Photographing puffins on Skomer Island, Wales
Someone commented on my Instagram feed recently that puffins seemed to have become a bit of an obsession. I think they viewed it as an intervention.
They’ve got a point: since my trip to Skomer Island in early June, I’ve posted nothing but pictures of puffins on my social media pages. With dozens still waiting to be processed, that’s unlikely to change any time soon.
Skomer isn’t exactly a hidden gem – but it’s not somewhere I was aware of until fairly recently. If you haven’t been, and you have any interest in wildlife (or wildlife photography), my advice is: go. It’s a stunning, fascinating place, and you will wander round open-mouthed at what it has to offer.
Less than a mile off Wales’ Pembrokeshire coast, Skomer is home to tens of thousands of Atlantic puffins from late spring to mid-summer – not to mention the Manx shearwaters, guillemots, razorbills, oystercatchers, short-eared owls and so on.
Normally, boat trips to the island are booked on the day on a first come, first served basis. This year, as a result of the pandemic, it was advance bookings only – with reduced capacity.
The puffins themselves are fascinating. There are far more than you’ll expect, realistically, and they pay almost no attention to the humans who have come to view them from the island’s well-defined paths. They come and go from the clifftops constantly, occasionally arriving back in their trademark inelegant way with a beak full of sandeels after a successful fishing trip.
They scurry in and out of their burrows, squabble, flap their wings, rub beaks with their mates, and fly surprisingly quickly. They’ll probably be smaller than you imagined.
They’re pure comedy, really.
From a photography perspective, the opportunities are numerous: classic portraits, behavioural shots, in-flight, bokeh. The most sought-after image is probably the close-up portrait with sandeels in the beak. I didn’t quite get what I was looking for in that respect (and I didn’t attempt any in-flight shots) – but there’s always next time. Bring your long lens, but the puffins are close enough that a wide-angle can also come into play. The conditions when I visited were misty and drizzly at times, but not poor enough to spoil (or, as happens occasionally in high winds, cancel) the trip.
There’s also some bookable (but basic) accommodation on the island, which opens up sunrise and sunset shots that aren’t available for day-trippers.
Visit the Wildlife Trust of South & West Wales website for more information on Skomer Island and its incredible inhabitants. As a side note, the wardens/volunteers are fantastically well informed and make sure visitors are aware of their responsibilities to the wildlife and the environment.
