I Transformed this Wild Beauty at Falkland Islands - Los Angeles Transformational Beauty Photographer

The Falkland Islands are known to have one of the largest populations of Southern rockhopper penguins.  I've long looked forward to meeting such unique "people in tuxedos".  Although the rockhopper penguin is one of the world’s most numerous penguin populations, it is estimated that the population has decreased almost 90% since the early 20th century.  At the census conducted by Falklands Conservation, the total Falkland Islands population was estimated to be 320,000 breeding pairs  in 2010 vs. an estimate of 1.5 million breeding pairs in 1933.   

When we arrived on New Island, the most westerly inhabited of the Falklands archipelago, we were in such treat to meet a colony that's in nesting season.  Many were busy foraging, nesting and/or incubating their first of the two eggs.  So, this is the state in which I met them:  

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Wouldn't you agree that one tends not to be the most elegant when busy?  So, I thought I'd do a representation of this species in the "Transformational Beauty" kind of manner:

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Do you think that I've done a fine job of transforming this cutie-ful into a beautiful?

No Animal was Harmed in this Shooting - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

Having lost (almost) our last tie to modern development, we set sail for Falkland Islands.  While many of us set our eyes on the anticipated encounters with various types of penguins on this trip, I got to meet pintado petrels and giant petrels for the first time.  Being the opportunistic feeders, giant petrels, when at sea, often follow fishing fleets in the hope of picking up offal.  With a wingspan of up to nearly 7 feet (83 inches), their glide on the surface of ocean, in gusty wind, seemed effortless.

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While being busy following the ever-swift movements of the birds and, at times, being mesmerized in the almost dance-like creation of the ocean, I found myself somehow caught (or rather, involved) in a "serial" shooting.  What a busy day that was!  

And, I felt that I have to put the disclaimer out there: with three "shooters" that you see, nobody was harmed - not a wild life, nor a person.

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Ushuaia, End of the World, Beginning of Everything - Los Angeles Travel Photographer

I was nervous the day that we left Buenos Aires for Ushuaia.  It was the day that we were leaving behind everything that we've been brought up on and lived with.  Once boarding the ship on our voyage of the Antarctica, we'd be, pretty much, fending for ourselves in the mass bodies of ocean.

Despite the area being the habitat of The Selk’nam Indians, the Yaghan (also known as Yámana), since 10,000 years ago, the city is so remote that it was once occupied by two prisons and was built by the prisoners.  

The nerve was somewhat quenched by a cruise in the Beagle Channel before bidding good-bye to the city that's long been regarded as being the southernmost city in the world.  Little did I know at the time that it was the beginning of a wildlife paradise that I was about to enter.  As some puts it, Ushuaia is at the end of the world, and yet the beginning of everything.  

Stay tuned for more stories.  In the meantime, please feel free to visit our ever-growing image galleries, including that of Argentina. 

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