Beach Walk, a photo from Northern Cape, West

Photographer's Note

Black-footed Penguin

Boulders Beach, Cape Town - South Africa

African Penguins grow to 68–70 cm tall and weigh between 2 and 5 kg. They have a black stripe and black spots on the chest, the pattern of spots being unique for every penguin, like human fingerprints. They have pink glands above their eyes. The hotter the penguin gets, the more blood is sent to these glands so it may be cooled by the surrounding air, thus making the glands more pink. The males are larger than the females and have larger beaks, but their beaks are more pointed than those of the Humboldt. Their distinctive black and white colouring is a vital form of camouflage–white for underwater predators looking upwards and black for predators looking down onto the dark water. They usualy live in colonies and in pairs.

Boulders Beach is a tourist attraction, for the beach, swimming and the penguins. The penguins will allow people to approach them as close as a meter .

Unfortunately, African penguin populations, which breed in Namibia and South Africa, have declined by 95 percent since preindustrial times.

CLODO, Crispilandia, Kofman, Ricx, geoant68 has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

froggy45 (380) 2011-06-28 0:41

Hi Fulya,
Just wonderful, almost slightly romantic, isn't it? I love the wild seas and the colours in your photo are really captivating. Nice composition, too.
Kind regards,
Spela

CLODO (45116) 2011-06-28 1:02

Hello Fulya

Nice to discover the penguins walking in the sand beach, while other are esrting on the rocky island. Nice colors due to the use of a polarizer.
Cheers
CLODO

Crispilandia (846) 2011-06-28 1:07

Hi Fulya,

I'm jealous as you can see animals in their natural habitat:)
and how well you capture with your photos!
I love the horizontal composition at different levels of the image, with different shades of blue sea and those penguins walking on the sand of the sea are lovely, great shot!

Have a nice day!
Cris

mkamionka (73198) 2011-06-28 3:39

Hi Fulya,
excellent wildlife photo. I like both the penguins and the spectacular scenery they were captured in. Amazing colors.
Although now when I think about it -the polarizer was a bit too strong and the sea on the horizon became bit dark. I am now less frequently using polarizer to avoid surprises like this.
Excellent work,
M

Mihnea69 (0) 2011-06-28 5:55

Te salut,
intradevar mersul pe paja,pe nisip este benefic pentru sistemul nervos.
cam frig in aceasta fotografie dar este reusita.
sa auzim de bine.
Mihnea

Jeppo (17645) 2011-06-28 12:56

hi Fulya,

In 2006 I visited Boulders Beach as well!
I like this image...the empty beach, the bright sky and the green/blue water...a ideal place for a romantic walk...for pinguins as well!

ciao
silvio

Ricx (13495) 2011-06-28 13:06

Hi Fulya, Its lovely to see this crisp beautiful image of the Boulders beach.. a very special place in the world, where as you say the penguins are quite friendly.. It is sad to hear that the numbers have dwindled.. I hope you enjoyed your trip.. Rich

geoant68 (331) 2011-06-29 23:51

Hi Fulya,
the view of the black-footed penguins on the sandy foreground is fine,with the others to sit on the background rock in the sea.Excellent the light and the colour management a the clarity of the image.

Peter

magalik (6103) 2011-07-02 10:05

Hi Fulya,

Unusual seascape shot... You found two great protagonists ! They are very well placed in this composition. They seem very young, very small. Two friends for a walk on the beach.
Nice the colors too, particularly the light green color of the sea and those of the sand. Perhaps a bit too much contrasts but it's a matter of tastes.
Have a good WE.

Magali

alex94 (0) 2011-07-03 12:11

Merhaba,
Ben fotoğrafçılık açısından yetenek seyahat ve koymak için fırsat var sizin için sevindim. Eğer olduğu gibi hayvan gösteren yabani içinde fotoğrafçılık konusunda kararlıyız. Oluşturduğunuz Resimler çok güzel.
Ben cesaret ve hayal kutluyorum.

Alexandru

Longroute (19600) 2011-07-09 9:55

Hi Fulya,

I had come across the previous photo of yours by chance, but now browsing your gallery I realize that it's full of lovely landscape photos much in my taste.
This one is truly well composed with the two penguins acting as very fine focal points and giving the scale to appreciate the size of those fine boulders. I love the colours shades in the ocean and these very warm colours, and the whole image is so harmonious and complete in itself.
A very good work,
Donato

coolravi19 (549) 2012-06-15 21:15

Hi Fulya

Lovely picture of black footed penguin ...they are looking so cute ....your POV is very nice ..with rocks & sea in backdrop you have created fantastic depth of filed in this photograph ...

Excellent color balance & light management

P.S - Fulya you have some excellent picture of wild life..great job done

TFS
Regards,

Photo Information

Copyright: Fulya Pirim (FlyPrm) (391)
Genre: Places
Medium: Color
Date Taken: 2010-00-00
Categories: Nature
Camera: Nikon D300 DSLR, Nikkor 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 AFS-DX – VR, B+W 72mm Circular Polarizing F
Photo Version: Original Version
Date Submitted: 2011-06-28 0:26
Favorites: 2 [view]