Capturing the Moment

Breaching humpback whale, ( Megaptera novaeangliae ) in front of Ma'alaea Harbor, Maui, HI  Photography can be a job for some and a way to make memories for others. While it is partly both for me the true draw of it is the challenge. Getting the lighting, focus, and other settings right is a challenge that can always be bettered. Going underwater unleashes all new challenges for a photographer with less light and suspended particles to deal with. But a nature photographer takes all of this to the next level of difficulty. When your subject is a scared fish, or stalking lion, or a lightning fast humming bird all of the other challenges of photography have to be mastered before you can really come home with some good pictures. But even with a great mastery of the basics, getting to know the animal you are photographing is essential if you want to be ready to capture that apex moment.  Whales are one of my favorite animals to photograph. They are very difficult to capture si...

This is something I get to share with people every day during the winter out here in Maui. Well, this exact thing of a whale breaching out of the water is a bit rarer site than that, but getting to see humpback whales is an every day sighting. This is a baby humpback, probably only a few weeks old, launching itself out of the water only 80 or so yards in front of our boat. By the time I snapped this picture the guests on board were locked and focused on this whale as you can tell. Pretty easy to wake up excited in the morning...

 Sometimes being lucky and being prepared seem to go hand in hand. As Heidi and I were out enjoying a beautiful Maui winter morning on our two person kayak we saw a young whale, not too far off, playfully waving its white pectoral fins in the air. As we sat there entranced by the playful newborn we noticed it was slowly getting closer. As it did I slowly lowered my waterproof camera into the water, pointing it towards the baby. As the baby neared our kayak I was amazed just how big these calves are. They truly are every bit as big as a small car. That is when a much, much larger dark shaped emerged below us. This calf's ever protective mom had been hiding nearby the entire time. But with the calf so close to the kayak she figured now was the proper time to swoop in and take the calf off to safety. Heidi and I were both shocked to see the mom turn right towards our kayak and swim 10ft underneath us with baby in tow. Just as quickly as we came upon these whales they were gone, leavin...