March 17, 2002
WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY:
Plan now for trip to photograph puffins
Tips on photographing the great outdoors
"There where the white spray flies against the jagged rocks of those remote islands, where few visitors find their way, the puffin enjoys a safe and protected home."
So wrote Helen Gere Cruickshank in her 1941 book, "Bird Islands Down East." Helen and her husband, a leading ornithologist and an accomplished bird photographer, spent many happy days on Maine's colonial nesting seabird islands starting in the 1930s while Allan was working for the Audubon Society.
Helen Cruickshank's favorite was Machias Seal island. "Such a wealth of bird life was spread before us on Machias Seal as neither of us had ever seen before," she wrote.
Partly, that was because she had a fascination with the puffin, the most charismatic of seabirds. And partly, that was because Machias Seal provided a special nesting place for a bustling congregation of birds, from petrels to terns, guillemots to razorbills - and her darlings, the bird we today call the Atlantic puffin.
It still does.
Those today who are interested in photographing these birds on this island off Maine's Down East coast can book with one of the two United States operators licensed to land there by the United States Fish & Wildlife Service and permitted to use the several bird watching blinds on the island under the supervision of the Canadian Fish & Wildlife Service. Barna and John Norton operate a daily ecotour from Jonesport; Andy Patterson does the same from Cutler.
A complex arrangement of jurisdiction and ownership exists. The Canadian government operates the lighthouse and occupies the island, while the colorful Captain Barna Norton claims ownership of it.
Norton is close to the vintage of the Cruickshanks. He has been bringing folks to witness the wonders of Machias Seal since the 1940s.
And while he can testify that much has changed in the wildlife waters approaching the island and on it, this special rock off the Maine coast remains a unique place.
It's also a great location for the budding wildlife photographer to practice his or her craft. Even with a short lens, you can get great photographs if you use a little care with your technique.
June into August is the prime puffin watching and photography season, but as these tours book up, it's time to plan now. If you get to go, you'll be challenged by a few problems. These include:
Getting a camera into action with the least risk from salt water,
Dealing with a rocking boat as you approach the island, and,
Getting a proper exposure of these black and white birds.
Let's take these one at a time. Pack your gear in a water resistant bag or backpack, or better yet, put it in a waterproof plastic case. I usually carry my cameras in a York Pack, a lightweight polypropylene plastic case fitted with straps to facilitate carrying it.
You can get sharp images from the deck of a rocking boat if you use a fast enough shutter speed. Shoot 1/1000 of a second or faster, especially when using a telephoto lens. Since it's tough to handhold a big lens in a rocking boat, try using a tripod as a monopod. But don't open the legs; that interferes with the other passengers. Setting a monopod or unopened tripod on a pad can help to absorb the boat's engine vibrations.
The last problem is to meter properly. Expose to get detail in the white of these birds. If you don't, you'll blow out their white feathers and they'll look like a marshmallow. I meter for an average exposure and stop down, or close the lens aperture about a half a stop, maybe even a full stop if the birds are in very bright sunlight.
And be sure to catch yours in the good light.
Bill Silliker Jr. is a freelance photographer and writer based in Ocean Park, ME. For more information go to: www.camerahunter.com.