Three Days out for Good Behaviour

A few years ago Rachel gave me an anniversary present of 3 days away with my camera - I'm not quite sure what that says about our relationship (!!??) but I was very pleased with the idea, as it allowed me to travel further afield than I can in a day to take photos. On that occasion I spent three days camping in Northumberland.

To my great delight, and surprise, I was allowed a similar trip the next year, and the next year, and unbelievably it seems to now be an accepted part of my annual calendar. So in early July last year I effectively replicated my first trip - spending three days in Northumberland, two on the Farne Islands and one combining a trip to Bass Rock in Scotland with an afternoon and evening on Lindisfarne.

I spent Day 1 and Day 3 of my trip on the Farne Islands, on both days going on the Billy Shiel's All Day Trip from Seahouses harbour. The weather, and therefore the light was varied, with the two trips offering opportunities of photographing a number of different birds. I will therefore brigade my images by bird rather than go through the photos I took on each individual day. I will start with one of my favourite birds - the Puffin.

Puffins part 1 - Puffins in Flight

I love Puffins - they are great characters and very photogenic. I have photographed them on a number of occasions, both on the Farnes and on Skomer Island off the Pembrokeshire coast. I therefore already have a number of images I am quite pleased with.  But I have very few photos of Puffins in flight.

Puffins fly very quickly indeed making them very difficult to capture. One of the best times to catch them is as they come into land. They sometimes hang in the air a bit longer when the wind is in the right direction. The best shots also need good light and a nice blue sky.   On Day 1 of my trip I was also blessed with all these conditions coming together. Setting my camera to AI Servo for moving objects, I made full use of the EOS 7Ds ability to take 8 frames a second.  

Puffin in FlightInner Farne, Farne Islands, Northumberland

Puffin in FlightInner Farne, Farne Islands, Northumberland

Puffin in FlightInner Farne, Farne Islands, Northumberland

Puffin in FlightInner Farne, Farne Islands, Northumberland

Puffin in FlightInner Farne, Farne Islands, Northumberland

Puffin in FlightInner Farne, Farne Islands, Northumberland

I did get a couple of shots against the green background of the grassy bank the Puffins were nesting in.

Puffin in FlightInner Farne, Farne Islands, Northumberland

But my favourite images were taken against the blue sky.

Puffin in FlightInner Farne, Farne Islands, Northumberland

There will be more Puffin shots from this trip in a later post.