Atlantic Puffin Solitude - Quebec, Canada - by Christopher Dodds

"Everybody loves Puffins! I was thrilled when the participants of my July Puffins Galore photography workshop and I had the chance to photograph Atlantic Puffins on the calm, flat water of the Saint Lawrence River. The sequences included very calm and peaceful images of floating Puffins, and all of the ensuring action of them first stretching, then taking flight. By setting-up with a narrow depth of field and low angle of view we isolated the subject by rendering the foreground and background out-of-focus, and having a high shutter speed meant we got to freeze all of the ensuing action."

Equipment Used: Canon EOS 1D Mark IV & 800mm f/5.6 L IS, ISO 800, f/6.3 @1/3200s Manual mode. Full Frame.

One of the biggest mistakes most photographers often make is to take thousands of pictures during a shoot and keep them all. With cameras that capture ten frames a second, it's easy to fill cards and hard drives full of similar images; some good, many bad. It's important to cull the misses immediately after download, and try to keep only your very best images; the ones you are proud to show off to others, or submit for publication. Try to capture, and keep, a good selection of different images with different poses, some tight, some loose, some static, some action, some portraits and some that include your subject's surroundings. Try to capture a well-rounded portfolio of whatever subject you are working with. People have short attention spans, and most will not remember your amazing picture if it is mixed in with hundreds of not so amazing images. My most dreaded moment is opening a web page full of similar images. You know which images are your favorite, which are better than others: why not present only your best side? Once you go through the process of deciding what to keep, rename the files and add the appropriate keywords to ensure that you can find them when needed.

1. How did you get started in nature photography?
I've had a love for the outdoors, nature, travel and adventure for as long as I can remember. I joined Boy Scouts after moving to Canada from England as a boy and the many canoe trips, backpacking adventures and camping trips we went on were the perfect stage for my first attempts at nature photography and birding; my passion was found! It didn't take long for me to realize that it would take years to make enough income from nature photography to make a living, so I worked as a photojournalist at the local paper which led to my photographing weddings and eventually owning a studio and shooting portraits and commercial work while apprenticing in the color, and B&W, darkroom. Continue reading…

It was almost sunrise on the upper North Shore of the Saint Lawrence River as we boarded the boat that will take us to île aux Perroquets, Réserve de parc national du Canada de l'Archipel-de-Mingan, Quebec, Canada to photograph Atlantic Puffins and Razorbills. I have traveled from New Brunswick to Maine, to Newfoundland, Iceland, the UK and Quebec to photograph these birds, and this is the very best place I've found to photograph them. The sun was about to peek above the horizon and the Saint Lawrence River was almost perfectly flat. I could tell we were about to have one awesome day of photography — make that three awesome days of photography! The sun came up as we arrived at the island, hours before any regularly scheduled tourist boats via special charter, and carefully made arrangements at the park. We made several passes for images of Puffins and Razorbills taking off from the water before we landed on this island. île aux Perroquets is somewhat protected by the neighboring islands, allowing reliable and safe boat landings. At many other Puffin hotspots rough seas and high winds are common making for dangerous landings and have prevented me from offering workshops there. Imagine jumping off a Zodiac onto slippery rocks while carrying your camera gear as the Zodiac is being pushed into the rocks by waves! Once unloaded, we quickly set up and started to photograph the colorful and comical seabirds in flight, at their burrows, and on the surface of the flattest water I've ever seen on the Saint Lawrence River, yielding some of the most unique Puffin and Razorbill images I've seen. The height of activity was early morning and late afternoon (we stayed out until sunset), so there was plenty of time to relax, share adventure stories, talk about the latest camera gear, ask photography questions, and photograph some of the other subjects that the island has to offer – Black-backed and Herring Gulls, Common Eiders, Savannah Sparrow, and Black Guillemots all made a great showing. Although the weather changed from sun to fog, cloud, wind and rain typical of Eastern Canada, the remainder of the workshop was a huge success with everyone coming away with a fantastic collection of images and new techniques to use in the future. The participants got as much, or as little, personal attention as they wanted and filled up their memory cards.

While March was not the ideal time for good photo opts of Toucan and Macaw, since they are generally sitting on eggs, we still saw and photographed a lot of birds during our scouting trip. A couple of the locations we visited had so much potential that we decided to add the July trip—which would fall after the nesting season when the birds would be more active and often feeding on fruit rather than the proteins they prefer during the nesting season.

Since these new locations needed some work to get things set up to make the most of them I arrived 5 days before the workshop, on July 19, and met Greg in San Jose before making the trip north toward the Nicaragua border. This gave us ample time to construct some new feeding stations and get some shots of our own before our attention would be focused squarely on the student's needs.

After returning to San Jose to meet up with participants we would together make the 4-hour drive back north. There we would spend 3 full days being treated to a variety of species of birds perching and feeding just off of the roof-covered restaurant balcony at our first location. The weather was hot and humid with periods of rain and, while mid summer in the US, the heat is actually worse in late March than it is during the rainy season in July. And the birds would prove to be most active when it was raining, preferring to roost in the shade on hot sunny days. This was particularly true for the Hummingbirds and Toucans.

We set up eye-level perches to a 15' high post that was buried upright sticking out of the ground. There we would attract the birds with ripe bananas. In our experience a traditional blind or hide is unnecessary here since the birds are fairly acclimated to humans, especially in the safety of the trees.

In our set ups we strive to use perches that are green and full of life and not simply dead snags. Costa Rica is full of trees with epiphytes (plants that grow on other plants) with countless varieties of Bromeliads and Orchids for one to discover. The challenge for us is to choose perches that are not too large for the smaller birds but large enough to support a Toucan.

On the way to our second location in the cloud forest, we made a planned stop for some Macaw photography on a private farm. The owner has been rehabilitating Scarlet and Great-green Macaw as well as Toucan and various other species. In addition to the rehabilitated birds there are at least 15–20 free flying wild Scarlet and Great Green Macaw just hanging around and perching in the trees around the farm. Along with the photo opportunities there we were treated to one of the best authentic Costa Rican meals I have ever had, complete with freshly made juices from local fruits. Yum! We even got a brief chance at some White-faced Monkeys that frequent the area.

After departing the Macaw location we would arrive at our cloud forest lodge. There participants celebrated the significantly cooler climate in stark contrast to where we had just come from. It's here at this small, family-owned, lodge that we would spend the rest of the trip focusing on a variety of Hummingbirds and other species. With just 12 rooms and gold mine for photo ops this is likely my favorite location in Costa Rica, and we had the entire place to ourselves! About 20 minutes away we would also take a day trip to visit a 300-foot waterfall that is privately owned and very photogenic, but requires a rigorous hike to the bottom. At the top of the waterfall there is a restaurant with hummingbird feeders.

We have exclusive arrangements at both locations to use multiple flash hummingbird set ups for some of the most productive hummingbird shooting I have ever experienced—and it was especially productive in July! Violet Sabrewing, Magnificent Hummingbird, Purple-throated Mountain Gem, Green-crowned brilliant, Green Thorntail and Coppery-headed Emerald are just a few of the many species we were able to capture images of during our final 3 ½ days.

Overall our July workshop was a huge success and we have scheduled a repeat trip next year. Because of the logistics involved we will only be taking 6 lucky participants—we normally allow 8 in our March workshops. This affords more opportunities, particularly on the hummingbird set ups. We have already sold a couple of spots so if close shots of Toucans, Macaws, Parrots and Hummingbirds interest you then contact us today while there is still space!

To find out more and to see a gallery for images from the workshop check out the 2012 Hummingbirds and Toucans Workshop and reserve your spot today!

EXTENDED: Register by October 1, 2011
and save $100.

EXTENDED: Register by October 1, 2011
and receive a $500 flight credit.

PowerEx batteries come in two types—the standard high capacity 2700 NiMH version and the newer "Imedion" low discharge 2400 NiMH version. Both are very high quality batteries that can be charged hundreds of times and have no charge memory (meaning that they can be charged without being drained first). While the standard PowerEx batteries are likely to last a bit longer and recycle a bit faster, the "Imedion" batteries will hold their charge for over a year. This is a great feature as it means that you can have a set or two in your camera bag or flash and know that they will always be ready when you need them most. Continue reading »

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