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National Geographic Photograph Analysis

"Gentoo Penguin" by Paul Nicklen of the National Geographic

Color: The bright orange of the penguin's feet, beak, and reflection in the water above are great attention grabbers.  Everything else in the photograph is grey-blue, black, or dark green for the most part, so the orange stands out.  The grey-blue of the water makes it seem like it's a dark, rainy day.

 

Line: The water line is a diagonal line and creates interest in the picture.  It frames the penguin by only having part of it shown.

 

Texture: You can see the feathers on the body of the penguin.  You can also see the roughness of the rocks that the penguin is standing on.  The ripples in the water are all at the top of the photograph (the surface of the water).  The ripples show movement and imply that the penguin just jumped into the water.

 

Light: The water seems to be slightly murky in the background, which keeps the focus in the foreground.  The light also reflects off of the penguin's feet and into its body, causing an orange glow to appear on the belly of the penguin.

Visual Aspects

About the Photographer

Paul Nicklen grew up among the Inuit in Canada's Arctic and now has an extensive background in biology.  This has allowed him to travel to some of the most unihabitable regions of the world and capture the wildlife in these areas.

 

Nicklen has been photographing polar regions since 1995.  Some of the notable places he has gone include ice diving among leopard seals in Antarctica, travelling miles and miles through -40°F temperatures, and other isolated areas.

 

Nicklen has published 14 articles for National Geographic, including stories on emperor penguins, narwhals, leopard seals, and bears for the "Lions, Tigers and Bears" exhibit.  He has received more than 20 international awards, including five awards from World Press Photo, three from Pictures of the Year International, two from Communication Arts, and ten in the BBC Wildlife Photography of the Year competition.

 

"It just takes one image to get someone's attention." -Paul Nicklen

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