King Penguin Colony
King Penguin Colony at Salisbury Plain, South Georgia.
King Penguin Colony at Salisbury Plain, South Georgia.
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Mar, 2016Views
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donfeatherstone
March 14, 2016
That is one huge colony of penguins nice contrast between the young and the older penguins.
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Behind The Lens
Location
This photo was taken at Salisbury Plains in South Georgia, home to the island's second largest King Penguin colony.Time
This photo was taken in the afternoon (around 3pm), during a four hour landing on the island. Like all landings in South Georgia on the type of trip I was on, the timing is driven by opportunity rather than schedule. So from a photography point of view, you need to work with what you have, rather than having the luxury to choose to shoot at an optimal time of day.Lighting
As mentioned above, the timing of our landing on Salisbury Plain was driven by opportunity rather than choice. Fortunately the light was fine for this type of shot.Equipment
Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS USM.Inspiration
Walking around Salisbury Plain felt like starring in my own wildlife documentary. There were only 35 breeding pairs here a century ago, so the increase to 60,000 today is extraordinary and the sight of this colony covering the landscape like carpet is breath-taking. After taking some wide-angle shots to try and capture a sense of scale and place, I zoomed in for this shot to to focus on the colour and movement within the colony: the brown (moulting) juveniles congregating together as they wait for their parents to return from sea, beaks facing different directions highlighting the various interactions within the group, contrasting colours portraying the fight for space.Editing
As I shot this in RAW, I applied minor post-processing in Lightroom - adding some contrast, clarity and bringing out some shadows.In my camera bag
My standard kit for a wildlife location is my Canon 5DIII, 100-400mm lens and 24-105mm for wide-angled shots - and on a trip to a remote location like this I always add a backup body. I also carry a spare battery and memory card.Feedback
When you arrive at a scene like this penguin colony, it's tempting to simply zoom in and start shooting. But there are stories behind every scene - look for interesting interactions between penguins, highlight the behaviour of the juveniles by composing them within your frame, try different depths of field (I took this with f/11 but achieved different and equally satisfying results with f/5.6 and f/16)
