After you get over the initial holy crap, I’m standing a foot away from a king penguin, you come down to earth and start taking in the subtleties of each of these wondrous creatures. Each with its own personality, its own bravery in how close to approach us humans, its own watchful curious eyes, the windows to the soul. While it is an innate tendency of human psychology to anthropomorphize non-human subjects, I like to think that at least somewhat, these beautiful creatures were just as curious about us as we were of them. Gold Harbour, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Google Maps Location photo was taken from: http://goo.gl/Z82Bcb
This adorable penguin chick was mesmerized by my camera and I for some reason, even though there were so many others who had the same, taking photo after photo like I. Who knows, maybe we were just meant for each other. While other penguin chicks were waddling and running around like 2 year old kids in a candy store, this one sat still and posed for me not more than a few feet away, for probably a good few minutes. When you get to see these beautiful creatures in the wild and observe them naturally, everything just fades away, your mind goes quiet and you become one with nature. How I wish I could be back there at this very moment. Salisbury Plain, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Google Maps Location photo was taken from: https://goo.gl/PJfNdM
The moment we laid anchor in the bay, clouds had socked in all of the mountains. It was doubtful that after lunch, we would be able to hike the famous last leg of Shackleton’s hike to Stromness. So there we were onshore, milling around, trying to work with the flat, gray overcast skies. And then, like that moment in Blues Brothers (“Do you see the light?!?!?!”), where the sun shines down on Jake Elwood, the same happened here. Clouds parted, the sun came out in a rage of glory and the stunning kings lined up for this shot. In a flash I lowered my tripod as far as it could go, less than a foot off the ground, me kneeling in the icy cold water to frame the shot and not startle them off, as the water immediately ran down inside my boots. But I could have cared less that my feet were soaked, for I came away with this. The things us photogs do for a shot. Fortuna Bay, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Google Maps Location photo was taken from: https://goo.gl/inm777
