• Skip to main content
  • Skip to header right navigation
  • Skip to site footer
Alpha Shooters Logo

Alpha Shooters

News & Community for Sony Alpha Shooters

  • Blog
  • Forums
  • Deals
  • Cameras
  • Lenses
  • Memory Cards
  • Accessories
  • Reviews
  • Compare

Skomer Island Wildlife Workshop

You are here: Home / Wildlife / Skomer Island Wildlife Workshop
Last updated: December 23, 2020 / Published: July 17, 2017 by Timothy Mayo - Leave a Comment

For my first time shooting wildlife I headed to Skomer Island in Pembrokeshire (UK) for a one day workshop. With me I took the Sony a6500 and the Sony 70-200mm F4 G lens.

Skomer Island is heaven for wildlife lovers and home to around 22,000 puffins (2016 estimate), you’ll also find manx shearwaters, guillemots and razorbills here. However, in late July only the puffins remained.

**Please Note: Unless otherwise mentioned no post processing has been applied to the image samples in this guide except for cropping. Full resolution SOOC JPEG images are available to download. RAW files are also available but password protected to help keep my hosting costs sensible. However, I do provide the username/password to all members of our community forum. All images are copyright protected and may be used for personal use only.

I took a group workshop with Welsh photographer Andy Davies who I can highly recommend. You can find out more about him and his workshops here.

This was my first time shooting wildlife, so my following photos definitely have a lot of room for improvement!

Puffin Skomer Island taken with Sony a6500 and SEL70200G Lens

141mm | 1/640 sec | f/4 | ISO 100 | **Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW

Puffin Skomer Island taken with Sony a6500 and SEL70200G Lens

200mm | 1/640 sec | f/4 | ISO 100 | **Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW

Puffin Skomer Island taken with Sony a6500 and SEL70200G Lens

200mm | 1/500 sec | f/4 | ISO 100 | **Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW

Puffin Skomer Island taken with Sony a6500 and SEL70200G Lens

200mm | 1/400 sec | f/4 | ISO 100 | **Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW

Puffin in flight Skomer Island taken with Sony a6500 and SEL70200G Lens

89mm | 1/2000 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 320 | **Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW

Puffin Skomer Island taken with Sony a6500 and SEL70200G Lens

113mm | 1/2000 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 500 | **Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW

Puffin Skomer Island taken with Sony a6500 and SEL70200G Lens

200mm | 1/2000 sec | f/5.6 | ISO 500 | **Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW

Puffin Skomer Island taken with Sony a6500 and SEL70200G Lens

145mm | 1/1250 sec | f/4.0 | ISO 500 | **Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW

Puffin Skomer Island taken with Sony a6500 and SEL70200G Lens

162mm | 1/1600 sec | f/4.0 | ISO 500 | **Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW

Puffin Skomer Island taken with Sony a6500 and SEL70200G Lens

135mm | 1/1000 sec | f/4.0 | ISO 500 | **Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW

Puffin in flight Skomer Island taken with Sony a6500 and SEL70200G Lens

200mm | 1/2000 sec | f/4.0 | ISO 640 | **Full Resolution Download: JPEG | RAW

The Sony a6500 together with the FE 70-200 F4 G lens was the perfect combination for Skomer. You can get to within meters of the puffins, so there is little need for a longer lens here. At this time I don’t have another lens to compare the quality for the 70-200 F4 with, but I’m most definitely more than happy with the color rendition and sharpness of this lens. The autofocus was also lightning fast on the a6500.

I experimented with the different focus modes on the a6500 and found that flexible spot worked very well for the portrait shots. Also touch to focus made it really easy to compose the shot then focus on your subject, of course in this case the puffins. I also found that lock-on autofocus worked well for puffins in flight, but they are extremely fast and even with the speed of the a6500 they are difficult to catch in flight, but that’s all part of the challenge and good fun.

This trip has most certainly opened my eyes to wildlife photography, and I’m certain that this won’t be the last time that I step foot on Skomer. I’d love to head back in springtime when the bluebells are in bloom.

If you also love shooting wildlife with your Sony Alpha camera, then I’ve setup the Sony Alpha Wildlife Shooters Group on Facebook where you can share your photos with fellow wildlife shooters. Please only post genuine wildlife shots, no zoo shots, pets or animals held in captivity that aren’t free to leave, genuine conservation centers are the exception here.

Category: Wildlife, WorkshopsTag: Sony a6500, Sony FE 70-200mm F4
Sony Alpha Forum

About Timothy Mayo

I started Alpha Shooters back in 2017 to share my own experiences as a photographer shooting with Sony Alpha cameras, lenses and accessories.

I enjoy wildlife photography the most but will happily point my camera at pretty much anything.

As well as this blog you’ll also find a community forum which provides members with a friendly and safe place to share images and ask questions.

You can find out more about my story here or follow me on Instagram if you wish.

I also have a YouTube Channel but haven’t published much content recently due to the demands of my one and three year old boys.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sidebar

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. I may also earn from links to other online retailers at no extra cost to you.

Latest Deals

These links will display all of the current Sony Alpha camera, lens and accessory deals at Amazon & B&H Photo.

  • View all Sony Deals at Amazon
  • View all Sony Deals at B&H Photo

The Amazon link will probably only work correctly for US viewers I'm afraid.

Or view our deals page here.

Site Supporter

If you’d like to support this site you can easily do so by becoming a Site Supporter in our Community Forums and unlocking the following benefits:

✓ No Adverts in the Forums
✓ Monthly Competitions
✓ Sell Items in the Marketplace
✓ Unlimited Gallery Uploads
✓ Higher Resolution Gallery Uploads
✓ Forum Profile Signature
✓ Custom Profile Cover Photo
✓ Advertise Your Photography Workshops

VISIT FORUMS

Latest Articles

TTartisan 35mm F1.8 APS-C Autofocus Lens

$149 TTartisan 35mm F1.8 APS-C Autofocus Lens Announced

Sony Alpha Black Friday Deals

Black Friday Deals for Sony Alpha Shooters

Sigma Launches 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN OS Sports Lens

Sigma Launches 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN OS Sports Lens

Sony A7R V Guides & Resources

Sony A7R IV / A7R V Guides & Resources

Featured Articles

Best Sony A7 IV Memory Cards With Speed & Buffer Tests

Sony A1 Memory Card Guide

Tested in Camera: The Best Sony A1 Memory Cards

Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G vs FE 100-400 F4.5-5.6 GM Comparison

Sony 200-600 G vs 100-400 GM Review & Comparison

Sony 100-400 VS 70-200 F2.8 GM II With 2x Teleconverter at 400mm

Sony 100-400 VS 70-200 F2.8 GM II With 2x Teleconverter at 400mm

Site Supporter Membership Upgrade

If you’d like to support this site you can easily do so by becoming a Site Supporter in our Community Forums and unlocking the following benefits:

✓ No Adverts in the Forums
✓ Pro Member Competitions
✓ Sell Items in the Marketplace
✓ Unlimited Gallery Uploads
✓ Higher Resolution Gallery Uploads
✓ Forum Profile Signature
✓ Custom Profile Cover Photo
✓ Advertise Your Photography Workshops

Join today!

Memory Card Guides

  • Sony A1 Memory Cards
  • Sony A7 IV Memory Cards
  • Sony A7 III Memory Cards
  • Sony A7R IV Memory Cards
  • Sony A7S III Memory Cards
  • Sony A7C Memory Cards
  • Sony A6400 Memory Cards
  • Sony A6000 Memory Cards

Accessory Guides

  • Sony a1 Accessories
  • Sony a7IV Accessories
  • Sony a7C Accessories
  • Sony a7R IV Accessories
  • Sony a7III Accessories
  • Sony a7R III Accessories
  • Sony a9II Accessories
  • Sony a9 Accessories
  • Sony a6600 Accessories
  • Sony a6400 Accessories
  • Sony a6100 Accessories
  • Sony a6000 Accessories

Lens Guides

  • Sony FE Lenses
  • Sony APS-C Lenses
  • Sony Macro Lenses
  • Sony Telephoto Lenses
  • Sony a1 Lenses
  • Sony a7IV Lenses
  • Sony a7III Lenses
  • Sony a7R IV Lenses
  • Sony a7R III Lenses
  • Sony a6600 Lenses
  • Sony a6400 Lenses
  • Sony a6000 Lenses
Visit Our Facebook Groups
Alpha Shooters Text Logo
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube

Return To Top

Copyright © 2023 Alpha Shooters. All Rights Reserved. Content and images may not be used without permission.
Disclaimer: Alpha Shooters is an independently run website and is not affiliated with Sony.com
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Terms · Privacy · Cookies · Contact · About