Northern Gannet SKYPOINTER, Morus Bassanus, Fou de Bassan Bonaventure Island, Quebec
©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com
Canon EOS 1DsMKII, 500mm F4 Lens with 1.4X II Tele-converter
ISO 400, F11, 1/800s Manual, Canon 580EXII Flash ETTL II 1/16 power manual
Northern Gannet Portrait, Morus Bassanus, Fou de Bassan Bonaventure Island, Quebec
©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com
Canon EOS 1DsMKII, 500mm F4 Lens with 1.4X II Tele-converter
ISO 400, F11, 1/800s Manual, Canon 580EXII Flash ETTL II 1/16 power manual
Due to last minute cancellations, I have two spots available for the June 19-21, 2009 Gannets Galore Photography Workshop at a HUGE discount. The price of the workshop is CAD$2,395.00 per person, but the folks who have cancelled have told me they would be happy to get CAD$1,395.00 - that's a $1,000.00 savings!
The trip includes 4 nights lodging, three 4 hour Zodiac trips under the Gannet colony (weather permitting), three breakfasts, three days photographic instruction. Please give me a call @ (450) 827-1007 to secure your discounted spot now. Visa and MasterCard accepted.
Here's how great friend Artur Morris described his experience during my June workshop last year:
"On the morning of June 14, my 62nd birthday, we took the ferry to Bonaventure Island and made the 1.8 mile walk up the big hill. I had been a bit worried about making that walk up and down for five straight days, but Chris was right: “Take it slow and it is an easy walk.” When we arrived at the gannetry, I was totally blown away. So so many birds at arms length. Dozens, even hundreds of gannets in the air at all times, many carrying huge loads of nesting material, many landing just yards away. That day, the photographic action was nonstop, but it was not a birthday present, for the succeeding four days were equally exciting. And as each day came and went, I visualized and created many new and different images. I felt like a painter locked in a huge warehouse with hundreds of blank canvases and an unlimited supply of paints. I was in bird photographer’s heaven.
That evening Chris and I met the five remaining members of the group. Weather permitting, we planned to spend four hours in a large Zodiac photographing the gannetry and the cliffs from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Though it was rough on the two mornings that we went out very early, we had some great flight and scenic opportunities. Then Danny, the skipper of the Zodiac, would drop us of on the island and we would make the climb to the birds. Danny brought along coolers full of sandwiches and fruit, enough to feed an army. Once he learned that I was diabetic he had his chefs prepare me egg salad and fruit salad every day. We would load our vests with food and head up the hill.
I have been to Antarctica. I have been to Kenya. I have been to Tanzania. And I have been going to Bosque for the past 13 years. All of those places offer great photographic opportunities. But no place that I have been has ever offered as consistent and spectacular action as Bonaventure."
A group of Gannets has many collective nouns, including a "company", "gannetry", "newspaper syndicate", and "plunging" of Gannets. Served as a local delicacy in the town of Isle of Lewis, Inhabitants are allowed to kill up to 2,00 Northern Gannets annually. Though the Bass Rock colony in the U.K. was the largest in the world; there is no room for further expansion, making Bonaventure Island in Quebec, Canada the largest Northern Gannet colony in the world.
Canon 5D Mark II firmware update is now available HERE
The new firmware allows Canon EOS 5D Mark II owners to achieve even more stunning video results with the camera, the firmware update will include the following manual controls when shooting video:
• Full aperture selection
• ISO speed: Auto, 100 – 6400 and H1
• Shutter speed: 1/30th – 1/4000th second