Humpback Whale

Humpback whale in the Fredrick Sound, Southeast, Alaska.

I had an exciting trip to Southeast Alaska last week.  I rented a 22 foot aluminum boat with the hopes of photographing humpback whales in wonderful light.

The trip got off to a rough start – wind, waves, low clouds and fog – then hit the prop on a rock ($190 mistake).  My plan was to sleep at night on the folded down seats, but after that first day I couldn’t wait to get back to dry land and a hotel room!  After that things went far better thanks largely to an improvement in the weather.  I’ll probably never forget my first night anchored up in a remote cove listening to a pack of wolves howling on shore just 50 yards a way!  I never did see them despite the light from a nearly full moon, but evidently they are frequently seen in the area.

This was from my final morning when everything came together – whales, great light and a nearly full moon.  The hard part was getting all three in the same frame!  I found that the further away from the whales I was, the easier it was to include all three elements – if you are too close when the whale surfaces, then just 20 feet left or right prevents me from including the moon.  It was a thrill and a relief to have all the elements come together in one frame!