Photography Tips for Alaskan Humpback Whales

The wildlife present throughout Alaska is unmatched in its beauty, both on land and sea. Your primary goal for a wildlife tour in Alaska might involve a number of different animals or even physical location, and one of the top creatures people come here to see is the gorgeous, regal humpback whale.

At Pybus Point Lodge, our wildlife tours include a huge range of different viewing options, from locations like waterfalls, icebergs and glaciers to numerous animals such as bears, orcas, seals, sea lions and yes, humpback whales. Many people remember their calming, peaceful encounters with humpback whales for the rest of their lives, and one ideal method for ensuring this is by taking some great photographs when they're in view. Here are some general tips we can offer to photographers, both amateur and professional, for getting the perfect shot of a humpback whale or other whale species.

Importance of Patience

While we'll get into some more distinct specifics in a bit, the first theme we wanted to go over here is a broad one: Patience. All whales, including humpbacks, are independent creatures who can be elusive in some cases, and they can move in a variety of speeds at times as well.

If you capture a picture that's not exactly what you were hoping for, don't give up on it, especially if the whale is visible mostly from one side and has its head turned to another angle. Humpback whales are incredibly social creatures, so there's always the chance they'll return to the exact same spot, or even move in a way that causes them to be photographed from a different angle.

One important resource here will be your tour guide, who will have extensive knowledge on whale behavior and locations. If you can, get a couple photos of the whale as it's initially swimming past, then ask your guide about where he or she thinks it may reappear.

Know Humpback Whale Behavior

A big part of whaling photography involves understanding the general behavior of the whale species in question. For instance, humpback whales are known to dive deep down into the ocean as they build up power and speed to launch themselves out of the water -- if you're looking for one of these stunning photographs, you should be aware of this behavior. They will generally spend an average of about seven consecutive minutes underwater before launching.

Another behavior to note is that humpbacks are typically found in pods of a few or more individuals. Unless you can verify a location where there's only one humpback whale, your best bet for getting great photographs will be with more than one of them showing up at once.

Proper Camera Settings

Like with any other form of specialized photography, capturing humpback whales involves a need for utilization of the right camera settings. Because humpback whales primarily spend their time underwater, you'll want to set your camera's shutter speed to around 1/1000th of a second. Unless the light source is incredibly powerful, you should also be able to keep your ISO level relatively low -- between 200 and 400 should work well enough.

If you're interested in photographing the whale as it's launching out of the water, you'll want to be sure your camera is set with a fast shutter speed as well. Most cameras at this point should be able to snap pictures at about 1/1000th or faster even when inside a waterproof casing, but if not, try setting the underwater timer on your remote so that you have time to switch between shooting modes.

Zoom Factors

Should you or should you not use zoom features when attempting to photograph humpback whales? The general answer here is no, at least when utilizing digital zoom -- this is the type found on smartphones and other lower-quality cameras, and magnifies using a sensor, causing losses in quality the further in you zoom.

However, if you're utilizing high-quality camera equipment with optical zoom, this might not be the case. Optical zoom uses the actual lens of a camera to magnify the image in question without losing any quality, and it can sometimes be used for quality humpback whale photos.

If your camera only has digital zoom, we recommend waiting to take photographs until you're close enough to do so without any zoom. This will prevent image grain and related issues from diminishing the quality of your final product.

For more on how to properly capture humpback whales with photography, or to learn about any of our wildlife tours, fishing trips, all-inclusive vacations or other packages, speak to the staff at Pybus Point Lodge today.