R
Ron Reznick
Guest
One morning, we piled into a boat and scooted over to this little postage-stamp island that the locals call Puffin Island, for very good reason. The island is infested with these cute little birds. They are extremely difficult to photograph, as the dynamic range is quite high between the darker rocks and light feathers, esp. when the birds are in partial sun. They are close to impossible to shoot consistently in the air, as they move very fast and erratically, probably to confound photographers (it certainly seemed that way -- you should have seen Joe's face when he started trying flight shots... it was so priceless I had to take a shot. To avoid possible assault, I'll avoid posting that shot of his expression [chuckle]).
All but the last shot here were taken with the D2Hs. Need for speed...
The Puffins typically hang out in small groups on rock ledges:
200mm f/2VR w/ TC14e (280mm), f/8
They share some spots with Murres, but as you'll notice above, when a photographer is around they try hard to block the Murre with their wings. I arranged to circumvent this blockade for only one shot:
1:1 crop, 280mm @ f/8
They feed offshore, flying out to get fish and bringing them back to their ledges to eat. Catching shots of the puffins coming back in with fish is an extreme challenge -- these guys are like flying footballs, and they really scoot:
Both shots, 200mm VR + TC17e (340mm) @ f/8
Sometimes, they sit on a ledge all by themselves and contemplate the whichness of what:
200mm f/2 VR @ f/5.6
They are unbelievably comical, apparently even to each other. They show a great interest in what other individuals are doing. For instance, this one puffin came in for a landing, then launched into an operatic aria. Note the interest shown by the neighboring puffin:
340mm @ f/8
They seemed quite interested in the huge glass eyes we kept pointing at them:
340mm @ f/8
...they also seemed quite interested in some of the bugs:
280mm @ f/5.6
One more flight shot... this time from the D2x and the 300mm, both of which were feeling left out except when shooting static shots. The Hs's high-speed frame rate really comes in handy for these little guys, but I didn't want to annoy the "X" so I took some at the end with it:
D2x, 300mm VR @ f/8
I hope you enjoyed your little trip to Puffin Island. C'mon back, now...
Ron
--
Ron Reznick
http://digital-images.net
http://trapagon.com
All but the last shot here were taken with the D2Hs. Need for speed...
The Puffins typically hang out in small groups on rock ledges:
200mm f/2VR w/ TC14e (280mm), f/8
They share some spots with Murres, but as you'll notice above, when a photographer is around they try hard to block the Murre with their wings. I arranged to circumvent this blockade for only one shot:
1:1 crop, 280mm @ f/8
They feed offshore, flying out to get fish and bringing them back to their ledges to eat. Catching shots of the puffins coming back in with fish is an extreme challenge -- these guys are like flying footballs, and they really scoot:
Both shots, 200mm VR + TC17e (340mm) @ f/8
Sometimes, they sit on a ledge all by themselves and contemplate the whichness of what:
200mm f/2 VR @ f/5.6
They are unbelievably comical, apparently even to each other. They show a great interest in what other individuals are doing. For instance, this one puffin came in for a landing, then launched into an operatic aria. Note the interest shown by the neighboring puffin:
340mm @ f/8
They seemed quite interested in the huge glass eyes we kept pointing at them:
340mm @ f/8
...they also seemed quite interested in some of the bugs:
280mm @ f/5.6
One more flight shot... this time from the D2x and the 300mm, both of which were feeling left out except when shooting static shots. The Hs's high-speed frame rate really comes in handy for these little guys, but I didn't want to annoy the "X" so I took some at the end with it:
D2x, 300mm VR @ f/8
I hope you enjoyed your little trip to Puffin Island. C'mon back, now...
Ron
--
Ron Reznick
http://digital-images.net
http://trapagon.com
Thanks Ron.
