December 21st, 2017 Stuff
Wednesday morning down by the lake was not bad. Best of all was a Red-shouldered Hawk on the tall skinny perch that we put up about 60 yards north of The Perch. And I did some neat video of a preening, displaying Boat-tailed Grackle. The evening was a total bust — the western sky was clear as a bell. The wind was from the west, great for most bird photography with your shadow pointed at the birds but terrible for silhouettes as the birds are facing directly away from you …
I swam my slow 3/4 mile in a positively toasty pool: just over 80 degrees. Another cold front is on its way. 🙂
Right now it is looking as if the 5D Mark IV User’s Guide will be in the BAA Online Store available for purchase on Tuesday, December 26, 2017. Merry Christmas.
Click on the logo-link above for great holiday savings!
$300 off on the Canon 100-400 II!
Facebook
If you have sent me a FB friends request that has gone unrequited, it is because I am up to the 5,000 limit on my personal FB page. You are invited to click here and then Like and Follow the identical content. 🙂
The Streak
Today makes one hundred forty-six days in a row with a new educational blog post! This seemingly simple blog post took one hour twenty-eight minutes to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Click here for Amazing 5D Mark IV Bundles and Deals
Here is the best news: those who have used a BAA B&H affiliate link to purchase a 5D Mark IV (or other items totaling $3200 or more) are invited to send us a copy of their B&H receipt via e-mail and receive a free copy of the guide. If you would like to review the document before it is published, please send your receipt now. This offer is also valid for future purchases.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.
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This image was created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL at sunset on Sunday, December 7, 2017. I used the hand held Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM lens with the Canon Extender EF 1.4X III (at 560mm) and my favorite silhouette photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/500 sec. at f/8 in Av mode. WB = K8000. At 5:24pm.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -2.
Right Large Zone AF. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Sandhill Crane yawning
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Dime a Dozen Part II: Perspective Choice. And Understanding the Sun/Subject/Photographer on a Straight Line Concept.
The key to the success of this image was bending my knees and stooping down a bit to place the bird’s head in the YELLOW, pretty much perfectly framed by the RED above and below. The white-hot edge of the sun was actually on the left edge of this frame; it was eliminated with a small crop. For nearly all of my bird photography, my subject, the sun, and me are on a straight line. The order looks like this: sun behind me, me, and the subject. When I am creating silhouettes, everything is on a straight line but the order is different: the sun is in front of me and the subject is in front of me and in front of the sun, like this: sun, subject, me. All on a straight line. In this manner, the silhouette effect and the colors are at their most intense.
ILE Master Classes
I will be announcing a series of three-day weekend BIRDS AS ART Master ClasseS based here in Indian Lake Estates in March and April. The Master Class sessions will include small group photography of Sandhill Cranes and their chicks and colts, dime a dozen sunset silhouette photography sessions, and hours of guided image review and image optimization. You will live photography with me for three days.
NeatImage Noise Reduction
Again I applied a fast and dirty layer of NeatImage noise reduction to completely eliminate the remaining luminance noise in the darkest REDs. By “fast and dirty” I mean that I applied the noise reduction in one step to the bird and the background (as opposed to selecting the bird, applying less noise reduction, and applying more noise reduction to the background). I opted to do it in one step because the dark tones on the bird were noisier than the background. You can learn more about NeatImage in the blog post here and in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. The highly advanced NeatImage techniques are covered in detail in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
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2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….
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2018 San Diego 3 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT #2: Sunday, JAN 28 thru and including the morning session on Wednesday, JAN 31, 2018 and a free morning session on Saturday, JAN 27: 3 1/2 days (+1/2 free day!): $1699. Limit: 8: Openings: 4.
Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Saturday, Jan 27, 2018.
San Diego IPT #2: Shorter and Less Expensive!
Join me in San Diego near the end of January to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (usually nesting and displaying) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Wood Duck and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seal (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lion; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Please note: formerly dependable, both Wood Duck and Marbled Godwit have been declining at their usual locations for the past two years …
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San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects. With annual visits spanning more than three decades I have lot of experience there….
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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. 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 can do most of your photography with an 80- or 100-400 lens …
Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?
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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.
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The San Diego Details
This IPT will include four 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, three 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, three lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. Dinners are on your own so that we can get some sleep.
A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at 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 is payable only by check. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.
Support the Blog
Please help support my (stupendous) efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. with love, artie
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.
As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.
Facebook
Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.
Typos
In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).
December 20th, 2017 Stuff
The 5D Mark IV User’s Guide is pretty much complete. I still have two sticky issues to deal with, and I need to review several edits. If you are entitled to a free copy and would like to review the 12/19 draft, please see the free 5D Mark IV User’s Guide offer below the 5D IV banner.
It has gotten so warm here that the past few mornings have been mega-foggy. On Tuesday an Osprey landed like an apparition out of the fog on a very tall skinny perch that had previously harbored only grackles. I photographed that bird and little else. Last night featured another lovely sunset but no birds were on any of the perches.
At 12:30, I swam my slow 3/4 mile in a positively toasty pool: 78 degrees. After lunch Jim drove me up to Winter Haven for my second SynVisc injection. It was much less painful than the first one. One more to go. They seem to be helping.
Click on the logo-link above for great holiday savings!
$300 off on the Canon 100-400 II!
Facebook
If you have sent me a FB friends request that has gone unrequited, it is because I am up to the 5,000 limit on my personal FB page. You are invited to click here and then Like and Follow the identical content. 🙂
The Streak
Today makes one hundred forty-five days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about two hours to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Click here for Amazing 5D Mark IV Bundles and Deals
Here is the best news: those who have used a BAA B&H affiliate link to purchase a 5D Mark IV (or other items totaling $3200 or more) are invited to send us a copy of their B&H receipt via e-mail and receive a free copy of the guide. If you would like to review the document before it is published, please send your receipt now. This offer is also valid for future purchases.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.
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This image was created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL on the morning of Sunday, December 17, 2017. I used the BLUBB-supported Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and my favorite vulture photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 1600. Evaluative metering plus about one stop as framed: 1/60 sec. at f/10 in Manual mode. AWB. 7:54am on a foggy morning.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -10.
One row up from the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was placed on the gape just below and in front of (but on the same plane as) the vulture’s eye. Click on the image to enjoy a larger version.
Black Vulture laughing
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The Situation
It was a very foggy morning, perfect for working on getting the right exposure and perfect for working with some higher ISOs. Shooting so much lately from my Sequoia recently, I have been working on refining my techniques with the BLUBB in an effort to create consistently sharp images. What I have discovered recently is that it is possible to increase your percentage of very sharp images even when working at very slow shutter speeds even with long effective focal lengths: how does “sharp at 1/60 sec. at 1200mm” sound to you? So what’s the trick? It is not enough to simply pound a curve into the top of my large, custom-designed by me beanbag, then place the lens atop the BLUBB, put some pressure on the lens barrel or the hood (usually from above), and start making images. If I think that the bird might fly, I will often do just that and make three or four quick images in succession. With a bit of luck, I might get one or two acceptably sharp ones.
If the subject, however, is very much at peace with your presence, you can try this: when you look through the viewfinder and adjust the framing, move the lens on the BLUBB move the beanbag slightly and snuggle it down a bit, striving to achieve perfect balance along with perfect framing. In other words, if you take both hands off the lens, the image should stay perfectly framed. If you are able to achieve perfect balance along with the perfect framing, it is a simple matter of grabbing the camera body with your right index finger on the shutter button and using your left hand to steady the lens as you usually would. Where I put my left hand depends is largely a matter of what feels right and on how high (if at all) the window has been raised. Sometimes I hold gently onto the small knob that tightens the lens hood and sometimes I hold gently onto the lens barrel behind the focusing ring. I use the word “gently” here because your left hand is simply damping any potential vibration; if you have done things perfectly the subject will remain properly framed when you let go with both hand, just as if you were on a tripod. You always want AI Servo AF to be active at the moment of exposure when using this technique.
This technique seems so simple and so intuitive and makes so much sense that I marvel at how I never thought of it before. I have always done something similar, but in a much sloppier fashion. With the new technique, I am getting a much higher percentage of very sharp images in similar difficult situations. With its unique design, the BLUBB is the only large beanbag that will work with Balance and Frame technique. Beware of cheaper inferior solutions. 🙂
For Don M.
In a comment on the blog post here, Don M. asked a question about subject movement and shutter speeds. Many folks think that if the subject is moving at all you need a fairly high shutter speed, something like 1/500 sec. at a very minimum. But folks fail to realize that when a bird is moving, yawning for example, like the bird in today’s featured image, or preening, like the bird in the RBGU Tight Preening Head Shots post that Don was referring too, that there are times when the subjects are either holding still or moving very, very slowly. Slow enough so that a sharp image is possible even at very slow shutter speeds. Just as in today’s featured image. As I said to Don in my reply, I’d rather gamble a bit than go to two stops more ISO …
What was I thinking when the bird yawned? Push the shutter button; it ain’t gonna cost you anything. Maybe I am finally learning.
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The EXIF for today’s featured image
Click on the screen capture above to read the fine print.
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No Kidding?
No kidding. Many who know me know that I am prone to exaggerate at times. But 1/60 sec. at 1200mm is — as you can see by checking the EXIF above — an absolute fact. As I have stated here for years folks with excellent sharpness techniques should be able to create consistently sharp images at 1000 and 1200mm at shutter speeds as slow as 1/60 sec. Once I drop below that threshold I am dead in the water.
So what’s the best way to improve your sharpness techniques? Sign up for an IPT asap. 🙂
NeatImage Noise Reduction
I applied a fast and dirty layer of NeatImage noise reduction to completely eliminate the remaining luminance noise. By “fast and dirty” I mean that I applied the noise reduction in one step to the bird and the background (as opposed to selecting the bird, applying less noise reduction, and applying more noise reduction to the background). I opted to do it in one step because the dark tones on the bird were noisier than the background. For starters, you can learn more about NeatImage in the blog post here and in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. The highly advanced NeatImage techniques are covered in detail in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
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2017 in San Diego was a very good year ….
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2018 San Diego 3 1/2-DAY BIRDS AS ART IPT #2: Sunday, JAN 28 thru and including the morning session on Wednesday, JAN 31, 2018 and a free morning session on Saturday, JAN 27: 3 1/2 days (+1/2 free day!): $1699. Limit: 8: Openings: 4.
Meet and Greet at 6:30pm on the evening before the IPT begins; Saturday, Jan 27, 2018.
San Diego IPT #2: Shorter and Less Expensive!
Join me in San Diego near the end of January to photograph the spectacular breeding plumage Brown Pelicans with their fire-engine red and olive green bill pouches; Brandt’s (usually nesting and displaying) and Double-crested Cormorants; breeding plumage Ring-necked Duck; other duck species possible including Lesser Scaup, Redhead, Wood Duck and Surf Scoter; a variety of gulls including Western, California, and the gorgeous Heerman’s, all in full breeding plumage; shorebirds including Marbled Godwit, Whimbrel, Willet, Sanderling and Black-bellied Plover; many others possible including Least, Western, and Spotted Sandpiper, Black and Ruddy Turnstone, Semipalmated Plover, and Surfbird; Harbor Seal (depending on the current regulations) and California Sea Lion; and Bird of Paradise flowers. And as you can see by studying the two IPT cards there are some nice bird-scape and landscape opportunities as well. Please note: formerly dependable, both Wood Duck and Marbled Godwit have been declining at their usual locations for the past two years …
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San Diego offers a wealth of very attractive natural history subjects. With annual visits spanning more than three decades I have lot of experience there….
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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. 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 can do most of your photography with an 80- or 100-400 lens …
Did I mention that there are wealth of great birds and natural history subjects in San Diego in winter?
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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.
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The San Diego Details
This IPT will include four 3 1/2 hour morning photo sessions, three 2 1/2 hour afternoon photo sessions, three lunches, and after-lunch image review and Photoshop sessions. To ensure early starts, breakfasts will be your responsibility. Dinners are on your own so that we can get some sleep.
A $599 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your slot for this IPT. You can send a check (made out to “Arthur Morris) to us at 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 is payable only by check. Please print, complete, and sign the form that is linked to here and shoot it to us along with your deposit check. If you register by phone, please print, complete and sign the form as noted above and either mail it to us or e-mail the scan. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me via e-mail.
Support the Blog
Please help support my (stupendous) efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. with love, artie
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.
As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.
Facebook
Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.
Typos
In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).
December 19th, 2017 Stuff
As is becoming a habit I went down to the lake twice on Monday. In the morning I created some nice foggy tree images, some (lousy) too-slow-a-shutter-speed Black Vulture flight images, and, once the sun came out, some pretty bad Turkey Vulture atop a too-tall dead cabbage palm stump images. In the afternoon I had my teeth cleaned by the wonderful Dee Dee at Dr. Reddick’s office. Mazel tov to her as she just celebrated 25 years there. I go every three months so that she never has too much work to do!
The 5D Mark IV guide is nearly complete. I finished the internal page references and have nearly finished the gallery. Several folks who purchased their 5D Mark IV bodies received their unfinished drafts and are sending me their revisions. I will be finishing the gallery and working on correcting typos and un-clarities today and for the next few days as well.
I was glad to learn that the sale of Joel William’s Fujifilm XF 56 f/1.2 R lens in like-new condition for $549 is pending, as is the sale of IPT veteran Carolyn Peterson’s Canon EOS 5D Mark III camera body in excellent condition for $1399. Joel’s Fujifilm XT-2 is still available at a great price; see the Used Gear page here and scroll down for that and lots of other great Fujifilm lenses.
I was thrilled to learn that first-timers Bart and Ditty Deamer signed up for San Diego #2. They make four with several others interested.
Today I head up to Winter Haven for the second of the series of three SynVisc injections in my bone-on-bone left knee. It got up to 80 degrees late on Monday and the pool was up to almost 77 degrees when I swam my slow half-mile plus at 1pm.
Click on the logo-link above for great holiday savings!
$300 off on the Canon 100-400 II!
Facebook
If you have sent me a FB friends request that has gone unrequited, it is because I am up to the 5,000 limit on my personal FB page. You are invited to click here and then Like and Follow the identical content. 🙂
The Streak
Today makes one hundred forty-four days in a row with a new educational blog post! This one took about two hours to prepare. With all of my upcoming free time (or not …), the plan right now is to break the current record streak of 480 … Good health and good internet connections willing.
Click here for Amazing 5D Mark IV Bundles and Deals
Here is the best news: those who have used a BAA B&H affiliate link to purchase a 5D Mark IV (or other items totaling $3200 or more) are invited to send us a copy of their B&H receipt via e-mail and received a free copy of the guide. If you would like to review the document before it is published, please send your receipt now. This offer is valid for future purchases.
Booking.Com
Booking.Com came through for me twice again recently with both the DeSoto Fall IPT and next July’s UK Puffins, Gannets, and Bempton Pre-trip room reservations. And all the rates were great. If you’d like to give Booking.Com a shot, click here and you will earn a $25 reward. Thanks to the many who have already tried and used this great service.
Gear Questions and Advice
Too many folks attending BAA IPTs and dozens of folks whom I see in the field, and on BPN, are–out of ignorance–using the wrong gear especially when it comes to tripods and more especially, tripod heads… Please know that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail. Those questions might deal with systems, camera bodies, accessories, and/or lens choices and decisions.
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The DPP 4 Screen Capture right (out of camera …)
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The DPP 4 Screen Capture (right out of camera …)
The DPP 4 screen capture for today’s featured image shows the significant underexposure. By “right out of camera,” I mean before loading my 5D Mark recipe and before making any adjustments to the Brightness or the Shadow slider. Because the big underexposure increases noise, I used my 5D IV IS0 1600 recipe rather than my ISO 800. recipe. See below to learn how and why I screwed up not only the exposure but lots more … Note that there is no visible data anywhere near the fifth histogram box.
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This image was created down by the lake near my home at Indian Lake Estates, FL on the morning of December 4, 2017. I used the Induro GIT304L Grand Series 3 Stealth Carbon Fiber Tripod/Mongoose M3.6-mounted Canon EF 600mm f/4L IS II USM lens, the Canon Extender EF 2X III, and my favorite Osprey photography camera body, the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV. ISO 800. I was in a hurry and guessed at the exposure: 1/1600 sec. at f/10 in Manual mode was not a very good guess. 🙂 AWB. 7:53am on a clear morning.
LensAlign/FocusTune micro-adjustment: -10.
Three AF points to the left and one row up from the center AF point/AI Servo/Expand/Shutter Button AF was active at the moment of exposure. The selected AF point was placed squarely and correctly on the Osprey’s eye.
Image #1: Osprey take-off, the full frame optimized version
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The Situation
When I drove down to the lake I saw an Osprey on the perch from a good ways off. And got excited. I parked on the edge of the big field behind some decent-sized bushes on the edge of the lake so as not to disturb the bird. I set up my tripod and grabbed the 600 II with the 2X III TC in place. While still pretty much out of sight I pointed my lens at the sky and set the exposure manually to about +1 off the sky. With the soft, warm, early morning light I should have gone with +2 off the sky … That was mistake #1.
The first Osprey that I had on the perch had been a relatively tame bird. We easily made our way along a path through the bushes to get closer to the bird which had stayed put and been comfortable with our presence. I assumed that the bird was the same one that I had photographed right after we had set up The Perch — see here and here. That was mistake #2.
Because of my incorrect assumption, I was much too aggressive when approaching the bird. I acted pretty much as if I were walking down the aisle of the supermarket in somewhat of a hurry. That was mistake #3. When I saw that the bird was nervous, I quickly planted my tripod and picked my AF point. He had been facing to my right. As there was literally no wind, I could not have known that the bird would fly off the perch to my left and wind up on the wrong side of the original frame (as seen in the screen capture that opened this blog post).
My fourth mistake was not setting up vertically; in the next frame at least 1/3 of the bird’s fully-raised wings were cut off by the upper frame-edge. The bird’s feet were still on the perch … Had I been set up for a vertical I would have created a very special (though still under-exposed) image.
Not the same bird!
The first clue that the Osprey on The Perch was not the same bird as I had photographed previously was the fact that it flew off so quickly. The proof was in (or actually not in) the bird’s left eye. The first Osprey that I photographed had two very distinctive black flecks in the iris of its left eye, one at 8 o’clock, one at 11 o’clock. The yellow iris of the bird in today’s featured image was completely clear …
The next time I will not assume anything and be a lot more careful.
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Image #2: Osprey take-off, the optimized version cropped to a square (for presentation)
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Dealing With the Underexposure
In DPP 4 I increased the Brightness by one full stop, moved the Highlight slider to -1, moved the Shadow slider to +2, and moved the Color fine-tune dot well away from RED to somewhat counteract the very rich, warm, early morning light. For Image #1 I used the techniques detailed in APTATS II to move the bird from one side of the frame to the other. After I had saved the optimized version in the original 3X2 proportion, I decided to create a perfectly square version — Image #2.
The Question of the Day
Do you prefer the 3X2 version (Image #1) or the 1:1 square version (Image #2)? Be sure to let us know why.
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The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II) will teach you an efficient Mac or PC/Photo Mechanic/Photoshop workflow that will make it easy for you to make your images better in Photoshop (rather than worse). That true whether you convert your images in DPP 4 or ACR. See the blog post here to learn lots more and to read a free excerpt.
You can order your copy from the BAA Online Store here, by sending a Paypal for $40 here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer weekdays at 863-692-0906 with your credit card in hand.
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The BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II)
The few things mentioned above (and tons more) are covered in detail in the BIRDS AS ART Current Workflow e-Guide (Digital Basics II), an instructional PDF that is sent via e-mail. Learn more and check out the free excerpt in the blog post here. The new e-Guide reflects my Macbook Pro/Photo Mechanic/DPP 4/Photoshop workflow. Do note that you will find the RGB Curves Adjustment Color Balancing tutorial only in the new e-guide. Note: folks working on a PC and/or those who do not want to miss anything Photoshop may wish to purchase the original Digital Basics along with DB II while saving $15 by clicking here to buy the DB Bundle.
The two most recent and many of the older MP4 Photoshop Tutorial videos releases go hand and hand with the information in DB II):
- The Wingtip Repairs MP4 Video here.
- The MP4 Crow Cleanup Video here.
Folks who learn well by following along rather than by reading can check out the complete collection of MP 4 Photoshop Tutorial Videos by clicking here.
You can learn how and why I and other discerning Canon shooters convert nearly all of their Canon digital RAW files in DPP 4 using Canon Digital Photo Professional in the DPP 4 RAW conversion Guide here. And you can learn advanced Quick Masking and advanced Layer Masking techniques in APTATS I & II. You can save $15 by purchasing the pair. Folks can learn sophisticated sharpening and (NeatImage) Noise Reduction techniques in the The Professional Post Processing Guide by Arash Hazeghi and yours truly.
Support the Blog
Please help support my (stupendous) efforts here on the blog by remembering to click on the logo link above each time that you shop Amazon. That would be greatly appreciated. with love, artie
If In Doubt …
If in doubt about using the BAA B&H affiliate link correctly, you can always start your search by clicking here. Please note that the tracking is invisible. Web orders only. Please, however, remember to shoot me your receipt via e-mail.
Please Remember to use my Affiliate Links and to Visit the New BAA Online Store 🙂
To show your appreciation for my continuing efforts here, we ask, as always, that you get in the habit of using my B&H affiliate links on the right side of the blog for all of your photo and electronics purchases. Please check the availability of all photographic accessories in the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store, especially the Mongoose M3.6 tripod head, Wimberley lens plates, Delkin flash cards and accessories, and LensCoat stuff.
As always, we sell only what I have used, have tested, and can depend on. We will not sell you junk. We know what you need to make creating great images easy and fun. And please remember that I am always glad to answer your gear questions via e-mail.
I would of course appreciate your using our B&H affiliate links for all of your major gear, video, and electronic purchases. For the photographic stuff mentioned in the paragraph above, and for everything else in the new store, we, meaning BAA, would of course greatly appreciate your business. Here is a huge thank you to the many who have been using our links on a regular basis and those who will be visiting the New BIRDS AS ART Online Store as well.
Facebook
Be sure to like and follow BAA on Facebook by clicking on the logo link upper right. Tanks a stack.
Typos
In all blog posts and Bulletins, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors. Just be right :).
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