While we were on Vancouver Island for a week one of the highlights was going on a whale watching tour! In todays episode I wanted to chat with you about my experience photographing whales for the first time - covering the gear I used, how I liked using the Olympus MC-20 Converter, where to stand on the boat and other tips.
GEAR
Use Water-Resistant/Waterproof Gear
While we were on our whale watching tour it rained. Thus, I suggest either have a waterproof/water-resistant camera bag to keep your contents dry or have a cover for your bag. I was using the Peak Design Everyday Sling 6L, it has a nice durable shell and ultra-zips that keeps the inside dry.
The second weatherproof item I suggest having is your camera gear in general. The great thing about Olympus camera’s and lenses is that they are splash proof, dust proof, and freeze proof so when it was raining while on the boat I wasn’t worried about my gear while using it because I knew it could handle the weather! If your camera doesn’t have great weather sealing then I suggest bringing a cover for your camera system.
The last item is your clothes. I suggest if you’re visiting a west-coast city that rains a lot to dress in layers and bring a rain jacket. Alternatively, if you don’t mind getting wet and you don’t have a camera cover then you can use your rain jacket.
Keep In Mind the Boat You Are On
When we booked our tour we booked a Catamaran so I wasn’t worried about ocean water because we were sitting higher on the water. However, many whale watching tours take you out on a zodiac which of course is a little sketchier with the salt water. So you might find the type of boat you are on will change the camera gear and the accessories you bring.
Pack Light
This of course is based on personal preference but I suggest you pack light. If you’re on a catamaran you’re sharing the boat with 50 to 100 people sometimes and if you’re on a Zodiac it’s even smaller and tighter in space. You also want the freedom to maneuver on the boat without being in the way of other people and their experience so I suggest packing light because I feel lugging around a huge camera backpack will just get in the way.
On this tour all I brought with me was my Olympus M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 PRO lens, the MC-20 Converter, the M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO, an extra battery and SD card. Realistically, all I ended up using was the M.Zuiko 40-150mm F2.8 PRO and MC-20 Converter. There was one point on the tour that I could have switched to using the M.Zuiko 12-40mm F2.8 PRO for some landscape photos but I opted not to.
Have Lots of Memory (and then more)
I was really worried the night before our tour that I didn’t have enough memory. Before the trip I cleared two memory cards so I had room to take approx. 6000 photos. Before the tour I had room for 4000 on one memory card and then I had a secondary memory card with room for around 1500 just in case.
I didn’t want to run out of room like I did in Vancouver and I had to delete on the go.
Our whale watching tour was about 4 hours in length, I was photographing majority of the time and I took approx. 2000 photos.
Bring an Extra Battery
I knew from my time photographing Eagles in the Thompson Okanagan that my battery tends to run out faster when I’m using Sequential High a lot. Thus, I made sure that I had two fully charged batteries when I got on the boat. The whole trip took one battery and if we did a sunset tour the same day I would have required the second.
Bring a Pair of Binoculars
If you are going with friends or family then I suggest bringing them a pair of binoculars! I wish I had brought a pair of binoculars for my husband because the whales are pretty far away.
I don’t think you need to buy something very expensive (I know binoculars can get pretty expensive) but something would be nice to have for the people joining you.
Using the MC-20 Converter
This whale watching tour was the first opportunity I had a good chance to use the converter. I had taken it out before briefly to photograph the Eagles back at home but not to this extent.
I was a little nervous about auto-focus, my settings, the range of the M.Zuiko 40-150 and the MC-20 Converter and if it was going to be enough.
It was perfect for me. Auto-focus was great, after some adjusting I settled on the approximate settings of F5.6, ISO 500-600 and a shutter speed around 1/1000.
As for range, I like having a lot of the environment, the landscape in my wildlife photos. Capturing more of a “is it a wildlife photo or a landscape photo”. However, if you want a lens that can photograph every scratch on an Orca’s body or every barnacle on the Humpback Whale then you might want to consider a different lens that will provide that reach.
For reference below are some photos that I took on the tour, keep in mind they are post-processed.
POSITIONING
Where to Stand on the Boat
I found the tricky part while photographing the whales was where to stand on the boat. After experimenting and moving around a while I finally found a spot that worked for me - the stairs/top of the stairs.
I’m a short person so standing on the front deck doesn’t work the greatest for me, even when I got a spot at the railing I still struggled because other people were leaning over trying to take a photo themselves. The shoulders of the front deck could work but if the whales go to the other side then you’re stuck.
The top of the stairs/on the stairs is perfect because you’re not in the way of other people (mostly), you have a clear vantage point of the whales at the front and both sides of the boat, and you have places for extra stabilization.
Stabilization
Stabilization is important because while you’re on the boat I don’t recommend using a tripod because it could get in the way or someone could trip over a leg but if you’re going handheld then you might need to find some extra stabilization on the boat. I found the best for me was bracing my back against a part of the boat, or bracing my legs on a seat or part of the boat (railing). This just adds a little extra stabilization than what you would experience with your two feet planted on a moving boat.
OTHER TIPS
When to Go Whale Watching
Before we booked our whale watching tour I googled when a good time to go whale watching was on Vancouver Island and the response I got was between May and October so since we were going in August I thought it was a fairly good chance of seeing some whales.
I also thought about the time that we were going. Most cases when I’m photographing wildlife I like to go out early but the tour operator only offered an afternoon or sunset tour. We opted to go for the afternoon tour for two reasons:
If we didn’t see any whales on our trip than we had a second opportunity to go the same day by going on the sunset tour
I was worried about the evening light and that it would get dark really fast so I opted for afternoon light instead (it ended up being perfect, because of the overcast, cloudy weather the lightening was really even and softer)
Learning About the Whales
Before the trip I took some time to learn about the whales. I watched a number of nature documentaries on Netflix and Disney+. I also read several articles about whales and photographing them.
The best thing we did that I wish we had done before our tour was visit the Victoria BC Museum that had a special Orca Exhibit. The Exhibit was so interesting and informative we learned so much about the Orca Pod in the area, facts about the Orca’s, impacts, etc.,
Finding the Right Company
I wanted to find the right company to go whale watching with, one that cared about the whales and promoted responsible whale watching. After some digging I found Prince of Whales that I really loved. Prince of Whales Catamaran Tour has 2-3 naturalists on board that give you facts about the whales that you are seeing, they adhere and go above and beyond whale watching guidelines, and they have a custom-built Catamaran specifically for whale watching that reduces their impact on the ocean (jet propulsion engine so sea life doesn’t get caught in it, catamaran style so less of the boat is in the water, etc.,)
I really enjoyed our whale watching tour. I hope I get other opportunities to photograph them. Being on the boat, listening to the naturalists talk about them, seeing them with my own two eyes, you feel close to them and I think that feeling trickles into other aspects of your life that we’ll get into in another episode.
Beautifully Wander | Robynne MacLeod