Grassholm trip, 2nd July

Thursday 2nd July is looking good for the Grassholm trip. I'm thinking of trying to look for common dolphins and Minke whales as there have been good sightings lately in Pembrokeshire Coast waters. There are still some places available on the Dale Princess where there will be plenty of room as we can only take 12 passengers. Please share and email me if you want to come. Further details are herehttp://www.andydavies.info/pages/workshops/grassholm.html

Group of puffins

Groups of puffins have been collecting from time to time this year on the rocks on the left as you go up the track from the Warden's meeting point on Skomer Island. This group took flight when they were buzzed by a gull.

The Holy Grail - puffin in flight with sandeels

The Holy Grail shot of a puffin in flight with sandeels with the Wick wall forming the out of focus background. Taken with a Nikon​ D810 and the new 300mm F4 fresnel lens at F7.1, 1/640sec and ISO 500. This shutter speed requires panning with the bird and gives some blur to the wings to maintain the impression of movement.

PIFs - Puffins in flight!

I've been experimenting with various lenses for capturing puffins in flight on Skomer Island​ this season. This image was shot with the D810 and the new Nikkor 300mm F4 fresnel lens which is wonderfully short, light and easy to maneuver. It is a composite of five shots from a sequence of 6 of which one was out of focus and has been omitted. The resulting image is 834MB! The Nikon​ 70-200mm VR II gives a might higher hit rate of in focus images but the size of the puffin is correspondingly smaller. A 300mm on a full frame camera is the best option for capturing frame-filling shots. A 70-200mm on a cropped-sensor would be the best option.

Grassholm Island

I'm hoping to run a Grassholm trip next week if the weather is good. See here for details.

More puffin in flight shots!

Yet more great in-flight shots by David with the Holy Grail of image of a puffin captured in mid-air with a beak full of sandeels!

Amazing in-flight puffin shots by Kevin Williams

I thought the Skomer Island​ Photography Workshop on Skomer on the 16th June might have produced the record for in-flight puffin shots by the group but I think Kevin has done this on his own! Gallery by Kevin Willams I don't think I've seen two in the air in the same shot!!

A carpet of pink!

The cliffs of Pembrokeshire have been painted pink this year by the best display of thrift (or sea pink) in living memory. This is probably as a result of the incredible storms last winter that doused coastal areas in salt spray.

Gannet in flight at Grassholm

The two images demonstrate the flexibility of the Nikon D810 in being able to crop in to the subject using the 36MP that are available. This effectively turns the field of view of 300mm F4 lens into a 600mm F4. I have just bought the new Fresnel 300F4 which I can't wait to try out on puffins in flight on Skomer.

The adults are now bringing in sandeels to feed their newly hatched chicks.