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Northern gannets bonding
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Northern gannets bonding



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A moment of bonding in a colony of 150,000 birds

A moment of bonding in a colony of 150,000 birds
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cameraNIKON D7100

settings Aperture f/9.0 ISO 640 Shutter 1/2000 

upload_dateNov, 2014

Views

11706

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Awards

Zenith Award
Creative Winter Award
Contest Finalist in Anything Birds Photo Contest
Contest Finalist in The Marine Wildlife Photo Contest
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Polaroid Cube
Contest Finalist in Multiple Photo Contest
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People's Choice in Your most popular photo Photo Challenge
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Winner in Animal Families Photo Challenge
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elljaysan_2015 TonyGuzmanG davidjprosser Ulysees Vorster gman176 jorgealbertopealozapealoza +458
Superb Composition
cmcnaught vitor shelsiacubancoffee denelly gbmvisuals yhannaparacalesantua amanda_kyllo +291
Absolute Masterpiece
waldocalaveraa Miphie danielledawson oliverlee123 terrygrobler damisgeorgeyancopoulos amylouisemarkham +155
Top Choice
arpitchaudhary RobertSGartnerPhotography richardeaton_9707 seankelvinanderson kimkelly_3023 hiprincesssegunpamulagan billbrandon +144
Magnificent Capture
RickL anreuys catherinethompson danielmeeker JayneBug NoDem Alfredo_Jose +65
Outstanding Creativity
-MO- chanmyae_7726 rose44 iooii00iiooi Amandaelkins Slam88 HenriettePelser +49
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Superior Skill
DalvikPhotography kathyzeckser rdehner jamiesarkett leonhugo McHarr florence +19
Genius
prayerofserenity LondonMcCormick ConnieO lhartney Frankbos

Emotions

Impressed
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Top Ranks

The Wonders of the World Photo ContestTop 10 rank
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Categories

23 Comments |
Roussou
 
Roussou November 06, 2014
Beautiful capture
onyanita PRO+
 
onyanita February 11, 2015
gorgeous capture!
susanhuckins
 
susanhuckins August 04, 2015
Superb image, well done. Susan
Manjucus
 
Manjucus September 17, 2015
Congratulations, I thought your image was sensational, I selected it as the winner of my Animal Family challenge. Thanks for being part of it.
KeithBannerman Ultimate
 
KeithBannerman September 18, 2015
Great shot
Lucie59
 
Lucie59 October 12, 2015
Wow, wonderful capture :)
sweetpea72
 
sweetpea72 February 01, 2016
Fantastic shot... Congrats!
ryanhaines
 
ryanhaines February 07, 2016
Absolutely stunning shot.
werol
 
werol February 09, 2016
amazing!
sydneyosbourne
 
sydneyosbourne February 15, 2016
Kudos!
joycealicesmith
 
joycealicesmith May 27, 2016
Love this photo! Congratulations on winning People's Choice in Most Popular Photo Challenge!
MikeBoyle
 
MikeBoyle May 27, 2016
Congratulations on your winning photo. Nice...Very nice
ori Premium
 
ori July 08, 2016
Love it!
gajet123
 
gajet123 July 21, 2016
Great capture!
AliAlzuhair
 
AliAlzuhair November 06, 2016
Nice!
MikeBoyle
 
MikeBoyle November 11, 2016
Congratulations on your winning photo. You have a good eye!!!
joycealicesmith
 
joycealicesmith November 12, 2016
Congratulations on winning the multiple contest!!
Pjerry
 
Pjerry January 03, 2017
Nice, Voted Covers
criflowerslife
 
criflowerslife May 13, 2017
Gorgeous one!
Alfredo_Jose
 
Alfredo_Jose November 07, 2017
Stunning photograph!
catherinethompson PRO+
 
catherinethompson June 06, 2018
Brilliant capture. Congratulations.
Ibraheem_ALSinjlawi
 
Ibraheem_ALSinjlawi June 09, 2018
Good one!
RickL PRO+
 
RickL February 08, 2021
Beautiful composition

Submitted to Photo Contests

Tags

#animal animals bird birds gannet gannets
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Behind The Lens

Location

I took this photo on Bonavanture Island, located in the St. Lawrence River, Quebec, Canada. I am an avid, amateur bird and wildlife photographer, and have always wanted to get images of these beautiful birds.

Time

This is one of my favourite images in my collection. To get this image I had to take an afternoon boat to Bonavanture Island, then hike for an hour to reach the nesting colony. I took this image in late afternoon on July 17, 2014.

Lighting

I wanted to take advantage of the softer late day light. I also wanted to ensure that the light was behind both me and the birds, providing better overall lighting. When I took this image, the light was reflecting on the birds and the water, enhancing the overall image. In addition, I used a zoom lens, which enabled clear images of the birds while also allowing for a shallower depth of field, which I felt would enhance the sense of size of the colony.

Equipment

I used a Nikon D7100 camera, with a Tamron 150-600 lens. I also used a monopod for added stability.

Inspiration

I have wanted to get pictures of these beautiful birds for years. So in 2014, I made a special trip to Bonavanture Island, home to over 100,000 nesting gannets. For this photo specifically, I wanted to highlight the beauty of these birds, but I also wanted to demonstrate their unique social interactions, with heads held high. My other intent, through a shallow depth of field, was to focus on the subject birds, but also to demonstrate the sheer size of the colony and the water behind them, without taking away from the subject birds.

Editing

I did very little post-processing. I did some minor cropping and some slight image enhancement, but nothing else.

In my camera bag

I have a standard backpack that I carry with me on all shoots, including the Nikon D7100 camera, a Nikon 10-24 mm lens for landscape shots, and a Nikon 24-70mm and Tamron 140-600 lens for macro shots and for bird and wiildlife photography. In addition, I carry various graduated filters, a variable neutral density filter, a monopod and a tripod.

Feedback

Bird photography is challenging by nature. Practice and patience are critical for taking bird images. Also, knowing your camera capabilities and proper shutter speed, aperture openings and ISO setting are important in getting clear, crisp shots. You also always have to be aware of your surroundings and unique opportunities for special shots. This image that I took here represented a unique perspective of these birds that I recognized right away.

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