Before they molt, baby king penguins can look bigger than the adults, with all those furry feathers. I photographed these four babies following the leader late one afternoon on Saunders Island. On this one beach, called The Neck, I was able to photograph all five of the penguin species that regularly inhabit the Falklands.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 28mm) ISO 400, f/5.6 at 1/1600th of a second
In addition to penguins, there are many other interesting birds to be found in the Falklands. This is one of the more colorful — the long-tailed meadowlark. On Carcass Island, the smaller birds are fairly tame because there are no ground predators like foxes or rodents. I was able to get some out-of-focus yellow gorse in the background as this guy sang a song to whoever was listening.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1/500th of a second
It was fun to watch the gentoo penguins as they emerged from the crashing surf on their way out of the water. I used a fast shutter speed to freeze the water droplets on this one.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/7.1 at 1/2000th of a second
A nice thing about having willing subjects and plenty of time is that you get to play and experiment with different shutter speed/aperture combinations. Thus was the case in the Falklands. After getting all the sharp portraits of king penguins that I needed, I tried some motion blurred effects. For this one I had my camera on a tripod and dialed in a very low shutter speed. The king penguins are so graphic with their white, black and especially, those bright yellow feathers that I was able to get some interesting results.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 70mm) ISO 32, f/16 at 1/3rd of a second
I liked the simplicity of this one — a lone gentoo penguin on the shoreline with partial reflection in the sand.
Nikon D810 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 200mm) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second
I’ve photographed many different species of sea lions from around the world — the Australian sea lion, the Galapagos sea lion, the stellar sea lion, California sea lion, etc. — but none live up to the name for me quite like the male southern sea lions that I saw in the Falklands. They really do have a nice lion-like mane. This guy had recently been in the water, so his mane was a bit slicked down, but when they dry out they really thicken up. My visit to the islands was a bit early for sea lion season, but I was lucky to see five or six of the large males and about twenty females and pups scattered about on different islands.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 400, f/6.3 at 1/500th of a second
Here’s a close up look at the feet of the five different penguins that I photographed in the Falklands. Up top is the gentoo penguin, followed by the rockhopper, the king, the Magellanic and finally the macaroni.
Gentoo — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 500, f/4 at 1/2000th of a second
Rockhopper — Nikon D810 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 340) ISO 800, f/5.6 at 1/500th of a second
King — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 300) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/100th of a second
Magellanic — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 1600, f/4 at 1/60th of a second
Macaroni — Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 380mm) ISO 800, f/8 at 1/1000th of a second
Upland geese were very common in the Falkland Islands. Many of them were walking around with new chicks trailing behind. The father (males are almost completely white with a bit of black) was also nearby. This was on Carcass Island which was blooming everywhere with yellow flowers — an introduced species from Europe called gorse.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 200-400mm lens (at 400mm) ISO 800, f/4 at 1/1600th of a second
After returning from an afternoon of fishing, the rockhopper penguins would take showers before heading back to the colony. This was one of the more fun things to watch during my two weeks in the Falklands. In this photo, there is just one penguin, but fights would often break out as several jockeyed for the best position under the little waterfalls. It’s thought that they like to clean the salt from their feathers — and as cold as the trickles of water must be, they must feel great compared to the extreme cold of the ocean.
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 70-200mm lens (at 190mm) ISO 800, f/4.5 at 1/2000th of a second
The Falklands landscape is largely treeless but filled with ground cover with great names like diddle-dee and balsam bog (this being the latter).
Nikon D800 with Nikkor 17-35mm lens (at 17mm) ISO 200, f/18 at 1/6th of a second