Recently I had the chance to do something I’ve wanted to do for over 30 years. I got a chance to go out on a boat and take pictures of Puffins. My fascination with Puffins dates back to high school. A teacher of mine showed me some pictures of these small birds, and I instantly fell in love. It took a little while and a move of 400 miles to get the timing right, but I finally made it happen. In the intervening years those images never left me, they made that much of an impression. 

      Now for the explanation of the duel title. Are my pictures of the same caliber? No, not even close. I knew going in they wouldn’t be. I knew the limitations of my equipment and the environment  and how that would affect the images. I knew all that and went anyway, and still loved it. I fulfilled a life long dream, and that is more important than the image quality. Will I do it again? Yes! Will I approach it differently? Also yes! As I have said in a previous blog post, sometimes the feeling is more important than perfection.