Skyward

[Stu Bowie]

A Cape Gannet looking skywards for anticipation of its returning partner. Gannets spend hours out at see to feed, and then return to this island - Lamberts Bay on the west coast of South Africa. This is one of the largest Gannet colonies in the world. After processing this, I could have come up from the bottom to eliminate the OOF Gannet in the LRC, but decided to leave it in. There are a lot of restrictions where one can photograph these birds, most not ideal, but some sweet talking to an official, one can get to a vantage point for a short while to capture some decent angles and shots. Taken early morning.

Wishing everyone a Happy New year for 2021.

Canon 1D Mark IV
Canon 300mm F/2.8 +2X TC = 600mm
1/3200
F/8.0
ISO 640

Hand Held

[Steve Kaluski]

Gorgeous Stu, all the very best Bud for 2021. :cheers:

TFS
Steve

[David Roach]

Love this canvas, Stu. Especially the OOF birds. Happy New Year right back at you... TFS

[annmpacheco]

I love this image, the prominent hopeful gannet and the oof gang with their curved necks/head make this for me
HNY to you

[Andreas Liedmann]

Hi Stu ... looking good !!!
Like the single Gannet pointing skyward !!!
Love the colors ... very realistic , been there many moons ago !!!

TFS and all the best for 2021 , cheers Andreas

[Bill Dix]

A lovely shot, Stu. The oof Gannets create the context very nicely. Best wishes for a productive and healthy 2021.

[Dorian Anderson]

Beautiful view of this species and trademark behavior/posture! Excellent exposure control, and the detail looks great with the 2x! Just enough separation from the backing colony to keep out attention on the intended subject.

[Jim Crosswell]

Beautiful image Stu! Happy New Year to you as well!

[John Mack]

Happy New Year to you as well. Really like this frame. The gannet looking skyward and the other gannets surrounding it.

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Happy New Year Stu! I'm really enjoying how you've managed to highlight this typical gannet behavior while retaining the overall context of the colony. Great IQ to boot. Lovely image!

[Stu Bowie]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.