King of the Hill--Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua)

[Tommy Rodgers]

Canon 1D Mark IV, tripod mounted Canon 500mm f4 with 1.4 III, evaluative metering, AP,-1/3 EV, ISO 400, 1/1000 at f13. LR4 (beta), CS5, NIK, cropped to intersection of golden rule grid.

It is late in the day, and the number of returning Gentoos from sea has steadily increased over the last hour. Off shore, I can see rafts of penguins headed for the beach. I am positioned a little off sun angle trying to keep the camera dry in a light surf while seated with the tripod legs extended at wide angle. I am hoping for some landing action opportunities. For some reason know only to the Gentoos, a "King of the Hill" struggle breaks out over a small outcropping of rocks about thirty meters offshore. The struggle started out playfully with pushes and shoves making up most of the action, but as you can see, it escalated into something more serious.

[dankearl]

Nice action, and I would love to have been there.
Maybe a bit over saturated?
Sharp and very nice details with the water action.

[Dan Busby]

Nice action shot Tommy. And you kept the details nice and sharp. Are those the true colours of the water? Seem a bit rich but that may be just the way it is.

[John Chardine]

I like the action too, and the composition. I agree the saturation is a bit too much but easy to tone down. "NIK" has 100s of magic tricks. What did you do with it??

[Carmelo Cannova]

Love the interaction. Great light and very nice colors.

Carmelo

[Arthur Morris]

Way to go Tommy. This one is quite excellent. Great timing and I love the biting action. And I love the perfect head angle on the attacking bird. The WHITEs look a bit bright and would likely benefit from a Linear Burn. And with the sun slightly to your left you have a perfect light angle into the right hand bird.

[denise ippolito]

Tommy, Great behavior captured. I love the careful framing. Nice warm light and great suggestions above.

[Tommy Rodgers]

I like the action too, and the composition. I agree the saturation is a bit too much but easy to tone down. "NIK" has 100s of magic tricks. What did you do with it??


Digital extractor and total contrast at 25% of default on the recipe.

[Grace Scalzo]

I love this! Great story telling happening here. Only small thing I can add is I see some odd circles in the breaking wave up top. easy to fix! Thanks for sharing this one.

[Tommy Rodgers]

Way to go Tommy. This one is quite excellent. Great timing and I love the biting action. And I love the perfect head angle on the attacking bird. The WHITEs look a bit bright and would likely benefit from a Linear Burn. And with the sun slightly to your left you have a perfect light angle into the right hand bird.

I keep trying. For me, it's a steep learning curve, but with your help, and my other friends at BPN, ever now and then, I get one good one. Thanks for the kind words and the advice.

[Tommy Rodgers]

Tommy, Great behavior captured. I love the careful framing. Nice warm light and great suggestions above.

Thank you for the kind words. Your the greatest!

[Ofer Levy]

Fantastic behaviour image! Slightly over-saturated and white on the bright side but starting from RAW will make it a winner!!!:cheers:

[arash_hazeghi]

very nice interaction, lovely pose. as presented it's a bit hot and oversat easy to fix

[Pieter de Waal]

Like the behaviour captured here Tommy. Nice light and detail with the BG wave adding to the sense of movement in the image.

[Jim Crosswell]

I like the action, setting and behaviour. Well done Tommy!