Uuups, forgot my handbag!

[Rosl Roessner]

African Jackass Penguin at Boulders Beach....

Sorry, have no Exifs at the moment, will add them later...

All comments really welcome!
Rosl

[Tony Whitehead]

Lovely pose, Rosl. Harsh back/side lighting is making it hard here. Image looks underexposed -it is an incredilbly bright environment with harsh sun and white sand so the meter tends to underexposure - I will be interested in the exposure details when you post them. Forehead is starting to clip but there is little detail in the blacks on the face. Lifting the curve will help but maybe reprocessing the RAW with some recovery and more fill light is an option. Fill flash ++ at capture time would be good - can't see whether you did this or not (eye highlight looks more like a big pale rock than a flash reflection)

[Rosl Roessner]

Thanks Tony for taking so much time to comment the image. You know about the problems with the light at the Boulders...
With my last postings I had to learn a lesson: I am a big friend of pictures, where the birds are in a quite different or funny pose or situation. The bad thing is, that there is not always soft evening or morning light or it is not always possible to be in the right position to get the perfect angle.
I had to learn in the BPN, that the image is not good, when the light is not good;
The light and the position make it all. So I will try not to show my "posing bird" - images, if there is no satisfying light, angle, exposure and so on...

Sometimes it is hard to become a better photographer, especially if you have not so many opportunities to go out and create images (my problem here in Germany is the lack of light we have often in winter and the lack of time when I have to work ;-)))
So in the moment I feel quite sad, because I want to make good images, work hard for it, and the success is sometimes so bad.... But I hope that this is a feeling that all of know and you went through it... and I hope that it will help me to become a better photographer?

[Tony Whitehead]

I had to learn in the BPN, that the image is not good, when the light is not good;
The light and the position make it all. So I will try not to show my "posing bird" - images, if there is no satisfying light, angle, exposure and so on...

So in the moment I feel quite sad, because I want to make good images, work hard for it, and the success is sometimes so bad.... But I hope that this is a feeling that all of know and you went through it... and I hope that it will help me to become a better photographer?

Rosl, don't stop posting "posing bird" images. They are all learning opportunities. You can include a self-critique when posting and we then won't offer suggestions that you are already aware of and others will still learn from your image. Boulders can be a very frustrating venue. The light is very harsh in summer and you are very limited in access to get different angles. My last trip there I got nothing I was happy with (except a Red-winged Starling!!) so can identify with your feeling of sadness but when it comes together the special ones are that much more satisfying. The hard thing is that the more you learn , the more critical you get of you own images.

[Lana Hays]

Rosl
"Don't ever give up"!!!! Tony gave an excellent critique. Posting images....the good and the not so good....are all learning processes. The weather and birds have been uncooperative for me and I've not been out photographing for several months. I have decided to try some macro photography and HDR. I have no intention of giving up the birds but I need something to experiment with when I can't get out. Looking in the past I discovered that I learned more about how to photograph....and not photograph in the bad weather. Good weather makes the job easier. Bad weather makes you think and experiment. Often times some of the best birds and birding are in the worst weather. Learn to take advantage of what you have to work with. What doesn't work.....delete. I've deleted whole days of images.

As for this image. Try some S/H recovery on it as well as other tools in Photoshop. Invest in some interesting software like Photomatix and try some creative work with it. When you're not as successful in the field as you like.....try some bold PS work. The pose is cute....certainly worth some extra work.

Don't despair.......you've had some wonderful images. Keep posting and learning.