A Perfect Day Factory Video
After blogging last summer about my trip to the Canadian east coast, I had promised, Dear Reader, one more post from that voyage: a record of my visit to the vast Northern Gannet breeding colony off the coast of Gaspé. And I apologize profusely for my tardiness. But I have, I think, a reasonable excuse. You see, I had accumulated photographs and video footage not only from last summer but from three separate visits over the past three years to two of these fascinating colonies, where thousands of these sea birds congregate each spring and summer to breed, nest and rear their chicks.
So since I had all this material, I thought I should try to do something a little more ambitious (and time consuming): a somewhat longer video production about these remarkable birds.
In the piece, I combine both video and still photography in an attempt to give you an impression of what it is like to be in the middle of these colonies and the gregarious, raucous and sometimes humorous birds that inhabit them.
The time consuming part was the distillation of hundreds of photographs and and dozens of video clips taken over the three years and scripting them into a coherent, 12-minute piece.
You, as always, are the judge as to whether I’ve been successful. (If you do like the result, perhaps I could enjoin you to share it with others in your various social networks.) And as always, feel free to comment here. I enjoy and value your feedback.
Here are a few of the still photographs related to the video.
Île Bonaventure: Home of the 80,000-bird Northern Gannet colony
Spectacular. Very cool indeed. Thanks for sharing. Don’t stop.
Thank you David!
jd; almost otherworldly. really beautifully put together and narrated. and of course the landscape is majestic, the gannett a lovely being. it was really fascinating. thank you for that, sincerely. i look forward to checking out your other videos. hansraj.
Beautifully done, JD. An excellent mix of video, stills and narration. Thank you for sharing.
Phil
Thank you Phil. Much appreciated.
Well worth all the effort put into this video. Congratulations John.
Very beautiful. Thank you for such intimate moments with these extraordinary looking seabirds… and for all the things I did not know about Gannets.
Your much appreciated, time consuming efforts are beautiful, informative, and charming. Well done.
What a treat! Beautifully edited and presented. Thanks for sharing your amazing photos and videos of these amazing sea birds.
Excellent photography. Intimate photo study of beautiful species. Successful conservation story. Should be submitted to nature study TV programs for wider viewing.
Great stuff, John!…. we can rest easy about Attenborough’s increasing age… you have jumped into his shoes! Eager to share it, e.g. on our Facebook timeline, if we can figger out how!
Well done, JD. Thanks for sharing!
Absolutely wonderful dear cousin John. You have obviously put a lot of time and effort into this video and it shows. I learned so much, thank you. Barbara
Beautifully done! You narrated it so well.
I watched this on my big computer screen at work – it was a beautiful connection to life in the midst of paper and digitals. Later at home I practiced flying………thanks jd!
John what a tremendous and informative effort, loved it, please keep them coming. Dave
Great mini-doc JD ! I echo the others’ comments … and all for you picking up the baton from David Attenborough ! : ) … I’ll certainly be sharing this on FB and G+. Bravo !
Absolutely fantastic, John, as always. You put David A & National Geo to shame, I think. It was well worth the wait from your travels.
This is amazing, John. I see others have mentioned David Attenborough, and I agree that you are in his class! Thanks so much for sharing this with the OFNC Facebook group. I enjoyed every minute of it.
Thank you so much for taking the time to craft such a wonderful window into the world. What a delight!
And I am glad that I got to know about this beautiful bird as well. Thank you so much. As usual an excellent and very enjoyable piece of art. I can believe it was days and days of work.
Stunning!
Just enjoyed the wonderful Gannets for a second time and, Yes – you have succeeded in helping me get to know and better understand these interesting and beautiful creatures in all their wild glory and beautiful scenic backdrops..well done !
I can only imagine what a monumental task it was to whittle your material down to this impactful clip. The combination of video, stills and narration is brilliant!