Yellow-Eyed Penguins

[Jay Gould]

On the South Island, New Zealand, we went to the Catlins - an absolutely magical location. While there in addition to obtaining some lovely landscapes these little guys - having a conference - remained basically in one location for several minutes on the other side of a small channel from where I was standing. I have vignetted the image to hide a lot of nasties :e3 and to isolate the penguins.

What do you think they are saying to each other?

Camera: 7D
Capture date/time: 1 May 11; 6:09AM
Light condition: overcast
Lens: 70-200 f/4
Focal length: 200
Extender: none
Distance: 24m
Tube: none
Flash/Comp: no
ISO: 400
Exp Prog: Tv
Speed: 1/100 sec
Aperture: f/3.2
Exp Comp: None
Metering: Evaluative
WB: Auto
AF Drive: AI Servo
Tripod: yes
Filter: None
Crop: minimal
Images Changes: stuff I didn't like removed!

Processed in LR 3 and then CS5

All C&Cs gratefully appreciated!

[Ignacio Yufera]

Very nice and unusual image of a seldom seen species. Good job getting them all looking towards the camera. I also like the composition, with the little group "chatting" on the right and the single one on the left.
Pity that the very dark, contrasting BG is a little overwhelming; I would crop a little from the left and top to concentrate the attention on the birds.

[Mike Tracy]

If it would hold up quality wise I think a crop of the three birds only would make this stronger and more appealing since there seems to be too many dark areas which add nothing. I do like the odd man out penguin Im just not sure if he works in this frame. Maybe going with more of a pano crop is a option too.

I really like your subjects and the colors you rendered.

[Norm Dulak]

Very interesting and unusual subjects. And I like the composition.

But the very dark background detracts from this image IMO. Could you go back to the RAW file and work on that a bit? And could it be that by processing this image in both LR3 and CS5, it may have been processed a tad too much?

As for the crop, what you have here are three apparent buddies/partners and an observing bystander. I find that somewhat interesting, because in a sense the bystander adds balance. But since you say the crop was minimal, it might be good to at least take a look at the three amigos alone.

Anyway, this photo is interesting! :S3:

[Don Lacy]

Hi Jay, I like the interaction between the Penguins and this is my first time seeing this species and they sure are very cool looking. with that said the overly darken BG does not work for me with the way the light is on the subjects the processed BG just does not look natural.

[Vivaldo Damilano]

Hi Jay... lovely composed image. I also haven't seen this species before and they really are cool looking. I would agree with others on shadows, it doesn't work for me either TFS:cheers:

[Sid Garige]

If it would hold up quality wise I think a crop of the three birds only would make this stronger and more appealing since there seems to be too many dark areas which add nothing. I do like the odd man out penguin Im just not sure if he works in this frame.

Agree with Mike on this. I find the three birds much more interesting than any thing else in this frame.

[Jay Gould]

Hi, here is a crop eliminating most of the bkgr and putting the middle bird of the group on the 1/3 line. For me, this image tells a story. For birders, which we are, I am doing another RP of the three birds only.

[Jay Gould]

The Dimension limits for this filetype are 1024 x 800. We were unable to resize your file so you will need to do so manually and upload it again. Your file is currently 800 x 836. This is ridiculous!:2eyes2:

I have to keep making it smaller and smaller.

Which do you like better?

[James Shadle]

Jay,
These are killer birds!!!!!
Nailed the exposure in a tough situation.

IMO, the composition as posted would be close to perfect had the bird on the left been looking at the three on the right.
I love the vision and creativity. Did you get any with the bird on the left looking at the birds on the right?

James

[Jay Gould]

Hello Mate,

I assume you too prefer the RP of the four birds.

These guys stayed in one area for about 10 minutes and I blasted away and moved around. This was the best of the all of the images.

In some ways the little guy on the left has several different tag lines: aloof, look-out, etc.

And, if he (? - John care to take a shot at male or female) was looking towards the group: please let me in; what are they talking about?; are they talking about me?

I am happy!!

[James Shadle]

I assume you too prefer the RP of the four birds.
Not really. I prefer the original over the re-post. I like this one best.

And, if he (? - John care to take a shot at male or female) was looking towards the group: please let me in; what are they talking about?; are they talking about me?
You got it!

[Jay Gould]

Very interesting, Mate. Now I have to live with both the cropped and uncropped to decide.

Others?

[John Chardine]

Hard to say what is happening. Penguins often interact in groups and it really is impossible to tell who is who (unless everyone is banded).

[Chad Caswell]

Lovely capture Jay, I would love to go there someday. I'm digging the repost shots.

Chad