Approaching giant! Photo

Photographer’s Note

Without doubt not one of my best shots, but as this moment was one of the highlights of our journey through Patagonia and it therefore MUST be included in my travelogue, I decided to post it anyway.

From Ushuaia we went up North again, back to Buenos Aires. But before our return in Buenos Aires we took two more days to visit Puerto Madryn that is located approximately halfway. Puerto Madryn is a nice town that is located near two important wildlife areas: Peninsula Valdes and Punta Tombo. Punta Tombo hosts a very large penguin colony and I probably will upload a picture of that place later. Peninsula Valdes is an area that is connected with the mainland by a strip of land of just a few kilometers wide. To the North and South of the strip are two gulfs: Golfo San José and Golfo Nuevo. Both gulfs are visited frequently by whales, and it is possible to go whale-watching in the Golfo Nuevo. Whale-watching tours start from the little village of Puerto Piramides.

When you go whale-watching, there is always a chance that you won’t see any whales as they are wild animals and can swim wherever they want. Fortunately we were able to see two whales (species: Southern Right Whale, or Eubaleana Australis): a mother and her baby. It was a very special experience to be very close to these giant and friendly animals. They are not afraid of humans and there’s no reason for us to be afraid of them either. It’s very difficult to take good pictures of them, most of the time you only see a small part of the back at the water surface, which does not look nice on a photo at all. The best moments to take pictures are when they are diving and they show their tail at the surface. And if you are really really really lucky they jump out of the water... I have a few tail pictures, but I’ve seen better on TE. So I decided to post this picture to show you how close you can get to these magnificent animals.

Tech: Slide scanned with Minolta Dimage Scan Dual III film/slide-scanner. Practically no cropping or colour adjustments, just a bit of sharpening.

maxlecointe, Galeota, Fixfocus, rhizomes, Tue, weswang, bibiweb, Rinie_Hoff, Ladycroquette1 has marked this note useful

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maxlecointe (240) 2005-08-05 8:49

Nice picture. I especialy like the compasition and the way it suggest - to me - that even the boat is full of people, they would be powerles against the whale :)

Galeota (10334) 2005-08-05 9:03

This is odd and simoultaneously extremely funny. I do like your point of view and the way you've place your mermaid (it is a mermaid isn't it??) on a diagonal. I'm a classic guy. Which means I would have liked to see Ulysses on the boat, tied to the mast, deaf to the ethereal songs of the sirens. But, ok..this is definitely more funny. great shot!

Fixfocus (9377) 2005-08-05 9:16

Hi Michael,
Good documentation shot of this great animals.
Well composed with the whale in front of the boat,-it gives a good scale of the size from the whale.
greetings,
hermann

agerrard (338) 2005-08-05 9:40 [Comment]

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rhizomes (15325) 2005-08-05 11:33

Belle photo montrant le tourisme "nature" à la rencontre de cette baleine fort placide...
Intéressant de voir aussi le nombre de personnes embarquées à bord du bateau...et d'imaginer que le photographe se trouve sur un bateau semblable et qu'il y en a peut-être même un troisième qu'on ne voit pas.
Mais ça n'a pas l'air de déranger cette brave bête...
Christophe

erdna (5348) 2005-08-05 11:56

I am glad you posted it Michael! Ihave not seen one this close and with the boat and people beside it, the size of this mammal is emphasized! TFS.

Andre'

manny (21378) 2005-08-05 14:19

GREAT momnet. Like the subtle colors and your POV. The whale...great. And the people taking pictures....hahahaha...i can see myself.

Tue (25608) 2005-08-05 16:29

Hi Michael,
Mooie foto met het topje van dit enorme beest. Die volgepakte boot met alle mensen en hun felle hesjes! Erg mooi werk.
Prettig weekend, groeten,
Lars

randompics (913) 2005-08-05 21:08

I wouldn't be in that boat. It seem so over crowded, and with that whale so close I wouldn't dare to go in that boat. It is a nice composition.

Filko (1122) 2005-08-06 12:44

very cute...so many people on the boat...

weswang (18223) 2005-08-06 13:12

Hi Michael, I like the composition of this photo. While everyone was focusing on the whale, you have taken the picture of the whale as well as the tourists in the boat. I could imagine the scene while you were taking this picture. An excellent catch!

bibiweb (8) 2005-08-06 14:21

Hi Michael,
Great shot! I really had a good laugh because the boat is so crammed with tourists, all wearing the same red lifejacket... it really looks funny. And the boat seems so small and fragile compared to the whale that is approaching it that you can just imagine what could happen if the animal just decided to give a little "nudge"...
Regards, Brigitte

Rinie_Hoff (9332) 2005-08-07 5:36

Hi Michael, quite impressive. I like the idea that the whales don't mind. I have once been on Bali in a small boat looking for dolphins, but I got the impression that we chased them, because they were swimming away from us all the time. I did NOT feel comfortable with that, not at all.
Lovely catch, a boat that full, and I guess there were more boats, besides this one, and the one you were on. Must have been very impressive. very colourful, nice composition

EliLove (4) 2006-02-03 23:32

I've been to Punta Valdez and it was an awesome experience! Love the picture!

Ladycroquette1 (112) 2006-08-24 16:15

Really nice picture... Whales are like Icebergs! we never know what is under water!