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Gentoo With Chick
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Gentoo With Chick



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As a Gentoo Penguin chick wakes up from a nap, its parent bends over for a feeding.

As a Gentoo Penguin chick wakes up from a nap, its parent bends over for a feeding.
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cameraNIKON D500

settings Aperture f/8 ISO 320 Shutter 1/2500 Focal Length 4200/10 

upload_dateMay, 2017

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6301

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18 Comments |
p_eileenbaltz Platinum
 
p_eileenbaltz May 12, 2017
Brilliant work......can't stop looking at this!
Alwolfe Platinum
 
Alwolfe November 02, 2017
What an awesome capture!
davidparkhurst
 
davidparkhurst February 28, 2018
Very good
annmor
 
annmor March 01, 2018
Brilliant shot! Congratulations on the well deserved awards and good luck in the future! Best regards!
Kristina_Krause PRO
 
Kristina_Krause March 01, 2018
What a beautiful shot!
Litt
 
Litt March 02, 2018
Awesome capture!
KUsKadizsha
 
KUsKadizsha March 02, 2018
Beautiful & adorable! Awesome capture!
Flokiteashusky PRO
 
Flokiteashusky April 11, 2018
Cute :)
marcbaechtold
 
marcbaechtold May 13, 2018
nice work! Some nice colors and good contrast, keep shooting!
Alfredo_Jose
 
Alfredo_Jose May 19, 2018
Beautiful shot!
susieclark
 
susieclark July 05, 2018
Stunningly Anazing!
Julia_137
 
Julia_137 July 19, 2018
Great picture! Come and check out a few of mine some time 😄🙌🏻
keepclicking
 
keepclicking November 21, 2018
Absolutely stunning picture. Massive congratulations.
Mspower
 
Mspower December 10, 2018
Motherly love
margitulstrup PRO
 
margitulstrup February 02, 2020
Love it .. mother and child ..
Maadhatter Platinum
 
Maadhatter February 27, 2020
Heart-melting capture!! Beautifully done.
AlessandroPutzoluCA
 
AlessandroPutzoluCA April 24, 2020
Wow....stunning
ValerieAHagler
 
ValerieAHagler December 03, 2020
Beauty

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Tags

#gentoo penguin #Penguin Chick #penguin #birds #animal #wildlife #nature #antarctica
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Behind The Lens

Location

These penguins were nesting at Port Lockroy on the Antarctic Peninsula. Several Gentoo Penguins (and a handful of seabirds) gather on glacier-smoothed hills during the summer to build nests out of pebbles.

Time

This photo was taken around 3pm, although that means something very different in Antarctica during January than it does in most parts of the world. With the summer sun setting around 11pm, the mid-afternoon sun was harsh and still at a fairly high angle.

Lighting

Only natural light is at work in this image.

Equipment

This was taken with a Nikon D500 and a Sigma 120-300mm zoom with a 1.4X teleconverter, handheld. There were strict weight and size restrictions for baggage on the flight over Drake's Passage that prevented me from taking a larger lens, but most Antarctic wildlife is comfortable enough around humans that the smaller of my telephoto zooms worked out pretty well.

Inspiration

The close bond between penguin parents and their young hatchlings is part of what makes their survival in this harsh climate possible. I set out to capture an image that would illustrate this bond.

Editing

Aside from basic color balance adjustments and cropping for composition, there was a fair amount of shadow recovery done on this shot. Working in the harsh light with snow and white feathers in fame required shooting at low ISO settings, exposing to protect highlight detail and recovering shadows in post.

In my camera bag

My Antarctica kit included a Nikon D500, a Sigma 120-300mm zoom, a Tamron 24-70mm zoom, a 1.4X teleconverter, a polarizing filter, a Joby sling strap, a dry bag and several batteries.

Feedback

It usually takes a significant amount of waiting to capture parent-chick interaction at a nest, so patience is definitely a virtue (and a monopod is helpful for those who don't like handholding a lens for extended periods of time). Nesting penguins begin to exhibit a stress reaction when people approach within 5 meters, so bring a lens that will allow you to comfortably work at that range or longer (something in the 400mm range on a crop sensor is sufficient to capture plenty of detail).

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