BIRDS AS ART NOTES

BIRDS AS ART NOTES

APRIL 25, 2008

EOS-1D III FLIGHT IMAGES ON THE HOOPTIE DEUX...

BPN IS ROCKING!

PLEASE CONTACT US BY PHONE ON MONDAY FOR MAIL ORDERS

BIG TIME BLUBB KUDOES (AND A TIP)

PORTLAND SEMINAR

Contact us by phone at 863-692-0906 (Eastern Time Zone) or by e-mail at birdsasart@att.net or @verizon.net. The att e-mail address is best from overseas.

We gladly accept credit card orders by phone 8am till 7pm Eastern Time (8 am till 3pm Fridays).

You can use the PayPal links on the web site to order anything. Just type in the item(s) and the amount. If using your own PayPal account, please send to either of the e-mail addresses above.

Note: maximize this e-mail for best formatting.

Photographic theme: More images from my recent SUV trip.

Important Request: if responding to this e-mail, please take the time to delete all images and all irrelevant text.

Caspian Tern, Alafia Banks, Tampa Bay, FL aboard the Hooptie Deux

Canon 600mm f/4L IS lens (on the Wimberley head/Gitzo 3530 LSV CF tripod) with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS 1D MIII. ISO 400. Exposure determined by histogram check: 1/1250 sec. at f/7.1.

With a nice breeze from the northeast flight photography was very good with the birds for the most part angling towards us.

EOS-1D MARK III FLIGHT IMAGES ON THE HOOPTIE DEUX...

In the last BAA Notes, I let folks know that there are still and will be great opportunities to make great images aboard James Shadle’s great pontoon boat Hooptie Deux. On Friday morning I joined Doug Holstein for a day of fun at Alafia Banks. And on Sunday, we are headed to a rookery near Plant City, FL where I expect that we will do quite well. If you would like to check dates, prices, and availability you can contact James by cell phone at 813-363-2854 or via e-mail at james@birdphotographers.net or james@wildflorida.net.

With all the hoopla about whether or not the EOS-1D MIII can focus accurately (especially in bright sun), I decided to simply concentrate on panning smoothly and keeping the central sensor on the bird. In addition, I made sure to raise my tripod so that the camera was at my eye level, to level the tripod platform, and to assume a comfortable stance. It turned out to be an excellent plan as most every flight image that I created was either sharp or razor sharp on the eye. My three MIII bodies are all early releases, and each has had Firmware 1.1.3 installed and has been back to Canon for the sub-mirror assembly fix. I will, however, admit to having a favorite among the three. The more recently released MIII bodies that feature a blue dot on the box to signify their more recent date of manufacture, are reputed to feature more consistent AI Servo AF performance.

How much of the MII focusing fanfare is due to operator error? Good question. Do check out the flight images here.

Roseate Spoonbill over mangroves, Alafia Banks, Tampa Bay, FL aboard the Hooptie Deux

Canon 600mm f/4L IS lens (on the Wimberley head/Gitzo 3530 LSV CF tripod) with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS 1D MIII. ISO 400. Exposure determined by histogram check: 1/1000 sec. at f/6.3.

When traveling with Froggie, you leave the dark in complete darkness so as to be in perfect position to make images featuring the warm, early morning light. See the original below:

As described in “The Art of Bird Photography II,” I have exposed to the right (properly) giving the image a washed out look. Simple Levels and Hue/Saturation Adjustments as described in ABP II and in Digital Basics, took just a minute. I selected the mangroves with a Quick Mask and did a sizeable Gaussian Blur to give them the soft look in the optimized image which appears the original.

BPN IS ROCKING!

The amount of learning and improvement going on at BPN is truly astronomical. I received this message from Akos Lumnitzer of Penrith, NSW, Australia:

Hi Artie, Thanks for your great processing tips! I appreciate it. The site is fantastic; a great resource for anyone seriously interested in nature photography. I did try the curves suggestion and it popped so nicely. I have another of the same bird with some prey in its bill, which I will also post soon. Again, Thanks! And kind regards, Akos

You can see Akos’ wonderful Sacred Kingfisher image here: http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10318

…..

Jodee Novak posted this somewhere: “This site is absolutely amazing; $20 for membership??? It's a steal....the insight and knowledge available to us on this site is priceless. Thanks for providing a learning forum for all of us - you have all done an incredible job! I'm a BPN junkie!!!!!!!!!!

…..

In a thread here: http://birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=5596, Cindy Cone wrote: “Artie, I missed this thread earlier, so I'm just responding to it now. Thanks for your thoughtful, helpful comments here and for this entire forum. It has already been extremely helpful to me. I appreciate that the critiques, the comments to help us to learn and grow (not just to feel good like the pats on the back you get at so many other forums).

…..

You can check out all of the great Images of the Week (present and past) here: http://birdphotographers.net/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=29

There have been a slew of amazing images in Avian Free and Wild. Below are two of my very favorites:

Haim Ziv’s Common Cuckoo portrait in soft light is simply stunning: http://birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=10512. When the image opened, I gasped.

Juan Aragonés’ displaying Great Bustard is in my top ten all time favorite bird images: http://birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9830.

To sum up, the quality of the images being posted at BPN is second only to the quality of the (gently done) critiques.

(both): Gull-billed Tern with anole, Alafia Banks, Tampa Bay, FL aboard the Hooptie Deux

Canon 600mm f/4L IS lens (on the Wimberley head/Gitzo 3530 LSV CF tripod) with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS 1D MIII. ISO 400. Exposure determined by histogram check: 1/1250 sec. at f/7.1.

Gull-billed Tern is uncommon in Florida but regular in spring and summer around Tampa Bay. When we saw this one flying towards us with a prey item, I about had a cow!

PLEASE CONTACT US BY PHONE ON MONDAY FOR MAIL ORDERS

As I will be getting up at 3:30 am tomorrow (Saturday) to head over to Fort DeSoto for the day and will be photographing on the Hooptie Deux on Sunday, please hold your phone orders (1-863-692-0906) until Monday morning when both Jim and I will be in the office. Thanks! You can of course send Paypals or checks at any time. <smile>

shorebird flock, Alafia Banks, Tampa Bay, FL aboard the Hooptie Deux

Canon 600mm f/4L IS lens (on the Wimberley head/Gitzo 3530 LSV CF tripod) with the 1.4X II TC and the EOS 1D MIII. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/400 sec. at f/11set manually.

This is a six-frame stitched panoramic image. After converting the six RAW files I hit File/Automate/Photomerge in CS-3 I selected them, hit OK, and then commented on a few images on BPN. Within minutes CS-3 had merged the images seamlessly. After that it was just a matter of making the standard Digital Basics adjustments; I was done in minutes. Can you find the Hudsonian Godwit? (See the closing below for the answer.) Can you identify the breeding plumage Short-billed Dowitchers, the Marbled Godwits, the molting Dunlins, and the Willets? If not, my book “Shorebirds: Beautiful Beachcombers” may be just what you need: (http://www.birdsasart.com/books.html#SHOREBIRDS)

BIG TIME BLUBB KUDOES (AND A TIP)

I received this e-mail from Lynn Thompson of Phoenix via e-mail:

Dear Art, I would like to sing praises of your BLUBB design. I have had a large bean bag for years that worked OK. Until I got your BLUBB! The support is far superior to any other bean bag I have tried. And

what a relief to have it cling to the vehicle in all but the bumpiest conditions. At first the price might seem expensive, but it is replacing a tripod head! I use freezer zip lock sandwich bags to hold the beans/rice/birdseed/etc to load the bag with. Adds more water proofing and seems to fill out the bag just as well. (Keeps the contents clean too for whoever/whatever makes a meal out of them.) I just received my second BLUBB, so both sides of the vehicle are ready. Thank you for the brilliant design. Lynn

Original file: Hudsonian Godwit. See optimized image two below.

I moved to my right in order to get some separation between the subject’s tail and the head of the o-o-f Marbled Godwit (foreground left).

When the HUGO flew off, I knew that I would use some “water” in order to create Quick Mask/APTATS magic; I focused (using One-Shot A) on a bird (out of frame right) that had been on the same plane as the now departed Hudsonian Godwit, swing the lens to the left, and created a few images of just water. (See same below):

I opened both images, hit Control A, Control J, and then used the Move Tool to drag the layer on top of the original. I hit E for the Eraser Tool and then simply painted out the subject bird and its reflection (after reducing the Opacity of the top (water) layer to 60% so that I could see the godwit. Then quick Levels, Curves, and Hue-Saturation Adjustments yielded the image below:

Hudsonian Godwit, non-breeding plumage, Alafia Banks, Tampa Bay, FL aboard the Hooptie Deux

Canon 600mm f/4L IS lens (on the Wimberley head/Gitzo 3530 LSV CF tripod) with the 2X II TC and the EOS 1D MIII. ISO 400. Evaluative metering +2/3 stop: 1/800 sec. at f/9 set manually.

This is the very first time that I have used and entire specially created background in this manner. Working with digital capture and learning to use and think Quick Masks has opened up new worlds. You can learn more about Robert O’Toole’s Quick Masking techniques on his APTATS PFD: http://www.birdsasart.com/aptats.htm. And you can learn a ton more by attending the next BAA Weekend Seminar in Portland, ME this coming fall. See item below for details.

I almost forgot to mention that this species is rare in Florida. I identified it as it slept; it was as large as the Marbled Godwits that surrounded it. The white belly alerted me that it was not a marbled and the strong white eye-line confirmed it as an Hudsonian. To learn stuff like this and lots more about shorebirds, consider getting a signed copy of my “Shorebirds: Beautiful Beachcombers.” (http://www.birdsasart.com/books.html#SHOREBIRDS) Lastly, do note the perfect head angle.

PORTLAND, MAINE: “The Art of Nature Photography; It Ain’t Just Birds” Weekend How-To Seminar

“The Art of Nature Photography; It Ain’t Just Birds” Weekend How-To Seminar in Portland, Maine

October 11-12, 2008

Eastland Park Hotel, 157 High Street, Portland, ME

The October 11-12 date was carefully chosen to coincide roughly with the average peak of fall color in southern Maine. The likelihood is that if you are coming from out of town and would like to photograph the fall color the best bet (taking global warming and the trends in recent years) would be to schedule your photography in the days following the seminar. Every year, however, is different, and this is nature photography so there are no guarantees, but chances are, whether you photograph just before or just after the seminar you should have many chances to create some great images. Best bet: come a few days early and stay on for a few days… (Hint: hope for a pre-dawn rainstorm followed by the sun breaking through in the east while grayish-black storm clouds fill the western sky…)

The seminar will be held at the Eastland Park Hotel. Folks staying at least two nights in the hotel will receive a free Lens Pen Combo Kit at the seminar. As fall color time is peak season in southern Maine, hotel rates are high anywhere in the region. We were able to negotiate a rate of $159 for folks registering early. Once the block of rooms is gone, higher rates will apply. The doors will open on both days at 8 am and the programs will begin at 9 am sharp. There will be tons of great door prizes (including Delkin e-film Pro compact flash cards and some great stuff from Lowepro and Wimberley). I hope that you will be able to join me for what will be an incredibly educational and fun-filled weekend. (If anyone would like to help us set up or to hang out, be there at 7:00am.)

This seminar is for all nature photographers who want to learn how to make better photographs. On Saturday I will describe the methods and techniques that I have developed and used since 1983. My comments on lenses and digital camera bodies, AF, light, and on composition and image design will be highly informative and educational. And my tips on getting close to free and wild subjects and creating pleasing blurs will help you become a better photographer. Everyone with a telephoto lens who wishes to dramatically improve the quality of their images will benefit from attending.

Since going all-digital in November 2002, I have—with the help of many wonderful friends—become somewhat of a Photoshop expert. My approach to optimizing images is to create master files of excellent quality in the shortest possible time. I will share our workflow and numerous Digital and Photoshop tips on Sunday. As more and more folks are using Digital Capture, I am finding on our IPTs that many good to excellent photographers have no clue as to how to use Photoshop to make their images look better. In fact, many of them make their best images look worse! I can and will teach you to do just that at this seminar.

The cost of the weekend seminar will be $169. The cost of either single day will be $99. Members of qualifying camera clubs are invited to apply a $10 discount. (If you are a member of a camera club or other photography organization please e-mail us before registering to learn how your group can become a qualifying club). Register with a friend or a spouse and take $10 off each registration. Register in groups of four or more and take $20 off of each registration. Register in a group of ten or more and take $30 off each registration. It is highly recommend that folks purchase the buffet luncheon option ($15/day includes tip and tax). Those purchasing the lunch option will receive their lunch coupon when they check in each morning.) The cost of the weekend seminar plus the two lunches is $199.

There are three ways to register:

1- Send a check for the full amount made out to "Arthur Morris" to PO Box 7245, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855.

2- Call us with a credit card: 863-692-0906.

3- Send us a Paypal (using either any link on our site or your Paypal account) to us at birdsasart@att.net.

In all cases, we will need your e-mail address, your mailing address, and your daytime and evening phone numbers.

Here is our Cancellation Policy: If for any reason you need to withdraw, please notify us ASAP. Once we receive your e-mail, your phone call, or written notice of your cancellation the following fees apply: cancel before July 10, 2008 and your fee will be refunded less a $20.00 cancellation fee; cancel by August 10, 2008 and your fee will be refunded less a $50.00 cancellation fee; cancel after September 10, 2008 and there will be no refund.

(both): Royal Tern with fish for prospective mate, Alafia Banks, Tampa Bay, FL aboard the Hooptie Deux

Canon 600mm f/4L IS lens (on the Wimberley head/Gitzo 3530 LSV CF tripod) above with the 2X II TC, below with the 1.4X II TC, and the EOS 1D MIII. ISO 400. Exposure determined by histogram check: above: 1/1250 sec. at f/9, below, 1/1600 sec. at f/8.

Creating sharp flight images of fast flying birds with the 2X TC is not something that I do every day so I was very proud of the image above. The terns are actively fishing and courting in late April and early May. Thanks Froggie!

…..

Best and love and great picture-making to all,

artie

Note: Arthur Morris has been a Canon contract photographer since 1996 and continues in that role today. Hunt's Photo of Boston, MA is a BAA sponsor as is Delkin Devices. Back issues of all BAA Bulletins can be found in the Bulletin Archives which may be accessed from the home page at www.birdsasart.com

Ps: The Hudsonian Godwit is the tenth bird in from the left, sleeping in the first row in front of two Marbled Godwits.