So on a very cold Saturday morning Deb & I made the short walk from our hotel to the brink of the falls arriving in the dark about twenty minutes before sunrise. It’s wise to arrive early for three reasons; you will likely be first on scene and thus the prime spot to take the image is available (the early bird…), you have time to scout out and determine the best vantage point, and you have time to set up your gear and take test images to determine the correct, perspective, composition and exposure details to successfully record the image you have in mind.

With your smartphone it is possible to do much of the advance planning long before you arrive on the scene. There are many apps that help in this process and after testing many of them my two favourites are LightTrac and PhotoPills. LightTrac is a great little app that allows you to see rise and set times for the sun and moon on any date anywhere in the world. PhotoPills is a very robust app that is essential for every landscape photographer. It allows you to determine where and when the sun or moon will be positioned where you desire and how to position yourself to photograph it. PhotoPills also provides a wealth of information to help calculate complex photographic challenges including time lapse, long exposure and HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography.

Once we pinpointed our location and set up the tripod, we waited patiently for the sun to rise, very happy that there were some clouds in the sky and the wind was sufficient to be blowing the mist from the falls away from the spot where the sun was going to rise. 

Sunrise, January 20, 2018

This image was taken using a Canon 5D Mk III with an EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III lens; ISO 50, f/22, 1/2 sec at 16mm focal length. I was able to take this image with a single frame by using a Singh Ray reverse three stop ND grad filter to darken the sun by three f-stops which evens the light intensity at the camera sensor. Without the filter, in order to get a well exposed image you would require at least two images, one exposed for the bright sky and the other for the darker falls and combining them later on the computer. It’s always easier and less time consuming to take one image and filters help make that possible.

After capturing a ‘few’ sunrise images we wandered around the falls enjoying a great start to new day. Making more memories of Niagara Falls on a cool winter’s morning before heading back to the hotel for breakfast. I hope you enjoy these images.

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The view from our hotel room.

Other images taken at the falls can be seen in the Naturescapes Gallery on the website. 

As always, your comments and questions are welcomed and I trust that you will grab a tripod and camera and head out early one morning soon to photograph the sunrise. You will be glad you did.

Although this is a little late, Happy New Year and all the best in 2018 to you and yours!

Each year as the cold weather moves in and winter arrives, those of us who count ourselves as birders, photographers or a combination of thereof look forward to seeing owls, especially those that make their way south from the Arctic in search of food. In our area (Southern Ontario) the Snowy Owl is the most common followed by the Great Gray Owl and even more elusive Northern Hawk Owl.

It is also the time of year that the topic of discussion on many birding and photography forums as well as other social media platforms turns to the subject of baiting, specifically the baiting of raptors. These discussions are often emotionally charged and it has been my observation that little is accomplished by them. 

If you search the literature there is not a plethora of information regarding baiting, especially with respect to the modes of baiting nor any objective parameters to even define what constitutes baiting. It is no wonder baiting discussions take the course they do.

The desire to gather information that will provide context for future baiting discussions became the genesis for this survey. It has been in development for a while and I greatly appreciate the input and edits suggested by five respected colleagues (including birders, conservationists  and photographers) who reviewed the survey prior to its release.

The survey will remain open through January 31, 2018 with results available shortly afterwards. Please invite others to complete the survey and feel free to promote it among groups you interact with.

The Survey Period Has Ended. Thank You For Your Interest.

This year was one of the best in recent memory to see icebergs in Newfoundland due to the large numbers present and how late into the summer the pack ice remained before breaking up and freeing the mighty icebergs to drift out to sea. This allowed Deb & I to see a few icebergs at the end of July, more than a month later than usual. We had planned the timing of our visit to see Puffins and whales which made the likelihood of seeing icebergs slim, however as we daily monitored IcebergFinder in the weeks prior to our trip we were excited to find that we just might see some. (Bookmark the IcebergFinder link if you ever plan to visit Newfoundland and want to know where the icebergs are).

While staying in Twillingate, part of the region known as Iceberg Alley along the North Coast of the island, we heard a large iceberg was just a few kilometres away in Crow Head. Neither Deb nor I had ever seen an iceberg and will never forget the feeling of cresting a hill heading into the village and seeing a huge iceberg sitting majestically just off shore. I had to stop the car and take a pic 🙂

We quickly made our way to a great vantage point to see and photography the iceberg.

Icebergs are formed when they calve off a glacier and typically survive for three to six years before passing out of existence. Most icebergs in Newfoundland are formed when they break off glaciers in Greenland and currents take them southwest where they encounter the Labrador Current which they follow until they physically break apart due to the erosive action of the wind and waves or simply melt as they stray into warmer waters.

We were thrilled to see a Minke whale slowly swim behind the iceberg and give a bit of context to the size of the iceberg. Minke Whales are up to 30′ long and the locals were saying the iceberg was 200′ wide and 75′ high. It was grounded in 580′ of water! Take note of the iceberg water level in this picture and compare it with the images to follow.

These two kayakers, much braver than Deb or I, also provide some context, but have you noticed the changing water levels….the iceberg was destabilizing and starting to roll! 

As the iceberg moves, the weight distribution is altered which can cause the iceberg to fragment as seen in this next image. The sound of ice breaking away from the iceberg and splashing into the water is like nothing we had ever heard; like the combination of a rifle shot with thunder.

Once the iceberg began to fragment, the process continued and less than five minutes after the first piece of ice fractured and even larger segment fell off the back of the iceberg. Check the water level marks and note how much the ice mass was moving.

I can only imagine what it would have been like to be in a kayak while an iceberg was breaking up around me!

Although we didn’t try a kayak, we connected with Iceberg Man Tours in Twillingate for a two hour cruise highlighted with a visit to the iceberg. Captain Cecil was terrific and we learned so much about Newfoundland, the culture, the whales and the icebergs during our cruise. Captain Cecil is a retired teacher, who grew up in Twillingate, served as mayor of Twillingate and started Iceberg Man Boat tours in 1985. Cecil knows Newfoundland!

The little village of Crow Head, NL as seen from amongst ice fragments around the iceberg.

We circled around the iceberg a number of times, taking more than 500 images of it from every conceivable angle. It was hard to put the camera down!

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Like modern pieces of art.

The approaching ship provides an interesting size perspective for the next image.

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After returning to Captain Cecil’s dock in Twillingate and enjoying dinner in a little restaurant on the edge of the harbour we headed back to Crow Head to watch the sunset and see the iceberg one last time. Although we couldn’t frame the sun setting over the iceberg from the mainland, we did enjoy the colours and the new look they gave the iceberg. It was remarkable how much the iceberg had changed in ten hours.

As the sun went down we were chatting with another couple and their daughter and it turned out the father & daughter were the two kayakers from earlier in the day! Ironically, as they were saying they felt more awe than fear as the large chuck of ice fell from the iceberg close to their kayaks, a loud rife sounding noise came from the iceberg and the entire iceberg began to pitch and roll quite drastically. By this time it was about thirty minutes after sunset and it was quite dark, however I just had to take some images, even though an ISO of 8000 was required.

The iceberg slowly begins rotating in a clockwise direction.

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The beautiful modern art looking section of the iceberg is about to disappear forever.

As the iceberg rotates a whole new mass of ice appears on the left side. This section was about 100′ in length.

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The image above shows the iceberg at its maximum rotation and now it slowly reversed its rotation and began to roll away from us. The unsettling of the iceberg caused another large pice of ice to flake off, as seen on the right side of the following image.

This was a huge pice of ice, at least thirty feet in height. The sound of the fragmentation and ensuing splash was a unique and unforgettable sound.

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After the enormous splash, the iceberg silenced and the surrounding waters calmed.

The previous images were taken over approximately ten minutes and by the end of that time the iceberg had loosed itself from the ocean floor 580′ below and slowly started drifting out into the North Atlantic.  All of the images in the previous sequence were taken with the camera on a tripod so you can get a sense of how much the iceberg was moving by comparing its profile against the horizon.

When we left our hotel early in the morning, Deb & I had no idea we would be spending the entire day watching an iceberg, but what a day it was. Never having seen an iceberg before and then watching it break apart over the day and move out to sea was a highlight of the trip.  We highly recommend when travelling to ‘The Rock’ that you schedule a time of the year you are likely to see some icebergs. They will never disappoint. 

More images of icebergs can be found in the Iceberg Gallery while images from ‘The Rock’ can be found in the Newfoundland Gallery. 

If you haven’t already done so, please subscribe to the blog and receive notification of future blog posts. The next two or three will be centred on Newfoundland; its rugged geography, old light houses, Puffins and Humpback Whales!

As we come to the end of another year, I’d like to thank all of you who have followed the blog. Your comments, support and encouragement are much appreciated.  From our family to yours, a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Pisa is a coastal city of over 90,000 people in the famous Italian region of Tuscany. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is a free standing bell tower, or campanile, of the Pisa Cathedral. The partially walled grounds of the cathedral have three primary buildings; the cathedral, the baptistery and the campanile. As we approached one of the gateways to the campus we experienced our first glimpse the Leaning Tower. One of the many joys of travel is the feeling engendered when seeing an iconic landscape or building in person for the first time and this image captures that moment with the famous bell tower.

The tower is ~185 feet high and took many many years to complete. The tilting of the tower began to occur during its initial construction primarily due the sandy ground on one side of the tower being too soft to support the extreme weight of the structure (14,500 metric tons).

The walls at the base of the tower are made of solid white marble and are an incredible eight feet thick in order to create a sufficient support on which to build the seven stories above. Unfortunately, the ground below didn’t do as well! It’s hard to believe that the below grade foundation is only ten feet deep for a structure that is almost 200′ high. Certainly the design of the tower was flawed from the outset.

Construction of the tower began on August 14, 1173 and wasn’t completed until 1372 when the bell chamber was finished atop the tower 199 years after the ground breaking. Recent cleaning and surface restoration of the tower removed centuries of dirt & grime from the industrial revolution which had darkened the tower to a dirty grey colour. This next image shows the beautiful white sunlit marble against a stormy dark back ground. It really is a beautiful structure.

By 1990 the tower’s lean reached 5.5° and the campanile was closed to the public.  Steel guy wires were attached to the third level, the seven bells were removed from the bell chamber and nearby apartment buildings were evacuated due to fear of spontaneous toppling of the tower. Between 1990-2001 the tower was  straightened and stabilized. This was accomplished by removing 1350 cubic feet (77 tons) of earth from below the high side of the foundation. This restored the lean of the tower to about 3.9° which it was in the late nineteenth century. The decision was made not to place the tower in a vertical orientation largely due to tourism considerations. Its present lean means that the centre point at the top of the tower is 12’10” from the centre point at the base.

Although this next image has not been manipulated, it was taken at a focal length of 16mm on a full frame camera and the native optics of the lens creates an exaggerated perspective of the tower.

The Pisa Cathedral is an impressive structure in its own right, designed in the shape of a latin cross and constructed of white & grey marble. The cathedral began construction in 1063 and was completed in 1092.

It’s hard to believe when walking through the campus that these buildings are almost one thousand years old.

The third major building on the cathedral grounds is the baptistery. It was the second structure chronologically, with construction starting in 1152 and completed in 1363, two hundred and eleven years later. The Pisa Baptistery is the largest in Italy and like the adjacent structures is constructed of marble. The interesting thing to note when looking at the baptistery is the different architectural styles of the building, presumably a result of the 200+ years it took to build. The base of the building is in Roman styling with rounded arches above the columns while the upper sections of the building are of gothic styling with pointed arches atop the columns. 

The baptistery also has a relatively small foundation and shares the sandy earth of the cathedral & bell tower so it also leans, however an almost imperceptible 0.6° towards the cathedral.

Although we only spent a few hours visiting Pisa, it was a great time and a pleasure to see and learn a little about its iconic landmark. 

Deb & I couldn’t help taking some classic tourist shots of the tower while we were there. As a photographer, one always looks for that ‘original shot’, especially of the well known landmarks…..I’m quite certain these next two images don’t qualify 🙂

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Other images from Pisa can be seen by clicking on this link  plus there are a number of other galleries from various locations in Europe that are also posted on the website.

All of the images in this post were taken using a Canon 5D Mk III and EF 16-35 f2.8 wide angle zoom lens.

Thanks for taking the time to read through this post and I trust you’ve enjoyed the Leaning Tower of Pisa. As always you comments and questions are much appreciated.

Barred Owls are probably Ontario’s most common owl and are relatively easy to find. They are non-migratory and intact don’t move around very far from their place of birth. In fact in one study of more than 150 Barred Owls, none were found to have moved further than six miles over the course of the research.

It was quite windy on New Years Eve which adds an interesting perspective to this first portrait.

Barred Owls are easily identified by their large size, black eyes and lack of ear tufts.

Typical adults are similar in size and appearance, with an approximate length of 20″ and a wingspan approaching four feet. Barred Owls weigh about 35 ounces.

Owls rely on their feathers to insulate and protect their bodies and the detail and extent of the feathers is especially evident around the eyes and facial discs. This next image is included simply to show that even the eyelids are composed of layers of feathers.

The following tight profile view shows the amazing feather detail of the periorbital region of the Barred Owl as well as providing an interesting and almost artistic perspective.

The owl perched not twenty feet from where I was located requiring me to move away about the same distance in order to fit the full bird into the frame. Before moving back I was able to take the tight shots above, while the next two images are significant crops. (‘Crops’ are smaller portions of an original image that are created when processing images on the computer).

The beautiful and haunting dark-eyed stare of a Barred Owl.

Talons….the weapons of mouse destruction 🙂 

Barred Owls eat a wide range of animals including fish, invertebrates, squirrels, rabbits, chipmunks and birds  up to the size of a partridge. Their staples are voles and mice. Barred Owls hunt from a perch, intently staring and listening for the next meal opportunity to pass below. This last image shows a Barred Owl in a classic hunting pose.

Its hard to believe that another year has passed quickly by and I would like to thank you for taking the time to follow this blog. It is much appreciated as are your comments and questions.  

More Owl images can be viewed by following this link to the Owls Gallery.

All of the images in this blog post were taken with a Canon 1Dx and EF 500 f4 L IS lens.

Deb and I have often seen moose over the years we’ve been visiting Algonquin Park but unfortunately the opportunity to photograph a bull moose with its majestic antlers had always eluded us. However this fall it was especially gratifying to see a bull moose after so many years of trying.

A while back my friends Arni, Eleanor, Joyce and I joined Michael Bertelsen (Algonquin Park Photography Tours) in the spring of the year where we saw a number of moose including bulls, cows and calves. You can read the account of this trip via this link (Moose In Algonquin Park).  In the spring of the year moose are largely feeding on aquatic vegetation and the antlers on the bulls are covered with velvet which supplies blood for the rapidly growing antlers. Every fall the bull moose scrapes its antlers on trees causing the velvet to be torn off revealing the mature antlers beneath. This action causes the bull’s testosterone levels to rise and is part of the process that marks the onset of the mating season, or rut, which is typically between mid September and mid October.  In the early winter months the bull moose sheds its antlers by breaking them off on a tree and soon thereafter starts work on growing next seasons bigger and better antlers.

Moose calves are born in early June each year and the cows have one or sometimes two calves. The calves stay with the cow for almost a year when mom forcibly releases her calf to fend for itself before she gives birth to her next calf.

Below is a cow with her two calves photographed in the park late this summer. We enjoyed watching this family graze in the marsh for at least thirty minutes before they wandered off into the forest.

I was happy to capture this next image with all three moose having mouths full of lily pads.

For their first year of life the little ones are never far from their mom.

Another cow with a single calf alongside Highway 60 that runs through Algonquin Park.

An inquisitive calf with mom watching closely in the back ground along the Mizzy Lake Trail.

Another young family near Lake of Two Rivers along the edge of the Madawaska River.

A portrait of the cow.

….and a young calf in the meadow.

These next two images are included to provide a profile of the cow and calf. The biggest difference between the two is found in the head shape.

Moose are the second largest animals in North America (the Bison is the largest) with shoulder heights ranging from 4.5 to 6.9′.

Over the past month I’ve visited Algonquin Park and been blessed to see and photograph a bull moose a number of times. This first image of a bull was taken a few years ago in June when the antlers are early in the growth stage and covered with velvet as mentioned earlier.

In the early fall the bull moose sheds its velvet and the antlers are revealed. Antlers are used for displaying to potential cows and challenging any bulls that may encroach on a cow that has shown interest in another bull. This next image shows the antlers of a fairly young bull moose, probably two years old based on the size and shape of the antlers.

This bull moose was photographed just after sunrise and the autumn leaves provided a great back drop.

I was surprised that this moose ambled slowly by and bedded down at the edge of a large meadow for about half an hour.

Adult bull moose weigh between 850 and 1,550 pounds while the cows are a little smaller ranging from 450 to 1,100 pounds.

After resting for about thirty minutes the young bull got up and continued in his morning grazing.

Moose are vegetarians and aptly named as ‘moose’ is a Native Algonquin word meaning ‘twig eater’. Their diet tends to be more aquatic in the spring and terrestrial in the fall and they typically eat leaves, bark, pine cones, twigs, buds of trees and lily pads. This next image shows the twig eater living up to its name!

In mid September it was 0°C before sunrise which created an extremely heavy fog around the lake where we were looking for moose. Walking along a trail we were excited to see three moose silhouettes just ahead of us, a calf, a cow and a bull all together, but the fog was so thick it was almost impossible to take a good picture. We watched them feeding for about 15 minutes and as the sun came up there was just enough light to get a couple of images .

This shot of the cow and calf was taken just after the sun had risen immediately behind the moose, creating a subtle back-lit glow.

This last image of a bull was taken about ten minutes before sunrise using an ISO of 4000 and aperture of f5 which was necessary to allow a shutter speed fast enough to prevent motion blur of the moose as it was walking toward the tree. You can see why photographers refer to the time before sunrise as the ‘blue hour’.

I trust you have enjoyed these photographs of our majestic Canadian gentle giants. Many more moose images may be seen via this link to the Wildlife Gallery.

Please feel free to share this blog with others and as always your questions and comments are very much appreciated.

Food stops were a delight with ice cream at Brumm’s Dairy in Pembroke then off to Eganville for fries at the Jolly Fryer and latte’s and espresso at Engine House Coffee. How can you beat fries, ice cream and coffee?

From a photographic perspective the highlight of the day was capturing the Bonnechere Caves and the Bonnechere River which rages through the area providing incredible rapids and waterfalls to photograph.

Although the Bonnechere Caves have been there a lot longer, they have been open to the public since 1955 when Tom and Ruth Woodward purchased the land and explored and developed them for public access. Check out their website via this link if you want to learn more about the caves and their history.

The atmosphere at the caves is laid back and welcoming. Tours leave from the parking lot every half hour and they operate daily from Victoria Day to Thanksgiving. Our tour guide was excellent with a perfect blend of history, education, story telling and lots of humour. It was excellent and brought back fond memories from when I last visited the caves 45 years ago.

Our group being introduced to samples of the many fossils that are found in the area.

This is the stalactite formation known as the beehive, for obvious reasons!

These next images show various views of the caves as we proceeded through on our tour. I was thankful they allowed me to take a tripod and take as many images as desired. Most of the pictures in the caves were taken at a fairly high ISO with shutter speeds ranging from three to five seconds.

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This last shot of the caves shows an area that suffered a collapse….fortunately this was at the end of the tour. As an introduction it would have been unnerving 🙂

After touring the caves we crossed the bridge to the opposite side of the Bonnechere River and made the short hike to the river’s edge and rushing waters that awaited.

Even the hike to the river was enjoyable with many interesting formations in the relatively soft limestone formed by the Bonnechere River when water levels were much higher.

When photographing rivers, rapids and waterfalls, shutter speed is the factor that has the most influence on the image. It is shutter speed that will determine whether the water movement is stopped with perfect focus, freezing the action of the water perfectly, or creates an image in which the water appears etherial with smooth white waters flowing over the rocks beneath conveying the motion and power of the flowing water.

As a matter of practice, first determine the composition you desire and position the tripod accordingly; secondly determine the aperture required to create the necessary depth of field (generally a smaller aperture is preferred in order to keep all elements in focus – anywhere from f/11 to f/22 is usually fine, especially when using wide angle lenses). Finally choose a shutter speed that creates the amount of motion you wish in the water. This is often a matter of trial and error until the proper exposure time to create the desired effect is achieved.

In this next series of images we will look at the effect shutter speed has on the moving water. Everyone’s favourite image will be different based on their subjective preferences and I’d be interested in knowing your choice. Leave a comment with your preference and we will see if there is a clear winner or whether the variety of choice is large. Remember the shutter speed of your favourite and use that speed as a starting point the next time you are photographing rushing waters.

A. 1/100 second

B. 1/2 second

C. 2 seconds

D. 4 seconds

Although there was a cloudy sky when these images were taken, you may be wondering how we were able to achieve such slow shutter speeds. During the daylight even with an aperture of f/22 and an ISO of 50 you can not typically get to exposures of much more than 1/4 to 1/2 second. To achieve slower shutter speeds you require filters for the lens that reduce the light entering the lens. If you have a polarizing filter, you can use that to gain about 1.5 more stops. Otherwise you require Neutral Density filters to further reduce the light reaching the sensor. Neutral density filters come in many forms and are found in every landscape photographer’s tool box. For the pictures in this post I used a Singh-Ray Vari ND filter which is a great filter that allows you to vary the amount of light reduction from 2 to 8 stops which is extremely helpful.

We will close today’s blog with a few more shots of the Bonnechere River. I will include some similar scenes at different shutter speeds for your critique which I always appreciate.

For long exposure shots including people, ask them to hold as still as possible and always use a flash to help freeze any motion (I used a +3 flash exposure compensation for this pic).

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1/3 second

1 second

5 seconds

10 seconds

I trust the pictures from this post will encourage you to plan a trip to the Ottawa Valley and include the Bonnechere Caves and the Bonnechere River on your itinerary. It will take about half a day to see them both but if the light is nice you could certainly spend another half day exploring the river in search of that perfect shot.

All of the images in today’s blog were taken with a Canon 5D Mk III and either a 16-35mm or 24-105mm lens using a Gitzo GT1545T traveler tripod and Markins Ball head. More images of our day can be seen in the Bonnechere Caves, Eganville ON gallery.

As always, thanks for taking time to visit the blog. It is much appreciated.

The land masses of Bonaventure Island and Percé Rock were amalgamated in 1985 to become The Bonaventure Island and Percé Rock National Park. The island is also designated as a Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Access to Bonaventure Island is via ferry from the main dock in Percé, which is one of the most beautiful spots in Eastern Canada offering spectacular views of Percé Rock and Bonaventure Island. If you arrive early enough in the morning, you can purchase a $20 ticket to join the first ferry of the day which transports park staff to the island. It is a direct, 20 minute trip providing first access to the island and the 2km hike across the island to reach the Gannet colonies on the far side of the island. The regular ferry is $35 and takes an hour however you travel around Percé Rock and the far side of Bonaventure Island allowing you to see the Gannet colonies on the 300′ cliffs of the island. Deb and I were the only photographers on the staff ferry so the lead time allowed us to enjoy about 90 minutes alone at the Gannet colonies before the tourists and other photographers arrived.

Having the whole day set aside to spend on Bonaventure Island enabled us to plan for many different types of shots including some video. Although we probably took too much gear with us, we used it all and were thankful we made the effort to lug it across the island. Our gear for the day included a Kata backpack filled with a Canon 5D Mk III plus 16-35mm, 24-105mm and 100-400mm lenses as well as a Fuji X-E2 body, 8mm fisheye and 18-55mm lenses. Attached to the backpack was a Gitzo traveller tripod with Markins ball head. Balanced on my shoulder was a Canon 1Dx and 500mm telephoto lens attached to a Jobu carbon fibre monopod and gimbal head. It took about 45 minutes via the shortest trail to reach the Gannet colonies. It was a great hike on a well travelled path cutting directly across the island starting at sea level and rising to about 300′ over the 2km walk.

The hike is mostly in heavy forest and as we approached the far side of the island the scents and sounds of the Gannets greeted us long before the actual birds did. Both the smell and the sound were like nothing Deb & I had experienced before however we quickly acclimatized to both!

The Northern Gannet’s behaviour is quite paradoxical and some of these ironies will be highlighted throughout this post. I think this great pelagic bird is best summed up by Lucie Lagueux, a world renowned expert on the Gannet, who states “What surprises me most about the gannet is its overwhelming ambivalence. Although it is a sea bird, perfectly adapted to life in a marine environment, it spends more than six months on dry land. While its anatomy and behaviour make it eminently suited to cliff-nesting, it does not seem to be able to resist the temptation of the plateau. The gannet is a territorial bird, yet it lives in a very dense colony. It is an aggressive bird, yet its aggressiveness has but one goal: to ensure proximity to other gannets. Finally it is a very predictable bird – in most cases, the gannet’s reaction to a given situation can be easily anticipated. Yet sometimes it exhibits behaviour which is quite inexplicable”. This perfectly describes our observations of the Gannets during the time we spent with them.

When arriving at the colonies for the first time one is astounded by the sheer number of birds. It is difficult to appreciate what 100,000+ birds looks, sounds and smell like and although these images won’t do any of them justice, perhaps this video will help!

The density of the colony is shown below and its remarkable that Gannets returning from fishing excursions can find the exact location of their nest, however they always do. To put the density into perspective, the typical nesting site is 75 cm in diameter and adjacent nesting sites measure 80 cm centre to centre. Nest density is 2.3 nests per square metre.

Finding the right nest is a challenge for the Gannet and you can in this next image the reception that the landing Gannet receives from its neighbours.

The Northern Gannet is a large pelagic bird weighing on average 3.2 kg with a wing span of 1.8m. Gannets have average lifespans of twenty years however have been known to live for as long as forty. It is a beautiful bird, especially in breeding plumage when the head and crown take on a warm golden hue and the feet are accented with bold green lines.

Gannets are also beautiful in flight and their large wing span and thin wings make them excellent gliders. The white underside of the gannet also provides them great camouflage while hunting.

Nests are manicured mounds on the ground that are very sparse yet well defined as seen below. The highly territorial Gannet defends the nest fiercely even though they are very close to their neighbours.

The female Gannet easily lays a single egg as egg size is small compared to the size of the adult bird. Incubation lasts approximately 43 days during which the egg is surrounded by the webbed feet of the parent who’s increased blood flow to the feet keeps the egg warm.

Parents take turns between guarding their chick and fishing to provide food for the newest family member. They transfer partially digested fish to the young bird and it grows rapidly for the 75 days before it fledges.

Young birds remain on the nest until they fledge. As they expend little energy while confined to the nest and are continually being fed they actually grow to become larger and heavier than their parents. In fact they weigh almost 1 kg more than the adults when they leave the nest at 10-12 weeks of age. When they fledge they leave the nest and their parents for good and are on their own from that day until they mate at five years of age (younger birds will return to a colony at the age of two or three, but remain at the periphery of the colony and do not pair up or nest until age five). It is quite humorous to see a large young Gannet with its significantly smaller parents just before fledging.

New born Gannets can not be left unattended by its parents as neighbouring Gannets will attack them and should a young bird move off the nest it will surely be destroyed. This is one reason, the first year mortality rate of Gannets is over 60%. This next image shows the fate of a young bird that has inadvertently moved off its nest while its parent vainly tries to come to the rescue. You can see the remains of another chick in the foreground….a poignant visual display of life and death on a Gannet colony. When Gannets lose an egg or young chick they will often lay a second egg and have a second brood during the breeding season. For this reason you can concurrently observe chicks of all different sizes and stages of development within the colony.

Gannet behaviour is unique and fascinating to observe. The high density of birds in the colony make communication a survival necessity and the Gannets do so through tactile, visual and auditory channels. Gannet behavioural displays provide interesting photo opportunities for the bird photographer. I would highly recommend before travelling to Bonaventure Island that you take time to study Northern Gannets and familiarize yourself with their behaviour. This will allow you to better recognize what is unfolding in the colony and help you compose and capture the signature Gannet behaviours.

Fencing is perhaps the most easily recognized behaviour and is an important mating ritual. Gannet pairs extend their necks with beaks pointed skyward and delicately touch their bills together in a fencing motion. This activity always takes place at the nesting site. Fencing provides an excellent opportunity for that classic Gannet shot as shown in these next images.

To capture fencing effectively, a low angle is required to separate the Gannets from the other birds and also create a clear back ground to enhance the photographic result.

Yes, that means lying down in order to ‘get the shot’, but it’s always worth that extra effort!

You can see and sense the affection these birds share with each other, which as monogamous couples they do for life.

Although this next image lacks any eye contact (a bird photographer’s no no) it has become a favourite of mine with its artistic feel.

Mutual preening is another important mating ritual. The Gannet pair caresses and smooths the other’s feathers, typically around the head and neck.

They will preen each other for extended periods of time.

Unfortunately, fighting is common amongst Gannets, sometimes between pairs and more often with other Gannets that venture too close to a neighbouring nest. When fighting the birds anchor their claws into the ground and extend their necks to fight with their beaks. It often appears that they are attempting to jab the opponent’s eyes.

Threat-gaping, menacing and jabbing are related behaviours usually between Gannets on adjacent nests, where from a sitting position the birds jab towards each other while making lots of noise. There is generally no contact between the birds.

The last behaviour we will look at is called sky pointing and is thought to signal to a mate that the pointing partner is going to leave and the other is to stay and guard the nest. It is also performed by any Gannet in the colony who is about to take flight. When sky pointing, the neck is extended and bill pointed skyward, the wings are drawn back and the feet are prominently displayed with their bright green lines on black webbing.

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The Gannets of Bonaventure Island feed primarily on Mackerel, Herring and Capelin and they consume lots of them. It is estimated that each bird consumes 500 g of fish daily and that the annual fish consumption of the Bonaventure colony is 3,100 tons or 6.2 million pounds. It is fascinating to watch Gannets fish as they always do so in groups. Look-out birds scout the ocean for schools of fish and once found they must signal the others as large groups of Gannets quickly congregate overhead and then with pin point accuracy dive into the school of fish from impressive heights and at great speed. This style of group diving, sometimes described as hailstorm fishing causes panic and disorientation within the school of fish and it is thought that this greatly improves the Gannet’s success rate compared to fishing alone.

The following images show the classic diving sequence of the Northern Gannet. These images were taken from the pier in the town of Percé which is where the ferries leave for Bonaventure Island. The waters between Percé and Bonaventure are sheltered and thus are a prime fishing location for the Gannets.

A Gannet cruising high above the water spots a target, puts the brakes on and prepares to begin its dive.

The dive begins with Bonaventure Island looming in the back ground

Gannets begin their dives approximately 100′ above the water and use their outstretched wings to steer them directly towards the target.

The wings remain fully extended until just before impact.

As they are about to enter the water they begin to quickly draw back their wings.

At the time of impact the wings are drawn fully back and neck is extended and the Gannet looks more like a torpedo that the very large pelagic bird it is.

The speed of the Gannet at impact with the water is 100 km/h and even at that speed, the large size and buoyancy of the bird only allows it to reach depths of five or six feet. They catch their prey while returning to the surface.

As we conclude this post I will leave you with some portraits and in flight images of the Northern Gannet. I trust these help give you an appreciation for this great bird of Bonaventure Island.

When given the opportunity, attempt to photograph birds against different back grounds which greatly influences the photographic results. The photo above has the sky as the background while the image below uses the water.

A unique pose with both eyes visible. Not a common occurrence in bird photography.

The long and slender wings of the Gannet make it ideally designed for gliding and riding the thermals that move up the cliffs on which they nest. This also allows the large and heavy Gannet to cover large distances with minimal effort.

A Gannet slowing down after spotting its nest location.

Capturing two birds in flight in the same frame with both in focus is a difficult challenge but the perseverance required paid off….eventually!

They truly are a photogenic species.

A Gannet cruising low over the colony before heading out to fish.

An in flight acrobat, slowing down and looking for the nest.

An affectionate couple guarding their nest.

Gannets normally dwell on cliffs but when there is no real estate left on the cliffs they occupy the plateaus atop the cliffs. They quickly denude the plateaus of vegetation and don’t often stray into grassy areas except to gather nesting material, or to offer the gift of grass to a potential partner, as an offer to build a nest together. It was a treat to find this Gannet with grass in its beak.

Apparently the object of his desire wasn’t overly interested in his kind offer!

The maestro pose against a natural gradient background.

And a final tight portrait of the Northern Gannet with its steel eye and intense blue eye ring.

Although this post contains a number of images, there are many more in the Gulls, Gannets, Terns & Skimmers Gallery. I trust you will enjoy them as well.

Deb and I have had the opportunity to visit Percé and Bonaventure Island each of the past two summers to photograph Northern Gannets. We both highly recommend that you make the effort to travel to the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec, not only to see the Gannets but to explore this very unique and beautiful part of our great country. You won’t be disappointed. If you want any Gaspé travel tips don’t hesitate to contact me as I’d be glad to help!

Two other pelagic (ocean faring) species that also nest on Machias Seal Island are the Common Murre and the Razorbill. Both of whom happily share the same nesting areas along with the Atlantic Puffins and they all seem to get along rather famously. It was not uncommon to see all three birds occupying a perch on the same boulder.

The Common Murre is a member of the Auk family of birds and is larger than the Puffin, averaging about 18″ in length with a wingspan just over two feet. They are quick but not very agile in the air reaching speeds of up to 50 mph. Murres actually prefer diving to flying and they have been recorded at depths of almost 600 feet. They generally stay submerged for one minute but can double that if necessary. Murres are pursuit divers and cover approximately 100′ of range with every dive, using their wings to propel themselves as they chase their prey.

The Common Murre pictured below is referred to as a bridled Murre because of its white eye ring that forms a posteriorly trending eyeline. This unusual feature is found among Murres that breed in the Northern Atlantic regions.

Not as agile in the air as the Puffin however they are quick and will travel long distances in search for food.

The Razorbill is another bird from the Auk family and is actually the closest living relative to the now extinct Great Auk. Razorbills are pelagic birds and like Puffins and Common Murres, are monogamous colonial breeders that only come to land once each year to lay one egg that is equally incubated by both parents for approximately one month. Razorbills are about the same size as Common Murres and larger than the Atlantic Puffin as can be seen in the image below.

Razorbills have thick blunt bills that set them apart from Common Murres who otherwise appear quite similar although the Razorbill’s head is a darker shade of black. With black eyes and the absence of an eye ring, it was extremely difficult to visualize the eyes of the Razorbill when photographing them. This next image is my favourite as the bird landed on a boulder that allowed a nice low angle from the blind we were in while on Machias Seal Island.

Razorbill numbers are trending lower over recent years and they are now listed as ‘Near Threatened’.

A Razorbill showing off and demonstrating its larger size compared to the Puffin in the foreground.

The average lifespan of the Razorbill is 13 years however one banded bird in the United Kingdom has lived for more than 41 years which is an amazing record. I like this environmental in flight shot of the Razorbill with the classic rocky shoreline the Razorbills colonize every year during breeding season in the background.

It may be just me but the Razorbill seems to enjoy wings that are proportionately longer than the Common Murre and Atlantic Puffin giving a more graceful appearance in flight.

Razorbills have the longest tail feathers of the Auks which extend past the feet in flight. You can see this clearly when comparing the image below with the Common Murre in flight image shown previously.

All the images in this post were taken with either a Canon 1Dx with 100-400 L IS II lens or a Canon 5D Mk III with 500 f4 L IS lens, hand held from a blind.

I trust you have enjoyed this brief post highlighting the Common Murre and Razorbill, that colonize Machias Seal Island in June and July each year along with the Atlantic Puffin. If you have never seen these birds I would highly recommend you plan your next vacation through the fabulous Canadian Maritime provinces and set aside a few days within your vacation for an excursion to Grand Manan and Machias Seal Islands. You won’t be disappointed.

Machias Seal Island is a small island located in the Lower Bay of Fundy about 12 miles south west of Grand Manan Island, New Brunswick and 10 miles south east of Cutler Maine. Access to the island during nesting season is restricted to fifteen people at a time who are allowed on the island for a two hour period, most of which is spent in one of four blinds to which you are escorted by the lighthouse keeper who is the only resident of the island. There has been a Canadian lighthouse keeper on the island almost continually since the first lighthouse was built in 1832.

Only two charter companies have permission to deliver people to Machias Seal Island. Bold Coast Charter Company departs from Cutler Maine and Sea Watch Tours, with whom Deb & I went with, operates from Seal Cove on Grand Manan Island in the Canadian province of New Brunswick.

Grand Manan Island by itself is a destination location for anyone wishing to experience maritime life and cuisine at its finest. Deb & I stayed for a couple of nights at The Inn at Whale Cove Cottages and it was the perfect spot.

Arriving at the Sea Watch Tours dock in Seal Cove we met Captain Peter Wilcox, who owns Sea Watch Tours, and his First Mate Durlan Ingersoll.

Our boat, The Day’s Catch, is a lobster fishing boat that Captain Wilcox converts for taking bird watchers and photographers to Machias Seal Island during the Puffin nesting season in July. As there are only minimal landing facilities on Machias Seal Island, the Day’s Catch tows a small tender, The Little Catch, which shuttles people from the big boat to the rocky shore of the island. Below are our rides for the day, the Day’s Catch and the Little Catch.

Due to rough seas and primitive docking facilities successful landing on the island occurs about 60% of the time so although it was very foggy we were thrilled to be able to set foot on the island. Here is Deb with the Little Catch in tow behind her.

The Day’s Catch, although spending most of its time fishing for lobster, became the perfect boat for the ninety minute trip to Machias Seal Island from Grand Manan, with plenty of room for the 15 passengers on board as seen by these next two images taken with the Fuji X-E2 and 8mm Samyang fisheye lens.

If you have never used a fisheye lens I would highly recommend getting one. They have surprising versatility and the unique perspective they provide often results in compelling images.

After the fifteen excited birders and photographers were successfully shuttled from The Day’s Catch to the shore we were escorted by the lighthouse keeper to a staging area where the practices and procedures were explained to us. This video follows our brief walk to the lighthouse and you will see and hear some birds flying overhead.

If you looked closely at the video you will have noticed the birds are not Puffins but surprisingly were Arctic Terns. These birds from the north had successfully nested in the lighthouse keepers vegetable garden….the first time Arctic Terns had done so in quite a while. Here is a young Arctic Tern and one of its parents sleeping in the garden. A rare sight.

It was a pleasure to capture two adults in an overhead aerial display. They are beautiful birds, not often observed at such close range. Always have your camera at the ready!

The next video shows one of the four blinds on the island and gives you an idea of how many Puffins are in the area and also how vocal they are. Notice the very small size of the ports in the blinds, barely large enough for a big lens to peek through, but necessarily small so our human forms would not be visible to the Puffins and provide the opportunity for them to become acclimated to us. Care was taken to only open the camera ports on one side of the blind at a time to prevent creation of sight lines enabling the Puffins to see through the blinds which could result in them flying into the blinds as opposed to perching on the roof as seen in the video!

Great care is taken by those governing the island to ensure that human impact on the Puffins is kept to an absolute minimum, which is good practice at all times when interacting with animals in the wild.

It’s not my normal practice to shoot from a blind, so it was difficult to know what gear to select for that critical hour during which I didn’t want to waste any time with the wrong lens combinations. After much thought it was decided to take three bodies; a Canon 5D MkIII with a 500mm lens for portraits (plus a 1.4 x TC for an effective 700mm if needed), a Canon 1Dx with the new 100-400mm zoom lens for capturing Puffins in flight and a Fuji X-E2 with a 55-200mm Fujinon zoom that Deb used for stills and video. The blind was too small for a tripod so we opted to bring a monopod however it proved impractical when shooting through such a small opening in the blind. This means that we spent the hour standing in the blind hand holding some pretty heavy equipment although it wasn’t that bad as the time raced by while we concentrated on getting that ‘perfect’ image (which has yet to happen after decades of trying). We utilized the first twenty minutes taking portraits and perched shots and the remaining time was devoted to my favourite photography niche, capturing birds in flight.

Puffins are sometime referred to as the parrots of the sea because of their appearance and affable character. They have a rather mischievous look even when they are resting which I think is captured in this first image.

Photographing black and white birds is technically challenging as it is difficult to find an exposure that retains detail in both the black and white feathers. Typically if you expose for detail in the blacks you overexpose the whites and if you expose for the whites you underexpose the blacks, both of which result in unacceptable results. Getting acceptable exposures in strong sunny lighting conditions is virtually impossible. So although we experienced a foggy overcast day, the subdued lighting created by the fog was a blessing for photographing the Puffins.

These next three images demonstrate the importance of thinking about back grounds and other elements in the image beyond the subject. Preference is subjective, but you must be intentional in acquiring a variety of backgrounds allowing you to enjoy the privilege of choosing that preference!

A mid-toned back ground.

A light back ground provided by the sky is fairly easily obtained by lowering the camera position and shooting in an upward trajectory. This changing angle of incidence also subtly affects the perspective of the bird as can be seen in these images.

The dark back ground. Care needs to be taken such that good differentiation exists between the bird (the black sections of the Puffin) and the dark back ground.

Although Puffins are quite independent while at sea, they are very social during the nesting season, clowning around with each other and creating a cacophony of sound that just can’t be described. It is difficult to capture the feel of the Puffin community with photographic stills but I trust these next few images provide a glimpse of Puffin life on Machias Seal Island.

In the image below, if you look carefully along the lower edge of the upper mandible you will notice a number of spear like bristles towards the base of the beak. These serve as small spikes that the Puffin uses to hold fish sideways in its beak and transport them back to the nest to feed the hungry young chick. The Puffin is able to catch fish sequentially, lock each one into place and continue fishing until the beak is full. This amazing design also allows the Puffin to fish at great distances away from the nest if necessary. Although the record number of fish observed in a single Puffin’s beak is 62, they typically average about ten.

Puffins often playfully spar with their beaks creating a percussive clacking sound.

As with people, each group appears to have a contrarian!

The Puffins seem quite inquisitive towards each other, perhaps because other than during nesting season they are primarily solitary birds. They are highly interactive making them a pleasure to watch.

Capturing birds in flight is a passion of many bird photographers and most of our time in the blind was spent attempting to get that special shot of a Puffin in flight. In-flight bird photography is technically difficult as it involves panning the camera to follow the target as flies through your field of view. It is also a challenge for the auto focusing system of the camera to keep tracking the bird and keeping it clearly in focus. Attempting to capture good in flight images while shooting through the small window in the blind complicated things significantly, however when you deal with the challenges presented and get a few decent images, it is always worth the effort.

This first image is more to show the bird’s environment than the bird itself. It is always good to begin with a few ‘environmental’ images of every species you photograph as it helps provide a better context for understanding of the animal’s world. During breeding season Puffins build their nests  on the ground deep in the crevasses between the boulders that rim the island. If you look closely you will see this incoming Puffin’s mate poking her head above the rock that is protecting their nest and its precious contents (Puffins typically lay one egg and thus raise one new bird each year).

The little wings and rather rotund bodies suggest Puffins would be awkward in the air, but the opposite is the case as they are very quick straight line flyers reaching speeds of up to 55 mph with a wing beat frequency of 400 per minute.

Puffins are not large birds at about ten inches in length and weighing around a pound. The only time they are together is during nesting season. During the rest of the year they are typically solitary birds on the ocean, not meeting up with their mate until they arrive at same nest they left the year earlier.

When photographing birds in flight it is desirable to record captures with various wing positions creating uniquely different images that also allows one to study the primary feather characteristics thoroughly. The ventral under side of the wing is generally lighter in colour.

While the dorsal or top side is typically darker. It is thought that the white underside and dark top side of the Puffin provides protection from predation by making the Puffin hard to visualize from below by water dwelling predators and equally hard to see by raptors from above.

The bright orange feet of the Puffin are tucked neatly under the tail feathers during flight however they are exposed as the Puffin prepares to land at its nesting site. Located towards the end of the bird and with their large size they are ideally suited for swimming. Puffins are very agile swimmers and have been recorded at great deaths below the surface.

Normally Puffins consume the Sand Eels and Herring they enjoy as they catch them. The exception to this pattern occurs every summer when they are feeding the new addition to their family. For a period of six weeks or more after the chicks hatch and before they fledge, the parents take turns heading out to sea and returning with a beak full of fish. This small window of time also affords the photographer the opportunity to catch a Puffin in flight returning to the nest with a fresh supply of fish for the young Puffin chick. This was the reason we planned our summer road trip when we did….to hopefully be provided the opportunity to capture this classic image of a Puffin with its catch.

Seeing these images on the camera LCD was a thrill and well worth the time and effort required to get to Machias Seal Island.

Given the uniqueness of the Puffin’s appearance it is impossible not to take some tight portraits. There well deserve their nicknames of ‘ocean clown’ or ‘parrot of the sea’.

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Even though we planned well and were good stewards of our time in the blind, the hour passed very quickly and it was soon time to be escorted back to the docking area where Captain Peter was waiting to shuttle us back to the Day’s Catch for the return trip to Grand Manan. The video that follows provides a glimpse of just how foggy it was. The gentleman in the green T-shirt is Ralph Eldridge, one of the lighthouse keepers who lives on the island for one month at a time. He is also a superb photographer and Puffin expert. You can see his impressive photography via this link to his website.

It was a foggy trip home but the Day’s Catch was filled with fourteen people excited to share their Puffin stories with each other and looking forward to see what they had captured on their CF & SD cards.

After spending one more night at the Inn at Whale Cove Cottages we boarded the ferry for the return trip to Blacks Harbour, continuing on to Prince Edward Island and then the little town of Percé on the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, famous for Percé Rock and Bonaventure Island – home to the second largest Northern Gannet colony in the world and our next bird photography adventure. If you haven’t already subscribed to our mailing list, please take time now to do so and we will let you know when the Gannet blog is posted.

If you are interested, more images of Puffins can be seen in the Puffins, Murres & Razorbill Gallery.

Thanks for taking time to check out this post which I trust has piqued your interest in these wonderful little birds…. hopefully enough for you to plan a trip to Grand Manan and Machias Seal Islands for your next summer holiday.

A few weeks ago a lone female Mountain Bluebird arrived in an open field on the western reaches of Lynde Shores Conservation Area in Whitby and quickly became a local celebrity amongst birders and bird photographers. For many it was their first time seeing one of these beautiful birds.

I was twice able to visit this bird and I’m thankful for one of those opportunities being with nice light for photography. The following are some of the images I was able to obtain of her. These photographs were taken last Friday morning, December 11th.

The object of an image is generally obvious and we always think about it before releasing the shutter however care must always be taken to consider the back ground of every image you take. Often the difference between a snapshot and a great photograph is the back ground. The first two images in this series have the black walls of a barn creating the back ground which creates a high contrast with bird. The great distance between the bird and the barn allowed the use an aperture of f/8 to keep all of the bird in focus and still blur the back ground enough that the barn was completely indistinguishable.

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For the next two images I moved not more than ten feet in order to replace the barn as the back ground with a coniferous tree line in order to replace the black back ground with a green one. Although this is very subjective, I prefer the green which is a bit more natural looking and provides a better contrast with the beak of the bird. Compare images one and four and then two and three. Each pair is pretty much the same compositionally except for the back ground colour. Do you have a preference?

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The remaining images are from a different perch which was located such that overgrown grasses provided the back grounds. The first three images are against a ‘white’ grass/hay back drop creating the brightest of the BG’s and  great contrast with the bird….and it also complimented the rather ugly bamboo perch!

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The final three images are against darker grasses that create a back ground shade which is perhaps my favourite of all we’ve looked at today with a nice warm tone that compliments the colours of the bird nicely.

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When a rare bird makes an appearance hundreds of birders and photographers will make a point of seeing the celebrity. Typically that means a plethora of photographs will show up on various photo sharing websites and soon they begin to look quite similar. It’s wise to observe the bird and its various behavioural displays and look for that unusual shot. Sometimes even the very common act of preening will provide that unique image.

The Mountain Bluebird was last seen early Saturday morning when just after sunrise it was observed flying west, presumably to return to its home territory. Often these lone birds that get off track while migrating don’t survive the rigours and dangers of travelling long migration distances alone without the help and safety that comes with travelling in numbers. She certainly looked healthy when I took these pictures the day before she left so I trust that by now she has been re-united with her family.

All of these images were taken using a Canon 1Dx and 500/4 lens with 1.4 x TC for an effective focal length of 700mm.

Theatrical event photography requires careful planning as unlike a sporting event, the audience remains seated and quiet and generally don’t welcome a photographer moving throughout the venue during the performance. The photographer must balance the responsibility of recording the event with excellence while remaining respectful of the audience and performers. This is a time when stealthiness is a good thing, not unlike wildlife photography! Gear planning is also important and given the challenges of very low light interspersed with bright spots and floods the fastest lenses possible must be used. For shooting Under a Starry Night, I primarily used a 5D Mk III with a 16-35/2.8 lens and a 1Dx with a 70-200/2.8 lens. This combination covered a good focal range and didn’t require lens changing although I did use Canon’s new 100-400 L IS II for a few images. Finally I used a Fuji X-E2 with an 8mm fisheye lens for some interesting ultra wide angle images.

The fisheye allows one to capture the entire venue in one photograph, however these images must have strong foreground representation to be effective. In this case the audio-visual control centre provides exactly that (X-E2, 8mm).

Don’t forget to get a pic of the audience, which also provides a good record of the venue as well (5D, 16-35).

The music for the Christmas presentation was performed by an orchestra comprised of members of the church as well as guest musicians from the Oshawa Symphony. It hard to do the musicians justice with the camera  but its important to show their invaluable contribution to the performance (1Dx, 70-200).

The technical challenges photographing this type of event revolve around the very difficult lighting inherent to them. The venue is typically dark while the actors and musicians are lit with spotlights that are of varying intensity, colours and temperatures creating extreme ranges of contrast and fluctuating white balance as can be seen in this image.

The tendency with event photography is to overexpose the performer’s faces which makes the resultant photograph unacceptable. This is certainly the case most of the time when using a camera on automatic settings, whether it be with your iPhone, point and shoot or expensive DSLR. The problem is caused by the mixed lighting confusing the camera’s light meter so the camera chooses an exposure that overexposes the faces of the performers. In order to prevent overexposing people’s faces, or ‘blowing out the highlights’ you need to shoot manually and underexpose every image by two to three stops. It’s a good habit to watch the histogram on your camera and turn on the highlight alert feature to quickly see if you are overexposing the faces. This next image was taken three stops underexposed from the meter reading.

The lack of ambient light in concert venues necessitates taking all measures available to shoot at shutter speeds fast enough to stop the motion of the people in the frame and prevent movement of the camera during the exposure. We don’t have time in this post to discuss these in detail, however they involve; using the widest possible aperture allowing the most light possible into the lens (f/2.8 for most the images in this post); using high ISO’s which make the camera sensor more sensitive to light (ISO’s ranging from 2000-4000 in this case); and shutter speeds close to 1/focal length which is the rule of thumb for the minimum shutter speed to prevent hand held camera shake during the exposure (this problem can also be minimized by using lenses with image stabilization or vibration reduction). Even still, if the subjects in the image are moving, they will be blurry at slow shutter speeds which is never acceptable, so you must also have a shutter speed fast enough to stop the action. From experience, shooting a concert type event like Under A Starry Sky requires a minimum shutter speed of ~1/80 second. A good outcome with slower shutter speeds is a result more of good fortune rather than good technique! So always get to an exposure that keeps things sharply in focus and be prepared to deal with the shallow depth of field created by the wide apertures and the increased noise created by the high ISO’s.

Having said all that, the improved technology with today’s high end cameras allow the taking of acceptable shots at extremely high ISO’s. This provides the luxury of obtaining shots in low light without the use of a flash in places that were not possible even two or three years ago. This next image was illuminated with only the podium light reflecting off the director’s score. It was taken at ISO 12,800, 1/60 sec, f/2.8 and 200mm!

The last technical issue to mention is white balance, which is something that every photographer and videographer deals with all the time. We could write pages on the complexities of white balance, but that will be left for another post. In a nutshell, it is important to set the camera white balance correctly so that what appears white to your eye when you took the photo also appears white in the resulting image or video. If the white balance is not set correctly an annoying colour cast becomes visible in the image. This is most evident by the skin tones appearing ‘off’ in the image. All light sources have an inherent frequency and temperature, both of which affect the colour of the light in the visible spectrum. The camera sensor must determine what that temperature is in order to calculate what white balance is required to accurately render the colours. This is very easy for the camera to figure out when there is only one light source, like the sunshine, however it is virtually impossible for the camera to calculate the white balance when the scene is lit by many different light sources and many different types of lights among those sources. Such is the case with a concert which utilizes literally hundreds of different lights, of different styles (temperatures) and different colours to create the dramatic effects necessary for an excellent performance. So what is the photographer’s solution? What I do is always shoot complicated lighting events in RAW format (a true digital negative that records all of the digital information captured on the sensor at the time of the exposure) and then adjust each image when processing the images on the computer. This takes a lot of time but helps tremendously in creating an image that best represents what your eye was seeing at the time of the exposure. Even still, as you look at the images in this post and in the gallery with all of the images, you will notice that skin colours are not consistent throughout. When you see a picture or video in which the colours just don’t look right or appear natural, it is almost always because the white balance was not set correctly, or the light sources were so mixed that it was impossible to set the correct white balance.

So enough of the technical discussion, lets look at some of the images from Calvary’s presentation of Under A Starry Sky.

Under a Starry Sky is a powerful seven scene musical that follows the spiritual journey of Melody, a young wife and mother who questions God’s presence as her family faces a bleak Christmas due to the loss of her husband Travis’ job just before Christmas. In this title slide we see Melody and Travis along with the Sounds Of Praise choir and the Calvary orchestra.

Melody

Travis

Throughout the musical many soloists, duets and ensembles were featured.

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Travis, Josiah and Evie.

Travis & Melody’s daughter Evie, praying for her mom….that she would know she was loved, by them and God. This is my favourite image from the musical.

Melody is transported back in time to that first Christmas when Jesus was born. Here she meets Anna, Mary’s mother.

Mary and Joseph making their way to Bethlehem and the stable where Christ would be born.

Melody meets an angel, Cleo, who was tasked with announcing the baby’s birth to the shepherds.

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Another of my favourites.

Melody meeting Harvey, one of the shepherds who took her to the manger.

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Melody returns to her family a changed person after having met Jesus, her Saviour.

The closing solo of the musical was Let There Be Light, a powerful vocal and visual presentation of Christmas, celebrating the birth of Christ, the Light of The World.

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I trust you have enjoyed this post and learned enough to give event photography a try….shoot RAW, take your fastest lenses, shoot wide open, turn up the ISO and get to a shutter speed that stops the motion on the stage and in the camera. Then have fun and try to capture the significant moments that help preserve people’s memory of the event.

You can view many more images from Under A Starry Sky by clicking this link to the CBC – Christmas 2015 Gallery on the web site. If you wish to order a DVD of Under A Starry Sky, click on this link to Calvary Baptist Church and request one via the contact form.

Every year the Martin family Christmas season begins with Calvary’s Christmas presentation which is always a powerful presentation of why we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ our Saviour, over two thousand years ago. As the words of the Christmas carol pictured above so clearly say “Joy to the world, The Lord has come. Let earth receive her King”.  Thank you to everyone who has followed this blog for another year. Your encouragement and support is much appreciated; we wish you a Merry and Blessed Christmas and look forward to an exciting New Year.

One of the wildlife photographer’s most prized animal to capture is the moose and fortunately I’ve been able to spend some time photographing them in Algonquin Park which you can see via this link to a previous blog post. This fall the goal was to photograph a Bull Moose during the rutting season; you know, that classic Bull Moose with a huge rack of antlers looking directly into the camera. To that end I spent two consecutive Fridays in the park last month looking for that elusive moose and unfortunately was unsuccessful on both days. Even when a plan doesn’t unfold as expected it is always a pleasure getting out of the city and spending time enjoying the outdoors. The bonus was seeing an Eastern Wolf on the first Friday and a Red Fox the second as well as having the privilege to photograph both of them.

The Red Fox is common in Ontario and in fact common around the entire Northern Hemisphere. It is the largest of the foxes and a truly beautiful animal with a heavy red coat and seemingly oversized tail.

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Who can deny what a majestic looking animal they are.

Animals that are introduced into foreign ecosystems generally (if not always) upset the delicate balance that exists within that ecosystem, often with devastating results. The introduction of the Red Fox to Australia in the 1830’s is such an example and the 6.2 million Red Foxes that now live in Australia make it one of the most damaging invasive species on that continent.

The Red Fox is a predator that typically eats small rodents, but will also take rabbits and game birds given the opportunity.

The Red Fox itself is a target of the larger predators in its ecosystem, which in Ontario includes wolves, coyotes and even some of the uncommon big cats.

The fox images in this post were taken late in the day as the light started to subside so an ISO of 2000 was required in order to arrive at a high enough shutter speed. For this reason I also chose the 5D Mk III body which is very good at high ISO’s. The lens was the new Canon 100-400mm IS zoom which is proving to be a wonderful lens. A number of other Red Fox images can be seen in the Wildlife Gallery.

The Eastern Wolf is a member of the dog family and is an important part of the Algonquin Park ecosystem, which is unique to the rest of the province as the wolves of Algonquin are not culled and are protected within the confines of the park. Although Deb and I have spent countless days in Algonquin Park over the years this was the first time either of us had seen a wolf in the wild and it was an unexpected pleasure.

Wolves typical live in packs of five to seven in Algonquin Park. Pack size is usually determined based on the primary food source of the wolves. In the park the wolf’s primary food source is the White tailed deer, which is of a size that can only support five to seven wolves, hence the average pack size in Algonquin Park (the two secondary food sources are the moose and the beaver). In parts of Canada where the primary prey is much larger (i.e. Bison) the packs are greater in number.

This wolf was probably a lone wolf or sigma wolf. The lone wolf is one who has left the comfort of his or her pack, by choice or eviction. Either way the lone wolf must fend for itself, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, to hunt the White tailed deer. Thus the lone wolf will scavenge for food and often become a nuisance if near a farm or community. Although this wolf has a healthy looking coat, it does appear thin and is probably is less than the average 30 kilogram weight of an Eastern Wolf.

There is often significant discussion and disagreement around the identification of wolves and coyotes and the differentiation between the two. The fact that this animal was seen in Algonquin Park virtually assures that it is an Eastern Wolf and not a coyote. Coyotes tend to prefer more open areas (farming communities) and don’t hunt well in heavily forested regions. They are also preyed upon by wolves when then enter their domain. Having said that, there were coyotes that interbred with Eastern wolves in Algonquin Park, most likely in the mid to late 1800’s when extensive sections of the park were cleared by logging operations, providing a more suitable environment for the coyote than what exists today.  So although this animal may contain some coyote DNA it is surely an Eastern Wolf.

The eyes of the wolf create an intense stare.

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Wolves will actually migrate during the winter and follow the White tail deer to their winter deer yards. On the east side of the park the deer head to the Round Lake area and are followed by the wolves, where they were vulnerable to being shot by farmers and hunters. Recognizing the human threat to the wolf population, hunting bans were placed in thirty townships surrounding Algonquin Park in order to protect the wellbeing of the wolves.

They are certainly a beautiful animal.

More wolf images can be seen in the Wildlife Gallery of the website.

I trust you have enjoyed this brief look at two of the smaller predators that occupy very important positions within the Algonquin Park ecosystem. As always, your questions, comments and shares of this post are very much appreciated.