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Whale watching in Maui

Started Feb 6, 2016 | Discussions
User1144180506 New Member • Posts: 2
Whale watching in Maui
7

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.

Samsung 16-50mm F2.0-2.8 Samsung NX1
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Kinger
Kinger Contributing Member • Posts: 549
Re: Whale watching in Maui

Fantastic! Headed to Oahu in a few weeks. Hoping there are still some whales there. I think we will be hitting the end of the season.

 Kinger's gear list:Kinger's gear list
Canon EOS M5 Canon EOS M200 Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS STM Canon EF-S 10-18mm F4.5–5.6 IS STM +3 more
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.

Raw Jaw
Raw Jaw Senior Member • Posts: 2,662
Re: Whale watching in Maui

User1144180506 wrote:

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.

Great First Post!! Welcome.

Great shots.

I guess many others may be too jealous to post a comment 

How was the ride. We did this a few years ago and it was extremely rough on the water with only one spout visible far off.

I would crop your pics for a better first view.

nevada5
nevada5 Forum Pro • Posts: 15,560
Re: Whale watching in Maui

Excellent!

-- hide signature --

Life is short - drive a convertible.
Hey, it ain't rocket surgery.

J0E
J0E Junior Member • Posts: 42
Re: Whale watching in Maui

Enjoyed seeing these... Nice!

 J0E's gear list:J0E's gear list
Samsung NX500 Samsung NX 30mm F2 Pancake Samsung NX 16mm F2.4 Pancake Samsung NX 45mm F1.8 Samsung NX 10mm F3.5 Fisheye
OP User1144180506 New Member • Posts: 2
Re: Whale watching in Maui

Thanks for the kind comments, all.

The water was as calm as can be. Like glass. Sky was clear. Basically, perfect Hawaii weather. I saw four adult humpbacks breach, as well as one juvenile who was having a great time... he must've done a dozen mini breaches in about five minutes!

I will crop the pictures to get a closer view of the animals, but for the purposes of the forum, I just straightened the horizon and reduced size and quality for web posting. The full raw shots are super clear, much better than what you see embedded in the forum.

Again, thanks for looking! Enjoy your cameras, the NX1 really is amazing!

MadCypher
MadCypher Forum Member • Posts: 89
Re: Whale watching in Maui

Spectacular shots!

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Canon EOS Rebel T4i Canon EF-S 18-135mm F3.5-5.6 IS STM
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