Whale watching today.

[conkerwood]

Out watching migrating humpbacks again. Got some nice tail shots today and have included some shots from last week. Hope you like. The last one is a personal fav. A calf only a few hours old and it is beautiful.

Peter

[kdoc856]

Great shots, especially #s 5 and 8 for me. Niicely processed

[Chris]

Great stuff , really jealous

[Canon7dman]

Great selection of shots. You are lucky you have all of this on your doorstep.

[ucci]

Peter, what else can I say other than, ' absolutely bloody bee-udee-full! Great shots of great subjects. You have generated a lot of envy, I feel. Well done. Thank you so much for sharing that which most of us will never see in real life.

[AB26]

Great job Peter. What did you set the white balance to?

[conkerwood]

Great job Peter. What did you set the white balance to?

Interesting question. I have spent a lot of time trying to work out the best settings for whale shots. When they breach the risk is huge blow out because the whale and sea is likely to be dark but the water/splash can be intense white and very reflective.. So its all a balancing act.

But actually White Balance is the easiest AWB covers it all

And the rest of my settings are:

Shutter priority at least 1250 but better 1650
ISO 400 (You don't notice any noise with all the splash and a small touch of noise reduction fixes without noticeable loss of detail)
Exposure compensation - 3 thirds of a stop on a bright or high light cloud day but 2 thirds of a stop on duller days.
In really bright conditions this give an aperture of around 10 up to 13 depending on focal length.

[Steve S]

Beautiful shots peter. Must be awesome to view these animals live.

[conkerwood]

Peter, what else can I say other than, ' absolutely bloody bee-udee-full! Great shots of great subjects. You have generated a lot of envy, I feel. Well done. Thank you so much for sharing that which most of us will never see in real life.

Thanks Ken I know how lucky I am. But 362 k south of you in Warrnambool between June and October Southern Right whales calve at Logans beach and hang around while the young gain strength. Everything I have photographed on the Gold Coast you will see there. There is a great viewing platform at Logans beach (all free, even the parking) and some fabulous photo opportunities if you have a decent lens because they hang around very close to the shore (and I mean very close) So there it is, 4 hours drive south from you. And if you want to check out when they are around and what they are doing then visit here

http://visitwarrnambool.com.au/whale.../#.UDTLr0RTSuo

Catch you soon

Peter

[redrew]

Spectacular, Peter.

[FrankMi]

Magnificent creatures! The link shows Southern Right Whales at Logan's beach but these look to my untrained eye to be humpback as you have identified. I take it that both types of baleen whale frequent this location? It must be difficult to tell them apart.

<EDIT> Ah! I just read the post more carefully. The humpbacks you are shooting are at the Gold Coast and the Southern Right Whales are much further south.

[jprzybyla]

Nice work Peter, your images bring back memories of whales I have seen off the New England coast in the USA. The magnificence of whales are shown well in your captures.

[Donald]

Someone used the word 'envy' above. That doesn't even get anywhere near it!

In photographic terms, because it has the cityscape as its backdrop, I think this is a tremendous image. Humankind and nature brought right in close together.

Although the one immediately after it (the body our of the water) is a real jaw-dropper.

You lucky, lucky person, but also congratulations of your skill in being able to capture these pictures and present them to us as you have.

[Bobobird]

Wonderful images.

[Sonomadavid]

Amazing shots, Peter! One can almost hear the splashing...seems like you're on top of them!

[Plumcrak]

Absolutely beautiful shots Peter. I got a chance a couple months ago to see some whales off the coast of Cape Cod. Stunning animals to watch and photograph (my photos didn't turn out anywhere close to yours). Thanks for sharing.

[jamn4ex]

so cool, 5 is my fav.

[Muriel]

Wonderful photos.. Thanks so much for sharing. We saw a lot of these in Alaska but I never got such wonderful pictures.

[wlou]

I am so happy to be able to see these pictures. The close-up are great, we see all the details, the last one must be mother and baby? I am most impress by the whale in front of the big city. Will mankind be able to protect these giants?

[conkerwood]

Magnificent creatures! The link shows Southern Right Whales at Logan's beach but these look to my untrained eye to be humpback as you have identified. I take it that both types of baleen whale frequent this location? It must be difficult to tell them apart.

<EDIT> Ah! I just read the post more carefully. The humpbacks you are shooting are at the Gold Coast and the Southern Right Whales are much further south.

Your second reading is correct but it actually gets a little more complicated. Two weeks ago a Southern Right whale and calf were seen and photographed (not by me unfortunately) off the Gold Coast. Obviously totally lost as they just don't come this way but I found out last Wednesday that mother and calf had continued going North and had been spotted safe and well off the waters of Northern Queensland.

Everyone has been so positive in their feedback which is wonderful so I will share my pride and joy. Certainly not a spectacular photograph but this is Migaloo. Migaloo is the only known 100% white humpback whale in the world and he passes our coast every year in early July and then returns in late September. To see him is the rarest or rare events, needle in a hay stack type stuff. But a couple of years ago I was out on my usual weekly trip and there he was, we spent about 5 hours with him. There is a 500 metre exclusion zone around him but he suddenly turned towards our boat. When that happens you have to turn your engines off and just sit there which is what the skipper did. And he swam past the stern of our boat no more than 15 metres away. Certainly one of the greatest single events of my life.

Peter