Photographing whales from a moving deck
Whales give you a few seconds at a time, usually at a distance, from a deck that rocks and is often wet. A good whale picture comes mostly from timing and knowing where to look, and a phone manages more than people expect. A longer lens still helps, because boats keep their distance by law.
What a humpback gives you to photograph
Most sightings of a humpback whale follow a pattern. First comes the blow, a puff of mist that hangs over the water and shows up well before the animal does. Then a dark back rolls through the surface a few times while the whale breathes. Before a deep dive it arches its back high and lifts its tail, the fluke, then stays down for several minutes. Breaches and pectoral fin slaps happen too, but nobody can plan for them, and no tour can promise you any of it. Humpbacks, orcas and the rest covers what else turns up in these channels.
Distance shapes every picture. The 100-yard limit applies to every boat in Alaska, so no captain will motor up to a whale for your shot. Whales sometimes swim toward a boat on their own, and those are the moments when a phone fills the frame. The rest of the time, expect a whale that looks small unless you zoom.
Shooting with a phone
- Use burst mode. Hold the shutter as the tail rises and pick the best frame later. A single tap usually fires a moment too late;
- Zoom 2x or 3x, not more. Past the phone's optical lens, digital zoom smears detail, and a sharp small whale crops better than a blurry big one;
- Record video and pull frames. A clip of a full dive gives you dozens of stills to choose from, and you keep the sound of the blow as well;
- Keep the horizon level. A tilted sea is the first thing viewers notice. Switch on the grid lines in your camera app.
Lean against the rail or a post instead of holding the phone out at arm's length, and tuck your elbows against your chest. The boat moves even on a calm day, and a braced body steadies the picture more than any setting.
Camera settings for a long lens
If you travel with an interchangeable-lens camera, a 100–400 mm zoom or something close covers most situations from a whale boat. It is wide enough for a fluke with mountains behind it and long enough for a back far off across the channel. A bridge camera with a long zoom does the job too.
- A shutter speed of 1/1000 s or faster, to freeze falling water and the movement of the deck. Raise the ISO to get there on a grey day, since grain is easier to live with than blur;
- Continuous autofocus with a wide or zone area, because a single focus point slips off a dark back on dark water;
- Burst mode at the fastest rate your camera handles;
- A circular polarizer on bright days, which takes the glare off the water and deepens the color of the sea.
Leave the tripod behind. There is no room for one at a busy rail, and the boat's motion makes it pointless.
Reading the whale before the tail comes up
The fluke shot everyone wants rarely surprises the people who watch closely. After a run of short breaths, the whale arches its back higher than before. The tail follows a second or two later. Start shooting at the arch, not when you first see the tail.
Shoot the blow too. It tells you where the whale is, and on a cold, still morning the hanging mist makes a picture of its own. Watch the naturalist as much as the water, since crews spot blows early and point before most guests have seen anything. When a whale surfaces on the far side, resist the stampede across the deck. Check the bow and the stern instead, where there is often space while everyone crowds the middle of the rail.
Rain and a wet lens
Rain is the usual state of a Juneau day, so protect the gear. A rain cover, or a plastic bag with a hole cut for the lens, keeps a camera body dry, and a lens hood keeps drops off the front glass. Carry a microfiber cloth in a dry pocket and wipe the lens or phone before each sighting, because one drop can soften the whole frame. Between sightings, put the camera inside your jacket or in a dry bag.
Moving from a heated cabin to the cold deck can fog a lens. If you can, stay outside with the camera rather than going in and out, or give the glass a minute to clear before the next whale. Dressing for rain on the water covers the clothing side of a wet trip.
Which tours suit photographers
Any of the six boats can produce a good picture, but some give you more chances.
- Juneau Whale Tours (JWT), from ~$209, takes 20 guests at most on a 40-ft catamaran with a walk-around deck, and reviewers say nobody has to fight for the rail. You get 2.25 hours on the water. On the down side, JWT cancels departures with 5 or fewer guests, and you bring your own food;
- Harv & Marv's, from ~$159, spends 3 hours on the water on a double-decker boat, a stretch only the Lighthouse combo matches among the six. It cannot be refunded once booked on Viator;
- The Lighthouse combo, from ~$199, adds Sentinel Island and its lighthouse, a different subject from whales, with a view across Lynn Canal. Reviewers say the crew sent them a link to the trip's photos afterward. The landing is skipped when the water is rough, and the tour is non-refundable.
The bigger boats have more decks to spread across, and a reviewer of Alaska Tales' wildlife cruise (~$177) found plenty of room to move around for photos. For a glacier in the frame without a land stop, Juneau Tours & Whale Watch's 3-hour trip at ~$156 makes a 5-minute photo stop off Mendenhall Glacier from the water, though it depends on the weather and gratuities are not included. Small boat or big boat? weighs rail space against cabin comfort, while whales and the glacier in one go covers the land combos. What a whale tour costs lines up the fares.
Rail space for twenty
JWT's catamaran spends 2.25 hours on the water with a deck you can walk all the way around, from ~$209. Cancellation is free until 24 hours before, and if too few guests sign up the operator rebooks or refunds you.
Put the camera down for a while
People who spend a whole trip behind a viewfinder often come home with decent pictures and a hazy memory. Choose a few moments to watch with your own eyes, or through binoculars, which show texture on a back or a tail that a phone cannot. Naturalists tell individual humpbacks apart by the pattern on the underside of the fluke, so a clear tail photo has a use beyond your album. Show it to the crew and ask whether they know the whale; reviewers of Harv & Marv's and the Lighthouse tour say the crews name the regulars. On a short port day most of your photos will come from the boat, and whale watching on a port day helps you pick a departure with time to spare.