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When I first started whale watching on a weekly basis, someone said, “Next, you’ll be getting a fancy camera and getting into the photography end of this!”
“Nah,” I replied. “I just want to enjoy the moment.” Besides, who would drop money on a camera when I had my fancy iPhone that took what I thought were great photos?
Well, fast forward through two years of whale watching and becoming a naturalist. One day, we came upon two fin whales and a humpback whale. I took photo after photo on my fancy iPhone, delighting in what I thought were good and, sometimes, even artsy photos.
Since there were no other naturalists or photographers on the boat, I was asked to email my fin whale photos to a researcher. Cool! After she received my photos, she asked if I noticed a swelling on the left side of one of the fin whales. I hadn’t noticed anything abnormal when I was in the moment, so I zoomed in on my photo to see if I could see what she was talking about. My zoomed-in photo was as blurry as most Bigfoot photos. It was useless.
My heart sank as I realized that I’d had my moment to help a researcher and make a difference, and I’d failed. If this opportunity came around again, I had to be prepared, and there was only one way to do that, and so off I pranced to the nearest used camera shop.
As I shopped for a camera, the salesman overwhelmed me with questions about ISO and shutter speed and pixels. I had no idea what he was talking about, so I called a knowledgeable friend to get some guidance. In the end, my friend told me what to get, and I blindly obeyed. The salesman was a photography instructor, so he set up my camera settings for whales and dolphins and then asked me if I would model for one of his photo-shoots. Not only did I get a new camera that day, but I got a little self-esteem boost as well!
My first day on the water, we saw humpbacks and dolphins. I quickly learned that dolphins are the hardest to capture because they are so fast. By the time they’re jumping and you push the camera button reactively, they’re halfway into the water again, and I’ve got a dolphin butt shot. Not what people really what to see. I call it dolphin porn, and I’ve got enough dolphin bun shots to open my own dolphin porn shop or publish Playboy Dolphin. Capturing their face and whole body in the air is the tricky part. Capturing a baby makes for a money shot!
Soon, I was sending my fin whale photos to the researcher, who sometimes responded with questions that I was now able to answer. I’ve uploaded a few humpback fluke photos to Happywhale.com and have received a reply that’s let me know where my whale has been and, hopefully, I’ll hear where it is from now on when someone else uploads a photo.
FYI, a humpback whale’s fluke, or tail, is as unique as a human’s fingerprint and is used to identify and track the whale. Many of the whales have names like Twitch, Flicka, Snowflake, and Chief; and I’ve come to recognize a few on my own by zooming in on my photos.
It wasn’t long before I started to add new subjects to my repertoire. Sunsets came next, and then random puppy photos followed by birds, deer, sea otters, and landscapes. Even the moon became a subject early on as the zoom lens clearly showed me its craters and rough terrain.
Interestingly, the whale photos aren’t the photos, so far anyway, that I’ve chosen to frame. The photos that are my favorites and that I’ve chosen to frame are the simple photos. Two sailboats on a hazy sea; a gull on a post looking at two hazy, large rocks on the northern California shoreline; an orange sunset where a piece of plant snuck into the photo in the foreground; a laughing sea otter; and a sunset photo that a gull photo-bombed.
I’ve started to notice there is more to a photo than its subject. Reflections and shadows have become my favorite things to look for in a photo, and those are things you don’t always notice at a quick glance. There is so much more to lighting than I’d ever imagined, and the golden-hour glow has become one of my favorite things to capture.
I’ll attach a few photos to the bottom of the blog and also post a few on my Facebook author page for your enjoyment. If you want to see my entire collection of “framers,” you can visit my site at Kristie-dickinson.pixels.com. This site will let you choose one of my photos and print it on a canvas, pillow, shower curtain, blanket, shirt, mug…you name it. Maybe, someday, I’ll be walking down the street and see someone with one of my pics on their shirt!
Whale watching is something I’ve always enjoyed. Becoming a naturalist and having knowledge about what I was looking at took whale watching to the next level. Adding photography to the mix has made whale watching even more fun – something I didn’t think was possible a couple of years ago.
As we learn things, we grow and change. I now see things from a different perspective. Tiny parts of something large now seem more interesting than the whole. Sometimes, a reflection resembling a watercolor painting draws me in, a honeybee’s shadow on a flower petal, or maybe it’s just the deep oranges found in a California sunset that take my breath away.
Now, I already want a better camera – one with more pixels and a stronger lens for zooming in even more. Good cameras are crazy expensive, so I’ll put that on the back burner and maybe look into a doubler in the meantime. All the better to get a good whale identification or moon photo!
May you all expand your knowledge, try new things, and maybe see the potential in a different perspective.
Did you know that “Summerset,” Book 4 in the Harbor Secret Series, is now available in e-book format as well as hard copy? Woot!
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