2. Animals

Phenomenal day in the Monterey Bay

I finally figured out how to use the video on my D4. I am not a videographer. And I was hand holding my Nikon 200-400mm/F4 and taking video on a rocking boat which made it hard to do.
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Here is Humpy the flying whale as he tries to flap his flippers.
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Here is Humpy the flying whale as he tries to flap his flippers.

  • Fin slapping by the Humpback
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  • spy hopping
  • Using the boat as a point of reference.<br /> I have used Sanctuary cruises out of Moss Landing. I use them as second choice for whale watching.
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  • another photo bomb by those pesky sea lions! Do you see the whale's eye?
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  • just sticking his head out
  • Here is the story behind this shot: There were three major factors involved: Luck, reaction and the D4.<br /> This whale did one single breach. I was hand holding my 200-400mm/F4 and just by pure luck, I was pointing my lens at the exact spot where the whale breached. And by pure chance, I used the right focal length(250mm).<br /> When I saw the whale, I was shocked. Living by my motto on my business card, "Shoot first, ask questions later," I pressed the shutter button.<br /> My D4 out did it self with the auto-focus performance. The whole thing happened in less than one second since my D4 was setup at 11 fps and I got seven shots.<br /> It happened so fast, I was convinced I missed the whole thing. A lady who was standing next to me, asked did you get it? I said, "No." I had my head down thinking I missed another breaching shot- a shot I have been after for twenty years. About thirty minutes later, I had some down time so I looked my images- I was so happy.<br /> The photo gods were watching over me- I still cannot believe I got these shots.
  • Here is Humpy the flying whale as he tries to flap his flippers.
  • remember: I was hand holding a 200-400mm/F4 with a D4 ( 9 lbs).<br /> it is a terrible video but you get to see fin slapping.
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