Whale watching photography tips

Here are a few Whale watching photography tips , which can help you capture some great moments.

Saltwater is really damaging for the camera. Have a professional camera rain cover if you have the money to buy it. Or else a simple plastic bag will suffice. But watch for the weather , if its rainy it will not help at all.
Keep the camera to your side not close to the boat’s side when you are not clicking as water from the waves can land on the camera without warning.
Decide a lens and take that out to the sea. Changing lens when on the boat might not be good idea , unless you go down to a cabin in the boat. I was on a speed boat and thus it was impossible.

Traveling on boat is always bumpy so , taking in account the constant shaking and chance that you will be using a zoom lens anywhere from 70 to 300 or more, its obvious that you have to go with higher shutter speeds, 1200 and above is good.
Considering the weather, if its cloudy , bump up your ISO to get the higher shutter speed, out of focus images cannot be corrected, higher ISO grains can be corrected.
Keep the continuous shooting mode on while at sea or the action mode on a normal camera, as the part what you photograph lasts for only a few minutes and you want to capture every moment.

The whale which we got to see were blues, and they are not really curious most of the time, so getting close is a challenge but a possibility.
Once they dive down , they wont be back for some time and when they are they will be some 100 or so meters away from where they went down.
Keep a look out for birds, they usually follow the blue whale to eat the things left over by them.
Humpbacks and Minky whales are usually very curious and can put up a show for you. So keep your eyes open all around as we don’t know where they show up next.

Most important tip is to pray for good sunny weather without wind , when taking a photograph is easier, much easier , believe me.

Also get more details about my whale watching experience here