BIRDS AS ART BULLETIN 197

BIRDS AS ART BULLETIN 197

TODD GUSTAFSON, WORLD CLASS SAFARI PHOTOGRAPHER

KENYA PHOTO SAFARI, AUGUST 2006

IMPORTANT REQUEST: IF RESPONDING TO THIS E-MAIL, PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO DELETE ALL IMAGES AND ALL IRRELEVANT TEXT

RAW FILE QUESTIONS

GALAPAGOS TRIP OPENING

I GOOFED, BUT EVERYONE WAS ASLEEP...

IPT & ABP II KUDOS

The Hunt is on...

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Photographic Theme: images from Kenya and Tanzania by Todd Gustafson.

TODD GUSTAFSON, SAFARI PHOTOGRAPHER SUPREME

As regular readers know, I have long felt that Toddi is the premier photographer from the top of a safari vehicle. Perhaps I have been wrong, as Joe and MaryAnn McDonald have been producing great images from Africa for years, and many have been honored in the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year Competitions... But I do know this, whenever I look at Todd's images at the end of a safari, my reaction is always the same: "Was I on that safari???" Todd and I will be co-leading our seventh safari together this August, this one to Kenya, and we still have room for four more folks. In this Bulletin, I am proud to share with you some of Todd's best recent work. To view a gallery of Todd's recent images, please click here:

Hyena with Wildebeest leg

KENYA PHOTO SAFARI, AUGUST 2006

KENYA FLY-DRIVE PHOTO SAFARI, AUG 2006. SAMBURU, MAASAI MARA, AND MORE. With co-leader Todd Gustafson. Leave the US AUG 21. Amsterdam to Nairobi: AUG 22. Amsterdam to US: SEPT 7. $9499 per person (round trip airfare to Kenya not included). Please e-mail us for a complete itinerary. Four slots open.

Hyena with trophy

The notice above appears in grey type at the top of every BAA Bulletin, but boys and girls, ladies and gentlemen, pretty much nobody reads the notice or adheres to it. I really do enjoy answering your new and fresh nature photography related questions, so please, please, please do take the time to delete all extraneous photos and text when e-mailing us. Doing that makes it far easier for me to respond and places less of a burden on e-mail servers and services and on the internet itself. Thanks!

Southern Ground Hornbill with frog

RAW FILE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Here is an e-mail from (long-ago) IPT veteran Diane Chenault:

AM: Hi Diane (and Toddi--see below, in red), Good to hear from you. Hope that all is well. re:

DC: Could you tell me why a photographer like myself, who photographs mostly to make 8x10 & 11x14" prints for me & my friends, and enters an occasional contest, should shot in raw (+jpeg) vs. just jpeg?

AM: Yes I could. First off, it seems as if you have neither Digital Basics or the new book, ABP II, as the detailed answers to your question are in both. In any case, all serious photographers should be using RAW capture because with RAWs you can save nearly all incorrectly exposed images in one of several ways (as described in DB or ABP II). I have saved images that ranged from 3 stops under to 1 stop over... Secondly, RAW files handle contrast much better than J-PEGs.

DC: Is the final image sharper is you start with a raw file?

AM: I am pretty sure that the answer to that is "No."

DC: If so, what program are you recommending now to handle raw files?

AM: I am not sure what is best for Nikon. I have copied Todd Gustafson (in red) here and am pretty sure that he will get back to you and copy me.

DC: Hope to see you on another trip soon.
AM: Good plan.

best and love, artie

Shy Dik-dik

.....

Here is Todd's response:

Hi Diane, I do all editing of my RAW files in Breezebrowser (because it is so much faster than anything else) but I do not use BB to do my conversions. I usually convert in Photoshop CS 2. I do NOT think that CS2 is the best program for all conversions. I think that it is the easiest, fastest and most convenient for my workflow. The color pallet in images converted in CS 2 is not ideal to my eye, but it is easy to make color corrections by using the White Balance color temperature slider. I find that the Canon EOS 1D Mark ll files have a yellow cast when converted in CS2 and Nikon D2X files have a slight magenta cast. When converting in CS2 it is easy to introduce digital noise when lightening images during a CS 2 conversion. In those cases I convert with Nikon Editor which does a much better job with the Nikon noise (but is less convenient to use). As with almost all digital issues there are 50 different was to get similar end results. By experimenting a bit you can find out what works best for you. I hope this helps, Todd

Blue Monkey...

GALAPAGOS TRIP OPENING

GALAPAGOS PHOTO CRUISE/YACHT BELUGA JULY 12-22, 2006. We do have a single opening for a male to share a cabin on the July 12-22, 2006 trip (and not on the earlier trip as I mistakenly announced in BAA Bulletin 196). Please e-mail janie@distinctive-journeys.com for details if you would like to join us on the trip of a lifetime.

Vervet Monkey baby with seed pods

I GOOFED, BUT EVERYONE WAS ASLEEP...

Here is an e-mail that I received from subscriber Greg Ledermann this morning:

Hi Art, I really enjoyed your Homer newsletter. Looks like you guys had a great time. If you don't mind, I have a question about something you said in the newsletter. Here is your statement...

"Without a bright white head, immature eagles need less light for a proper exposure than adults. When working in manual mode (as you should be when photographing eagles), it is best to lower your shutter speed a click or two when you see a young bird coming into range... "

While you say that immature eagles requires less light you also say to lower your shutter speed. (To me that means going from 1/500 to 1/250 for example.) Doesn't that give more light to the exposure? And isn't it that the mature birds that require less light so as to not overexpose their white heads? I am just trying to get my head around proper exposure technique and I'm a little confused by this.

Thanks and best, Greg

I wrote back:

You are of course correct. It was just a brain typo! I should have written ""Without a bright white head, immature eagles need more light for a proper exposure than adults. When working in manual mode (as you should be when photographing eagles), it is best to lower your shutter speed a click or two when you see a young bird coming into range... "

Of our nearly 6,000 readers, you were the only one who caught that. Congrats on your eagle-eye and thorough understanding over exposure theory. I try to open up one-third or two thirds of a stop when I see a young eagle coming. I might drop the shutter speed from 1/1600 to 1/1250 or 1/1000 sec. I do this by using my right index finger to turn the control dial counter-clockwise.

Thanks for letting me know of my error. and best and love, artie

Lioness with cub

African Elephant trunk

Tanganyika train (millipede)

IPT & ABP II KUDOS

Here is an e-mail that I received recently from IPT veteran Rocky Sharwell:

Hi Artie: You wrote in Bulletin 196, "On all BAA IPTs I work very hard to put my folks in the right spot at the right time and in Homer that plan worked to perfection."

I agree 1000%--you work incredibly hard to put your students in the best possible place so they have the chance of making great images. Your unending enthusiasm is also a source of inspiration in general and especially on an IPT when I tend to get tired and lazy. I will never forget my first IPT--on the beach near the Sanibel Arms Condos--there was a huge group of shorebirds in wonderful golden light. You were egging us on to get lower and lower and down onto the ground. I was reluctant to take my rented Nikon lens onto the sand but when I did...wow! The other incident that comes to mind was my first Bosque trip in 2001---We were up by the farm deck--birds were just sitting there--it was really dull. Our group packed up and went to an empty field farther down. Countless other photographers drove past us on the way to an early meal. Within minutes we had thousands of geese landing perfectly at us in beautiful light.

I am looking forward to Nome and other IPTs in the future.... Rocky

Here is an e-mail that I received from subscriber Sean Bolton of the UK today:

Hi Artie, The CD arrived this morning (Tuesday 21st March) so thank you for the speedy delivery. I have only had chance for a quick browse through the book and was immediately captivated by the breadth and quality of the photography shown in it. It is also good to see you cover the varied aspects of nature and landscape photography (as well as birds of course). The articles cover the range of subjects that I am interested in as a digital nature photographer. Now I just need to set aside some time to read and absorb all the excellent advice and information.

The only thing missing is a section on UK wildlife photography and how to make the most of grey skies and rainy days! :-)

Best wishes and congratulations on the book. Sean

Lioness with zebra liver

IPT UPDATES

Nothing drastically new to report other than to say that the Alligator Farm, and all of the Bosque IPTs are continuing to fill nicely.

ST. AUGUSTINE ALLIGATOR FARM IPT MAY 12-14, 2006. 2 1/2 DAY IPT: $649 (Limit: 12, FULL) Slide Program midday on May 12. Write for details of for the morning of May 12.

HERON AND EGRET ROOKERY. NESTING GREAT EGRETS WITH CHICKS, NESTING SNOWY AND CATTLE EGRETS AND TRICOLORED HERONS. COURTSHIP BEHAVIORS, COPULATIONS, EGGS, NESTS AND POSSIBLY TINY CHICKS. INCLUDES TWO CLASSROOM SESSIONS.

Bosque #1: "The Fall Color IPT" NOV 14-16, 2006. Co-Leader TBA. Slide Program on the evening of NOV 13. 3-DAY: $929. (Limit 14, Openings: 8) This IPT should feature a better chance for a day or two of the rare south winds that drastically improve flight photography and will definitely feature the brightest fall-color cottonwoods.

Bosque #2: "The Pre-Thanksgiving IPT" NOV 19-21, 2006. Co-Leader TBA. Slide Program on the evening of NOV 18. 3-DAY: $929. (Limit 14, Openings: 9) This and the next IPT have sold out for the past eight years. In 2006 I may once again be hosting a Thanksgiving day luncheon buffet. If it goes, folks will need to reserve a spot and pay in advance. Details TBA. Dinner will be strictly limited to 50 folks. This IPT will feature increasing numbers of geese and cranes with lots of great opportunities.

Bosque #3: "The Post-Thanksgiving IPT" NOV 25-27, 2006. Co-Leader TBA. Slide Program on the evening of NOV 24. 3-DAY: $929. (Limit 14 FULL) This IPT has sold out for the past eight years as it is scheduled on dates that I consider peak for Bosque.

Seminar: DEC 2-3, 2006. BIRDS AS ART "The Art of Nature Photography; It Ain't Just Birds!" How-To Weekend Seminar in Albuquerque, NM. Details TBA. Folks wishing to combine an IPT with the Seminar should sign up for either Bosque #3 (above) or Bosque #4 (below).

Bosque #4: "The Full Moon IPT" DEC 4 (mid-day) through DEC 7 (mid day), 2006. 3-DAY: $929. (Limit 14 Openings: 11) Slide Program mid-day on DEC 4. Co-leader 2005 Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Manuel Presti. This IPT includes a half day of photography on the 4th, two full days of photography on the 5th and 6th, and a final half day on December 7th. Limit 14. This IPT has been scheduled to maximize the opportunities to include the rising and setting full (DEC 5) and near-full moon in your images. There will be lots of the usual chances as well, and this time period has provided more than its share of spectacular sunrises and sunsets over the years.

Silvery-cheeked Hornbill

ANTARCTICA PHOTO CRUISE/JAN 2007 w co-leader Greg Downing. We are leading a small group of photographers on the If you would like details for this trip or have your name added to the waiting list, please e-mail janie@distinctive-journeys.com immediately.

To register for any of the IPTs above, you can send a $200 deposit check made out to "Arthur Morris" to us at: BIRDS AS ART, 4041 Granada Drive, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855, send us a Paypal (use any Paypal link on our web site), or call 863-692-0906 with your credit card info. Balances due can be paid only by personal check or money order. April 28-30, 2006.

Spotted Hyenas chasing Cape Buffalo

Lion with an attitude

Best and love and great picture-making to all,

artie

Note: Arthur Morris has been a Canon contract photographer since 1994 and continues in that role today. Hunt's Photo of Boston, MA is a BAA sponsor as it Delkin Devices. Back issues of all BAA Bulletins are archived in the Bulletin Archives which may be accessed from the home page at www.birdsasart.com