Humpback Whales are extremely tough to photograph. They surface without much warning and usually just break the surface with their backs as they blow out old air and take in a new breath. In that scenario, doing an aim and shoot, all you get is a burst of spray from their blowhole, their arched back, or their fluke just before it slides back underwater. Usually you get nothing because you're not quick enough in reacting to the spot they have chosen to surface. If you're REAL lucky, you might get a shot at one breaching... coming completely out of the water with much of their body and then crashing back onto the surface. A breach usually lasts about one to two seconds so the chance of catching that is extremely slim.
These two whales ran with us for several minutes as we entered Glacier Bay... surfacing in basically the same spot every time. Even with that help, another half second or so and all I'd have gotten would have been the ripples in the water after they went under. I did get one other shot of the large one's fluke straight up into the air as it did a head-stand.... playing with us. I never did see any breaches or lobtailing.(tail slaps on the surface)... maybe next time....
Well THIT!!! Wasn't Wednesday FUUUUNNNN?????? Can Thursday's fun quotient be HALF as much? Maybe by taking a flying run at it we can just get through it???? Here's hopin'....
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5 comments:
Humpback Whales are extremely tough to photograph. They surface without much warning and usually just break the surface with their backs as they blow out old air and take in a new breath. In that scenario, doing an aim and shoot, all you get is a burst of spray from their blowhole, their arched back, or their fluke just before it slides back underwater. Usually you get nothing because you're not quick enough in reacting to the spot they have chosen to surface. If you're REAL lucky, you might get a shot at one breaching... coming completely out of the water with much of their body and then crashing back onto the surface. A breach usually lasts about one to two seconds so the chance of catching that is extremely slim.
These two whales ran with us for several minutes as we entered Glacier Bay... surfacing in basically the same spot every time. Even with that help, another half second or so and all I'd have gotten would have been the ripples in the water after they went under. I did get one other shot of the large one's fluke straight up into the air as it did a head-stand.... playing with us. I never did see any breaches or lobtailing.(tail slaps on the surface)... maybe next time....
Well THIT!!! Wasn't Wednesday FUUUUNNNN?????? Can Thursday's fun quotient be HALF as much? Maybe by taking a flying run at it we can just get through it???? Here's hopin'....
Looks like you had a whale of a time on your trip.
Mariposa - Wait till you see what an Orca did to me at Juneau!!!!!!
and you live to tell about it!!!!
I had her eating out of the palm of my hand... and purring!
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