alanbaxter

Flock of Gannets

Roosting

Roosting
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Canon EOS 80D

settings

Aperture 16/1 ISO 800 Shutter 1/1250 Focal Length 400/1

upload_date

Feb, 2023

Views

737

Likes

Awards

Summer Views Award

Flawless Summer Award

Picture Perfect Award

Peer Award

Top Choice

Superb Composition

Absolute Masterpiece

Behind The Lens

Location

This image was captured in Lamberts Bay, West Coast, Cape Town, South Africa

Time

I really enjoyed taking the images I captured of the Gannets at Bird Island which lies about 100m off the shore of Lambert's Bay on the Cape's West Coast of South Africa. Bird Island Nature Reserve is a 3-hectare nature reserve. It is an important breeding site for the endangered Cape Gannet and Crowned Cormorant. I took this image at 14H32 on 24/02/2023

Lighting

At the time of day I captured the image the sun was still almost directly above me and it was a cloudless day so needless to say, the light was very bright and harsh so I had to be careful with my setting, dropping down by 1 stop

Equipment

This was a hand - held shot and I used my Canon EOS 80D and I had my SIGMA 120-400mm lens on camera

Inspiration

I had always wanted to capture the Gannets roosting. This was a few weeks after the breeding season, so there were a number of gannet chicks which are known as "Gugas" in the mix as well. I also wanted to reflect the awesome colours on the birds namely, their incredible blue eyes, white, yellow and black plumage.

Editing

As this image was confined to an island it was not too difficult to focus on the birds so made sure that all my in - camera settings were right and there was not very need to and real post processing other than to fix the contracts a little and sharpen a bit. My settings were: f16; aperture 8; Shutter speed 1/250 and ISO 800

In my camera bag

I always have my camera gear with me as you just never know when "the shot" is going to present it's self to you. So, in my bag, I have my Canon EOS 80D camera, Canon 18-135mm, SIGMA 10-18mm and SIGMA 120-400mm lenses

Feedback

I would advise that if you are going to photograph a colony of birds that the best time to do so would be either early morning when the light is still soft or in the Golden Hour to get the best back-light and to capture and amplify the colours of the birds. As there is a generally a lot of activity with the birds, patience would be a virtue :o)

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alanbaxter

alanbaxter

Flock of Gannets

Roosting

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow alanbaxter

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