Falkland Islands, Southern Ocean
Thank goodness it’s my favourite day #wildlifewednesday !
These Rockhoppers have a lot of character. Not only do they live up to their namesake by hopping around the beach in the most comical way, they have a bright yellow flourish on their crest and piercing red eyes. The beach is littered with the dark bouncing figures of these guys, the only thing to do is take a seat and watch the show.
Photographic Details: Sitting amongst these guys I enter “spy mode” with my telephoto lens. Waiting for the right penguin to look in the right direction while also facing the sun so I can get those bright red eyes illuminated. These guys are busy so they aren’t all that interested in me, saying “Hey there, nice yellow crest” or “I saw you on the Fleetwood Mac album cover can I have your autograph?” didn’t really work, however screeching like they did got me a head turn and a few looks.
Yes I have learned to call to penguins now. They really don’t care what sound you make, but as soon as you start sounding like them they start paying attention. I look like a complete idiot hunching down taking photos and making penguin noises, but I’ve learned for a long time that if you don’t look like an idiot doing it, you probably don’t have an interesting photo.
I wanted the profile to focus in on the eyes and crest, and since their heads are symmetrical I thought I would take a different approach and get half the face, this makes for a more unique photo than the typical full face penguin portrait.
To see more or get a print see my smugmug here: http://kylefoto.smugmug.com/Antarctica/Antarctic-Worlds/19589737_M4DwLg#1538623730_9pjmrFs
I put a lot of work into my photography if you like this do me a favour and share this with your friends!
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Thanks for the back story and great shot!
½ +1
Spectacular
Exquisite focus on the yellow crown.
So cool…
like this +
Great to read about the penguins, the shooting situation and your thoughts. Excellent photo! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you! Reminiscing about what it was like to be there and the silly things that happen is more fun than the photo itself for me, I posted this one more for the story than the photo! I can't wait to share some video of these guys in the future, they crack me up!
Wonderful!!
Love the character and makeup of these guys!
WOW!!! Great shot!!!!
Well done !!! that is an amazing shot !!!
Brilliant as always, Kyle! Unique framing that makes for powerful visual impact!
Your story was so funny and resonated on so many levels, as I'm constantly talking to my subjects and do get strange looks when I start imitating the call of a roadrunner to get them to stop and turn around…. I'm happy to make a complete ass of myself.
I can picture you doing this and the reaction from the Rockhoppers!
snarky rockhopper
A very impressive photo +Kyle Marquardt! Captures the character of this beautiful creature. Thank you for sharing the story as much as the photo.
Great colour composition in this image. Between the natural elements such as the sky, birds crest and piercing red eyes, there is an interesting balance of primaries.
Sweet pic. YOU got a pic of the full bird by chance?
+Jon Spain Certainly, I have a whole collection of them, got a soft spot for rockhoppers?
+Lee Daniels You make me feel much more comfortable about myself, I really want to hear your roadrunner impression now!
Kyle, that just made me laugh! I'll do mine if you'll do yours! And since I also do some recordings for Xeno-canto and other research groups, I wonder what would happen if I uploaded recordings of us being rockhoppers and roadrunners? Do you suppose they'd accept them and, if so, what grade would we get for quality?
I so want the audio option along with the video and photo option here on G+!
ha. this framing me likes. How do you do Kyle.
simply superb shot
+Kyle Marquardt Great graphic image!
Very creative framing and great image +Kyle Marquardt . Your work is inspirational.