OCEAN’S ELEVEN South Georgia - 2018 I saw this opportunity develop during evening rush hour on a narrow coastal path in St Andrews Bay. Hundreds of King Penguins in groups...
I saw this opportunity develop during evening rush hour on a narrow coastal path in St Andrews Bay. Hundreds of King Penguins in groups of 10 - 20 would make the journey with the South Atlantic in the background and the trapped glacial lake in the foreground. On this day the wind was gentle and this allowed greater creativity in photographing the fishing commute.
If the "March of the Penguins" is perpendicular to the camera, all the penguins should be in focus and the concept easy to execute. Generally penguins do not march as orderly as Marines and their line tends to be characterised by chaos rather than even spacing.
If any penguin obscures part of another - and this happens most of the time - it creates a visual tension point and that tension doubles in a reflection. I want these type of images to be simple and easy on the eye and I can't stand tension points. It can be incredibly frustrating as there is nothing a cameraman can do - penguins are not actors and cannot be directed. It's nature's way of challenging artistic preconceptions.
But finally we got there. When I returned back to the boat and counted 11 penguins in the image, there was only going to be one title.