Following up the last couple of posts on human portraits I thought I’d post one of my favorite images as an example of wildlife portraiture. There is a tendency in wildlife photography to get close, really, really close. We use longer lenses, camouflage or even tame animals to get right up next to our subjects. While that strategy can generate some outstanding images, the context is lost. I like images that show some of the environment, the habitats, and places. This image of a King Penguin trumpeting at the Salisbury Plains on South Georgia Island is not a close up, but it isn’t too far away either. For the image to succeed it is important to find that balancing point. (The same is true of human subject environmental portraits). The subject has to be clear; if the viewer is wondering whether this is a photo of a beach with a penguin on it, or a picture of penguin on a beach, the image has already failed. I want the penguin to be the obvious subject and the habitat to provide supporting information and extra interest. The trumpeting action of the bird and interesting light helps a lot of course, but the images succeeds (in my opinion) because the composition finds the right balance between subject and surroundings.
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It’s also analogous to a portrait in the way that the viewer is able to project a personality onto the penguin. Those ideas will be anthropomophizing and often false… but that’s also true of that characteristics we might project onto your Peruvian cameraman (a couple of weeks ago) or the famous Bhutanese monk.