[merengue]

Had some luck to see a breeching. Quality not good so have to return to improve on my technique. Any comments appreciated.

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[dadipentak]

Humpback Whale Breeching

Wow! I'm envious. The settings look ok (maybe try a faster shutter speed?) What camera & lens? How much cropping did you do?

[nomadkng]

a couple observations from my last couple whale watching excursions:

you need an extremely fast shutter speed (1/2500th works) because of your (our) instinct/need to pan to the subject who happens to be just out of frame range. that sudden jerky movement needs to be accounted for. whales themselves can be handled at about 1/500th or so if you are actually locked in, but most times they breach any where we AREN'T looking. also boat motion can and will cause jerks and bumps so you must you the highest FPS you can get.

also, I try to pre focus manually and use about f9-f11 if I can get away with it. I found my K5iis can't get a solid focus lock quick enough on subjects that have softer edges like whales and furry animals. if you can use hyperfocal equations to manually prefocus and put the selector on MF, you now take additional moving parts out of the equation.

finally, learn to pan with one eye in the viewfinder and the other eye open. try to shoot this way as well, it helps you track your moving subject during mirror up moments and your tracking is less jerky as your try to keep up.

hope that helps

[baro-nite]

Must have been a magnificent experience. Good tips above. M mode was a good choice for these conditions. But I would have bumped the ISO at least to 800, to allow stopping down more as Dave suggests and/or using an even faster shutter as nomadkng suggests.

Both of these shots seem to be focused on the foreground. Do you normally get accurate autofocus from this camera/lens combination?

[Sparkle]

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[Sparkle]

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[dms]

I think the pictures show an appropriate amount of motion. Whether the focus was missed is not a issue for me either--as the colors/contrast/focus are consistent with the whale breeching and lots of water drops in the air. Only thing I would try is to make the horizon line horizontal. I think it is incredibly hard to capture--well done.

[merengue]

I was shooting in Raw and used continuous shooting. I used manual pre-set focus and Neg EV to help prevent blowouts in such a changing environment. Those small boats do move around and it looks like higher shutter speed was required for sharper images. I have not done any PP yet since I have over 1000 images to go through. Hope a couple will be a worthwhile document of the great experience. I thank all for their comments and tips.
Earl

[dadipentak]

I have over 1000 images to go through

That should keep you from wandering the streets for quite some time ;~)

[merengue]

Dave:

You are right but I would rather be in Fells Point with dozen or so Blue Hardshells in front of me. But since I live in Madrid my Nephew will have go for me while he takes in an Orioles game. If something worthwhile comes out I will post it.

Earl

[dadipentak]

Dave:

You are right but I would rather be in Fells Point with dozen or so Blue Hardshells in front of me. But since I live in Madrid my Nephew will have go for me while he takes in an Orioles game. If something worthwhile comes out I will post it.

Earl

OTOH, Madrid is a great place to wander streets ;~)


ooops, sorry, OT-- my bad.

[merengue]

OTOH, Madrid is a great place to wander streets ;~)


ooops, sorry, OT-- my bad.

Dave:

Again you are absolutely correct, and it's not bad for tapa hoping also. We both are fortunate to live in such interesting places.

Earl

[merengue]

a couple observations from my last couple whale watching excursions:

you need an extremely fast shutter speed (1/2500th works) because of your (our) instinct/need to pan to the subject who happens to be just out of frame range. that sudden jerky movement needs to be accounted for. whales themselves can be handled at about 1/500th or so if you are actually locked in, but most times they breach any where we AREN'T looking. also boat motion can and will cause jerks and bumps so you must you the highest FPS you can get.

also, I try to pre focus manually and use about f9-f11 if I can get away with it. I found my K5iis can't get a solid focus lock quick enough on subjects that have softer edges like whales and furry animals. if you can use hyperfocal equations to manually prefocus and put the selector on MF, you now take additional moving parts out of the equation.

finally, learn to pan with one eye in the viewfinder and the other eye open. try to shoot this way as well, it helps you track your moving subject during mirror up moments and your tracking is less jerky as your try to keep up.

hope that helps

Hello Paul:

I thank you for your advice and the fact that you took the time to pass it on to me. I am very much an amateur and am enjoying the trials and tribulations of trying to take an image of what we see. I also did the paperboy routes many years ago so can appreciate your efforts.
You mentioned that you have done some excursions for whales. Could you tell me where? I have been to Ecuador and Madagascar and would like to try some more places. I live in Madrid and have traveled around Arizona, where we, my wife and I, almost bought a old house in Prescott.
Again, thanks for the advice,

Hasta la vista,
Earl Bauer

[nomadkng]

You mentioned that you have done some excursions for whales. Could you tell me where? I have been to Ecuador and Madagascar and would like to try some more places.

my whale watching excursions have been from Newport, Oregon, Dana Point (San Diego, CA) and Monterey Bay (CA)
In 5 days I will be in Washington State and Anacortes to capture Orcas and hopefully some bigger quarry.

I'm sure they wouldn't mind me posting the link...lol

Whale Watching in the San Juan Islands and Puget Sound, Washington State

Oregon company:

Marine Discovery Tours #1 Oregon Coast Whale and Sea life Cruise + Romantic Lodging

Monterey:

Monterey Bay Whale Watch - Whale Watching Trips

Also in Monterey and also a great critter cruise:

Elkhorn Slough Safari Nature Tours | Wetlands | Sea Otters, Harbor Seals | National Estuarine Reserve | Moss Landing, California

Tell em Paul sent ya......lol