puffin01
Puffin inbound at RSPB Bempton Cliffs
Puffin inbound at RSPB Bempton Cliffs
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Jan, 2016Views
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PaulBrothers
January 18, 2016
This image was shown on the local BBC Weather slot with Paul Hudson a few years back.
Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
This photograph was taken on the cliff tops at the RSPB Nature Reserve at Bempton, near Flamborough,Yorkshire.Time
The image was taken around midday during June..Lighting
Taken with natural light, though the sunlight wasn't brilliant on the day as sea fret was slowly burning off.Equipment
Canon 40D body with a Canon 70-200mm L series f2.8 lens and a Canon 2x extender giving 400mm of zoom at maximum magnification. The image stabiliser was on panning mode which in theory helps to provide slightly better images for birds in flight. Given the crop factor of the 40D sensor, this equates to around 640mm of zoom. More zoom would be beneficial for these types of birding shots.Inspiration
The thousands of birds swinging around along the cliff face is quite stunning to bear witness to The noise and smell are quite staggering.. Birds are constantly inbound with bills full of food and heading back out again for run after run to feed their hungry chicks.Editing
Post processing is done in Serif Photoplus software. It generally consists of sharpening, a levels tweak to add a bit of punch to the contrast and sometimes a saturation boost, depending upon what the image needs.In my camera bag
Additional lenses, batteries and memory cards are always taken in the bag, even if I don't use them. Flash isn't really any good for outside shots, given the range to the subject matter, but can add highlights to birds eyes under the right conditions. Often I have my macro setup with me, as you never know when something might show. I take the tripod for Bempton, but rarely use it unless the situation warrants it. Usually that is reserved for landscapes and panoramas.Feedback
I try and keep the shutter speed above 1/250th of a second, even if using image stabilisation. Ideally I also try and keep the f-stop at around f8 to f11, though it won't always be possible without upping the ISO to levels where image noise may become an issue. It is always a balance or trade-off with settings depending upon available light on the day.. The camera needs to be either pre-focused to a set distance or set on the continual focusing mode to best capture birds on the move. Panning is a case of trail and error, finding the bird, framing it and getting focus all in that split second of two as the bird comes in to land. Take loads of photographs, some will be sharper and better framed than others. I tend to use Aperture Priority (Av) mode and let the shutter speed rise and fall as required, but ensuring it stays above the 1/250th second mark. I select centre weighted metering, though if your subject is off centre, this can get the balance wrong. I also add in 1/3 stop of over exposure to highlight the birds against the brighter sea and skies. I always shoot in RAW which gives more ability to tweak shots later on, should the need arise.
