone in your pocket than it is to lug a wide angle zoom lens into the field in a vest or a fanny pack.
4- Folks in relatively the same spot using the same lens will often make vastly different images of the same scene. Especially when they are using a zoom lens 🙂
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Conditions were fair to good on Friday morning here at ILE but as my late Dad would say, “We didn’t do such good.” Never discouraged, Bob Eastman and I headed down to the lake at 5:13pm for sunset. Working from the south end of the South Field, we tried some images of the hundreds of vultures returning to their roost across the South Canal opposite the South Peninsula. I deleted them all. Next, we checked the South Peninsula perches; all were empty. We headed down toward the south end in hopes that we might enjoy some action at the small Boat-tailed Grackle roost. The evening was dead clear but the orange glow to the SW was getting pretty sweet.
As we approached the end of the peninsula we saw a guy in a kayak. Bob said, “He must have a big fish — he’s paddling with one hand.” He shouted him a howdy and he asked, “Can you guys take some photos of me?” So we did. Read the rest of the story below. I almost forgot to mention that I learned a huge lesson about high ISOs due to a mistake that I made.
Today is Saturday 4 January and if you are reading this post after receiving a new style notification via e-mail, it means that a new, more efficient BIRDS AS ART blog has been created successfully. If you received a new style e-mail advising you of this post, please leave a short comment stating, “Got it!”
I was so excited after receiving the e-mail below from Peter Kes in the middle of the night during a pit stop that I could not get back to sleep. It is 4:29am as I type. Bob and I will be headed down to the lake at about 7:00am. We both hope that you choose to have a great day.
Great News From Peter Kes (via a WhatsApp Message)
Peter sent the much anticipated news at 2:10am (from RSA) and I saw his message at 3:18am.
Morning
All is done.
BIRDSASART-BLOG.COM is
– updated to PHP 8.3 (latest)
– updated to WordPress 6.7.1
– all plugins are on latest level
– Post Notification is deactivated, not deleted
– Newsletter was installed and activated
– all active subscribers from Post Notification have been imported to Newsletter
– a new Template (POST NOTIFICATION TEMPLATE) has been added
– The Newsletter ‘Subscribe’ page has been added to the pagelist, replacing the Post Notification Subscription pages
– The Newsletter ‘Subscribe’ page can be seen in the yellow navigation bar
Now we just have to see if it works! Peter is 99.99% sure that it will. I’m from Missouri …
This image was created on 3 January 2024 down by the lake near my home at ILE. I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens (at 148mm) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 25600: 1/5000 sec. at f/4 (stopped down one stop) in Manual mode. AWB at 5:36:16pm in the shade about six minutes before sunset.
Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: Patrick with female Largemouth Bass
Bob Was Right!
Bob called out, “You got a fish?” The guy, Patrick above, said, “Yes. Can you take some photos of me with it?” “Of course,” we shouted. Bob helped Patrick land the kayak and the young man showed us the fish. He had been keeping it in the water to keep it alive and well. He wanted to measure it and release it. The fish was 25 inches long with a girth of 18 inches, a big, fat, pregnant momma. From that information, AI Overview calculated that it weighed approximately 10.3 pounds. A nice fish. Patrick was so, so excited.
Patrick gave Bob his cell phone and Bob made lots of images of the very happy fisherman. I grabbed my 70-200mm GM ii lens and went to work. When we finished up, Patrick removed his boots and waded into the canal holding the fish by its tail so that it could pass water over its gills while finning. Within two minutes, the big bass, having regained its strength, flapped its tail hard and swam away, none the worse for wear.
I gave Patrick my card and told him to e-mail me so that I could send him some images. After several rounds of high fives, Patrick approached me and gave me a huge hug and a pat on the back. On the short ride back to my home, both Bob and I were enveloped by a warm glow (despite the fact that we had not created a single good bird photo on our late afternoon outing). Sometimes, life is about more than bird photography.
This morning, however, I realized that both Bob and I got some some flight shots of the drake Mallard on Patrick’s cap!
A few days before, during a walk on the pier at about 4:45pm, there was a young guy fishing while standing on the pier railing! As I approached him, he set the hook into a big fish but lost his lure. We chatted a bit. He thought that it might have been a bass or a gar. Anyhoo, the guy standing on the railing turned out to be Patrick in the kayak.
This image was also and obviously created on 3 January 2024 down by the lake near my home at ILE. I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens (at 200mm) and The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 25600: 1/5000 sec. at f/4 (stopped down one stop) in Manual mode. AWB at 5:36:33pm in the shade about six minutes before sunset.
Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Why the Largemouth Bass was so-named
The FISH AS ART Style
As I love working tight, I moved in as Patrick posed with his bass and created the tight shot above that is quite similar to my BIRDS AS ART style, clean, tight, and graphic. Bird Face-Eye autofocus had no problem tracking the yellow belly of the frog lure.
The Huge Mistake
My in-the-field workflow involves carefully choosing a shutter speed, setting the aperture — usually wide open, and then raising the ISO until I see a few Zebras on the highlights. I wanted to work at 1/500 second as that would have been more than high enough to produce a sharp image. In my haste to get things done, I inadvertently set the shutter speed to 1/5000 sec. Then I simply raised the ISO using the Thumb Dial until I was some Zebras on the water in Image #1. As I teach others, I simply did not pay attention to the ISO. Thus, after screwing up the shutter speed setting I wound up at ISO 25600.
The Valuable Lesson
After using my double noise reduction technique (as detailed in DB II and in the DB III Video Series, Volume I), I was stunned by the clean color and the smooth creamy backgrounds with nary a trace of noise. These two images should answer the question of how the The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera, handles high ISO noise.
Bob’s cell phone image
Image #3: Patrick and Largemouth Bass
Image courtesy of and copyright 2025: Bob Eastman
Thanks Bob!
Helping Patrick land the kayak, taking photos of Patrick and the fish, and helping him successfully release the fish, Bob had as much fun as I did!
Should You Upgrade to or purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP file are to die for. And don’t forget the Pre-Capture feature!
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 II sells new for 6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSETii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
The sun finally came out on Wednesday morning and despite the west wind, Bob Eastman and I had some good chances. I got to use the articulating rear monitor of my new mirrorless camera body, The Latest Greatest Sony Flagship Body, the a-1 ii Mirrorless Camera. I’ve long dreamed of creating ground level vertical images of tall birds by working off the tilted rear screen. What fun. I created 1281 images and kept 45 after the first edit.
We finally had put out the disgustingly smelly rotted raccoon that morning. It was ignored by the vultures for the entire day. We were stunned.
Today is Thursday 2 January 2025. We will of course be headed down to the lake early. Whatever you opt to do, we hope that you too choose to enjoy life and be happy.
As many who commented figured, my very favorite image from the Sebastian Inlet Photo Road Trip and Roadkill Hunt blog post was #3, the diving young pelican blur with the green water. My second favorite was Bob’s sharp diving young pelican.
This image was created on 1 January 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Seated on the pier, I used the toe-pod technique with the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 664mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 400. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/15 sec. at f/9 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 7:17:38am (four minutes before the time of sunrise) on a mostly clear morning. Note: it take about 10-15 minutes for the sun to get over the top of the woods. Tracking: Spot XS/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #1: Cattle Egret flock on pier with Boat-tailed Grackles
A Surprising Realization
I had only had the a-1 ii for a few days and every morning had been cloudy dark. Seeing lots of Cattle Egrets feeding on midges on the pier — see Image #2 below, and nothing better to do, I added the 1.4 TC to the 200-600 G lens and set up to do a blastoff flight blur. As I got to the base of the pier, I saw that there where were many dozens of birds foraging on the pier. I sat down and chose a very slow shutter speed figuring that a blur might do well to illustrate the chaos in front of me. But a funny thing happened on the way to the laptop. Most of the images were sharp!
It was not until a few days later that I realized that the photos were sharp because of the vastly improved OSS (Optical Stabilization System) in the a-1 ii.
Breaking a Rule
As a general rule in bird photography, especially when photographing large groups of birds, it is advised that you focus on the closest bird. Note that there are two grackles, one on each side of the pier, that are closer than the closest Cattle Egret. None-the-less, I correctly chose to focus on the Cattle Egret as that made sense for many reasons, the most important of which is that they are the subject. The two out-of-focus grackles serve as a sort of frame (along with the pier railings).
Should You Upgrade to or purchase a Sony a-1 ii?
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP file are to die for.
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 II sells new for 6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSETii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
You can see some of my first a-1 ii images in the blog post here and several more below.
This image was created on 1 January 2025 down by the lake near my home at ILE. Standing near the foot of the pier, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 326mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 800. Exposure determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/640 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 8:43:21 am on a sunny morning. Tracking: Spot XS/AF-C with Bird Eye/Face Detection enabled performed perfectly.
Image #2: Midges on pier railing
Swarms of Midges
At any season, there may be a large hatch of tiny midges along the shoreline at Indian Lake Estates. For an unknown reason, huge numbers of these tiny, non-biting bugs gravitate to the pier. I’ve taken early morning sun walks through clouds of them. Anyhoo, many species of birds feast on them both on the piers and in the fields. They make up for the tiny size by their huge number and easy access to hungry birds. In the warmer months, huge hatches of mayflies provide similar fare.
Too lazy to sit down on the pier, I worked off the tilted rear monitor again, this time holding the camera horizontally with the level activated. Note that when there is a massive hatch, the railing are completely covered with midges. Yesterday there was just a smidgeon of midges.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Sony Alpha 1 (a-1) Mirrorless Camera Body (with Extras!)
Used Gear Page regular, IPT Veteran, and BAA friend Dane Johnson is offering a Sony a-1 (ILCE-1) mirrorless camera body (Firmware v2.02) in like-new condition for a ridiculously low $3,698.00. The sale includes a like-new Really Right Stuff Modular L-plate set (a $215.00 value), a Sony 160GB CFexpress Type A TOUGH Memory Card (a $268.00 value), the original product boxes, the owner’s manual, the USA warranty card, the body cap, the camera strap, one battery and the charger, the cords, and insured ground shipping via major courier to lower-48 US addresses only. Your item will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Dane via e-mail or by phone at 559-593-0989 (Pacific time zone).
I have used Sony a-1 bodies as my workhorse cameras for three years. They produce stunning 51MP files with vivid natural colors. The AF system is science-fiction-like. They are rugged and dependable and 30 frames per second is nothing to sneeze at. With a brand new A-1 ii going for $6498.00, you can save $2900.00 (plus the two great extras) by grabbing Dane’s pretty much as good as new copy ASAP Right now, B&H is offering a used a-1 in like-new condition for $4,397.00. That makes Dane’s body package an absolute steal. artie
Vertical Image Design for Bird & Nature Photography You Tube Video
Learn to create stronger verticals in this YouTube video. Which images do you think are the three strongest?
What’s Up?
Not much. I stayed in this morning for the first time in more than two months! I wanted to finish the new video. The continuing cloudy and foggy weather made my decision an easy one.
Yesterday, Bob Eastman and I spent another cloudy morning at Circle B Bar Preserve in Lakeland. I continued testing the vastly improved OSS (image stabilization system) of The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. I was quite impressed and came up with a new twist to ensure sharp images when handholding at 600mm with the a-1 ii. I will be sharing this new twist via e-mail with my a-1 ii group soon.
As today is 31 December 2024, Jim, Jennifer, Bob, and I hope that y’all have a truly wonderful 2025 filled with good health, family, friends, love, and lots of great images.
Which of today’s six featured images is my favorite?
What’s Up?
After more than two months of sunny days since Bob Eastman arrived at my home in late October, we have been dealing with overcast and cloudy-dark conditions every morning for about a week. And that is exactly what we got at Sebastian Inlet on Saturday morning. I am proud to say that yesterday I finished sending out the new .DAT files with instructions, the Buttons and Dials Guides, and the Info Sheets for both the a9 iii (10 folks) and the a-1 ii groups. If you own either of these bodies and are not a member of the group, please e-mail for information.
After lugging the 600 and the tripod around Circle B Bar for 3 miles on Friday, I decided to give my right shoulder a break on Saturday by working with the hand held 200-600, creating lots of blurs, and experimenting with the vastly improved OSS (Sony’s image stabilization system on the a- 11). Bob stuck with his trusty 2-6 and worked on making sharp images in the gloom. My favorite of his images (Image #6) is the last featured image. On our way home, we kept a keen eye out for roadkill and scored big with a large (about 20 pounds) very smelly Raccoon and a huge (45+ pound) coyote, the first I’d ever seen in Florida. Rocky went into a cooler while the coyote was placed on the rubber mat in my rear cargo hold (with my photo gear pushed to the left side of the compartment).
Today is Sunday 29 December 2024. It is too dark and dingy to set up a roadkill cafe for flight but we might head down to the lake at about 10:00am if it brightens up. Whatever you are doing, we hope that you too choose to have fun and be happy. This afternoon I will be watching NFL football and working on a big, new YouTube video on vertical image designs for bird and nature photography.
The Time Has Never Been Better!
With the Sony 200-600 available for less than $2K (new) and the price of a-1 bodies falling, there has never been a better time to change your life. Use one of my affiliate links and I can have you set up making great images in a matter of minutes, just as I’ve done with Bob Eastman, the amazing Anita North, Pat Fishburne (at age 86!), Andrew Schonbek, Steve and Elizabeth Shore, Carolyn Johnson (at age 80), Geri Georg, and too many more to remember.
Should You Upgrade to the a-1 ii?
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP file are to die for.
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 II sells new for 6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSETii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
You can see some of my first a-1 ii images in the blog post here and several more below.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
This image was created on 28 December 2024 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. Crouching on the South Jetty, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 800. 1/1600 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 7:25:41am on a mostly cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: bedraggled Snowy Egret silhouette head portrait
One Minute of Post Sunrise Color
At 7:00am there were some clouds on the eastern horizon and it looked as if it would be a mostly sunny morning. As the sun rose, the clouds grew in size and rose as well. The sun broke through very early only once before the clouds took over.
This Snowy Egret has been hanging out at the South Jetty for at least 10 weeks. A big chunk of feathers hangs from it neck and the rest of him is totally bedraggled. He was the only silhouette-able subject so I made a few images and repaired the mess on its neck with Remove Tool.
This image was also created on 28 December 2024 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. Standing just east of the bridge, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +1.0 stop. AUTO ISO set ISO 125: 1/30 sec. at f/7.1 (stopped down 1/3-stop). AWB at 7:47:29am on what had become a totally mostly cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Five adult Brown Pelicans on railing of bridge abutment
Optical Stabilization System
Canon call it Image Stabilization. Nikon calls it Vibration Reduction (VR). With Sony, it is the Optical Stabilization System (OSS). Whatever system I’ve used over the past two decades I’ve never paid much attention to these systems as when I am hand holding a large telephoto lens — something I do only rarely, I am almost always using very high shutter speeds. Thus, image stabilization has never been a major concern for me.
I received a text from good friend Arash Hazeghi yesterday stating that with the a-1 ii, OSS had been vastly improved. Arash does most of his amazing work with the hand held Sony 600mm f/4. So yesterday, I decided to put the a-1 ii’s in camera OSS to a test. This was the most dramatic of the many sharp images that I made. Hand holding at 1/30 second at 600mm and creating a sharp image is very impressive (to me). I am liking my a-1 ii more and more very day …
This image was also created on 28 December 2024 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. Standing on the South Jetty, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 500mm) and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +2.0 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 125: 1/20 sec. at f/8 (stopped down 2/3-stop). AWB at 7:49:38am on what had become a totally mostly cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Brown Pelican immature diving
Exposure Fine Points
Whether working sharp or trying to create pleasingly blurred images, I know that when using Shutter Priority and AUTO ISO in dingy conditions with birds in the sky I want to be at +2 2/3 to + 3 stops to avoid underexposing the young pelicans. With those birds against the green water on these cloudy days I want to be at about +1 or +1 /3 stops. Note: if you are working in Manual Mode the two exposures will work out to be the same.
This image was also created on 28 December 2024 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. Standing on the park road southeast of the bridge, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +1.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 500: 1/125 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 8:13:09am on what had become a totally mostly cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #4: first winter Great Blue Heron getting splashed
More OSS Testing
If you watched the very popular Shutter Speeds for Bird Photography in the blog post here, that I would normally be working at shutter speeds of between 1/400 and 1/1000 sec. when photographing a relatively static subject at 600mm with the 200-600. So, when I took a walk along the park road, I made lots of sharp images with shutter speeds in the 1/60 to 1/250 sec. range. The big deal with the improved OSS system with the a-1 ii is that it allows you to work at lower ISOs. It is important to remember that no image stabilization system will help you to create sharp images when the subject is moving!
This image was also created on 28 December 2024 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. Standing on the South Jetty, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 407mm) and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 50. 1/30 second at f/9 (stopped down one full stop) in Manual Mode. AWB at 9:25:34am on a then totally cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #5: Brown Pelican immature diving/North Jetty construction background
With Dark Backgrounds
With the background changing from white sky to relatively dark concrete it is must to work in Manual mode rather than in Shutter Priority with AUTO ISO as the darker backgrounds will throw off the meter. I wanted to make an image showing the North Jetty construction project in the background. So I did 🙂
This image was created on 28 December 2024 at Sebastian Inlet, FL by my friend Bob Eastman. Standing on the South Jetty, he used the hand held 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 2000. 1/2000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 9:29:49am on then very cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Spot (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Brown Pelican immature diving
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Way to Go, Bob!
While I was doing blurs exclusively, Bob opted to work sharp. With this raw file, Bob — as you will see below, absolute nailed the perfect exposure. Note that with the low light conditions, Bob compromised a bit on shutter speed opting to go with 1/2000 sec. rather than 1/3200 sec.
The RawDigger Screen Capture for the Brown Pelican immature diving image
What can I say? The combination of Zebras live in the viewfinder (with your camera set up properly) and post-capture study of the raw files in RawDigger makes it pretty much child’s play to come up with perfect exposure after perfect exposure. It would be impossible to overstate how much I have learned by studying RawDigger and how much better my exposures have become since I started with the program almost three years ago. With the G channel coming right up to the 16000 line, the raw file brightness for today’s featured image is dead solid perfect.
RawDigger — not for the faint of heart …
Many folks are reluctant to learn that most of their images are underexposed by one or more full stops and that highlight warnings in Photoshop, Lightroom, Capture One, and your in-camera histogram are bogus as they are based on the embedded JPEGs. Only your raw files tell the truth all the time. Heck, I resisted RawDigger for several years … Once you get over that feeling, RawDigger can become your very best exposure friend no matter what system you are using. On the recent IPTs and In-the-Field sessions, we have demonstrated that fact over and over again. Convincingly.
The RawDigger Adapted (green) Histogram
In the RawDigger e-Guide, you will learn exactly how to set up the Adapted “green” RawDigger Histogram and how to use it to quickly and easily evaluate the exposure or raw file brightness of images from all digital cameras currently in use.
Note that with the recent update to Version 1.4.9 Release Build 821 (ARM64) the previous adapted “pink” histogram view has become the adapted “green” histogram view.
RawDigger e-Guide with Two Videos
The RawDigger e-Guide with Two Videos
by Arthur Morris with Patrick Sparkman
The RawDigger e-Guide was created only for serious photographers who wish to get the absolute most out of their raw files.
Patrick and I began work on the guide in July 2020. At first, we struggled. We asked questions. We learned about Max-G values. We puzzled as to why the Max G values for different cameras were different. IPT veteran Bart Deamer asked lots of questions that we could not answer. We got help from RawDigger creator Iliah Borg. We learned. In December, Patrick came up with an Adapted Histogram that allows us to evaluate the exposures and raw file brightness for all images created with all digital camera bodies from the last two decades. What we learned each time prompted three complete beginning to end re-writes.
The point of the guide is to teach you to truly Expose-to-the-Right so that you will minimize noise, maximize image quality, best utilize your camera’s dynamic range, produce raw files with clean natural color, and attain the highest possible level of shadow detail in your RAW files in every situation. In addition, your properly exposed RAW files will contain more tonal information and feature the smoothest possible transitions between tones. And your optimized images will feature rich, accurate colors.
We teach you why the GREEN channel is almost always the first to over-expose. We save you money by advising you which version of RawDigger you need. We teach you how to interpret the Max G values for your Canon, Nikon, SONY and Olympus camera bodies. It is very likely that the Shock-your-World section will shock you. And lastly — thanks to the technical and practical brilliance of Patrick Sparkman — we teach you a simple way to evaluate your exposures and the raw file brightness quickly and easily the Adapted RawDigger histogram.
The flower video takes you through a session where artie edits a folder of images in Capture One while checking the exposures and Max-G values in RawDigger. The Adapted Histogram video examines a series of recent images with the (then) pink histogram views and covers lots of fine points including and especially how to deal with specular highlights. The directions for setting up the Adapted (now green) Histogram views are in the text.
If we priced this guide based on how much effort we put into it, it would sell it for $999.00. But as this guide will be purchased only by a limited number of serious photographers, we have priced it at $51.00. You can order yours here in the BAA Online Store.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
With the Sony 200-600 available for less than $2K (new) and the price of a-1 bodies falling, there has never been a better time to change your life. Use one of my affiliate links and I can have you set up making great images in a matter of minutes, just as I’ve done with Bob Eastman, the amazing Anita North, Pat Fishburne (at age 86!), Andrew Schonbek, Steve and Elizabeth Shore, Carolyn Johnson (at age 80), Geri Georg, and too many more to remember.
In today’s blog post, learn how Bob Eastman created so many great images with his “inferior” Sony 200-600/a-1 rig while I failed with my “obviously superior” gear, the Sony 600mm f/4 GM and an a-1 ii. The short story: lighter, versatile, and more maneuverable often wins the day. Bob Eastman: Mr. Ever-ready!
The above is fact not hype.
The Image Optimizations
After waking Bob up early for our drive to Lakeland, I grabbed about a dozen of his best raw files from our morning session last Sunday. I optimized four of them on the way over and the last two on the trip home. Then, I began working on this blog post. In the car. It has never been easier to learn my complete digital workflow. All you need are Digital Basics II and the Digital Basics III Video Series.
What’s Up?
On Thursday, Bob Eastman and I headed over to Circle B Bar Preserve in Lakeland. We walked nearly three miles. We enjoyed very few good chances. As we walked, I had my 600mm f/4 in one hand (6.7 pounds — $12,998.00) and my tripod in the other. As you might guess, it takes a minute for me to get set up. Bob had his trusty 200-600mm G lens (4.65 pounds — 1,898.00). He was always ready instantly. Energy expenditure — Advantage Bob. Ease of use in the field — Advantage Bob. Lens speed (f/4 vs. f 6.3) with accompanying faster shutter speeds/lower ISOs: Advantage artie. In addition, being on a tripod at 600mm allows for slower shutter speeds and thus, lower ISOs, than hand holding at 600mm. Bob was using a Sony a-1 with Firmware v2.01. I was using the brand new Sony a-1 ii.
Which rig would you rather have had in your hands on this cloudy morning? At more than six times the cost, is the 600mm f/4 always a better lens than the 200-600. Keep reading to find out. You might be very surprised.
After our walk, we headed over to Lakeland to see if the American White Pelicans were in. They were not. We did enjoy a few cooperative female Anhingas (one in breeding plumage!) and a silly tame Great Blue Heron.
Today is Friday 27 December 2024. We will be headed down to the lake early as usual. Whatever you are doing, we hope that you too choose to have fun and be happy. I will be sending out new, revised .DAT files, a matching Buttons and Dials guide, and a new, revised Info Sheet to the a9 iii and a-1 ii groups this weekend. Huge thanks to those who’ve used one of my two affiliate links to purchase their new camera bodies (and lenses).
Should You Upgrade to the a-1 ii?
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography. In addition, the resolution on the rear monitor has been improved dramatically. Not to mention that Bird Face-Eye tracking on the a-1 ii is significantly better than on the a-1 and that the 51MP file are to die for.
So, the big question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 II sells new for 6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSETii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an Info Sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
You can see some of my very recent a-1 ii images in the blog post here.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
This image was created on 22 December 2024 by my friend Bob Eastman down by the lake near my home at ILE, FL. Sitting behind me in my SUV, he used the hand held 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 2000. 1/2500 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 7:44:26am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Spot (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: Turkey Vulture on post with wings spread
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
The Second Wild Boar Roadkill Cafe
After the first Wild Boar we put out was eaten the first night by an American Alligator — Bob came home with a 200+ pound boar a few days later. The vultures loved it. Bob had put up this lovely perch near the North Canal the week before while I was napping. I mentioned to him that there was a chance that a handsome Turkey Vulture might land on it and spread its wings. Dream come true. Bob got the perfect shot. I got nothing.
Note: after three days of vulture feeding, the second Wild Boar carcass was apparently dragged off into the canal by another ‘gator.
Why I Failed #1
I was eager to try my new Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera on the 600 with the 1.4X TC while working off the BLUBB. At 840mm, I could not fit the bird in the frame. By the time I removed the TC, the bird had flown away 🙁 Score one for Bob.
This image was also created on 22 December 2024 by my friend Bob Eastman down by the lake near my home at ILE, FL. Still sitting behind me in my SUV, he used the hand held 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 2000. 1/3200 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 7:57:29am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect.
Tracking: Spot (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Crested Caracara in gliding flight — dorsal view
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
200-600 Hand Hold-ability
With its light weight and relatively small size, hand holding this lens is child’s play for most folks. Bob saw the caracara coming, adjusted the exposure, and began firing almost instantly. He nailed sharpness, exposure, and flight pose with this frame.
Why I Failed #2
While I had removed the 1.4X TC, I was still working off the BLUBB. With the window raised a bit, there was no room to follow the bird in flight. Not to mention that it is very difficult for me to hand hold the 600 because of its great size and weight. Score another one for Bob.
This image was also created on 22 December 2024 by my friend Bob Eastman down by the lake near my home at ILE, FL. Still sitting behind me in my SUV, he used the hand held 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 2000. 1/3200 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 7:57:53am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect.
Tracking: Spot (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Crested Caracara on road-killed Wild Boar — dominance display
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Bob’s AF #1 Choice
Bob absolutely loves Tracking: Spot S (with Bird Face-Eye Tracking enabled) and uses it for nearly all of his bird photography, including and especially for flight. That choice paid big dividends with Image #3 as he got the AF point on the eye of the caracara and tracking it as it walked atop of the boar and challenged the much larger Black Vultures. Bob kept three excellent frames. I got nothing. Are you seeing a pattern yet?
Why I Failed #3
After I missed the incoming caracara, it landed on the big pig and began displaying. At that moment, I was re-positioning the BLUBB. It was all over in 1 1/2 seconds. Bob: three, artie: zero.
This image was also created on 22 December 2024 by my friend Bob Eastman down by the lake near my home at ILE, FL. Still sitting behind me in my SUV, he used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 415mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2000. 1/3200 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 7:58:07am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Spot (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #4: Bald Eagle in flight — wings fully raised
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Zoom Lens Versatility
Bob loves the 200-600 because he can zoom out as needed when a bird in flight gets too large in the frame. Another advantage of zooming out a bit is that you gain some additional depth of field.
Why I Failed #4
Having removed the BLUBB from the door frame, I struggled to raise my 8+ pound rig and find the bird in the frame. When I finally got on the eagle, it was too large in the frame. I could not, of course, zoom out with a fixed focal length lens. Once again, I got nothing. Score four for Mr. Eastman, zero for Mr. Famous Bird Photographer.
This image was also created on 22 December 2024 by my friend Bob Eastman down by the lake near my home at ILE, FL. Still sitting behind me in my SUV, he used the hand held 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 2000. 1/3200 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at e: 8:01:29am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect.
Tracking: Spot (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #5: Crested Caracara taking flight — wings fully down
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Ever-Ready Bob
When I am driving and we are using the SUV as a moving photo blind, Bob often creates some excellent images before I even bring the car to a stop. Though that was not the case here — we had already been parked, Bob, with his trusty 200-600 is always quicker on the draw than I am with my larger fast lens.
Why I Failed #5
When this bird took flight, I had no chance at all to get on it. My rig was too large and too heavy; in short, it was unmanageable. Bob five, artie zero.
This image was also created on 22 December 2024 by my friend Bob Eastman down by the lake near my home at ILE, FL. Now seated in the driver’s seat of his Toyota truck, he used the hand held 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 800. 1/3200 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at e: 11:00:32am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Spot (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #6: Black Vulture parade with scrap of bloody Wild Boar
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Perseverance
After breakfast last Sunday, I downloaded and edited my images from the morning session. Then I took a nap. Bob, on the other hand, still feeling like the kid in the candy store after nearly two months in Florida, headed back down to the lake. Despite the allegedly “too harsh light” at 11:00am, he came back with some fine images.
Why I Failed #6
I was knackered and hit the sack.
The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide
You can purchase your copy here in the BAA Online Store.
The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide
126 pages, 87 photographs by (the late) Joe Przybyla and Arthur Morris.
The PDF for this e-Guide is an electronic download sent via e-mail.
I had thought about doing a guide to some of the great but little-known photo hotspots around central Florida for about a decade, but those plans never came to fruition. I met Joe online in the Avian Forum at BirdPhotographer’s.Net about two years ago. Joe’s photography has improved tremendously over the past few years; he credits the BAA blog, my books and PDFs, and his participation on BPN. The one thing that I learned right from the get-go about Joe is that he is a hard and tenacious worker, always striving to improve his skills and to grow his knowledge base. As he knew of more than a few good spots in central Florida, I broached the idea of us doing a photographic site guide that covered many of the little-known photographic hotspots from Brandon to Lakeland to Joe Overstreet Road to Indian Lake Estates (my Florida home for the past 20 years or so). After more than many, many dozens of hours of effort, The BIRDS AS ART Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide is now a reality. Thanks to Joe’s wife Dottie for her review of our writing. We all learned once again that writing is a process, a back-and-forth process. All thanks to the white pelicans of Lakeland. Below are the locations that are detailed in this e-Guide. Please note that last season, Gatorland did not offer a Photographer’s Pass.
Indian Lake Estates: Sandhills Cranes with chicks and colts, lots of vultures, and Ospreys up the kazoo!
Gatorland, Kissimmee: Learn to make great images of wading birds in a cluttered rookery. Please note that Gatorland no longer offers a photographer’s pass.
The Brandon Rookery: Great for nesting Wood Storks, Great Egrets, and more.
Circle Bar B Reserve, Lakeland: Here you will find a great variety of avian subjects in a great variety of habitats.
Lake Morton, Lakeland: There are lots of silly tame birds here including and especially American White Pelican during the colder months.
Lake Mirror, Lakeland: Tame Anhingas, Limpkins, and a zillion White Ibises at times.
West Lake Parker, Lakeland: Here, if you are lucky, you will have a chance for two difficult birds: Snail Kite, and Purple Gallinule.
Joe Overstreet Road, Kenansville: Crested Caracara, meadowlarks, Loggerhead Shrike, and more on the fenceposts and barbed wire.
Each location includes a map, a detailed description of the best spots, best season, light and time of day instructions, the expected species, and an educational and inspirational gallery that is designed to open your eyes as to the possibilities.
You can purchase a copy here in the BAA Online Store.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
This image was created on 12 December 2024 on the way home from a sunset shooting session down by the lake. Seated in the front seat of my SUV, I used the curved vertical pan blur technique with the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 485mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority -1/7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 250: 1/6 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open).
Tracking: expand Spot AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Many species of larger birds including gulls, terns, and cranes, employ the pre-copulatory stand as part of their courtship rituals. The male mounts the female, raises its wings, and practices balancing atop the female. At times, I have seen a male Royal Tern stand on the female for minutes on end without attempting to copulate via a cloacal kiss, the touching together of the cloacas of a male and female bird, during which sperm is transferred.
From the moment the female leaned forward till the moment the male hopped off her, I created only 116 images over the course of 22 seconds. With a frame rate of 30 fps, it is obvious that I did not hold the shutter button down. I was quite selective. I kept 24 photos from the sequence.
Taking a close look at the series, I am not sure if this pair actually copulated. What do you think?
Figure #1: Map of the South Lakeshore at ILE
Acting Decisively!
On a warm, still morning with some ground fog, Bob and I were on foot at A when I noticed a pair of cranes to the north (at B) acting very friendly. “In the car,” I said to Bob, “let’s go!” I knew instantly that if we shot from where we were that we would have the pavilion, the bathroom building, and/or the small marina at the end of the canal as our background. Giving the birds as wide a berth as possible — remember that they are silly tame, I drove to C and pointed my SUV west by slightly north. Note that we could have gotten a lot closer without disturbing the courting birds, but I had used the distant trees as background before and knew what I wanted.
For many decades, my thoughts are that I would rather wind up with nothing than make a series of images that would not make me very happy, in this case, a series of images with horrific backgrounds. As things turned out, we were in perfect position when the action began. (Learn more about the decision by reading on.)
This image was created on 17 December 2024 down by the lake near my home at ILE, FL. Seated in the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 1250. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/640 sec. at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 7:25:18am on a partly cloudy morning just after sunrise.
Tracking: (right center) Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version.
In my forty-one plus years of bird photography, I have rarely used sidelight. But, with the sun just peeking through the clouds, the light was incredibly soft. And pleasing. Had we opted to work on sun angle we would have had a boring lake background, might have disturbed the birds, and would have been shooting down at them. So, the decision to drive well past the birds, go with the gentle sidelight, and reduce the angle of declination, was any easy one for me.
Speaking of light, please note that I have nothing against using backlight in the right conditions.
This image was also and obviously created on 17 December 2024 down by the lake near my home at ILE, FL. Seated in the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ISO 1250. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/640 sec. at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 7:25:20am on a partly cloudy morning just after sunrise.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version.
Image #2: Sandhill Crane pair — pre-copulation stand
Shutter Speed Considerations
Just prior to the action, I had been working at 1/250 second. Once I saw the female lean forward to invite the male, I knew that some flapping would be involved; I raised the ISO four clicks. That allowed me to raise the wide open shutter speed to 1/640 second (at ISO 1250). If you watched my hugely popular YouTube Shutter Speeds for Bird Photography, you would know that while 1/640 sec. was much better than 1/250 second when shooting moderate action, it was a bit less than ideal, 1/800 or 1/1000 sec. After our session, I was hoping that all the images were sharp. They were. In part, because of the distance. Remember that the degree of blurring at a given shutter speed increases as the distance to the subject decreases.
If you missed the video, you would be wise to check it out here.
The Post Processing
Note that I opted to fill in the sky in the upper right corner of each frame with trees. I used warped, refined Quick Masks that were refined by Regular Layer Masks. All as detailed in Digital Basics II and in the Digital Basics III Video Series.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide
You can purchase your copy here in the BAA Online Store.
The BAA Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide
126 pages, 87 photographs by (the late) Joe Przybyla and Arthur Morris.
The PDF for this e-Guide is an electronic download sent via e-mail.
I had thought about doing a guide to some of the great but little-known photo hotspots around central Florida for about a decade, but those plans never came to fruition. I met Joe online in the Avian Forum at BirdPhotographer’s.Net about two years ago. Joe’s photography has improved tremendously over the past few years; he credits the BAA blog, my books and PDFs, and his participation on BPN. The one thing that I learned right from the get-go about Joe is that he is a hard and tenacious worker, always striving to improve his skills and to grow his knowledge base. As he knew of more than a few good spots in central Florida, I broached the idea of us doing a photographic site guide that covered many of the little-known photographic hotspots from Brandon to Lakeland to Joe Overstreet Road to Indian Lake Estates (my Florida home for the past 20 years or so). After more than many, many dozens of hours of effort, The BIRDS AS ART Middle of Florida Photographic Site Guide is now a reality. Thanks to Joe’s wife Dottie for her review of our writing. We all learned once again that writing is a process, a back-and-forth process. All thanks to the white pelicans of Lakeland. Below are the locations that are detailed in this e-Guide. Please note that last season, Gatorland did not offer a Photographer’s Pass.
Indian Lake Estates: Sandhills Cranes with chicks and colts, lots of vultures, and Ospreys up the kazoo!
Gatorland, Kissimmee: Learn to make great images of wading birds in a cluttered rookery.
The Brandon Rookery: Great for nesting Wood Storks, Great Egrets, and more.
Circle Bar B Reserve, Lakeland: Here you will find a great variety of avian subjects in a great variety of habitats.
Lake Morton, Lakeland: There are lots of silly tame birds here including and especially American White Pelican during the colder months.
Lake Mirror, Lakeland: Tame Anhingas, Limpkins, and a zillion White Ibises at times.
West Lake Parker, Lakeland: Here, if you are lucky, you will have a chance for two difficult birds: Snail Kite, and Purple Gallinule.
Joe Overstreet Road, Kenansville: Crested Caracara, meadowlarks, Loggerhead Shrike, and much more on the fenceposts and barbed wire.
Each location includes a map, a detailed description of the best spots, best season, light and time of day instructions, the expected species, and an educational and inspirational gallery that is designed to open your eyes as to the possibilities.
You can purchase a copy here in the BAA Online Store.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
My Sony a-1 ii arrived on Friday afternoon and I began setting it up on Friday evening. The good news for me is that the Menu is virtually identical to that of the a9 iii. I finished the job early on Saturday morning and worked with it morning and evening in the field. Saturday morning was terrible for bird photography with sun and a northwest wind. But we worked hard and wound up with a very few good chances despite the brutal conditions.
The body itself is in an a9 iii chassis, slightly larger with far better ergonomics and the position of the shutter button improved. Using gloves with the original a-1 is difficult at best so this marks a great improvement. For folks already using my a-1 setup, the learning curve for an a1-ii (with my settings) will be flat. You will not have to learn any new buttons and dials.
Inspired in part by Bob Eastman, I tried a new AF method, Tracking: Spot XS (which I assume stands for eXtra Small); I was quite impressed with it and the rest of the AF system that did an excellent job of tracking the eye of various bird species. With only two a-1 ii sessions under my belt, it is far too soon to compare the AF system with the AF systems of the a-1 and the a9 iii. Another AF improvement that I noticed immediately is that when you move the position of the Zone brackets away from the center, Bird Face-eye tracking is vastly improved. At this point, I believe that overall the a-1 ii features the best AF Bird Face-eye tracking, but again, that is only my first impression. Stay tuned.
Aside from the improved ergonomics as compared to the a-1, other nice features include the fact that the rear screen tilts both ways. Pre-capture will surely prove to be a plus while in my option, the Speed Boost feature is a total waste for bird photography.
So, the bird question is, is the a-1 ii “worth” a gear upgrade. Remembering that I can never know whether or not something is worth it to you, I can say that I was not floored when using my a-1 ii. The differences between the a-1 ii and the original a-1, are neither huge nor eye-opening. The huge difference between the new camera body and the a9 iii is, of course, the 51MP a-1 raw files (as compared to the 24MP files rendered by the a9 iii).
With the price of a new a-1 having recently dropped $1500.00 to $4,998.00, the decision for new Sony buyers is a very tough one. The a-1 II sells new for 6,498.00. And the price of used a-1 bodies will continue to drop (but not as much as I had thought before using the a-1 ii).
If you do purchase an a-1 ii, be sure to use one of my two affiliate links so that you will receive my a-1 ii settings (in the form of a CAMSETii.DAT file), the Buttons and Dials Guide, and an INFO sheet. Folks who do not purchase their new a-i using my B&H link or from Bedfords here and entering the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout will be able to purchase the a-1 ii guide for $227.43. If you are at all confused and do not want to screw up your order, please get in touch via e-mail.
What’s Up?
Today is Sunday 22 December. Bob Eastman and I will be heading down to the lake at 6:45am despite the fact that the forecast is identical to yesterday’s: sunny with a NW wind. Whatever you choose to do, we hope that like us, you opt to be happy and have fun.
ps: Bob will be going down a bit early to put out the 200-pound road-killed Wild Boar that is currently residing in the back of his truck!
Please remember to use the B&H links that are found on most blog pages and to use the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout when purchasing your new gear from Bedfords to get 3% back on your credit card and enjoy free second-day air FedEx. Please, also, consider joining a BAA IPT. You will be amazed at how much you will learn!
If an item — a Delkin flash card, or a tripod head — for example, that is available from B&H and/or Bedfords, is also available in the BAA Online Store, it would be great, and greatly appreciated, if you would opt to purchase from us. We will match any price. Please remember also to use my B&H affiliate links or to earn 3% cash back at Bedfords by using the BIRDSASART discount code at checkout for your major gear purchases. Doing either often earns you free guides and/or discounts. And always earns my great appreciation.
Supporting My Efforts Here
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, are all set for gear, or live overseas, consider leaving a BAA Blog Thank You Gift here.
If you enjoy and learn from the blog, please consider using one of my affiliate links when purchasing new gear. It will never cost you a single penny. To support my effort here, please order from B&H by beginning your search here. Or, click here, to order from Bedfords and enter the discount code BIRDSASART at checkout to receive 3% cash back to your credit card and enjoy free Second-Day Air Fed-Ex shipping. It is always best to write for advice via e-mail.
In many cases, I can help you save some serious dollars. And/or prevent you from purchasing the wrong gear from the wrong shop.
This image was created on 21 December 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Seated in the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and the top-of-the-line Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +1.0 stop. AUTO ISO set ISO 3200: 1/500 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open). When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 7:06:38am about 10 minutes before sunrise.
Tracking: Spot XS with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version.
Image #1: Snowy Egret foraging
The First Series
The images of this Snowy Egret foraging in the soft pre-dawn light surprised me. I tried Tracking: Spot XS for the first time and it grabbed and tracked the eye perfectly through the entire sequence. The reflection of the pink sky to the west was not as evident in the RAW file but the color was in the RAW file waiting to be juiced up during the post processing. I did need to Update Adobe Camera Raw to v17.1 in order to convert the RAW files. That was easy-peasy.
This image was also created on 21 December 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Again, seated in the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens (at 493mm) and the top-of-the-line Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2500: 1/2500 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 7:48:54am on a mostly sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be 1/6 stop short of perfect.
Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed just fine. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version.
Image #2: Black Vulture landing away in wind against sun conditions
Wind-Against-Sun Ramifications
With the sun behind you and the wind in your face, most birds will be landing directly away from you. At times, as here for me, the back landing shots may have some merit.
This image was also created on 21 December 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Again, seated in the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the hand held <Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens (at 600mm) and the top-of-the-line Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2500: 1/2500 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 7:52:20am on a mostly sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect.
Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version.
Image #3: 1-year old Bald Eagle in gliding flight
Wrong Way Bird
When dozens of vultures that had been perched in the trees on both sides of the canal took flight, I said to Bob, “An eagle must have just flown by.” From the back seat, he pointed to east and said, “Here it comes!” The young eagle flew right at us pretty much right down sun angle. Yes, we took lots of images.
Image #3A: Tight crop of the 1-year old Bald Eagle in gliding flight image
a-1 ii Crop-ability
As with the predecessor a-1, sharp a-1 ii raw files stand up fabulously well to large crops.
This image was also created on 21 December 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Again, seated in the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens (at 600mm) and the top-of-the-line Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1000: 1/1600 second at f/9 (stopped down one stop) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:31:58am on a mostly sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect.
Tracking: Spot XS AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version.
Image #4: Sandhill Crane tight stretching far wing
Tracking: Spot XS Again
Again, Tracking: Spot XS performed superbly here, nailing and tracking the crane’s eye as it preened and then stretched. I stopped down one full stop here for some extra depth of field as we were very close to the subject, perhaps within 10 feet.
Sony 200-600
Notice that my Sony 600mm f/4 remained on the passenger seat protected by pillows and the 400mm f/2.8 was in the back of my SUV, also supported by pillows. On sunny days, it is hard to beat the versatility of the Sony 200-600 (despite the fact that/6.3 aperture at the long end). Five of today’s six featured images were made with the incredible Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens. If you are considering moving to Sony, a used a-1 with my settings and a 200-600 will have you making great images from Day 1.
This image was also created on 21 December 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Again, seated in the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens (at 600mm) and the top-of-the-line Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1000: 1/2500 second at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:34:22am on a mostly sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version.
Image #5: Cattle Egret non-breeding adult in flight
Flight AF Performance with the a-1 ii was as expected — quite excellent but not quite perfect. Tracking: (center) Zone nailed the eye of this Cattle Egret. More than 50% of the original pixels were cropped away during the image optimization. Working with the a-1 ii RAW files was a pleasure as I found the color natural and easy to work with.
This image was also created on 21 December 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Seated in the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 840mm) and the top-of-the-line Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +1.0 stop. AUTO ISO set ISO 2000: 1/2500 sec. at f/9 (wide open). When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be perfect (ho hum). AWB at 5:31:29pm (just minutes after sunset) on a partly cloudy evening. RawDigger showed the exposure to be 1/6 stop short of perfect.
Wide AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed just fine. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a larger, inexplicably sharper high-res version.
Image #6: Boat-tailed Grackles flying into roost at sunset
200-600 plus the 1.4X TC!
We had a gorgeous sunset with very few birds. A few days ago I discovered a nighttime grackle roost. I decided to experiment by adding the 1.4X TC and working at f/9. AF performance and image sharpness were both superb. Who knows? I might wind up with two a-1 ii bodies and zero a-1 bodies. Or not … Time will tell.
Typos
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