The Traveler: Sue Kirchoff of Minneapolis.
The scene: A puffin looks ready for its close-up on a rock at Látrabjarg, a cliff-lined promontory that juts into the icy North Atlantic Ocean on Iceland's northwestern edge.
The Trip: Kirchoff took a solo eight-day driving trip on Iceland's famous Ring Road, which circles the entire island — and added a few side trips to the adventure. "One of the reasons I had traveled to this isolated corner of Iceland, where the Látrabjarg bird cliffs are a known hangout for puffins and other birds, was to see Atlantic puffins for the first time — and I did! Hiking around near the Bjargtangar Lighthouse, I spotted the puffin perched on the edge of the cliff," she wrote in an e-mail.
How I got this shot: "I used a Nikon D600 digital SLR camera, handheld," Kirchoff wrote. "I was able to get the close-up image thanks to my willingness to tiptoe close to the edge of the cliff — and my 70-300mm zoom lens, which was zoomed in all the way. I waited for just the right moment for the puffin to turn in my direction, took a number of shots and was thrilled with the results."
About the destination: "Iceland has an incredibly diverse landscape, with mountains, seashores, volcanoes, geysers, waterfalls, lava fields, glaciers, fjords and hot springs in a country less than half the size of Minnesota," Kirchoff wrote.
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