This post introduces a category entitled ‘Farne Islands’ describing the story of a photoshoot I engaged in during a visit to those very islands in July 2013. Other parts of the category highlight specific images from that day.
5 years, four months before:
The story starts way back in March 2008 when Mrs H and I spent our honeymoon in Northumberland – our first visit to this part of the UK. I noticed that there were boat trips to the Farne Islands to see the puffins – which was obviously quite appealing. However, given that we were spending quality time together – and that Mrs H generally gets sea-sickness – I didn’t bother. Unbeknown to me, Mrs H has detected that I would have really liked to go.
10 months before:
Roll forward four-and-a-half years and I was due to celebrate, ten months ahead, what is apparently called a ‘landmark birthday’.
“Did I want a party?” – “NO!”
“Did I want a holiday?” – “WHERE TO?”
“How about going back to our honeymoon cottage so that you can go to the Farne Islands ” – “Oh….mmmh…I’ll think about it”
So the holiday was booked and the planning began.
1 month before:
By this time we had already arranged that I would visit the islands with my brother-in-law, Maurice, whilst his wife Deborah would stay landlocked with Mrs H. Maurice had already ascertained that there were several companies operating the visits from the town of Seahouses on the North-East coast and that there would be no need to book. We also now knew that it was a three-and-a-half hour trip with one hour of that actually on one of the islands. We tentatively decided that Monday 15th July would be the day!
I now had to think about what setting to use on the camera. Given that it was a one-off trip for only one hour I needed to be sure that those minutes were used constructively taking photographs and not messing about with the camera settings. I also had decided that a tripod would be next to useless with moving birds and ever-changing compositions but did decide to take my monopod instead.
Fortunately the Pentax K5 has the opportunity to pre-set personal ‘User settings’ and so I made an ‘Action’ user setting with the following attributes:
- Shutter priority
- ISO 400-1600
- Shake reduction on
- High-speed continuous shutter-release
The day before:
We had travelled up on the previous Thursday (my birthday) and stopped overnight at Ambleside in the Lake District. On the Friday we crossed the country to the cottage near Alnwick in Northumberland. Maurice & Deborah joined us on the Sunday and we made a reconnaissance tour to Seahouses to check time and prices of the trip. As previously advised there were several company’s operating the trip but having chatted to each of them decided on a company running a catamaran – on the basis that is was allegedly smoother on the water and so better for us to take photographs as we made the trip. All the prices were the same: £13.00 for the boat trip and £6.40 to the National Trust to enter Inner Farne island. We soon found that with a bit of bartering this could reduced to £12.00 for the boat trip!
We didn’t have to worry about the weather. By sheer luck our holiday coincided with a heat-wave in the UK and the Monday was forecast to be sunny and warm. There are various different trips, some with an island landing and some without. The one we wanted – to see the Puffins on Inner Farne – mostly left about midday.
The day itself:
The day didn’t start well. We discovered that the drains in the cottage we were staying in were backing up. So much so that sewage was filling up the downstairs bath & toilet bowl! Several calls to the owner and a visit by a tanker to empty the septic tank ensued. So we left the cottage with no time to spare. Seahouses was 20 miles from the cottage but we had already ascertained that it took about 40 minutes down the narrow winding roads. Would we make it?
Well obviously we did – but by the skin of our teeth thanks to Deborah’s Mini Cooper S. We bought our ticket and went to the end of the quay to wait for the boat. Within minutes Serenity II came across the harbour to the embarkation point.
Image may be NSFW.
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It was a Monday and so we assumed it would be virtually empty. We were shocked, however, when 40-50 people also joined us in the boat. But there was no hanging about though – we were soon on our way.
Image may be NSFW.
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As we travelled out of the harbour I set my camera to my previously set ‘Action’ user setting and then put auto-focus on ‘continual’, metering on ‘centre-weighted’ and focus on ‘spot’. I was now ready.
Soon afterwards we could see the iconic Bamburgh Castle further North. A favourite for photographers at dawn and dusk – but here captured from out at sea just after midday:
Image may be NSFW.
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The Farne Islands are only 1 mile from shore and so it wasn’t long before we neared the nearest of the island – Inner Farne.
Image may be NSFW.
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However, we kept on going, and headed for the further islands. Suddenly we stopped and the skipper of the boat got his binoculars out. He took the boat further east and then we realised why – he had spotted a group of seals in a small island. The grunting was noisy but it was an amazing sight.
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We continued on our way and even passed the historic Grace Darlings lighthouse on Longstone Island, the furthest north of the Farne Islands. The boat swept in and out of the islands – often close to cliffs covered in thousands of birds:
Image may be NSFW.
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Eventually, after about 2 hours of spectacular views, we nearer Inner Farne. Already we could hear the squawking of the birds who nest there…..
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…. but soon we could start to see the flocks flying around the buildings on the island – and those waiting for our arrival……
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We disembarked and were immediately amazed by the sheer number of birds on the island. It was like nothing I had seen before.
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There are birds all over ever square metre of the island – particularly Arctic Terns who seem to nest at every opportunity, sometimes right next to the marked path around the island. As the throng of visitors left the boats they took the opportunity to defend their young by diving and pecking human heads. Good job I’d read about this and wore a cap !
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The actual photographs I took will be seen in other posts but included Terns, Puffins & Shags. Already examples can be seen here, here and here.
It seemed like only a few minutes but the hour long visit to the island was soon over and we could see people waiting for the return of the boat……
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…. and then Serenity II came forward to collect us.
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We were soon on the boat and heading back for shore. The end of a fantastic trip.
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So, we paid £12 for the boat trip, £6.40 to enter the island – and a couple of quid to park the car at Seahouses for four hours. And it was a very memorable trip – and would have been even without a camera. If you get chance to go there it really is the best £20 you can spend.
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