This is one of the world's most rare and endangered penguins with a population estimate of only 5000 birds. It is a monotypic genus (Megadyptes) found on the south coasts of New Zealand, Auckland Is group and Campbell Is in the NZ sub-Antarctic. It is very shy and secretive and unfortunately my only photo-opportunities were in harsh light in the middle of the day with the bird on the edge of a rock chasm. The shot was taken on Enderby Is on 2 January 2014. Thanks for looking - critical feedback welcome.
Canon 5DIII + 300 mm f/2.8L II + 2x III extender, Gitzo 3532LS, Kirkphoto King Cobra gimbal.
Av priority, f/8, 1/640 sec, ISO 320.
Processed in DPP: crop, adjust brightness (-0.83), shad/h'lights, USM, RAW-tiff. PS Elements: brighten eye, tiff-output jpeg, USM.
I really like this Ian. I think you have done extremely well with harsh lighting as it doesn't really show in the image.
I can't really find fault with anything. I only wish the face had been lit more.
I agree with you about the light (not only harsh, but the angle of it), but I like the pose you got from this fella. Good details, and just the right amount of ground showing. Perhaps a bit more contrast to the face area would be good.
Thanks everyone for your positive feedback - much appreciated. I have followed Daniel's suggestion and increased the contrast a little on the birds face and I also brightened it a bit. I think in the repost you will see a subtle but noticeable improvement. This has changed my feelings about the image from problematic to acceptable.
Regards, Ian