The Northern Gannet portrait

Ile Bonaventure, Gaspé Peninsula, Quebec, Canada I'm very used to seeing exotic and beautiful bird colonies out in some of the farthest reaches of our world. But this afternoon I spent time in my own country, the gaspé peninsula in a small and picturesque quebec town of Percé, Canada. After enjoying some fine french cuisine of arctic char for lunch I couldn't believe my eyes that after a short ride over to the island I was surrounded by thousands of beautiful white patterned Northern Gannets.  The first thing I noticed as I wandered through the forest is the pungent ammonia and fish like smell of a typical bird colony "they smell just like penguins" I thought. Then the cacophony of calls from the gannets filled the air as the landscape of the colony broke through the trees, the brown colony floor perfectly spaced and dotted with gannets, like they were dollops of icing placed down by some divine gingerbread house maker. It was remarkable to see how each gannet was just one "beak peck" away, as if they hate each other but have to be close enough because of safety in numbers.

I wandered around the colony where there was a wooden observation platform looking down on the gannets. I leaned over the railing and to my surprise just a couple meters below me there was a gannet staring up at me with curiosity. He didn't fidget, or look at me with concern, just sat there as the rain and fog beaded up on his head. I never had such a fantastic viewing angle from a such a beautiful bird like this before.

Photographic Details Because I was using a 400mm Telephoto lens, I had no choice but to actually lift my camera up as high as I could, farther away from the Gannet. These lenses have a   minimum focusing distance and I was actually too close to photograph this bird. I had to hold my camera away from me the way one might hold a baby away from them after they just filled their diaper: you would never drop what's in your hands but you want it as far away from you as possible. I put my camera into the very rarely used live view mode so I could see where the camera was focusing, and shot multiple photos like this. I had to use a high shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second as these birds were constantly looking around shaking their heads and my own hands weren't the most stable platform to be shooting from. I was very happy with the results and to get a shot like this without disturbing this beautiful bird was fantastic. I can't wait to see more places like this in my own "backyard" of Canada. The artistic quality of creating a vertical line from the bottom left to the upper right is what I was going for, I also wanted to express the subtle but beautiful yellow hues this bird has in it's pristine pelage. Focusing on the eye is the standard for a photo like this but the emphasis is in the strong diagonals this bird presents.

Camera Settings Canon EOS 7D ISO400 f5.6 1/1000 sec Canon 100-400mm lens

#birdpoker #birding #gannet #canada #wildlife #birds #quebec #FineArtPls curated by +Marina Chen , and #yisforyellow  curated by +Lucille Galleli and +YisforYellow

Also I'm back! I know you have seen many posts relayed to google plus by my wonderful helper +Kathryn Bechthold while I was away, hence the third person, but rest assured I'm back now and will be glad to answer your questions!

Egret on a wing

Serengeti Tanzania This was taken moments after some of the previous Egret shots I have shared with you. After getting used to the way these birds fly so I could anticipate their movements, I got into photographing them as they fly. I chose this image because the painterly like Serengeti background is still somewhat recognizable as the iconic Acacia trees stick out of the horizon and the horns of the wildebeest populate the bottom.

Photographic Details: The important part here was freezing the motion so I could have the wings and the birds still. For this reason I used a shutter speed of 1/1000th of a second, which is usually fast enough to capture most birds.

Camera settings: 1/1000s f/7.1 ISO160 400mm

The snappings of Bee-eaters

Samburu National Reserve, Kenya, AfricaOn Safari

Out in the rolling hills of Samburu the hum of crickets fill the air like a morning chorus punctuated by a sharp snapping sound. Scanning the scene before me some flits of bright green and blue make their way to a tree near me. No time to register what I’m shooting the bee eater stops and poses on the tree, looks in the perfect direction to allow a spark of sunlight to bring life to it’s eye then flits off to another tree. “Bee eater!” my local guide says “And do you hear that snapping sound? It’s the bee eaters knocking the stingers off the insects until all the venom is released”

A pretty remarkable experience to not only see these birds snatch bees right out of the air, but also hear them preparing their breakfast.

Photographic details: I had not choice but to just fire at the thing that was moving in front of me, no time for a change of settings, I just had to hope what I was using to photograph the Guineafowl previously was good enough to shoot the bee eater. The time it took to realize the birds were there, aim my camera and squeeze out a shot must have been 1 second, my next shot was a blur of yellow and green, I’ll upload that for a laugh, it goes to show how quickly an opportunity can turn into an empty branch.

1/400s f/7.1 ISO320 400mm

The flurry of feathers just 1 second later:

P.S. Bonus points if you can tell me exactly which Bee-eater this is!

Wave of vultures

On Safari in Tanzania, Africa Serengeti Spending the previous weeks watching vultures circling lazily on the thermals above us, I would casually photograph their figures against the sky knowing some day I will see these creatures up close and personal. Sure enough, as we drove across the Serengeti we spotted a writhing ball of feathers and dust, the vultures were on a carcass. Upon arrival we were greeted with the sight of 20 or so vultures and Marabou Storks frenetically feeding on what was left of a zebra, it was not a civil affair. The air was full of the sounds of squabbling. Nearby vultures were standing still on the ground with their wings out, a behavior that is good for either drying off the wings or thermoregulation in the hot african sun.

Photographic Details: I’m always looking for something unique and stunning, and when I saw the repetition of shape with these vultures lined up I could not keep my camera off this sudden order that developed spontaneously in the chaos. This order and simplicity is extremely attractive to me. I would wait for the birds to line up and turn their heads to face the right direction and squeezed the trigger at the right moment. In addition to the shapes in this image I was enthralled with the texture and detail in the wings, choosing to focus on the wings of the closer bird in order to also keep the focus of the bird and it’s eye. 1/400s f/7.1 ISO100 400mm (35mm eq:640mm)

#birdpoker #birding #africa #tanzania #serengeti #wildlife

Superb Starling catch

Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa The aptly named superb starling impresses his mate with an offering of a juicy insect while the iridescent colours shine off his back in a beautiful flash of blue and green. The tree branch he is standing on is of the iconic acacia tree, the thorns meant to protect the tree make these trees a safe haven; a suitable place for the many thousands of species of birds that call africa home.

photographic details:This bird was standing here for quite a while, normally I would prefer sunset or sunrise conditions but the overhead light by the mid day sun was perfect to light up the back of this bird, who would look mostly black in the wrong light. I could not ignore this opportunity despite it not being the golden hour. I don’t like to place my subjects in the centre, nor do I want to loose myself too much in the details of the animal. With this in mind I left the bird on the right side of the image, looking into the frame, I made sure I could include the acacia tree to create a sense of context also illustrating the incredible thorns on this famous tree. One picture, two subjects, my kind of photo.