It’s little wonder people love puffins. Their comical waddle, jet-like flying, curious nature, and striking appearance set them apart from other East Coast birds. The Atlantic puffin sits about 30 centimetres tall. They live in this region and in northwestern Europe, with about 90 per cent of the population on the European side of the ocean. They mate for life, burrowing into the sides of high cliffs to nest. Puffins even create a separate bathroom underground to help keep their main living and breeding space clean.

I’ve spent countless hours hiking 500-metre cliffs in Iceland, taking five-hour boat rides into the open ocean, and getting up at all hours to photograph these birds. I’ve been lucky to see them in Iceland, Ireland, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, but my favourite place to watch puffins is Newfoundland.

The Bonavista Peninsula, about a four-hour drive from the provincial capital St. John’s, offers the perfect viewing site. Where else can you watch puffins with both icebergs and whales as a backdrop? On a recent trip there, I was blessed with ideal weather and amazing light conditions,  But puffins are wild creatures there’s no guarantee that you will have a good opportunity to see them.

Puffins spend most of their life on, under, or flying above the Atlantic. They only come ashore to nest and raise their young.

When I first arrived in Newfoundland, I headed to Elliston, among the most famous viewing locations on the island. I got up at 4 a.m. to be there for sunrise. I was disappointed to see only a handful of birds sitting and flying around an island several hundred metres away. I had hoped for thousands. As the sun rose, the sky lit up in an amazing orange glow. I noticed that it might be possible to place the sun behind me and the far-off puffins. I ran along the rocky cliffs, barely able to see in the dark, to a spot where the sun was directly behind the island and the puffins. I set up my camera, knowing I only had a few minutes to get the shot. A few birds were flying in and landing. I moved around, found an angle that worked, and was able to get some magical images.

I left Elliston and headed to my accommodations, a small rental house on the coast in Spillars Cove. I stopped for a delicious lunch of cod tongues and asked the restaurateur where I could find puffins. She suggested Cable John Cove, just a kilometre away from where I was staying. It was jaw-droppingly beautiful, with cliffs, sea stacks, caves, icebergs, and puffins. I felt like I had just walked onto a movie set, which I actually had, as the Disney movie Peter Pan & Wendy had recently filmed there.

I walked around admiring stunning vistas. There were icebergs perfectly framed in the cove. I came to a point of land across from an islet filled with puffins. As I watched, they started to fly and land nearby. I was excited as more arrived and sat for hours watching them. Some were landing just metres away.

Using a long zoom lens, I photographed the puffins, plus icebergs in the background. It was an amazing opportunity to get a unique image, crouching and taking photos until my body cramped. In the distance, I noticed a bright red fishing boat heading towards the iceberg. When it sailed into position, I started taking photos, framing the birds on the island, the iceberg, and the boat. At just the right time, a puffin came in for a landing. When I got back to my lodgings and saw the image, I was shook with excitement. For me, this is the holy trinity of Newfoundland in one image.

The next day was my last day in the Bonavista peninsula. I got up for sunrise and headed to Elliston to photograph root cellars. While there, some people arrived from where the puffin colony lived, with eyes as big as saucers. I asked if there were any puffins around and they excitedly answered that there were thousands, and close.

I packed up my gear as quickly as possible and ran down to the colony. Puffins were everywhere, with many of them on the side of the cliff, within a few metres of some excited photographers. I set up my camera and got into position to take some images. Just as I was ready, I noticed one puffin heading quickly toward another. I locked focus on them and to my surprise, they locked bills and started flipping in the air. The entire incident lasted only a second or two, but I got the photo. Just when I thought it was impossible to top the photo from the day before, here I was with another once-in-a-lifetime shot. A panel of judges selected the image to represent Team Canada in the World Photographic Cup. Our team brought home the bronze medal, Canada’s best performance ever.