Rockhopper Penguin Pair

Gallery: AvianPosted December 14, 2010102 views6 comments

Olympus E-3, 300mm f2.8, tripod
f8, 1/160, ISO400
Full frame, brightened a bit, usual sharpening drill

West Point Island, Falkland Islands. It's a large, mixed colony of Rockhoppers, Black-browed Albatross and Imperial (Blue-eyed) Shag.

It's very difficult not to anthropomorphize penguins, but there seemed to be an intimacy about this couple that appealed to me.

C & C, please. Thanks for looking.

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Sally King on December 14, 2010 at 8:54 AM

Lovely feather adornments and I love the way they are leaning into each other. Nicely exposed blacks and whites. That must have been quite the wonderful trip.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Carol Hyman on December 14, 2010 at 10:05 AM

Hi Jim, A delightful capture. When I looked at your larger photo, it looked a bit soft, and I'm assuming that came from the relatively slow speed. but you and others know far more than I do about Avian shooting. I've seen similar coziness in other birds, and I'm not familiar at all with Penguins.

Cheers,

Carol

Registered on January 18, 2007, 597 Posts, 8062 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Hackley on December 14, 2010 at 11:29 AM

The black/white color combination is a hard one to handle properly but you did a good job on this contrast. A different angle would of been nice (like hanging over the cliff

). Nice job getting both in focus and that must of been a very interesting trip to the Falklands.

Registered on September 17, 2009, 302 Posts, 5535 Comments

Comment posted by May Haga on December 14, 2010 at 12:41 PM

Totally cool. Great image Jim.
May

Registered on February 22, 2007, 714 Posts, 8470 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 14, 2010 at 11:00 PM

Sweet, Jim. I like the feel of this.

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on December 18, 2010 at 10:39 AM

Love the peaceful, intimate mood of this image Jim, would love to see some of the birds in person that you photographed on your trip.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments