April 2026 Wildlife Photography Contest Advanced Category Winner

Before I ever left Pennsylvania for the Falkland Islands, I had a very specific photograph in mind. I hoped to create an image of a penguin surrounded by softly blurred surf — using a slow shutter speed to turn the moving water into something painterly while still preserving the character and presence of the bird. I did not know whether the opportunity would arise, but it was an image I carried with me before the trip had even begun.

In November 2023, on Bleaker Island in the Falklands, I finally found a place where that vision might be possible. It was before dawn, bitterly cold, and windy. Gentoo penguins were leaving the colony and heading down to the sea for a day of fishing. The scene was full of movement, sound, and energy — but technically, it was extraordinarily difficult. With the slow shutter speed I needed, the penguins often rushed into the surf so quickly that they became nothing more than a blur.

I kept trying, frame after frame, hoping for the right balance of motion and stillness. Then one gentoo paused just long enough at the water’s edge to drink before continuing into the sea. In that brief moment, the moving surf softened around it while the penguin remained present and expressive. It was the photograph I had imagined months earlier, finally appearing before me in the wild.