Hello all,

There was a question concerning the Central Coast Natural History
Association's 2007 calendar unveiling. Here's the scoop.

Thursday, September 21 at 6 p.m. at the MB Museum of Natural History.

We expect it to last an hour, maybe two.


We're still working out the details, but I know that there'll be some
food and drink, discounts on calendars purchased (and a complimentary
copy for those who contributed images that were used in the calendar)
and good conversation. I hope to have some prints to show and perhaps
an opportunity to win something, but we'll see about that.

If anyone has questions for me regarding the event, please call the
studio at 528-6011.

Hope to see you all there,
Shari

Re: Do you know when the get together is going to be for the 2007 calendar event?
Garry, et al. (I'll post my answer back to the entire group as this may be of general interest)

Thanks, Greg. Sure would love to see the eastern Sierras. Anyone making
this trip? I'd like to go with someone or in a group. I'm from upstate
NY where autumn colors glisten under the dew! Went back in Oct 05.
Can't go this year. I get homesick every fall.

Teddy Llovet
MB


On Sep 9, 2006, at 10:57 AM, slobird@... wrote:

> Just a heads up that fall colors in the eastern Sierra will peak
> approximately during the first week of October.  There are some truly
> magnificent opportunities for photographing this part of California.
I wanna go!!!!!
>  
> The added bonus is a full moon rising over Mono Lake on Saturday,
> October 7th!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>  
> Greg Smith
> MB
>

Was it perhaps the reddish egret seen lately in the San Simeon and Arroyo de la Cruz areas?

On 9/3/06, Louise Abbott <labbott@...> wrote:

Thanks for the effort. This is indeed a blue heron. The bird I saw was definitely an egret but a soft caramel brown. I give rookery talks for the Natural History Museum and would love to have a photo of it.

At 09:36 PM 9/2/2006, ccnash3 wrote:

On August 31, across from the San Simeon campground, I snapped off

three shots of a brownish bird that I thought was probably an immature

great blue heron. But then, I'm no birder. I have posted them here, if

you want to take a look.

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/photomorrobay/photos/browse/8acd

--- In photomorrobay@yahoogroups.com, "louieabbott" <labbott@...> wrote:

>

> Twice I saw in the MB heron rookery a light brown great egret. I

> failed to get a picture of it. Does anyone know anyone who has a pic

I

> could get a copy of?

>

> Last I heard it was sited up by San Simeon Creek..... so I fear it

has

> left our area.

>

On August 31, across from the San Simeon campground, I snapped off
three shots of a brownish bird that I thought was probably an immature
great blue heron. But then, I'm no birder. I have posted them here, if
you want to take a look.

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/photomorrobay/photos/browse/8acd

--- In photomorrobay@yahoogroups.com, "louieabbott" <labbott@...> wrote:
>
> Twice I saw in the MB heron rookery a light brown great egret. I
> failed to get a picture of it. Does anyone know anyone who has a pic
I
> could get a copy of?
>
> Last I heard it was sited up by San Simeon Creek..... so I fear it
has
> left our area.
>

You're correct in your id Cleve!  The bird is an immature Great Blue
Heron...

Greg Smtih

On August 31, across from the San Simeon campground, I snapped off
three shots of a brownish bird that I thought was probably an immature
great blue heron. But then, I'm no birder. I have posted them here, if
you want to take a look.

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/photomorrobay/photos/browse/8acd

--- In photomorrobay@yahoogroups.com, "louieabbott" <labbott@...> wrote:
>
> Twice I saw in the MB heron rookery a light brown great egret. I
> failed to get a picture of it. Does anyone know anyone who has a pic
I
> could get a copy of?
>
> Last I heard it was sited up by San Simeon Creek..... so I fear it
has
> left our area.
>

Twice I saw in the MB heron rookery a light brown great egret. I
failed to get a picture of it. Does anyone know anyone who has a pic I
could get a copy of?

Last I heard it was sited up by San Simeon Creek..... so I fear it has
left our area.

The XTi adds the capability of camera-generated sensor cleaning to
remove dust particles.  It also undercuts in price the Nikon D80 and the
Sony Alpha DSLR A-100.

Given Canon's latest introduction on the entry level digital SLR, you
know the rumors are rampant about another new body on the high end of
their line.  There is talk of the new Digic 3 image sensor being
included with additional pixels (how high can they really go?).

Introduction of this camera should be in the very near future, given
that the worldwide Photokina convention is on September 26.  I am
patiently (read impatient) awaiting the announcement prior to getting a
a new body (camera).

You can follow the rumors on Bob Atkins' page:
<www.bobatkins.com/photography/digital/rumors.html>.

Greg Smith
Morro Bay

San Luis Coastal Unifed Uchool District's adult school is offering a
fall class for Adobe Photoshop CS (PC users) at the intermediate
level.  Cost is $95 and the class title is "Enhancing Your digital
Photos" and taught by an Sugano (Mr. or Ms. I'm not sure).

It meets on 17 & 24 October and 7 & 14 November (1730 - 2030).

If you have have just started with DSLR's, Sugano is teaching an entry
level class titled "Using Your Digital Camera & Computer".  Same cost
and time, but meeting dates are 12, 17, 26 September and 3 October.

Greg Smith
Morro Bay

Central Coast Natural History Association hosts the 2006 Click Click
Exhibit at the Morro Bay Museum of Natural History.

The show runs from "take-in" on October 28 until December 30, 2006.

Take-in is 1:00 - 2:00 pm Saturday October 28. Take-down 11:00 -
12:00 December 30.

Please bring in up to 3 framed photos, up to 5 unframed photos, and
either single or packaged note cards. All photos should feature
something associated with the State Parks of the Central Coast.

For framed work, use only white or off white mats, simple wood or
metal frames with wires for hanging. No other types of frames will
be accepted. Maximum price is $450.

For unframed work, protect your photos with clear plastic envelopes.

If you have a photo in the CCNHA 2007 calendar, you might want to
show it "full-size" in Click Click.

Questions: Call or email Barb Renshaw
barb.renshaw@...  805-534-1865

Hi Mike,

Thank you again for all the effort you have put into this developing
website, and for the thoughtful, detailed explanations provided for our
interests and concerns. I'm still not clear how our images are
protected by sending them to the Nature Notes production editor. I
think Shari Sullivan has created the beautiful new NHA newsletter
format where I have seen several of your photos. Did you offer these
with copyright protection? - Larger original-resolution images, if the
author wants to protect them, can be sent directly to the production
editor of Nature Notes - I think this will be Shari Sullivan but I do
not know yet. -  I'm glad to network with other photograhers and to
share with community and I was happy to post my blue heron in flight
image. Please tell me how one knows what image size and finish
(matte/glossy) one is buying on your lulu website. I couldn't find info
on this ... see http://www.lulu.com/mikebaird/ where one can purchase
my Brown Pelican photo for $10. 
Teddy Llovet bluheron at earthlink dot net


On Aug 27, 2006, at 11:02 AM, Baird, Michael wrote:

> Marlin, Teddy, et al., the CCNHA Nature Notes  article "San Luis
> Obispo County California Nature Photographers - Their Works and
> Techniques:  Interviews with local nature photographers about how they
> take such great photos" is being edited by me (Mike Baird) so that
> people can view it as it is being created, at
> http://howto.digitalchocolate.org/.  One benefit of this is that I get
> a lot of feedback and corrections, and potential contributors can see
> the style and intent of the article, and can figure out how to submit
> a compatible contribution.   
>  
> For the contributors who were concerned with exposing their works on
> the Internet, this article exposes only relatively low-resolution
> versions of the contributed photos (~1600x1200) which are positioned
> on the site as available for personal non-commercial use only, for
> example as wallpaper for PCs.  If someone wants to steal that low-res
> photo and use it commercially, that would be a violation of copyright
> law, but as you know there is not much you can do about that. 
>   
> A 1600x1200 photo is only good for a ~8"x6" commercial print.  Larger
> original-resolution images, if the author wants to protect them, can
> be sent directly to the production editor of Nature Notes - I think
> this will be Shari Sullivan but I do not know yet. 
>   
> Part of the idea of this article is that the contributing photographer
> will get great exposure by participating in this, and will also set an
> example of sharing with the community - as we ask CCNHA members to
> donate generously to the Central Coast Natural History Association to
> help support education in our State Parks. 
>   
> Photographers who want the free exposure and publicity offered by this
> article but don't want to give back at least a 1600x1200 version of
> one of their images, will not want to participate in this article.  I
> may do a follow-on version too, esp. if there is not room to print all
> the ~ten submissions obtained this round - as I was originally asked
> to do only five.   Some of the photographers featured in this article
> have world-class reputations - and less-well-known contributors will
> especially benefit be being included alongside.
>  
> One way to discourage unauthorized use of images published online is
> to make them easy to purchase.  There are many sites where this can be
> done - I might recommend LuLu.com.  For example, see
> http://www.lulu.com/mikebaird/ where one can purchase my Brown Pelican
> photo for $10.  I created this LuLu site not to make money, but as an
> example for others to learn how to best self-publish their
> intellectual property with almost no effort , time, or expense.  One
> disadvantage to some of these photo-sale sites is that the viewer
> really has no way of knowing the ultimate quality of the photo without
> being able to fully zoom into the image to inspect for quality of
> focus, noise, etc.
>  
> The printed article will say:  "Readers of the printed version of this
> article in  CCNHA Nature Notes are invited to view an electronic
> version at howto.digitalchocolate.org, where many additional links are
> exposed, and where the contributing photographers have graciously made
> most of their work products, illustrated above, available for you to
> download for your personal non-commercial use, for example as
> "wallpaper" on your computer's desktop.  Also available at
> howto.digitalchocolate.org are supplemental materials on: How to Take
> Better Wildlife and Nature Photos; Local Yahoo! Groups and Camera
> Clubs; Good Books on Photography; Good Magazines on Photography; Other
> Online Resources; and How to Upload and Share Your Photos Online."
>  
> I hope that answers your question - if not please get back to me. 
> Happy Shooting!  Mike Baird mike at bairdphotos dot com
>  
> Mike Baird  mike at mikebaird dot
> com http://bairdphotos.com  http://morro-bay.com 
> http://mikebaird.com   http://eysu.org  Morro Bay, CA   (805)
> 772-2044  To assure I receive your e-mail, add "must read" to the
> subject line.
>  
> ref. post http://groups.yahoo.com/group/photomorrobay/message/12 Teddy
> and I e-mailed each other about whether or not there is any protection
> of photos we submitted for the web site and Nat. History Assn.
> journal. This is after-the-fact for that photo, but she and I may not
> be the only ones who don't know. Mike, could you expound. Also, Mike,
> you've been such a good cheerleader for the photography of others, I
> want to compliment your night heron photo and your "clean-up" of it.
> Cheers, Marlin Harms
>

Teddy and I e-mailed each other about whether or not there is any
protection of photos we submitted for the web site and Nat. History
Assn. journal.  This is after-the-fact for that photo, but  she and I
may not be the only ones who don't know.  Mike, could you expound.

Also, Mike, you've been such a good cheerleader for the photography of
others, I want to compliment your night heron photo and your "clean-up"
of it.

Cheers,

Marlin Harms

If it were a journalistic photo, then adding or removing anything would not
be OK.  But since it's not...

As long as there's no deception involved, it's certainly up to the
photographer.   But seeing something that LOOKS like a photo is usually
assumed to BE a photo, that is, something that really existed.  So it never
hurts, if there's a question, to let people know that it's been altered.

Personally, if it's just something minor that showed up in a photo and
spoils it, I wouldn't have any problem with posting it as a photo.  However,
an offshoot group from a photo group I'm in had a gallery where members
voted on a favorite (submitted by members of the group).  The winner one
month, it turned out, had a sky cloned in...very nice and dramatic, but it
never really existed in the location of the photo.  Someone spotted that sky
in another photo, and lot of people were outraged, as I would have been.
Had the member said, up front, that it was a composite, then they would have
probably disqualified him, but at least wouldn't have felt he had been
dishonest.

So for photo contests, I'd certainly ask first.

For something to hang on your wall, or to sell framed  as a decorative photo
but not necessarily "real", I don't see why it should be any issue.  Clone
away.

But my 'gut' feeling (which is what I go by), in the case of the night heron
photo you used as an example, is that I probably wouldn't clone that branch
out...I'd probably try to reshoot if possible, see if I could get a better
one.  I would just feel a bit deceptive if I uploaded it to my website or my
photogroup's website as a photo with that much alteration...or maybe I
should say that I'd feel better about it if I had taken it without the
branch there.  Not that it's deceptive, just that I should have seen that
when I took the photo and done something about it then.  I think part of the
issue for me in that case is that you're cloning a pretty hefty chunk of the
bird in...cloning that branch out of the sky wouldn't bother me, but cloning
in the bird seems less "OK".

And then the eternal, "where do you draw the line?"  If you have two photos
of night herons, maybe one with a good tail and one with a good head, could
you combine them and feel OK?  I could, but wouldn't represent it as a
photo.

When you get to the category of photo art, then it's a different
story...it's pretty much whatever you want to do, no need to explain it.

Gary
Photo Albums: www.pbase.com/roberthouse


From: "Baird, Michael" <mike@...>
What do you think of using Photoshop to remove things like branches and
shadows from photos?
You can see a "before" and "after" example at my
http://stealthispicture.com/images/night-heron-black-crowned/
(some recipients will also see the photos below)

I agree that digitally "improved" photos like this should be so
annotated because this goes beyond what could have been done in a normal
chemical darkroom... but I also consider such manipulations to be a
legitimate extension of photography as "art"  where art is defined as
"skill used to produce an aesthetic result."

Garry et al., the cropped resolution of the Black-crowned Night Heron image at
http://stealthispicture.com/images/night-heron-black-crowned/  is 2498x1874 (~5MB).
The original was 3504x2336, taken using an 8MP Canon 20D at 1/640, F/8, ISO 400, 400mm (using the Canon 100-400mm zoom), +1 step exposure compensation, taken 7-11-05 off the wooden deck overlook at the Cloisters City Park pond in Morro Bay, CA.  The subject was roughly 25' away, and almost filled the field-of-view.  The Canon 20D has the 1.6 apparent magnification factor.  I did not shoot this one in RAW but I should have - the sRGB space was used.  The image was routinely enhanced (levels, contrast, sharpening... using Photoshop Elements 3).  I may have even used the "quick fix" solution.  You can NOW see the original non-enhanced version at http://stealthispicture.com/images/night-heron-black-crowned/  along with a couple of other shots not published earlier.  That page now says:

The photo is much better with the elimination of all the cluttered
brances, but it illustrates the problem with digital editing, too.
Since the tail was originally blocked by the branches, we're not
quite sure what it looked like; perhaps a bit shorter than the
edited version?  In some species, the invented details (white outer
tail feathers, length of tail) could be important identifiers.  Good
photoshopping though, Mike.
--- In photomorrobay@yahoogroups.com, "Baird, Michael" <mike@...>
wrote:
>
> What do you think of using Photoshop to remove things like
branches and
> shadows from photos?
> You can see a "before" and "after" example at my
> http://stealthispicture.com/images/night-heron-black-crowned/
> (some recipients will also see the photos below)
>
> I agree that digitally "improved" photos like this should be so
> annotated because this goes beyond what could have been done in a
normal
> chemical darkroom... but I also consider such manipulations to be a
> legitimate extension of photography as "art"  where art is defined
as
> "skill used to produce an aesthetic result."
>
> Black-crowned Night-Heron, in Morro Bay, CA, July 11, 2005
> (1/4  resolution 625 x 469 version is displayed above - 234 KB)
>
>
> A "cleaned up" version without all the branches-
>
> Mike Baird  mike at mikebaird dot com http://bairdphotos.com
> <http://bairdphotos.com/>   Morro Bay, CA   (805) 772-2044  To
assure I
> receive your e-mail, add "must read" to the subject line.
>

Hi folks, I'm Cleve Nash. Let me first thank Mike for creating this
list. Occasionally, I do meet local photographers out in the field.
But we're too busy taking pictures to chat about photography.

I do wildlife mostly. Lately, I have been concentrating on birds in
flight. I admit to having become mildly obsessed with white-tailed
kites and capturing that perfect image that exists in my mind of one
hovering against blue sky. But the birds are uncommon, extremely
wary, and weather as well as lighting conditions have to be just
right. They don't hover in the ideal position when the wind is up. I
would appreciate tips in field craft for getting close to these and
other birds but refuse to do live baiting.

After 40 years of Nikon loyalty, I switched last year to Canon and am
still trying to get adept with the 20D. Lenses-wise, I use mostly the
500 f/4, often with 1.4 TC on tripod. Autofocusing is not always spot-
on with  this setup. If anyone out there can help convince me that
the 1DS Mark IIn is significantly better in this area, I would
appreciate that also.

Oh, and I do wildlife video too.

I have posted a few sample shots from yesterday afternoon -- not real
special but typical. I look foward to meeting you all online and
perhaps in the field.

http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/photomorrobay/photos/browse/7f7d?c=