Marine mammals, penguins, sea birds and the smaller flighty birds of the bush are expertly frozen by his patient and calculating photography. Penfold ''chats'' through his text in the manner of a slide-show commentary and, as a dabbler in bird photography myself, I especially concurred with his comment on the difficulty of photographing small, active, shy birds in the dark forest.
Penfold masterfully uses a neutral background to emphasise his subject and the technical stuff - thumbnails of all images, with all the camera lens and exposure data - holds fascination for both the student and the expert photographer.
His studies are not the formal portraits you find in an identification guide, but instead show the quirky, humorous and consistently appealing aspects of wildlife behaviour.
You would be a pretty hard character not to be drawn into the real purpose of this publication, to be made aware of and inspired by our unique wildlife in an effort to assist in its protection. Of the 39 species he photographed, 24 are classified as at risk or endangered.
- Stephen Jaquiery is the Otago Daily Times Illustrations editor.
