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Going on a Dolphin boat cruise Tuesday
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Apr 20, 2019 16:28:33   #
grandpaw
 
I have never been on one off these before and will be taking my 11 year old grandson. Any tips, tricks, or suggestions are welcome. It will be for two hours and starts at 5:30 PM in Orange Beach, Al.

I plan on having my Nikon D500 with a Nikon 70-200VR F2.8 lens and a Nikon D600 with a Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 lens on it. My grandson will be shooting with my Nikon D7000 with a Nikon 70-300mm lens, so I hope we get a bunch of keepers from our trip.

If you have been on one before or have any suggestions feel free to let me know. Grandpaw

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Apr 20, 2019 20:11:59   #
Selene03
 
You know better than others how close the boat will get to the dolphins. I suppose if it is close, you might want the d600 with the 24-70 lens. But you might be better off just taking the d500 with the longer lens. The dolphins move pretty fast and jump and there really isn't a lot of time to switch cameras. If you get pretty close, then the d600 with the shorter lens might be good.

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Apr 21, 2019 02:17:02   #
Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.
 
grandpaw wrote:
I have never been on one off these before and will be taking my 11 year old grandson. Any tips, tricks, or suggestions are welcome. It will be for two hours and starts at 5:30 PM in Orange Beach, Al.

I plan on having my Nikon D500 with a Nikon 70-200VR F2.8 lens and a Nikon D600 with a Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 lens on it. My grandson will be shooting with my Nikon D7000 with a Nikon 70-300mm lens, so I hope we get a bunch of keepers from our trip.

If you have been on one before or have any suggestions feel free to let me know. Grandpaw
I have never been on one off these before and will... (show quote)


From the ones I have been on, forget live view, forget the viewfinder, set on auto, high speed burst, point where you think the dolphin will be by aiming over the hot shoe, wide lens is good, no telling where they will rise above the water for a breath.

70 mm might not be wide enough depending on how high you are above the water.

If you get one in the air you are lucky!

Sometimes they swim fast in front of a fast moving ships bow, jumping above the water.

Good luck!

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Apr 21, 2019 06:00:28   #
nison777 Loc: illinois u.s.a.
 
Continuous high speed, shutter priority, 1000 of a second at least, polarizer filter, have fun, watch with one eye shoot with the other, get up front on the boat, strap securely on you, switch lens to achieve,
Things happen very quickly, people will be telling you what to photograph, don't let this distract you.

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Apr 21, 2019 06:09:30   #
nison777 Loc: illinois u.s.a.
 
BBF is very helpful also...
Shoot the tour first look at results later no chimping.
Do Not change lenses during the shoot.
They will be out there a ways.
Some lucky close encounters are possible.
The guide will find them for you.

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Apr 21, 2019 07:28:37   #
sb Loc: Florida's East Coast
 
My only suggestion is to check which way the wind is blowing to figure out which rail you will want to lean over during the trip..... Hopefully it will be a fun trip!

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Apr 21, 2019 07:41:28   #
mborn Loc: Massachusetts
 
Minimum 1/1250 sec f/8 auto ISO. continous burst tamron 18-400 Nikon D500

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Apr 21, 2019 07:41:29   #
nimbushopper Loc: Tampa, FL
 
They get pretty darn close to the boat because they like to surf in the boat's wake! I shot these with a fuji bridge camera because I didn't want to take my expensive Nikon on a small boat and subject it to salt spray.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/37991479@N08/albums/72157626300738266

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Apr 21, 2019 08:07:25   #
grandpaw
 
It is beginning to look like the better choice would be my 17-50mm F2.8 on the D7000 for my grandson instead of the 70-300. He will have a wider view and it will also be lighter. He is eleven years old.

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Apr 21, 2019 09:14:21   #
gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast
 
I’m thinking the long zooms would be better. Try to keep shutter speeds high and shoot in burst mode. Good luck.

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Apr 21, 2019 10:20:59   #
aellman Loc: Boston MA
 
grandpaw wrote:
I have never been on one off these before and will be taking my 11 year old grandson. Any tips, tricks, or suggestions are welcome. It will be for two hours and starts at 5:30 PM in Orange Beach, Al.

I plan on having my Nikon D500 with a Nikon 70-200VR F2.8 lens and a Nikon D600 with a Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 lens on it. My grandson will be shooting with my Nikon D7000 with a Nikon 70-300mm lens, so I hope we get a bunch of keepers from our trip.

If you have been on one before or have any suggestions feel free to let me know. Grandpaw
I have never been on one off these before and will... (show quote)


Check the forecast sea conditions online or with the trip operator before you leave home. If it's going to be rough and you can't reschedule, consider using a non-drowsy nausea preventing OTC medicine.

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Apr 21, 2019 11:02:31   #
dennis2146 Loc: Eastern Idaho
 
Selene03 wrote:
You know better than others how close the boat will get to the dolphins. I suppose if it is close, you might want the d600 with the 24-70 lens. But you might be better off just taking the d500 with the longer lens. The dolphins move pretty fast and jump and there really isn't a lot of time to switch cameras. If you get pretty close, then the d600 with the shorter lens might be good.


Asking for a friend: If he has never been on a cruise like this, how would he possibly know how close the dolphins will be? Just curious, my friend said to me.

Dennis

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Apr 21, 2019 11:12:25   #
Dngallagher Loc: Wilmington De.
 
grandpaw wrote:
It is beginning to look like the better choice would be my 17-50mm F2.8 on the D7000 for my grandson instead of the 70-300. He will have a wider view and it will also be lighter. He is eleven years old.


FWIW- I always go with a 17-50 then crop in post

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Apr 21, 2019 11:16:55   #
bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA
 
grandpaw wrote:
I have never been on one off these before and will be taking my 11 year old grandson. Any tips, tricks, or suggestions are welcome. It will be for two hours and starts at 5:30 PM in Orange Beach, Al.

I plan on having my Nikon D500 with a Nikon 70-200VR F2.8 lens and a Nikon D600 with a Tamron 24-70mm f2.8 lens on it. My grandson will be shooting with my Nikon D7000 with a Nikon 70-300mm lens, so I hope we get a bunch of keepers from our trip.

If you have been on one before or have any suggestions feel free to let me know. Grandpaw
I have never been on one off these before and will... (show quote)


If you get into a big pod, the dolphins will get into your boat's bow wake so you will be shooting close up. On wednesday I was in Long Beach harbor on a large boat and a single dolphin followed in our wake about 100 yards astern for a short distance. A 24-70mm is great for the close in shots. At 50 yards, 70-200 VR will work well but with a non VR lens you will be at a disadvantage on a fast moving boat unless you use a very high shutter speed. Dolphins are a relatively small animal and at that distance they are a hard target. It is not like photographing whales at that distance where the boat is either stopped or moving at slow speed. A dolphin is all grey and camouflages well with the water so you must depend on them jumping to initially spot them. Once they start pacing your boat, they will rhythmically jump so you can anticipate and time your shots unlike whales which breach unpredictably.

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Apr 21, 2019 12:10:54   #
Selene03
 
dennis2146 wrote:
Asking for a friend: If he has never been on a cruise like this, how would he possibly know how close the dolphins will be? Just curious, my friend said to me.

Dennis


A lot of times there are posted and known rules about how close one can get to wildlife in the water (Maui, for example); in other places, I agree, it could be hard to know unless one talked to someone. I know you can't always trust advertising, but it is clear from photos that smaller boats are designed to get closer to dolphins than larger more tour-like boats.

I have frequently read reviews on Trip Advisor, etc. to see what the comments are on how close you can go with specific companies. But, it is true that even with that information it can be unpredictable where the dolphins will be in relationship to a boat. I had a relatively short lens (24-70) based on reviews about how close whales came to boats in Baja California and really wished I had a longer lens.

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