South Shetland wildlife (Antarctica Part VI)

[DaveB]

Chinstrap Penguins at Half Moon Island in the South Shetland Islands:


Heading to the nest
EOS 5DmkII, 100-400mm IS

The pink underside of the flippers, the clean belly (and the OOF water in the background) make it clear that this bird's just out of the water.



Wot are you lookin' at? It's just mud!
EOS 5DmkII, 100-400mm IS


Screaming match
EOS 5DmkII, 100-400mm IS


And on nearby Desolation Island:

Got a hanky?
Weddell Seal
EOS 5DmkII, 100-400mm IS

That's actually a wave breaking in the background.


Regarding the different crops in this post: 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, and original are what I've ended up with in most images. On the whole I'm trying to keep to "standard" image ratios. This post just happens to have examples of all of those!

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10

[DaveB]

A day and no responses. Maybe you're getting tired of the Antarctic material? Or maybe it's just the wildlife pictures?

[muzz]

Everyone is off consulting their thesauruses (?thesaurii) to find new superlatives.

I think we are just taking it for granted that your focus/DOF/composition/exposure/WB and creative design of all of the posted images are spot on! We're probably now in a phase where the only new things to comment on would be if there was a criticism - a pretty difficult job at the moment.

I'm wondering how much research you did on the wildlife that you encountered prior to the trip. Were you already the full bottle, or was there some geeky guy standing on the deck saying stuff like "The pink underside of the flippers, the clean belly make it clear that this bird's just out of the water" and everyone just copied it down?

[DaveB]

I'm wondering how much research you did on the wildlife that you encountered prior to the trip. Were you already the full bottle, or was there some geeky guy standing on the deck saying stuff like "The pink underside of the flippers, the clean belly make it clear that this bird's just out of the water" and everyone just copied it down?

The ship's expedition team did include an ornithologist, a geologist (from Tasmania!), a historian, and an expert on marine mammals (sorry, can't recall the fancy term for that ). On the ocean-crossing days were there wasn't as much to do there were lectures in the ship's lounge on various subjects, and the expedition crew were often nearby when out on deck or on shore.
So there was information being presented when were down there, but I think I was already fairly "full bottle" on the wildlife. It is my speciality after all (and I had field guide books with me for the Argentine and Antarctic birds).

The penguins don't have much trouble staying warm in the cold water: their metabolisms are such that they actually have trouble staying cool. After a vigorous swim the penguin will often stay around the shore for a little while waving its flippers to cool down. The blood vessels on the underside of the flippers are busy radiating heat. They close up after a while (and the pink tinge disappears).

[radar]

Definitely not getting tired of your photos.

This is a great set here, the first two certainly tell a great story, hard to pick a favourite. The fact you have the first one with one of its legs just off the ground give the photo that feeling of movement.

Third one is probably a bit tight for my taste but really is a great behaviour shot.

Thanks for sharing.

André

[ATJ]

A day and no responses. Maybe you're getting tired of the Antarctic material? Or maybe it's just the wildlife pictures?

I guess that as this an Image Reviews and Critiques forum, no one has any recommendations for improvements. By the way, threads in this forum frequently go unanswered. There are 6 with no replies right now and that's from less than a week's worth of threads.

an expert on marine mammals (sorry, can't recall the fancy term for that )

Cetologist.

[DaveB]

an expert on marine mammals (sorry, can't recall the fancy term for that )

Cetologist.

That would be for cetaceans. What about the seals?
Pinnipedologist?

[muzz]

So there was information being presented when were down there, but I think I was already fairly "full bottle" on the wildlife. It is my speciality after all (and I had field guide books with me for the Argentine and Antarctic birds).

Hey Dave, I didn't realise YOU were the geeky guy !!! I went to your website and understood you were an expert in colour profiling amongst other things but missed the whole wildlife specialty bit. You must've been as happy as the proverbial porcine creature in excrement!

[gstark]

A day and no responses. Maybe you're getting tired of the Antarctic material? Or maybe it's just the wildlife pictures?

Dave, it happens.

I rarely post images, but over the weekend I posted images in a number of threads, of which only two have attracted comments. C'est la vie.

Andrew's observation that this section is for image reviews and critiques is correct, and yes, we've run out of superlatives.

[Reschsmooth]

Whilst they are great photos (particularly the first as you captured the penguin mid-stride), where are the ponies?

I have had images posted which haven't had comments for over 6 months (could say something about my photos!), so I wouldn't get too concerned.

[DaveB]

Hey, I'm not concerned. It was just interesting that with all the comments that the other posts in this series had attracted, we suddenly hit a dry spell...
Nuthin' serious.