jklepomis

I will be in San Diego soon and will have a couple of days to bird. Thinking of doing a pelagic whale trip. No birding pelagic trips found, but they say you see whales on a bird trip and birds on a whale trip. Three hour trip on a 115 guest boat. Question for those with experience. - Where should I hang out? Bow or stern, upper deck if possible? Probably not a tripod, but can I use a monopod since I imagine there will be some long distance shots? What Ebird location(s) should I use? Any other locations around San Diego I shouldn't miss?

bsprague Loc: Lacey, WA, USA

Upper deck where you can get from one side to the other. On any boat or airplane with a motor, you don't want a tripod or monopod on the deck because it picks up vibration.

If you are using a long lens, consider an alternative to conventional use.... Extend two of the tripod legs putting one foot in each of your pants pockets. Keep the third collapsed. Put the strap around your neck. Adjust the leg length and strap length so that the camera rests at eye level. Your camera is now as steady as your upper body. You can move from the waist to follow the whale (or birds).

To look a little less weird, do the same with a monopod with a ball head on it. You can tuck the foot behind your belt, in a pants pocket or flag pole pocket like used at parades. Manfrotto even makes a belt pocket for photographers.

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/554102-REG/Manfrotto_080_080_Monopod_Belt_Pouch.html/?ap=y&ap=y&smp=y&smp=y&smpm=ba_f2_lar&lsft=BI%3A6879&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA6byqBhAWEiwAnGCA4BdrJrOJi42pRlHZzAfaDAFijZG_O6fNOdNyEDbpUUrO17ClC8Dr7hoCKJAQAvD_BwE

jklepomis

Thanks! Good thought about using the pants pocket.

Revet Loc: Fairview Park, Ohio

We did a whale tour on an R.I.B. boat and would highly recommend it. These boats are far faster than the larger tour boats and are the boats that typically locate the whales. We saw a ton of grey whales and had them all to ourselves until our boat called the other boats and they headed our way. In many cases, the whales were gone by time the bigger tour boats got there. If the tour boats sighted them first, we would be there in very short order and waited until they were done before moving in for a closer look. The R.I.B boats are also a lot of fun and you get to wear full rain gear because you do get sprayed when moving. I used my Sigma 150-600 as you are pretty far away from the whales. They give you watertight bags to keep your gear in which is easily accessible when a whale is in sight. Great experience!!!

agillot

La jolla cove .

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I would delay - if possible - any final decision until the trip starts. We took several trips out of Maine, and most of the passengers seemed to sit on the top deck, with a few inside downstairs. I spent most of my time on my feet downstairs, so I could easily move from side to side and between front and back.