Puffins on the Farne Islands, Northumberland

redmonkee

redmonkee

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Hi guys

My girlfriend and I are having 4 days in Northumberland in late July we are staying in Seahouses so i'm hoping to take a boat trip out to the Farne Islands as i've heard late July is an excellent time to see the puffins :love:

Now I'm not a bird shooter at all and i've never shot a bird in flight (does that sound wrong :cautious:) but I just adore the wee puffins so i'm thinking of taking my photo gear up with me.

Now the only two lenses that are on the long end are the 135L and the 300 2.8IS I also have a 1.4xTC

which would you take? would the 135L and extender be enough or would you go for the 300mm

Also i'd love to know of any tips to help me photograph these little gems. What metering and AF is best to use etc.

Cheers (y)
 
Personally if you can carry them I would take both,sods law says if you only take one you will need the other!
 
When I went to Skomer, from what I understand is a similar island in terms of its Puffin population. I took a 600 and a 200-400 I didn't take both on the island at the same time as that would be silly! But on separate days I took both, and I preferred the longer fixed focal length.

But I agree with troutfisher if you can carry both why not take them, but I would definitely take the 300mm.

You can look at what you can expect in terms of Puffins here - http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpbwright/sets/72157626633650983/
 
Having been to the Farne Islands I have to say that you really don't "need" anything over 200mm, in fact a 70-200 would be perfect. If you did want to catch them in flight then the 300+1.4 could be useful.

But you do get really close to the birds, for instance this was shot at just 100mm:


Farne Islands Shag by Steve Jelly, on Flickr

I actually hired a 300 f2.8 to take with me but found that to use it I was walking back most of the time :D I do have Puffin shots taken at similar focal lengths, just not on the web.

I would take both if I were you, you can get great shots of birds such as Turnstones and Plovers on the beaches.

Steve
 
If the Farnes are anythig like Skomer, your biggest problem are that the puffins are too close to focus on with a long focal length lens such as the 300mm. A 70-200 with the ability to focus close in is the best bet. The other problem you will have is the extreme contrast between the extremely white breast and the rest of the scene in bright sunlight. Try and shoot as early or as late in the day as the boat trip will allow. High diffuse white cloud will help.
 
Cheers for the replies guys.(y)

I'm actually now in the process of deciding whether to sell my 135L and upgrade to the 70-200 2.8IS II, i'm thinking if I were to take this lens along with the 1.4xTC I wouldn't need the 300mm anyway as this focal length would almost be covered with this combo and i's have much less weight and more versatility.
 
redmonkee said:
Cheers for the replies guys.(y)

I'm actually now in the process of deciding whether to sell my 135L and upgrade to the 70-200 2.8IS II, i'm thinking if I were to take this lens along with the 1.4xTC I wouldn't need the 300mm anyway as this focal length would almost be covered with this combo and i's have much less weight and more versatility.
Click to expand...

That's a very good (but expensive :LOL:) bit of thinking.... When we went to Skomer, I was shooting with the 17-55 at times. On both islands you get very close to the birds. Where the extra focal length come in handy is when you want to isolate a single bird from a pack, and through the background OOF.

Steve
 
You get close to the birds, in fact with th Arctic Terns its personal, take a hat and some asprin. You get chances to photograph the Guillemots, Razorbills Shags, etc from the boat below the cliffs which are reasonably low. On Inner Farne you need to watch where your walking in case you step on a chick, while their parents try to peck lumps from your noggin.

You get within a few feet of Puffins, and their burrows as well as clifftop nests of other birds. Dont forget you also have chances of the seals on the lesser islands and also around the boat.

Enjoy your day.

A link to a run out by a local photography group to the farnes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yzds7HQek2k
 
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To be honest you can use just about any focal length on the Farnes. I had plans to use the Sigma 12-24 yeaterday but the weather stopped that. I took all of my shots with the 500 f4 because I didn't want to change lenses in the rain.

In the past I've always gone with the 300 f4 because of its close focusing.

Neil
 
When I was there last week with two other photographers, we shot mostly with lenses ranging between 300m and 600mm. Two of us had 70-200 with us on day one but left them behind for day two. I had my 200-400 on day one and then the 600 on day two, and I enjoyed the two different options it gave me.

You can see a gallery of the images we took there, which we are still adding to at our Project Puffin gallery on 500px.com.
 
I got some nice flight shots with a 70-200 2.8 x1.4 the puffins fly low within 10 mtrs.
Clear blue sky or well broken cloud is best for flight shots with no ground in the shot, cloud always looks just white behind a well exposed bird.
A 300mm would be useful with a converter for some ground shots but as mentioned most times you can get very close especially to the Guillemots.
Yes take both lenses you will want the one you leave behind , and as recommended by others take a hat , the arctic terns will draw blood on your scalp !
 
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