South of the 54th

[radar]

Okay,

finally, some Antarctica photos from the trip I did with a few other forum members. The trip was the one last year in November. Stubbsy, Craig and David Burren were also on the trip.

Global Melt



It's early spring in Antarctica. Where's the snow? Heat haze instead! Already the snow has melted and days are "hot". It was actually around 10-12C. this is a king penguin and you can see a couple of skuas in the front. This was taken in Gold Harbour in South Georgia.

Tech Details: Nikon D700, Nikkor 200-400 at 400mm, f6.3, 1/800s, iso 200, handheld
Weather: mid-day, bright blue sky, 10-12C, hardly no breeze
Post Processing: Pano crop, global adjustments for contrast, curves, sharpening.

Double Take



After spending time building their nest, gentoo penguins can't wait to head back to the ocean to get a well deserved meal and a clean. The spots in the distance are the nesting gentoo penguins where these two have come from. It was a bit of a highway when we got there with plenty of gentoos going back and forth from the water to the nesting areas. This was taken on the Antarctic peninsula. Not super sure if it was the peninsula as such or one of the islands just off the peninsula.

Tech Details: Nikon D200, Nikkor 200-400 at 210mm, f6.3, 1/2000s, iso 400, handheld.
Weather: mid-day, grey overcast sky, 1-2C, very calm.
Post Processing: square crop, global adjustments for exposure, contrast, curves, sharpening.

If you click on the image, you will get a larger version.

Comments and feedback are always welcome.

Thanks for looking,

André

[Murray Foote]

Very nice.

What appeals to me with the second one is the idea of a radical crop. Crop up to just above the top of the wings of the front penguin. Then it's not so clear there are actually two penguins. Crop in from the right to balance.

[radar]

Interesting suggestion Murray, I think it would work well. I don't have enough resolution/sharpness to crop it while still making it large but would be good for a card

I'll just have to go back and re-shoot

thanks,

André

[Mr Darcy]

I'll just have to go back and re-shoot

I'll carry your bags.
I saw the second up on the wall at PMA. I wondered which member took it.
I thought then, and think now that there is not enough separation between the penguins and the snow.
Still I don;'t know how to rectify it.

[biggerry]

The first shot of the penguin is great imo, the placement against the backdrop and the heat rays/distortion really make him/her pop out. The boat adds to it and gives the image a whole separate meaning, ie people vs nature/penguin kind of interaction.

colours and sharpness look good, nothing to complain about there, looks like you have made good use of the 200-400.

The second image is also very tidy, the crop, for me, is a bit off. It feels like its a bit in 'no mans land' in terms of frame, I want to see the surrounds but at the same time there is not enough to hold your interest and the penguins kinda lose out to this - possibly a tighter crop to really nail the viewer to the penguins, or go wider and have the BG and surrounds as a secondary element, either could possibly make the image stronger in my eyes.

great to see some images from your trip.

[surenj]

Hi André,

Great to see a picture from you.

The two animals in the foreground of the first picture does distract a bit. I reckon I'd be inclined to clone. Are they significant from your POV as I don't anything about this environment etc... Unique picture though. I don't think I've ever seen a penguin shot in this context!

#2 I would second the suggestions to crop it differently. IMHO the left side of the image is not adding that much and slightly imbalances an otherwise great capture.

[radar]

Thanks Gerry and Suren,

On the cropping recommendations, I wanted to keep the penguins with some environment around them, so I needed to have the nesting penguins at the top. A wider crop introduced a bit too much of the "black hole" in the left hand side. A tighter crop would probably work, I'll check it out.

Suren, I couldn't do any cloning, these photos were submitted to the APPA and the Science Environment and Nature section does not allow any cloning, so the skua's stayed

cheers,

André

[radar]

Still I don;'t know how to rectify it.

Not sure either

[surenj]

I couldn't do any cloning

I guess there is nothing stopping you now, if this is for your personal collection.

As for the 'crop' for the penguins, would you consider an 'expansion' of the canvas instead....

[biggerry]

so I needed to have the nesting penguins at the top

hmm, there i was thinking they were shrubs on the hill never would have guessed those lack spots to be penguins, maybe on the larger version?

[CraigVTR]

Love the first shot because of the context in which the penguin is shown. Cloning out the skuas would make it cleaner but remove some of the environment, not sure what is better. I like #2 as is.