Humpback Whales

I’ve just returned from my first underwater whale experience. I traveled to Tonga to swim with the humpbacks. It was a fun trip, though certainly challenging from a photography perspective. We had an up and down week: lots of whales but they were usually moving too fast for us to drop in with them. On top of that, visibility wasn’t great and there was a lot of algae in the water. Plus, my rental housing had some issues.

But overall, it was a memorable experience that I’d like to try again at some point. Here’s a shot from our first day, which was by far our best with the whales (not always what you want when you’re just figuring stuff out!), and the only day we had any moms with calves.

I almost never shoot underwater, so I felt like a newbie both shooting and processing (this trip has actually given me an excuse to dabble with Lightroom for the first time, as I’ve been strictly a PS user for 20+ years)… there’s so much I could do better. I also did a little more retouching in post than I normally would too, removing a lot of the larger particles in the water.

Canon 1DXII
Canon 17-40mm
ISO 640
1/400th
f/8
AquaTech housing

Max

3 Likes

Hi Max!
When I looked at the picture (before reading the commentary) I just wondered that I had never seen an under water picture from you.:grinning:
I just can’t believe that this frame is from your first day under water !?! I just love the setting and the composition. May be you should do it more often!

Cheers!

Thanks Jagdeep. I’ve had a few attempts before, most notably with whale sharks in Australia (also poor visibility, and with a Ewa marine bag housing that was far more limited than even the one I used on this trip)… and in the Galapagos, where my housing on that trip leaked and killed my camera on the very first swim!

Among other underwater challenges, I find that composing is quite difficult… peering through a mask, housing glass and then the viewfinder isn’t easy, so I feel like I’m shooting blindly much of the time. Would’ve loved a little more room at the top of this frame, for example, but frankly I’m just glad I had one where the calf wasn’t cut off!

Max

Wow, Max, this is a great look at them. I am especially enjoying this, since I know without a doubt, that I will never be doing this (got to be able to swim first, and I have never been able to learn, even though I tried hard to). The colors and details, and even the position of each is just, to me, perfect. :+1::+1:

Amazing experience and I think the image is actually great… One of my dreams… Cheers, Hans

This is an amazing shot! The quality of the light and the light rays add amazing depth and draw your eyes into the scene. The composition is great and I would definitely hang it in my home. I would not have know how to even start to capture a shot like this - and you nailed in on the first day. Congratulations!

Hi Max,
An amazing shot, especially given all there is to learn. I’m wondering what is going on in the lower right corner beneath the mother whale. Can’t tell if that is another whale coming up or what. I’ll never be doing this, so thank you for sharing your experience.

Kathy, that is another whale. Females with calves sometimes have “escorts,” usually another adult. It could be a male, but it’s not necessarily trying to mate with the mother or anything like that (as you might see when a male bear or cat comes in to drive off or kill young to get a female to mate again).

Max

A very cool image, Max. The clarity of the whales is exceptional and I love the lighting. It really captures that “under-the-water” look.

Max, congratulations on your editors choice recognition for both your fantastic photos. They are magical. Again, Big Fan!