On the morning of June 14, my 62nd birthday, we took the ferry to Bonaventure Island and made the 1.8 mile walk up the big hill. I had been a bit worried about making that walk up and down for five straight days, but Chris was right: “Take it slow and it is an easy walk.” When we arrived at the gannetry, I was totally blown away. So so many birds at arms length. Dozens, even hundreds of gannets in the air at all times, many carrying huge loads of nesting material, many landing just yards away. That day, the photographic action was nonstop, but it was not a birthday present, for the succeeding four days were equally exciting. And as each day came and went, I visualized and created many new and different images. I felt like a painter locked in a huge warehouse with hundreds of blank canvases and an unlimited supply of paints. I was in bird photographer’s heaven. That evening Chris and I met the five remaining members of the group. Weather permitting, we planned to spend four hours in a large Zodiac photographing the gannetry and the cliffs from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Though it was rough on the two mornings that we went out very early, we had some great flight and scenic opportunities. Then the skipper of the Zodiac, would drop us of on the island and we would make the climb to the birds.

I have been to Antarctica. I have been to Kenya. I have been to Tanzania. And I have been going to Bosque for the past 13 years. All of those places offer great photographic opportunities. But no place that I have been has ever offered as consistent and spectacular action as Bonaventure during Chris Dodds' Gannets Galore Workshop

Chris is an excellent photographer and a skilled teacher. Chris is a passionate and caring leader as well as an excellent leader and an all around nice man.

Arthur Morris Indian Lake Estates, Florida, USA