Articles for the Month of March 2019

“Bird Facts and Stories From Around The World”

I get frequent inquiries about potential use of my photos, from those wanting basic prints, to kids wanting to use photos for a project, to college professors wanting them for lectures, to commercial enterprises wanting to use them. For any educational or non-profit conservation activity, I gladly provide the photos for free. I love, for example, a middle schooler asking for a photo for her project, and then having her send me a photo of the finished work. Priceless.

When people want to sell a product to make money, and want to use my photo for that product, I charge a fee. The fee depends upon usage, so when I was contacted by a Norwegian author recently, I gave some thought to my fee. She was writing a children’s book, “Bird Facts and Stories from Around the World”, and wanted to use a handful of photos for image sources for the book’s artwork. My price? I just wanted a copy of the book! It sounded like such a cool idea, and frankly, when artists use my work for “inspiration”, I usually am quite low in any fee I charge.

I just received a copy of the finished book…it’s gorgeous. I love the style of the artwork, and it was cool to see things like the pheasant painting here that was based on my photo. It’s got a really diverse selection of birds that she chose, with facts and figures about each. I’ve translated a few pages to English just so I got a feel for the book, and think it’s something that could spark a child’s interest in birds.

I’m getting a nice collection of printed materials that have used my photos, but I think this one may be my favorite!  The book is by Line Renslebraten…don’t see it online anywhere yet in case you 1) wanted to pick up a copy, and 2) read Norwegian. 🙂

Bird Facts and Stories From Around The World - By Line Renslebraten

Cover of the book, Bird Facts and Stories From Around The World”.

Bird Facts and Stories From Around The World - Ring-necked Pheasant

A page from inside the book about Ring-necked Pheasants, with the artwork at the bottom based on my photo

Bird Facts and Stories From Around The World

 

Winter’s Snow’s Take Flight

Winter's Snows Take Flight

When I can’t stand to open a paper or look at the news online (this week would be one of those weeks), retreating to the safe space of birds and nature is always a good idea. A revisiting of the daily haiku’s I used to do. Migration has actually been a slow and delayed by the harsh winter, but streams of geese were flying over one morning last week. Always one of the first signs of spring, and a VERY welcome sight after this past winter.

Eagle Convention at Splitrock Creek

After 17 or so years of using one lens for bird photography (a Canon 400mm 5.6L), I ordered a new lens that arrived Monday…the Canon 100-400mm 4.5/5.6L IS II that I’ve mentioned previously.  The timing was fortuitous, as late this week we’ve had something rather unprecedented happen for the area around our little town. We’ve had severe flooding, flooding which is actually supposed to get worse early next week as all the snow pack north of us melts. Splitrock Creek runs through our little town of Brandon, and in the wake of the flooding it has left massive ice chunks all along banks and roads near the river. But it also left scads of dead Asian Carp and other fish.

Seemingly overnight, the area around our town has been inundated with Bald Eagles. We actually have an active Bald Eagle nest less than a mile from our house, a nest that’s been used continuously for about the last 6-7 years.  It’s not rare to see one or sometimes even two Bald Eagles while out and about near our town. Today however, I was on a bridge over Splitrock Creek, and from that one spot I counted 29 Bald Eagles. In…one…spot.  There have been eagles in varying concentrations all along a 10-mile stretch of Splitrock Creek that I’ve checked out this week.

When I started birding 20 years ago, I still remember seeing my first Bald Eagle along the Big Sioux River near Canton. I remember the excitement of seeing such a majestic bird. It’s amazing how rapidly their numbers have increased in the last few decades, as I can now be in any part of South Dakota, in any season, and it’s not a surprise to see one or more Bald Eagles. Even when I visit the grasslands in the central part of the state, an area that is far from any significant river or lake, I find Bald Eagles, sometimes in big numbers. A true success story for American conservation!  But even on a night like tonight where eagles are seemingly everywhere, it’s still a thrill to see and photograph these birds.  Some photos from today:

Young Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Young (3rd year?) Bald Eagle, flying over Splitrock Creek near Corson, South Dakota. However, it’s not just young birds that are in our area right now. In fact, a majority of the Bald Eagles I’ve seen in the last few days have been fully mature birds.

Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

A mature Bald Eagle flying over the trees near Brandon. There were plenty of mature Bald Eagles around, but they were seemingly shyer than the young birds.

Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

Another young Bald Eagle sitting on a tree stump northeast of Corson. While most birds are along Splitrock Creek, there are so many birds around that they seem to have spilled out onto the surrounding farmland as well.

Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

A mature Bald Eagle hanging out on a chunk of ice left behind by the flooding at Splitrock Creek north of Brandon. This is perhaps the most common “perch” for these guys right now, as most of them that I’ve seen have been among the ice flows, where the dead fish are concentrated.

Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

A long-distance shot, but it gives you an idea of the concentration of the eagles. There are 10 in this one shot, sitting on stranded ice blocks on a sandbar in the receding Splitrock Creek. This is the location where I saw 29 birds at once today.

Bald Eagle - Haliaeetus leucocephalus

An even longer-distance shot, showing a common sight in the trees near Splitrock Creek this week. There are 8 birds in this one tree, but it’s this group of trees where a local farmer told me there were 75 roosting overnight earlier this week.

Silver lining to the flooding – Icy Art

With a snowier winter than I ever remember in my 26 years in South Dakota, and with a couple of inches of rain over the last week, we’ve also had flooding far worse than I ever remember. The number of roads that are closed boggles the mind, while parts of Sioux Falls and the surrounding area where I have NEVER seen flooding are now flooded with several feet of water. Yesterday I went out to take photos of the flooding, and while it was incredible to see, I ended up on a gravel road east of my home town of Brandon, pointing the camera down at the ground. What was it that attracted my attention away from the flooding and flood damage?

As the water has started to retreat, there’s a massive amount of ice that’s being left behind, from massive chunks big enough to block traffic on roads, to very fine ice crystals that formed as temperatures cooled after the main flood event. What caught my attention on this road was an icy shelf of ice and ice crystals, suspended over the road. As the water started to retreat, we had a cold night, and the top of the water started to freeze. With the water movement and retreat and the freezing, some of the patterns left on this suspended ice shelf were incredibly beautiful.

I’m glad I arrived as I did, because as it got warmer, this icy shelf started to collapse. Indeed, as I walk through it, one step would crack through the shelf and lead to the collapse of surrounding areas as well. But with some careful shooting, I was able to capture the photos below. It definitely wasn’t what I was planning on shooting when I went out, but I really had a blast shooting these one-of-a-kind icy patterns.

Ice Pattern - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Ice Pattern 2 - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Ice Pattern 3 - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Ice Pattern 4 - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Ice Pattern 5 - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Ice Pattern 6 - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Ice Pattern 7 - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Ice Pattern 8 - Minnehaha County, South DakotaIce Pattern - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Ice Pattern 9 - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Ice Pattern 10 - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Ice Pattern 11 - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Ice Pattern 12 - Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Buying camera equipment? Cost concious? AVOID ABE’S OF “MAINE”

Canon 100-400mm L IS ii

My dream lens I tried to order from Abe’s of “Maine”. Note that not only is the same “Abe’s” of > 10 years ago (they went bankrupt), but the people who bought the company operate it out of New Jersey. They still retain the name “Abe’s of Maine” though…but that behavior is consistent with what’s evidently their entire business model, where all they do is lie and deceive.

I’ve been in a photographic funk. You can probably tell that by the lack of blog posts.  Part of the reason is the weather, as it’s been one hellaciously brutal winter. Not great for birds, or bird photography!  But part of it is that I just need something…new. Something to jump start the passion.

One thing we’re doing this summer will DEFINITELY jump start that passion…3 weeks in Australia!  We’re flying into Sydney and spending time there, but also have time near Coffs Harbor, Brisbane, and Port Douglas. The last is the most exciting to me, as we’ll be adjacent to both the Great Barrier Reef, and Daintree Forest, the only place on the planet where two World Heritage sites are adjacent to each other!  It’s going to be the trip of a lifetime for our little family who hasn’t been outside of the US, other than Canada. And from a birding standpoint, it should be spectacular.

To prepare for that trip, I wanted to get a new lens. Literally 99% of all photos of my website have been taken with the same lens…a Canon 400mm 5.6L.  It’s a wonderfully sharp lens! I’ve had it over 15 years and it’s served me VERY well.  But it has limitations. As a prime, I miss out on other wildlife situations when I’m out shooting, as it’s too long sometimes for bigger critters.  It also is one of the older Canon “L” professional lenses, and lacks Image Stabilization. For a relatively slow 5.6L max aperature and a lack of IS, you really need good light to have a great shot at sharp photos.

Before heading to Australia, I thus wanted to buy a Canon 100-400mm L IS ii lens. The 2nd version of this lens gets truly incredibly reviews, and with the broad zoom range and a wonderfully reviewed IS, it meets my needs. It’s a lot for me to spend though, with most places charging $2049. I was thus really excited when I saw one place offering it for an amazing $600 less than that!  I knew it was likely ‘grey market’ (imported directly, not eligible for a Canon warranty), but at that price, it would have been worth it.

The seller was Abe’s of Maine. I’d never used them, but I’d heard of them over the years. Note though it’s been many years since I’ve bought new equipment, so I didn’t know that in the last decade they’ve 1) gone bankrupt, and 2) had a new owner operate the name out of New Jersey. A new owner with a truly god-awful reputation.

I can attest that reputation is WELL deserved!  After I excitedly placed the order Sunday, today (Monday) I started getting phone calls and emails. “Ted” from Abe’s left a message, stating that he needed to confirm my order.  When I had time, I called. At first he was nice. At first. That didn’t last long. He asked about my equipment, then explained that the lens I ordered wasn’t the “retail version”, and didn’t include:

  1. Lens caps (!!!)
  2. Hood
  3. Case
  4. Tripod foot/shoe
  5. Tripod Collar

The last one was REALLY a shocker to me, because on this lens…THE TRIPOD COLLAR IS INTEGRATED INTO THE LENS AND ISN’T REMOVABLE!!! I audibly LAUGHED when he told me the last one and called BS on him.  He got very defensive and assured me that all of these items simply aren’t included with the lens, but for $1999 (A mere $550 above the website price!!) he could give me the lens with these “extras”.

Again, I called BS on him and asked if he was going to honor the offer online. He started going off again about the “retail” version, and I said CANCEL MY ORDER!! and hung up on good ol’ Ted.

And immediately I got a call (which I didn’t answer). Then another.  Then two emails.  In one email he said I hung up too early, and that he thinks he could offer the “retail version” for $1799.  There was NO way I was going to deal with this company after the bait-and-switch, so I emailed back three simple words.  CANCEL MY ORDER.  A little later I got another email. No, the order hadn’t been cancelled yet!  No, now suddenly he could offer it at $1699.  So again, I replied, this time stating CANCEL…THE DAMN…ORDER.

Awhile later, I did finally get an email that they cancelled the order. But this whole episode went on for the better part of a day. After that first call, I started reading the horror stories about Abe’s. One “feature” of their business is that they evidently often charge a 15% “restocking fee”, and not only for returned items, but sometimes for items that were cancelled before shipping!! When I read that, somewhere in between his 4th and 5th attempt to call me and his 4th email attempt, I called my credit card company and CANCELLED that card, ordering a new one. I was NOT going to give this crappy company a chance to charge ANY sort of fee, particularly not this bogus restocking fee.

I’m 52 years old. I should have known it was too good to be true, but I couldn’t resist that price. There are PLENTY of bad reviews for the “new” Abe’s…take them to heart. Also note they clearly spam the review sites with their own, perfect reviews…don’t believe it.  As one reviewer noted, Abe’s is the ONLY place he knows of where “if you buy a TV, they’ll charge you, then call you back and ask if you want to pay extra for the remote“.

Here’s another warning:

https://www.cpricewatch.com/blog/2014/05/warning-avoid-abes-of-maine-and-other-bait-switch-retailers/#comment-36400

 

 

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