The most INCREDIBLE place to photograph PUFFINS in Iceland!

Welcome to Iceland. For the next 10 days I will be traveling in Iceland and this is my first photography workshop. We have such a fun group and they're all currently enjoying a hot spring whilst I'm battling the midges. We've already photographed puffins and some seabirds but the main target is arctic foxes and we are slowly making our way up the coast. We all met in Iceland's capital Reykjavik and started our journey to the west fjords. We tried some natural spring water which tasted very strongly of minerals. It wasn't very nice. Our first photography stop was a beach with grey seals. The conditions were quite dull but I actually prefer this softer flat light than harsh light that is super contrasting. I was really excited to find this species, the red-necked phalarope. These are very rare in the UK but Curiously, as soon as the female lays the eggs the male takes over and will incubate the eggs and take care of the chicks. This role reversal means that the males are dull coloured and the females are more colourful. For birds or seals in the water I was mostly on my knees or laying down to get that favourable eye level angle and for birds in flight I was stood up so I could quickly react to birds diving into the sea. It was amazing watching these arctic terns fishing. Their dives were very difficult to predict so it was really a case of how long you can keep your lens up and keep tracking the bird. The group experimented with ND filters and a slow shutter For a change they're relatively relaxed with me being around. The colony is that way. The arctic terns are extremely territorial and they come right up to you and they will try and attack you to basically discourage you from going closer to their eggs or their chicks because they will just they nest on the ground. But anyway I just wanted to talk briefly about this lens. This is the Canon 100-500 and my first lens, big lens, was the Canon EF 100-400 and I absolutely loved that lens. When the Mark II came out I got it immediately and then the past couple of years I've used the fixed focal lengths like the EF 300 and the RF 400 and when I was in Antarctica I actually asked Canon if I could borrow this lens and I absolutely loved it. So I ended up buying one from MPB and they are the sponsor of this video. Let's get a bit closer. Usually as soon as you start walking they'll come over. Okay here we go. You see them? So whilst these guys are above me I can tell you about MPB. MPB is the largest global platform to buy, sell and trade used photography gear. So this is a used lens. So on MPB's website I could choose a different tier of lens which has been checked. Oh my goodness where is this turn? So I picked a lens which was like new and I mean it feels like a brand new lens. Not only can you buy equipment from MPB but you can also sell. I just hope they don't poop on me because that's not fun I can say from experience. Oh these are looking really nice. Okay okay whoa! Do check out MPB they will be linked in the description. Have a look at all their used equipment. You can get more than just cameras and lenses and thank you to MPB for sponsoring this video. Oh the arctic terns have got bored of me now. Thanks MPB. Let's join her. We headed further along the Westfjords coast to an incredible seabird cliff. It was extremely windy and it was a great opportunity to focus on birds in flight. The wind was coming towards us so the birds were pushed closer to the cliff and closer to us. Be safe out there. Seabird cliffs are a great place for practicing photography because there's always something to photograph. We photographed gillimoths, razorbills but where were the puffins? The puffins arrived later in the afternoon and although there were only a few individuals the group was super excited to photograph our first puffins on the trip. So today is day four of our Iceland adventure and yesterday afternoon was our first proper opportunity to photograph seabirds and we were next to these amazing cliffs and we had gillimoths, razorbills, kittiwakes, formers and some puffins. Especially towards the end of our afternoon session we started to see a lot more puffins. We continued our journey along the Westfjords. We were heading to the furthest point on our trip and one of the most isolated and remote locations in Iceland, Hornsandir Nature Reserve. But we made a stop at an amazing arctic tern colony just next to the road. Arctic terns are incredible. They have the longest migration distance of any species. They migrate from the arctic to the antarctic and back every year. I set everyone the challenge of attempting to photograph an arctic tern with a waterfall in the background and I think everyone managed. Arctic terns will dive bomb predators to distract them from the nests. Many ground nesting birds have methods to distract predators. Some will even fake they've broken a wing to encourage the predator to follow them and not look for the nest. This location was great because we had a variety of backdrops and it's quite easy to use a wide-angle lens for arctic terns. You just have to be careful of flying poo. I also focused on the arctic terns against the dark moody clouds. in a completely off-grid house. This was definitely the highlight of the trip and we did find some very cute arctic foxes. If you're interested my next photography workshop is to remote east Greenland next April. A 12-day photography expedition that involves snowmobiles and helicopters to explore stunning landscapes and incredible wildlife. We will be guided with experts and we'll be photographing polar bears, arctic foxes and musk oxen. There's only three spots left. Have a look in the description for more info. I recently sent the calendars to the printers so I will be shipping in a couple of weeks. Thank you to MPB for supporting my channel, my wonderful patrons and you for watching. See you soon.