Dave Hartley

Laysan Albatross on Midway Atoll

I uploaded an initial batch of photographs from my recent trip to Midway Atoll. You can access them through my Galleries page or directly via this link.

Here is a YouTube link to two Laysan Albatross doing their dance on Midway Atoll.

Here is a YouTube link to a whole field of Laysan Albatross on Midway Atoll.

Here is a YouTube link to two Black-footed Albatross doing their dance on Midway Atoll.

Two images demonstrating the difference in angle of view when using long and short lenses

I recently spent a week at Midway Atoll; this is located about 3200 miles west of my home town of San Francisco. To say that this is an incredible location to photograph birds is an understatement. It is the equivalent of St. Andrews Bay on South Georgia, with endless opportunities. Both locations allow you to use your range of focal lengths, from long to really wide. The images on the left show the possibilities. I was photographing the pair of Black-footed Albatross with a 14-24mm. Joe Van Os asked me to hold the pose whilst he photographed me with a 500mm lens with the Albatross in the foreground. Whilst “modeling”, I snapped a few images of him, showing the picture from my perspective. Everybody has a favorite lens, but you should remember to shoot with various focal lenses so that your images show different points of view.