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Whale and Calf
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Whale and Calf

by Neale Dyster

Gallery: WildlifePosted August 23, 2011692 views4 comments
Recently visited the whale sanctuary at the head of the Great Australian Bight in South Australia. It's a major breeding ground for the Southern Right Whale. I haven't seen many (any?) of this species on this forum, so despite softness on the nose, thought I'd post it. Several other images from the trip HERE if anyone's interested.

D300, Nikkor 80-400 @ 400mm, 1/1000 @ f/6.3, handheld

Comments

4 comments
Comment posted by Joe James on August 23, 2011 at 10:25 PM
Nicely done Neale. It's tough getting a full whale in the frame, usually only a tail or blow hole so you did very well here to get the entire mother clearly. A bit of bad luck with the calf though as it gets lost in turbulence from the mother's wake. Don't know if you had a polarizer or not but they sure can help clean up some of the reflection and chop on the water's surface. Some of your other shots are really nice as well, I particularly like: 2, 9 and 16. :smile:
Registered on November 20, 2009, 89 Posts, 808 Comments
Comment posted by Dan Walters on August 24, 2011 at 10:09 PM
Very cool! Must have been quite the experience to see these whales.
Registered on October 30, 2005, 405 Posts, 3693 Comments
Comment posted by Vincent Grafhorst on August 24, 2011 at 11:14 PM
I echo Joe's remark about it being very difficult Neale to get a whale FF! At least from the surface that is. What helps a lot here is the azure blue water; it outlines the whales nicely, something which dark blue water would not have achieved. That color also makes the image attractive looking. All I wish for here is a bit more room bottom and left for it to 'swim into'. I must say that you have quite a few images on your website of this series that appeal a lot more to me. I hope you will decide to post another one sometime
Registered on February 24, 2006, 504 Posts, 7203 Comments
Comment posted by Anand Narayanan on August 25, 2011 at 2:55 AM
Nice to see these here ! I remember reading about them in story books as a kid :biggrin:

Enjoyed looking at the other images from the series as well.
Registered on October 25, 2009, 110 Posts, 835 Comments