One of Skomers Puffins looks skyward photographed during the 2017 Puffins of Skomer Island Photography Holiday

Skomer’s Puffins in the Dark – Playing With Light

Article written by illustrated with images contributed by .

I hope to share with you in this post, a technique that I used during the second of the NaturesLens Skomer’s Puffins Photography Holidays, to achieve some, what I think are, striking images of the puffins on a dark background.

Isolated In The Darkness, One Of Skomer'S Puffins Photographed During The 2017 Puffins Of Skomer Island Photography Holiday

The technique for achieving images such as those that are on this blog post is as follows – the darkness of much of the image is from exposing for the harsh light with a very fast shutter speed & a low ISO. Take a looking at the surroundings & attempt to find an area where the background & foreground is in some shadow can be tough. However when using a fast shutter speed you can knock the shadow into complete darkness, giving your subject some very nice directional lighting & creating a very unique image.

The technique also makes for stunning in-flight captures – such as this: One Of Skomer'S Puffins, Isolated Against The Dark Backdrop Of The Cliffs Behind Photographed During The 2017 Puffins Of Skomer Island Photography Holiday

Or, equally, for amazing portrait images – although not too close, else the impact of the black background is lost.

One Of Skomer'S Puffins Looks Skyward Photographed During The 2017 Puffins Of Skomer Island Photography Holiday One Of Skomer'S Puffins, Isolated In The Darkness Photographed During The 2017 Puffins Of Skomer Island Photography Holiday

WOULD YOU LIKE TO UNDERTAKE PHOTOGRAPHY OF SKOMER’S PUFFINS?

For 2018, NaturesLens have already announced a return to undertake photography of Skomer’s Puffins – the trip has been scheduled to start on July 7 & ending on July 10, 2018.

The Skomer Puffins Photography Holiday costs £499 each participant, this price excludes travel to Martins Haven itself – all food, accommodation & guidance/tuition during the 3 night stay on the island is included.

To hold a place on the trip, we only require a 20{c9c0a4696b7ac54bf73bcd0427c793d03ee76447581a2309f1c89b3325d12acb} deposit from you, with the balance due 12 weeks prior to the trip taking place.

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