Bonaventure Bound...

Northern Gannet 7 weeks old, Morus Bassanus, Fou de Bassan Bonaventure Island, Quebec

©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com

Canon EOS 1DsMKII, 500mm F4 Lens with 1.4X II and 2X II Tele-converters

ISO 400, F16, 1/100s Manual, Canon 580EXII Flash ETTL II 1/16 power manual

Northern Gannet Fingers Crossed, Morus Bassanus, Fou de Bassan Bonaventure Island, Quebec

©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com

Canon EOS 1DsMKII, 500mm F4 Lens

ISO 320, F6.3, 1/1600s Manual

My fingers are crossed that we get a fair mix of weather. At Bonaventure Island, there are just so many birds landing all day long. Shown above against the Gulf of the St-Lawrence on an overcast day.

Northern Gannet DIVE, Morus Bassanus, Fou de Bassan Bonaventure Island, Quebec

©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com

Canon EOS 1DMKII, 70-200mm F2.8 Lens with @ 160mm

ISO 250, F7.1, 1/1600s Manual

I just love parking the Zodiac under the Gannet Colony with the chocolate brown cliffs reflecting in the water.

Northern Gannet DIVING, Morus Bassanus, Fou de Bassan Bonaventure Island, Quebec

©Christopher Dodds www.chrisdoddsphoto.com

Canon EOS 1DMKII, 70-200mm F2.8 Lens @200mm from Zodiak

ISO 250, F6.3, 1/1600s Manual

At 02:00, only a few short hours from now, I'll be making the twelve hour drive to one of my favorite places on earth for bird photography. The action is non-stop from the moment we board the Zodiak at 04:45, until the very end of the day. Bonaventure Island is a bird photographers heaven - even better with the hundreds of Gannets we have swirling around our Zodiac each morning. There are still a couple of spots available on my last June trip, and on the August trip. The two spots on the June 19-21 trip are at a huge discount (see my last post).

Manual mode is so scary to many photographers that it blows me away. When your subject is in constant light (2 hours after sunrise, until 2 hours before it sets on a bright, blue sky day), setting your camera to manual mode ensures an almost perfect exposure while following moving subjects against changing backgrounds. Lock & load, but don't forget to check your camera's histogram often.