Macaroni Penguin in the Snow

I photographed this Macaroni Penguin in the snow. To create the ethereal look to the foreground I used an OOF snow covered grass mound and an f/5.6 aperture. Even though there was plenty of snow I added a little snow on a separate layer and added a bit of a motion blur to that layer of snow. I wanted to slow down my shutter speed in the field to create the lines of snow but since I was in an awkward position and hand-holding I felt it was best not to slow it down.:S3: I just saw some dark edges that I will fix later-sorry.

Denise, Love this one...........the feeling of isolation and enduing another winter is what I see. The processing with the motion blur of the added snow is great. Framed so well...........wonderful capture and interpretation.

This is absolutely terrific, Denise. I was immediately taken with the penguin fading into the snow. The composition -- with the lines of the penguin pointing to the upper left corner is wonderful. The added snow layer is a great touch.

Wonderful portrait, Denise! I love the floating in the fog effect.

Perfect, Denise. I love everything about it.:S3:

I love the penguin fading into the snow and the snow you added. I might make the eye a bit brighter but it's fine as-is.

I am a fan of these types of images, the high key look, the body fading into the snow...very nice

Thanks folks, it was fun tinkering with this one :S3:

Wow! I love this little guy. How big is a Macaroni Penguin? Like the isolation (as others have said) and the sharp eye.

Hi Mitch, thanks. this one really appealed to me. They aren't too big approx. 2 feet.

Denise, I just love the out of focus foreground here. Beautiful work!

Love the penguin in heaven look. And the composition. If it were mine, I would open up the blacks on the head just a bit and lighten the iris just a hair. Folks might enjoy reading about my not so great decision that day in "If You Snooze..." And seeing lots more Macaroni Penguin images that were not mine!

Thanks, good idea to lighten the head a touch.

Wonderful image. The snow is perfect. Like the way the head appears out of the snow, and the simple lines.