Tuesday 18 June 2013

Black Guillemot (Cepphus grylle) are among our favorite birds. Sadly they are not very common where we live so there is always quite a bit of travel involved. This also means to get up early, like in this case at 2 AM. As we only had one day we wanted to be in Portpatrick as early as possible, the first couple of hours provide the best light for these birds. The strong contrast between the darkest black and the brightest white is a challenge for every sensor, add to these the bright red of the legs and the open beak and you have a exposure - nightmare. Overcast light would be perfect for the bird but often doesn't provide the short exposure time necessary for flight shots. As a second drawback it makes the water look grey and dull. No other than to get up early and hope for the best