Portrait of Yellow-eyed Penguin

[gail bisson]

Dunedin, New Zealand November 2019
I have been away for the past 6 weeks- 9 days in Costa Rica then New Zealand. Life is good when one is retired!
I took a wildlife tour on the Otago Peninsula. The focus was royal albatross and seabirds with a visit to a private property to hopefully see YEP's as they returned from the sea.
As we made our way down the very steep path, we encountered 2 penguins. I had way too much lens and too little time (maybe 2 minutes) before they entered into the treed area where the nests are.
YEP's are the rarest (but not the cutest) penguins on earth. Estimates vary anywhere from 1000-3000 pairs.
This is handheld
Canon 1 DX 600mm v3 and 1.4x v3
ISO 1600 SS 1/400 F 5.6
PP:Crop to 80% FF. I had to clone out an OOF branch that intersected with penguin .
Usual sliders in LR Classic and off to PS for levels, cloning out of branch, NR to BG and reduced exposure in the BG by 1/3 stop. Used DE/TC in Nik Efex Pro at 9% opacity, USM to JPEG.
Comments and critiques always appreciated and learned from with thanks,
Gail

[Mike Poole]

Welcome back Gail, I was just thinking the other day I hadn't seen any new shots from you recently. Hope it was a fruitful trip.

As regards the shot, I love the bird itself - fantastic details and colours, perfect head angle, and I really like how the DoF trails off down the neck. Not sure if you could tone down the greens on the left of the frame a little as I do see them as being a little overpowering with them being so close to the end of the bill.

Looking forward to the next few installments

Mike

[Aditya Sridhar]

This is an excellent shot, Gail! Great detail, comp. and HA. Love the dirt on the bill and that eye is just so striking! I've been staring at the picture for 5 mins and I still can't decide if I'm ok with the leaves - they draw my eye away from the bird slightly but they add so much depth. I think Mike's suggestion of toning down the greens will take this over the top.

Sounds like you've had a couple of great trips! Can't wait to see your other pictures :bg3:

[Bill Dix]

You're back! Hope you had a wonderful trip. If this striking portrait of this rarity is any measure, it was very productive. I love the razor-sharp detail, and the green is a nice addition IMO. In 2007 we took perhaps the same wildlife tour that you did on Otago, and saw just one of these guys, but didn't get any good shots of him. I'm looking forward to some more.

[Daniel Cadieux]

Welcome back!! Neat image here. Interesting eye with that texture on the iris. I'm OK with the leaves at left, but I agree that toning them down would work even better. Looking forward to lots of your new images!!:S3:

[arash_hazeghi]

nice head shot, thr dark BG ain't bad either but if mine I'd get rid of those leaves. It also looks a bit oversharpened to me

TFS this rare find

[Geoffrey Montagu]

Welcome back, Gail. I hope you had a great time. This is a wonderful capture, especially under time constraints. Great to see such close detail to examine all the intricate features of this beauty. Looking forward to some more as well.


Geoffrey




http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu (http://500px.com/geoffreymontagu)

[Krishna Prasad kotti]

Looks like you had a great trip.

I like the image. Nice black background and Head Angle.

Sharpness can be backed off a little. Green leaves are ok. I would clone out the ones on the right side of the image.

I look forward to your other images.

TFS

[Tim Munsey]

Grabs your attention this one, feast if detail contrasting with little background, looks like a studio portrait. I struggle to see things to change perhaps a sliver off the top.
Think your signature is also great will look at improving mine for 2020 :bg3:.

TFS

[David Roach]

The eye alone is amazing. Love the dark BG and I even love the leaves. TFS

[gail bisson]

Thank you all for your helpful comments. Here is a redo with some leaves cloned out and reduced sharpening on the penguin.

[Randy Stout]

Gail:

Striking bird, strong portrait.

I could go either way on the leaves. Def. need something in background, as straight dark backgrounds lack depth. The bird is so striking that my eye goes to it first, then over to the leaves on the left, and back to the bird. If I had to chose one of the posts, I am leaning towards the original.

Sounds like you had a great time. Glad you didn't run into trouble with the volcano.

Randy

[Mike Poole]

Definitely the RP for me Gail, the reduced leaves don't drag your eye away so much

Mike

[Paul Burdett]

Hi Gail...wow...that's a great capture. Ditto the +ve comments here. I'm undecided on the green leaves...I do prefer the re post, but would probably clone them out if it were mine. NZ is on my bucket list (as is a return trip to Tasmania)...a lot closer for me than Costa Rica...even though I am retired. Cheers.

[John Mack]

Looks great. I would take either version anyday. The low key background is great. Nice detail on the bird as well.

[Alex Becker]

Great view of this rarity. I like the first one but would be happy with either. Great sharpness. I love the sand on the face. Sounds like a great tour you're on! TFS