Whalewatching with F5

[david_pieniazek]

Hello All! I am about to embark on a vacation to the coast of Maine.

One of the highlights will be the whalewatch. I will be using my F5

with a 28-200mm ED-IF 3.5-5.6 Nikkor. Should I trust the "P" setting

to do what it does best? Or should I use the shutter priority mode

with a setting of at least 1/500? Would you use a polarizing filter

or can I get away with just a UV? Also, I intend to use Kodak UC400

unless someone has a better suggestion. Thanks to all who reply!

[john_macpherson]

You can trust the P setting in many situations - I do, as the water is generally a mid-tone, and even into-the-light shots can be coped with well by most matrix meter systems.

 

But. I try to use shutter-priority to keep a reasonably high shutter speed whenever possible, in case I need to freeze action. You'll need about 1/750th sec to do that, and with 400 speed film you'll be fine. Polarizers are fine but 'soak' up two f-stops of light so bear that in mind.I dont use them for this work. A UV filter is good to protect the front element though. If you have fine bright light you might want to shoot slower film, 200 or even 100 speed. A lot will depend on what the animals are doing. If they are breaching then faster film and high shutter speeds are a necessity. If the lighting is going to be really difficult for you, an incident meter reading might be more accurate (using separate meter), but the F5 is pretty good I believe. Sounds like fun. I have just done some wild dolphin images near where I live over the past two weeks, which are here:

 

http://www.john.macpherson.btinternet.co.uk/pixindex-dolphin.html

 

 

All shutter speeds I used are in the 750th sec range and iso speeds up to 500. Lighting varied but was generally good, although some shots were taken at 9.30pm - we are far north here in Scotland so day lengths are looong. Inverness is around 56 deg north, same as Kodiak Island and the middle of Hudson Bay.

 

Anyway enjoy your trip.

JOHN

 

www.john-macpherson-photography.com

[gloria_hopkins]

With that camera, if you're uncertain just set it to "P" ("P for Professional" har har har!) and it should expose your images properly *and* fetch you a cup of hot chocolate.

 

I would definitely take a polarizer. Good luck and have fun! Whales are such special creatures.

[gloria_hopkins]

Here's a website of my friend Geo. He's extremely helpful if you should have more questions, though he is often at sea and may not be around. At the very least, you can see how a pro does his whale images, though I don't think he has any technical info on the images.

 

http://www.whalephoto.com/

[andy_depaulo]

take dry warm clothes, no matter how hot it is on the shore...better to take them off than to not have them.

[bill_bayless]

David,

 

I agree with John (Nice photos John!)don't use the polarizer. It will just low down the shutter speed. I would use an incident meter and shoot manually, but if you aren't comfortable with that, then use the shutter priority mode. Just be ready to shoot all of the time. You nerver know when one will break the surface.

 

I have some shots from Alaska.....

http://www.tangoway.com/Picture_Pages/Wildlife/Whales/Pictures_Whales.htm