Breaching Humpback Whale

Gallery: WildlifePosted March 21, 20081,917 views16 comments

Nikon D80, 300mm f/4
1/2000 sec at f/5.6, hand-held
ISO 400, spot metering mode, Aperture priority
Cropped to about 80% of original
Minor adjustments in Lightroom and Photoshop
Photo taken Feb. 18, 2008, near Aitcho Island, South Shetland aboard the National Geographic Endeavour
I took many photos of birds on this expedition to the Antarctica Peninsula, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands, but also had a chance to try photographing a few whales and a lot of seals.

David Sparks

Comments

16 comments

Comment posted by raymond j barlow on March 21, 2008 at 9:21 PM

Wow David, what a dream trip!! Fantastic shot.

Registered on March 29, 2007, 218 Posts, 964 Comments

Comment posted by Toni Lankerd on March 21, 2008 at 9:32 PM

Sweet! Wonderful capture and what a fantastic trip that must have been, David!

Registered on January 3, 2005, 360 Posts, 4004 Comments

Comment posted by Gary Gulash on March 21, 2008 at 9:34 PM

Great shot David. Quite the breach!

Registered on January 28, 2005, 879 Posts, 12098 Comments

Comment posted by Lisa Wiesbauer on March 22, 2008 at 8:08 AM

I'm jealous

What a great capture

Lisa

Registered on October 16, 2007, 23 Posts, 116 Comments

Comment posted by Cay-Uwe Kulzer on March 22, 2008 at 2:28 PM

David,

very nice image, good light, great action, and technically well done.

Registered on January 27, 2004, 494 Posts, 4021 Comments

Comment posted by Joe Lacefield on March 22, 2008 at 3:55 PM

Awesome capture. My only nit is it seems a bit oversharpened to me. Again excellent timing! Well done

Registered on December 17, 2006, 25 Posts, 28 Comments

Comment posted by Louis Blair on March 22, 2008 at 3:59 PM

That's a beautiful shot...Bravo

Registered on March 22, 2008, 11 Posts, 38 Comments

Comment posted by Bruce Painter on March 22, 2008 at 10:10 PM

A great capture. Perfect timing. I agree that it apears over sharpened though. Even still wonderful photo.

Bruce

Registered on May 11, 2006, 50 Posts, 207 Comments

Comment posted by Dan Walters on March 23, 2008 at 8:23 PM

Great shot. Love the action. I am sure it is not easy to capture a image of a breaching whale.

Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Chambers on March 24, 2008 at 9:30 PM

Beautiful David. Congrats on the EP.

Registered on April 10, 2005, 753 Posts, 21216 Comments

Comment posted by Winnie Ho on March 24, 2008 at 9:51 PM

Beautiful capture of a unique encounter. Lovely action here. Congratulations on the EP.

Registered on January 6, 2008, 93 Posts, 1788 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on March 24, 2008 at 11:41 PM

Congrats David, great image

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Paul Inglis on March 25, 2008 at 8:25 AM

Hi David,

Awesome capture!

Registered on October 23, 2007, 26 Posts, 2832 Comments

Comment posted by Stan Rose on March 25, 2008 at 9:19 AM

Awesome shot, David, great timing and action

Registered on September 15, 2005, 836 Posts, 17099 Comments

Comment posted by Christine Adams on March 27, 2008 at 12:57 PM

Wow, David, this must have been such a rush just to see it. Congrats on being there, capturing the shot AND the EP!!!

Registered on January 24, 2006, 119 Posts, 1871 Comments

Comment posted by Don Mullaney on April 14, 2008 at 2:46 PM

Sounds like a great trip, I'll put that on my long list!

Great capture on the whale, I know how tedious this can be.

Registered on January 21, 2008, 72 Posts, 124 Comments