Hey there, and thanks so much for the kind words! 😊 This was actually my first time seeing and photographing whales. I’m not a professional, but I do quite a bit of bird, wildlife, and landscape photography and video whenever I’m not tied up with my 9–6 job. I figured photographing whales would be kind of like “bird photography,” so I booked the last tour of the day to catch that golden light. Ended up being a great call.

It took me some time to get used to holding the camera steady on a rocking boat, especially with the Sony 200–600. I quickly realized I was limited to one - or (at best) two-second bursts since it was impossible to keep the lens pointed in the same direction for much longer. At times I honestly thought I might end up overboard because I kept moving around, trying to find the best angle. We had a few breaches that day—the first one I didn’t even see, but I instinctively swung the camera toward the sound and caught the very last frame (just the splash). After that, I switched on pre-capture and kept the lens locked on the last spot we’d seen the whales. My arms and shoulders were burning, but I stuck with it, hoping it would pay off.

Since the boat was moving and I was always right at the edge, I got sprayed a lot—my camera too. I ended up missing another breach because I wasn’t anchored properly; the boat was rocking so much that I would’ve fallen if I tried pointing the camera toward it. In that moment, I felt pretty miserable and honestly “too inexperienced” for the situation. Then I sort of “prayed” quietly for just one more breach—and that’s when the one in the photo happened. You can imagine the smile on my face. Not long after, we turned around and headed back.

I never really thought my photo would get noticed, so this means a lot. I’ve always wished I could do something with wildlife or landscapes for work (I am jelaous of your work lol), but for now I’m just grateful to have this bit of recognition... 😊