Whale of a tail
Aug, 2015Views
1436
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Awards
Zenith Award
Top Shot Award 21
Legendary Award
Contest Finalist in The Water In Black And White Photo Contest
Featured
Contest Finalist in Water In B&W Photo Contest
Peer Award
Superb Composition
Absolute Masterpiece
Top Choice
Outstanding Creativity
Magnificent Capture
Superior Skill
All Star
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Top 10 rankTop 10 rank week 1
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Same photographer See allBehind The Lens
Behind The Lens
Location
I took this photo in August of 2011 aboard a whale watch vessel on Stellwagen Bank off Massachusetts.Time
It was early afternoon and the second whale watch tour of the day for the company.Lighting
I was actually on the whale watch as part of my work to observe how the whale watch vessel operated around the endangered whales on the Bank. I was trying to keep a low profile when the First Mate asked me to join the crew on the Captains Deck at the top of the vessel. The humpback whales were so close and so abundant feeding on sand lance that day that I could literally turn every direction and see them. The vessel had to stop and wait for this particular whale because it was very close and was doing what is called kick feeding or slapping its fluke so hard that it stuns the fish and then it just scoops them up. I was able to just slightly lean over the railing to get that photo straight down.Equipment
Canon EOS Rebel XT with a 55-250mm lens. It was the first time I had shot with a DSLR.Inspiration
There were whales everywhere that day.Editing
Converted to black and white, did a bit of smart sharpening and upped the contrast. Truth is, I didn't know much about post-processing at the time and I didn't have really good software to do it like I do now.In my camera bag
I have started shooting with a full-frame canon camera, but I always keep my Canon EOS Rebel SL1 in my bag (purse) with either the 55-250mm or 24mm EFS lenses.Feedback
Make friends with a boat captain, you'll get better pics.
