It's all about the Penguins - Firefall Photography

One of the great things about being a photographer is that I get to explore some really wonderful places across the globe. Most are photogenic, many are isolated, and some are rarely visited. A very select few combine all those attributes.

Antarctica would certainly be among that last group.

The 7th continent receives about 100,000 visitors a year…less than the Grand Canyon receives in an average week. It is not cheap plus my wife hates the cold (i.e….anything under 75°F/24°C). This is was one of those places I doubted I would ever see.

But, then we were offered a great deal on a cruise that we couldn’t refuse. And the next thing you know, we were in Ushuaia on the very tip of South America stepping aboard a ship headed south.

Maybe I’ll write a future article about Antarctic photographic tips but today I just want to share some of my favorite images. Specifically, Penguin photos.

After all, they are the stars of any trip to the Antarctic. Even for a committed landscape photographer like me, they attracted my camera a nearly excessive amount. lt was simply impossible not to fall in love with them. So I give up. No landscape shots in this blog…just a collection of my favorite penguin shots!

My first shots…

Gentoo Penguin pooping Antarctica — So, yeah. This was actually one of of the first Penguins we saw. I guess when you gotta go, you gotta go

After that inauspicious beginning, we were lucky to come across two penguins engaged in an elaborate and fascinating courtship ritual. I crouched down on my knees to put my lens at their eye-level, which made the images more intimate and relatable.

One thing I really didn’t expect was just how graceful penguins are in the water. Our second morning before the zodiacs started taking us ashore, I noticed some penguins out swimming near the ship. I grabbed my my telephoto lens and had some fun.

Gentoo Penguin porpoising Antarctica — “Arc of a Diver” The waters of Orne Harbor were smooth as glass for this Gentoo penguin out hunting for breakfast.

Gentoo Penguin swimming Antarctica — This little fella was as interested in me as I was in him!

Gentoos and Chinstraps

Nearly all the penguins we saw on our trip were Gentoos. The exception was a single colony of Chinstrap Penguins we came across on our second day.

I doubt this guy thought the snow was chilly but he sure had some pink feet.

Kids will be Kids…

Cruise ship Danco Island Antarctica — Off Danco Island with a group already ashore. That dark patch is the colony by the shore.

Our third day finally had some nice weather. The ship stopped near a huge Gentoo colony and we enjoyed a morning of avian antics.

One or two at a time, penguins would hike from the colony by the sea all the way up to the top a nearby snow covered hill.

Juvenile Gentoo Penguin Antarctica — Gotta love that Mohawk!

…and then after a short rest, they would flop down on their bellies and slide back down. It was like watching a bunch of kids.

And then a few minutes later, it was time to go back up the hill…

It was just delightful. We were all smiling like children at Christmas…a day I won’t forget.

The next morning, I was on deck before sunrise photographing penguins ‘porpoising’ alongside the ship.

Another Day…more Penguins!

Wildlife photography by Jeff Stamer of Firefallphotography.com Gentoo Penguins porpoising Antarctica — I’m not going to tell you how many hundreds of frames I took before I could capture an entire group of penguins all out of the water at the same time. But it paid off. This is my favorite shot of the whole trip.

The afternoon was cloudless and the sun was as bright as the Caribbean. The penguins seemed to enjoy the weather as much as we did.

Gentoo Penguin Antarctica — “There goes the neighborhood…more damn tourists!”

Gentoo Penguin feeding young Antarctica — We visited in March, which is near the end of the Antarctic Summer. The penguin chicks were nearly full grown but they still depended on Mom and Dad for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Petrel eating Gentoo Penguin Antarctica — This young Gentoo was malting…which resulted in this wicked Mohawk.

Gentoo Penguin Antarctica Whale Vertebrae — “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” Okay, I know it’s not actually a black and white rooster, but that sure is what it looked like his penguin was doing. I patiently watched this Gentoo as it was waddling around a gravel peak overlooking a glacier in Neko Harbor, Antarctica. I couldn’t believe my luck when he stopped right in front of this massive Humpback vertebrae and took this pose.

Last day on the White Continent

The weather for our day at Wiencke Island was an alternating schedule of wind, snow and sleet.

Wiencke Island Base A Penguins — The semi-permanent English “Base A” was clearly popular with the locals

A landscape photographer visits Antarctica and his camera falls in love with penguins. Photos and story by the photographer. — Casual Portrait

I’d like to share one last thing from our Antarctic trip. Cruises from South America to Antarctica cross the infamous Drake Passage. Actually it wasn’t bad on the way down …more of a “Drake Lake” but we weren’t so lucky on the return. Check out this short video of our ship struggling to make it across the Drake Passage on our way back.

The Rough Road Home

Our captain actually cut our cruise short by a day to beat the really bad weather…a ship that was a day behind us couldn’t even serve food out of their galley because the seas were so rough. It’s not like we were ever in danger, but it was a roller coaster of a ride!

More to come later about Antarctic photography. There were some stunning landscapes, and I look forward to sharing them.

PS: Check out more of my wildlife photography here.

Cheers!
Jeff

FYI…All photos taken with a Nikon Z7ii with a 100-400mm Nikkor Z lens and a 1.4x teleconverter. Penguins have little fear of humans, but having the telephoto’s longer reach allowed me to capture many scenes I just couldn’t have reached any other way. Plus my Nikon Z system is relatively small and lightweight, so it wasn’t a chore to tote around while I was zipping along in zodiacs or trudging in the snow.