billklipp

King Penguins, South Georgia Island

Bill Klipp
Check out my online Photo Website at:
http:--www.wkimages.net - http:--www.WildLifePhotos.me - http:--www.videos.wkimages.net
© 2...
Read more

Bill Klipp
Check out my online Photo Website at:
http:--www.wkimages.net - http:--www.WildLifePhotos.me - http:--www.videos.wkimages.net
© 2017 All Contents All Rights Reserved Bill Klipp -
www.wkimages.net
Read less

Apr, 2018

Views

1881

Likes

+394

Awards

Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 lens

Contest Finalist in Celebrating Earth Day Photo Contest 2019

Community Choice Award

Curator's Choice

Peer Award

+624

Top Choice

+33

Absolute Masterpiece

+22

Outstanding Creativity

+11

Magnificent Capture

Superb Composition

Virtuoso

All Star

Superior Skill

Genius

Emotions

Impressed

Happy

Top Ranks

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 1

Top 10 rank

Top 10 rank week 2

Top 10 rank week 1

Behind The Lens

Location

Photo taken while on our third trip to South Georgia Island at Gold Harbor beach.

Time

The winds were howling and the rain blowing sideways at sunrise as we maneuvered the Zodiac between the many Elephant Seals and Fur seals swimming about on our approach Gold Harbor Beach. As the waves pushed our Zodiac up towards the beach we lept out into the surf to get onshore. Gold Harbor is a favorite spot in October and November when hundreds of giant Southern Elephant seals line the beach as over 100,000 King Penguins come and go from the the sea to their colony. We approached the Penguin colony filled with thousands of brown fluffy, 9 month old King Penguin Chicks called Okum Boys all huddled together seeking protection from the weather. The photo was taken as two adult King Penguins returned from the sea with food for their chicks and wandered through the crowd chirping and looking for their chicks to feed.

Lighting

The overcast stormy skies created an even flat light almost like a giant light diffuser. The challenge though was the cold freezing rain that was blowing sideways at us. This resulted in us only able to take photo facing in one direction, away from the wind and rain as shooting into it was not an option.

Equipment

As usual I was carrying two DSLR bodies (plus a GoPro and iphone) one with a wide angle lens the other with a telephoto lens as changing lenses in the field was not a option. The photo was taken with a Nikon D750 and a Nikkor 24-120mmf4 lens at 98mm, ISO 1,250 due to the early low light levels, f6.3, shutter speed 1/1000sec, 0evs handheld. Given the weather conditions our equipment was in waterproof drybags while in the zodiac and when we landed. Once on land I had a rain cover on each camera and I kept them in a dry bag hanging on my waist when not shooting. The key was to shoot fast, keep the lens facing down always keep the wind and rain at my back to protect the equipment. I'm lucky I had these precautions at 10 other people on our trip had camera failures that morning due to water damage.

Inspiration

As I surveyed the cluster of thousands of King Penguins and their chicks huddling together seeking protection from the rain I was seeking a scene that showed some contrast in shape and color to break up what was a very cool yet very uniform looking scene. When two colorful adult Kings came wandering thru the crowd of crown chicks I had the scene I was envisioning.

Editing

Not much for this image. I use Photo Mechanic to ingest files and for initial review of images as well as to mark deletions or favorites. I then bring my favorites into Adobe Lightroom's develop module for processing. Since I shoot in Raw format there is always some basic post processing such as cropping, white balance, blacks, whites, saturation, clarity, sharpening, noise reduction etc.

In my camera bag

While on boat based trips I usually hit the ground with 2 camera bodies, one with a wide angle lens (24-120mm or 16-35mm) the other a long telephoto like my Sigma 150-600mm, changing lenses in the field is not a good idea. I also often carry a couple other small cameras such as a GoPro and or a DJI Osmo Pocket for either video or a quick time lapse. I also usually have an iPhone mostly for quick shot video clips and sometimes I carry my L16 Light Camera (16 lens, 52 megapixel computational camera) for landscape images.

Feedback

While initially I was very bummed out by the weather as it made photography very challenging, I was pleasantly surprised when I started reviewing the images. During on this and previous trips to South Georgia Island I have many images with beautiful blue skies with puffy white clouds. In retrospect though some of my most memorable and impactful images were taken in inclimate weather such as snow storms or like in this image a blowing freezing rain storm. Since the sky was very bland, basically grey from horizon up I focused (pun intended) my compositions to minimize or avoid the featureless sky.

See more amazing photos, follow billklipp

billklipp

billklipp

King Penguins, South Georgia Island

Bill Klipp Check out my online Photo Website at: http:--www.wkimages.net - http:--www.WildLifePhotos.me - http:--www.videos.wkimages.net © 2... Read more

Behind The Lens

See more amazing photos, follow billklipp

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes. Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.

Bill Klipp
Check out my online Photo Website at:
http:--www.wkimages.net - http:--www.WildLifePhotos.me - http:--www.videos.wkimages.net
© 2...
Read more

Share photos. Enter contests to win great prizes.
Earn coins, get amazing rewards. Join for free.