Lone Penguin on Blue Ice

I really like this, Michael. The large amount of out of focus ice isn't too distracting because it's clear the image is about the bird and furthers the sense of scale/depth. The framing with ice is excellent. My only critique is the much more blue/saturated crease to the middle-left, like you tired to bring it out too much an got color noise issues or something. Otherwise, excellent.

Terrific image! Wonderful mood, the framing makes it seem like a surreal window into the life of a lonely penguin! That said, there are some minor technical improvements that can be made - as Marc mentioned, it looks like the shadows were tweaked too much. The OOF sea in the URC seems almost violet in color, and there's a distince purple swathe in the ice in the shadows of the mid/upper left. Easily fixed.

Very cool. Marc makes a good point on that crease, but that's probably an easy fix or you could just leave it alone, as it's pretty minor. Got to say that I hate the lavender frame though!

What marvelous framing around that little penguin! Like he/she is in a cathedral of ice. The perfectionist in me wishes the piece of water in the top right were absent, but I don't know if you could crop it and still retain all the gorgeous ice around the bird.

OMFG I absolutely love this. There's something very tender and touching seeing that cute little penguin with his head hung amongst the big, craggy-looking ice. I do wish that patch of water wasn't there in the URC, but that's a minor nit.

You've done a great thing here: you have successfully conveyed emotion and feeling with this image. It will make people say "awwww" when they see it. And that's ultimately the most powerful thing a photo can do.

Great image. I like it just the way it is.

Very nice, Michael! I think you need to get much closer to the bird by cropping a lot of ice. There's plenty surrounding him, and more detail to be seen.

Just an outstanding image. The others have made suggestions to the improvements that could be made. Way to seize the moment.

Great shot!!!

Killer shot Michael! I second Marc's comments and Floris'. I personally would also crop some of the out of focus foreground. Talk about an environmental portrait, this is truly fantastic!

Amazingly touching and moving! I see old man winter gently blowing a breeze across the penguin's back from above. Fantastic image!

Lori

The darker ice to the left of the penguin is almost perfectly mimicing his position! I like this so much I can hardly stand it.
Minor adjustment: I may crop ever so slightly from the bottom to take out the darkest area under the light ice.
Welcome to NPN!

The overhanging ice mimics the bird nicely. Outstanding!

A beautiful image here. I would almost consider a tighter comp to get rid of the bit of water on the top right. Also agree with the saturation issues that Marc mentioned. Overall really interesting image!

i really like it

Definitely an eye catcher!!

Wow
I really like this
I feel the upper part on the right corner is a bit distracting

Excellent

What an amazing scene. I don't mind the softness in the foreground. In fact I think it helps draw attention to the bird. I also like that the penguin appears to be preening and not bothered by your presence. Feels very natural.

Guy

As evil as penguins are, I almost feel sorry for this little guy. He looks lost and alone on his iceberg.

Agree with the comments about the strange ice color.

Great stuff!

My thoughts echo those of Marc. Composition is flawless and this certainly elicits a reaction from the viewer.

Great shot, wow! Love everything here. Beautiful.

Wow, that is excellent. The scene is amazing, and it plays tricks on my mind regarding the scale of the ice structures, even if the penguin provides a clue.

Really outstanding, Michael.

Michael,

Welcome to NPN and the ES&S Gallery! What a fantastic first post in this gallery. A great nature story for sure. An image that could be imagined in Nat Geo or somewhere like that. I also don't mind the soft edges, understanding the depth of field issues here. But I would suggest a crop to remove the dark edge along the bottom and also the upper right corner, URC. I guess the URC does help place the image so it does work in terms of the nature story, but otherwise I'm wishing it wasn't there.

But no doubt this is one terrific capture.

Welcome - we look forward to more images and your participation.

Lon

Fantastic..welcome. We dont see these kinds of posts here - so it's refreshingly beautiful

Suh-weeeet! What a great find, Michael.

I meant to tell you last summer how much I love this photo - I think it is awesome! Definitely my favorite of yours.

Fabulous.