Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2019/11/19
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I have just returned from an unusually long trip to South Georgia, spending 13 days visiting the island itself. South Georgia, to me, is one of the ultimate wildlife destinations on Earth, simply because I know of no other place where we can be in the midst of such huge numbers of creatures on foot. Ours was the first ship of the season, so the environs were still cold (around -5C), windy (50-60 knot winds with wind chill of -15C to -20C) and snow and ice were everywhere. The idea of going early were twofold - to photograph South Georgia's iconic animals and landscapes with a lot of snow, and to avoid the very aggressive and dangerous bull fur seals that land for breeding later in the season. In both we were quite successful! The last time I had gone there, it was in high summer, so this was a welcome change of environment to photograph in. The first set is focused on South Georgia's most common bird - the beautiful and subtly coloured King Penguins. I start with two panoramas: Penguinscape: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-1366.jpg.html Off For Lunch: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191024-9878.jpg.html About 40% of King Penguins mate for life but only reunite and stay together for the breeding season every year. The other 60% are strictly monogamous for each season. Whatever the category, they go through elaborate rituals to strengthen their bonds for the hard work to come. These are a few photographs of them engaging in this activity. http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-2011.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-2023.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-2031.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-2051.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-2057.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-2126.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-2064.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-2081.jpg.html A few general ones to end the set: Back Home: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191021-4007.jpg.html Quartet: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-1646.jpg.html Trio: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-1753.jpg.html Scratch: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/jayanand/SGF/South+Georgia/South+Georgia-20191016-2137.jpg.htm All these photographs were taken at a place called Sal8isbury Plain, the second largest King Penguin breeding colony on South Georgia, where there were around 50-60k around. By January, that number could possibly rise, in a very good year, to 500k! Please see LARGE Comments and criticism, as ever, welcome. Cheers Jayanand