Gentoo Penguins taking a slide

[Nancy Bell]

It took me some time to discover the joys of photographing in a snow storm. These Gentoo Penguins had a nearly impossible steep hill to climb from a rocky ocean beach on South Georgia to their colony somewhere farther than I could even see from my position in the middle of the slope. The snow was deep and these poor penguins slowly trudged up and down. For me the only way down was to hold my gear in my lap and slide the entire way to the beach. It was really fun!

Canon 1D Mark IV, Canon 70-200 f2.8 L IS @ 200, f7.1, 1/3200, exp. comp. +2/3, ISO 800

c & c most welcome.

[Randy Stout]

Nancy:

Sharp and well composed, the diagonal layout works well. Like the matching poses.

A very small point, the diagonal lines in the snow in the BG make me think of hand of man, almost like a sled was drawn along. May well be from something else, but because I like to think of penguins in unspoiled terrain, I would consider a version with those lines softened a bit.

Sounds like a fun/challenging photographic experience!

Cheers

Randy

[Karl Egressy]

Great subjects and excellent composition, Nancy.

[Arthur Morris]

Man, that's some deep snow. Not sure on those straight lines. As for me, I stayed on the ship that morning.... To see a collection of great images made by six others including Nancy (while I rested), see "You Snooze..." here.

[John Cooper]

Thats a really cool image Nancy in more ways than one! Love the diagonal composition of these two penguins and you have handled the exposure very well. Well done!

[dankearl]

Nice very different photo.
The lines are probably melting snow lines, very common.
They seem natural to me.
Great pose,
a Christmas card.

[Stu Bowie]

Hi Nancy, well exposed on the penquins, I too like the diagonal lines. Good DOF to show both in focus, and I like how we can see a hint of the falling snow on their heads.

[Arthur Morris]

Nice very different photo.
The lines are probably melting snow lines, very common.
They seem natural to me.
Great pose,
a Christmas card.

If I were a betting man, I'd be betting on those lines being manmade, perhaps byh someone dragging a light tripod? Or not :).

[Nancy Bell]

Thanks, everyone! I, too, wondered about those lines as I don't see any footprints in the snow. A tripod is a good suggestion. However since they look man made that is good enough reason to minimize them.