Puffin, a photo from Argyll and Bute, Scotland

Photographer's Note

Puffin looking out to sea, Isle of Lunga.

Lunga in the Treshnish Isles is a great place to see and photograph seabirds, with guillemots, razorbills, shags, fulmars and skuas all competing for the attention. The puffins must be everyone's favourite though, and they breed here in abundance.
These characterful birds nest in burrows along the cliff-top, which they either dig themselves or if they're feeling lazy, steal from rabbits, evicting the original inhabitants with a few swift jabs from those colourful beaks.
They are extremely tame birds, having no fear of man whatsoever. If you lie down quietly they'll happily go about their business about four or five feet away, sometimes approaching even closer to admire their reflections in the end of your lens.
As you can imagine, I took many, many photographs of these colourful birds; shots of them inspecting potential burrows, fetching nest material, squabbling with the neighbours, engaging in frequent frenzies of beak clicking to reinforce their pair bonds, the list goes on. They're always doing something interesting.
About the only shot I didn't get was one of a bird with a beakful of sand eels, arranged neatly nose to tail. They only bring in food when they have chicks to feed, and at the time of year when I was there they were still at the burrow preparation stage.
Maybe one day I'll get round to posting some of these shots on Trek Nature (if I only had more time!), but in the meantime I couldn't resist posting this one here.

Bonus shots in the worshop: Here you can see just how close you can get to the puffins, and in this one you can see a bit more of these wonderful islands where they live at this time of year.

Focal length: 150mm
Aperture: f5.6
Shutter speed: 1/1000th second
Exposure compensation: -1.0 EV

jarvmobile, Vicky, besnard, robjol, Floydian, salvator, Wanda1, Paolo, tcht, riclopes, Budapestman, daddo, bostankorkulugu, Photo65Net, feather, sleon, Mikos, branley, robiuk, pasternak, delic, macondo, MLINES, akg, bullybeef53, Ascot έχουν(ει) επιλέξει αυτή τη σημείωση ως χρήσιμη

Critiques | Translate

jarvmobile (571) 2007-06-09 3:57

Awwww..my favourite bird!. A beautful sharp shot and nicely composed. Love it!

Vicky (1446) 2007-06-09 3:58

Hi Ben,
This is a wonderful portrait of this bird. Composition is spot-on and the colours are bold...I think the way he stands out against that dark blue background is excellent. You must have had quite an experience that day. Outstanding detail and sharpness. Well done. Best wishes, Vicky

besnard (59196) 2007-06-09 4:03

Bonjour Ben
Joli clichι de cet oiseau aux magnifiques couleurs qui se dιtachent sur le bleu profond du ciel. C'est trθs agrιable au regard.
Bravo - merci pour le partage et bon week-end.
Nicole

InasiaJones (31566) 2007-06-09 4:03

Hi Ben,

Ive been to Orkney Islands, in part to observe these fabulous birds, but, I wasnt there at the proper time... So its good to see your splendid photo and how close you can get to them. Youve done a great composition and I like how the deep blue sea allows the bird to stand out in full contrasts. Beautiful colours, light and good use of a shallow DOF with nice forefront bokeh.

Cheers!

Andrι

Floydian (30970) 2007-06-09 4:06

Hi Ben,
Wonderful, indeed a favorite bird which i like to photograph myself. The image is pin sharp, excellent colour, and especially that blue of the sea enhance that feeling in colour even more. The only thing i miss is some fish in his mouth.
On top of his belly it's a bit over-exposed, but does not really bothers me, i like this bird so much that's it's a joy to see one. Some people might say it's for TN, but who cares...i like it ;-)
Have a nice weekend, Henk

lovely3 (0) 2007-06-09 4:08

Wowwwwwwwwwwwwwww,Very nice & beautiful taked.
Excellent job !

robjol (2399) 2007-06-09 4:10

Hello Ben,
What a perfect shot, did you bribe this Puffing to sit so nice,head at the best angle,
fantastic colours, with great detail. Don,t think I had seen such a lovely photo.
It the scoring went to 10 it would be 10 out of 10. thanks for sharing. Rob.

Cara (2059) 2007-06-09 4:25

Hello Ben,
Lovely bird, well composed image, razor sharp with great colors!
Well done, Regards,
Daniel

jarek (495) 2007-06-09 4:29

Hello Ben,

the birds looks tremendously, I like it very much! Great colors and sharpness. It must have been really hard to get that colse to him, even despite of zoom lens. Great picture!
Jarek.

salvator (19110) 2007-06-09 5:00

Hi Ben,
Very nice details and colors on the bird, and nice usage of the background. I wish you an excellent weekend. Best regards. Salvator.

Wanda1 (15142) 2007-06-09 5:00

Hi Ben,
I really like the way you have chosen to compose this shot with the bird right over on the side and a big amount of the dark blue water. The light on the bird is lovely and enhances the bright spots of colour and details that it has. A great shot with good sharpness.
Regards
Wanda

Paolo (41258) 2007-06-09 5:12

Hi Ben, wonderful portrait of this bird, that i saw in Iceland many years ago. excellent quality, perfect exposure and composition.
So it's named Puffin...in Iceland it's called Lundi, and in italy is know as Pulcinella di Mare!
thanks, ciao

tcht (7565) 2007-06-09 5:16

Hi Ben
what a beautiful pic, amazing colours and sharpness. I also like the strongish light on the belly and the head...and your 'close up' workshop just made laugh...very nice postings ;)
Cheers
Cheukhin

partha (14023) 2007-06-09 5:58

Hi Ben,
Great shot. nicely spotted. Wonderfully captured.
great shot.
regards.
partha

bantonbuju (51815) 2007-06-09 6:19

flawless photo, ben,
absolutely charming, and perfectly sharp...
no much more to say as this is a breathtaking image...
best, j.

riclopes (35577) 2007-06-09 6:25

Love it, Ben. I never go to TN, so I'm allways glad to see some animals here, once in a while. The quality of the image is most impressive, with very clear and sharp details. The position in such a steep rock surface is funny and that orange beak is a really beauty and contrasting well with the blue background. The WSs are amazing and excellent complementar images. The close one is also very funny and showing a good view of the surrounding landscape. Great post!
Cheers,
ricardo

Budapestman (82620) 2007-06-09 8:19

Dear Ben,
Beautiful shot. Its an excellent composition and superb cut. I like the gleaming colours and the fine details. Splendid work. Have a nice weekend, thank you
George

daddo (28728) 2007-06-09 8:27

Hi Ben. Superb light on this colourful bird. The white and the red that adorns it stands out superbly against the bluest sea. Excellent details and a very creative composition as you placed him on a bit of rock, whilst he surveys his realm, the open sea. Excellent. Regards. Klaudio.

Photo65Net (43144) 2007-06-09 11:45

Ben,
A perfect animal portrait.
Sharpness, colors and DOF are just perfect, and tour framing choices work well.
Nice job,
Regards,
JB.

Gustaw (21670) 2007-06-09 14:09

Hi, my friend!
Very nice composition with very good colours. I like your bird. Very exotic! Very good contrast - strong blue and white. Well done.
marek

sowhat (1004) 2007-06-09 16:25

Graeat shot, amazing colors and DOF.
I like the composition, the blue space and the bird watching...
TFS, Ioana

vincz (19113) 2007-06-10 3:49

Wow... stunning colours, great sharpness and such a good shallow DOF in front of this beautiful deep blue sea.

:) later

feather (51130) 2007-06-10 9:00

Very good image of the puffin composed well to be looking into the frame. He's in very strong light (tiny bit of oe I'm sure you know about)and the dark sea is a good bg. The WS with the other photographers is very funny. The lengths we go to...
Kath

bostankorkulugu (42832) 2007-06-10 13:34

apart from that blury piece of rock on the foreground this is an amazing shot ben... i like the place of this magnificent creature in the compo ant the way she/he? turned the head to show us the beautiful beak... the light and the saturated colours are fab (a bit yellow though)... good job, congrats...

all the best

korkut

sleon (9402) 2007-06-10 15:40

Hi Ben
What a superb and remarkable portrait. The clarity and sharpness are fabulous, the lighting brings out every last beautiful detail and your off centre framing is excellent. This one goes into my favourites!
Regards, Susanna

sothy81 (9646) 2007-06-11 3:19

HI Ben,

THis is a very nice close up shot of the bird. Very nice colors. Well done

Sothy

Signal-Womb (13048) 2007-06-11 4:48

Beautiful capture of the puffin on the diagonal rock which enhances the composition Ben. Good exposure on the whites revealing nice details. Good work..

oldsock (575) 2007-06-11 6:05

Great photograph and beautiful bird Ben.
Amazing details and colours.

I love puffins by the way...

Best regards
Matt

Mikos (4326) 2007-06-12 3:49

Hi there Ben!

Simply adorable, I love it because of the Puffin΄s expression, it is very interesting, natural and almost human in a certain way at the same time.
The light is strong and beautiful, and the sharpness excellent, just to be able to discover and pay attention to every single detail on this awesome bird I΄d like to see one day...

Cheers Ben!

Miguel

branley (3681) 2007-06-12 5:34

Hi Ben,

congrats on your 100th UK post and what a fine shot it is. The sharpness, colours pov are outstanding and he (she?) sits well against the dark background. A superb capture, well done.

Regards

Stephen

robiuk (10807) 2007-06-12 7:20

I almost missed this gem!
(have never realised you posted it)
A really good close-up (well, with a help
of your 70-200mm) and that little piece of
rock in the lower right corner almost obscuring
the puffin's left foot, but you were quick...
Many thanks for your informative note and both
WS shots - and encouraging me to try to find them
on our eastern coast (I've heard they might be
found a bit south of Scarborough)...
Robi

capthaddock (28790) 2007-06-12 17:19

Hi Ben - great portrait, I like the off centre positioon of the bird and the uniformity of the bg makes the bird stand out better without unnecessary distractions, the ws version is also helpful in putting the shooting conditions into context.

Angshu (56760) 2007-06-12 23:48

Hello Ben
Not exactly your type of picture, but what a great one!!...superbly composed with the lovely bird kept in the side of the frame, standing out against the deep blue sea. Amazing colours and good use of a shallow DOF. Love this!
Regards
Angshu

pasternak (15185) 2007-06-14 7:54

The light is fantastic, as well as your lens:)

Nice that you've left so much of the dark blue background to contrast with the bright bird.

Cheers
Alexander

oochappan (4880) 2007-06-17 2:14

Even with your zoom you were still close to spot this bird tak sharp out with a short dof on the background of the sea, well placed in the frame, an excellent capture Ben, perfect quality.
greetings
Henk

delic (6735) 2007-06-17 4:29

Hello Ben,
Ah, the irresistable puffin. Excellent composition putting the bird on the edge. Love the colors and the feather detail. This one would fit TN well. Then again, one sees lots of puffin photos over there, so this one is welcome to TE. Cheers!
Hakan

Standa (1877) 2007-06-17 7:00

Hi Ben,
very nice portrait of this lovely bird, the composition and sharpness are excellent.
I like your note and WS too.
Regards,
Stanislav

macondo (20449) 2007-06-20 17:23

Hi Ben. I'm just getting back into TE, but for how long I don't know, as internet connections are spasmodic when travelling around, and there isn't much time left in the day after finishing a French meal at 11pm. I picked out this one as my favourite of your recent ones. The sharp detail on the bird, and the colours, are superb. I'm probably quibbling to say I find the blurred rock bottom right a bit of a distraction, but at that focal length and with that aperture it's hardly surprising. I love the way you've composed or cropped this to emphasise the way the bird is clinging to the rock.
Regards,
Andrew

giorgimer (35017) 2007-06-25 7:37

Hi Ben,

wonderful image!
incredible colors and sharpness, excellent composition!

Well done!

Giorgio

cherryripe (21033) 2007-07-18 10:53

Hi Ben
This puffin is gorgeous. The colours are so well saturated and he is so sharp. He stands out so well thanks to the blurry, blue background although it would have been nice to have the whole rock sharp.
Regards
Nikki

France (125) 2007-08-16 7:00

Hi Ben,
Beautiful portrait of this puffin. Your composition is well done and the position of the bird allows to fully appreciated its features. The colors are well saturated. Good POV. Excellent DOF with bird well detached on the blue marine background. A great picture.
France

scalerman (26900) 2008-01-18 8:55

Ben: images don't get much sharper and well-composed than this. A picture that's been taken before pehaps but nonetheless impressive. regards, c

Elanor (270) 2008-01-31 6:53

Really great shot! Very sharp, very bright colours, fantastic!!

vts_ch (2624) 2008-02-05 12:38

Simply amasing, deserves some publication in nature mags, and I mean it.

Take care

Vince

MLINES (12516) 2008-03-25 15:28

Hi Ben, A very fine clear photo with excellent cropping. DOF with the sea works well. Congratulations on this composition. Murray.

zahoor_salmi (1053) 2009-02-08 7:43

Very nice details and colors on the bird, and nice usage of the background.

akg (166) 2009-07-28 9:11

Very intersting bird! As if this is wearing a mask.
Nice photo with great clarity and sharpness.
Thank you.
abhijit.

sta (170) 2010-07-17 9:52

Hi Ben,

Sharp, simple and interesting photo..

Thanks for sharing.

Regards,
sulis

vikramjairaj (42) 2012-07-06 9:29

Excellent photo ! The color of the beak against the blue ocean have come out really well.

Photo Information

Copyright: Ben WX (ben4321) (9875)
Genre: Τοποθεσίες
Medium: Έγχρωμο
Date Taken: 2007-05-00
Categories: Φύση
Camera: Nikon D70s, AF-S VR Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G
Έκδοση φωτογραφίας: Πρωτότυπη έκδοση, Workshop
Θέμα(τα): Your favourites, My favorite animal photos, My favorite photos (5) (Gatti Matti), Favourites 4 [view contributor(s)]
Date Submitted: 2007-06-09 3:54
Αγαπημένα: 10 [view]

Viewed: 4446

Points: 98

Discussions

To Floydian: Fish (1)
by ben4321, last updated 2007-06-09 04:22
To robjol: Bribery (1)
by ben4321, last updated 2007-06-09 04:23
To robiuk: East coast puffins (14)
by ben4321, last updated 2008-06-10 05:43

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::: Puffin by ben4321 (9875)

Photographer's Note

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Additional Photos by Ben WX (ben4321) (9875)

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