Puffins anyone?

DoubleCheese

DoubleCheese

DoubleCheese

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Joined
26 Jun 2005
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1,487
Just got back from a break to Pembrokeshire and a day trip to Skomer Island. If you are a birder or into bird photography then you MUST visit Skomer at some point, preferably between mid April and July, when the seabirds come to ashore to breed. Good weather helps heaps too!

The island is beautifully rugged and barren with pristine coastal waters all round. There are strict limits on the number of people allowed on each day and the boat only goes in fine weather.

I've put a few of of my photos on flickr if anyone is interested. The puffins nest in burrows on land as opposed to the cliffs and are incredibly tolerant to humans.

Equipment wise, I mostly used my 70-300 VR to keep some distance while getting close enough to fill the frame. I also used my Sigma 10-20mm as I could get upto within 6-8 inches of them for some shots.

There were a bunch of other photographers (mostly with Canon 1Ds') and the lens of choice seemed to be 70-200mm f2.8's, though one chap had a 600mm f4 monster, a tad overkill for the puffins.

I'd like to go back next year but a little later (May/June) when they are all on land and feeding their young.
 
some cracking shots there - its amazing how you can get so close.
nice to see that you dont need thousands of pounds worth of gear too :) gives me hope lol
 
Thanks all.
Shooting them on the ground was fairly easy and really good fun. Because they were so close and slow moving you didn't need an SLR and a point and shoot would have got good results. Catching them on the wing coming in to land was more challenging and you definitely needed an SLR with a fast burst and about 70-200/300mm of reach. My D200 does about 5fsps at a high burst and was plenty enough for me. Finding, following, zooming in and focussing in on a fast moving small bird took some learning, but I'm pleased with what I got for a first attempt.

The good weather helped enormously too.
 
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Great set of shots there mate, would love to visit there someday as i'm into bird/wildlife photography myself. Added you on flickr btw (i'm SQ PHOTOGRAPHY on there).
 
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