Tips for Shooting Puffins on Grímsey Island?

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sib

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Hi!

I'm going to be spending a few days shooting puffins on Grímsey Island north of Iceland in late June of this year. I've done the usual Google & Youtube search for hints and guidance.

Anyone who's been to Grímsey able to provide tips on specific locations on the island, best times of day, lens focal lengths to bring, any other unexpected gear that was helpful, etc.? I'll be using Nikon mirrorless, if it matters.

Thanks!
Scott
 
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sib said:
Hi!

I'm going to be spending a few days shooting puffins on Grímsey Island north of Iceland in late June of this year. I've done the usual Google & Youtube search for hints and guidance.

Anyone who's been to Grímsey able to provide tips on specific locations on the island, best times of day, lens focal lengths to bring, any other unexpected gear that was helpful, etc.? I'll be using Nikon mirrorless, if it matters.

Thanks!
Scott
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I was in Grimséy with Michael Milicia’s group for about a week in 2019, a fabulous trip. There are puffins everywhere, so telling you about specific places is not necessarily the most useful advice I can give. What we did was head out every day after an early breakfast and drive in one direction or the other from our guesthouse until we saw puffins circling into land carrying fish. We would then get out ”set up shop on the cliffs”. Usually the action was heavy and essentially nonstop (as things tend to happen in waves), but if it was slower than expected we would just move on and find another place. We had good repeated luck at the southern end near the lighthouse as well as near the northern end of the airstrip, but note there are puffins everywhere!

i was shooting a DSLR then (Nikon D850) and 500mm PF and 300mm PF lenses. I can say that I used both lenses. The puffins all fly in the same pattern as they approach land at a given spot; the key is to pick out a specific puffin while it is far away and then follow it in until it gets close/fills your frame, then fire off a burst. At good spots as soon as you shoot one you can turn around and pick out another one coming in carrying fish. If you are just interested in puffins without fish you can pretty much point your camera anywhere.

I now shoot a Nikon Z9 and my favorite bird lens is the 800mm PF, and I have had great trips with that lens in Colombia, Panama and Botswana. But if I was going back to Grimséy I would not take it as it would be too much lens there in my experience.

I have more detailed thoughts so if you are interested feel free to PM me.
 
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Thanks, this is actually super helpful! Especially about the timing, the birds' behavior, and the 300mm & 500mm lenses vs the 800mm.

I will take you up on the offer to DM - I appreciate it!
 
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Seems like I can't PM you as I haven't posted enough. So I'll post what I would have sent here, in case you see it.

Couple of other questions:

* Will there be opportunities for being close to the birds (in a sit-and-wait approach, not chasing them of course)? Any need for a 70-200 or even a 24-70 lens?

* Do the birds fly back and then stay in their burrows at a certain point in the day, or is there activity well into the night (given that it'll be light all night)?

* I'm planning on mounting whatever longest lens I bring on a monopod with a side-mounted arca-swiss head, then shooting while sitting or kneeling with the monopod at its lowest setting. Is that mostly right, or would you suggest something else?

Would love to hear any other thoughts that you have - I've not done a lot of bird photography, so there will be a lot of learning on the trip!

Thanks again,

-Scott
 
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