Camera School

Top tips and advice on how to capture great images of the nation’s favourite seabird, the Puffin!

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Some of Britain’s most accessible Puffins are found on the Farne Islands in Northumberland. Regular daily boat trips will provide point-blank views during the breeding season, but there are drawbacks. The islands are usually thronged with visitors. And access is only possible from late morning to mid-afternoon when the light is unflattering. One option is to visit on an overcast day to avoid harsh shadows and contrast. ▼

There are plenty of locations on the Shetland Islands where Puffin colonies are accessible and worth visiting, although most come with a photographic health and safety warning: slippery grassy slopes and precipitous drops do not make for an ideal mix with eager, subject-focused photographers. Common sense needs to prevail. Anyway, great locations include the Isle of Noss, Sumburgh Head and Hermaness on Unst. Access to the latter two is not restricted in terms of time of day, so dawn and dusk photography allows for some creative use of light. ▼

At most Puffin colonies you can dispense with a long lens and use something much shorter. This is where mid-range zooms come into their own, allowing for creative composition – something in the 80mm to 300mm range is ideal. Fortunately for photographers, Puffins are star performers, their behaviour often bordering on comical. So you can expect plenty of interaction in crowded colonies where burrows are close together, with wing-stretching and preening all part of the entertainment.