Photo 150 "2022" - Wetapunga

Beautiful photo of this hovering gannet. The richness and depth of the head colour and the underside of the wings surprises me, as I remember seeing both of those much lighter and less saturated.
Don't know whether that's you in PP, or whether it's a seasonal plumage thing?
Whatever, it's a great shot.

Edited by Jozioau - 17 February 2022 at 07:05

Thanks Joe- I think the colours reflect a few nudges. There is a bit of colour variation anyway, the yellows look deeper in brighter sun (I don't know what the weather was like when you visited Muriwai), and the a9's auto white balance seems a bit warmer than I expect. I might have to rely getting some grey card readings next time, to see how the bias works. It seems a bit more subtle than I can deal with quickly by sliding the WB back and forth.

And @Hezu, you are correct. I've had the camera for less than a week, and not given the sensor a proper clean. The trip to Muriwai was a bit hastier than I would have liked. I even left my spare battery at home on the charger...

There's a nasty dust bunny on the right edge I've already eliminated, but I missed that one at the bottom. I'll get it fixed and replace the image.

Bravo I wish! And thank you for sharing the settings comments, especially ref the sensitivity setting.

bonneville wrote: Bravo I wish! And thank you for sharing the settings comments, especially ref the sensitivity setting.

Thanks Brian, I kind of like the semi-blog format of this challenge, so adding in some thoughts seemed appropriate. Tracking sensitivity wasn't something I had to think about before, as most of my shots in the last few years have been landscapes. They don't jump around much. Even here with the earthquakes. Plus I manual focus a lot.

One of the YT videos I saw recommended a tracking sensitivity of 1 for sports, but 5 for flying birds. But all that happened at 5 is the camera kept jumping around with its focus, rather than track the bird I had in my sights. It might work if there was a flock of birds overhead and you just wanted to grab every opportunity you had to get the closest bird, but not here. All good to know for next time.

Howard_S wrote: Congratulations on getting photo #2 into the weekly gallery - well deserved.

Thanks Howard- I think getting that a9 was the smart move. It makes my telephoto lenses a lot more lively.

Sorry for being a bit tardy commenting, too busy with all kind of other stuff (like helping our daughter renovate a house)

Wow on the Takapu, very nice shot with the bird perfectly exposed and separated from the background!

The B&W tree trunk is great natural sculpture!

Something about the tonality with the 21 loxia in B&W. I like it

Wow, A9! Concrats. Surely it makes light work of following birds in flight?
If been eyeing one since first launch, but the price has never gone under 2000 SH. Slowly getting there, but not just yet. One day though