Red Fox peek-a-boo

On the first morning of my GANNETS GALORE AND SO MUCH MORE WORKSHOP in June, we were treated to this Red fox peeking over the cliff edge briefly during the four-hour Zodiac Hurricane cruise.

Sony a1 Bird Eye AF The Real Test

To truly test the bird eye AF of the newly launched Sony a1, I needed to find a moving bird against a distracting background that would normally confuse the camera's AF system into focusing on the background. Sounds easier than it was, as I first had to overcome my natural reflex of finding birds and animals against nice clean out-of-focus backgrounds. This image is perfect to demonstrate the ridiculous accuracy of the bird eye autofocus of the Sony a1: Not only is the background close and cluttered (photographing the subject further from the background would have made the background more out of focus and made the whole test easier for the camera), but the subject is relatively low contrast against it. The random scattering of snow covered branches is harder for most autofocus systems to negate when compared to the predictable vertical tree trunks on the edge of a deciduous forest. It was remarkable to see the camera lock onto the eye and follow it through a sequence of 40 images that were all razor-sharp.