Northern Gannet Landing with Seaweed in a foggy Gannetry

A Northern Gannet lands directly in front of me with a fresh load of seaweed on a windy and foggy morning during my Gannets Galore Workshop in Quebec. Because it is so easy for the huge Gannets to lift off in high winds, the sky fills with circling birds calling their mates (they recognize their mates by sound); The sky full of tens of thousands of Northern Gannets swirling around you is one of the greatest wonders to witness!

Northern Gannet Landing with Seaweed in a foggy Gannetry (Morus bassanus, Fou de Bassan, NOGA) from my GANNETS GALORE WORKSHOP at Bonaventure Island, Quebec, Canada ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Sony Alpha a9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens & Sony 1.4X Tele-extender @840mm. ISO 1,600, f/5.6 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full-frame image.

Northern Gannet Landing with Seaweed Vertical Cover

On June 2, the first day of my first Gannets Galore and so much more workshop, I photographed this Northern Gannet landing with seaweed with my Sony a9 III and Sony 600/4 turned vertically. The lifting fog and slight cloud made for some beautiful diffused light and saturated colours - smile.

Northern Gannet Landing with Seaweed Vertical (Morus bassanus, Fou de Bassan, NOGA) from my GANNETS GALORE WORKSHOP at Bonaventure Island, Quebec, Canada ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Sony Alpha a9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 600mm f/4 G Master OSS Lens @600mm. ISO 1,000, f/4 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Photographed with the camera turned vertically, this is just about a full-frame image: cropped top & bottom to 4 X 5 aspect ratio.

Northern Gannet returning to mate with seaweed

Another Gannet image from my recent Gannets Galore and so much more workshops in Quebec. I photographed this frame of a special seaweed delivery by a Northern Gannet to its waiting partner with the Sony Alpha a9 III Mirrorless camera and Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @268mm.

Northern Gannet returning to mate with seaweed (Morus bassanus, Fou de Bassan, NOGA). Image made on the afternoon of June 7, 2024 during my GANNETS GALORE WORKSHOP at Bonaventure Island, Quebec, Canada ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Sony Alpha a9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @268mm. ISO 500, f/6.3 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Northern Gannet Landing with Seaweed

This is one of the last images that I made on the last day of the second Gannets Galore and so much more workshops (June 7, 2024) as I was saying goodbye to the colony for another year. It is a great image to demonstrate just how perfect the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens is, especially when paired with the Sony Alpha a9 III Mirrorless camera. I was capturing 120 images per second at 318mm as I zoomed out while the Gannet flew towards me.

Northern Gannet landing with seaweed (Morus bassanus, Fou de Bassan, NOGA). Image made on the afternoon of June 7, 2024 during my GANNETS GALORE WORKSHOP at Bonaventure Island, Quebec, Canada ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Sony Alpha a9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @318mm. ISO 800, f/6.3 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Northern Gannet with Seaweed and Gannets Galore Workshop on Bonaventure Island Announced

A Northern Gannet flying over the Northern Gannet Colony on Bonaventure Island with seaweed during my Gannets Galore Workshop in Quebec, Canada.

I am on my way home from hosting two back-to-back awesome groups of photographers during my Gannets Galore Workshops on Bonaventure Island in Quebec. We had a fair mix of weather and enjoyed incredible photographic experiences during the early morning Zodiac adventures underneath the bird-filled cliffs and while at the gannetry. Everyone was amazed by the sheer volume of birds circling and swirling around the Zodiac: Common Murres, Razorbills, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Black Guillemots, Harlequin Ducks, Common Eiders and, of course, the most beautiful Northern Gannets!

June 5-7, 2025 Gannets Galore and so much more workshop is now live HERE: https://www.chrisdoddsphoto.com/gannets-galore-photo-tour-workshop

Northern Gannet in flight with seaweed (Morus bassanus, Fou de Bassan, NOGA) from my GANNETS GALORE WORKSHOP at Bonaventure Island, Quebec, Canada ©Christopher Dodds All Rights Reserved. Sony Alpha a9 III Mirrorless camera & Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens @374mm. ISO 640, f/6.3 @ 1/5,000s Manual exposure. Full frame image.

Northern Gannet in flight with seaweed

A Northern Gannet returns to its nest on Bonaventure Island with seaweed during my Gannets Galore and so much more workshop. This one is from a folder I found from my 2022 workshop. We had a pretty great day with some spectacular skies!

Northern Gannet in flight with seaweed

A Northern Gannet brings home seaweed to line its mud bowl nest during my Gannets Galore and so much more workshops on Bonaventure Island in Quebec. This dark grey background made standing in the rain all day well worth it - smile! Join me next June for the adventure!

Black Guillemots Cuddling

A pair of Black Guillemots on seaweed at low tide from my Deluxe Puffins Galore and so much more workshops in Quebec. The Atlantic Puffins always steal the show, but there are some other great opportunities for other species during the workshop.

Northern Gannet in flight with seaweed

A Northern Gannet landing with seaweed during my recent GANNETS GALORE WORKSHOP on Bonaventure Island in Quebec. The heavy fog during our first day became patchy, and I made this image while wandering between the main colony and the tower during a brief window of light fog at the end of the first day.

There are many ways of dealing with fog post-capture, including the dehaze tool, curves and levels adjustments, etc. I usually try to preserve the foggy scene but occasionally process a foggy image so the result negates any sign of the fog.

Northern Gannet landing with seaweed

A Northern Gannet brings home some seaweed to line its mud-bowl nest during my recently concluded GANNETS GALORE AND SO MUCH MORE Workshop on BONAVENTURE ISLAND.

After spending an incredible four hours on the Zodiac, we loaded our gear on the park’s four-wheeler (a special arrangement only available to my group) and made our way up to the fog-enshrouded Gannettry; it is always an impressive sight. The fog was heavy, but the rain was manageable. This image was made towards the end of the day as the fog let up a little.

Atlantic puffin with bill full of fish

Here is an Atlantic puffin bringing a bill full of fish (Capelin) to its baby. The background is out of focus seaweed covered rocks. It was a dark and stormy morning and I opted to start to lower my shutter speed (to 3,200/second) once I got to ISO 12,800.

Northern Gannet Landing with seaweed

This is the very first image from the last day of my recently concluded back-to-back Gannets Galore workshops on Bonaventure Island in Quebec, Canada. The sky was a gift with its pastel pallet shifting with the changing, but diffused light. The Sony Alpha 1 performed flawlessly even when no one else could rely on auto-focus in the heavy fog we had on two mornings; The newest Nikon and Canon cameras were struggling. More in a future post….

Join me next June for my June 5-7, 2023 Gannets Galore and so much more workshops. Learn more HERE.

Gannets Galore Workshop Last Minute Openings

Northern Gannet with Seaweed (Morus bassanus, Fou de Bassan, NOGA) From my Gannets Galore Workshop on Bonaventure Island at Parc National de l'île Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé, Quebec, Canada. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master OSS @ 164mm. Full frame image (top to bottom; left and right cropped to square aspect ratio). ISO 640, f/5.6 @ 1/4,000s Manual exposure mode.

Two last minute openings

I have two last minute cancellations/openings for my Gannets Galore workshop on Bonaventure Island at Percé, Quebec from June 5 to 7, 2018 due to sudden illness. This is a last minute opportunity for what I feel to be the very best workshop to improve and perfect your bird photography skills! Includes daily four hour Zodiac excursion under the colony and all the Gannets you can imagine at the very best place to photograph them in the world. One of the true natural spectacles in the world! Read more & sign-up: CLICK HERE.

Northern Gannet a la Sony a9

Northern Gannet BOUQUET (Morus Bassanus, Fou de Bassan, NOGA) Parc national de l'Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé, Bonaventure Island, Quebec, Canada. Image Copyright ©Christopher Dodds. Sony Alpha a9 Mirrorless Camera & Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master OSS  @176mm. ISO 640 f/5.6 @ 1/4,000s Manual exposure mode. PURCHASE A PRINT or LICENSE IMAGE FOR PUBLICATION HERE.

Here's a Northern Gannet from a rare opportunity to photograph alone on Bonaventure Island while I was testing the new Sony a9 mirroless camera with the new Sony FE100-400 F4.5-5.6 G Master OSS lens. I was blessed with a cloudy bright day, which is my absolute favorite lighting for my all-time favorite bird photography place where I have spent more than a year of my life since falling in love with the Gannets there! (If you were to add up all of the days spent teaching workshops there over the years).

I still have a couple of spots available for my June 5-7, 2018 Gannets Galore workshop there. Read more about the workshop I host there every year HERE.