Mixed clouds and sun is my favorite type of weather for landscape photography. It creates a dynamic light that often affords something interesting. The top and back light falling on this group of Adelie penguins gives contrast and separation, and the clouds add a sense of drama to the scene. Placing wildlife contextually in their natural habitat helps tell the story. The colony of birds on this island was significant. I forgot the number, but it was in the thousands, and watching them come and go into the water was both amazing and comical, in the way that penguins seem to invoke a smile simply by the way they move. Just minutes before this photo was taken, the group of people in my small inflatable boat had just experienced a remarkable encounter with a humpback whale and her calf. I wrote about that in a newsletter yesterday, and if interested, you can read it on my website.
Adelie Penguins, Hope Bay, Antarctic Peninsula. Canon 5D Mark III, 100-400mm f/5.6L IS, (100mm). 1/1000 sec @ f/9, ISO 200
