Puffins are amazing little birds, and I had such a wonderful time visiting the Farne Islands. The birds are like bullets when they fly - this one was just taking off . The fish in it's beak are sand eels, which they feed to their young. Indeed this is all they feed their young, so a year when the sand eels do badly, so do the puffins. Another week or so, and the puffins will all have left, heading out to sea where they will stay for the next 8 or 9 months until the next breeding season starts.
I took a trip up to the Farnes earlier in the month, and as soon as the challenge was announced knew that I wanted to return, and exactly what photo I was going to try to get. As an aside, I had misread the challenge description as aiming to get a National Geographic cover photo, rather than one for inclusion in the magazine, so in picking my entry I disregarded any photo that only worked in landscape orientation. I still have to go through my photos properly, and once I have I'll post more to my portfolio.
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The Famous Five on Puffin Island first brought my attention to puffins, and I have wanted to see one in real life ever since. Fabulous shot Sara, well done indeed
Well earned, Sara. You've been poppin up puffins all over and now you got your little blue reward. I think maybe it sort of shows that you went back for another go because there's (essentially technical) quality in this that you might not have got on a first frenzy. Top hole !
Many congratulations on the blue! The Farne Islands are one of my favourite places to visit and I so love seeing the puffins, I tried seeing them at a few other places this year but nowhere else was anywhere near like as good as the Farnes. I shall be back there no doubt next year and will be ecstatic if I can get a pic anywhere near like as good as your lovely shot.
Just brilliant. This is outstanding. My first reaction was 'Wow'. Puffins were and still are one of my favourite birds from my first recollections of seeing them in NG sometime in the early 70's. This is 100% publishable by NG. It has all the right elements, from crisp clean focus on the bird, fabulous saturation, very high s/s to stop the action in the head and water droplets but not too high to allow some motion in the wing(s)(A 1000th? unless you have a VR/IS/OS lens). The BG is naturally OOF as you were shooting wider than f/8 possibly f/4 on a prime or thereabouts? There is absolutely no visible CA. And to top it off the little sucker has lunch in his beak. 10.
Great capture of him in mid-flight. Very Nat Geo. :) I might've even cropped out some of the lower part so we could see him even bigger. Love the focus and vivid colors.
Fratercula arctica - Arctic Puffin
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