Sick or not I went whale watching with a group of my photography friends. What an awesome experience, I have never seen anything so big and majestic.
Two members of our Flickr group live at Burrum Heads - about 20mins away from Hervey Bay, the home of the Humpback. Every year the humpback whales migrate from Antarctica to the warmth of the Great Barrier Reef for breeding. We saw a few mothers and babies on their way back south. It was amazing to watch Mum show baby how to call for help by slapping is tail on the water. Apparently whales have incredible hearing and eye sight. (Although I think it was totally possible the crew on the boat wanted to see us yell and wave at the whales to get them to come close. There was a lot of running from side to side on the boat with everyone jostling to get the best spot. With 7 photographers in our group with all wanted to get the best spot....the whales of course did what ever they like. Once when I was up front right a whale was no the left, but when I looked into the water I could see the tail and about 3 meters of body, he then turned around and showed me his head and the front of his body. I was so awe stuck I didn't even try for a photo. I had another one on one with a whale when I just wanted a break from all the pushing, I was on my own (totally as there were whales on the other side of the boat) when a male popped his head up right next to the boat where I was standing, I was so close I couldn't get him all in frame when I took the photos....when he had gone everyone was crowded around me again and I was shaking with excitement.
After a full day on the boat we had a few - lots of cheese and bicies before heading down to the beach at Burrum Heads for sunset shots over the water, not a lot of clouds but beautiful color in the sky, I had the wrong lens for a good 'landscape' photo, still happy with what I got.
After a dinner of leftover, we went in search of RQQZY's tawny frog mouths, walking along the beach paths making enough noise to scare even the bravest bird away, RaRa finally spotted movement in a tree and yeah it was a tawny...we lite the poor thing with a torch for 20 mins or so to get photos.
An early night was had by all, after a glass of red for me baileys and birthday chocolate of JA and her non photographer friend - *side note 4 of the eight of us are Virgo's*.
We were up early for a walk along the beach again stopping for coffee and a chat with RQQY's local friends at the seat of knowledge. I got a shot of a Whistling Kite, I think I was the only one with the focal length to get a clear shot. Back at RQQY's we got the bonus shots of the weekend, bee eaters, these are the most amazing colored birds, they catch bees bash the stinger out then eat the bee. A pair are nesting in the sand in the vacant lot next to R&B's.
I struggled to work yesterday, but only made it until midday before I had to leave or sleep in the office, I feel much better for staying home today. I will go into work tomorrow and Friday....then I have 4 weeks holiday. YAH
Two members of our Flickr group live at Burrum Heads - about 20mins away from Hervey Bay, the home of the Humpback. Every year the humpback whales migrate from Antarctica to the warmth of the Great Barrier Reef for breeding. We saw a few mothers and babies on their way back south. It was amazing to watch Mum show baby how to call for help by slapping is tail on the water. Apparently whales have incredible hearing and eye sight. (Although I think it was totally possible the crew on the boat wanted to see us yell and wave at the whales to get them to come close. There was a lot of running from side to side on the boat with everyone jostling to get the best spot. With 7 photographers in our group with all wanted to get the best spot....the whales of course did what ever they like. Once when I was up front right a whale was no the left, but when I looked into the water I could see the tail and about 3 meters of body, he then turned around and showed me his head and the front of his body. I was so awe stuck I didn't even try for a photo. I had another one on one with a whale when I just wanted a break from all the pushing, I was on my own (totally as there were whales on the other side of the boat) when a male popped his head up right next to the boat where I was standing, I was so close I couldn't get him all in frame when I took the photos....when he had gone everyone was crowded around me again and I was shaking with excitement.
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| Right close to me |
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| Mum teaching baby to tail slap |
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| Mum, Bub and an escort |
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| tail slap |
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| Baby trying to flip |
After a dinner of leftover, we went in search of RQQZY's tawny frog mouths, walking along the beach paths making enough noise to scare even the bravest bird away, RaRa finally spotted movement in a tree and yeah it was a tawny...we lite the poor thing with a torch for 20 mins or so to get photos.
An early night was had by all, after a glass of red for me baileys and birthday chocolate of JA and her non photographer friend - *side note 4 of the eight of us are Virgo's*.
We were up early for a walk along the beach again stopping for coffee and a chat with RQQY's local friends at the seat of knowledge. I got a shot of a Whistling Kite, I think I was the only one with the focal length to get a clear shot. Back at RQQY's we got the bonus shots of the weekend, bee eaters, these are the most amazing colored birds, they catch bees bash the stinger out then eat the bee. A pair are nesting in the sand in the vacant lot next to R&B's.
I struggled to work yesterday, but only made it until midday before I had to leave or sleep in the office, I feel much better for staying home today. I will go into work tomorrow and Friday....then I have 4 weeks holiday. YAH
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| Photo picked from RQQY's Blog....if she ever reads this I am sure she will forgive me. |
I forgive you :D
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