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Whale watching in Maui

Started Feb 6, 2016 | Discussions thread
Kisaha Senior Member • Posts: 2,300
Re: Whale watching in Maui

First post! I use a Samsung NX1 camera, I bought it just before news started hitting that Samsung may exit the market. Still, I hardly regret my decision. On the contrary, this camera lets me capture amazing shots! It's burst capability has proven superbly useful in numerous situations, not the least of which was while whale watching in Maui. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a huge female humpback start breaching. I had the NX1 in continuous autofocus in case of just such an event, and I had the 16-50s lens mounted. Someday (hopefully soon!) I'll have the 50-150s lens, but I kinda broke the bank with the camera, battery grip, 16-50s lens and a few more accessories.

In any case, I love this camera. There were several photographers on our boat, mostly shooting Canon with massive lenses attached. I had way more freedom to easily move around the boat to position myself for the best shot than any of them did, especially since they were bracing themselves with foot-long lenses attached! Plus, I don't think any of them could shoot 15 frames per second.

I got an entire sequence of shots of the breach. After comparing shots afterward, I was the only one to capture this, the closest breach of the trip. And, perfectly in focus. Thanks, NX1!

Whale breach.

Slight edits.

In the first shot, all I did was crop and do a minor Photoshop Smart Sharpen. Second shot has auto curves in Photoshop.

Hope you enjoy them. I have a whole series, from almost the beginning of the breach until well past the initial splash back into the ocean.

Congrats, whales are amazing animals!
While people are waiting for the next best crop-ed sensor camera, NXes are out there taking pictures and videos.

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