Photo tips from The Prince of Whales

In the process of shooting hundreds of rolls of film on thousands of whale watches, I have made just about every mistake one could possibly make - so I figure that makes me an expert!  Here are some tips... happy shooting!

Film     Shutter Speed & Aperture     Lenses      Tripods     Composition     Anticipate

Film
Use ASA 200 or 400 speed film. Most any daylight film type will do a good job. I used to use slow film on bright sunny days, figuring that slower film results in a sharper picture. After all, I could shoot at 500th/sec. or better in those conditions. However, to do that my aperture was around f3.5 or f5.6. A moving whale, dolphin or seabird can too easily leave the field of focus (depth-of-field) as you take the picture.

If shooting for prints, when you take the film to your lab ask them to print for the whale, not the surrounding water. If not told, labs will usually print your pictures so that the water looks right, but the whales are just black silhouettes. If you forget to tell them and this happens, all is not lost. Take the negatives and prints back and ask them to print again, this time for the whales - not the water. Whales can be challenging subjects when it comes to exposure. Many parts of a humpback, for example, are jet black while the flippers are almost pure white. Such extremes in the same shot call for a low-contrast film. Luckily for us, as film speed increases, contrast tends to decrease... another reason to use ASA 200 or faster film. 

Shutter speed and aperture
To quote a National Geographic photographer who sailed with us for about ten days (the result was a spectacular two-page photo in the March '98 magazine), "you can never shoot too fast." It's best to shoot at 250th/sec. or faster, while keeping the aperture at f8 or better. An aperture in the range of f3.5 or f5.6 results in that shallow depth-of-field mentioned above. Fast film will allow you to shoot at 1,000th/sec. or faster on a sunny day, even while keeping the aperture at f8 or better.

Lenses
If you have them, your monster 400 or 600mm lenses may not be the first choice. They are difficult to hand hold and have a very shallow depth of field. More practical is a zoom, in the range of 75-300mm or so. The wider the range the better. That way if a whale 50 yards away begins swimming over towards the boat, you won't get caught changing lenses. A polarizing filter can be a good thing but beware; it will greatly slow your shutter speed.

Tripods
Many photographers are accustomed to using a tripod when they photograph on land, and for good reason - it eliminates hand shake and does result in a sharper picture. While our vessel, the Prince of Whales, is a fine sea boat, it is still a boat! Tripods (as well as their one legged cousin, the mono pod) and boats are a terrible match. Leave your tripod home. The boat and whale movement together would make it a pain to keep the subject in the viewfinder, and the legs do a fine job of transferring engine vibration from the deck to your camera.

Composition
Sometimes photographers are focusing so much on the whales that they forget all about the people on the boat. People can add a lot to a whale picture. They provide a sense of scale and help to tell your story.  T

Anticipate
It helps if you have a pretty good idea of the direction a whale is traveling, and where it is likely to surface next. Your best bet? Make friends with a crew member! Let him or her know that you'd appreciate some help once we're with the whales. While whales often surprise everyone with unexpected movements, it is not unusual for patterns to develop. Crew members have the benefit of watching whales on a daily basis... take advantage of that experience.