A few more from a wonderful trip to Scotland a few weeks ago.
The Isle of May is a small island about 50 miles northeast of Edinburgh, and home to one of the UKs largest colony of breeding seabirds, including razorbills, eiders, guillemots, and, of course, puffins. It is owned and managed by the Scottish National Heritage as a national nature reserve. Most visitors come, as did I, on a daily ferry from Anstruther, about a 90 minute drive from Edinburgh. The ferry holds ~100 people, who spend 2 - 3 hours wandering around the island enjoying the scenery and the wildlife. Sailing times depend on the tide because the dock on the island lies in a fairly shallow inlet; on the day that I went, we left Anstruther about 10 AM under brilliant blue skies.
The conditions were ideal for a cruise and a walk, but less than ideal for wildlife photography; there were plenty of puffins, but they would have been better captured under overcast skies. I was there in early May; puffins had just started to arrive, but it was too early for mating or nesting/burrowing. Puffins remind many (including me) of penguins, but the resemblance is superficial; their last common ancestor lived ~100 million years ago and the similarities of stature and shape are thought to have evolved independently.
Thanks for looking (and all comments/criticisms greatly appreciated).
Greg
PuffinProfile
PuffinPortrait
PuffinPair
A more familiar bird (apparently looking at a puffin)
Stunning set of images Greg Excellent job on the whites, all sharp with nice detail. You get no criticisms here. So hard to pick a favorite, really love them all but I'm going with #6 with #5 a very close 2nd. Super set!
These are all terrific Greg, you did a marvelous job of exposure control under the bright blue skies.
I especially enjoyed the last 4 images for the poses captures... the BG's for the Cormorant and the final Puffin IF are so pretty.
Thanks for the compelling narrative as it added a lot of interest to your very fine images.
Excellent work.
Excellent job controlling the light in these, Greg. Love these guys
You got some great detail, especially in the portrait shot
Well done on the IF shots: well in focus and sharp. The last one may be could use a bit more NR, IMO.
Nice detail in the cormorant image as well. Looks like that fly is bothering it
Socrate
May 26, 2013 at 05:13 PM
Charlie Shugart Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
WOWSERS! All these are wowzers, Greg.
But the penultimate image (that's how the Brits talk ) wins the prize. Everything works perfectly with it.
Charlie
Shasoc wrote:
Excellent job controlling the light in these, Greg. Love these guys
You got some great detail, especially in the portrait shot
Well done on the IF shots: well in focus and sharp. The last one may be could use a bit more NR, IMO.
Nice detail in the cormorant image as well. Looks like that fly is bothering it
Socrate
Thanks, Socrate! Your eye for detail saw some noise that I missed (but now have fixed). Tough to be sure but I think that tiny flying creature in front of the cormie is a distant bird rather than a close insect!
Awesome set Greg...this is definitely one critter I have to spend some time with! And thanks for the factoid...100,000,000 years is a long time...only Charlie was around back then and I bet he has some slides of the ancestor
Eric
May 26, 2013 at 09:02 PM
Charlie Shugart Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: Off
eyelaser wrote:
Awesome set Greg...this is definitely one critter I have to spend some time with! And thanks for the factoid...100,000,000 years is a long time...only Charlie was around back then and I bet he has some slides of the ancestor
Eric
Didn't think I'd return and read all the comments since I posted mine, did you Eric?
I seldom do.
However, I caught you, and I must make a slight correction: Kodachromes were still pretty new 100,000,000 years ago, and my slides of the missing link have faded an awfully lot.
But here's an example:
Charlie (been around the block a few times )
Charlie Shugart wrote:
Didn't think I'd return and read all the comments since I posted mine, did you Eric?
I seldom do.
However, I caught you, and I must make a slight correction: Kodachromes were still pretty new 100,000,000 years ago, and my slides of the missing link have faded an awfully lot.
But here's an example:
Charlie (been around the block a few times ) , and I was just kidding Charlie, you don't look a day over 99 million years old!
Eric
Excellent job on the whites, all sharp with nice detail. You get no criticisms here. So hard to pick a favorite, really love them all but I'm going with #6 with #5 a very close 2nd. Super set!
