Late to the Party
Photograph by Jesse Oved
I graduated from college in May, and to celebrate, I went on my dream trip to Iceland with my brother. We spent several days backpacking through the highlands, and then explored the southern coast. It was the most extraordinary experience of my entire life.
On the last night before flying home, I wanted to go out searching for puffins, as I had only seen one or two very briefly. A friendly stranger explained that adult puffins spend much of the day out at sea, hunting fish for their chicks nesting in burrows on the cliffs.
So, around 10pm (which was still light out thanks to the midnight sun!) I went to Dyrhólaey, and to my surprise I was greeted by hundreds of puffins! They were scattered out all over the cliffsides and flying through the air, sometimes mere feet from where I was standing. The sun hung low in the sky, casting a warm orange glow over the cliffs, the beach, and the distant glaciers. Everything about the scene was just perfect.
I spent hours enjoying the view, watching puffins, and taking all sorts of photos. Earlier in the trip, I had been practicing tracking birds in flight with my camera, and I wanted to try this with the puffins. I would wait for one to fly close by and follow it with my camera while holding the shutter. With a bit of luck, I managed to capture this moment of a puffin landing to join its group of friends.
Iceland is a magical place. I know people say that all the time, but it really, really is. I can't wait to go back someday.
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