Humpback Whales, Maui...
Updated with more photos - Feb 9th, 12:00pm...
I have had the opportunity to photograph Humpback Whales off the west coast of Maui the last three mornings. The first morning, we started out in the pre-dawn light and immediately found whales just outside the Lahaina harbor. We spent a couple of hours photographing the splendid creatures as they cruised in the warm Hawaiian waters. Unfortunately, no breeching behavior was observed nearby.
The second morning, we went out again, this time a bit later in more light. Although there was not as much whale activity, I was still able to capture some great photos.
The third morning dawned clear but a bit more windy. This hampered our ability to see the spouts and thus find the whales. We ended up heading towards the island of Lanai so that we could use it for a wind shadow. We finally found some whales and dolphins. The photo opportunities were not as abundant but still were there.
Here are a few shots...
A little fuzzy in the low light...
Nice fluke shot with good light and color...
This youngster enjoyed playing with the West Maui coastline in the background...
Young Humpback playing right in front of us...
Nice fluke coming right at us...
This big Humpback went right under our boat...
This Humpback waved goodbye as we headed back for the harbor...
Far off breech near the island of Lanai...
Some dolphins cruised along with us for a while...
Humpback calf pokes his nose out of the water...
For some additional whale shots from my trip to Mexico in February of 2005, check the archives here!
Take care,
Bill
I have had the opportunity to photograph Humpback Whales off the west coast of Maui the last three mornings. The first morning, we started out in the pre-dawn light and immediately found whales just outside the Lahaina harbor. We spent a couple of hours photographing the splendid creatures as they cruised in the warm Hawaiian waters. Unfortunately, no breeching behavior was observed nearby.
The second morning, we went out again, this time a bit later in more light. Although there was not as much whale activity, I was still able to capture some great photos.
The third morning dawned clear but a bit more windy. This hampered our ability to see the spouts and thus find the whales. We ended up heading towards the island of Lanai so that we could use it for a wind shadow. We finally found some whales and dolphins. The photo opportunities were not as abundant but still were there.
Here are a few shots...
A little fuzzy in the low light...
Nice fluke shot with good light and color...
This youngster enjoyed playing with the West Maui coastline in the background...
Young Humpback playing right in front of us...
Nice fluke coming right at us...
This big Humpback went right under our boat...
This Humpback waved goodbye as we headed back for the harbor...
Far off breech near the island of Lanai...
Some dolphins cruised along with us for a while...
Humpback calf pokes his nose out of the water...
For some additional whale shots from my trip to Mexico in February of 2005, check the archives here!
Take care,
Bill
posted by Bill Langton at
12:00 PM
2 Comments:
Love your whale photos - I am headed to Maui in March and my highlight will be taking pictures of those magnificent animals...i am bringing a Nikon D90 with zoom lens...any recommendations for me to capture the best shots?
Much appreciated!
By
Anonymous, at 7:29 AM PST
Thanks for the note. Have a great time photographing these magnificent creatures.
The D90 should be a great camera. You don't mention which zoom you're taking but if it has Nikon's Vibration Reduction (VR) technology, that will be a tremendous bonus.
If you go out early morning, go with as high as an ISO as you are comfortable with noise wise. This will give you some additional shutter speed which you will need to keep your images sharp.
In the mid-day light, I would still keep your ISO at at least 400 to give you higher shutter speeds. The last thing you want is a close-by breach and blurry shots.
I'm not sure on the D90's feature set but you should have some form of "predictive focusing". This mode will track a moving object and constantly adjust the focus in lieu of a single focus lock. I would engage that mode if available so the camera constantly keeps focus on your subjects. Study your manual before you go to make sure you are comfortable with changing the settings on the fly.
I found the smaller the boat, the closer you seemed to get. The faster, smaller boats also tended to get to the action quicker and you were lower to the water for better angles. However, the smaller the boat, the more crowded it is and that makes it more difficult to move around for the best shot.
Good luck and have a great trip. If I can answer any more questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!
Bill
By
Bill Langton, at 10:12 AM PST
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