Which of today’s three featured images do you think is the strongest? Why?
What’s Up?
Conditions were perfect on Thursday morning: cloudy bright conditions with an 18 mph wind from the southeast. There was not much going on until about 9am when the tide began to ebb. Both Bob and I had some very good chances with Ospreys catching and carrying fish. Bob of course had three chances with pelicans attacking an Osprey and trying to steal its fish. I had none of those :-(. I need to stay closer to Mr. Eastman as he appears to be the Pelican Whisperer.
We stayed in on Thursday afternoon with clear skies and an east wind. On Friday morning the forecast was for a northwest wind and clear skies at sunrise followed by increasing cloudiness. I told Bob that we might have some good sunrise silhouette opportunities. We did. Things were pretty dead again until the tide began to recede. Once again, the Ospreys began fishing and catching. With the W/NW wind in our face and the North Jetty closed, even the cloudy skies did not help much. Just before we left, we were at the end of the jetty and had a decent chance with an Osprey carrying a fish right above us.
On Friday evening, Bob wanted to shoot the rising full moon. I hung out on the beach doing mostly Sanderlings until the moon rose. I think that I made some nice blurs … The moon was lovely when it got over the low clouds.
Today is Saturday 16 November 2024. Mr. Eastman and Mr. Morris will be at Sebastian Inlet well before sunrise as is usual.
This image was created on 13 November 2024 on the Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More Extended IPT. Standing at full height on the South Jetty I 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 via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +2.0 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 800: 1/30 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 6:46:05am on a then cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
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: Osprey with yellow-tailed menhaden
Shutter Priority — Please Do Not Tell Me That Real Photographers Must Use Manual Mode 100% of the Time
As folks who have joined me on an IPT and those who seriously study the blog or photo books in an effort to improve their bird photography know, I will go to Shutter Priority with Auto ISO at sunrise and sunset fairly often. The huge advantage is that it is far easier to make drastic changes in your settings than it is when working in manual model. See the details on that below the next image.
A Wild and Crazy Morning
At dawn on the mostly cloudy morning of Wednesday 13 November the inlet was alive with bait and diving birds. You could feel the energy. With a stiff wind from the east, the waves were breaking against the South Jetty rocks. Of today’s three featured images, this one best conveys the soft light and the chaotic action.
300mm f/2.8 G Lens vs 200-600 GM Lens
Though the 300mm f/2.8 G lens with the 2X TC is smaller and lighter and 1/3-stop faster than the 200-600, I prefer the latter for early mornings as it is more versatile. That versatility enabled me to zoom out to 415mm for Image #1. Had I been at 600mm with the 300/2X rig I would not have been able to get the whole bird in the frame. Zooming out is ideal for Sanderling flock blurs as well. Moments later I created Image #2 at 600mm (at the cost of only one click of ISO).
Though I’ve offered Bob Eastman the use of my 400mm f/2.8, he has opted to stick with his 200-600 for most of the trip; and he has been making many superb images with it. It proves my oft-stated point that folks with “only” a 200-600 can become excellent bird photographers in short order. With the announcement of the Sony a-1 II coming very soon, a-1 prices will plummet. It soon may be possible to get started with a used Sony a-1 and a new 200-600 GM for less than $5k!
A Guide to Pleasing Blurs
Learn everything there is to know about creating pleasingly blurred images in A Guide to Pleasing Blurs by Denise Ippolito and yours truly. This 20,585 word, 271 page PDF is illustrated with 144 different, exciting, and artistic images. The guide covers the basics of creating pleasingly blurred images, the factors that influence the degree of blurring, the use of filters in creating pleasing blurs, and a great variety of both in-the-field and Photoshop techniques that can be used to create pleasingly blurred images.
Artie and Denise teach you many different ways to move your lens during the exposure to create a variety of pleasingly blurred images of flowers and trees and water and landscapes. They will teach you to recognize situations where subject movement can be used to your advantage to create pan blurs, wind blurs, and moving water blurs. They will teach you to create zoom-blurs both in the field and during post-processing. Artie shares the techniques that he has used and developed for making blurred images of flocks of geese in flight at his beloved Bosque del Apache and Denise shares her flower blur magic as well as a variety of creative Photoshop techniques that she has developed.
With the advent of digital capture creating blurred images has become a great and inexpensive way to go out with your camera and have fun. And while many folks think that making successful blurred images is the result of being a sloppy photographer, nothing could be further from the truth. In “A Guide to Pleasing Blurs” Artie and Denise will help you to unleash your creative self.
This image was created on 13 November 2024 on the Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More Extended IPT. Standing at full height 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 One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation (EC) on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +2.0 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 10000: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 6:58:20am on a then sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
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: Brown Pelican adult in flight: downstroke
When Dealing with Vastly Different Shutter Speeds and Lighting Conditions, Working Faster and More Efficiently is Always Better
Twelve minutes after I created the Osprey blur, Image #1, above, the sun came out for a bit. The EC remained the same, +2.0 stops. All I needed to do was increase the shutter speed from 1/30 sec. at 1/2500 sec. So, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, 1/500, 1/1000, 1/2000 is six full stops, plus another 1/3 stop to get to 1/2500 sec. makes 6 1/3 stops. That means nineteen 1/3-stop clicks to increase the shutter speed from 1/30 to 1/2500 sec. That takes about 2.5 seconds. I did not have to manually change the ISO from 800 to 10,000 as AUTO ISO took care of that instantly.
Had I been working in Manual mode I would have needed 19 clicks to increase the shutter speed as needed, and then would have needed to raise the ISO from 800 to 10,0000! That would have taken about eleven 1/3 stop clicks plus the time needed to check the exposure. From Image #2 to Image #3 was even easier. I simply changed the EC from +2.0 stops to +1.0 stops. Everything else remained the same so that took perhaps one-half second. Having to change only one exposure parameter is always better than having to change two. And having to change only two exposure parameters is always better than having to change three.
Yes, you need to have a good understanding of exposure theory in order to set the correct EC, but that is also true when shooting in Manual mode. In and around sunrise and sunset Shutter Priority mode enables you to work quickly and efficiently no matter which way you are pointing your lens. The best way to learn Exposure Theory is to study and master the principles in the chapter on Exposure in The Art of Bird Photography.
A New Photoshop Trick!
It is a given that fine detail at ISO 10,000 will be lacking. When enlarged in Photoshop, the face and the bill of the pelican were total mush. So I tried something new and was very happy with the result. I will be sharing this technique and tons more new Photoshop stuff in Volume II of the Digital Basics III Video Series. You can expect to see the first offering in early to mid-December.
This image was created on 13 November 2024 on the Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More extended IPT. Standing at full height 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 One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Shutter Priority +1.0 stop. AUTO ISO set ISO 320: 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open). AWB at 7:08:57 am as the rising sun hit the light clouds to the east. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead 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 diving at sunrise
Sometimes, Everything Falls Perfectly Into Place
I set the exposure for the brightly colored sky nearest to the sun. I did not want to include the sun in the frame as that creates an exposure nightmare. When the pelicans dove in just the right spot, Tracking: Zone AF-C handled this contrasty situation with ease. At times, prayers are answered.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
If you are thinking of purchasing a Sony a-1 II soon, do not pre-order one. Wait till I can supply a link so that you can earn a free setting guide when and if I purchase one.
Thanks!
Thanks for all the erudite comments on the last blog post. That would be none, to be exact 🙂
What’s Up?
After two pretty good (but too warm for November!) days. Wednesday morning at the inlet was insane not to mention the breezy, cool fall weather. Dozens of pelicans and Ospreys dove for fish almost non-stop for an hour. The photography was so good that I was giddy with excitement. With one huge dark cloud on the eastern horizon, I opted for the 200-600/a-1 combo so that I could do blurs at first and then go for sharp when the sun came out. It was an in and out morning of sun and clouds. Thank the lord for Sony Zebra technology. I still have room for one more at the AirBnB in Sebastian. As the weather has cooled, the Osprey action should continue to heat up. I am looking forward to Steve and Elisabeth Shore’s arrival this coming Sunday.
There is a single opening on the first Homer Bald Eagle IPT (flight photography until you cannot lift your lens any longer) this coming February along with two days of songbird set-up photography at a private home in Anchor Point, AK before the Eagle IPT. The songbird feeder sessions are $500/day. I am offering a substantial discount on the IPT to the person who wishes to do seven great days of photography and learning in a gorgeous winter setting. Scroll down for complete details. Please contact me via e-mail or try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up 🙂
Today is Thursday 14 November 2024. As John Johnson headed back to Naples after the thrilling morning session yesterday, Bob Eastman and I will be headed back to the state park for our 17th straight early morning of photography, learning, fun, and friendship.
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
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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 February 2024 at Anchor Point, AK. I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 420mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 1600. 1/1000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 10:54:48am on a cloudy morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: Pine Grosbeaks — male and female on spruce bough with cones
Pine Grosbeak
This species is the star attraction at the feeders. In most years, they are relatively abundant. In 2024, I did not bring my 600mm f/4 to Homer and did 90% of my photography with the Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM lens. I used the bare lens for most of the eagle flight photography — it was perfect. For eagle head portraits and at the feeders, I added either teleconverter for a fast, lightweight, hand holdable rig that allowed me to get into position quickly and easily.
I’ve been getting some great stuff with the hand held 300mm and the 2X TC in the very difficult wind-against-sun afternoon sessions at Sebastian.
This image was created on 22 February 2024 at Anchor Point, AK. I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (at 600mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 1250. 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 9:33:40am on a partly sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Pine Grosbeak female with berries
Bingo
With permission from our host, I stuck a small branch with a cluster of mountain ash berries in the snow and crouched down when a female arrived to chow down. As the sun had popped out for just a minute, I was able to get right on sun angle and create a fine series of images. Folks working on a tripod were D-E-A-D dead!
Those who did not use my link to purchase their Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM lens, can order their 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 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.
This image was created on 22 February 2024 at Anchor Point, AK. I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (at 600mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 500. 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be perfect. AWB at 11:06:36am on a cloudy bright morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Red-breasted Nuthatch on spruce bough with cones
Both Nuthatches
Both Red-breasted and White-breasted Nuthatches visit the feeders in most years. I still am trying for a good white-breasted image. Image #3 is my only and thus best ever red-breasted photo. They are fast buggers.
This image was created on 22 February 2024 at Anchor Point, AK. I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (at 600mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 1250. 1/1600 sec. at f/8 (stopped down 1 stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be perfect. AWB at 2:54:56pm on a cloudy bright morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #4: Red Crossbill immature male on spruce cone
Both Crossbills
Both Red and White-winged Crossbills come to see at Steve’s place in Anchor Point. I am hoping that both species are more plentiful in 2025 than they have been in the past. Chances of that are good as the two days are earlier than I’ve ever been.
This image was created on 22 February 2024 at Anchor Point, AK. I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (at 600mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 1600. 1/1600 sec. at f/6.3 (stopped down 1/3 stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be perfect. AWB at 3:33:58pm on a cloudy afternoon.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #5: Boreal Chickadee
Bringing the 600mm f/4 in 2025
I will be bringing my Sony 600mm f/4 lens just for this species. I plan on concentrating on this little speedster at both 840 and 1200mm.
This image was created on 22 February 2024 at Anchor Point, AK. I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (at 600mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 2000. 1/2500 sec. at f/6.3 (stopped down 1/3 stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dead solid perfect. AWB at 3:43:30pm on a cloudy afternoon.
Tracking: (upper right) Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Ornithologists and birders across the Northern Hemisphere have long grappled with the question of how many species of redpolls —- small, streaky finches with neat red caps —- exist. In its 2024 checklist update, the American Ornithological Society provided a clear answer: the three redpoll species previously recognized by the AOS -— Common, Hoary, and Lesser Redpoll (of Europe) —- are now a single species, known simply as Redpoll.
Hoary Redpoll was formerly the frosty white version. Follow the link above to check out the interesting scientific backstory on the new species, Redpoll.
No Homer IPT Price Increase!
Despite that fact that the hourly boat fee has been increased by 33%, I have decided not to raise the price of the 2025 Homer IPTs. Note that similar trips with 40% less time on the boat cost $5800!
2025 Homer/Kachemak Bay Bald Eagle IPTs
IPT #1: FRI 14 FEB 2025 through the full day on TUES 18 FEB 2025. Five days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers/Openings 1.
IPT #2: WED 19 FEB 2025 through the full day on SUN 23 FEB 2025. Five days/20 hours on the boat: $5500.00. Limit 5 photographers/Sold Out.
Adding two days of songbird set-up photography ($500/day) at a private home in Anchor Point, AK before the first Bald Eagle IPT will earn you a substantial discount IPT #1 . If you’d like to do seven great days of photography and learning in a gorgeous winter setting, please contact me via e-mail or try me on my cell at 863-221-2372. Please leave a message and shoot me a text if I do not pick up 🙂
This trip features non-stop flight photography as well as many opportunities to create both environmental and point-blank portraits of one of North America’s most sought-after avian subjects: Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus). Other reliable subjects will include Sea Otter, Glaucous-winged and Short-billed (formerly Mew) Gulls.
In addition, we should see Common Murre, Black Guillemot, Pelagic Cormorant, two or three species of loons, and a smattering of ducks including two species of merganser, all three scoters, Common and Barrow’s Goldeneyes, Bufflehead, Harlequin, and Long-tailed Ducks. Close-range photographic chances for these species will require some good luck. Some of these species, especially when in flocks, can, however, often be used effectively when pleasing creating bird-scapes.
If we need to be out early, we will be the first boat out. If the conditions are great, we will stay out. And when there is a chance for sunset silhouettes, we will be in the right spot.
We will be traveling through gorgeous wilderness country; landscape and scenic opportunities abound.
Also featured is a professional leader, often referred to as the world’s most knowledgeable bird photography trip leader and instructor. He is conversant in Canon, Nikon, and Sony. You will learn practical and creative solutions to everyday photographic problems. You will learn to see the shot, to create dynamic images by fine-tuning your compositions, to best utilize your camera’s AF system, and how to analyze the wind, the sky conditions, and the direction and quality of the light. This is one of the very few trips Homer trips available where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun. You will learn to be a better photographer.
All images from Kachemak Bay in 2022!
What You Will Learn
You will learn practical and creative solutions to everyday photographic problems. You will learn to see the shot, to create dynamic images by fine-tuning your compositions, to best utilize your camera’s AF system, and how to analyze the wind, the sky conditions, and the direction and quality of the light. This is one of the very few trips Homer trips available where you will not be simply put on the birds and told to have fun. You will learn to be a better photographer.
You will learn to get the right exposure when it is sunny, when it cloudy-bright, when it is cloudy, when it is cloudy-dark, or when it is foggy. Not to mention getting the right exposure when creating silhouettes. You will learn to make pleasing blurs working in manual mode and to create silhouettes working in Shutter Priority mode. Most importantly, you will learn to pick your best flight photographs from tens of thousands of images.
You will enjoy working with the best and most creative boat captain on his sturdy, photography-spacious, seaworthy, open-deck watercraft.
There will be only five photographers (not the usual six), plus the leader.
Small group Photoshop, Image Review, and Image Critiquing sessions.
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All images from Homer or Kachemak Bay, AK
What’s Included
One four hour or two two-hour boat trips every day (weather permitting), all boat fees and boat-related expenses (excluding tips), ground transportation to and from the dock and back to the hotel each day, in-the-field instruction and guidance, pre-trip gear advice, small group post-processing and image review sessions, and a thank you dinner for all well-behaved participants.
What’s Not Included
Your airfare to and from Homer, AK (via Anchorage), the cost of your room at Land’s End Resort, all personal items, all meals and beverages, and tips for the boat captain and/or the first mate.
Important Notes
We toss frozen herring chunks to bring the eagles into photographic range. The late Jean Keene, the Eagle Lady, fed the eagles in Homer for many decades and brought the population back from the brink of extinction.
On great days, the group may wish to photograph for more than four hours. If the total time on the boat exceeds 20 hours for the five-day trips the group will share the additional expense at a rate of $300.00/hour. The leader will pay for the bait.
Some folks may wish to rent their own vehicle to take advantage of local photographic opportunities around Homer. In 2024 those included Moose, Sea Otter, a variety of sea ducks in the harbor, and Great Grey and Short-eared Owl.
Deposit Information
A $3000 non-refundable deposit/trip is required. You may pay your deposit with credit card or by personal check (the latter made out to BIRDS AS ART) and sent via US mail only to Arthur Morris. PO Box 7245. Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Your balance, due 90 days before the date of departure, is payable only by check.
In Closing
I have been going to Homer off and on for close to two decades. Every trip has been nothing short of fantastic. Many folks go in mid-March. The earlier you go, the better the chances for snow. The only way to assure that you are on the best of these two trips is to sign up for both of them. If you have any questions, or are good to go for one or both of these great trips, please let me know via e-mail or give me a call on my cell phone at 863-221-2372.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
John Johnson drove up from Naples to spend three days at the inlet with Bob Eastman and me. Monday morning was like August in Florida. It was hot and still (with no-see-ums!). We worked the northwest pool and had a very few good chances. The South Jetty was not a whole lot better but for a Wood Stork that had grabbed a fairly large fish and had a hard time swallowing it. JJ and I got some good ones while the rest of the photographers there ignored the action despite the fact that the sky was empty of Ospreys.
I have one room available from now until we head home on 23 November. Join us! Scroll down for details.
We showed some good patience with the Ospreys and after as while, I pointed to the water about 100 yards away and said, “You never know, at any moment, an Osprey might hit the water right there, right down sun angle and come up with a big Yellow-tailed Menhaden. Less than two minutes later that is exactly what happened and we all got some really nice images.
How hot was it? John Johnson’s Canon EOS R5 II overheated right after the Osprey with the bunker departed the scene. I had Jim deliver some fresh fish on his way home on Friday so we enjoyed fresh seared tuna on Sunday night and three spot flounder fillets on Monday.
Both afternoons were challenging with sunny skies and an east wind, classic wind against sun conditions. I took a walk down the beach and came up with some nice images of an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull. We have been seeing the Sabine’s Gull on both our morning and afternoon sessions.
Today is Tuesday 12 November and we will be leaving for the state park at 5:45am sharp.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #1: Osprey with talons outstretched
No Memory
When a four-frame sequence including this one popped up in Photo Mechanic, I had no memory of getting on the bird in time to get the outstretched talon pose. I mis-framed a few of the bird trying to lift the fish out of the water and then got back on it as it flew to my left. See the next image for the best of that series.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #2: Osprey with summer flounder
Two Seconds Later
I kept seventeen from the 70+ frame sequence of the Osprey leaving with the flatfish. I had three that I really liked and picked this one out of the proverbial hat.
Give Me One Good Chance
I visited Sebastian Inlet for the first time on 27 October 2019. It was cloudy bright and the Ospreys were diving and catching fish one after another. Right in front of me. I figured, “Wow, this place is amazing.”
Over the years, I have come to realize that that day was the exception to the rule. The inlet is long and wide. The Northwest Pool is perhaps 350 X 250 yards. Even when the birds are diving and catching, chances of your being in the exact right spot on a sunny day are slim.
Thus my Sebastian Mantra: Give me one good chance every morning. That meant when that chance comes up, you need to be concentrating and have the right exposure.
Do not click on the composite image; simply scroll down for the best viewing.
While Sebastian Inlet is justifiably famous around the world for the Ospreys diving for migrating saltwater fish each fall, there are a variety of desirable avian subjects there as well in October and November. Keep reading if you would like to join me on what will surely be a memorable photographic and learning experience.
Pick Your Own Dates Short-notice Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More BAA Personalized Instructional Workshops
Ridiculously Inexpensive!
Dates: October 29 (arrive on the afternoon of Monday the 28th) thru the morning session on Saturday 22 November
As BIRDS AS ART lost more than $100,000 in tax year 2023, I am moving forward looking more at sharing expenses than at making money. Simply put, for more reasons than I will list here, sharing an AirBnB or VRBO place maximizes learning while reducing your overall travel costs.
Consider joining me at Sebastian Inlet o weeks for some great bird photography and a ton of learning. Life is short; what are you waiting for? While a 600mm f/4 lens is ideal, you could do the whole trip with a variety of other lenses including a 500mm f/4, a 400mm f/2.8, a 400mm DO, a 200-600, a 100-500, a 300mm f/2.8 with TCs, or one of the great new Nikon Z telephoto or telephoto zoom lenses.
Bob Eastman drove down from Wisconsin to join me for all 26 days, from 28 OCT thru the morning session on 22 NOV, prime time for Ospreys diving and catching a variety of saltwater fish. There are four bedrooms in this great AirBnB property that is just 22 minutes from the south jetty at the State Park, 24 minutes from the northwest pool where the Ospreys spent a lot of time last year. Please note that NOV 21-22 are sold out.
Fly to Melbourne (MEL) or Orlando (MCO) and rent a car. Local folks who would like to arrange a morning or two of In-the-Field Instruction during November should get in touch via e-mail.
Here, if you stay in the AirBnB with me, are the ridiculous low rates for the in-the-field sessions (that include the daily Image Review and Photoshop sessions).
$250 for a morning session
$150 for an afternoon session.
Brunch and dinners at the AirBnB will cost you $20/day.
If you are interested, let me know your preferred dates via e-mail and I will get back to you with the per/night price for the lodging.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Huge thanks to Allan Warner of Seattle, WA for his very generous BAA Blog Thank You Gift! Allan, it is greatly appreciated that you appreciate my effort here. Lots of love your way. artie
Still Room at the Inn
If you would like to join Bob Eastman and me at Sebastian Inlet for some great bird photography, please get in touch via e-mail or call or message me on my cell at 863-221-2372.We will be here until the morning of 23 November.
What’s Up?
As Roseane Rosannada intoned weekly on Saturday Night Live, “It’s always something.” On Friday morning, it was cherished top shots of the Sabine’s Gull for David Pugsley and me. On Saturday morning, multiple IPT veteran Sandra Calderbank joined David and Bob Eastman and me for what turned out to be yet another wonderful morning. We had an Osprey grab a summer flounder right in front of us as the sun shone briefly. And when it clouded over, an American Avocet and an adult Lesser Black-backed Gull joined the usual cast of low tide characters for more than an hour. Everyone got some great images of the two uncommon species bathing.
Today is Sunday 10 November. All but Sandy will be headed early to Sebastian Inlet to see what the avian photography gods have planned for us. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, we hope that you too choose to have a wonderful day.
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.
Gilda Radner
As a cast member on the original Saturday Night Live, beloved comedienne, the late Gilda Radner, created a compelling character named “Roseanne Rosannadanna” who habitually ended her routine with the line, “It’s always something.” It was her father’s favorite expression about life.
RRS TVC-33 Versa MK2 Tripod Series 3 (3 leg sections)
Used Gear Page regular Stephen Zarate is offering a Really Right Stuff TVC-33 Versa Mark II Series (heavy duty) Tripod in excellent plus condition for a very low $740.00. The sale includes a set of LensCoat leg covers, the hex wrench that came with the tripod, and insured ground shipping via UPS to lower-48 US addresses only.
The VERSA MK2 Tripods merge rugged construction with flexibility; they are dependable companions for outdoor photographic adventurists who value versatility in their gear. This one sells new for $1140.00. RRS
Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro
Used Gear Page regular Stephen Zarate is offering a Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro tripod head in excellent plus condition for a very low $449.00. The sale includes the original box and insured ground shipping via UPS to lower-48 US addresses only.
The Levered-clamp FlexShooter Pro is a ball head that acts like a gimbal. Incredibly counter-balanced, there is no ball head flop. Ever. I use this head pretty much every day with the 600mm f4 lens both for general bird photography and for flight and action. They sell new everywhere for $699.00. Learn more by watching the video here. artie
Used Gear Page regular Dennis Westover is offering a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8GII ED lens in excellent condition and a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens, also in excellent condition for a silly low price of $829.00 for the pair. The 70-200 sale includes the front and rear lens cap, the original cordura case, the lens shade, and a RRS tripod foot. The 50mm lens sale includes the front and rear lens cap, the original box, and the lens shade. And the sale includes insured ground shipping via major courier to lower 48 U.S addresses only. Your items will not ship until your check clears unless other arrangements are made.
Please contact Dennis via e-mail or by phone at 1-206-605-0404 (Pacific time).
The two lenses in this package sell new for $2,503.90. Grab Dennis’ package for only $829.00 and save a handsome $1674.90.
The 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses are incredibly versatile. They are great for birds and wildlife, frogs and turtles and snakes, people, and scenics. This one does well with any teleconverter. Nikon’s version is a sharp, versatile, and durable telephoto zoom lens with a fast constant maximum aperture, useful in lowlight situations. A workhorse of a lens used by professionals and amateurs alike it is ideal for photojournalism, sports, and wildlife photography and is effective for almost all telephoto applications, including portraiture.
The 50mm pairs a normal field of view with an especially bright design. It is a versatile prime, well-suited for a wide range of subject matter. Characterized by its fast f/1.4 maximum aperture, this lens is adept in difficult lighting conditions and also excels at isolating subjects using selective focus and shallow depth of field techniques. A Super Integrated Coating enhances contrast and color accuracy by reducing flare and ghosting, and the rounded nine-blade diaphragm contributes a smooth, pleasing bokeh quality. Additionally, a Silent Wave Motor provides fast, quiet, and accurate autofocus performance along with full-time manual focus override. artie & B&H
Thanks, Fred!
If you are old enough to remember this one, leave a comment and share any relevant memories. I remember only that it was a very long time ago. “Seven Little Girls Sitting in the Back Seat” was written by Bob Hilliard and Lee Pockriss. It was recorded by Paul Evans in 1959 and rose to #9 on the US charts. I was 12 years old. I probably identified with the driver at that time.
Image #1: Atlantic Ocean — breaking waves and barrier beach
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Fred Vaughn
New Trick Thanks to Fred Vaughn
I first met Fred Vaughn at Stick Marsh a few years back. We’ve always chatted and he has always been quick to share some helpful tips with me. I, of course, have reciprocated whenever possible. In the predawn, on the morning of 4 November, I was trying for Sanderling flock blurs at the base of the North Jetty. Fred was a bit father out on the jetting with a short lens. I wondered what he was doing. When the shorebirds flock flew off to the north, I moseyed out toward Fred and asked him what he was up to. “One second pan blurs,” he said. And showed me a few on the back of his R5. There were some real beauties. I have done lots of wave blurs at shutter speeds as slow as 1/6 second, one second was a whole new ballgame for me. I was very intrigued by the dreamy look of his images and decided to try a few even though I had a much longer zoom lens than he was using, 200-600 as compared to 24-105mm. But one second is one second.
This image was created on 4 November by yours truly on a Sebastian Inlet Extended IPT. I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 200mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 50. 1 second at f/10 (stopped down 1 1-3 stops) in Manual Mode. AWB at 6:31:59am, right about the time of sunrise with the usual big dark clouds to the east. RawDigger showed the exposure to be perfect.
Tracking: (lower center) Expand Spot with Bird Face/Eye Detection enabled performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Atlantic Ocean, breaking waves
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
Reaching One Second with the Sony a-1
In Electronic Shutter, the lowest possible shutter speed is 0.5 (one-half) second. To get to slower shutter speeds, you need to switch to Mechanical Shutter button. I did that with a conveniently pre-programmed button, set one second as the shutter speed, and worked on the exposure. I needed to set f/8 as wide open at ISO 50 was showing a big over-exposure. I made about 20 images panning slowly with the braking waves. 19 were immediately sent to the trash bin. I immediately saw the potential with Image #2, above, but with the raw file properly exposed to the right, I knew that I’d be able to bring up that wonderful colors that I had seen during the image conversion and optimization processes.
This image was created on 6 November 2024 by yours truly on a Sebastian Inlet Extended IPT. I used the handheld peashooter rig, the Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 98mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 50: 1 second at f/8 (stopped down two stops) in Manual mode. AWB at 6:38:56am just after the time of sunrise with the usual big dark clouds to the east.
Tracking: (lower center) Expand Spot with Bird Face/Eye Detection enabled performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Atlantic Ocean — breaking wave, barrier beach, and dunes
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART
A Wider Vision
Two days later, knowing that I wanted a wider image that included some beach and the dunes, I returned early with the peashooter rig that got me to 98 mm at the short end. Again, I worked at ISO 50, set the ISO to expose well to the right, and panned as best as I could with the waves. Same result; all but one of the images were pure trash. Only Image #3 survived the first edit. Huge thanks to Fred Vaughn for opening up this old dog’s eyes to the one second shutter speed pan blur technique.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Sebastian Inlet is on fire. On Wednesday morning, Bob Eastman and I enjoyed a huge feeding spree with the pelicans, terns, and Ospreys diving on bait for hours. On Thursday morning, the action shifted to the end of the (soon-to-be-closed-for-nine-months) North Jetty. The added bonus was a juvenile Sabine’s Gull, insanely rare for Florida. I had seen one before when I was living on Staten Island. I was birding the harbor at Great Kills Park the day after Thanksgiving, probably around 1980.
Today is Friday 8 November 2024. David Pugsley and wife Michelle arrived at the AiBnB and will be joining us for a morning session at Sebastian Inlet. We will be leaving at 5:30am. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, we hope that you too choose to have a wondrous day.
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.
The Osprey and the Thieving Brown Pelican/A Fabulous Story-telling Photo Sequence by My Friend, Bob Eastman
Kudos to friend Bob Eastman for being a great student, getting the shutter speed and the exposure right, and blasting away when he recognized a great situation. The 150+ frame sequence was created in 12 seconds. That meant that he was off the shutter button about half the time, taking care to assure accurate focus. Note that Images 5,6,7, and 8 were all created within a single second. And that Image 9, 10, and 11 were created in the next single second.
It just shows to go you what someone with “just” an a-1 and the Sony 200-600 can accomplish in short order with their camera set up properly and a bit of competent instruction. All raw conversions and image optimizations by Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.
Bob is currently using my CAMST202.DAT setting on his a-1 with the firmware updated to 2.02. As I recommend, he has made a few changes to my settings to best reflect his personal shooting style.
It’s Safe to go in the Water Now
Sony a-1 Firmware Update Update
Last spring, Sony announced firmware update v2.00 for the a-1, its flagship camera body. In short order the firmware story became an embarrassing fiasco. Over time, the announced v2.01 that caused terrible problems with the camera was used with the hugely popular 200-600 G lens. After some time, they released v2.02. About six weeks ago, with some trepidation, I purchased a used a-1 and updated it to v.2.01, and then to 2.02. I am happy to report that it is now possible to go back into the water.
The last update, v2.02, offers some great stuff for bird photographers.
v.2.02 Benefits
Battery life with 2.02 is fine. There are no issues with the 200-600 G lens. Bird Face-Eye AF is significantly improved. Formatting a card takes about two seconds as compared to 10 seconds or more with previous firmware versions. But the very best news is a brand new feature called Focus Recall. Huge thanks to Arash Hazeghi for pointing it out to me as we worked on an update to the Sony a-1 (a9 iii) flight guide. I took what he taught me about programming Preset Focus/Zoom to a single button for flight photography and turned it into what will surely turn out to be a huge game-changer for general bird photography.
I call it “double button focus recall.” I programmed two easy-to-reach (previously unassigned) buttons to PRESET Focus Distance. I can then register a close focusing distance to one button and a far focusing distance to the other. A tap of either button instantly brings me to either as needed.
Here is a practical, real life example. I am walking out on the pier. There are some very tame Turkey Vultures and a Limpkin perched on the railing. As I slowly approach the birds, I focus on the nearest one and then press and hold the near-focus button. Th camera registers the focus distance my current close focus distance. I might or might not create a few images. Before continuing my approach, however, I take a moment to focus on the end of the pier and this time I press and hold the far focus button. That becomes my far focus distance. Then I tap the close focus button for the birds on the railings and go to work.
I glance up and see an Osprey carrying a large Crappie in its talons flying over the end of the pier. I tap the AEL button to get to my pre-registered far focusing distance. The AF system will have a relatively easy time of seeing the subject. And once the bird is framed, initial focusing acquisition will be virtually instantaneous. Had the AF system been left at the close focusing distance (while working the birds on the pier railing), there is a good chance that the system would have been temporarily blind when I attempted to acquire focus on the Osprey in flight.
Understand that neither the close nor the far focusing distances need to be anywhere near precise. As long as the AF system is in the general neighborhood (as far as focusing distance is concerned), it will not struggle to acquire focus. Once the Osprey flies by, Artie simply taps the AF-On button to instantly get back to the approximate focusing distance for the birds on the railing.
Yesterday I sent the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Notes e-Mail J (23 OCT 2024) Firmware Update Update item to the entire group; it began like this:
Dear a1 Gang,
I hope that all of you are well, having fun, and making some great images. Big time thanks and congrats to the twenty folks in the group who have gotten my v2.02 settings onto their a-1 bodies. Many of them helped by letting me know of typos and other errors in the two instructional e-mails. After ten full days or working every morning with my v2.02 Firmware a-1, the 600mm f/4, and the 300mm f/2.8 (each with either TC), I can wholeheartedly recommend that most everyone with an a-1 would be best to update to Firmware v2.02.
If you are a member of the a-1 group and have not received e-Mail J, please e-mail me with your current and correct e-mail address 🙂
a-1 Group members can receive the two e-mails by sending a PayPal for $50.00 (with the words a-1 v2.021/v2.02 Firmware updates in the Subject line) to birdsasart@verizon.net or by calling the office at 863-692-0906 with a credit card to pay the $50.00.
If you are not a member of my a-1 group and would like to update your camera body and get all of my current setting on it, you will need to either send a PayPal for $125.00 (with the words a-1 v2.021/v2.02 Firmware updates in the Subject line) to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 with a credit card to pay the $125.00.
All of the images in today’s blog post were created with my v2.02 CAMST202.DAT settings on Bob’s a-i mirrorless camera body.
This image was created on 3 November by Bob Eastman on the very extended Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More IPT. 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 640. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:48:37am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Set (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: Osprey mantling prey, in this case, a menhaden
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Dive and Capture
When an Osprey dives and secures a fish in its talons, it will often mantle its prey, protecting its catch from other Ospreys, gulls, and pelicans. In addition, I believe that they are taking a brief rest before attempting to lift the fish out of the water
This image was created on 3 November by Bob Eastman on the very extended Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More IPT. 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 640. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:48:40am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Set (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: Osprey lifting fish out of the water
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Liftoff
Note that the bird has turned to face into the east wind; that to provide additional lift so to successfully get out of the water with the fish.
This image was created on 3 November by Bob Eastman on the very extended Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More IPT. 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 640. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:48:40am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Set (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: Osprey struggling to lift fish out of water
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
The Fish is Winning
As the Osprey had trouble getting airborne despite the frantic flapping of its wings, it settled on the water again, in part to rest. The fish is struggling to escape and is pulling the Osprey down.
This image was created on 3 November by Bob Eastman on the very extended Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More IPT. 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 640. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:48:44am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Set (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: Osprey taking a break
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Rest Period
Nearly exhausted, the Osprey is taking a break to rest its weary wing muscles. Note that the Osprey’s tail is spread to increase its buoyancy. That too is getting very tired.
This image was created on 3 November by Bob Eastman on the very extended Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More IPT. 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 640. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:48:47am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Set (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: Osprey taking flight with menhaden in its talons
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Back in the Air
After its rest, the Osprey again was able to take flight with its catch, a Yellow-tailed Menhaden. Bob thought that the bird was in the clear.
This image was created on 3 November by Bob Eastman on the very extended Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More IPT. 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 640. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:48:47am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Set (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: Brown Pelican joins the fray
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Trouble in Paradise
Suddenly, an adult Brown Pelican swooped in from the north with its eyes on the prize, the Osprey’s catch. Kudos to Bob for keeping the shutter button down. “When unexpected action happens, press the shutter button and keep it pressed until the action is over.
This image was created on 3 November by Bob Eastman on the very extended Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More IPT. 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 640. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:48:47am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Set (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #7: The moment of truth!
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
The Moment of Truth
I opted to optimize all of Bob’s fabulous images from this series as a partial thanks for flopping the door on my clothes dryer and for doing 100% of the driving. After processing the other ten photos here on Tuesday, I decided to add this one on Thursday. The problem was that the right side of the Osprey’s face was shaded by its right wing and what we can see of the pelican’s bill and bill pouch were totally in the dark, being shaded by the Osprey. It is possible that I might be considered for a Nobel Prize for Image Processing for this one. The optimized image is, of course, another huge a-1 crop. Kudos to Bob and to Sony. And me 🙂
This image was created on 3 November by Bob Eastman on the very extended Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More IPT. 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 640. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:48:47am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Set (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #8: Brown Pelican first grabs the fish
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
The Bunker in the Pelican’s Bill
Mossbunker, or bunker, is a term for all species of Menhaden. In Image #7, the attacking pelican is just getting its bill onto the fish.
This image was created on 3 November by Bob Eastman on the very extended Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More IPT. 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 640. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:48:48am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Set (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #9: Brown Pelican has the fish!
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
The Pelican is Winning
At this point, the pelican has the fish firmly in its bill. And it looks as if the Osprey has released its grip on the fish by relaxing its talons.
#9A: Tight Crop of Brown Pelican Brown Pelican has the fish! image.
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Sony a-1 Crop-ability!
As you have been seeing here for several years, with 51 million pixels, sharp, properly exposed-to-the-right Sony a-1 raw files can stand up well to huge crops. What amazes me here is the width of the tip of the pelicans bill when the pouch is expanded. It looks as wide as the prow of a battleship!
This image was created on 3 November by Bob Eastman on the very extended Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More IPT. 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 640. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:48:48am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Set (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #10: The Osprey leaving the scene
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Over and Done
The pelican has the fish cross-wise firmly in its bill. And Osprey has given up.
This image was created on 3 November by Bob Eastman on the very extended Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More IPT. 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 640. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:48:48am on a sunny morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be dead solid perfect.
Tracking: Set (S) AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #11: The Brown Pelican eating the fish
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
Time to Go Fishing. Again
The Osprey is off to look for another bunker while the pelican is busy swallowing its meal.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
On Tuesday, Bob Eastman and I had another great morning at Sebastian. It was a dreary high ISO session, with a perfect wind from the southeast and as many as 50 Ospreys patrolling the inlet. They were doing lots of diving but not a lot of catching. As we headed home, I told Bob that I was sure that I had at least two really good Osprey images. I was right.
Today is Wednesday 6 November 2024. You guessed it; we will be heading back to the state park in the dark. Whatever you choose to do, we hope that you opt to have a great day too.
Bob Eastman is living proof of what is possible for someone with a Sony 200-600 and an a-1 body, their camera set up properly, and a bit of quality photographic instruction.
Tight Crop of Brown Pelican grabbing menhaden from Osprey
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Bob Eastman
I Got Three Eggs Over Easy
In the last blog post I wrote,
Sunday morning belonged to Bob Eastman. We were ready to give up and head back to our AirBnB for some eggs. Just as Bob started the car, we noticed five Ospreys in the air right in front of us. We hesitated. Two of the birds dove and each emerged with a fish. Bob was first to the rocks. As one of my a-1 bodies had gotten wet, I went to the trunk to grab my second a-1 body. When I could not find it, I grabbed an a9 iii and headed toward the action.
Bob said excitedly, I just got one emerging with a fish!” “Great!” I said, “There is no card in this camera.” I headed back to my SUV and grabbed the card out of my wet a-1.” When I got back to Bob, he was so excited that he could barely speak. An Osprey dove in front of him, just left of sun angle. The bird had caught a large bunker and was struggling to lift it out of the water. Bob fired away. Then an adult Brown Pelican dove on the Osprey and grabbed the fish. Bob kept firing. The two birds battled for the fish. The Osprey flew off fish-less. We reviewed the images. Bob had gotten several great ones. I got three eggs over easy.
The image above is a tight crop of one of Bob’s ten images that will appear in the next blog post, one that tells the whole story. Keep reading to learn about the life of a very special friend.
Bob Eastman in State Park Greeter mode
Bob Eastman and BIRDS AS ART
Bob Eastman began hanging around the blog in 2022. It was obvious to me that he was eager to learn photography. We e-mailed a lot and spoke a few times. Bob’s message was always the same: “I really want to learn from you. I am dreaming of getting to Alaska. I want to attend an IPT. But I do not fly. I am deathly scared of getting on an airplane.”
Skip ahead to February 18, 2023. Carolyn Johnson and I have just gotten off our flight from Seattle to Anchorage. A strange looking guy meets us at the top of the stairs that lead down to bag claim. He has a big smile on his face as he greets us, but his teeth are brown and yellow rotten and misshapen. “Howdy, artie!” he says, his voice very loud and 100% hillbilly, “I’m Bob Eastman.” Carolyn and I were taken aback. We each thought, “What have we gotten ourselves into?” Fortunately, Bob had had us fooled. He removed his fake rubber teeth and gave us each a big hug as we all laughed giddily.
“Bob,” I asked, what are you doing here? I thought that your plane was gonna crash.” “It almost did,” he said. “We were 30 minutes out of Seattle when the plane dropped 700 feet in seconds. Everyone not seated with their seatbelts fastened went flying. So did trays and drinks and everything else that was not tied down. I was sure that I was going to die. Once we resumed stable flight the pilot came on and explained that we had hit a pocket of dead air.”
The next day Bob drove every inch of the way from Anchorage to Homer. He turned out to be a super-nice guy. He was a great roommate. He can be zany. He is funny and laughs easily. He is enthusiastic about everything he does. He was very eager to learn. He did the first and the last Homer IPTs. He asked a thousand questions. I loaned him the SUV during the 2nd IPT, and he was off in search of owls and Moose and anything else he could find to photograph after dropping the group at the dock. And he was always there for us with a warm vehicle as we got off the boat. He drove every inch of the way back to Anchorage even though Monte Brown offered to drive several times. Neither of his return flights crashed. When he got back to Minneapolis, he faced a snowstorm and a six hour drive back to his home in Wisconsin. That wound up taking eight hours. At night. In the dark. Somewhat miraculously, he made it home safely.
A few months ago, I made him an offer he could not refuse. He committed to driving from Wisconsin to Indian Lake Estates, spending a few days at my home, and sharing a large AirBnb in Sebastian for 26 days of Osprey photography. We are a week in to the Sebastian Inlet gig, have been having a great time, and been making some great images. Bob does most of his bird photography with “just” an a-1 and the Sony 200-600. He has developed into an excellent photographer.
As I was giving him a tour of my home just after he arrived, I was complaining that the door of the dryer opened the “wrong” way, toward the wall in the laundry room. When I woke from my nap that day, Bob said, “I tried to do some laundry but had some problems with the dryer.” Bob, always the trickster, had flipped to door of the dryer so that it opened the “right” way. I was amazed and thrilled.
After you read Bob’s biography below, you may be surprised to learn that he is completely devoid of any bitterness despite the bad luck he has had for the past five or so decades. He is a skilled and knowledgeable outdoorsman. He loves life, loves photography, speaks of the time he spends outdoors with reverence, and cherishes every minute of every day. And best of all, he is my friend.
Bob Eastman in Zany Mode disguising himself as a Moose
The Happy Life of Hapless Bob Eastman
As told to Arthur Morris
Robert Allen Eastman was born on February 25, 1957, in Milwaukee, WI. At age five, he was on his bike chasing the ice cream wagon. After purchasing four fudgsicles, he was worried about them melting. He kept checking them out until he drove his bike right at the rear fin of a 1957 Cadillac. He split his head open ,and he arrived home bleeding profusely. He woke up two months later after being placed in a medically induced coma to reduce the swelling in his brain. Reading was a challenge , and he was unable to concentrate long on anything.
His family summered at a cottage on the Wisconsin River. His neighbor was washing out a portable cement mixer. Bob was seven. The neighbor was in his house when Bob spotted a shiny rock that he wanted. He stuck his hand in to grab it but fins inside the machine grabbed his coat and lifted him up and down as it spun. He screamed and the neighbor came out and pulled the plug. His right elbow was wrecked, his arm broken in several places. At the hospital, they put his arm in a cast and sent him home.
His parents threw him out at age 15. He got a job working in a pallet factory but was fired due to his age. By 16, he began using drugs including marijuana, cocaine, and acid. He had stolen a bicycle for transportation. When the cops came asking about the bike, Bob – realizing that his life was on a very bad path, told them that he had stolen the bike, told them about his stash, and told them that he needed help. They arrested him . He was placed in Lincoln Hills Juvenile Detention Center until he was 18.
He credits his stay at the center with turning his life around.
While he was there, a team of state doctors re-broke his cement-mixer damaged right arm and set it properly. The improvement was huge.
When he was released, he rented a cabin and got a job driving a forklift, loading trucks and trains on the docks. While trying to help a driver with his load, the forklift wound up on top of Bob. Six fellow workers lifted the 6,000-pound machine off him. He had fractured his right femur. When he could walk on the leg, he went to work in the shipping office.
Thursday night was taco night at Skyline Ski Resort. He ran into a rival from high school named Jerry. Both of them were drunk. Bob grabbed a girl’s car keys and went for a joyride with Jerry. Long story short, Bob wound up marrying Susan three months later.
They had three sons. Walking home through a park after having a drink with an old friend and turning down a ride, he was mugged and severely beaten by to men to the tune of three broken ribs and a bloodied face and head after he refused to give them his wallet with seven dollars in it. Bob got to his feet, broke the arm of one of his attackers, and spent several days in the hospital.
While camping with his wife in Tomahawk, WI, Bob began running a high fever and became delusional. They borrowed a car, got lost, and knocked on a farmer’s door. He came out with a pistol followed by his wife with a shotgun. They met the ambulance on the road. The EMTs put Bob on a gurney but neglected to strap him down. The lady EMT slipped and dropped the gurney. Bob fell off the gurney 75 feet down a steep slope into a cattail marsh. Bob was waist deep in mud and muck.
By the time the male EMT fished Bob out, he was incoherent and covered with mud and slime. His temperature was 105° F. His appendix –previously misdiagnosed by a family doctor, had ruptured. He underwent emergency surgery the next morning. Bob spent another two weeks in the hospital.
In the winter of 2005 Bob went ice-fishing. Alone. The temperature was 20° F. He broke through the ice and miraculously clawed his way out of the frigid water and tried to make his way back to his car, about 1-½ miles away. He almost made it, but collapsed 100 yards short to die. A passerby had seen Bob from the main road but kept on going. After ten miles, he made a U-turn as he felt that something just did not seem right. He saw that Bob, now covered in ice from head to toe and near death, was in dire need of help. He dragged Bob up to his car, pushed and pulled him into the back seat, and drove him 15 miles to the nearest emergency room at Hartford Memorial Hospital.
Bob was in the hospital for a week. Despite advanced hypothermia, he escaped relatively unscathed. Bob never saw the man again. “An angel,” he says.
When Bob was about 50, he was working at a tool and die machine shop in Flint, MI. On his way back to his apartment in Detroit, he got lost and wound up on the Windsor Bridge into Canada. He followed a small white van with a red cross on it into Canada. The van was pulled over by Canadian customs and so was Bob, It turned out that the guys in the van were carrying two million US dollars’ worth of cocaine. The agents incorrectly assumed that Bob was part of the drug convoy.
He was locked in a room for ten hours without access to a bathroom. He was questioned relentlessly. Bob kept protesting his innocence. He was finally released – without apology, the next day after the Mounties contacted his boss.
He lost that job in 2007 during the recession. Next , he was employed by Benz Metal Industries. He was running a water jet machine that can be used to cut anything. He was loading 55 pound bag of garnet valued at $11.00. When it slipped out of his hand, he grabbed at it. He fell face first onto a pallet of garnet bags. He dislocated his left shoulder and ruptured four spinal vertebrae in his neck. He told the boss who sent him to the doc. They did an MRI of his lower back and incredibly, missed his neck injuries. The MRI showed degenerative discs and a herniated disc in the lumbar region at L4. The doctor suggested physical therapy.
That caused excruciating pain in his neck. The therapist diagnosed a neck injury. Bob went back to see an orthopedic surgeon who recommended an MRI of the head and neck. That done, Bob was told not to move anything and to re-visit the surgeon. They tried cortisone injections and physical therapy. At that point, a Workers’ Compensation nurse become involved in the case. Things got worse and worse. Pain medication was prescribed: Vicodin, Oxycodone, and Hydrocodone, all nasty stuff.
After six months of increasing medication, the pain became worse. His right side began to go numb. He had no feeling in his right hand and could not button a shirt. They put Bob on a Fentanyl patch, 100 mcg every two days. Nothing helped. So, it was back to the surgeon. Bob agreed to anterior cervical neck fusion. Workmen’s Comp cut him off completely stating that his problem was from a pre-existing condition. They would not agree to pay for the surgery.
Bob continued to get worse and worse. His weight had dropped from 185 to 130 pounds. He went to an attorney who arranged Badger Care insurance through the state of Wisconsin. One and one-half years after his accident, the surgery was performed at The Orthopedic Medical Hospital at Milwaukee, WI.
After a tough recovery, Bob was back in physical therapy. Progress was very slow. Seven months after the surgery, he went back to light duty and computer work. No lifting.
Fasten your seatbelt.
Standing next to his boss in the shop, next to the water jet machine, a ten thousand pound steel plate, 5 X 20 feet long was hanging vertically, held by a grab claw and hoist. It was swinging inexorably toward Bob. His boss noticed it and shoved Bob out of the path of the plate. Bob fell backwards onto a pallet of steel plates . He landed on his butt.
He was taken by ambulance to the hospital where injuries to his lower back were diagnosed. After a year of failed physical therapy, three rods were surgically placed in his right hip at the SI joint, an “SI Fusion.” He walked out of the hospital that same day and felt great within a week. “That was my best surgery ever,” he told me recently at the Anchorage Airport after the Homer IPTs.
Another year of physical therapy followed so that Bob could adjust to everyday life while dealing with his neck and SI fusions. He has been out of work ever since his boss had tried to save him.
Bob had been an outdoor person since childhood and loves walking in nature. In 2011, right after the second injury, Bob purchased a Canon Elan 5 and a 70-300mm zoom lens and began carrying it on his walks. Another nature photographer was born.
In 2021, at age 64, while scouting for a good cliffside location from which to photograph the coming Fourth of July fireworks in Wisconsin Dells, Bob slipped and fell 30 feet down the 100-foot cliff until he got wedged between some rocks. Fishermen on the river called rescue, but they did not show up for an hour. Once they located Bob, they rappelled down the cliff, got Bob into a rescue basket, and lowered him down to the river where he was taken by boat to the Wisconsin Dells Dam and then by ambulance to Mauston Hospital. Just bruises and some pain, but no broken bones or serious injuries.
Bob returned a week later to photograph the fireworks display from a safe spot on a folding chair down by the river.
On February 14, 2022, Bob had his left shoulder replaced. It had been injured more than 14 years before when he dropped the $11.00 bag of garnet. The surgery was quite successful; and Bob gets around just fine now without any pain meds.
Bob says, “My life has been a journey, and it’s not over yet. I’m looking forward to the rest of it.”
Postscript: While Bob was in Homer, he often went out on his own looking for owls. He fell on the ice and re-injured his right arm. When he returned home, he had the arm x-rayed: he has an elongated stress fracture of his ulna. When the doctor examined the x-rays of his right arm he was floored; “What the hell happened to your elbow?”
The next blog post will feature ten of Bob’s Osprey/pelican interaction.
Which are the two strongest of today’s nine featured images? Why?
What’s Up
Sunday morning belonged to Bob Eastman. We were ready to give up and head back to our AirBnB for some eggs. Just as Bob started the car, we noticed five Ospreys in the air right in front of us. We hesitated. Two of the birds dove and each emerged with a fish. Bob was first to the rocks. As one of my a-1 bodies had gotten wet, I went to the trunk to grab my second a-1 body. When I could not find it, I grabbed an a9 iii and headed toward the action.
Bob said excitedly, I just got one emerging with a fish!” “Great!” I said, “There is no card in this camera.” I headed back to my SUV and grabbed the card out of my wet a-1.” When I got back to Bob, he was so excited that he could barely speak. An Osprey dove in front of him, just left of sun angle. The bird had caught a large bunker and was struggling to lift it out of the water. Bob fired away. Then an adult Brown Pelican dove on the Osprey and grabbed the fish. Bob kept firing. The two birds battled for the fish. The Osprey flew off fish-less. We reviewed the images. Bob had gotten several great ones. I got three eggs over easy.
I will of course be sharing some of Bob’s pelican thievery images with you here on the blog fairly soon.
Every morning has been great, and we’ve done well in the afternoons too. The fish are migrating and the Ospreys are diving. If you would like to join Bob and me, scroll down for details and then get in touch via e-mail or cell phone: 863-221-2372 ASAP, and get yourself a plane ticket. There is lots of room for you at the nicest AirBnB I’ve ever been in.
Today is Monday 4 November. Yes, we will be up early and heading for Sebastian. Whatever you opt to do, I hope that you too choose to have a great day.
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 2 November 2024 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. Standing at full height, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 800. 1/80 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 7:26:25am with lots of clouds in the eastern sky.
Tracking: (upper center) Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: Wood Stork with Mullet
Face Replacement
I was trying to create some pleasing blurs when a Wood Stork grabbed a Mullet. I raised the shutter speed and the ISO a few clicks each hoping to possibly make a sharp image. I kept four of about 15. The first image had the face sharp and the last image was the best pose. After creating a Quick Mask of the sharp face and eye dropping it in place was child’s play.
This image was also created on 2 November 2024 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. Again, standing at full height, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 250. 1/50 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 7:32:26am with lots of clouds in the eastern sky.
Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Great Egret landing
Insane Sharpness at 1/50 Second
A mixed species group of birds had cornered a school of baitfish against the shoreline in a small lagoon. When this Great Egret flew in to join the feeding spree, I saw the opportunity to create a nice pleasingly blurred image. While reviewing my 1000 or so images from our Saturday session, Image #2 looked fairly sharp. When I enlarged it in Photo Mechanic, I was stunned to see that the bird’s eye was razor sharp. Yes, matching the speed of a bird in flight with your panning speed helps, but attaining such sharpness at 1/50 sec. is still mind boggling.
Note the sweetness of the background at f/2.8. Can you say bokeh?
This image was also created on 2 November 2024 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. Again, standing at full height, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1250. 1/2500 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be perfect (ho hum). AWB at 8:03:20am on a still cloudy morning.
Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Sanderling flock on beach
I’ve been spending some quality time with the Sanderling flock on most cloudy mornings. On Friday past, they put on a wondrous show, blasting off every few minutes and swirling and turning our over the breaking waves. On Saturday? No so much. But I did like this pano crop for the mood.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #4: Osprey turning in flight looking back
Ospreys Diving on Saturday Morning
Early on Saturday morning, there were more than 30 Ospreys patrolling the inlet. With the east wind, sun angle is a challenge. The solution is to get as far out on the jetty as possible. Without endangering yourself or your gear. I pushed the envelope (as usual) and nearly got knocked off my feet when a large wave hit me from behind at knee level.
The bummer was that a had about a dozen birds hit the water right down sun angle from me; each came up without a fish 🙁
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #5: Peregrine soaring and staring
Peregrine!
I spotted the Peregrine just as someone well to my left screamed it out. I quickly adjusted the exposure for the darker-than-an-Osprey subject and found the bird in the frame as it first flew toward me and then turned left and streaked east down the center of the inlet. Whenever I have an exciting subject in the frame, a spurt of adrenaline increases my heart rate. Oftentimes, I get so excited that I screw up by misframing every image. On Saturday morning, I nailed them all.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #6: Peregrine in driving flight — full upstroke
Why 840mm?
Most everyone at Sebastian is hand holding. That includes everyone using 600mm f/4 lenses. Except me. And nobody using a 600mm f/4 lens has mounted a 1.4X teleconverter. Again, except me. It is much easier to keep a bird in the frame at 600mm than it is when working at 840mm. In addition, it is much easier to avoid clipping wingtips when using a shorter focal length.
So why do I add the 1.4X TC? I want raw files with more pixels on the subject than the rest of the boys and girls. Not to mention that a lot of the action takes place in the middle of a very wide inlet.
Enlarge the image and check out the fine feather detail on the falcon’s underwing.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #7: Osprey kiting — looking for fish
Why a Tripod?
Easy question. I almost always use a tripod with my 600mm f/4 lens because I cannot comfortably hand hold it for more than a few moments. And contrary to popular opinion, with the Levered-Clamp FlexShooter Pro it is relatively easy to get on flight and action.
This image was also created on 2 November 2024 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. Standing at full height, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens
the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1250. 1/4000 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be perfect (ho hum). AWB at 4:21:46pm on a cloudy afternoon.
Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #8: Brown Pelican juvenile taking flight with bill open
East Wind Afternoons
The winds have blown from the east since we arrived. Sunny afternoons are quite difficult as you have wind against sun conditions. On Saturday past, it was cloudy so we worked the inlet. There were lots of Ospreys patrolling but they were not diving. I concentrated on the young pelicans fishing. Just after this young bird had scooped up some small batfish with his bill pouch, it took flight.
This image was also created on 2 November 2024 at Sebastian Inlet, FL. Standing at full height, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens
the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1600. 1/3200 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be perfect (ho hum). AWB at 4:46:55pm on a cloudy afternoon.
Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #9: Osprey overhead
White Sky Exposures
In a recent e-mail, Alan Murphy, wrote: I remember shooting with you in Florida one gray sky day and I was inspired by how quickly you nailed in-camera composition and exposure. The best in the field.
With the white skies and the Ospreys not diving, I went for the overhead “T” shot. That after adding 2 1/2 stops of light to the gray sky exposure. You need to have a ton of blinkies on those gray or white skies in order to come up with a good exposure for the birds above you.
Do not click on the composite image; simply scroll down for the best viewing.
While Sebastian Inlet is justifiably famous around the world for the Ospreys diving for migrating saltwater fish each fall, there are a variety of desirable avian subjects there as well in October and November. Keep reading if you would like to join me on what will surely be a memorable photographic and learning experience.
Pick Your Own Dates Short-notice Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More BAA Personalized Instructional Workshops
Ridiculously Inexpensive!
Dates: October 29 (arrive on the afternoon of Monday the 28th) thru the morning session on Saturday 22 November
Right now, I have four folks for the last week, 17-22 NOV. So any few days (or a week!) after 28 OCT and before mid-NOV would be fabulous.
As BIRDS AS ART lost more than $100,000 in tax year 2023, I am moving forward looking more at sharing expenses than at making money. Simply put, for more reasons than I will list here, sharing an AirBnB or VRBO place maximizes learning while reducing your overall travel costs.
Consider joining me at Sebastian Inlet this fall for some great bird photography and a ton of learning. Life is short; what are you waiting for? While a 600mm f/4 lens is ideal, you could do the whole trip with a variety of other lenses including a 500mm f/4, a 400mm f/2.8, a 400mm DO, a 200-600, a 100-500, a 300mm f/2.8 with TCs, or one of the great new Nikon Z telephoto or telephoto zoom lenses.
Bob Eastman is driving from Wisconsin and doing all 26 days, from 28 OCT thru the morning session on 22 NOV, prime time for Ospreys diving and catching a variety of saltwater fish. There are four bedrooms in this great AirBnB property that is just 22 minutes from the south jetty at the State Park, 24 minutes from the northwest pool where the Ospreys spent a lot of time last year. Please note that NOV 21-22 are sold out.
Hopefully, those who come would stay for a week or ten days (or all 26 days!) to maximize the opportunities. As above, fewer days would work also. Fly to Melbourne (MEL) or Orlando (MCO) and rent a car. Local folks who would like to arrange a morning or two of In-the-Field Instruction during October should get in touch via e-mail.
Here, if you stay in the AirBnB with me, are the ridiculous low rates for the in-the-field sessions (that include the daily Image Review and Photoshop sessions).
$250 for a morning session
$150 for an afternoon session.
Brunch and dinners at the AirBnB will cost you $20/day.
If you are interested, let me know your preferred dates via e-mail and I will get back to you with the per/night price for the lodging.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Autofocus-wise, which of today’s six featured images do you think is the most amazing? Separate question: which is your favorite image? Why? for both.
What’s Up?
Bob Eastman and I are having fun every day at Sebastian Inlet. On Thursday afternoon we spent lots of time with the very cooperative white morph Reddish Egret along with Wood Storks and a variety of other wading birds. It drizzled on Friday morning so we spent a productive 45 minutes working a flock of about 800 Sanderlings as the flew in formation over the waves, alternating turning to show us their white bellies and an instant later, their flashing white wing stripes. Oh, to be a shorebird.
In the last blog post here, I too loved Bob’s Snowy Egret. But I would not trade it for my Osprey trying to lift off — Image #2. Did you not notice the fish???
Today is Saturday 2 November 2024. We will be headed back to Sebastian early again. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, we hope that you too choose to have a wondrous day.
Be sure to click on each image to enlarge is and check out the amazing autofocus capabilities of the Sony a9 iii, 120 frames per second with 0.5 second pre-capture. Be sure also to check out Karen McCormick’s like new a9 iii below.
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.
Sony a-9 iii Mirrorless Camera Body
Used Gear Page regular Karen McCormick is offering a Sony a9iii Mirrorless camera in like-new condition for a ridiculously low $4,798.00. 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 two a9 iii Set-up e-mails and any future updates.
I’ve loved my a9 iii so much for flight and action that I sold two of my a-1 bodies to purchase a second a9 iii. Working at 120fps gives you four times as many wing positions and flight poses as any other mirrorless camera body. Most every single image will be sharp on the eye. And the raw files can stand up to decent crops. A new one sells at B&H for $5,998.00. B&H does not have a single used one in stock. KEHs, is offering a like-new a9iii for $5823.00! If you have been thinking of an a9 iii, grab Karen’s a9 iii right now and save $1,200.00. artie
This image was created on 8 March 2024 at Stick Marsh, Fellsmere, FL Seated on a two pillows, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) and the ridiculously amazing Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1200: 1/3200 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 7:06:24am with some clouds in the low eastern sky.
Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: Roseate Spoonbill braking to land
Made for Stick Marsh
The Sony 300mm f/2.8 is perfect for the incoming spoonbills at Stick Marsh. And for pelican and Brandt’s Cormorant flight at La Jolla. And for the Bald Eagles at Homer. And as I am getting older every single day, I am loving and more often than not using this versatile lens bare or with either teleconverter as my go-to walk-around rig. As you will see with Images #2 and #3 below, the AF is ridiculous even with the 2X at f/5.6.
The a9 iii gave me four perfect frames of this incoming spoonbill, each razor sharp on the eye, and each with a significantly different wing position. Bob Eastman helped me pick this one out as my favorite.
The AirBnB that I rented for mid-late March/early April 2025 is close to being sold out. If you would like to explore the possibility of joining me there next spring, please get in touch via e-mail.
This image was created on 31 May 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Walking on the pier, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (at 600mm) and the ridiculously amazing Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2500: 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:08:42am on a very cloudy afternoon.
Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Boat-tailed Grackle males chasing
My Hand-holdable 600mm f/5.6 Rig With Science-fiction-like Autofocus
Again, the incredible frame rate of the a9 iii produced four spectacular, almost identical frames. And again, East Bobman helped me select the cream of the crop.
This image was created on 31 May 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Seated on a pillow on the beach left of the pier, I used the hand held a href=”https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1746375-REG/sony_fe_300mm_f_2_8_gm.html/BI/6633/KBID/7226/kw/SO30028GM/DFF/d10-v2-t1-xSO30028GM” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (at 600mm) and the ridiculously amazing Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1600: 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:11:45am on a mostly sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Black-bellied Whistling Duck braking to land
Hand holding Forever
The 300 f/2.8 is so small and light that most folks can hand hold it comfortably for hours on end. And that includes me at age 78 with a bum right shoulder. In our first three days at Sebastian I used the 300 most often with the 1.4X TC more than 50% of the time. With the dark skies this morning I went to the 400mm f/2.8. Hand held. Also with ease.
This image was created on 8 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Walking on the pier, I used the hand held Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 1.4x Teleconverter (at 420mm) and the ridiculously amazing Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 5000: 1/3200 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be 1/6 stop short of perfect. AWB at 9:10:22am on a cloudy morning.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
There is no doubt about it, setting and using 0.5 second pre-capture was 100% responsible for creating this image. Humans, especially old ones with slow reflexes, are just not quick enough to press the shutter button soon enough to catch liftoff. I have Pre-capture on My Menu so that I can turn it on when shooting flight and action. As long as you are actively focusing, the camera will save the 30 images prior to your pressing the shutter button (belatedly!)
Those who did not use my link to purchase their Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM lens, can order their 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 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.
This image was created on 15 October 2024. Working from the front seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and the ridiculously amazing Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 2000. 1/1000 sec. at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead solid perfect. AWB at 7:48:52am early on a sunny morning.
Tracking: (upper left) Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #5: Red-shouldered Hawk adult on The Perch II
a9 iii Raw File Color Tip
Huge thanks to Anita North, currently on in the middle of a six-month African safari to multiple countries by herself!. On a rare phone call recently, I mentioned that I was less than thrilled with the somewhat boring color of most a9 iii raw files. She told me to set Adobe Vivid as the Color Profile during the raw conversion in Adobe Camera Raw. Wow! The results are gorgeous. For this one I actually decreased the Vibrance a bit before hitting “Open.”
This image was created on 28 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens (at 185mm) and the ridiculously amazing Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2500: 1/2000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:13:10am on a then very cloudy morning.
Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Before Bob and I headed to Sebastian Inlet, the cranes were beginning their courtship behaviors. Those the grass tossing that almost always results in jumping, dancing, bowing, and running. I’d expect to have a few chances on copulating cranes when we get back to ILE.
BIRDS AS ART SONY A9 iii Images
a9 iii E-mail Set-up and Info Guide
For those who think that my comments on the a9 iii are pure hype, know that I did sell two of my three a1 bodies.
If you plan on purchasing a Sony a9 III Mirrorless Camera (or anything else for that matter), please remember to use or write for either my Bedfords discount code or my B&H affiliate link. Folks who use one of my two affiliate links to purchase the a9 III will receive my .DAT settings (the complete camera set-up), a Buttons and Dials Guide, and an a9 iii Info Sheet.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Bob Eastman and I had a fabulous morning at Sebastian Inlet on Wednesday. We had three Ospreys dive into the water within 20 feet of us. All caught a fish. Each struggled to get it out of the water. Each failed. But oh, what an adrenaline rush. Check out the images then get in touch with me via e-mail or cell phone: 863-221-2372 ASAP, and get yourself a plane ticket. There is lots of room for you at the nicest AirBnB I’ve ever been in.
Today is Thursday 31 October 2024. Whatever you opt to do, I hope that you choose to have a great day.
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 30 October 2024 at Sebastian Inlet State Park,FL. 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 One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 4000. 1/3200 second at f/4 (wide open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:19:14am in the shade before the sun broke through. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be 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 #1: Osprey taking flight after a missed strike
Challenging Exposures
The day began with heavy cloud cover. That followed by bright sun at about 8:15am. To make things even more difficult, the birds would fly in and out of the shadows thrown by the bridge behind us. By 9:00am the sun was so bright that we decided to head home early. By the time we got over the bridge, it was cloudy dark We decided to try a different spot, and by the time we got in position, it was cloudy bright. I almost forgot to mention that we had several rainbows. The sun cam out with a vengeance at 10:00am so we hit the road, celebrating a great morning.
This image was also created on 30 October 2024 at Sebastian Inlet State Park,FL. 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 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 5000. 1/3200 second at f/4 (wide open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:22:09am in the shade before the sun broke through. 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: Osprey struggling to take flight wit fish in its talons
Do Not Be Afraid of High ISOs
Image #1: ISO 4000. Image #2: ISO 5000. You wind up with much higher image quality and much less noise by using a high ISO than you’d get by underexposing at a lower “supposedly better” ISO. Don’t be a high ISO chicken.
My double Noise Reduction technique worked wonders on all of today’s featured images, including and especially #s 1 & 2. This technique, scoffed at by many, is detailed in the Digital Basics III Video Series.
This image was created on 30 October 2024 on an Extended IPT at Sebastian Inlet State Park,FL by my good friend Bob Eastman. Seated in a low field chair he used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 500. 1/3200 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be 1/6 stop short of perfect. AWB at 8:25:35am on a then sunny morning.
Tracking: Spot S AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Snowy Egret midair squabble
Image courtesy of and copyright 2014: Bob Eastman
Kudos to Bob on This One!
We both got on this fight quickly and — thanks to Sony Zebra technology, came up with the right exposure in an instant. That was no easy chore. I got some good ones, but would trade them all for Bob’s two best. As I say often, less experienced photographers with their cameras set up properly and a modicum of instruction can — in a given situation — create better images than a professional using the same gear. I was a bit to Bob’s left shooting the 300mm f/2.8 with the 1.4X TC and a v2.02 a-1.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #4: Osprey carrying fish
Going Long
I grabbed the 600 with the 1.4X, took my tripod to a little used vantage point, and waited for an Osprey to catch a fish and fly into the wind toward me. It did and I shot.
This image was also created on 30 October 2024 at Sebastian Inlet State Park,FL. 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 One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1600. 1/4000 second at f/4 (wide open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 8:22:09am on a then cloudy fairly bright 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 #5: Brown Pelican sub-adult in flight lookin to dive
White Sky Photography
When we tried a new spot after the clouds came, we ran into a guy with a lens who was leaving. We started chatting and when I told him that I preferred clouds to sun at 9:30am he was astounded. He was terribly in fear of high ISOs. We chatted a bit more and I learned that he was shooting in Manual mode with AUTO ISO, and that he did not know how to view the histogram on his R6. When I tried to explain a few things to him he was totally resistant. So, I wished him a happy birthday and went off to create Image #5.
Just for the record, if you use AUTO ISO with manual mode you lose all control over exposure; when you do wind up with a good or perfect exposure, it is due to pure luck.
Do not click on the composite image; simply scroll down for the best viewing.
While Sebastian Inlet is justifiably famous around the world for the Ospreys diving for migrating saltwater fish each fall, there are a variety of desirable avian subjects there as well in October and November. Keep reading if you would like to join me on what will surely be a memorable photographic and learning experience.
Pick Your Own Dates Short-notice Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More BAA Personalized Instructional Workshops
Ridiculously Inexpensive!
Dates: October 29 (arrive on the afternoon of Monday the 28th) thru the morning session on Saturday 22 November
Right now I have four folks for the last week, 17-22 NOV. So any few days (or a week!) after 28 OCT and before mid-NOV would be fabulous.
As BIRDS AS ART lost more than $100,000 in tax year 2023, I am moving forward looking more at sharing expenses than at making money. Simply put, for more reasons than I will list here, sharing an AirBnB or VRBO place maximizes learning while reducing your overall travel costs.
Consider joining me at Sebastian Inlet this fall for some great bird photography and a ton of learning. Life is short; what are you waiting for? While a 600mm f/4 lens is ideal, you could do the whole trip with a variety of other lenses including a 500mm f/4, a 400mm f/2.8, a 400mm DO, a 200-600, a 100-500, a 300mm f/2.8 with TCs, or one of the great new Nikon Z telephoto or telephoto zoom lenses.
Bob Eastman is driving from Wisconsin and doing all 26 days, from 28 OCT thru the morning session on 22 NOV, prime time for Ospreys diving and catching a variety of saltwater fish. There are four bedrooms in this great AirBnB property that is just 22 minutes from the south jetty at the State Park, 24 minutes from the northwest pool where the Ospreys spent a lot of time last year. Please note that NOV 21-22 are sold out.
Hopefully, those who come would stay for a week or ten days (or all 26 days!) to maximize the opportunities. As above, fewer days would work also. Fly to Melbourne (MEL) or Orlando (MCO) and rent a car. Local folks who would like to arrange a morning or two of In-the-Field Instruction during October should get in touch via e-mail.
Here, if you stay in the AirBnB with me, are the ridiculous low rates for the in-the-field sessions (that include the daily Image Review and Photoshop sessions).
$250 for a morning session
$150 for an afternoon session.
Brunch and dinners at the AirBnB will cost you $20/day.
If you are interested, let me know your preferred dates via e-mail and I will get back to you with the per/night price for the lodging.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Bob Eastman and I had a great first morning at Sebastian. Aside from a zillion Ospreys fishing the inlet, a cooperative white Morph Reddish Egret on the beach made our day. The afternoon looked like bird photography death with a strong SE wind and sunny blue skies but I scouted around and found a fabulous afternoon spot with lots of tame wading birds, many of them in the shade. I hate to give up even on a single session. There is still lots of room in our lovely AirBbB just 22 minutes from the inlet. Get in touch via e-mail to explore the possibility of joining us.
One of the great advantages of joining me on an IPT or an Extended IPT is that I will get to look at and process your best images while creating a screen capture Camtasia video to share with you and the group. The image optimizations for all seven of todays images were done by yours truly, Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART.
I was glad to learn that Karen McCormick sold her brand new Sony 600mm f/4GM lens for the full asking price within an hour of it being listed. She still has a great a9 iii for sale.
Today is Wednesday 30 October 2024. We will be heading back to the state park well before sunrise. I hope that all of you boys and girls have a wonderful day too. Today’s post featured the work of longtime friend and student Geri Georg of Colorado. She joined me for both the DeSoto IPT last spring and Extended IPT at Nickerson Beach. As with many, many others, I helped Geri transition from Canon to Sony about two years ago.
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.
Save 15%!
If you’d like to try out a new lens or if you need a lens for a specific trip or project (or for an IPT), LensRentals.com is the only way to go. To save 15%, simply click on the logo link above, arrange for your rental, and type in BIRDSASART15. If you type the gear you are looking for in the search box, it will pop right up. LensRentals.com offers affordable insurance. You can decline it, opt for LensCap: Damage Only, or select LensCap: Damage & Theft. Then hit PROCEED TO CHECKOUT. After you enter all of your info but before completing your order, be sure to scroll down to Promo Code box and enter the BIRDSASART15 code to save 15%.
I checked on renting a Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens for a week. The cost is only $122.00. LensCap: Damage Only coverage can be added for a very low $18.00. Going with LensCap: Damage & Theft would be $27.00. The shipping charge varies. They offer an interesting program called Lensrentals HD. By signing up for this shipping discount program ($99.00/year), you’ll get free Standard Shipping on all the orders you place.
Renting a Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens for a week will cost you $536.00. The two coverage options come in at $76.00 or $114.00. Less your 15% discount when you enter the BIRDSASART15 code into the Promo Code box at checkout and enter the BIRDSASART15 code in the Promo Code box at checkout to save 15%.
Remember, to save the 15% on your rental you must start your search by clicking on the logo above, or on this link: LensRentals.com
Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM Lens
Mark Harrington is offering a Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8L IS II USM refurbished by Canon to Like-New condition for a very low $850.00. The sale includes the lens with front and rear caps, original product box, manual and software, Lens case LZ1326 and Lens Hood 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 Mark via e-mail at e-mail or by phone at 1-612-308-5776 MST.
The Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8 lens is an abomination. Why? Because the lens does not accept either teleconverter. Hard to believe, but true. If you shoot Camon mirrorless you are far better off with this lens and the EF to RF Adapter. Thus, the versatility of this popular lens is wrecked.
The versatile 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses have long been big favorites of many nature photographers. They are great for landscapes especially with fall color peaking in many areas. I have used this lens with Canon and Nikon and SONY. I used my Canon version to photograph granddaughter Maya’s dance recitals and to create bird-scapes and pre-dawn blast-off blurs at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico. They are fast and sharp and have 1000 uses. The 70-200 f/2.8 lenses are a specialty lens for bird photographers. Like the bad little child, when they are good, they are really, really good! I’ve used mine mostly for flight photography at point blank range where their performance is unmatched, especially in low light. I’ve killed with these lenses on the gannet boat in the UK, in Homer for eagles, for pre-dawn and blizzard blast-offs at Bosque, and at Merritt Island on feeding sprees right next to the road. Lenses in this class are easily hand holdable by just about everyone. artie
ps: To see what the 70-200 zoom lenses can do, see the blog post here.
This image was created on 14 August 2024 on a Nickerson Beach Extended IPT by friend and multiple IPT veteran Geri Georg. Standing, she 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. 1/4000 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 6:11:52pm on a sunny afternoon. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be perfect.
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: Black Skimmer adult in flight
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Geri Georg
Shutter Speeds for Flight Photography
From where I sit, 1/4000 second is a great first choice for flight photography. 1/2500 and 1/3200 second are fine for most flying birds. You can often get away with 1/2000, 1/1600 or even 1/1250 second. Anything slower, and you need to pan perfectly with the bird to get the eye sharp. Some folks like 1/8000 second to completely eliminate wing tip blur. I rarely go there as I do not mind blurred wingtips as they convey motion. Remember that with film we shot flight at 1/500 second.
All that said, on rare occasion, it is possible to get the eye of a flying bird sharp at speeds as slow as 1/60 or 1/30 second. But never consistently.
Kudos for Geri to picking my favorite sunny day shutter speed for flight: 1/4000 second.
This image was created on 15 August 2024 on a Nickerson Beach Extended IPT by friend and multiple IPT veteran Geri Georg. Standing, she 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 Exposure Compensation on the Thumb Dial. Multi Metering +2/3 stop. AUTO ISO set ISO 400. 1/8 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Shutter Priority mode. AWB at 6:59:25am on a cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the exposure to be 1/3 stop under.
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: Black Skimmer flock blastoff blur
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Geri Georg
Getting Out Early
If you are walking down to the beach when it is still dark, blurs are often your only choice until the sun comes up. On IPTs, when blurs are on the table and the backgrounds are consistently light toned, I teach folks to work in Shutter Priority mode with AUTO ISO and Exposure Compensation (EC) on a convenient dial or wheel. Kudos to Geri for being open to new concepts and especially for digging blurs. Not everyone does.
Let’s see what ISO you would have needed to get to a shutter speed of 1/2000 second that early that morning.
1/8 @ ISO 400
1/15 @ ISO 800
1/30 @ ISO 1600
1/60 @ ISO 3200
1/125 @ ISO 6400
1/250 @ ISO 12800
1/500 @ ISO 25600
1/1000 @ ISO 51200
1/2000 @ ISO 102400
Necessity is often the mother of invention when it comes to photographing in extreme low light conditions. Blurs anyone?
This image was created on 16 August 2024 on a Nickerson Beach Extended IPT by friend and multiple IPT veteran Geri Georg. Seated on dry sand, right next to me, she 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 One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. ) The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1250. 1/1600 second at f/9 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 9:23:45am on a barely cloudy very bright morning. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be perfect.
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: Black Skimmer — large chick barking
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Geri Georg
200-600 with the 1.4X TC
As the birds were not letting us get very close, I suggested to Geri that she add the 1.4X to get more pixels on the bird. She did, and she did. Not all students listen to the instructors suggestions 🙂 Good on Geri!
This image was created on 17 August 2024 on a Nickerson Beach Extended IPT by friend and multiple IPT veteran Geri Georg. Seated on dry sand, she 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 8000! 1/1250 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 7:58:39 am on a very cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be perfect.
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: Osprey directly overhead staring at photographer
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Geri Georg
You’ve Heard This One Before
When the shot is there, press the shutter button; if you try to change anything, you will wind up with nothing. Above, I suggested that 1/4000 sec. is a great choice for flight photography. When Geri saw the Osprey above looking right down at her, she pressed the shutter button despite the relatively slow of flight shooting shutter speed of 1/1600 sec. Then, she got a bit lucky. The better your hand holding sharpness techniques, the luckier you will get.
This image was also created on 17 August 2024 on a Nickerson Beach Extended IPT by friend and multiple IPT veteran Geri Georg. Seated right next to me on damp sand, she 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 5000! 1/2500 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 10:00:52am on a cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be perfect.
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: Black Skimmer adult jumping up after bath
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Geri Georg
Wind Direction and Bathing Birds
Bathing birds will almost always jump into the air at the end of their bath; those that do will always jump up and flap while facing into the wind, just as they do when taking flight. We stayed late on a stormy morning and used the NE wind to our advantage while working a receding tidal pool.
This image was created on 18 August 2024 on a Nickerson Beach Extended IPT by friend and multiple IPT veteran Geri Georg. Seated on dry sand, she 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. 1/1600 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 1:19:30pm on a cloudy day. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be perfect.
Zone 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 Skimmer large chick begging posture
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Geri Georg
Why Were We on the Beach at 2pm?
It was pouring rain when we woke up in our AirBnB on Lido Beach, Long Island, NY. We worked on images for a few hours and when the rain quit and the sky brightened just a bit, I said, “Let’s go. We’ll see if they are letting folks in for free because of the bad weather. They were and we had a great afternoon session.
This image was also created on 18 August 2024 on a Nickerson Beach Extended IPT by friend and multiple IPT veteran Geri Georg. Seated on dry sand right nest to me, she 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 250. 1/1600 second at f/6.3 (wide-open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 2:10:47pm on a cloudy day. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be perfect.
Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #7: Black Skimmer adult feeding large chick
Image courtesy of and copyright 2024: Geri Georg
The Feeding Shot!
Tern and skimmer chick feeding shots are difficult to impossible for two main reasons:
1- The odds of getting two good head angles is always at least four to one against you.
2- Getting a decent look at the faces of both the adult and the chick is very challenging.
3- Having both the adult and the chick nicely juxtaposed with regards to the imaging sensor might be the biggest challenge of all.
Kudos to Geri on all counts for Image #7. And big time thanks for allowing me to share your work with the boys and girls here on the blog.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors, or to ask a question.
The item below appeared in the Safe to Go in the Water. Six images made with a v2.02 a-1 blog post here.
Your Call
The challenge today is to put today’s six featured images in order with the strongest one first and the weakest image (in your eyes) last. As each of the images is quite strong, you will need to put on your critiquing hat to sort them out. Be sure to click on each one to enlarge it. Don’t be a chump; have some fun and take a shot at the challenge. I will share my list in the next blog post that will feature the work of Geri Georg on the Nickerson IPT.
Thanks to the few who posted a comment.
If you enjoy the blog but did not leave a comment with your list, please take a moment to re-visit the last post and leave a comment. Your doing so would be greatly appreciated. Tuesday’s post will feature the work of BAA friend and student Geri Georg. In addition, I will share my ranking of the six photos in the previous post.
What’s Up?
Bob Eastman and I have been having a blast, photographing every morning and every afternoon since he drove down from Wisconsin and arrived midday on Friday. Though photography has not been great at ILE, each of us has made some excellent images in most every session. Today is Monday 28 October 2024. We will be driving over to Sebastian this afternoon where we will be staying in an AirBnB for 26 nights, hoping to put a hurt on the Ospreys diving for fish. There is still lots of room at the inn. If you would like to join us, scroll down for the details. We hope that you too choose to have a wonderful day.
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.
BIRDS AS ART SONY 600mm f/4 Images
Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS Lens
Brand new in the box!
Used Gear Page regular Karen McCormick is offering a brand new in the box Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens for a ridiculously low $9998.00. The sale includes the original product box and everything that came in it including the rear cap, the heavy duty lens strap, the front lens cover, the lens case, 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 Karen via e-mail.
The 600mm f/4 lens have long been the weapon of mass destruction for bird and wildlife photographers. Over past 40 years, only very rarely have I made a trip without my Canon, Nikon, or Sony 600. The Sony is the lightest on the market. With most of the weight to the rear, it is beautifully balanced, hand hold-able by the young and strong. Mine goes on a tripod or a BLUBB 99% of the time, almost always with either teleconverter. The lens sells for $12,998.00 at B&H and elsewhere. And B&H has two used ones for $11,437.00 and $11,047.00! Some lucky person is going to grab Karen’s brand new, never used lens and save $3,000.00. artie
BIRDS AS ART SONY A9 iii Images
Sony a-9 iii Mirrorless Camera Body
Used Gear Page regular Karen McCormick is offering a Sony a9iii Mirrorless camera in like-new condition for a ridiculously low $4,798.00. 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 two a9 iii Set-up e-mails and any future updates.
I’ve loved my a9 iii so much for flight and action that I sold two of my a-1 bodies to purchase a second a9 iii. Working at 120fps gives you four times as many wing positions and flight poses as any other mirrorless camera body. Most every single image will be sharp on the eye. And the raw files can stand up to decent crops. A new one sells at B&H for $5,998.00. B&H does not have a single used one in stock. KEHs, is offering a like-new a9iii for $5823.00! If you have been thinking of an a9 iii, grab Karen’s a9 iii right now and save $1,000.00. artie
Do not click on the composite image; simply scroll down for the best viewing.
While Sebastian Inlet is justifiably famous around the world for the Ospreys diving for migrating saltwater fish each fall, there are a variety of desirable avian subjects there as well in October and November. Keep reading if you would like to join me on what will surely be a memorable photographic and learning experience.
Pick Your Own Dates Short-notice Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More BAA Personalized Instructional Workshops
Ridiculously Inexpensive!
Dates: October 29 (arrive on the afternoon of Monday the 28th) thru the morning session on Saturday 22 November
Right now I have four folks for the last week, 17-22 NOV. So any few days (or a week!) after 28 OCT and before mid-NOV would be fabulous.
As BIRDS AS ART lost more than $100,000 in tax year 2023, I am moving forward looking more at sharing expenses than at making money. Simply put, for more reasons than I will list here, sharing an AirBnB or VRBO place maximizes learning while reducing your overall travel costs.
Consider joining me at Sebastian Inlet this fall for some great bird photography and a ton of learning. Life is short; what are you waiting for? While a 600mm f/4 lens is ideal, you could do the whole trip with a variety of other lenses including a 500mm f/4, a 400mm f/2.8, a 400mm DO, a 200-600, a 100-500, a 300mm f/2.8 with TCs, or one of the great new Nikon Z telephoto or telephoto zoom lenses.
Bob Eastman is driving from Wisconsin and doing all 26 days, from 28 OCT thru the morning session on 22 NOV, prime time for Ospreys diving and catching a variety of saltwater fish. There are four bedrooms in this great AirBnB property that is just 22 minutes from the south jetty at the State Park, 24 minutes from the northwest pool where the Ospreys spent a lot of time last year. Please note that NOV 21-22 are sold out.
Hopefully, those who come would stay for a week or ten days (or all 26 days!) to maximize the opportunities. As above, fewer days would work also. Fly to Melbourne (MEL) or Orlando (MCO) and rent a car. Local folks who would like to arrange a morning or two of In-the-Field Instruction during October should get in touch via e-mail.
Here, if you stay in the AirBnB with me, are the ridiculous low rates for the in-the-field sessions (that include the daily Image Review and Photoshop sessions).
$250 for a morning session
$150 for an afternoon session.
Brunch and dinners at the AirBnB will cost you $20/day.
If you are interested, let me know your preferred dates via e-mail and I will get back to you with the per/night price for the lodging.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Last spring, Sony announced firmware update v2.00 for the a-1, its flagship camera body. In short order the firmware story became an embarrassing fiasco. Over time, the announced v2.01 that caused terrible problems with the camera was used with the hugely popular 200-600 G lens. After some time, they released v2.02. About six weeks ago, with some trepidation, I purchased a used a-1 and updated it to v.2.01, and then to 2.02. I am happy to report that it is now possible to go back into the water.
The last update, v2.02, offers some great stuff for bird photographers.
v.2.02 Benefits
Battery life with 2.02 is fine. There are no issues with the 200-600 G lens. Bird Face-Eye AF is significantly improved. Formatting a card takes about two seconds as compared to 10 seconds or more with previous firmware versions. But the very best news is a brand new feature called Focus Recall. Huge thanks to Arash Hazeghi for pointing it out to me as we worked on an update to the Sony a-1 (a9 iii) flight guide. I took what he taught me about programming Preset Focus/Zoom to a single button for flight photography and turned it into what will surely turn out to be a huge game-changer for general bird photography.
I call it “double button focus recall.” I programmed two easy-to-reach (previously unassigned) buttons to PRESET Focus Distance. I can then register a close focusing distance to one button and a far focusing distance to the other. A tap of either button instantly brings me to either as needed.
Here is a practical, real life example. I am walking out on the pier. There are some very tame Turkey Vultures and a Limpkin perched on the railing. As I slowly approach the birds, I focus on the nearest one and then press and hold the near-focus button. Th camera registers the focus distance my current close focus distance. I might or might not create a few images. Before continuing my approach, however, I take a moment to focus on the end of the pier and this time I press and hold the far focus button. That becomes my far focus distance. Then I tap the close focus button for the birds on the railings and go to work.
I glance up and see an Osprey carrying a large Crappie in its talons flying over the end of the pier. I tap the AEL button to get to my pre-registered far focusing distance. The AF system will have a relatively easy time of seeing the subject. And once the bird is framed, initial focusing acquisition will be virtually instantaneous. Had the AF system been left at the close focusing distance (while working the birds on the pier railing), there is a good chance that the system would have been temporarily blind when I attempted to acquire focus on the Osprey in flight.
Understand that neither the close nor the far focusing distances need to be anywhere near precise. As long as the AF system is in the general neighborhood (as far as focusing distance is concerned), it will not struggle to acquire focus. Once the Osprey flies by, Artie simply taps the AF-On button to instantly get back to the approximate focusing distance for the birds on the railing.
Yesterday I sent the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Notes e-Mail J (23 OCT 2024) Firmware Update Update item to the entire group; it began like this:
Dear a1 Gang,
I hope that all of you are well, having fun, and making some great images. Big time thanks and congrats to the twenty folks in the group who have gotten my v2.02 settings onto their a-1 bodies. Many of them helped by letting me know of typos and other errors in the two instructional e-mails. After ten full days or working every morning with my v2.02 Firmware a-1, the 600mm f/4, and the 300mm f/2.8 (each with either TC), I can wholeheartedly recommend that most everyone with an a-1 would be best to update to Firmware v2.02.
If you are a member of the a-1 group and did not receive an e-Mail yesterday, please e-mail me with your current and correct e-mail address 🙂
a-1 Group members can receive the two e-mails by sending a PayPal for $50.00 (with the words a-1 v2.021/v2.02 Firmware updates in the Subject line) to birdsasart@verizon.net or by calling the office at 863-692-0906 with a credit card to pay the $50.00.
If you are not a member of my a-1 group and would like to update your camera body and get all of my current setting on it, you will need to either send a PayPal for $125.00 (with the words a-1 v2.021/v2.02 Firmware updates in the Subject line) to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 with a credit card to pay the $125.00.
All of the images in today’s blog post were created with my v2.02 a-i mirrorless camera body.
Your Call
The challenge here today is to put today’s six featured images in order with the strongest one first and the weakest image (in your eyes) last. As each of the images is quite strong, you will need to put on your critiquing hat to sort them out. Be sure to click on each one to enlarge it. Don’t be a chump; have some fun and take a shot at the challenge. I will share my list in the next blog post that will feature the work of Geri Georg on the Nickerson IPT.
What’s Up?
After a long but relatively easy three-day drive, BAA friend Bob Eastman arrived from Wisconsin midday yesterday. We will be photographing together for the next five to six weeks. Including 26 days at Sebastian Inlet for diving Ospreys, Wood Storks, and more. Shoot me an e-mail if you would like to learn about joining us. Anyway, we headed down to the lake on Friday afternoon and had some fun and a few good chances. We will of course be heading down to the lake early this morning, Saturday 26 October 2024. We hope that you too choose to have a wonderful day.
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.
Save 15%!
If you’d like to try out a new lens or if you need a lens for a specific trip or project (or for an IPT), LensRentals.com is the only way to go. To save 15%, simply click on the logo link above, arrange for your rental, and type in BIRDSASART15. If you type the gear you are looking for in the search box, it will pop right up. LensRentals.com offers affordable insurance. You can decline it, opt for LensCap: Damage Only, or select LensCap: Damage & Theft. Then hit PROCEED TO CHECKOUT. After you enter all of your info but before completing your order, be sure to scroll down to Promo Code box and enter the BIRDSASART15 code to save 15%.
I checked on renting a Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens for a week. The cost is only $122.00. LensCap: Damage Only coverage can be added for a very low $18.00. Going with LensCap: Damage & Theft would be $27.00. The shipping charge varies. They offer an interesting program called Lensrentals HD. By signing up for this shipping discount program ($99.00/year), you’ll get free Standard Shipping on all the orders you place.
Renting a Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens for a week will cost you $536.00. The two coverage options come in at $76.00 or $114.00. Less your 15% discount when you enter the BIRDSASART15 code into the Promo Code box at checkout and enter the BIRDSASART15 code in the Promo Code box at checkout to save 15%.
Remember, to save the 15% on your rental you must start your search by clicking on the logo above, or on this link: LensRentals.com
Tracking: (upper) Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: Bald Eagle on old nest tree at sunrise
Only One Possibility
Most mornings I walk out onto the pool deck 30 minutes before sunrise to check the eastern sky. If there are light clouds or some fog, I know that I need to get down to the lake earlier than on a dead clear morning because there will likely be some color in the eastern sky. That done, there are only two possible shots:
1- the old eagle nest tree lines up nicely with the orange and yellow sunrise colors as long as the sun is somewhat muted
2- the new eagle nest tree is also do-able. Early on Thursday morning, there was some decent color and there were a dozen perched Turkey Vultures near the nest that is being re-built. All the vultures, however, were facing east. Thus, they appeared headless in each of the hundred or so photos that I created. I kept one.
With Image #1 above, one of the eagle pair was perched on the old nest tree facing into the north wind. When he leaned forward slightly, the result was the best shot of the morning.
This image was created on 17 August down by the lake near my home. Working from the front seat of my SUV, 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 One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 800: 1/1250 sec. at f/4 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead solid perfect. AWB at 8:22:18am on a sunny morning.
Tracking Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #2: Sandhill Crane — 7-month old colt checking out fly-by Turkey Vulture
ILE Sandhill Strategies I
The ILE cranes are quite tame. Especially those that hang around all year and nest in the early spring in the marshes surrounding the lake. Before Hurricane Milton both fields and the South Peninsula were too wet to drive on. My only chances for making some quality crane images was to find a pair or a family of three near the roadway on sun angle. That was the situation with Image #2.
Though it is not easy to see in this image, the bird’s crown is pinker than the red crown of the adults. That makes the subject a hatch year bird.
This image was created on 22 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. S of the pier, I used the handheld Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 2500. 1/3200 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be perfect (ho hum). AWB at 8:12:29am on sunny morning.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Killdeer adult in flight
Thank You Sony
I could never have imagined creating an image like this with any of the Canon to Nikon gear that I previously owned and used for 34 or three years respectively. Heck, I cannot imagine even trying to photograph a medium sized shorebird in flight before Sony. The 300mm f/2.8 with either TC is relatively small and light and is easy for most folks to hand hold for extended periods. A 600mm f/5.6 hand holdable rig with fast, deadly accurate tracking autofocus is a dream come true for aging bird photographers.
This image was also created on 22 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Walking on the pier, I used the handheld Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 800. 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 8:47:35am on sunny morning.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #4: Cattle Egret adult with dirty feet in flight
Walking the Pier
When I first get down to the lake on sunny mornings at this time of year, there are often dozens of Cattle Egrets either standing on the railings of the pier or on the deck, chowing down on zillions of tiny flying bugs. They are often joined by a Great Blue, Little Blue, Green, or Tricolored Heron, a Great Egret, an Anhinga or three, and an Osprey or a or Bald Eagle. I almost always prefer to stay in my vehicle and drive around to see what’s up. Almost inevitably, a fisherman or two heads out to the end of the pier after Crappies, Bluegills, and the occasional Large-mouthed Bass. And invariably, all of the birds that were on the pier leave. Yikes, I almost forgot: there are often dozens of vultures on the railings at the base of the pier.
Anyhoo, after my vehicular photo search along the lakefront, I will usually return to the parking circle near the pier, park, grab a lens, take off my shirts, and walk the pier. At times, some of the birds have returned to the railings. On the morning of the 22nd there were perhaps a dozen and a half Cattle Egrets on the railings. I stayed to the left side of the pier in hopes of having the birds take off into the northeast wind. All but a few took fight to the south 🙁 Several however, including the beauty in Image #4, took off to the north and then gently turned right 🙂 I came up with this one in full downstroke as it was right down sun angle. Lots of knowledge, the right light with the right wind, great gear, a modicum of skill, and a bit of luck all came together serendipitously. The more I work with the Sony 300mm f/2.8 and the 2X, the more confident I become not only in the gear but in my ability to use it effectively for flight photography, that is, to quickly find the bird in the viewfinder and then keep it in the middle of the frame while panning!
Those who did not use my link to purchase their Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM lens, can order their 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 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.
This image was created on 23 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 640. 1/4000 sec. at f/10 (stopped down 2/3 stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be perfect. AWB at 6:28:28pm with some light fog on the western horizon.
Tracking: (upper) Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #5: Great Egret on The Perch II at sunset
Sunsets
Late afternoons down by the lakeshore at ILE are difficult as when you have the sun at your back, you will often have houses in the background. I had not been down much in the afternoons, but for some reason I headed down for a shirtless pier walk a bit after 6:00pm on Wednesday past. Before I pulled into the circular lot, I spotted a Great Egret on The Perch II, the perch that I erected several years ago with the help of my neighbor Ralph. “Fat chance,” I thought as I headed onto the pier, “that the bird will still be on the perch when I get back to my car in 25 minutes.” But it was.
I drove onto the North Field and picked a spot with some brightly color sky as a background while making sure that the sun was not in the frame. As the sun made its way down and west, it seemed that at some point the sun would have been right behind the bird so I was excited by the possibility of a sun ball shot. Only minutes before the magical moment would have materialized with everything lined up, the bird took flight and headed to its evening roost somewhere to the south.
This image was created on 25 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the driver’s 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 The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 640. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/1250 second at f/6.3 (stopped down 1/3 stop) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 8:26:40am on sunny morning with just a bit of haze in front of the sun.
Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #6: Sandhill Crane adult preening pose
ILE Sandhill Strategies II
Surprisingly, the last storm did not bring much rain at all to Polk County. Since then it has been bone-dry and most of the fields are safely drivable. In the mornings, there are generally several pairs of cranes and the single crane family from last season standing still on the grass preening. When the birds are having a preening party, they will often keep preening for 30 to 45 minutes before they begin walking, usually east, in search of bugs and roots and tubers.
As the fields are all pretty much dry and the birds are exceedingly tame, you can drive right up to them if you wish. You are free to pick your distance. Sometimes I get within twenty feet of them to go for tight preening head shots — yes, in the vehicle, and sometimes I stay back to photograph the whole bird. Adding the 1.4X TC allowed me to work from a distance while reducing the angle of declination to the bird.
Most of the time the bird had its head buried in its feathers, but occasionally it would raise its head and look back over its body. I moved the AF spot so that would cover the eye once it yielded the pose I wanted. Bingo! It always pays to understand bird behavior and to plan for the best case.
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 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 Gatorland no longer offers 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.
Steve Zarate sold all of his Canon items, including the near mint RF 600mm f/4L IS lens, within two days of their being listed in the last blog post.
Yesterday I sent the SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Notes e-Mail J (23 OCT 2014) Firmware Update Update item to the entire group; it began like this:
Dear a1 Gang,
I hope that all of you are well, having fun, and making some great images. Big time thanks and congrats to the twenty folks in the group who have gotten my v2.02 settings onto their a-1 bodies. Many of them helped by letting me know of typos and other errors in the two instructional e-mails. After ten full days or working every morning with my v2.02 Firmware a-1, the 600mm f/4, and the 300mm f/2.8 (each with either TC), I can wholeheartedly recommend that most everyone with an a-1 would be best to update to Firmware v2.02.
If you are a member of the a-1 group and did not receive an e-Mail yesterday, please e-mail me with your current and correct e-mail address 🙂
If you are not a member of my a-1 group and would like to update your camera body and get all of my current setting on it, you will need to either send a PayPal for $125.00 (with the words a-1 v2.021/v2.02 Firmware updates in the Subject line) to birdsasart@verizon.net or call Jim at 863-692-0906 with a credit card to pay the $125.00.
Today is Thursday 24 October 2024. It is another gorgeous early fall day here at ILE. I just got back from the lake and there was not much going on so I headed home early. I have not seen the eagles for two days. I am pretty sure that they are out fishing. I hope that you too choose to have a wonderful day.
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.
Save 15%!
If you’d like to try out a new lens or if you need a lens for a specific trip or project (or for an IPT), LensRentals.com is the only way to go. To save 15%, simply click on the logo link above, arrange for your rental, and type in BIRDSASART15. If you type the gear you are looking for in the search box, it will pop right up. LensRentals.com offers affordable insurance. You can decline it, opt for LensCap: Damage Only, or select LensCap: Damage & Theft. Then hit PROCEED TO CHECKOUT. After you enter all of your info but before completing your order, be sure to scroll down to Promo Code box and enter the BIRDSASART15 code to save 15%.
I checked on renting a Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens for a week. The cost is only $122.00. LensCap: Damage Only coverage can be added for a very low $18.00. Going with LensCap: Damage & Theft would be $27.00. The shipping charge varies. They offer an interesting program called Lensrentals HD. By signing up for this shipping discount program ($99.00/year), you’ll get free Standard Shipping on all the orders you place.
Renting a Sony 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens for a week will cost you $536.00. The two coverage options come in at $76.00 or $114.00. Less your 15% discount when you enter the BIRDSASART15 code into the Promo Code box at checkout and enter the BIRDSASART15 code in the Promo Code box at checkout to save 15%.
Remember, to save the 15% on your rental you must start your search by clicking on the logo above, or on this link: LensRentals.com
This image was created on 23 September 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. I used my iPhone 15+.
Image #1: The 2024 Bald Eagle nest before either hurricane
Before Either of the 2024 Hurricanes
In this image, made before the hurricanes, one of the adult Bald Eagles sits in the 2024 nest, just hanging out on a beautiful early fall morning. Note the sun angle and the two healthy pine trees just to the south (our left) of the nest tree. Compare this with Image #4 and note that the large branch on the upper was brought down by Hurricane Milton, along, of course, with the entire nest. In Image #3, the flight shot, the bird was below the spot that this branch had occupied. With a nice blue sky background.
This image was also created on 26 September 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the driver’s setoff 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 1600. Exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the rear dial: 1/500 sec. at f/4 (wide open). AWB at 8:26:09am on a cloudy morning.
Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird Face-eye enabled was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version.
Image #2: Bald Eagle pair on nest
Pre-Helene
This is the nest that the pair used in early 2024 to fledge two healthy chicks. Hurricane Helene would pass by well to the northwest about 18 hours after this image was created. Just as most of Polk County was unscathed by Helene, this nest survived the first hurricane intact.
This image was created on 21 October 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 handheld Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1250. 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be perfect (ho hum). AWB at 8:39:59am on sunny morning.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Bald Eagle flying in with sticks for new nest
Quickly to the Task
Hurricane Milton blew through Polk County in the early morning of 27 September. In the recent Hurricane Milton BIRDS AS ART blog post here, I shared photos of both the huge old nest and the large newer nest that had blown down in the South Field during the storm. Not a branch of the old 2024 nest remained. Within days, the pair began to rebuild a nest in the same spot.
Sky Conditions, Wind Direction, and Bird Photography
After their fast start, the birds continued adding sticks to the crotch of the previous year’s nest tree. There are two live pines just to the left (south) of the then pretty bare tree. With the wind from the NE, I positioned my SUV so that I could catch the eagle in the clear to the right of the live pine on the right and to the left of the nest after it had flown past the nest and then turned northeast to fly up to the nest. All that while being fairly close to sun angle.
The best way to learn to figure out stuff like this, the relationship of sky conditions and the wind direction to bird photography is to join me on an IPT.
I can’t wait until they start flying in with the big lumber. Somewhat surprisingly, I have not seen the eagles grab sticks from the previous year’s nest, now on the ground right below the nest tree. Nor have they been grabbing nests from the huge old nest, on the ground about 200 yards to the north.
High Level Question
Can you see anything in image #3 to indicate that there was a live pine tree just out of frame on our left?
This image was created on 21 October 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 handheld Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1250. 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be perfect (ho hum). AWB at 8:38:59am on sunny morning.
Upper Center)( Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #4: Bald Eagle at new nest
20 Seconds Later
Twenty seconds later, the bird sat on the new (somewhat scrawny) nest for a moment before taking flight. With only three AF methods checked on my a-1 bodies I switch between them by hitting the Thumb Dial. Thus, getting from Zone to Tracking Expand Spot took less than one second. Moving the AF point up in the vertical frame took another two seconds. Bingo — I was able to create a sharp story telling image in not much time.
As I said to my accountant Chip on the phone last night, you need to act very quickly when doing bird photography. One or two seconds lost while fumbling with the camera controls can cost you a once in a lifetime image. BTW, though Chip’s home in Clearwater Beach was spared by Milton, the damage from Helene wound up being devastating. He had one foot of saltwater in his house; all the flooring and much of the drywall needs to be replaced. And lots of the furniture was ruined.
The Sony a-1 (v2.02)/2X TC/300mm f/2.8 Rig
For more than a year, I have shied away from using the 2X TC with the handheld 300mm f/2.8 lens. Recently, I have been working with that combo both from the car and on my pier sun walks. With my increased confidence have come a slew of fantastically sharp images. Imagine having a lightweight, easy to work with 600mm f/5.6 lens that can be handheld for hours. Goodbye to tripods!
Those who did not use my link to purchase their Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM lens, can order their 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 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.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Which of today’s five featured image is your favorite? Why did you make your choice? I love them all but have a clear favorite.
My Call and Reasons
In the Tricolored Heron Second Edit YouTube Video blog post here, my favorite was Image #2, the Tricolored Heron non-breeding adult vertical front-end portrait. Why? I loved the soft light, the perfect image design and head turn, and best of all, the great look at the fluffed up purple ruff on the bottom of the bird’s long neck. The first image had some motion blur on the bill.
What’s Up?
There are just two spots open on the San Diego IPT. Change your life by grabbing one of them. Scroll down for details.
Much to the Morris family’s dismay, the Amazing New York Mets finally ran out of miracles, losing to the Dodgers in Game 6 of the NLDS. that said, they surely had an unexpectedly wonderful year. This year’s World Series will be a rerun of my early childhood: Dodgers versus Yankees. I might actually be rooting for the Yankees.
Today is Monday 21 October. I headed down to the lake early and was glad to see the eagle pair building a new nest in the tree that they used last year. The old nest blew down in Hurricane Milton. Strange that both nests blow down with Milton after surviving Helen and Ian, the latter in late September 2022. As it was rather chilly with a north wind, I took an early sun walk and headed home for breakfast before 8:00am. Whatever you are doing, I hope that you have a great day.
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.
Canon RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM Lens (with Extras)
Used Gear Page regular Stephen Zarate is offering a Canon RF 600mm f/4 L IS USM Lens in like-new condition for a ridiculously low $9,499.00. The sale includes a RSS LCF-53 lens plate, a LensCoat, the original box and everything that came in it including the rear cap, the front lens cover, the lens bag, the lens strap, and insured ground shipping via UPS to lower-48 US addresses only.
Whatever system you are using, the 600mm f/4 lenses are the be-all and end-all for bird photography. This super-sharp lens weighs only one ounce more than the Sony 600mm and is nicely balanced for hand holding with most of the weight to the rear. It sells new for $12,999.00 at B&H and there are virtually no used copies available. I did find one listed for $11,149.00! Get in touch with Steve ASAP to purchase his pretty much new lens while saving a handsome $3,500.00. artie
Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Camera Body (with Extras)
Used Gear Page regular Stephen Zarate is offering a Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Camera Body in excellent plus condition for $1699.00. The sale includes the original box, the front body cap, six batteries (five extra — a $79.00 @ value), a Canon Mount Adapter EF-EOS R (a $129.00 value), and insured ground shipping via UPS to lower-48 US addresses only. Note: the sale does not include the battery charger.
I owned and used an R5 (and an RF 100-500) when they first came out so that I was able to write the EOS R5/R6 Camera User’s Guide. I enjoyed using it and made lots of excellent images in short order. If you are looking to get into Canon mirrorless, you’d be smart to grab Stephen’s R5 right now. artie
Canon Extender RF 2X (Teleconverter)
Used Gear Page regular Stephen Zarate is offering a Canon Extender RF 2X (Teleconverter) in like-new condition for the bargain price of $399.00. The sale includes the original box, the front and rear caps, the pouch, and insured ground shipping via UPS to lower-48 US addresses only.
Regular readers know that I have been using my Canon and Sony 2X TCs with my 600 lenses with great success for several decades. Save $200.00. artie
This image was created on 24 January 2024 on a San Diego IPT. Crouching a bit, I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens with the Sony FE 2x teleconverter (at 400mm), and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebras with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1250: 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:33:58am on a cloudy morning.
Tracking: (upper center) Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly in a difficult situation. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: Brown Pelican — Pacific race breeding plumage preening
Peashooter Rig
On cloudy- fairly bright days when I feel like leaving the 600 in my rental car, I will head down the steps with just the 70-200mm f/2.8 GM II lens/a-1 rig — and with both teleconverters in my new fanny pack, the Lowepro Trekker Lite HP 100 Hip Pack (Black).
With either TC, the peashooter rig can be perfect for flight with the incoming pelicans. As the large birds are often silly tame on cloudy days, it is possible — with a low, slow approach, to get close enough to make some tight behavioral portraits like Image #1 above when using the 2X TC.
Your AF system needs to be superb to grab and track the eye with the bird’s raised wing sort of “in the way.”
Where Have You Been All My Life?
For well more than a decade I had been using a cheap fanny pack to hold my TCs and a spare battery. About a year ago the zipper failed. I looked online but it was too difficult to figure out which of 50 or so fanny packs might be best for me. I actually ordered two that seemed right but they weren’t so I returned them. When I went to see Billy Joel’s final show at Madison Square Garden last summer, I drove into the city early for a quick stop at B&H in search of the perfect fanny pack.
The moment I saw the Lowepro Trekker Lite HP 100 Hip Pack (Black) on the shelf, I fell in love with it. It is large enough to fit both TCs, two extra batteries, my car keys, my iPhone 15+, a Vello Remote Release, and some other assorted junk as needed. It is well constructed with tough zippers and fabric.
Sometimes it pays to shop in the store!
This image was created on 20 January 2024 on a San Diego Instructional Photo-Tour at La Jolla, CA. I used the handheld Sony FE 70-200mm f/2.8 GM OSS II lens (at 194mm) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial — learn more below. ISO 3200: 1/3200 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. AWB at 8:01:11am in the shade of building on a very cloudy morning.
Tracking: Zone AF/C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Brandt’s Cormorant returning to cliff nest
The Right Tool for the Job
The 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses were made to photograph the incoming Brandt’s Cormorants. The birds are nesting on a shelf just below the level of the sidewalk and thus, are flying right at you at close range. As above, you sometimes need to zoom out from 200mm! And the super-fast f/2.8 aperture allows for manageable ISOs in the often extremely low light conditions.
Sign up for the 2025 San Diego IPT and bring your 70-200mm f/2.8 lens; I will teach you how to create some killer images.
Why Turn Off Zebras?
With dark or black subjects and very light-toned backgrounds you need to have the background totally flashing with Zebras in order to get the right exposure for the dark subject. In most cases, there are so many Zebras that you cannot see the subject. The solution? Assign Zebras On & Off to a convenient programmable button. As the light is pretty much constant on cloudy days, figure the correct exposure and then turn off Zebras.
Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version.
Image #3: Royal Tern winter plumage in flight set against a braking wave
Oft Overlooked
There are two spots along the coast of La Jolla where many dozen Royal Terns roost on the rocks. When the waves are breaking the flock is constantly flying out and then back to re-land. With the right wind and the right light, the photography can be very productive. Join me on the San Diego 2025 IPT and learn about the complex relationship between sky conditions, wind direction, and flight photography!
Manual Mode
I work in Manual Mode probably 95% of the time. Photographing the incoming Royal Terns at La Jolla I’ll quickly illustrate why Manual mode is a must. The incoming birds might be set against a light blue, dark blue, or white sky. They might be set against the dark face of a cresting wave or the bright white wash of a breaking wave. Or they might be set against wet, black rocks. For each of those, you would need a different exposure compensation if you were working in an automatic mode like Av or Tv. Nobody is capable of doing that as the background often changes in a fraction of a second. As long as the light is constant for at least a bit, you simply figure the correct exposure for the bird, set it manually, and fire away (until the light changes).
Sun Angle Question
How do you know that the sun was coming over my left shoulder rather than over the top of my head?
This image was created at La Jolla, CA on 29 January 2024 on a private IPT. Seated on the edge of a recreational lake, I used the handheld Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless digital camera. Shutter Priority +1/3 stop with AUTO ISO. AUTO ISO set ISO 500: 1/3200 sec. at f/4.
Zone/AF-C was active at the moment of exposure and performed perfectly. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy the larger version.
Image #4: Ring-necked Duck drake braking to land
Shutter Priority Mode?
Incoming ducks often present difficult exposure challenges. Some of the ducks have white bellies, some have middle-toned bellies. Some of the drakes are very dark and some of those have some bright white or silver among the dark feathers. Many of the females have middle-toned upperparts. If the light and the backgrounds are relatively consistent, I do not hesitate to go to Shutter Priority mode with Exposure Compensation (EC) on the Thumb Dial and AUTO ISO. Then I set a fast enough for flight shutter speed. When I see what’s coming, I set the appropriate EC and fire away. In such situations, Shutter Priority is a much better choice than Manual mode.
Click on the image to better see the green eye-AF boxes in action.
Sony Alpha 1 Flight Photography AF Points!
The SONY Alpha a1 Set-up Guide and Info Group: $150.00 (or Free)
The .DAT files with my settings for Firmware 2.01 and 2.02 are now available. Please e-mail for details.
The SONY Alpha a1 Set-up Guide and Info Group is going great guns as more and more folks chime in with thoughtful questions and experience-based answers. As the a1 is becoming more readily available, more and more folks are getting their hands on this amazing body. By June 1, 2022, the group was up to an astounding 124 lucky and blessed folks. (More than a few folks own two or more a1 bodies! Early on, we discussed the myriad AF options. I gave my opinion as to the best one for flight and general bird photography. The best news is that everyone in the group receives an e-mail that includes a .DAT file with my a1 settings on it, and explicit directions on how to load my settings onto your a1; talk about convenience! I am now offering a .DAT file compatible with firmware update 1.20. Your entry into the group includes a consolidated Sony a1 CAMSETA2 INFO & GUIDE. New a1 folks will now receive six e-mails instead of the previous 28! You will receive new e-mails as they are published. Simply put, this e-mail guide is an incredible resource for anyone with an a1.
All who purchased their Alpha 1 bodies via a BAA affiliate link — B&H or Bedfords — will receive a free Sony Alpha a1 Set-Up Guide and free entry into the Info Updates group after shooting me their receipts via e-mail. (Note: it may take me several days to confirm B&H orders.). Others can purchase their guide here in the BAA Online Store.
San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
The 2025 San Diego Brown Pelicans (and More!) IPT
Price reduced $100.00 from last year!
2025 San Diego IPT: 4 1/2 DAYS: SAT 11 JAN 2025 thru the morning session on WED 15 JAN 2024: $2599.00. Deposit: $699.00. Limit: 6/Openings 3.
Shared AirBnB lodging is available and maximizes learning as well.
Please e-mail for information on personalized pre- and post-IPT sessions.
Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (nesting) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Ducks; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Northern Shoveler and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heermann’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others are possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions (both depending on the current regulations and restrictions). And as you can see by studying the IPT cards, there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Not to mention a ton of excellent flight photography opportunities and instruction.
I discovered some really neat new spots on my 2024 visit. We will be visiting all of them early next year.
Please note: where permitted and on occasion, ducks and gulls may be attracted (or re-located) with offerings of grains or healthy bread.
San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
Learning Exposure, Whether You Like It Or Not
Whether you like it or not, we will be beating the subject of exposure like a dead horse. In every new situation, you will hear my thoughts on exposure along with my thoughts on both Nikon and Canon histograms and SONY Zebras. Whether you like it or not, you will learn to work in manual mode so that you can get the right exposure every time (as long as a bird gives you ten seconds with the light constant). Or two seconds with SONY zebras … And you will learn what to do when the light is changing constantly. What you learn about exposure will be one of the great takeaways on every IPT.
Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT, there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
It Ain’t Just Pelicans
With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning, there is usually some excellent flight photography, at times with 70-200mm lenses! And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You will be guided as to how to make the best of those opportunities. Depending on the weather, the local conditions, and the tides, there are a variety of other fabulous photo chances available in and around San Diego. Each IPT will include one or two duck sessions.
Did I mention that there are lots of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter? Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
The San Diego Details
This IPT will include five 3-hour morning photo sessions, four 1 1/2-hour afternoon photo sessions, and four working brunches at my AirBnb. Those will include image review and Photoshop sessions. On rare cloudy days, we may — at the leader’s discretion, stay out in the morning for a long session and skip that afternoon shoot. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. And so that we can get some sleep, dinners will be on your own as well. In the extremely unlikely event that Goldfish Point is closed due to local ordinance (or whimsy) — that has never happened in the past fifty years, I will of course do my very best to maximize our photographic opportunities.
Deposit Info
A $699 deposit is required to hold your slot for one of the 2025 San Diego IPT. You can send a check (made out to “BIRDS AS ART”) to us here: BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855, or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, is due two months before the trip.
Variety is surely the spice of life in San Diego. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
Getting Up Early and Staying Out Late
On all BIRDS AS ART IPTS including and especially the San Diego IPT, we get into the field early to take advantage of unique and often spectacular lighting conditions and we stay out late to maximize the chances of killer light and glorious sunset silhouette situations. We often arrive at the cliffs a full hour before anyone else shows up to check out the landscape and seascape opportunities.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Today’s mirrorless gear is so good and the frame rates so high, that it is often necessary to delete dozens if not hundreds of perfect images. I originally made about 800 photos of this cooperative wading bird working from the front seat of my vehicle at 1200mm with the big lens on a BLUBB. Sit beside me at my laptop and learn why I eliminated nine of the 21 first round keepers.
The two images today were my top picks.
Your Call?
Which of today’s featured images is your favorite? Why? I have a clear winner. I will share it with you along with my reasons in the next post.
What’s Up?
The main point of yesterday’s short blog post was that with advanced cancers, I believe that alternative medicine offers a far greater chance for a miracle than does Western Medicine, without the horrific suffering that goes hand in hand with chemo and radiation.
Photography down by the lake continues to be good. I’ve been managing to find at least one excellent situation each morning no matter the weather. Today is Friday 18 OCT 2024. I spent more than an hour with a perched Anhinga. I got lots of good ones but the great one I am after eluded me.
I’ve been following up with lots of a-1 folks on the firmware updates both by e-mail and cell phone. Using the new Focus Recall feature is becoming second nature for me and has been paying some very nice dividends already. As soon as I hit Publish, I am getting into the pool. Whatever you are doing, I hope that you too choose to have fun and enjoy life.
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.
This image was created on 13 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 1250. 1/800 sec. at f/11 (stopped down one-stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 8:31:51am on a sunny morning.
Tracking:(upper) Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Some telephoto lens beginners do not realize that they can get from horizontal format to vertical format simply by rotating the lens barrel 90°. When you are on a tripod, you need to loosen the tripod collar to do that. When on a bean bag, that step is not needed. As a general rule, I keep the tripod collar loose so that I do not have to worry about it getting stuck under the lens or prevent the lens barrel from rotating. With slower shutter speeds, I will sometimes rotate the lens, level it on the bean bag, and then turn and tighten the tripod collar and the attached lens foot so that it provided additional support.
As always when working on a beanbag, you must be sure that if your lens has a Direct Manual Focusing (DMF) switch, that you turn it off to prevent throwing off the focus.
This image was created on 13 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 1250. 1/800 sec. at f/11 (stopped down one-stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 8:31:56 am on a sunny morning.
Tracking:(upper) Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Executed properly, vertical front-end portraits like the one above can be very powerful. The framing in Image #1 above and the head turn are both dead solid perfect. Note that with the relatively distant background, working at f/11 did not bring up any unwanted background detail.
With Firmware v2.01 Bird Face-eye Tracking improved noticeably. Using Tracking: (upper center) Zone AF the tiny green AF box stuck to the bird’s eye like glue.
High Level Image Question
1/800 second shutter speed was fast enough for one of today’s images, but not for the other. Which one could have used a faster shutter speed. Why?
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
November 20, 2024 will mark 30 years since the death of my 2nd wife, Elaine Belsky Morris. She was diagnosed, she followed and endured the horrific chemo and radiation therapies, and she suffered.
Four months prior, they told us “It’s a miracle, the tumor has disappeared.” Then she was dead in short order. 15 months from diagnosis to the funeral. The Work of Byron Katie teaches is that dealing with what might have been causes stress and unhappiness. While understanding that fully, I still wish that I had known Dr. Cliff Oliver while Elaine was alive.
In short, if you are diagnosed, there are options.
Note: Elaine had a negative mammogram two weeks before she discovered her tumor with a self exam.
Great Cancer Round Table
Hope4Cancer’s Integrative Approach
Webinar October 17th at 11am PT/ 2pm ET
If you cant make it LIVE, a replay of the webinar will be sent to you on Monday, October 21st!
Breast cancer remains the most common cancer among women worldwide, with more than 2 million new cases diagnosed annually. A concerning trend is emerging: the incidence of breast cancer in younger women is on the rise. Recent studies show that breast cancer rates in women under 50 have increased by 1.4% per year from 2012 to 2021, with the steepest rise of 2.2% per year in women in their 20s. These early-onset cancers tend to be more aggressive. Young women are 38% more likely to be diagnosed with later-stage cancers and have a 30% higher risk of dying from the disease compared to older women.
In this week’s live webinar, Dr. Tony Jimenez M.D., N.D. will be joined by two special guests: Dr. Leslie Gomez M.D., one of Hope4Cancer’s BEST physicians (Behavioral, Emotional & Spiritual Transformation), and Hope4Cancer nutritionist Oscar Puig, BNFS, MCN. The panel will discuss a range of topics related to breast cancer, including common emotional and spiritual traumas associated with breast cancer diagnoses, the role of nutrition and gut health in breast cancer prevention and treatment, and Hope4Cancer’s comprehensive treatment approach for breast cancer patients.
This webinar recording describes health and medical information that is entirely based on the training, research, clinical, and personal experience of the presenter, guest or patient. This information is not intended to be used to treat or diagnose any particular disease or a particular patient. There is no explicit or implicit attempt by the presenter to render professional advice or services to the viewer. This information is not presented here to take the place of advice you would receive from your physician or health care provider, or to advocate for any particular treatment. The viewer accepts complete responsibility for any adverse effects or consequences arising from following any suggestions, treatments, procedures, preparations, or supplements described in this webinar recording. Please consider that any structure/function statements made for any product cited within this webinar have not been evaluated by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
What You Will Learn
Steps to prevent and detect breast cancer early on and limit your risk.
The critical role nutrition and gut health play in breast cancer prevention and treatment.
How the 7 Key Principles of Cancer Therapy can improve breast cancer outcomes.
The impact of emotions on breast cancer development and treatment
Join us Thursday, October 17th at 11am PT/ 2pm ET.
Chris Beat Cancer
Both men and women who would like to learn about holistic healing of even severe cancers should check out the amazing Holistic Survivors Stories here on the Chris Beat Cancer website.
On this site, you can check out Dr. Jenn Simmons’s on the truth about mammograms and the best diet for breast healthhere.
In the same vein, check out Are Mammograms Dangeroushere on Instagram.
Which of today’s four featured images do you like best? Why?
What’s Up?
Photography continues to be good in the mornings here at ILE. This morning I had a gorgeous Red-shouldered Hawk posing on The Perch II.
I will be sending SONY Alpha a1 Set-up and Info Notes e-Mail H (15 OCT 2024): Firmware Update 2.01 and 2.20 Options to the group tomorrow. If you own a Sony a-1 and are not in the group, it would be a very good idea to get in touch with me via e-mail.
My favorite image from the previous blog post was Image #1, the square Great Blue Heron with the very small fish. Why? I loved the image design, the soft light, the sharpness, and the fine feather detail.
While the spectacular Pacific-race Brown Pelicans are surely the stars of any San Diego IPT, Wood Duck and the nesting Brandt’s Cormorants are a close second. Then throw in a variety of gulls including and especially the drop-dead gorgeous Heermann’s Gull, lots of Royal Terns in flight and perched, a variety of ducks including the handsome Ring-necked Duck, many shorebirds species including Marbled Godwit, Black Oystercatcher, Black Turnstones, Spotted Sandpipers, and more, one or two species of hummingbirds with Anna’s being the most dependable, at least two species of marine mammals, and some great scenic photography as well. With 2025’s single IPT half filled already, there are only three slots left. San Diego is one of my very favorite teaching laboratories.
Please e-mail with questions or to save your spot.
Note: I will be sharing educational images of lots of the San Diego back-up subjects here on the blog for the next month or two.
Today is Wednesday 16 October 2024 and I will be headed down to the lake early. Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you too choose to have a great day. Remember, “Happiness is a choice.” Byron Katie, www.TheWork.com.
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 18 January 2024 at La Jolla, CA. Standing at full height, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 320. 1/4000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 8:10:24am on mostly sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: Brown Pelican, Pacific race breeding plumage in flight plus one more on a rock
The Original Frame
Do you like that I left the out of focus pelican on the right side of the frame? Why or why not?
The Sony 400mm f/2.8 GM Lens
As I perused the San Diego JAN-FEB 2024 DONE file to look for some images to process for this blog post, I did not look at the gear that was used for each image. I was only a bit surprised to see that the Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens had been used to create all three. It is pretty close to the perfect lens for San Diego. It was great for the pelicans both in flight and on the sandstone cliffs. It was great at Santee Lakes for the ducks. As the winter of 2024 was atypically cloudy, the f/2.8 aperture was tremendously useful. And it killed at the Brandt’s Cormorant colony for the same reason.
Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens
Price reduced a shocking $600.00 on 13 July 2024
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 $9398.00 (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 $2,000.00 by grabbing Robert’s might-as-well-be-new 400mm GM lens. And you can’t beat the f/2.8 Bokeh! artie
Image #1A: a square crop of Image #1: Brown Pelican, Pacific race breeding plumage in flight
The Square Crop
I went with the square crop to eliminate the out of focus pelican on the left side of the frame. To improve the position of the bird in the frame, I needed to add a bit of canvas above. I did that with Content-Aware Crop.
How would you compare the two images, #1 and 1A? Which of the two (if any) do you like better?
This image was created on 18 January 2024 at La Jolla, CA. Seated on the edge of a lake, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 500. 1/1000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 8:26:02am on barely sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Wood Duck drake floating on lovely water
Photographing Drake Wood Ducks
Drake Wood Ducks present a difficult exposure challenge. Why? The elongated white oval on the bill is exceedingly bright. As are the white stripes on the face and the vertical ones on the forward flanks. In the meantime, you are striving to expose as far to the right as possible to open up the very dark tones on the wings and especially, the large black patch on the face. Getting the purple cheek patch exactly right is largely a matter of light angle and reflectance.
For all of the above reasons, I prefer soft early light, cloudy-bright, or shade. Full sun exacerbates the exposure challenges. Despite that, it is possible to create excellent drake Wood Duck images in sunny conditions.
After selecting the whites and putting them on a new layer, I changed the Blending Mode to Linear Burn, reduced the Opacity of that layer to 20%, added a Regular Layer Mask, and smoothed the edges with a 50% Opacity Brush.
This image was created on 18 January 2024 at La Jolla, CA. Standing at full height, I used the handheld Sony FE 400mm f/2.8 GM OSS lens and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1000. 1/1000 sec. at f/2.8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 11:40:20am on a cloudy sunny morning.
Tracking: Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Brandt’s Cormorant on nest, displaying
The Brandt’s Cormorant Colony
The Brandt’s Cormorant colony at La Jolla is an absolute treasure that is often overlooked by visiting bird photographers. Most of the nests are in the shade for the better part of the day. Understanding the wind and the sky conditions is a necessity for photographing them flying in with a load of seaweed for their nests. Consider joining us in San Diego for the action- and learning-packed 2025 Pelicans and More Instructional Photo Tour.
San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
The 2025 San Diego Brown Pelicans (and More!) IPT
Price reduced $100.00 from last year!
2025 San Diego IPT: 4 1/2 DAYS: SAT 11 JAN 2025 thru the morning session on WED 15 JAN 2024: $2599.00. Deposit: $699.00. Limit: 6/Openings 3.
Shared AirBnB lodging is available and maximizes learning as well.
Please e-mail for information on personalized pre- and post-IPT sessions.
Join me in San Diego to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (nesting) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Wood and Ring-necked Ducks; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Northern Shoveler and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heermann’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others are possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Whimbrel, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seals and California Sea Lions (both depending on the current regulations and restrictions). And as you can see by studying the IPT cards, there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Not to mention a ton of excellent flight photography opportunities and instruction.
I discovered some really neat new spots on my 2024 visit. We will be visiting all of them early next year.
Please note: where permitted and on occasion, ducks and gulls may be attracted (or re-located) with offerings of grains or healthy bread.
San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects, including and especially the Pacific race of California Brown Pelican. With annual visits spanning more than four decades, I have lots of photographic experience there … Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
Learning Exposure, Whether You Like It Or Not
Whether you like it or not, we will be beating the subject of exposure like a dead horse. In every new situation, you will hear my thoughts on exposure along with my thoughts on both Nikon and Canon histograms and SONY Zebras. Whether you like it or not, you will learn to work in manual mode so that you can get the right exposure every time (as long as a bird gives you ten seconds with the light constant). Or two seconds with SONY zebras … And you will learn what to do when the light is changing constantly. What you learn about exposure will be one of the great takeaways on every IPT.
Though the pelicans will be the stars of the show on this IPT, there will be many other handsome and captivating subjects in wonderful settings. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
It Ain’t Just Pelicans
With gorgeous subjects just sitting there waiting to have their pictures taken, photographing the pelicans on the cliffs is about as easy as nature photography gets. With the winds from the east almost every morning, there is usually some excellent flight photography, at times with 70-200mm lenses! And the pelicans are almost always doing something interesting: preening, scratching, bill pouch cleaning, or squabbling. And then there are those crazy head throws that are thought to be a form of intra-flock communication. You will be guided as to how to make the best of those opportunities. Depending on the weather, the local conditions, and the tides, there are a variety of other fabulous photo chances available in and around San Diego. Each IPT will include one or two duck sessions.
Did I mention that there are lots of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter? Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
The San Diego Details
This IPT will include five 3-hour morning photo sessions, four 1 1/2-hour afternoon photo sessions, and four working brunches at my AirBnb. Those will include image review and Photoshop sessions. On rare cloudy days, we may — at the leader’s discretion, stay out in the morning for a long session and skip that afternoon shoot. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. And so that we can get some sleep, dinners will be on your own as well. In the extremely unlikely event that Goldfish Point is closed due to local ordinance (or whimsy) — that has never happened in the past fifty years, I will of course do my very best to maximize our photographic opportunities.
Deposit Info
A $699 deposit is required to hold your slot for one of the 2025 San Diego IPT. You can send a check (made out to “BIRDS AS ART”) to us here: BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, 33855, or call Jim or Jennifer at the office with a credit card at 863-692-0906. Your balance, payable only by check, is due two months before the trip.
Variety is surely the spice of life in San Diego. Click on the composite to enjoy a larger version.
Getting Up Early and Staying Out Late
On all BIRDS AS ART IPTS including and especially the San Diego IPT, we get into the field early to take advantage of unique and often spectacular lighting conditions and we stay out late to maximize the chances of killer light and glorious sunset silhouette situations. We often arrive at the cliffs a full hour before anyone else shows up to check out the landscape and seascape opportunities.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Which of today’s six featured images is the strongest? Please leave a comment and let us know why you made your choice (or your choices if you go with two). I have a clear favorite that I will share with you in the next blog post.
What’s Up?
I had wanted to publish this on Monday morning but ran into a plethora of Word Press problems. Actually, my continuing problems kept getting worse. I quick WhatsApp call to old friend Peter Kes, now living on a farm in remote South Africa in the midst Zebras, Elephants, and extremely poisonous Mambas, resolved the situation. Thanks again, Peter! The long term prognosis is looking good as found a serious problem with the server that was quickly rectified by the hosts.
Many of you are probably aware of the nightmarish, totally embarrassing Firmware Update problems with the Sony a-1. It truly has been a fiasco. Here is a short summary:
1- Several months ago Sony announced Firmware Update 2.00. It was supposed to improve WIFI connectivity (whatever that is??) instead, it wrecked it.
2- It took Sony a while to remove the new Firmware and a while longer to correct the WiFi problems.
3- The next version, v2.01, fixed the WiFi business but many users of the very popular Sony 200-600 G lens reported that the new firmware wrecked their lens. In addition, many folks reported battery life problems with 2.01.
4- Sony finally released v2.02. The problems with the 200-600 were eliminated along with the battery life problems. Formatting a card with a 2.02 a-1 is about 80% faster than it was with previous Firmware versions.
Aware of the problems with the Firmware Updates, I cautioned my a-1 Setup and Info group not to update and advised everyone to stick with v1.32 that was at least functional.
I did just that.
When things calmed down a bit, feeling some allegiance to my a-1 group, I purchased a second a-1 from BAA friend Greg Clarkson for $3800.00 about seven weeks ago. Some time went by, and with some trepidation, I updated that body to 2.01. Everything was fine with my big lenses. The first time that I used that body with my 200-600 G lens the camera acted as if it were on crack. It refused to focus, the image was jumping around in the viewfinder, and a message popped up stating that I was in AF-S (one shot AF) even though I was in AF-C (continuous AF). I removed and re-inserted the battery, and all was fine. None-the-less, I updated to 2.02 on Sunday morning.
I headed down to the lake and as things turned out, I had my best morning since September 19, this images made with v2.01.
Battery life with 2.02 is fine. There are no issues with the 200-600. Bird Face-Eye AF seems to be somewhat improved. And formatting a card takes about two seconds as compared to 10 seconds or more with previous firmwares. But the very best news is a new feature called Focus Recall. Huge thanks to Arash Hazeghi for pointing it out to me as we worked on an update to the Sony a-1 (a9 iii) flight guide. I took what he taught me about programming Preset Focus/Zoom to a single button for flight photography and turned it into what will surely turn out to be a huge game-changer for general bird photography. Imagine, prevent AF system blindness will soon become a faint memory.
The bad news is that it only works with the Sony prime lenses, the 300mm f/2.8, the 40mm f/2.8, and the 600mm f/4.
The a-1 group folks will be hearing from me on the cumbersome updating process detailing all of their options by this Tuesday the latest.
Others might ask, If this Firmware update business is such a hassle, why do you stick with Sony?
1- Light weight.
2- Incredible Bird Face-Eye AF.
3- Simplicity of operation (using my settings).
4- Zebra technology!
5- Incredible image quality with the a-1.
6- Incredible speed with the a9 iii (120 fps with pre-capture).
7- AF performance and the resulting sharpness with the 2X TCs — no other system even makes it to second place
If you doubt me on #7 above, be sure to enlarge each of today’s featured images.
8- The lightweight Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM lens is un-matched in the industry and is a Godsend for older folks with either TC.
Doubt me? Check out images 4, 4A, 5, and 6 below.
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.
This image was created on 13 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 1600. 1/320 sec. at f/8 (wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be perfect. AWB at 7:53:40 am on a then partly sunny morning.
Tracking: (upper) Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #1: Great Blue Heron with tiny fish
Tiny Prey Items
Considering the Great Blue Herons have been seen swallowing five pound fish, large rats, and baby rabbits, it is astounding to see them capturing tiny fish like the one above. I guess part of the trick is that they need to do it often. Compositionally, a square crop was the strongest available.
Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #2: Osprey male on perch in (failed) nest tree
Mr. Regular
Most male Ospreys have at most a very few tiny dark streaks on their upper breasts. This handsome bird, a male, of course, was sitting on a very nice perch above a nest that was destroyed recently by Milton. This morning — Sunday, he was sitting in nearby but a few feet to the right and a few feet below Saturday’s perch. With a NW breeze that I could not feel, the bird felt it and was facing away. So, I stopped down more than a stop and concentrated on over the shoulder look-back poses. Again I was rewarded for driving down to the end of Palmetto Drive. It pays to check the good spots repeatedly.
When working vertically, I will often move the AF point toward the top of the frame so that I do not have to move the lens much when the bird looks either left or right, or at all when it looks right at me. Overall, Bird Face-Eye tracking with a-1 Firmware v2.01 and v2.02 seems to be somewhat better than it was with v1.32.
This image was created on 13 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the driver’s seat of my SUV, I used the BLUBB-supported Sony FE 600mm f/4 GM OSS lens, the Sony FE 2.0x Teleconverter, and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the thumb dial. ISO 1600. 1/1250 sec. at f/10 (stopped down 2/3-stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file exposure was determined to be dead-solid perfect. AWB at 8:28:51am on a sunny morning.
Tracking:Zone AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed perfectly even at 1200mm. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #3: Tricolored Heron non-breeding adult
Elusive Till Saturday
Both a worn juvenile and an adult Tricolored Heron have been hanging out in the small bay left of the pier here at ILE. They have both been teasing me and I did not come up with a single decent image until this winter adult posed for me on Saturday morning. I had a hard time choosing which one to post so I will likely do a video soon showing my other keepers along with more from the vertical Osprey series — from which Image #1 was chosen for the down-the-lens-barrel stare.
This image was created on 13 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Walking on the pier, I used the handheld Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1600. 1/1000 sec. at f/11 (stopped down one stop) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be perfect (ho hum). AWB at 9:02:28am on sunny morning.
Tracking (upper right) Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #4: Turkey Vulture, bright adult
The Pier Railing
On many mornings, there are Turkey Vultures lined up on the pier railings. When I (or anyone else) goes for a walk on the pier, they take flight. At times, depending on the wind, there are some good flight chances. On Saturday there were half a dozen on the railings. Four flew as I walked onto the pier. Then there was only one. I employed my very best stalking technique by moving slower than slow, moving each foot perhaps an inch at a time. And I continually whispered sweet nothings to the bird: “Be a good boy. I am not here to hurt you.” All in all, I got very close, perhaps twelve feet or so.
Notice that at such close range I stopped down one full stop for a bit of extra depth of field. I moved the Zone bracket to the upper right of the frame; when the bird looked back to my left, it tracked the eye perfectly and I had the best image of the series.
Image #4A: An unsharpened 100% crop of the Turkey Vulture’s eyeball
Astonishing Sharpness
More than a few folks have asked if the Sony 300mm f/2.8 GM with the 2X is as sharp as the bare 600mm f/4 or the 200-600. You tell me! If this image were any sharper I might cut myself looking at it.
This image was created on 13 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Walking on the pier, I used the handheld Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1600. 1/3200 sec. at f/5.6 (stopped down two stops) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead-solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 9:04:26am on sunny morning.
Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #5: Whirligig Beetles approach
Oops!
When I first spotted these subjects scooting about on the surface, I looked at them through the lens and saw what looked like silver bellies. I assumed that they were fish. But when I got home and zoomed in, I could see that they were some type of water beetles. After a bit of surfing online, I came up with what is likely the correct identification. I had never seen them before. I saw them first on Sunday morning. They were in the same spot at 6:30pm the day when I went for my early evening walk. And they were in the same spot on Monday morning.
I wanted to call them a school of beetle. Online sources suggest a swarm or a colony. If you have something better than that, please leave a comment. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see two very small fish just above center.
Sony Zebras handled this near-impossible exposure situation with ease.
This image was created on 13 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Walking on sand beach to the left of the pier, I used the handheld Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS Lens (Sony E) with the Sony FE 2x Teleconverter and The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera). The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1250. 1/4000 sec. at f/5.6 wide open) in Manual mode. When evaluated in RawDigger, the raw file brightness was determined to be dead solid perfect (ho hum). AWB at 9:12:59am on sunny morning.
Zone/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye detection enabled performed to perfection. Be sure to click on the image to enjoy a high-res version.
Image #6: Osprey — female with fish
Serendipity
After my shirtless pier walk (for Vitamin D), I walked onto the beach to check on two log perches that I had set up. I happened to glance up and saw an Osprey with a fish flying right at me very close to sun angle, I raised the lens, acquired focus, and fired off about three dozen frames. This was my fave.
Note that I had pre-determined the exposure for Osprey as it was the most likely to be encountered subject. Working in manual mode, I would have gone 3 clicks lighter had a male Boat-tailed Grackle flown by or three clicks darker had a Great Egret flown by. Notice that when you learn to adjust the exposure based on the tonality of the subject, no metering is needed.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
In the last post, I commented on Thursday morning at 8:01am as follows:
Thanks, all, (for the good wishes).
I slept through the night. I walked around the house at 6am with my iPhone flashlight; we are unscathed. We never lost power here at ILE. Jennifer did lose power at her home in nearby Babson Park.
As is often the case, the storm was pretty much a big fizzle with the usual trees and power lines down. It certainly was not the 100-year storm they were predicting. Unless you lived on the coast below Sarasota, there was not much damage. The storm surge at Tampa, St. Pete, and Clearwater was approximately “1-3 feet.” There was and is lots of local flooding.
with love, artie
ps: And yes, I will be heading down to the lake soon.
As it turns out, by pooh-poohing the storm, I spoke much too soon.
While Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Pete fared much better than they did with Helene, there was some damaging storm surge well to the south, though not as severe as predicted. The storm, however, claimed at least 17 lives, none by drowning. The deaths included at least five due to tornadoes in St. Lucie County on the East Coast (!) just 70 miles from my front door. Floodwaters rose to more than six feet in Lithia, near the Alafia River, about 20 miles southeast of Tampa. There were 3.4 million power outages, and early estimates are that Hurricane Milton caused $50 billion in damage.
While the Amazing Mets will be playing for the National League pennant soon, the roof blew off Tropicana Field, home of the Tampa Bay Rays’ in St. Petersburg. I had no internet for 26 hours, and Jennifer in Babson Park still has no power. But all in all, I and my friends were blessedly lucky. Again.
Even though I was amazed at the sharpness of the young Great Egret in flight at only 1/640 sec., my favorite of the two images in the last blog post was the Cattle Egret in the rain for the rain streaks, the shallow blue puddle, and the layers of color.
On Thursday, a two first-ever-for-ILE Royal Terns were flying over the pier, surely brought here by Milton. The day before, I had a first-ever-for-ILE fly-by Merlin. With north winds and cloudy skies, photography down by the lake has not been consistently good. With more of the same forecast for this morning, Saturday 12 October 2024, I will head down to the lake at about 8am. Whatever the heck you are doing, I hope that you too have a great day.
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This image was created on 10 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estaates, FL. I used the hand held Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM lens (at 15 mm) and The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera.. ISO 1600. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/250 second at f/5.6 (stopped down two stops) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:23:16am on a cloudy morning.
Lower center Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #1: The 2021/22 Bald Eagle nest
The 2022/23 Bald Eagle Nest
At about 9:15am on Thursday, well after Hurricane Milton had departed to the northeast, I drove down to the lake to see what was up and about. As I turned left onto Banyan Drive, a thought entered my mind: “The two big nests are likely on the ground.” Within a minute, I learned that I had been correct. This nest, just past the boat ramp, was the first lakefront Bald Eagle nest at ILE. A single eaglet fledged there in the late winter of 2022. The next year, the adults raised two young in it.
It was huge. It fell straight down from the tree, perhaps because the very large, very heavy branch that supported it snapped in the high winds. Last season, after the eagles left for a different nest in the same field, a pair of Ospreys hung around for months, courted and copulated, but never laid eggs.
This image was also created on 10 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Again, I used the hand held Sony FE 12-24mm f/2.8 GM lens (at 24mm) and The One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera.. ISO 1600. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/250 second at f/4.5 (stopped down 1 1/3 stops) in Manual mode. AWB at 9:18:48am on a cloudy morning.
Lower center Tracking: Expand Spot/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #2: The 2023 Bald Eagle nest
The 2024 Bald Eagle Nest
Though the same pair fledged two eaglets from this nest in the very early spring of 2023, I don’t think that I made a single image of that family as the top of the dead pine tree was quite cluttered. Lots of branches were cleared away by winds. On two occasions over the past few weeks, I saw the birds adding branches to the nest. Things were looking good for photography. Until Milton came along.
This nest, much smaller and lighter than the original nest, was blown more than 40 feet to the west of the nest tree.
Both nest trees were practically reduced to the trunks by Milton, so I have no idea if the eagles will attempt to rebuild or will move on. Time will tell. At least two natural Osprey nests came down in the storm as well.
This image was also created on 10 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL. Working from the driver’s seat on my SUV 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 One, the Sony a1 Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined using Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Dial. ISO 1600. 1/2500 second at f/4 (wide open) in Manual Mode. AWB at 9:59:11am on a cloudy morning. RawDigger showed the raw file brightness to be perfect.
Tracking: Expand Spot 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: Little Blue Heron juvenile on fallen log
New Opportunities
The diagonal log in Image #3 was toppled by Hurricane Milton. I think that it is an Australian Pine, a Florida alien. I was glad that I drove down to the end of Palmetto Drive to make my u-turn in the driveway of the last house, the tangerine one, formerly owned by my late friend Bob. When I see the juvie LBH the wide shot jumped out at me.
High Level Image Design Question
Why was it vitally important to the success of this image that I moved my car up three feet before I went to work?
Do not click on the composite image; simply scroll down for the best viewing.
While Sebastian Inlet is justifiably famous around the world for the Ospreys diving for migrating saltwater fish each fall, there are a variety of desirable avian subjects there as well in October and November. Keep reading if you would like to join me on what will surely be a memorable photographic and learning experience.
Pick Your Own Dates Short-notice Sebastian Inlet Ospreys and More BAA Personalized Instructional Workshops
Ridiculously Inexpensive!
Dates: October 29 (arrive on the afternoon of Monday the 28th) thru the morning session on Saturday 22 November
Right now I have four folks for the last week, 17-22 NOV. So any few days (or a week!) after 28 OCT and before mid-NOV would be fabulous.
As BIRDS AS ART lost more than $100,000 in tax year 2023, I am moving forward looking more at sharing expenses than at making money. Simply put, for more reasons than I will list here, sharing an AirBnB or VRBO place maximizes learning while reducing your overall travel costs.
Consider joining me at Sebastian Inlet this fall for some great bird photography and a ton of learning. Life is short; what are you waiting for? While a 600mm f/4 lens is ideal, you could do the whole trip with a variety of other lenses including a 500mm f/4, a 400mm f/2.8, a 400mm DO, a 200-600, a 100-500, a 300mm f/2.8 with TCs, or one of the great new Nikon Z telephoto or telephoto zoom lenses.
Bob Eastman is driving from Wisconsin and doing all 26 days, from 28 OCT thru the morning session on 22 NOV, prime time for Ospreys diving and catching a variety of saltwater fish. There are four bedrooms in this great AirBnB property that is just 22 minutes from the south jetty at the State Park, 24 minutes from the northwest pool where the Ospreys spent a lot of time last year. Please note that NOV 21-22 are sold out.
Hopefully, those who come would stay for a week or ten days (or all 26 days!) to maximize the opportunities. As above, fewer days would work also. Fly to Melbourne (MEL) or Orlando (MCO) and rent a car. Local folks who would like to arrange a morning or two of In-the-Field Instruction during October should get in touch via e-mail.
Here, if you stay in the AirBnB with me, are the ridiculous low rates for the in-the-field sessions (that include the daily Image Review and Photoshop sessions).
$250 for a morning session
$150 for an afternoon session.
Brunch and dinners at the AirBnB will cost you $20/day.
If you are interested, let me know your preferred dates via e-mail and I will get back to you with the per/night price for the lodging.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
As of 2pm on Wednesday 9 October 2024, Hurricane Milton was scheduled to make landfall somewhere between Tampa and Sarasota this evening. At the least, it is supposed to be one of the most powerful storms ever to strike Florida.
Many storm tracks show the eye of the hurricane passing directly over my home at Indian Lake Estates at 8am on Thursday morning. At best, we’ll get a ton of rain and lots of wind up to 70mph. At worst, we might have a pine tree or two come down on the house or on my newly redone pool cage. And maybe some windows blown out. Jim is riding out the storm here, and I do not believe that we are in any great danger. My new generator should kick in the moment we lose power tonight. Older daughter Jennifer is in nearby Babson Park and is nervously waiting to see what Milton has in store. I wish her and Erik the best tonight.
It was raining here when I woke at 6:00am, but quit by nine. At 11:30am I walked 1.3 miles and then swam 24 lengths in my lap pool, a bit more than 1/4 mile. Between noon and 1pm there was lots of thunder in the neighborhood and some heavy rain. Our phones lit up with Polk County tornado warnings. So far, all is fine.
In 2004, five years after I moved here, the eyes of Hurricanes Charley, Frances and Jeanne all crossed right over Indian Lake Estates. Charley brought the strongest winds, and moved quickly, not officially reducing power to Category 1 status until after passing by Polk County. When the 2004 hurricane season started, it had been 44 years since Polk County saw major damage from a hurricane. In 1960, Hurricane Donna crossed over Florida, leaving behind a swath of destruction in its path. The three storms did $29.8 billion worth of damage total across many states. I think that I lost power for almost two weeks after Charley.
Right now, I am most concerned for friends (and everyone else) living in Southwest Florida. David and Michele Pugsley in Plant City, accountant Chip Jackson in Clearwater (evacuated to Alabama), old friend Linda Robbins in Sarasota — I have no idea where she might be, Cliff Beittel and Susan, and Pat Fishburne, in Fort Myers — the moment Pat heard of the new storm, she flew to North Carolina, and John Johnson huddled up on the ninth floor of his Condo in Naples. I told John — we both attended Brooklyn Technical High School — to evacuate once the water reached the ninth floor.
I am hoping against hope at least to some degree that the storm weakens considerably. There is always the possibility of reverse storm surge in Tampa Bay as occurred with during Hurricanes Irma and Ian not long ago. All the water emptied out of the bay. Check it out here.
By 2:30pm, it was raining hard here at ILE and the wind is picking up. I hope to head down to the lake for a look see in a few minutes. By the time I finished the previous sentence the wind was ripping through the trees.
I continue working with the v2.02 and v2.02 Sony a-1 Firmware updates and will begin work on announcing the 2025 January San Diego IPT tomorrow.
Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, I hope that you are well and safe.
Update: I added two nice images created in the rain at 5:20pm.
This image was created on 9 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, 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 The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 2000. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/200 second at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 3:31:45pm on rainy afternoon.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #1: Cattle Egret in rain
Just In Case …
Just in case you thought I was kidding about going down to the lake in the pouring rain, I offer two of my 16 keepers from my hour-long session during which I created 435 photographs.
Just in case you don’t know me, you will now at least know that I am addicted to bird photography and that I am certifiably nuts. I would have stayed longer but my phone was screaming out tornado warnings so I headed home, had a nice dinner, and worked on these two images and added them to today’s blog post.
It has been pouring rain for several hours, that after several days of on and off rain. I have never seen so much water down by the lake as I did this afternoon. By morning, I am pretty sure that the entire North Field will look like part of the lake. It is likely that it will make the rainfall from Hurricane Ian look like a drought.
Anyhoo, as I mentioned here recently, the key to shooting from your vehicle in a hard rain is to have the driver’s side in the lee. With a strong wind from the northeast, I did my best to point the car to the northwest so that I was 90° to the rain. My lens got a bit wet, but the camera stayed perfectly dry. Best of all, I had fun.
This image was also created on 9 October 2024 down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, 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 The One, the Sony Alpha 1 Mirrorless Digital Camera.. ISO 2500. The exposure was determined by Zebras with ISO on the rear wheel: 1/640 second (!) at f/5.6 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was perfect. AWB at 3:42:21pm on rainy afternoon.
Tracking: Zone/AF-C with Bird-Eye/Face Detection performed perfectly. Click on the image to enjoy the high-res version.
Image #2: Great Egret juvenile taking flight in rain
Beyond Lucky
I am getting much better at following my own advice: When unexpected action occurs, press and hold the shutter button. Do not attempt to change the shutter speed or the ISO or you will miss everything.
This bird took fight several times without warning. Each time it did, I fired off a sequence of images expecting nothing sharp at 1/640 second. Surprise. All but one of the images showed considerable motion blur on the head. This un-cropped image was inexplicably razor sharp on the eye. Go figure.
In any case, I am 100% positive that I could not have made either of these images had I chosen to sit safely in my office and watch baseball.
Your Call?
Which image do you like best? Why? My choice just might surprise you.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
