King Penguin Portrait 3

Gallery: AvianPosted January 23, 201196 views9 comments

Olympus E-3, 300mm, tripod
f5.7, 1/1000, ISO100

The third and last King Penguin portrait. I found these guys irresistible subjects. The shallow DOF was to blur out a pod of fur seals behind the King. One of the challenges of photographing in the south polar region is the sheer density of life. It's hard to isolate a single subject.

Selective sharpening; selective lightening of the blacks.

C & C, please. Thanks for looking.

Comments

9 comments

Comment posted by Scott Frye on January 23, 2011 at 4:15 PM

Would be great to get a chance to phtograph one of these. Colors look good but I would like to see some definition of the eye -- the line under the eye looks good but a catch light (or any light in the eye) would put this over the top for me.

Registered on February 3, 2007, 387 Posts, 1136 Comments

Comment posted by Sally King on January 23, 2011 at 4:18 PM

The details are so exceptional I expect I should be able to reach out and feel the texture. Good work taking advantage of these incredibly willing subjects.

Registered on December 2, 2008, 416 Posts, 4450 Comments

Comment posted by Angela McCain on January 23, 2011 at 4:42 PM

Another magnificent portrait. Sorry it's the last.

Registered on April 19, 2009, 367 Posts, 3589 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on January 23, 2011 at 4:50 PM

Stupendous detail, Jim! I have really enjoyed your series on this. This is a lovely and commanding presence. I agree about the eye, but I don't care. I will never get to see these any other way, so I thank you for sharing!

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Mia McPherson on January 23, 2011 at 6:12 PM

Jim,

The feather detail in the head, neck and top of the breast is amazing. The colors are great too. The lighter line under the eye sufficiently highlights the eye for me. I do wish the whole bill was present, but that is just me. I would love to see these birds.

Registered on June 25, 2007, 491 Posts, 12566 Comments

Comment posted by Catherine Reilly on January 23, 2011 at 8:29 PM

How cool to be there among them, Jim!

The bill being chopped off was the first thing I saw unfortunately. Love the detail of the feathers and the highlight under the eye. The eye, itself, looks so mysterious, I think it is fascinating. I have an intense desire to drive this into more of an abstraction by blacking out the bg. Pretty radical, I guess, but I sure am curious…

Great work and thanks for showing us these incredible birds.

Registered on August 16, 2006, 603 Posts, 9192 Comments

Comment posted by Ron Bielefeld on January 23, 2011 at 10:52 PM

Very sharp with great detail and enough DOF. Love the feather textures. I too wish the whole beak was in the image, but I like it as posted.

Registered on December 6, 2008, 360 Posts, 7132 Comments

Comment posted by Graham Brown on January 24, 2011 at 2:50 AM

A beautiful detail image Jim it must have been a great experience seeing these close up. Although there is no catchlight, the eye is still well defined by the white outline. My first thought was that it would be nice to see the whole beak but perhaps this would make the bird much smaller and lose it's impact or perhaps there is another bird in the way.Graham

Registered on November 20, 2007, 275 Posts, 1365 Comments

Comment posted by Brian Gatlin on January 24, 2011 at 8:25 AM

spectacular, Jim--are you sure you don't have a few more to post? the texture and detail are just fantastic. I agree that the whole bill would be nice but that it is great as posted too.

Registered on March 21, 2009, 202 Posts, 4187 Comments