Life in a King Penguin colony

[Ian Wilson]

In this image I have tried to capture a snap-shot of life in a Macquarie Is King Penguin colony. The breeding cycle is about 15 months so there are lots of birds in the colony all year round. When this shot was taken on 5 January 2014, egg laying was well advanced and some birds can be seen with the egg on their feet and tucked under their bulging skirts. Incubation takes about 8 weeks and is shared between each parent. The birds are packed tightly together so there is squabbling with neighbours and birds passing to and from the sea. The noise and smell of a few thousand penguins is quite memorable. The brown chick in the foreground hatched about a 10 months earlier and will soon lose its down, moult into juvenile plumage, and go to sea to feed. The juvenile plumage is retained for about 3 years before a final moult to adult plumage. The image is full frame with a little trimmed off the bottom.
Canon 5DIII + 300 mm f/2.8L II
Manual with evaluative metering, f/16, 1/320 sec, ISO 800
Processed in DPP: crop, adjust brightness (-0.33), shad/h'lights, saturation, sharpen, RAW-TIFF. PS Elements: downsize and sharpen, TIFF-JPEG.
Thanks for looking, critical feedback welcome.

[John Robinson]

Great narrative on this one Ian and I love the central focus being on the youngster. Make a great Jig Saw !!!! Love the expression of the one behind the chick !
Good stuff. How I wished I had travelled in my life.
John

[Binu John]

Excellent shot! I really like the way you framed that youngster. Thanks for sharing this beautiful shot, Ian!

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Ian, now you are rubbing salt in that wound again with this image.

I like the idea of having a 'sea' of King penguins, with this brown, lonesome chick. It's always hard in a scene like this not to crop and I like the OP, but wonder about coming in either side to try and reduce truncating them and above, but still retaining the original crop, (RIP)? Not sure if the sea in the top RHC adds or not, was it possible to be at ground level, lying down flat? Again, I love the rich, bold colours.

TFS
Steve

[Ian Wilson]

Hi Ian, now you are rubbing salt in that wound again with this image.

I like the idea of having a 'sea' of King penguins, with this brown, lonesome chick. It's always hard in a scene like this not to crop and I like the OP, but wonder about coming in either side to try and reduce truncating them and above, but still retaining the original crop, (RIP)? Not sure if the sea in the top RHC adds or not, was it possible to be at ground level, lying down flat? Again, I love the rich, bold colours.

TFS
Steve

Thanks for your insight Steve. I played around with a few different crops and other shots, including low POV frames. I liked this one because it had the water showing in the top right corner making it clear that these birds were on the seashore. I will post another crop with less water and two birds in from the left while trying not to cut any birds in the foreground. Regards, Ian

[Pamela de Zilva]

A cracker of an image Ian. I like the placement of the brown chick and all the information you give us. Pamela

[Ian Wilson]

This one is a tighter crop but still retaining a little of the water's edge. If I bring the top edge down I lose more/all of the water. I would be pleased to get some feedback on whether this is going in the right direction. Thanks, Ian

[Steve Kaluski]

Hi Ian, thanks a lot and I fully appreciate/understand the rational, this is why the Forum is so good, and having open minded members.

This was where I was going, just try to emphasis that 'sea' of penguins, no pun intended about dropping the sea out of sight. I hope/trust Ian, based on your request, people ADD to the reasons why they prefer things, rather than 'I like the OP or RP etc' as it has no real gravitas without clarification why.

Have a good weekend.

Steve

[Ian Wilson]

Thanks Steve, I really appreciate the interest you have taken in this image. I like your repost and will be interested to learn the reaction of other viewers to the three versions we now have on this thread. Cheers, Ian

[Steve Kaluski]

It's a pleasure Ian, I'm just enjoying the series.

[William Dickson]

Fantastic Ian, personally I like the 2nd post the best, it just looks better to me for some unknown reason. Well done mate

[David Salem]

Nice capture and I like seeing the whole colony. Tech look spot on. I like pane 7 for the comp best. Well done Ian

[christopher galeski]

nice image Ian,like your first post best,although there is nothing wrong with the other posts,love the color in the penguins head's,and I like how the youngster stands out.well done.

[Karl Egressy]

Excellent image, Ian.
The second version is more pleasing to the eye. Great work.

[John Robinson]

Yes Ian - Your second for me without a doubt. Again Ilove the bird behind the chick
John