Bird Photo Competition 5 2016 : Entry Number 168

Judges Comment

This young albatross is nicely depicted against a background that sums up its world.

Photographers Comment

Whilst on the trip of a lifetime to The Falklands Islands and South Georgia, we travelled to Prion Island (South Georgia) in an attempt to land and view its Wandering albatross colony. At 6am and with relatively quiet seas, I was fortunate to land in one of the first Zodiac boats and made my way up the island amongst the iconic South Georgian tussac grass. It was an unforgettable couple of hours spent watching these stunning and rare birds and this shot of a big fluffy Wandering albatross chick is one of my favourites from the trip. Once it learns to fly, it will depart Prion Island and spend the next 6-7 years out at sea, never returning to land until it travels back to the same spot to find a mate that it will stay with for the rest of its 60 year life. Taken with my Nikon D810 and Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 lens at 70mm, 1/1000 sec, f/8, ISO 400. Post processed in Lightroom CC.
www.PHILIPFIELD.com