Macaroni Penguin in the Snow

[denise ippolito]

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. I just saw some dark edges that I will fix later-sorry.

[Jay Sheinfield]

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.

[Dennis Bishop]

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.

[Dan Brown]

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

[Cheryl Slechta]

Perfect, Denise. I love everything about it.

[Judy Howle]

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.

[Paul Lagasi]

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

[denise ippolito]

Thanks folks, it was fun tinkering with this one

[Mitch Carucci]

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

[denise ippolito]

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

[Andrew McLachlan]

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

[Arthur Morris]

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!

[denise ippolito]

Thanks, good idea to lighten the head a touch.

[Anita Bower]

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