Photo of the Week: September 21, 2009

Hi Gang!

Recently I was talking with Captain Steve about coming to Maui for Whale Week 2010. Whale Week is a special event that as its name suggests centers around the humpback whales that visit Maui during the winter. It looks like this year instead of Whale Week, Captain Steve and Hawaiian Rafting Adventures will be sponsoring two back-to-back Whale Weeks, and I am very much looking forward to taking part in the activities as I have in past years. A highlight of the celebration includes the opportunity to attend a number of presentations given by some of the world’s most noteworthy humpback whale researches, filmmakers, still photographers that specialize in working with humpback whales. Their work is very inspirational!

The channel between Maui and Lanai is visited by almost 4,000 humpback whales every winter, making this area the humpback whale capitol of the world! As you probably know the whales are protected by law, and it is against the law to try to dive with the whales. But there is plenty to see and enjoy on the surface as the whales are constantly breaching, tail slapping, fluking, slapping their long pectoral flippers and otherwise frolicking about.

All of the surface activity gives photographers plenty of topside action, and during Whale Week those photographs are put to use by research teams that document the numbers of whales in the area, and that use photographs to identify individual animals. Sophisticated software programs that bear some resemblance to fingerprint software used by police, the FBI and other authorities is used to match the images with photographs taken in previous years. This matching helps document the migration patterns of humpbacks as well as helping to gain a more thorough understanding of the population dynamics of the area’s humpbacks. Captain Steve has worked closely with the research teams for years, and this relationship means that we get some special opportunities to get close to the whales so we can take some photographs that help the research teams.

Tyler and Robin, members of the Hawaiian Rafting Adventures staff, will be on the boats at times and they will note your image numbers, and the time and location to further assist the research teams. Participants supply the researchers with copies of their images.

Whale Week and all of the topside photography doesn’t mean we will be foregoing any diving, unless a really magical encounter occurs when the whales simply refuse to leave the boat. Weather and water conditions permitting we will dive the Cathedrals of Lanai, Shark Reef and even make a manta ray dive to see the rays get cleaned by a variety of colorful cleaner fishes. You can’t help but enjoy those dives, but on top of all of the normal sights, during wintertime dives you are sure to enjoy the sounds of singing humpback whales. The songs are clear, loud and magical.

Before, between and after the dives its time for whale pictures on the surface. You don’t have to be a professional photographer or have a lot of expensive equipment in order to not only participate but to make a meaningful contribution during Whale Week. What you really need is some enthusiasm and a good attitude. While great photographs are always appreciated they are no more useful in terms of their value to the researchers than are average shots that allow for identification of the photographed animal. The week is about helping the cause, learning about whales, having fun and going diving. That’s a tough week to beat!

I took this week’s POTW, a picture of the tail of a diving humpback whale last year during Whale Week. The keys to capturing this particular image were having a cooperative whale in the right place at the right time, a clear day so I had plenty of light, flat seas so I could steady the camera system and keep then horizon close to level, and a boat captain that put us in the right position to get the shot. I used a fast shutter speed, 1/1250^th of a second to help minimize the movement of the boat, the whale and the camera system.

Over the years I have learned that I generally get my best results, meaning my sharpest in-focus images, when using telephoto lenses when I shoot a “burst” of shots rather than taking one picture every time I depress the shutter release. Only rarely is the first shot in the sequence the best, or sharpest shot. For a variety of reasons I am able to hold the camera steadier on the subsequent shots.

When excited, it’s easy to get in a hurry and start blasting away, but I have also learned that it helps me to take a little extra time to allow the camera to “lock focus” before I start shooting. Once focus has been acquired my lenses are usually able to follow the action and keep my subject in focus.

Hopefully those techniques can help you as well, but if this year’s Whale Week is anything like past Whale Weeks you might not need a long lens at all. In the past curious humpbacks have come right up to the boat, and when I say right up to the boat I mean right up to the boat with one whale resting a fluke on the bow for a few seconds. That’ll put your heart in your throat!

I hope you enjoy this week’s POTW and that I’ll see you in Maui during Whale Weeks 2010. We are going to have a blast!

See you next week!

Marty