FEATURES
- CANON EOS-1D MARK IV USERS GUIDE UPDATED
- WYOMING BLURS
- AN IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW OF YOURS TRULY
- CANON USED 70-200M F/2.8 L IS FOR SALE
- POSSE NEWS: PETER KES
- THANKSGIVING AT BOSQUE
- A GUIDE TO PLEASING BLURS
- POSSE NEWS/ROBERT OTOOLE
- SHOPPERS GUIDE
- IPT UPDATES
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| Brown Bear, Katmai National Park, AK Image copyright 2010: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART |
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Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens with the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 800. Evaluative metering +1 1/3 stops: 1/320 sec. at f/5.6. Learn the fastest and easiest way to change your White Balance and color temperature settings |
CANON EOS-1D MARK IV USERS GUIDE PDF UPDATED
After several days of adding new material, re-writing old stuff, and adding all new images, we will be sending the free updates to all purchasers on our list no later than Thursday, October 28, 2010. See more below.
After garnering some new information on making micro-adjustments I revised the methodology and completely re-wrote the section on how to ensure that your big expensive lenses will produce the sharpest possible images. The other new addition was a section on setting up and using My Menu Settings. I just began using My Menu a few months ago and now I can say that I enjoy the conveniences of this great feature every time that I use my cameras. The last major change was the addition of all new images. Each image illustrates the reason for this Custom Function setting or that Menu item setting.
The 7D Users Guide PDF will be updated in similar fashion very soon.
If you have already purchased your copy, you should receive your free update no later than Friday, October 20. Please, please pretty please do not e-mail us until Friday unless you have changed your e-mail address since you ordered. If you send us an e-mail before Friday stating that you did not receive your update we will delete it.
To order your copy of the Mark IV Users Guide PDF for $25 you can call Jim at 863-692-0906 with credit card in hand, send a check for $25 made out to Arthur Morris to BIRD AS ART, PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL, or send a PayPal for $25 to us at birdsasart@att.net.
Or, you can save $2 by ordering your copy from the BAA On-line store here.
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| LeHardy Rapids Blur, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Image copyright 2010: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART |
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Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS lens (tripod-mounted at 175mm) with the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 50. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/4 sec. at f/29.
The Mark IV Users Guide will teach why I needed to turn off Highlight Tone Priority in order to create the pleasing blur above. |
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| I created this (cropped) Black and White version from the original above using NIKs great Silver EFEX Pro plug-in. See immediately below for discount info on all NIK products. |
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| To receive a 15% discount on your order for Silver EFEX or on any NIK products including the Complete Collection click here and then enter BAA in the Coupon Code box as shown as above.. |
WYOMING BLURS
Juiced by the publication of A Guide to Pleasing Blurs and the ensuing rave reviews, Denise (denise) Ippolito and I went sort of blur-crazy on our recently concluded Wyoming trip. I have opted to share some of our favorites with you in this Bulletin.
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| Fall Color Blur, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Image copyright 2010: Denise Ippolito |
| This combo wind blur/jiggle blur was created with the hand held Canon 100-400mm lens and the EOS-1D Mark III. You can learn to create both wind blurs and jiggle blurs in A Guide to Pleasing Blurs. |
AN IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW OF YOURS TRULY
To learn more about who I am, check out yesterdays blog post here.
The post includes a somewhat revelatory introduction that I wrote, excerpts from denises story and from the most in-depth-ever interview I have ever done, and most importantly, a link to the complete interview.
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| Fall Color Blur, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Image copyright 2010: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART |
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Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS lens (hand held at 70mm) with the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 50. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/5 sec. at f/9 set manually.
This image was created using the vertical pan blur technique that is described in detail in A Guide to Pleasing Blurs. |
CANON USED 70-200M F/2.8 L IS FOR SALE
Alex is offering a used Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 L IS in excellent condition for sale with the tripod collar, case, lens hood, original instructions, box, and strap) for $1650. This price includes FedEx 3rd biz day shipping to continental US addresses. Cashiers check accepted or pay +2% via PayPal, Visa, MasterCard or American Express.
Contact : “Alex” Alexander by e-mail to alex@PupsAcrossAmerica.com or by phone at 239-671-0740.
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| Elk Youngster Frolicking Blur, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming Image copyright 2010: Denise Ippolito |
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Tripod-mounted Canon 500mm f/4L IS lens with EOS-1D Mark III.
Denise captured this image employing the basic pan blur techniques covered in A Guide to Pleasing Blurs. |
POSSE NEWS: PETER KES
Black Rhino Photographic Workshop: 7-14 January, 2011.
7 full days, $3990. Limit 7, Openings: 1.
Due to medical complications, one of the participants on our Black Rhino Photographic workshop needed to cancel. Join Peter Kes on a photographic tour of the Black Rhino Game Reserve in the Pilanesberg, 200km north of Johannesburg, South Africa. Black Rhino is a privately owned game reserve that is located in a malaria free area and offers all of Africas big game species as well as a great number of birds.
The objective of this tour is to photograph in the African bush with ‘birds of a feather‘. Upon arrival in Johannesburg on 7 January you will be transported to Pilanesberg. The lodge is situated on 10,000 square meter property within the boundaries of the Pilanesberg and offers all the modern luxuries. On the last day (14 January) we will visit the Cheetah Breeding Farm de Wildts and pay a visit to the Montecasino Bird Gardens. The workshop fee includes all costs in South Africa including food & beverages. Any airline costs will be the responsibility of the participants.
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| White Rhino with oxpecker aboard, Pilanesberg, South Africa Image copyright 2010: Peter Kes |
BOSQUE THANKSGIVING
For the past ten years or so, I have hosted a Thanksgiving Day midday meal, in part to honor the memory of my late-wife, Elaine Belsky Morris, and in part because I love meeting others who love Bosque as I do. At first it was held at the wonderful and relatively elegant Val Verde Steak House, now defunct. Then it was at the lovely and historic Luna Mansion. Luna Mansion closed a few years ago and recently re-opened but will not be serving on Thanksgiving this year. Last year we had fun and a fine meal at the Stage Door Grill but that wonderful little joint recently bit the dust also. Socorro is a tough place for businesses to survive.
For 2010 we are going a bit upscale and will be dining in the New Mexico Ballroom at the Hilton Albuquerque hotel: 1901 University Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87102. Telephone: 1- 505-884-2500. The Hilton is just a bit more than an hour from Socorro. I have group reservations for 11:45am on Thanksgiving Day of course.
I will be picking up the tab for the IPT group, but as always, all visiting birders and photographers are invited to join us. If you would like to take part in the fun and camaraderie this year please send a check for $40.00 per person made out to Arthur Morris to cover the cost of the buffet that will include the traditional items as well as tax and tip. Drinks are on you. Please mark Thanksgiving Brunch on your check and mail it to; BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 4041, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855. Sorry, no PayPals or credit cards. I do hope that you can join us.
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| Fall Foliage Zoom Blur, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Image copyright 2010: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART |
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Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS lens with the 1.4X II TC (hand held at 260mm) and the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 50. Evaluative metering +1 stop: 1/5 sec. at f/20 in Tv Mode.
Zoom Blur techniques are covered in detail in A Guide to Pleasing Blurs. |
A GUIDE TO PLEASING BLURS
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“A Guide to Pleasing Blurs” by Arthur Morris and Denise Ippolito is a 20,585 word, 271 page PDF 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.
The book is laid out in landscape format to make for easy viewing and easy reading on any decent computer monitor.
You can order your copy of “The Guide to Pleasing Blurs” PDF now for only $33 either by PayPal to birdsasart@verizon.net or by phone: 863-692-0906. A download link will be delivered to you via e-mail within 12 hours or less (except on weekends). Please note: this book is available only as a digital file in PDF form. You will need either Adobe Acrobat Reader or Fox-it to read the file. Both are free downloads. Instructions will be included with your purchase.
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| Fall Color Blur, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Image copyright 2010: Denise Ippolito |
| Here Denise chose to include the road as a leading line. I believe that she used the 100-400 again with the jiggle blur technique to create a rather Rembrandt look. |
SHOPPERS GUIDE
Here is the gear that I mentioned in this bulletin:
Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II lens
Canon EF Teleconverter 1.4X II
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body
And from the BAA On-line Store:
Wimberley V-2 Tripod Head (denises choice)
If you are considering the purchase of a major piece of photographic gear be it a new camera, a long lens, a tripod or a head, or some accessories be sure to check out our complete Shoppers Guide.
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| Tree Blur, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Image copyright 2010: Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART |
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Canon 70-200mm f2.8L IS lens (hand held at 90mm) with the EOS-1D Mark IV. ISO 50. Evaluative metering +1 2/3 stops: 1/8 sec. at f/4 in Tv Mode. I created this one when we stopped to check out a waterfall that turned out to be a dud. See the original below. |
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| This is the original of the image above. Note that I exposed with the histogram far to the right (and the sky over-exposed) to ensure maximum detail in the dark areas and to a high quality file. I used a series of Quick Masks to create a more uniform foreground. Learn to expose to the right in ABP II (916 pages on CD only) and learn to optimize your images the way I do quickly and easily in Digital Basics (a PDF sent via e-mail). |
IPT UPDATES
BOSQUE del APACHE 2010 IPT:
The Complete Bosque Experience. NOV 20-26, 2010. Slide program on the evening of Friday, NOV 19. 7-FULL DAYS: $3199. (Non-refundable deposit: $500; see details below.) Limit: 10/Openings: 3. Co-leaders: Robert OToole, Jim Heupel, and Denise Ippolito. Live, eat, and breathe photography with one of (if not the) world’s premier photographic educators at one of his very favorite locations on the planet. Plus great co-leaders and top-notch Photoshop instruction. Please see terms and deposit info below.
A BLURRY DAY in BOSQUE del APACHE 2010 IPT:
NOV 27, 2010. Slide program on the evening of Friday, NOV 26. 1-FULL DAY: $399. (Payment in full due upon registration.) Limit: 15/Openings: 10. Leaders: Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris. Learn to create a variety of pleasingly blurred images of Bosques geese and cranes. Techniques covered will include pan blurs, subject motion blurs, flash blurs, zoom blurs, sunny day blurs, and lots more.
SAN DIEGO IPT: JAN 19-23, 2011
. Slide program on the evening of JAN 18. 5 Full Days: $2399 (Limit 8/Openings 3). Brown Pelicans in spectacular breeding plumage with their bright red bill pouches, Wood and Ring-necked Ducks, Lesser Scaup, Western, California, and Heerman’s Gulls, Marbled Godwit, and lots, lots more. Please see terms and deposit info below.
SW FLA IPT: FEB 9-14, 2011.
Slide program on the evening of FEB 8. 6 Full Days: 2899. (Limit 10/Openings 5). Escape winter’s icy grip to enjoy a wide array of Florida’s tame birds: herons, egrets, Wood Stork, shorebirds, gulls, terns, skimmers, raptors, and more. Please see terms and deposit info immediately below.
Terms and deposit info:
A non-refundable deposit of $500 is required to hold a spot on the above IPTs. Deposits may be paid by check, PayPal, or credit card. Payment in full (by check or money order only) is due four months before the start of each trip and is non-refundable unless the IPT sells out. You will be required to sign a statement of understanding to this effect. Travel insurance is of course highly recommended. Travel Insurance Services offers a variety of plans and options. Included with the Elite Option or available as an upgrade to the Basic & Plus Options is Cancel for Any Reason Coverage that expands the list of reasons for your canceling to an infinite list from a sudden work or family obligation to a simple change of mind. My family and I use and depend on the great policies offered by TIS whenever we travel. You can learn more here. Do note that many plans require that you purchase your travel insurance within 14 days of our cashing your deposit check or running your credit card. Travel insurance protects you against unexpected developments, injuries, or illnesses. We regret that we must implement this new policy but we have been plagued by last minute cancellations that make it impossible for others to participate and deprive us of essential income.
Important note: please print, fill out, and sign the registration and release forms and include them with your deposit check (made out to “Arthur Morris.” ) If you use a credit card to register, please fill out, sign, and mail the forms asap. Your registration will not be complete until we receive your paper work. You can find the forms here.
ROBERT OTOOLE PHOTOGRAPHY HOMER BALD EAGLE INSTRUCTIONAL PHOTO-TOUR WITH ARTHUR MORRIS/BIRDS AS ART.
March 18-22, 2011:
Limit 12 including the leaders/Sold Out. 5-FULL DAYS: $3249
March 24-28, 2011
Limit 12 including the leaders/Sold Out. 5-FULL DAYS: $3249
Homer the way it used to be. 100% legal eagle feeding. Both of these trips sold out within hours after being announced to the BAA Friends List. The Friends List consists of IPT veterans who fit in the happy camper category. If you have been on an IPT and would like your name added to the BAA Friends List, please e-mail me at birdsasart@att.net and include a short note. Non-refundable deposit: $1,000. See terms above. Please call to check on availability before sending your deposit check.
March 12-16, 2011
(slide program the evening of March 11) 5-FULL DAYS: $2799. ABSOLUTE LIMIT: 5/Sold Out.
The trip above was added by popular demand; only Robert will be leading it.
GALAPAGOS 2011 PHOTO-CRUISE OF A LIFETIME IPT/The Complete Galapagos Photographic Experience:
July 3-20, 2011 (July 5-19, 2011 on the boat): 13 1/2 days of photography plus a last morning panga ride: $12, 499. (Limit 11/Openings 1)
This two-week trip features an unparalleled photographic itinerary that will visit all the great spots in the islands; we will not miss a thing. The highlights include Tower Islandtons of nesting birds at knee and eye level, Punta Espinoza (Flightless Cormorants), Puerto Ayora (tortoises in their natural habitats), Hood Island (Waved Albatross and lots more nesting birds), South Plaza, and North Seymour. Each of these locations is on a par with Antarctica or East Africa when it comes to spectacular photographic opportunities. If you make only a one week cruise you will miss half of these great locations. With two full weeks we will enjoy a relaxed pace with shorter navigations and lots of time for snorkeling, image sharing, and small group Photoshop instruction. You will have a great photographic leader (that would be me) with 7 years of Galapagos experience teamed with the very best most knowledgeable guide in the entire archipelago. We will be the first boat on each island in the morning and the last boat to leave each island every afternoon. If we are blessed with overcast weather, we often spend as much as six hours on a landing. Jeez, I almost forgot our spectacular and romantic motor sailing ship, the Beagle: www.thebeagle.com.ec
The group will be flying to Quito on their own to arrive on July 3, 2011. We have a travel insurance day on July 4th (with an optional trip for perched hummingbirds at Tandayapa). On the morning of July 5 we fly to the Galapagos and board the boat around midday. We leave the boat two weeks later on morning of July 19 after our last photo session, a short panga ride. We fly back to Quito on that same day, July 19, overnight in Quito, and fly home on the morning of July 20.
Note: some of the walks are strenuous. Though I will be bringing my 800 f/5.6L IS lens along, great images are possible on all landings with a hand held 70-200mm lens.
Please e-mail me at for a complete 2010 itinerary. Happy campers only please.
Included: three nights in the luxury hotelthe Hilton Quito Colon, round trip airfare to and from the Galapagos, all meals on the boat, a killer buffet lunch with the tortoises!, all park fees and related costs, and all transfers. Not included. Your round trip airfare from your home to and from Quito, beverages, phone calls, and the $500/person tip for the guide and the crew. A $5,000 non-refundable deposit per person is due immediately. Please call me at 863-692-0906 or 863-221-2372 before sending your deposit to check availability.
Please print, sign, and return these two forms along with your deposit check.
Two additional non-refundable payments will be due as follows: $4000 on NOV 1, 2010. The final payment of $3,499 will be due on FEB 1, 2011. Travel insurance is of course beyond highly recommended as none of your payments are refundable. You need to protect yourself in case of an unexpected illness or accident or other unforeseen developments.
MIDWAY ATOLL IPT, April 2012, (from Oahu, HI). 7-FULL DAYS OF PHOTOGRAPHY. (Sold Out.)
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| Fall Color Line of Trees Blur, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Image copyright 2010: Denise Ippolito |
| Here Denise used a slow vertical pan blur. |