Above. some of my photos from my latest trip in January 2013. Best whale watch ever.

PS - go in early spring to catch the whales, I think they start leaving in May.

Head slap. 2013 January




Mother and baby(off to the right) with Lahaina in the background




Finally caught a breaching whale but it was pretty far out.


Early morning light.


Sunrise over Haleakala volcano. 2013 January




"Thar she blows!" So beautiful.

We stay at Napili Point condos. They are quite nice, park by your door. Two quiet pools, snorkel with turtles right out your lanai. A two minute walk around the point to a beautiful Napili beach. I highly recommend this location. You see a beautiful sunset each night over the island of Lanai and you can see whales right out your front window.
The whale watching trip was through the Pacific Whale Foundation. (Take the early morning raft trip for the best lighting and unobstructed views. They even have special trips designed for photographers. Have no fear the raft is a slow and calm ride with 360 degree VIEW unlike the giant catamarans. Check out the Napili property online. Hope you have a great trip.

Thanks - what a great time I had getting them!

Absolutely beautiful, I love it!

Well, I have returned from my Maui vacation and decided to post a couple of my whale photos. Thanks to the folks who took the time to give me some tips. I never was close enough to photograph a breaching whale and I got mostly "fins" as I was warned. However, I had a wonderful time and came away awed by nature and the beauty of the whales!!!

The best whale tale I saw!




Frolicking baby whale -so cute.

A couple more shots - geese taking flight in Sherwood Oregon and an unknown type of bird at the harbor in Lahaina, Maui.

My turkey vulture photo and a blue jay. This is my first time uploading so I hope they come through!

How exciting! I have already booked my trip with Pacific Whale Foundation - I am a member. So, on Friday morning I will be out trying to get a photo. Thank you so much for your response and the pictures are great! Maybe I will have a couple to post when I get back. I tried to attach a couple of dolphin photos from last summer, hope it worked.

I will try to go on a small raft or catamaran. Thanks for the help.

THANK YOU so much for these suggestions - they are just the type of info I am searching for. ISO up to ??? and definitely in continuous shooting mode.

Thanks. I was afraid of that very thing. I guess that it might be dumb luck if I get anything at all.

I am on my way to Maui this Thursday and hope to take some photos of the whales with my Nikon D90. All I have done is take pics in the program mode. I need some suggestions on how to take some great shots of the whales. Any suggestions out there?