Birds As Art Bulletin #339

September 15, 2010

Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART, PO Box 7245  4041 Granada Drive, Indian Lake Estates, FL 33855.  Telephone: 863-692-0906.  Computer fax: 877- 265-6955

Visit: www.BIRDSASART.com

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FEATURES:

CANON INTRODUCES SIX NEW L-SERIES EF LENSES & ACCESSORIES 

INSTRUCTIONAL PHOTO TOUR OPENINGS & UPDATES

DAVID McCLAIN SONY/HUNT'S SEMINAR

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are responding to a Bulletin via e-mail please take the time to delete all irrelevant text and images.  Thanks.     

CANON INTRODUCES SIX NEW L-SERIES EF LENSES & ACCESSORIES

For the skinny on all the new gear and my thoughts on each item, check out the July 16th blog post here.

INSTRUCTIONAL PHOTO TOUR OPENINGS AND UPDATES

With several recent cancellations there are now a very few openings on IPTs that had been sold out for months.  Seebelow for details.  Signing up for and attending a BIRDS AS ART Instructional Photo-Tour remains the very best way to improve your photography quickly while making great images and hanging with a world-class nice group of folks with similar interests..  

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.

Snow Geese, sunrise fly-in, Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM

Image copyright 2008/Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

In recent years several Bosque sunrises and sunsets found me getting back in my vehicle with tears in my eyes; not really sure why aside from the intensity of the spectacle.  This image was made with the tripod-mounted Canon 70-200mm f/4L IS lens.

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Co-leaders: Robert O’Toole, Jim Heupel, Peter Kes, 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. Snow Geese blast-offs, Sandhill Crane, sunrises, sunsets, flight photography. 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 is due upon registration.) Limit: 15/Openings: 11.

Snow Geese, pre-dawn blur, Bosque del Apache NWR, San Antonio, NM

Image copyright 2008/Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART

Learn a mind-boggling variety of pleasing blur techniques by joining Denise and me for a Blurry Day in Bosque. 

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Leaders: Creative Adventure photographer Denise Ippolito and Arthur Morris.

Join Denise and Artie for a day of learning about and creating pleasingly blurred images. They are nearly finished completing their Guide to Pleasing Blurs; it should be available before the end of September. Denise is the very creative moderator of the Out of the Box Forum on BPN (BirdPhotographers.Net) and Artie as you all know very well is Mr. Famous Bird Photographer

There will be an introductory slide program on the evening of Friday, November 26 at 7pm sharp; meet at K-Bob’s. Artie and Denise will go over the basic principles that separate pleasing blurs from lousy, out-of-focus images and will instruct you on a wide variety of techniques that you can use to create pleasingly blurred images. You will learn to create motion blurs (including slow shutter speed blurs, extreme slow shutter speed blurs, pan blurs and subject-movement- only blurs), zoom blurs (in the field and in Photoshop), camera shake blurs, camera movement blurs, wind blurs, flash blurs and even blurs in bright sun–a polarizer or an ND filter is usually required for the latter. Heck, we may even do some Fractalius blurs!

There will be two guided in-the-field sessions on Saturday: 6am till 10:30 am & 3:00 pm till after sunset. There will be a break after lunch.

SAN DIEGO IPT JAN 19-23, 2011. Slide program on the evening of JAN 18. 5 Full Days: $2399 (Limit 8/Openings 3).  Click here for more images & a discount offer.

Brown Pelican, La Jolla Cliffs, San Diego, CA

Image copyright 2007/Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART 

Brown Pelican in bright breeding plumage is one of my very favorite photographic subjects.

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With Photoshop guru Tim Grey and safari photographer Todd Gustafson.

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 7). 

Reddish Egret, white phase, Little Estero Lagoon, Ft. Myers Beach, FL

Image copyright 2007/Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART 

Nobody can teach you where, when, and how to photograph at Little Estero like I can. 

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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. Many of the wading birds will be in mega-breeding plumage like "Pinkie" above.  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: Registration and Release Form.

ROBERT O’TOOLE PHOTOGRAPHY HOMER BALD EAGLE INSTRUCTIONAL PHOTO-TOUR WITH ARTHUR MORRIS/BIRDS AS ART.

March 18-22, 2011: Limit 12 including the leaders/Openings 2. 5-FULL DAYS: $3249
March 24-28, 2011: Limit 12 including the leaders/Sold Out. 5-FULL DAYS: $3249

Bald Eagle, Homer, AK

Image copyright 2006/Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART 

Short lenses with subjects at point-blank range are the rule in Homer; bring your 70-200.  

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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/ Openings 1.

The trip above was added by popular demand; only Robert will be leading this one.

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)

Waved Albatross with Marine Iguanas, Hood Island, Galapagos, Ecuador

Image copyright 2006/Arthur Morris/BIRDS AS ART 

The wealth of tame birds and animals will in part make this the trip of your lifetime.  

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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 Island—tons 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 hotel–the 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. 

DAVID McCLAIN SONY/HUNT'S SEMINAR 

Best and great picture-making,

artie

Note: Arthur Morris has been a paid Canon contract photographer, part of the Explorers of Light program, since 1996 and continues in that role today.  Hunt's Photo of Boston, MA is a BAA sponsor as is Delkin Devices.