Keeping Watch
a lone puffin standing on a rock, on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast
a lone puffin standing on a rock, on the Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast
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Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Aperture 63/10 ISO 200 Shutter 1/200 Focal Length 400/1 
Northumberland, GB
Sep, 2022Views
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Behind The Lens
Location
I was in Northumberland on holiday late April in 2015 and arranged to go on a boat trip to visit the Farne Islands which lie a little way off the shore. They are a favourite breeding ground for Puffins, plus a variety of other birds. When we arrived at the largest island, we were able to go ashore and see the birds at close quarters. I tried a few pics of puffins flying back from their sand ell fishing trips, to no avail and so turned my attention to static ones. This particular puffin stood out for me,as the background was sufficiently far back to be out of focus and the bird was stood there in profile and beautifully lit.Time
As in previous answer, this was a late April morning, quite breezy and cold, and this shot was at just after 11am.Lighting
I liked the way the bird was lit in the nice sunny conditions that day, it gave me the detail I hoped for and a nicebackground.Equipment
I had then, and still have, a Canon Eos 7d mk2 which I have used for many trips to motorsport and had paired that with my Canon 100-400 zoom. The properties for the pic show that I was on 400mm focal length and I used a hand held exposure of 1/200 sec using ISO 200 and it gave f6.3 .Inspiration
I had wanted to try to obtain nice photos of Puffins and I particularly liked the profile pose that this bird offered while perched on the rocks. I spotted the opportunity to frame the shot in a pleasing way and that I was able to throw the background out of focus to help the bird really stand out.Editing
I must admit to a tiny bit of sharpening and richening of the colours, but honestly not a lot.In my camera bag
Besides the previously mentioned Canon 7d mk2 and the Canon 100-400mm zoom, I also use a Canon 10-24mm wide angle and a Canon 24-70mm zoom which is my normal 'go to' lens. The 24-70 also has a Macro setting which I have used quite a bit in the last few years.Feedback
The boat trips to the Farne Islands or to Skomer or other suitable places around the UK are to be recommended. particularly if they are going to afford you the chance to go ashore at some point. You have to be careful not to disturb the birds by trying to get too close and some months are more sensitive than others because of the breeding season. The boat trip owners know and so do the wardens on the islands.
