Flighty Puffins

In May 2025 I spent some time on Grimsey, wandering the cliff paths and watching the Puffins.

I found a spot near the Orbis et Globus on the top of the cliffs there, offering amazing views over the cliffs of the eastern side of the island.

There were a couple of really windy days and it was the perfect opportunity to see these little birds enjoying the wind. They do not take off or land elegantly, but once they are airborne, they are graceful and beautiful to watch.

Their small size and speed in the air makes it very challenging to capture them in flight, and my camera is known for its pretty awful animal tracking focus capability, but I managed, more by luck than judgement, to get some nice images.

Settings and Approach

90 to 280 mm lens (f/2.8 to 4.0).

Shutter Priority, with the shutter speed set to between 1/500 and 1/1000 seconds to freeze movement.

ISO set automatically or limited to ISO 400 to try and keep noise to a minimum.

Challenge: Weather. It was heavily overcast so it was hard to balance the need for shutter speed with limiting noise. Additionally, my autofocus / animal tracking is not the best, so I relied on manual spot focus. With the low aperture required for the light, the shallow depth of field made getting a good, crisp, shot even harder.