These are Rockhopper Penguins in their small colony on New Island in the Falklands. I almost didn't make this image, as I spent most the landing with the Black-browed Albatross on their nest. During my time with the Albatross, I did a lot of experimentation with going extremely wide and pulling in the environment (my favorite kind of wildlife image), so when I was finished there and walking back, I wanted to do something similar with the Rockhopper Penguins. The trick is of course to make your image without getting too close to the subject and making yourself as unnoticeable as possible so that they don't get disturbed. I knew that I wanted my 17mm lens, so left everything else in my bag behind and got on my belly with just the camera and lens. Over the course of about 15 minutes, I very slowly shimmied on my belly to get the right angle and perspective. I was fortunate as there was a big bush to hide my presence to my right that did a good job of hiding me. I could have gotten even closer (this is a fairly heavy crop), but I didn't want to risk disturbing the penguins so stopped here and extending my arms close to the ground and with Live View made this image.
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