Our January 2026 visit to look for the GPS tagged gannets at Muriwai, as usual, yielded endless opportunities for photography. The chicks had started hatching and growing rapidly and there were the usual birds greeting and sparring for space.
As the sun drops the light gets better and better if the clouds on the horizon are cooperative. Trying to isolate scenes within the chaos of the colony is a challenge as it can be a visual, auditory and olfactory sensory overload.
Telephoto lenses are the regular approach to isolating details but at times stepping back for a wider view is useful, especially to combine the birds into a landscape type image.
Changing over to my 24-200mm lens gave me some wider options to include the lovely colours in the sky.
As always the temptation is to keep photographing well after the light levels drop into near darkness.
Photos with Nikon Z8 and Nikkor Z 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 VR S and Nikkor Z 24-200mm f4-6.3 VR
