Animal behavior is a wonderful thing to watch. While animals cannot communicate via speech that we humans easily understand, we could say that their actions speak louder than words.
This breaching whale in Alaska is a prime example. Experts have no clear explanation why whales breach, but when they do it certainly appears to be with gusto, and unrelated to feeding, mating, or dominance behavior. They seem to do it for the sheer joy of it.
Most breaching whales are teenagers, full of energy. Often when you see a whale breach, it will do it several times in a row. That helps us photographers have a ghost of a chance of getting the shot. The first breach generally comes with no warning. But when you find a breaching whale it is best to keep an eye on it and hold your position in hopes that it will happen a few more times.
Your best chance of getting a sharp image is to pre-focus in the area of the previous breach, but be ready to re-focus when the action begins since often the whales will have moved a bit from the last breach. It happens fast, and I have many shots of just the splash that remains after the breach is over.
It is exciting to watch these huge creatures launch themselves almost completely out of the water. Whether they truly feel a sense of exuberance or not, I certainly do when I see this action. It is exciting beyond compare.
We hope to see breaching whales and more on the
Glacier Bay National Park trip coming up June 25 - 30.
We stay in a beautiful lodge and will take day boat trips
on three separate days to see whales and all the
other wonders Alaska has to offer.
Only a few spaces left. Complete information here http://awakethelight.com/glacier-bay-national-park/
I hope you can join me!
Email or call to register, or if you have questions.
TECH SPECS
1/1250 sec at f/8, ISO 400. Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens with 1.4x teleconverter for an effective focal length of 560mm on Canon 7D Mark II body. Handheld.
TODAY'S QUOTE: "The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours, they are more finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not underlings, they are other Nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth." -- Henry Beston
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