queencitysanta Loc: Charlotte, North Carolina

My girl friend and I are going to Seattle May 17-24. I have a Nikon D800 with Nikon 28-300 and Sigma 150-500 that I will use for our whale watching trip she booked for us.


Any suggestions for equipment or technics would be greatly appreciated.

Flyfishn

GWR100 Loc: England

A bloody great fishing rod and some strong tackle---- Have a really good trip.

braindamage Loc: Appley Bridge, Lancs, U.K.

Hi Flyfishn, I got back from a whale watching trip to Iceland a couple of weeks ago and learnt some valuable lessons. I too sought advice on here and some of it was useful some not as experience taught me. I was advised to get up as high as possible which seemed to be good advice. However, when you discover the tactics of the boat crew this presented a major problem. When a whale is spotted the commentator announces the position by a clock method where the bow pointing straight ahead is 12 o'clock etc. All cameras are immediately focused on the spot where the whale is next expected. The Captain immediately swings the boat to the spot. When you are on the top deck it is practically impossible to steady yourself due to the roll of the boat. Then camera is not focussing on the whale so alot of shote are either not capture or are in the side of the frame and chopped off. I have included the best of what I got to show you what happens. I would advise ignoring the top deck and go for midships to reduce G-force effect. I would also, if I go again take some sort of harness to attach myself to the rail as you could then better brace yourself against the bulkhead and even have both hands free as it impossible to hang on to the boat and operate your camera at the same time. If you are out on a rib then other factors come into play. I took an inexpensive rain shield just in case. Forget about mono or tripods as they will just accentuate the boats engine. My gear was D3100 Tamron 70-300 shot in sports mode continuous mode. With hindsight maybe video would have been better and then PP individual frames? The closest the whales came was about 120 yds to as much as 250 yds. I would definately take a shoulder brace next time-I bought one to use but it took my baggage weight over the limit! Hope this is of some help-have a great trip.

EstherP

Unless you have a waterproof camera: invest in some sort of rain sleeve for the camera. If the whales or dolphins (includes killer whales) breach or lobtail near enough and in the right direction, you'll have a free shower!
EstherP

davidcaley Loc: Utah

It would help to give advice if I knew the location of your whale watching trip.
Piaget Sound is 'protected' waters. Many miles inland not North Atlantic Ocean.
In Puget Sound whale watching boats will be only one deck, your position will be close to water, which will be likely calm.

queencitysanta Loc: Charlotte, North Carolina

Thanks, I'll get information on the location, boat, etc.

Jim 100 Loc: Everett, Washington

The rain sleeve is a must, but the main thing you need are whales. I was on a whale watching trip from Seattle to the San Juan Islands and didn't see a thing. Another time I took the Victoria Clipper from Seattle to (of all places) Victoria and we saw dozens of Orca. Good luck and have fun.
Jim

wlgoode Loc: Globe, AZ

And some steel cable fishing line! ;)