We finally made it onto Skomer Island and luckily enough it was a glorious, sunny day. Numbers visiting the island are limited to 250 visitors a day with boat tickets going on sale at 8.30am, on a first come first served basis. We arrived at 6.30am to make sure we got a place on the boat and although we were first in the queue all the ticket places available had been taken up by 7.30am. Our boat left at 9.30am and we made The Wick area of the island our first stop as I'd been told it can get very busy there. This paid off big time as it was relatively quiet (certainly compared to the afternoon) and the light was really good. The puffins nest on the headland in large numbers and fly in from sea with beaks full of sand eels to feed their young. Trying to catch one in flight proved impossible for me (they're not that big and fly really quickly) but once on the ground they're incredibly tame and not in the least bothered by people. I was more them able to get plenty of full frame shots with my 70-200mm zoom despite their small size. I'd had a few shots I wanted in mind and was quite pleased to leave the area an hour or so later with a few of my ideas in the camera.

We made our way back to the centre of the island hoping to get a few shots of the Short Eared Owls which had been flying around in that area the previous day. As it happened we did see one from a distance but we were never in the right place in the right time to get a reasonable shot. It was a similar story with the Little Owls although I did manage to get one shot all be it from quite a long way off. We spent the rest of the day walking the island and came away with a few shots of Razor Bills, various Gulls, pippets and Oyster Catchers.

We returned to The Wick prior to getting the boat back but the light was really harsh and the area quite crowded. All in all though the island is a great day out, whether or not you go for the photography. A lot of people were there for that reason and some of the equipment hanging off peoples necks was eye boggling. 600mm primes and top notch cameras everywhere. Good for the owls but not really necessary for the puffins. We left at 3.30pm, really tired but having thoroughly enjoyed our day out and came away with some really pleasing shots.

Yesterdays ‘Band Shoot’ with Marmalade Sky went well although it did highlight how little I know about flash photography. The lads were excellent models and I came away with a few decent shots. Nicks efforts are a lot better though. Still a good learning experience and I’ll be better prepared for next time.

I’ve finally taken the plunge and gone full frame with a Canon EOS 5 Mk2. I’ve been considering the upgrade for some time and after reading numerous reviews and looking at example shots I thought it was time to get serious.

Initial impressions are very good. The large viewfinder (certainly over my trusty 50D) is a revelation and a great help with composition. Hopefully we’re off to Burnham tonight so I can get some comparison shots.

On the down side I can’t use of my Sigma 10-20 zoom with the new camera. I really like that lens and it accounts for about a third of my shots. However, I’ve no plans to get rid of the 50D and I’m still happy using that combination.

I decided to pay a visit to the West Somerset Steam Railway Gala last weekend. Although I wanted a few train shots I was really hoping for some good portraits of drivers, firemen and train staff. I didn't quite manage a firemans face smeared with coal but I was pleased with a couple of the shots I came away with.

Thanks to Chris Perkins for actng as my guide and chauffeur throughout the day. Despite the continuous rain he made sure we were always at the best viewpoints and his hints and tips were invaluable. I'll visit again in the summer, especially Crowcombe and there's another Gala in September.

Back in November last year I entered our local papers Amateur Photographer of the Year competition for the North Somerset area. The picture I submitted made the top ten and tonight i was invited along to the award presentation evening at Clevedon. I was chuffed to bits when my shot, of Black Nore Lighthouse, was selected as overall winner and I picked up the top prize, a £600 Pentax SLR.

Following on from my entry in the 'Amateur Photographer of the Year' competition the short listed entries for the 'This is Britain' category were published in The Sun newspaper last week. The couple sat on the chairs in the rain on Weston beach is my effort.

I was invited up to London today, with three guests, for the finalists prize giving in the Great British Summer Photo Competition. I didn't win my category but it was a great day out all the same. Thanks to sponsors Curry’s for putting on a great evening and Panasonic for the camera they gave me for making the final fifteen. As an added bonus we met guest judge Jodie Kidd, who couldn’t have been nicer, and posed with us a few shots before we left for home.