King Penguin portrait

[Ian Wilson]

The original frame was a 2/3 length portrait but it looked very strange without the bird's bottom end and feet. As the image quality was good, I tried cropping it various ways, finally deciding this head shot looked the best to my eye. I have trimmed a little off the RHS and added about the same on the LHS to give the bird some space to look into - the background is otherwise as from the camera. The eye on this species is very sensitive to light making possible high-speed pursuit of prey in poor light and down to 300 m depth. On land, the iris is invariably closed right down and often the birds squint to get relief from harsh light. This is not so attractive in photos and I found myself "pishing" to get the birds to raise their eyebrows for the camera. The shot was taken at Sandy Bay, Macquarie Is, Australian sub-Antarctic, on 5 January 2014.
Canon 5DIII + 300 mm f/2.8L II + 2x III extender, Gitzo 3532LS, Kirkphoto King Cobra gimbal.
Manual, f/10, 1/200 sec, ISO 125
Processed in DPP: adjust WB, brightness (-0.17), shad/h'lights, sharpen, RAW-TIFF. PS Elements: select bird, NR on background to reduce file size, extend canvas LHS, crop, downsize TIFF-JPEG, output sharpen bird.
Thanks for looking, critical comment welcome.

[Joe Galkowski]

Regal! I like the crop a great deal. This type of framing can be difficult to make look good, but you nailed it in my opinion. The BG compliments the bird very well also. I really like it.

[keith mitchell]

Totally agree with Joe you have really nailed this Ian, it's interesting reading about the Iris and the light even though it must have been frustrating for you.

Cheers Keith.

[christopher galeski]

nice image,good BG,some nice detail.

[Jonathan Ashton]

Lovely detail and texture in the plumage a regal pose if ever there was one - lovely shot.

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Ian, like the vibrant colours in the plumage and the BKG separates the subject nicely. Not sure if you have lightened the eye, if so I might ease off a tad? This subject is on the bucket list for sure! Nice depth & detail.

TFS
Steve

[Bill Dix]

Gorgeous portrait. I love the silky blacks with good detail, and the wonderful colors. Eye does look a tad bright, but I probably wouldn't have noticed. Comp looks great to me.

[Joseph Przybyla]

A beauty Ian. For one who does not see Penguins I am enjoying your images and threads. Thank you for sharing.

[stuart wanuck]

well done and certainly regal

[Gabriela Plesea]

Indeed a beauty Ian, such attractive colours and I can see this image on the cover of a book or a magazine, love the crop and presentation, great IQ, a memorable image - enjoyed viewing very much!

Kind regards,

[gail bisson]

The detail in this portrait is awesome. And his bill is so clean!
Love the comp you chose. Very nice BG.
Did you mean the pupil (not iris) is constricted?
Well done Ian!
Gail

[John Robinson]

Looks good Ian. Nice detail in the blacks too- and I love head shots. Interesting about the eye. Ithink they have one of these in the Safari Park down the road . I,ll nip down and have a look !!!!
Cheers
John

[Sidharth Kodikal]

Another sweet penguin shot, Ian. Gorgeous colors and details. A very elegant portrait.

[David Salem]

Awesome color and detail in this beautiful portrait. great job with the exposure too. Nice work.

[Ian Wilson]

The detail in this portrait is awesome. And his bill is so clean!
Love the comp you chose. Very nice BG.
Did you mean the pupil (not iris) is constricted?
Well done Ian!
Gail

Thanks for your generous feedback Gail. I think we are on the same page re pupil and iris. The iris forms the aperture stop, usually called 'the pupil' by physiologists. However, I did not use the word pupil as in optics it has a different meaning, that is, the pupil is the image of the aperture stop. After a long professional career in optics, I find it hard to use the language of another discipline when describing an optical system. I hope you understand . Warm regards, Ian.

[Ian Wilson]

Hi Ian, like the vibrant colours in the plumage and the BKG separates the subject nicely. Not sure if you have lightened the eye, if so I might ease off a tad? This subject is on the bucket list for sure! Nice depth & detail.

TFS
Steve

You are correct Steve, I did brighten the iris, sorry I forgot to mention it in my description of the PP. Next time I show this image I will ease it back a tad. Thanks for your kind feedback. Regards, Ian.

[Robert Kimbrell]

That's a beauty Ian, Super colors on the Penguin, I think the exposure on the blacks is just perfect. The comp looks fine to me. a very pleasing image.

[Pamela de Zilva]

Ian, This image has everything going for it. Clean background, wonderful detail in the feathers, and the colours are vibrant. Pamela

[Ian Wilson]

Thanks everyone for kind feedback and helpful comments. Regards, Ian