Post Storm Juvie

Sometimes it is good to know the power of software.  I've often heard in discussions with other photographers that the better the original image, the better the post image.  The more you have to 'edit' the shot, the more you lose in quality.  I'll go for that.
But sometimes I can put myself in a position where a 'save' is needed.   Happens more than one would think.
When I arrived at the Refuge last weekend, the first thing I did is take a test shot or two to get my settings close to what I need.  Usually I don't have to make many changes after that during the visit.  And this time I followed the process.  And it worked until...
On entrance to the park, the first chance at wildlife is driving north.  The wildlife is usually on the right, east.  Into the morning sun.  Birds in the trees at his point early in the morning are not a good shot.  But I was there well after sunrise and this wasn't an issue.  But with the storm passing, the sun still wasn't in a favorable position and created a very flat sky.  Welcome to mid-Michigan.  But the Juvie in the trees like this is not something witnessed every day.  Got to make it work.
Usually, this isn't a problem.  Until it is.
A copy of the original RAW image:

That's a mess.
Forensic photography indicates the light is bad, the sky is flat and worst of all the EV was set at -1.  A holdover setting from the previous week.  The camera was metered on an unusually dark bird, in darker than normal light with an EV of -1.  It ain't the camera's fault.
But what is life without a challenge?
To save the image, I need to lighten the subject, the trees and try to get some definition in the sky.
First, to lighten the bird is easy.  ACR does a good job.  But when the bird is lightened the sky looks worse, if possible.  After a while, playing around with the settings I determined that the bird was worth saving but the sky had to go.
To split the sky from the bird, I usually turn away from PS.  I've been a big fan of the Topaz AI products lately and I planned to use their Mask program.  I tried for an hour to get that to work without success.  I've used it before on simple photos.  This should be simple, the sky is one colored.  Match the color, press a button and the sky should be erased.  Didn't work that way.  So turned to On One.  
The On One masking is simple, fast, intuitive and it works.  I used On One a number of years ago but found their software with each passing 'upgrade' put more of a load on my PC.  I've upgraded to a PC built for photography, and I tried the application the day after I fired the PC up.  And it still did not work well.  There were some other issues that I would call personal issues that moved me on to Topaz.  
The one aspect of On One that I liked in the past was their masking process.  That was going to save this image.
The bird is wet, after the passing storm.  Feathers are everywhere.  Not an easy mask.  

I was able to remove the image sky in less than five minutes.
One of the personal issues I have with On One is the file management.  It took longer to get a file that PS liked than it did to remove the sky.  Again, what is life without a challenge?
Then I needed to find a sky that wasn't too different from the original, but had some definition.  One thing I'm in the habit of doing is taking plain sky shots.  I like to get a lot of clouds in the shots.  I'm sure I can find something that will be a close match.  And I think I did.
In the end, this is what I came up with.

Post Storm Juvie

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

720 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 160 (AUTO)

EV -1, MANUAL Mode, Size DX

That bird was still drenched, as was its buddies in nearby trees.  I might have added a bit more light than was there, but the wet feathers on the wing and body is something you don't see every day.  Usually the birds are a nice brown and fluffy all the way around.
And most importantly, this photo has an element that seems to be my trademark.  A branch in the way of a subject.  Its removal would be the next project.

Great Egret - Walk this Way

My first year at the Refuge, I took more photos of Egrets than I know what to do with.  Elegant bird for sure.  Big, slow, nice yellow eyes.  And not real skiddish in front of the camera.
As a photographer, what's not to like?  As a white subject in sunlight, or even cloudy, it is very easy on the camera for metering purposes.  
Last year, I didn't take that many photos.  I had many from the year before.  So, unless something interesting happened.....
After the storm passed through, many birds were stationary in the trees.  Although I have seen Egrets in the trees before, at this visit there were more in the trees than usual.
As there were no cars behind me, I could watch a few birds in the trees for a few minutes.  I saw this one bird, a bit anti-social away from a group.  As I watched, it started to 'walk' along the branch.  I thought a transition to flight was imminent.  All I could think of was any versions "Walk this Way".

Walk this Way

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

585 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 250 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

One of the other 'action' shots of the Egret was a take off.  I had watched this one 'land' and it did appear to be on the restless side.  Just be a little patient.
I had the camera set for 5 FPS.  If I had to do it over again, I'd probably go with 7 FPS.  But I got what I got.
I liked this shot because the colors stood out.  The storm was recent, the ground was wet and the sunlight was cracking the clouds.  Different.

Take Off

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

690 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 125 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Not bad for shooting out of the truck window.

Pelicans, Pelicans, Pelicans

The Shiawassee National Wildlife Refuge re-opened last weekend after being closed for almost two months.  The closure was in reaction to the floods in may caused by multiple dams failing during a weekend of heavy rains.  Or was that the Johnstown flood?  Anyway, lots of rain, mis-managed dams and a lot of down stream damage in both cases.
I couldn't get out last weekend due to the paying job.  And this weekend was a toss up between a horse event and the Refuge.  The weather was the decision maker.  I elected to stay in the truck.
And I haven't been to the Refuge after a good heavy rain and storm.
The storm, I believe definitely had an effect on the bird behavior.
There is a lot of water in the Refuge.  The flooding accelerated the filling of the area.  A lot of the wildlife used to come close to the drive, now not as much.  Have to up the game a little.
Saw a new bird, will be another post.
Saw a few Sand Hill Cranes close to the drive and the pictures came out well.  Nothing in flight, but good grazing shots.
But the Pelicans were out.  Not flying, just huddled together.  I've seen them collected in a group before, but a bit more loosely.  I'm wondering if this is a post storm meeting?

Pelican Mass

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 180 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I like this shot a lot.  Blues and greens are separated.  The water is just right, not blown out or too blue.  And none of the subjects are acting up for the camera.  Interesting.

Michigan Barrel Racing Association

With the air racing industry at a crawl, if not shut down entirely, my weekend schedule is somewhat more flexible this summer.
I'm having fun going to the horse events.  The people are nothing short of great to be around.
This is the second MBRA event I've been to and what I've learned is this is fun and available to all ages.  I've seen kids who don't have enough weight on them to keep them in the saddle (yes, they stay on, but you get the point.) to those who would be in the post collegiate divisions.
Like a good airplane shot, a horse in action shot can be just as intriguing to me.  Great lines on both subjects.  Prior to this year, what I knew about horse visual scenes came from the opening credits on a Howard Hawks western film.
Getting a good horse shot to me is as difficult as getting a good prop or helicopter shot.  With a solo jet shot, it is just shoot with a high shutter speed and go for it.  With an opposing jet shot, double the speed, use a high frames per second setting and go for it.
I'm working on figuring out what works best for horses, IMO, so I take a lot of shots, and throw a lot away.  I'm still learning.
There are a couple of shots I'll post from the event, but starting with this one.
The events have two elements, poles and barrels.  The poles, to me, offer two photo opportunities.  I can get shots with the horse and rider going through or around the poles and a straightaway.  In the barrels element, the best shots are around the barrels.
This is a shot of a horse and rider coming down a straightaway in the poles event.  This reminded me of a pony express rider.  The horse, the rider, the hat.  Ah, the sunglasses, maybe not so much.  And at the time of the Pony Express, trash bins were not metal.

Pony Express Pose

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

270 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 200 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I was trying something new.  I was moving the focus point around in the optical viewer.  Usually, I have the point in the center.  A lot of my throwaways are because my frame often drifts up, that is I lose the lower part of the subject.  If my focus point was higher, maybe I'll keep more of the subject in the frame.  Maybe.  Still a work in progress.
As to the barrels, there are a lot of interesting shots.  Most of what I take has to do with the horse and rider leaning into the ground.  With the format I use, it often doesn't fill up the frame.  Price of the scene.
In this shot, I held on to the shutter a bit longer than normal.  A mistake.  Sometimes I'm just lucky.  This shot fills the frame.  What I really like is how the sun plays on the horse.  And there's some hair flying as well.

Around the Barrel

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/70.0-300.0 mm f/4.5-5.6

150 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 140 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

It was a fun visit, although I could only stay for a few hours.  It was HOT.  Hot in July, who knew?

Post Processing - 2020

Post processing seems to be a never ending journey.  Over time software gets better, hardware gets faster.  And there are more choices and options.  And the training videos.
Shooting over 600 shots last weekend and processing all within a few hours was doable only with decent software practice enough to understand my flaws when shooting.
The blanket statement is that noting that comes out of my camera is "show" ready.  Every shot needs some 'help'.
I have a tendency to shoot off level.  I have an in view level.  Neat toy but useless, I usually don't have enough time to process that information.  At the very least, 99% of my shots need to be leveled.
Cropping:  Every shot is cropped.  My cameras are set up to shoot DX and FX.  Any other format will leave something behind.  My finished product usually comes out in 16:9 format, with 1920 x 1080 for current display monitors.  I don't do a lot of printing any more.  If I need an odd size, usually I can get it from the DX or FX original format.
Even if I wanted to shoot JPG, I still have to make these changes.  Multiple changes on a JPG file isn't a good practice.
So RAW it is and I'm committed to the process.  Even if there are a few hundred shots to process.
This is the process I use most of the time.
First, my software center is Photoshop.  Most of the work is done in Adobe Camera Raw.  I grew up on Elements and I suspect most of the terms and processes will translate to Elements easily.  I use other software where necessary.  Photoshop is all around good, but other niche software can be easier to use.

When opening a RAW file in PS, ACR (Adobe Camera RAW) opens automatically.  I like to make the ACR edits within PS as a filter.  This will be explained later.  However, there are two edits I like to make that are not available with ACR as a filter.  These edits have to be made at the Open.  One of the issues with PS is that the interfaces will change frequently.  The process names are generally consistent, but will sometimes be 'moved'.  Off the soapbox.  The two edits I like to make at the file open are found in the Optics tab.  Remove chromatic aberrations and Use profile corrections.  Chromatic Aberrations are inherent in a zoom lens, so if using a prime lens this edit is not necessary.  After selecting these two edits, open the image into PS.

After the photo is opened, the first thing I do is create a new layer to work with.  The easiest way is to use the short cut keys clt+j.  I will right click on this layer and select Convert to Smart Object.  Creating to a smart object is a very powerful tool.  This works for global changes and can limit some other edits.  But overall I use this.  What this allows is after edits are completed and saved, the layer can be edited again.  If this is not a smart object, once the edits are completed and saved, the layer is fixed.  So, I'll go through a number of edits on this layer.  If I forget one or need to remove some blue, on a regular layer I'd have to do everything all over again.  With a smart object, I can reopen the layer and make the changes to the edits.  This is such a time and process saver.

Working on my smart object, I select Filter on the top menu and select Camera Raw Filter (Shift + Ctl+ A).  This opens up the ACR module again this time as a filter.  Because I'm working on this as a smart object, all changes can be re-edited if necessary.  Had I made the changes on the file open, those changes are locked in.

Now the flow begins:

White Balance:  There are many ways to balance colors.  The easiest way I found is to use the white balance dropper to find a neutral spot in the photo.  Hover the dropper over a neutral area, read the RGB values on the histogram.  When the values are as close to even as can be, click the spot.  You will see the temperature and tint values change.  With some practice, neutral spots can be found relatively easily.

Color:  In the Edit area, find the Auto button.  This will set the Exposure, Contrast, Highlights, ect.  For my tastes, this works well.  On occasion, I will need to edit exposure or contrast.  Then I set Texture, Clarity and Dehaze.  Usually with a D500 photo I will set these to 20, 20 and 10.  With the D780, I set to 10, 10 and 5.  Vibrance and Saturation I set to 15 and 5.  Yes, these can be set as a profile that doesn't need to be entered all the time.  For color, this is where I start.

Curve:  Curve can be used for a lot of edits, but I use it mostly to 'deaden' shadows.  If I need to, I will move the Shadow slider to the right.  Once that is set, I use the rest to recover as necessary.  Yes, there is a shadow recovery penalty, but with the rest of the sliders the penalty can be quickly neutralized.

Detail:  This is where sharpening and noise reduction can be done.  ACR does a great job, but.  I use other applications for these jobs.  Absent of other applications, use these edits.

Color Mixer:  If I have a targeted color in an image, I'll select it here.  Usually I like a yellow or green pop in an image.  Sometimes a really deep blue sky will cast an overall blue haze that can be corrected here.  I won't correct a blue tint of the sky here, that will be done with a gradient later.

Geometry:  This is a biggie for me.  As I mentioned before, I am level challenged.  Usually this is a one button edit, both horizontal and vertical.  On occasion, this won't do the trick, not even close.  When it doesn't work, I just use the horizontal button.  And there are a few times, I have to do this on my own.  There is a grid feature to help out.  But 90% of the time, it is a one button click and move on.

Heal:  This is an underrated powerful tool.  On a day out at the airfield, eventually there will be some form of blemish on the shots from either dust, water or a small sunspot.  The blemish is easily seen in nice blue skies.  These are easily remedied here, using the Visualize Spots option.  One click, blemish gone.  Serious image saver.

At this point, the basic global edits are done.  Sometimes I use a more targeted edit methodology such as if an Eagle's white hood isn't exactly right, I spot edit the hood and add a small amount of exposure.  Or if a sky isn't the right shade of blue, I'll use the gradient tool to either lessen the exposure or add some blue.

At this point the ACR filter can be closed.  

To finish, I'll create another layer.  I don't have to.  Because this layer is a smart object, I could just move on to the next filter.  One of the down falls of using a smart object is if I add another filter to this layer and then go back to the ACR to make a change, it will take FOREVER to finish the layer.  So I just create a new layer.  

Depending on the image I'll use the following Topaz products.

If the image needs a lot of help, and it happens more than you'd think, I'll use Topaz AI Sharpen.  This usually happens when I'm shooting prop driven aircraft.  I have to use a slow shutter speed on a fast moving aircraft.  Sometimes I pan just right, sometimes I miss it entirely (delete) and sometimes I get it close.  I usually get it close.  AI Sharpen has three different algorithms to solve an image.  Usually the defaults on one of the three will do the job.  If the image is not salvageable, I will know at this time.  (Yes, I will often use this product first to see if i can work with the image before I sink any time into it.)

If the image needs noise reduction, I will use AI Denoise.  Easy, intuitive product to remove noise.  And with the latest version, you can target noise reduction.  For example, you can clean up the sky without touching below the horizon.  Very powerful.

And, if the image is close I'll use AI Denoise Clear option.  Usually the the process will add just enough sharpening to really clean up the image.  Best finishing product I've ever used.

At this point, the image is done.

I'll crop the finished product as necessary.

Move on to the next.

Yes, most of this can be used in a batch process.

It sounds like a lot, takes less than two minutes per shot.  Yes, practice helps.

I learned a lot this last weekend.

Not sure where to start or go with this, so it may be all over the place.  My blog, my rules.
RAW vs. JPG.  I took over 600 shots.  All RAW.  How long did t take me to get to 250 ish Kurt ready shots?  Not as long as one would think.  Saturday night took me two to go through all the shots and rate them.  Maybe could have been faster, but was also watching Svengoulie.  Also managed to get a blog post out.  Sunday morning batched the colors on the 250, less than 30 minutes.  Then had to level, crop to 1920x1080 or 1920x1280, save as JPG the 250 shots.  About two hours.  Again, not that bad.  Even if I had taken JPGs, I'd still have to do the finishing part.  Multiple saves on the JPGs.  I would listen to an argument on the file size.  In the D780 I use 32 gig cards in each slot where I can I get 650 shots per card or about 1300 shots.  I do carry extra cards.  I had one day at Reno taking 1700.  First time there and yep, probably should have taken a movie camera.  Two years ago, I was much younger.  Anyway, at this time - no reason to go JPG.
Auto-Focus.

Yep, that 70 is spot on.  Too bad.  Anyway, I used a larger center point for AF.  That works well for wide open spots and birds who move around a lot.  Overthinking this, I left it alone.  On purpose.  Clearly I could have done better.  There were two main arenas in play.  This one had a number of posts that were clearly jumping in the way.  The other arena is a little more open.  If/when I go back, I'll probably tighten up the AF area.
Frames per second:  I don't know why I always hold back on the FPS.  That's like leaving 2 cylinders in the truck when you're passing slower traffic.  Use 'em.  Sure, it eats up card space but I carry extra.  In this case I'll take only 2-4 per sequence.  And for the top of the jump, it would be worth it.  The D780 will do 7 FPS.  The D500 will do 10 FPS.  I did that once at the air races.  It was worth it.  My problem on Saturday was thinking that horses are slower than airplanes, and I should be able to get the job done at 3 FPS.  Bad thinking.  With the horses, I am trying to get an object in a specific place at a specific time.  Less room for error.  Faster frame cycle rate.  I had a much better success rate a 7 PFS.
Camera/Lens combo:  I started with the D500 and the 70-300.  I got off a few shots, but thought it was too much lens.  I did an in the filed lens swap, which I don't like to do.  And finished the day with the D780 on the business end of the 70-300.  As the day developed, I could have used the D500.  Most of my shots were over 105 mm which would be the short end of that combo.  This event was built for the D500 - and next time I'll flex it.  The vast majority of my shots were at 300 mm, which would tell me it was maxxed out and I could have used more reach.  The monster lens would be too much to lug around, but maybe some time later in the year.  When it is cooler.
When to put all this together?  Saturday is a Barrel Racing Event about 45 minutes away.  Can't think of a better time.

Woodbine Farms Hunter Jumper

Fun day out of the house today.  Since March, I've probably been out of the house for more than an hour less than ten times, and at least half of those times I just took a road trip and stayed in the car.  I've been looking forward to today for a few weeks.  And it didn't disappoint.
I'm doing a slow suffer as my air shows are cancelling.  The Reno Air Races officially cancelled their event yesterday.  Thunder over Michigan is still on, but my guess is it will cancel in the next few weeks.  The Refuge is flooded, still closed since the heavy rains and dam failures last month.  I won't be doing any indoor events like hockey for a while.
But today I was able to get out of the house, somewhere to go.  
Time to give the D780 a 600+ shot day.
My horse subject expert from the camera club told me of today's event a few weeks ago.  Hunter Jumpers.  I have no idea what this means, but I'm going to learn.  Essentially its a horse and rider combo where at some point the horse will jump, land and move to the next gate.  I'm good with that.  Some form of action.  I need this.
The morning was severely overcast.  The sun came out in the afternoon.  Big difference in the shots.
As to the camera set up, I guessed I could get close to the action.  I started with the D500 and the 70-300 lens.  With the crop factor, too much lens.  The D780 and 70-300 was a good set up.  I started with a set up of 3 frames per second, went to 5 FPS and eventually went to 7 FPS.  At 7 FPS, I could catch more of the desired shots - horse and rider at the top of the jump.  Yea, there are more throw aways, but that part is easy.  I shot at 1/1000 sec.  Apertures were either at f/8  and f/5.6.  ISOs went between 100 to one shot at 5600.  I also used the EV function more than usual.  I think this helped out a bit.  With the day being overcast, I didn't have to concern myself with whites burning out so this helped out with getting more of all the light in the shot.
One other thing I was able to do with these shots that I can't do with aircraft or bird shots is avoid the aggressive cropping.  The subjects were big enough to fill the frame.  I have a few good shots that are missing some hoofs.  Got in a bit too close.  Yep, it's a journey.
So much for the technical stuff.
There were fours types of shots I was looking for.
First, the support shots.  What goes on outside the arena.  People watching.  
Next, in the arena area but not competing.  Yet.  Horses and riders getting ready to enter the course.  Warm up.
Then, my favorite shots which is the horse and rider in lift off mode.
Then, everyone else's favorite, horse and rider at the top of the jump.
It was a 600+ shot day.  I'm down to about 250 good shots.  Technically all came out good.  And we'll define 'good' as something was in focus.  (That's just plain funny.)  Sometimes the auto-focus would go it's own way.

That center post, perfect focus.  If there were a fly walking on it, we could see the color of the eyes.  Too bad the post is not the star of the show.  Not sure if this should be a point of pride, but I'm getting better at telling when the AF is not where I need it to be, and I can correct it on the next shot.  I'm still laughing at these mis-focused shots.  It's a journey.
Now to the good shots.
Most of the time when I take 100s of shots in one day, it is hard to pick one that defines my day.  Today is not one of those days.  I lucked into what I consider to be one of my better shots.  Got it right away.
But this one isn't it. 
This one made it to the best finals on the rider's facial expression.  Most of today's shots shave facial expressions that may be flattering, and some not so much.  But fact of life, we all have them.  But this one is good.  Concentration and determination.  The angle at about 45 degrees works for me.  These are my favorite shots, launching.

Jumper 01

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

270 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 2800 (AUTO)

EV +1, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

This shot made it to the favorites, well, not sure why yet.  Just struck me.  Just looks like the rider and the horse are on the same page, effortless.  Been there, done that.  I have more than a few of this combo, they are good.

Jumper 03

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

195 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500 (AUTO)

EV +0.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

As I mentioned before, few shots get the 5 star treatment on the first round of shot triage.  Last shots to move me were the inverted F4U,  the F/A 18 with the sonic clouds and the horse in the stall from last year.  
I found a shot location that worked well, looking down an area with two jumps in line.  All that framing photography stuff.  If the horse and rider stayed in the middle, perfect.  If they drifted to either side, well, just perfect -.

Jumper 02

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/70-300mm f/4.5-5.6

300 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 560 (AUTO)

EV +0.67, MANUAL Mode, Size FX

OK, maybe not down the direct center, but it works.  The horse is 4 off the floor, head slightly off center.  And as much as the horse's head is off the center line, the rider's body is off.  Of all the shots I took today with this scene, nothing like it.
If this gets best horse shot of 2020, don't tell me it was an off year.  It's good, I like it.  This is an early favorite, maybe for shot of the year.  Certainly on the short list.
It was a good day.  Got some good natural vitamin D.  I did sort of say I'd have some photos to the event available to the farm some time after next weekend.  Looks like there will be just over 250.  And that's another story - but a good one.

Storm Front

When the paying job takes up most of your time, you look forward to time off as hopefully good weather.  And when you take some time off from the paying job, you really don't look forward to 'crappy' weather.  Unless....
Today was the perfect storm.  Pun intended.  Low 90s, high humidity and a cold front courtesy of tropical storm.  Entirely predictable.
So I went on the road to get out of the subdivision and get some visibility.  I went to the parking lot for the Nature Refuge.  It is closed due to flooding, more on that later, but the lot was dry.  Just barely.  But as I arrived, a thought struck me.  (Note the word, struck.)  I was just about the tallest thing for yards around me.  I know from the previous life, that lightning can lead the front by up to 20 miles.  Photography from a distance.  Time to move.
So, I spent some time in the lot, taking a few wildlife photos but keeping an eye on the sky.  It was getting darker by the minute.
The front was not what I had hoped for.  I wanted a big wall, lots of lightning.  This was a normal Michigan front.  Not that it sneaks up on you, but it does.  This part of the storm was not a large front, that would come later.  So, If I could get get to the side of the action......
And I did.

Storm Front

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/24-70mm f/2.8

27 mm, 1/200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

Aperture Priority, Size FX

This is the first week out with the new lens, 24-70mm f/2.8.  I needed to get a lens for the D780 to go more wide angle.  I have a 50mm f/1.8, but the next useful lens is the 70-300 f/4.5 to f/5.6.  To be fair, I don't see landscape shots as well as I see other subjects.  But I can see the cloud formations.  This is a start.  Again, it could be more dynamic, some strategically placed lightning.  Maybe a more defined front?  For a mid-Michigan defined front, I'll take it.

Home Town Hero Fly Over - Flint Style

What a great day to get out of the house.  The beginning of a Michigan summer has finally arrived.  We haven't had snow for a little over two weeks.
We heard over the airwaves that there would be a WWII warbird flyover on Saturday.  I looked all over the place for a web page with information, no luck.  Then reading Twitter (Don't judge me.) yesterday, I saw it was postponed to today due to high winds.  And the postponement notice had a bit more information as to location and times.  Bingo, C and I had something to do today.
There was no information I could find on the aircraft for the day.  Might sound too picky, but here was my quandary.  If it was a WWII flyover, I needed a prop camera set up.  If not, and there were jet aircraft involved, then I needed a jet setup.  Our best information was it was a WWII era fly over, and the prop was the setup to use.  Although I did take a backup camera that could have handled jets, just in case.  Not much time to make changes in a single pass event.
The camera setup.  I need to keep working with the D780.  And one of the reasons for the monster lens is aircraft.  That was easy.  For the backup was the D500 and 17-200 lens.  There might have been some walk around opportunities.  So for the aircraft, going on the assumption they would be T-6 class/family I would be ready for them.  This is my favorite class of racers at the Reno event.  Big target, slow target, but slow props.  Knowing this, for a good shot I need to be around 1/200 second for shutter speed.  Again, fortunately for me, I have had two years at Reno to understand this type aircraft.  Please, don't screw this up.
One of the new pieces of photographic equipment I acquired over the winter was a neutral density filter, 3 stops.  Fixed, not variable.  For the monster lens with a 95 mm opening that was not cheap.  So today was the day to find out if it was going to work.  Feast or famine.  Without it, all things being equal, today I would have to use 1/2000 second at f/5.6 and ISO 100 for the settings.  With the ND filter, the speed was 1/200 second.  Pretty much what I had calculated for the purchase of the filer.  So far so good.  Photo-Stop math can be confusing at times.
The target set up.  From what we could tell the flight path was planned over central Michigan in the Flint, Lapeer and Owasso area.  The end of the flight pan was the Great Lakes National Cemetery in nearby Holly, Michigan.  The end of the plan was to conclude with a missing man formation.  C and I would head off to the national cemetery.
And as an unexpected surprise, we ran into a friend of mine I met through the camera club, at the cemetery.  We'll just say his name is Bob.  Anyway Bob is a Marine Corps veteran who has served with the USMC honor guard which covered the cemetery for veteran funerals.  He knows the place well, and was nice enough to ask us to join him.  He had picked a great place to photograph the aircraft for what we thought the flight path would be.  We had about an hour to chit chat before the aircraft arrived.  It's all good.
And finally, a few months before my father started his next adventure in life he passed along to me what I will call a charm that I've worn on each aircraft photo-op.  I would have it with me today and I felt it would help.  I've also carried it with me on some of the Eagle adventures, because he liked those shots as well.
So, with the right camera, the right lens, the right company and the right charm all I needed was the right aircraft and it would all come together.
And with today being the anniversary of the 1889 Johnstown flood, what could go wrong?

Home Town Hero Fly In

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01 /200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

Aperture Priority, Size FX

I took around 50 shots.  Out of the 50, 10 were horribly out of focus mostly due to camera shake.  I was OK with that hit rate.  Others were a bit out of focus due to heat waves.  Stuff to learn.  Other stuff to learn I found out in post was I had a vignette that I didn't expect.  It was correctable, but I'm thinking it is the ND filter as this is the first I've seen it.
But so far so good.  Props looking the way I like them.

Home Town Hero Overhead Bank

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01 /200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/160 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

Aperture Priority, Size FX

There were four aircraft in the group.  And I tried to get four in each shot.  I don't know if that was the best plan, maybe a close up of each?  In these flybys, there is usually only one pass and that is all.  Today, there were two passes and with that information, maybe I would have tried it?  In the end, this is a group effort, therefor a group photo.

Home Town Hero Overhead

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01 /200-500mm f/5.6

230 mm, 1/100 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

Aperture Priority, Size FX

It might be a small thing, but the sun reflection off the props is awesome to me.  Right place, right time, right setup.  As these aircraft are just about directly overhead, this is about the time I am close to falling over backwards.

Home Town Hero To the Barn

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01 /200-500mm f/5.6

440 mm, 1/250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100

Aperture Priority, Size FX

Optical illusion, these aircraft are done for the day and are heading away from us and back to the barn.
In the small world of aviation photography, I have my second instance of the same aircraft in two different events.  The first was a L39 jet that I saw in Traverse City and in Reno.  The second instance was today with the aircraft that has the fixed landing gear.  There is a post for this aircraft with some close up photos here.
Today's event aircraft made two passes over the cemetery which was fantastic.  The noise alone was well worth the trip.  Nothing like it.  Great visuals as well.  Did I say the noise was great as well?

Bringing home the food

A few nights ago I watched a NOVA TV program that dealt with Eagles, and one of the story lines had information of feeding and growth.  There is a lot of both.  Quickly.
I've wanted to get a photo of an Eagle bringing home the food, and today I got close.
From my viewing spot, there's not a lot of warning with an Eagle gliding to its nest to get the bird in flight.  I thought my best tactic would be to focus in on the nest and fire away if I saw the shadow over the pond.  For this, could have used a higher speed?  For now though, it will do.

Fish Delivery

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6E

500 mm, 1/1250 sec, f/5.6, ISO 220 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

I figured with a growing Eaglet, or two, were still in the nest the food express should be every 90 to 120 minutes.  I was at the nest when this delivery was made.
As can be seen, the leaves are really filling in.  Could be a sign I've worn out my welcome.  Until fall at least.

Richland Park Juvenile Eagle Close to Flight

Last night's encounter with the juvenile eagle was a lot of fun.  This guy has to be close to flight.  yea, the light wasn't all that good.  Maybe I'll get some better shots today.  The sun is out, at least for a few hours.  Anyway more from last night.
Just watching this guy jumping around was so interesting.  If I had seen this 50 years ago, who knows where my life might have gone.  I have a few nature related encounters that i will always remember.  For example, in the prior life we (aircrew) were transiting Ascension Island and I witnessed the nighttime trek of the Green Turtle coming out of the Atlantic Ocean to lay eggs on the beach.  And now I'm seeing the growing of the Eaglet.  So, nature has been going on for thousands of years, and I see I'm just a visitor.  Very cool.
Photographically, this has been fun to finally get to use AI Gigapixel.  Sure it would be nice to have a mega-telephoto lens.  And again, I am just an amateur with a somewhat limited budget.  I have to use the equipment I have.  Yea, I'd like the images to be much sharper when cropped this close, but as long as they pass the office monitor test, I'll take it.
This was as close as the little guy got to facing me with it's wings opening up.  Looks like either through jumping or flight, off the ground with a nest safety net.

Juvenile Eagle Moving

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6E

500 mm, 12500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 900 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

There were a few times I saw the wingspan.  As wide as the nest.  The first shots I have of the Eaglets this year is March 26th.  I can see two little heads just above the nest rim.  Lots of nest material in the way, but you can see them.  Little fuzzy things.  Eight weeks later, the wingspan is across the nest.  That is a lot of growing.

Juvenile Eagle Wingspan

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6E

500 mm, 12500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1400 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Think I'll return to the park this afternoon.  Better light, warmer and take a book to listen to.  Social distancing, not an issue.

Juvie Eagle Peek a Boo

The start of Memorial Day weekend.  It's not raining.  I needed to get out of the house for a while.  Off to the park.  I went a bit later in the day, or evening than my usual visits.  Light could have been better.  When I got to the nest, one parent was sitting in the trees.  Another post.  I stayed at the nest for almost two hours.  The parent took off about 10 minutes after I arrived.  I stayed that long thinking that the bird would return.  It didn't.
But, as it turned out it was a great stay.  Seems to me there were two eaglets in the nest earlier in the year.  I only saw one today.  The one I did see was getting big.  After a while it would get up and stretch its wings.  Flapping a bit.  And sort of hoping around.  Fun to watch.
I'll probably post a shot or two of the wing stretch.  Most are only interesting because of the workout, but the bird was always looking away from me.  Wonder if there was a wind direction thing?
One of the photos from the evening has the Eaglet looking right at me.
This was so cool.

Juvie Eagle Peek a Boo

NIKON D780 Ver.01.01/200-500mm f/5.6

500 mm, 1/2500 sec, F/5.6, ISO 1100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size FX

First, I was pretty lucky in that as the leaves are starting to come in there is less of a clear view of the nest.  I don't have a lot of room to maneuver in the viewing stand, and past experience has often shown a wayward branch in the way.  In this shot, clear sailing to a view.  But there was an issue to overcome.  This is not a 500 mm shot.
This is the original 500 mm shot.

That's a lot o' crop.
The only way this works is if you can see the Eaglet.  A little closer.  If you can see the eyes good enough.  It was a good project to try AI Gigapixel.  I tried the deep crop process with PS and AIG.  The Gigapixel did a fantastic job.  I also thing the D780 image to start with helped.  Not sure if the crop on the D500 would crop this deep.  But with the crop factor on the D500, this is a 750 mm reach - but would require a crop as well.  This combination worked well.  This passes the home monitor test easily.

Eagle Glide, Almost Eye Level

I have about ten shots in this series of the Eagle gliding, or wing stroke, that I think are good enough to post.  But at some point I don't want to limit myself to being an Eagle site.  I have other interests, just can't get to them yet.
In a way, I want to segue to to what's happening in mid-Michigan.  The flooding in mid-Michigan will have an effect on the Refuge.  The flooding Tittabawassee River merges with the Saginaw River at the north end of the Refuge to form the Shiawassee River.  The Refuge drive is closed today, which leads me to believe water will cover parts of the drive.
The work done at the Refuge last year was to increase the wetlands by water control.  A lot of the Refuge will be protected by the drive, but I'd think the water levels will increase.  And they were high last weekend.
There is a lot of debris coming with the flooding waters.  By the time the floods hit the Refuge maybe a lot of the debris will have deposited along the way.  I'll just have to see in a couple of weeks.
Water by itself will not hurt the Refuge.  More water, more small critters, more life.
What a difference 24 hours make.

Eagle Close Glide

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

750 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1100 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

I like this shot for two (three) reasons.  The first reason, unseen, it is technically pretty good.  In focus and after that, it's all good.  But the two elements I see are the wing tips and the yellow feet.
The Eagle wing tip feathers doing the spread thing really get my eye.  And there is just enough of the feet to add the color.
This might be as close to eye level Eagle shots as I will ever get.  The background isn't all that bad either.

Two Juvies in Flight

Most of the time I see a juvenile eagle, it is solo.  That is not a hard and fast rule.  Last September I saw a few playing together, and with some pelicans.  But the solo sightings are the majority.  Last weekend, I did see a few playing together.  I don't know what the distance was, but it was far away.  When this happens, I'm torn between watching and moving in closer without disturbing the subjects.  And then of course, they move.  Usually away from me.
Shots like these underscore the need to find some way to stabilize the camera, more than fast shutter speed.  And I probably should have jacked up the speed a bit more.  And I should have got closer.  Nix the closer bit, they were on the verge of distancing themselves from me anyway.  A marginal shot is better than no shot.

Two Juvies in Flight

NIKON D500 Ver.1.20/200.0-500.0 mm f/5.6

720 mm, 1/1000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 280 (AUTO)

MANUAL Mode, Size DX

Quality wise, there are better.  But being at the right place at the right time I'm not sure that will happen again.  Two juvies in one frame.  Looks OK on the small screen and I can live with that.  Sometimes the subject just outweighs the final image.