In the Field

Bonaparte's Gull in Flight. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia. August 19, 2026.

I captured this flight shot of a Bonaparte's Gull in its winter plumage during my "Summer in the Great Bear: Focused on Wolves" exploratory photo adventure in August of 2026. At the time I was field-testing out a new recently released camera - the 67 MP Sony A7R VI. My particular goal for the trip was to fully suss out how well the autofocus system of the A7R VI performed.

Without getting into the gory details, suffice to say for now that the AF system worked really, really well. On paper the Sony A1 II and A7R VI have very similar autofocus specs/features, but with the A1 II having the clear edge in the number of AF calculations it makes per second (120 vs. 60 on the A7R VI). But does this "on paper" difference have much of a consequence in AF performance that a wildlife photographer would notice?

Well, my field experience very clearly said "NO". I used the A7R VI on a LOT of flight shots using several different lenses (including the FE 600mm f4 GM OSS with a 1.4x TC) and in some really tricky lighting situations (like with the Bonaparte's Gull). And I experienced a VERY HIGH hit rate. Anecdotally, it even seemed that the A7R VI picked up bird and mammal's eyes quicker and at a greater distance than the A1 II did.

I'm NOT claiming that the AF system of the A7R VI is as good as that of the A1 II in all situations. I suspect there would be some "extreme action" situations where the higher number of AF calculations per second WOULD make a difference to the hit rate (favouring the A1 II). But I do think under most situations that a wildlife photographer would encounter the AF system of the Sony A7R VI is likely to be more than sufficient.

Here's a larger version (4800 pixel) of this delicate gull in flight:

• Bonaparte's Gull in Flight: Download 4800 pixel image (JPEG: 2.3 MB)

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

1. These images - in all resolutions - are protected by copyright. I'm fine with personal uses of them (including use as desktop backgrounds or screensavers on your own computer), but unauthorized commercial use of the image is prohibited by law. Thanks in advance for respecting my copyright!

2. Like all photographs on this website, these images were captured following the strict ethical guidelines described in The Wildlife FIRST! Principles of Photographer Conduct. As such, no baiting or any form of attractant was used and, as always, we attempted to minimize our impact on the ongoing behaviour of the subjects. I strongly encourage all wildlife photographers to always put the welfare of their subjects above the value of their photographs.

3. This image was captured during my Summer in the Great Bear: Focused on Wolves Exploratory Photo Adventure in late summer of 2026. Each year I offer photo tours into various locations on the amazing BC coast, including the Great Bear Rainforest and, every other year, into the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Sanctuary (to photograph grizzlies, of course!). Details about these trips can be found on the Photo Tours page of this website.

Behind the Camera

Bonaparte's Gull in Flight. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia. August 19, 2026.

Compressed RAW (ARW) format; ISO 500.

Sony A7R VI paired with Sony FE 600mm f4 GM OSS lens. Hand-held from floating Zodiac inflatable boat. OSS on and set to Mode 1. Spot: XL (tracking) AF area mode with subject recognition mode set to Bird.

1/3200s @ f4.5; -1.3 stop compensation from multi-metered exposure setting.

At the Computer

Bonaparte's Gull in Flight. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia. August 19, 2026.

Initial noise reduction and capture sharpening on the .arw (raw) file using the DeepPRIME XD3 algorithm of DXO PhotoLab 10.0 Elite (using the appropriate camera/lens module).

Subsequent adjustments to the adjusted linear DNG file (exported from PhotoLab) and conversion to 16-bit TIFF file (and JPEG files for web use) - including all global and selective adjustments - made using Capture One Pro (build 16.8). In the case of this image I made only one global adjustments - a reduction of highlights. Selective local adjustments performed using Capture One Pro's layers and masking tools. In this case numerous small adjustments and minor tweaks were made on 6 separate layers, with the tweaks being associated with "exposure balancing" and contrast adjustments (such as adjustments to brightness, clarity, highlights, shadows, blacks, etc.).

Photoshop modifications included insertion of the watermark and/or text.

Conservation

Bonaparte's Gull in Flight. Great Bear Rainforest, British Columbia. August 19, 2026.

Species Status in Canada*: This species is not designated as at risk.

This Bonaparte's Gull (Larus philadelphia) is shown in its winter plumage - during the breeding season they have a black hood/head. The Bonaparte's Gull is the smallest native gull found in North America. While Bonaparte's Gulls are not considered endangered, this one was photographed in the Great Bear Rainforest of British Columbia. This globally unique habitat is under threat of development, particularly from logging.

*as determined by COSEWIC: The Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada