Humpbacks head south past this coast September to November. Look for the blow first; the breach, if it comes, follows.
100-400 · 200–400mmNo filterHood on
- Mode
- Tv
- Aperture
- camera decides
- Shutter
- 1/1000
- ISO
- Auto (max 6400)
- Drive
- High-speed continuous
- Focus
- Servo · Flexible Zone · Subject: None (the camera won't recognise a whale as an animal)
Do this
- Scan the horizon for a puff of white — the blow. That's the tell. Then keep the lens on that spot.
- Q menu → Subject to detect → None, and AF area → Flexible Zone. You're telling the camera 'focus in this box' rather than 'find an animal'.
- Frame at 200–300mm, not 400 — a breach happens beside where the blow was, and you'll miss it at full zoom.
- Hold a burst from the moment anything breaks the surface. Breaches last two seconds.
- Between sightings, rest your arms. Holding a 100-400 at eye level for twenty minutes ruins the shot you eventually get.
If it goes wrong
- Whale is a tiny dot
- That's often the truth of it. Keep the shot, crop it later, and enjoy the whale.
- Missed the breach entirely
- Everyone does. Wider framing and a burst from the first splash. There will be another.