Whale Watching

[Tina]

We are going on a whale watching holiday on 21st February to Baja California and the Sea of Cortez.
We will be staying on a smallish boat with about 26 passengers and going onto smaller skiffs to go onshore.
Any advice, tips or recommendations on the following will be greatly appreciated.
1. What is the best way to download my photos each day other than on a laptop.
2. How to take good photos of moving whales, dolphins etc from a moving boat especially if the sea is a bit rough.
3. Graham will probably do some snorkelling so underwater photography tips would also be appreciated.

Many thanks
Tina

[Paul Heester]

What a great holiday you are going to have!

Regarding point 1 I think downloading each day your shots onto a laptop is good start. It partly depends on how many memory cards you have and how much of a snapper you are. I tend to have 3 or 4 smaller sizes (4 or 8Gb) rather than opt for the larger sizes. You could then keep your used ones somewhere safe on land. If your laptop has a DVD burner you could copy images onto disc. What about a quick run through each evening where you delete the ones you dont like to save space?

2. Even if weather is quite bright I would still go for ISO 400 or 800 to ensure fast enough shutter speed. Guessing you would be using a zoom lens so shot in AV mode with maximum aperture and dont forget the lens hood to improve contrast and avoid any glare. Have your shooting mode set to continuous and autofocus to AI Focus (thats what Canon call it). Also I keep a cheap towel in my camera bag for situations like sea spray, always good to have close to hand .

I suspect David can give you advise on point 3 as I know he has taken underwater shots.

Dont forget to share your adventure on the forums

[davidc]

For #1 if you do not want to use a laptop you can get adaptors that let you download images to your tablet or phone though unless you have a big one if you take the same amount of shots as I do you'll run out of space pretty sharpish.

Something like this is another option - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ex-Pro%C2%AE-Pi ... age+Viewer
This is larger capacity but you're now spending laptop money - http://www.amazon.co.uk/HyperDrive-Colo ... age+Viewer

To be honest, I advise a small netbook/ultrabook if you can afford it, much more versatile
Basically, search for portable media storage/portable media viewer, or similar.

As for underwater/snorkelling shots, it all comes down to how much money you want to spend and how seriously you want to take it. If you never plan on diving, just snorkelling, then a ruggedised, waterproof camera MIGHT be your best bet - tough enough to survive causal snorkelling, useful in the rain or outdoors etc. - here's a decent group test to help you choose - http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/2013-waterproof-roundup

However, if you want to spend more money on it or see yourself taking up diving/snorkelling really frequently then you need a dedicated underwater housing for another camera, be it a high end point and shoot or a DSLR. This CAN mean spending a lot of money but I bought a Canon S100 high end compact and a housing for under £500. My wife uses the s100 as her camera, I have used it in a pinch and it's the best of the "cheapest" underwater housign setups. For an SLR setup you're looking at thousands.

Here are the results I got while diving with only the S100 and the housing - http://www.flickr.com/photos/cedarsphot ... 680766392/ - bear in mind that while taking these my wife and I are still novice divers (so have to pay attention to that first and foremost!) and I was still learning the camera and using it without flash. You can get even better results than this with practice.

Let me know if this helps or you want more detail/info.

[Tina]

Thanks Guys.
You've certainly given me some options to think about.
I'm sure you'll agree an opportunity like this needs careful thought to get the most out of this super holiday.
Once again thanks
Tina

[Mike Farley]

Hi Tina

This is a bit outside of my experience, so I do not have much to add to what has been said already.

I would endorse Paul's point about keeping your shutter speed high as image stabilisation will only have a limited benefit on a pitching boat. Elsewhere, I have seen the use of microfibre towels advocated for keeping equipment dry. They have the advantage of being more lightweight than ordinary towels, are more aborbent and dry more quickly. Moreover, they are not especially expensive, so maybe have two, one to cover the camera when not shooting to protect against sea spray and the other to dry your equipment if it does get wet.

If this article is to be believed, the softfibre variant, which seems to be similar to a lens cleaning cloth, might be the better option.

http://www.gapyeartravelstore.com/blog/ ... el-review/

Have a good holiday. I look forward to seeing your shots.

[Tina]

Thanks Mike, I will look into the cloths you suggest.
Another question is lenses. Currently I only have a macro 100mm and a 24-105mm for my canon 6d.
Obviously I'm going to need something more either to buy or hire.
Any suggestions or recommendations would be gratefully received.
Many thanks
Tina

[Mike Farley]

Once again, no direct experience on my part, but I would imagine that neither of your lenses would be anything long enough - I doubt if the boat "driver" would want to get that close to such large creatures.

As you have 20 MP to play with, you could crop in a bit, but a more powerful lens would be a better option.

If you want to stick with Canon, the most flexible option would be their 100 - 400 "dustsucker", so called as it is an ancient design and has a trombone style zooming action which tends to pull in dust. It is compatible with a Canon extender to increase its reach, but its relatively small aperture would probably mean that you would lose the AF function. Despite its age, the lens is renowned for its sharpness. It is quite heavy, so you will possibly want to use it with some form of support, a monopod for example. A tripod might not be practical on a boat unless it's an exclusive hire.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-100-400mm ... on+100+400

The new 200 - 400 is a stellar performer and has a built in converter which will work with the AF, but is an eye watering price. Probably one to hire if you are interested.

http://www.dalephotographic.co.uk/mall/ ... 5AA/142365

With a bit less reach at the long end, the 70 - 300 is also a noted performer and is compatible with Canon's extenders, but once again there are potential AF issues.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-300-4- ... 0+400mm+f4

There is a consumer lens option of a 70 - 300, which receives good reports, although I have no personal knowledge of it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Canon-70-300mm- ... 300+is+usm

The Sigma 120 - 400 also gets good reports and is considerably cheaper than the Canon equivalent. I have seen it recommended and it is probably the best third party lens, although I am always cautious when it comes to Sigma lenses. There is a 150 - 500 model, but I found the AF to be slow when I tried it and it is not an especially good performer at the long end, so there might be little advantage over something shorter and cropping in a bit.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sigma-120-400mm ... ma+120+400

I have recommended zooms for their flexibility. Canon does make long prime lenses, but weight and size could be an issue, not only for carrying around and using when you arrive. Anything checked into the hold on the plane runs the risk of not turning up at the other end, but a large might fall foul of hand luggage restrictions.

Whatever you end up doing, it is worthwhile getting a filter to protect the front element of the lens from the sea spray. The filter will be easier to clean and can be chucked if really necessary. If you hire a lens, make sure that you are insured and that the cover applies to use on a boat.

[Rose]

I've used my 100-400 for dolphin watching and bird watching from a boat and can confirm that you will find anything less than 400mm unsatisfactory unless the creatures are really close and/or really big !
http://www.lensesforhire.co.uk/ are excellent and I can recommend their services. I hired a 100-400 from them before buying one myself.

I also have a small underwater camera you could borrow if you wish ? It's a Canon D10 and I've used it for both snorkelling and diving. It takes good video too. See http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/canon_powershot_d10_review/

[davidc]

Echoing the idea of hiring a 100-400

Also, I'll bring my s100 and underwater housing in on Wednesday so you can have a look at it and see if it's an option you are interested in pursuing.

[Tina]

Thank you Paul, David, Mike and Rose for replying to my requests, and for supplying websites to look at. I am very grateful.
Yesterday we went up to London and visited the new Park Cameras outlet just off Oxford Street. Not as good as Burgess Hill and I wasn't convinced the assistant we spoke to was as experienced as I needed at that time. There is lots to consider and I will take my time.
Hopefully I can chat to you on Wed.
Thanks
Tina