Between Germany and England, an island has changed hands several times over the centuries and has been administered by Germany again since 1952: Heligoland. It was formed by the rise in sea level over the last 12,000 years since the last ice age and consists of 2 separate parts: a red sandstone rock and, separated from it, a sand dune. Both parts are reserves for birds, seals and harbour seals and, therefore, a paradise for wildlife photographers.

Once a year, at different times of the year, I try my photographic luck with pictures of the animals and especially with landscape shots in constantly changing light conditions that correspond to the open sea. Therefore, the weather is often different and rather better than on the mainland. The clouds often get caught there while the sun shines on the islets.

With this picture, we say goodbye to the islands: we fly back to the mainland with a small plane. At ISO 800, f11 and with a continuous shot at 1/2000s, this picture was taken with a Nikon D850 and a zoom lens 28-300mm at 48mm. The lighthouse stands on the south beach of the sand dune, which seals occupy in the course of the day. Then it would be best if you kept your distance. We were still very early with our 9 a.m. flight.