While exploring the tropical waters off Colombia’s northern coast, I captured this image of a Brown Booby (Sula leucogaster) on Isla Terrón de Azúcar, a small, rugged rock island off Capurganá in the Chocó Department. The island, surrounded by open ocean, is a haven for marine birds. Hundreds of Brown Boobies and other seabird species nest and roost there, creating a dynamic, visually overwhelming setting for any nature photographer.
I was aboard a fishing boat that rocked steadily beneath my feet as I navigated the challenge of photographing from an unstable platform. With the island’s steep cliffs towering ahead and the morning sun casting sharp light across the scene, I needed both reach and precision. I shot this image using the Canon EOS R5 paired with the RF 800mm F11 lens and a 1.4x extender, giving me an effective focal length of 1120mm. To counter the boat’s movement and maintain sharpness, I selected a shutter speed of 1/750 second. ISO was set to 800, and the aperture, forced by the extender-lens combination, was f/16.
The result is a crisp profile of the bird’s strong silhouette and piercing gaze as it perched confidently along the island’s lower ledges. Capturing this image in such challenging conditions made it especially rewarding. The composition, with the sharp diagonal lines of the rock and the ocean’s shimmer below, reflects the raw, untamed essence of this Caribbean setting.
©2022 Adam Rainoff Photographer
