BIRDS AS ART BULLETIN #409

• Cheap, Short-Notice, Practically Private Instruction at the Santa Clara Ranch, near McCook, TX
• CONTEST NEWS
• MIDWAY 2013: SOLD OUT
• A Photographer’s Guide To The Ontario Landscape by Andrew McLachlan
• COMPOSITION MAPS
• IPT UPDATES

Cheap, Short-Notice, Practically Private Instruction at the Santa Clara Ranch, near McCook, TX

I am looking for one, possibly two, or even three (the latter a long-shot), photographers to join me and two other leaders (one of whom is named Denise Ippolito) at the ground level water hole blinds on the Santa Clara Ranch near McCook, TX. Amazingly, Google Maps has never heard of McCook, TX. But not to worry, it is on Mapquest 🙂 I first visited Beto Gutierrez’s ranch in early May 2010. You can learn more about that visit here or check out the ranch here.

With the three leaders the likely group size will be six–one student per leader, but might–depending on the level of interest–wind up at 8. You would need to be in McAllen, TX on the late afternoon of Monday May 14, 2012. If you are on our flight to McAllen (United 1621) know that we might stop to do some giant sunflower photography on the way to the ranch which is about an hour west of McAllen. There will be morning and afternoon photography sessions on Tuesday & Wednesday, May 15 and 16th and a final shorter session on the morning of Thursday May 17th. The three leaders will be flying out of McAllen on the 1:27 United flight to Houston.

We will have a variety of songbirds coming to the water along with some snakes and possibly a few mammals that will surely include Mexican Ground Squirrel. Bird species will likely include Painted Bunting, Northern Cardinal, Black-crested (Mexican) Titmouse, Bronzed Cowbird, Long-billed Thrasher, Northern Mockingbird, Mourning Dove, and Olive Sparrow. As migration is underway we may very well be in for a surprise or two. Other possibilities include Green Jay, Lark Sparrow, Pyrrhuloxia, Groove-billed Ani, and Audubon’s Oriole among others.

What’s included: lodging in the simple but modern ranch-house which has ac and wi-fi! Blind fees. Image sharing and individual and small group Photoshop lessons. We will share the cost of a shopping trip and all will get to experience some BIRD AS ART home cooking (unless the want to do some cooking themselves). I don’t cook breakfasts :). Lunches and dinners will be healthy and simple but oh so good.

What’s not included: ground and ranch transportation and the shared cost of the food. We would be glad to try to set you up with a car pool partner.

Recommended gear: a minimum of a 500mm f/4 lens with both teleconverters and an extension tube. A sturdy tripod along with a Mongoose M3.6 or a Wimberley V2 head, your flash, a Better Beamer, and a flash bracket. An intermediate telephoto would be a huge plus if we are lucky enough to have deer, armadillo, opossum, collared peccary, or dare I even say it aloud–a bobcat come in for a drink. There might be some flowers around….

Cheap, Short-Notice Practically Private Instruction at the Santa Clara Ranch, near McCook, TX. 2 FULL and one half-day (includes lodging and blind fees): $999.

To register or to check on availability please call me at 863-692-2806 and e-mail as well. If there is no answer and you wish to leave a message please call 863-692-0906. A non-refundable $500 is required and may be placed by credit card.

CONTEST NEWS

Registration closed on Monday at 11:59 pm on Monday, April 23, 2012 as stated clearly for nearly a month in various Bulletins and blog posts. None-the-less, we have received numerous calls and e-mails from folks expressing their disappointment at not being able to register. We explained that we too were disappointed as we hate turning down money and missing the chance to see even more great images. But in fairness to all, we held our ground. Only those who registered before the deadline are in the contest.

And they have till 11:59 pm on Monday, April 30, 2012 to finish uploading or fine-tuning their entries. Folks who are already registered and need to or wish to pay for additional blocks of ten may do so by sending us a Paypal to us here, via the BAA Online store by clicking here, or by calling Jim or Jennifer on Monday, April 30 at 863-692-0906. If the latter be sure to leave a message and follow that up with an e-mail that includes a call-back number.

We will be making initial selections during the week of May 1. We hope to have the first round of selects to the panel of judges no later than May 8 and to be able to announce the winning and honored images soon after that. We are pretty much thrilled with the quality of the images entered and are looking forward to the huge challenge that judging the contest will present.

MIDWAY 2013: SOLD OUT

If you would like your name placed on the waiting list, click here for details and photos.

A Photographer’s Guide To The Ontario Landscape by Andrew McLachlan

Andrew’s e-book guide, which has been selling well, is another the long line of beautiful, inspiring, educational, how-to and where-to treatises brought to you by BAA Books. The vast and varied landscapes of Ontario, Canada’s second largest province, provide photographers with a great variety of outstanding destinations and opportunities. Andrew’s guide is an easy-to-read, easy-to-follow resource that will make it a snap for both local and visiting photographers to plan their outings and to maximize their time afield. Why spend days looking for the best spots when Andrew has already done the legwork?

From the remote Abitibi Canyon in the northeast to Point Pelee in the southwest, from the Ottawa Valley in the southeast to the Algoma Highlands northeast of Sault Ste Marie, Andrew has-with skill and passion–photographed them all in every season. In addition he will guide you to the regions famous for fall colour including the Haliburton Highlands and Muskoka.

You will learn where and when to go to create dramatic landscapes. Andrew’s images will educate and inspire you. This e-book contains dozens of excellent tips (each in its own sidebar) for folks who enjoy creating scenic landscape images. He covers all the bases including exposure and histograms, composition and image design, shutter speed, aperture, and depth-of-field, creative vision and perspective, matters of weather and light, and tips on all types of gear including lens choice, tripods, tripod heads, lens and camera body plates, & filters. If you like landscape photography, this e-book is a must-have resource.

You can order your PDF ($24/sent by e-mail via YouSendIt) by clicking here.

COMPOSITION MAPS

In “Composition Maps: Visual Design for Nature Photographers” an e-book by Gloria Hopkins (with photographs by Arthur Morris) the author analyzes 61 BIRDS AS ART images and explains ingeniously exactly why they work. Give the animated GIF above a few seconds to play. (In the book you toggle between the image and the composition map by holding your cursor over the image). I have no clue as to how Gloria knows exactly what is going on in my brain when I press the shutter button and optimize my images. But she does. To learn to create interesting and powerful compositions click here and get yourself a copy of this great e-book for only $30. Gloria is also the author of the classic Natural Design; Image Design for Nature Photographers.

Shopper’s Guide

Below is a list of the gear used to create the images in today’s post. Thanks a stack to all who have used the Shopper’s Guide links to purchase their gear as a thank you for all the free information that we bring you on the blog and in the Bulletins. Before you purchase anything be sure to check out the advice in our Shopper’s Guide.

Canon 800mm f/5.6L IS lens. Right now this is my all time favorite super-telephoto lens.
Canon EF 25mm Extension Tube. Adding an extension tube between the lens and the camera body enables you to focus well closer than the minimum focusing distance of your lens while maintaining AF and metering. You will of course be unable to focus to infinity.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV professional digital camera body. The very best professional digital camera body that I have ever used.

And from the BAA On-line Store:

LensCoats. I have a LensCoat on each of my big lenses to protect them from nicks and thus increase their re-sales value. All my big lens LensCoat stuff is in Hardwood Snow pattern.
LegCoat Tripod Leg Covers. I have four tripods active and each has a Hardwood Snow LegCoat on it to help prevent further damage to my tender shoulders 🙂 And you will love them in mega-cold weather….
Gitzo GT3530LS Tripod. This one will last you a lifetime.
Mongoose M3.6 Tripod Head. Right now this is the best tripod head around for use with lenses that weigh less than 9 pounds. For heavier lenses, check out the Wimberley V2 head.
CR-80 Replacement Foot for Canon 800. When using the 800 on a Mongoose as I do, replacing the lens foot with this accessory lets the lens sit like a dog whether pointed up or down and prevents wind-blown spinning of your lens on breezy days by centering the lens directly over the tripod.
Double Bubble Level. You will find one in my camera’s hot shoe whenever I am not using flash.
The Lens Align Mark II. I use the Lens Align Mark II pretty much religiously to micro-adjust all of my gear an average of once a month and always before a major trip. Enjoy our free comprehensive tutorial here.
BreezeBrowser. I do not see how any digital photographer can exist without this program.