whale watching photography

[peter_lagus]

next week i'll be in gloucester mass and am planning to go on a whale

watching cruise. i have been told that it is difficult to get

acceptable whale photos. i'm using an F4S with a 75-300 zoom and ISO

400 film. any hints from those who have attempted whale photography

before would be appreciated. thanks for any advice.

[Palouse]

I was recently off the coast of Alaska and used ISO 400 slide flim (5 different ones, since there was no concensus on which was "best") and a 80-200 f2.8 with a 2x extender. The resulting 400 f5.6 was more than acceptable on a bright sunny Alaskan day. I spot metered and used focus tracking and occasionally continuous shutter release. But the 400 mm often came up short. Another 200 mm and I'd have been very happy! My best shots of jumping whales, and vertical tail flukes cover about 10-20% of the slide!!

[valleye]

I went whale watching in Gloucester just two weeks ago. I rented an 80-200 f2.8 afs from Calumet in Cambridge. It was more than adequate for length and speed with 100 speed Sensia (slide film) I was able to hand-hold 1/500s at 5.6 no problem. Your 75-300 should be ok too.

 

My only dissapointment was that the humpback whales that usually feed near Boston/Gloucester are very far to the south. Seems that Cape Ann area is in a humpback slump. You will see lots of finback's (The second largest species of whale) and minkes. The problem with both of those is that they a so sleek that they do not lift their tails out of the water to dive likes humpbacks.

 

YMMV photographically. We did not see any breaches, tail slaps or fin slapping. No discovery channel shots on my trip. Impressive still however and worth the $28.

[cowan stark]

I go out of Gloucester several times a year. I highly recommend the folks at <a href="http://www.caww.com/">Cape Ann Whale Watch</a>. I would take 400 and 100 speed film (I usually use Provia)and see how the weather goes. You have the right lens, but I'd also have a wide angle zoom handy. There's nothing like having a whale spyhop right next to the boat and you're stuck with too much lens. Don't bother with a polarizer or any type of tripod or monopod. Carry a microfiber cloth to clean spray off your lens or use a UV filter. Watch your horizons if they're included in the frame, it's a challenge to keep them level during the excitement. Shooting from the upper or lower decks can give very different views. Personally, I prefer the lower deck. Most importantly, listen to the naturalists. If you can grasp the rhythm of the whales' movement and diving behaviour you'll be able to anticipate the shot better, especially if they're breaching. There's probably a lot of info in the archives here also. Here's a shot I wished I had my zoom handy to get better framing. Have fun!<div></div>

[jason_elsworth3]

Try this http://www.photosafaris.com/PhotographingWhales.asp, also do a search, as this question has come up before.

 

Jason

www.jasonelsworth.co.nz

[stemked]

One thing that worked VERY well for me. I used a photo gunstock. We tried to use a monopod which proved to be useless there is simply too much movement on the ship; a tripod would be only worse. I was very happy with the results from the gunstock. Mine is a cheap homemade one I think Rue makes a very useful one.

 

For film I actually used 100 Provia and 100/200 Kodak Gold. It was pretty rough (we were off central California. One note, I did on one occasion miss a shot of a Humpack whale because there was no contrast (vertical lines) for the camera to lock onto.

 

Many people shoot Shutter Priority (500th a second). I think I shot mostly AP myself.

[bob stewart jacksonville]

correct metering would seem to be a big issue with the reflective nature of the water, the bright white portions of the whales, and the very dark portions of the whale. can anyone with experience comment?

[rick_tyrseck]

I just spent a week in Cape Cod and went out of P-Town on 2 whale watches. I have done over 35 watches over the last 20 years. This year's photos came out the best.

 

I used 800 speed Fuji NPZ (Top notch film with really about the same grain as any 400, but helps you lock in higher shutter speeds as you go up & down the swells!).

 

I used a 75-300mm zoom telephoto and I was able to rapid shoot 4 FPS. I have already framed four pics within a picture frame showing the whales's fluke (tail) as it was sounding. Using rapid shutter and placing the pics within one picture frame really transmits a feeling of movement. The 800 speed NPZ allows this to look great.

 

I have placed some of my pics on www.imagestation.com under the Vacation heading. Take a look at the "2002 Capecod" album and you can see a few of the whale pics. (This year has not been good for Humpbacks as they are presently south/east of Chatham Ma.) No other whale photographs as well as them. The Right whale is too rare and Finbacks just slide under the water showing no Flukes.

 

Enjoy your vacation !!

[rick_tyrseck]

...I forgot to mention that I used exposure compensation by over-exposing 1 stop with the sun behind me and about 1 1/2 stops if I was shooting with the sun in front of me (bouncing off the surface).

 

You will lose all details (barnacles, identifying marks, etc.) in the whale's fluke if you do not dial in some extra exposure.

[scott_seigmund1]

Peter,

 

Your F4s is not the fastest focusing camera available, but you

can help it out by prefocusing to the area you expect the whale to

appear. The 75 � 300 lens is a good choice for the lens. When

coupled with the excellent Provia 400F film you should get

shutter speeds above 1/500th seconds, but try to shoot no

slower than 1/1000 seconds due to motion of both the subject

and photographer/camera system.

 

You may encounter overcast conditions and might want to use

an A2 / 81A filter to compensate for the shift to blue. Whatever

weather and light you encounter, the elements in your viewfinder

will likely exceed the EV range of the film. You may have bright

glair and white-white foam/spray, to dark grey and black. Most

whales are predominately black and will require �2 to �2.5 EV

from whatever you decide is median toned. You want to get the

whale exposed in a pleasing tone and let the lighter areas over

expose if necessary. By all means, avoid under exposing the

whale. Light and contrast on the water are nearly always beyond

the range where we can trust the camera�s CPU to achieve a

pleasing exposure. You should use your camera�s spot meter to

meter areas that you can place the tonal value reasonably well,

and adjust the aperture and shutter manually. If you are not

accustomed to shooting this way, it would be worth a few rolls of

film to go and practice shooting at a duck pond or similar area

with water and wildlife. Number your film cassettes and take

careful notes on your settings and meter readings.

 

If your subject is near enough, you may want to have a second

camera body handy with a shorter lens mounted. If the sun is

bright, you might need to use a polarizer to reduce glair, and use

the lens hood at all times. The whale doesn�t need to be

airborne to get nice shots. Look for other elements you can

combine in the image. Don�t be disappointed if you get a rainy

day, it may turn out to be a great opportunity. Bring lots of film.

Use high-speed motor drive, and auto bracket if you get a great

opportunity. If it really cost just $28.00, go often!<div></div>

[bobatkins]

My only comment is "Dramamine" and lots of it. Suffice it to say my whale watching experiences were not something I'd like to repeat...

 

I envy those who don't suffer, but on the boats I was on I think they were in the minority.

[scott_seigmund1]

Peter,

 

I wanted to load another image to illustrate "combining different

elements". This image isn't just of a whale. The side light on the

whale's just expelled breath powerfully illustrates that whales

are mammals needing the atmosphere as well as the ocean to

survive. The dim shorline in the background adds a hint of

landscape to the image.

 

Both images were recorded with a Nikon F5, 80-200 2.8 AF-S

and TC 14E. The first image is on Provia 400F, while the one

posted here is on Kodak E100VS.

 

Hope this is of value.

 

Scott<div></div>

[fred_kamphues]

Don't forget to bring a wide angle either!

 

http://www.photo.net/photo/942061

 

Good luck,

 

Fred