Dave Hartley

We’ll be giving a talk to the Golden Gate Audubon Society on Thursday July 15. The presentation is entitled “Midway Atoll: 60 people and 2 Million Birds”. The synopsis of the talk is:

“Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge has opened to small groups of visitors again. This nature lover’s paradise supports 17 seabird species, including the largest Laysan Albatross colony in the world. Dave Hartley and Jeanine Lovett’s presentation is based on a trip they took to the atoll in 2009. Through photographs, they will show life in the Albatross colony—including Laysan, Black-footed, and Short-tailed Albatrosses—along with Red-tailed Tropicbirds, Red-footed Boobies, Great Frigatebirds, White Terns, and Laysan Ducks. They will also discuss the environmental issues affecting the atoll.”

This will take place on Thursday July 15; 7pm refreshments, 7:30pm program.

The talk will be in the First Unitarian Universalist Church and Center located at 1187 Franklin street (at Geary), San Francisco.

 

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.

 

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.