Blue Whale Aerial Photos
Blue whale aerial photos
This blue whale (Balaenoptera musculus) was photographed from the air as it surfaced off the coast of Redondo Beach (near Los Angeles, California) to exhale and take a new breath, before diving underwater to feed on krill.
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| Blue whale, exhaling as it surfaces from a dive, aerial photo. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth, exceeding 100′ in length and 200 tons in weight. Image ID: 25953 Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus Location: Redondo Beach, California, USA |
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| Blue whale swims at the surface of the ocean in this aerial photograph. The blue whale is the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth, exceeding 100′ in length and 200 tons in weight. Image ID: 25952 Species: Blue whale, Balaenoptera musculus Location: Redondo Beach, California, USA |
I recorded the GPS position (latitude, longitude) each time I took a photo of a blue whale. Curiously, the blue whales remained in a small area directly over the submarine canyon that lies offshore of Redondo Beach, as seen in the below screen shot from Google Earth. My hunch is that the krill upon which the blue whales were presumably feeding was gathered in, or near, the canyon. You can click the image below to bring up the Google Earth display, showing the images superimposed where they were photographed above the Redondo Beach submarine canyon.
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To see more blue whale aerial photos, or stock photos of Balaenoptera musculus, click on the links or use the search box at upper left.
Keywords: blue whale, aerial photo, Balaenoptera musculus
Annette Patterson in the Sea of Cortez
Annette Patterson was with Skip in the Sea of Cortez recently and she shot a super group of images. Just more great photography to make me jealous I was not on the trip! Click to see more…
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Skip Stubbs in the Sea of Cortez (2010)
Once again my friend Skip Stubbs has been diving in the Sea of Cortez with his pals. It seems like that’s all he does! This time he was shooting underwater panoramas (in addition to his usual video) Yes, the same multiple-image stitched panoramas that all of us are shooting these days, only he made his underwater. Click to see more!
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Click the image above to see some of the stills that Skip captured in the Sea of Cortez this year! You can also see a sampling of Skip’s past trips.
North Lake, Dusk to Dawn
I suppose photos of North Lake shoreline in fall are cliche, in part because of the internet and the fact that so many photographers now visit this small area to photograph eastern Sierra fall colors during a few weeks each October. I still have yet to be there when a really good sunrise light show goes off. That said, it is a beautiful spot and I always enjoy at least one sunrise strolling the shoreline of North Lake each time I visit Bishop in the autumn. As I was editing my recent set of photos from Bishop Creek Canyon I found that I had, without intending to, garnered a series of nice images that capture views of North Lake across to Paiute Peak at different times of day. Not all of these are keepers, but they make an interesting set. I think I will keep #1, #2 and #5. These were taken in about a 12-hour span earlier this month when I was up there with Garry McCarthy.
 Sunset, alas no clouds. |
 Star Trails and Faint Pre-sunrise Alpenglow, Still Some Time until Dawn. We discussed trying to make this picture over beers and dinner the night before, but it sounded like it would be pretty damn cold and boring standing around in the dark while our cameras made hour-long exposures. Nevertheless, we decided to take a stab at it. This was composed in pitch black night, stumbling around with frozen fingers and wishing we had some hot coffee. I had no idea what it would look like but was hoping it would something like this. That’s not sunlight on Paiute Crag but alpenglow, which is light that reaches us before sunrise by refraction through the atmosphere. Alpenglow has a very warm, soft character. Photographer Galen Rowell is the one I think of when it comes to alpenglow images. |
 A Few Minutes After Sunrise. |
 20-30 Minutes After Sunrise |
 Morning, Frost on the grass. I found a pair of sunglasses right here. |
Bishop Creek Canyon Fall Colors
Photos of Eastern Sierra Fall Colors and Aspen Trees in Bishop Creek Canyon
Like moths to the flame, Garry and I made a banzai run* up to Bishop Creek Canyon to get some fresh air and check out the fall colors last weekend. The quaking aspen trees (Populus tremuloides) had been turning for about a week or so. We knew we missed the great conditions earlier in the week and indeed the photographic conditions were just so-so, with beautiful near-summerlike weather and nary a cloud in the sky. Most aspen trees at the higher elevations had good color but many were half stripped of leaves due to the recent storm. Lower elevations still have a ways to go, with much green still at Aspendel and the intake ponds. June Lake and Convict Lake are still early, peaking in perhaps a week or two I would guess. As for crowds, they were not too bad: we encountered just one photo group workshop and we only had to kung-fu a few pesky medium format photographers along the shore of North Lake each morning (note: for this I recommend the Gitzo limited edition “Crowd Special” that quickly transforms into bo and nunchaku). OK, that last part is a lie. Here are a few images in chrono order. Life is good!
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| Sage brush and aspen trees, autumn, in the shade of Bishop Creek Canyon in the Sierra Nevada. Image ID: 26060 Species: Aspen, Populus tremuloides Location: Bishop Creek Canyon Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA |
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| Sierra Nevada mountains and aspen trees, fall colors reflected in the still waters of North Lake. Image ID: 26061 Species: Aspen, Populus tremuloides Location: Bishop Creek Canyon Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA |
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| Sierra Nevada mountains and aspen trees, fall colors reflected in the still waters of North Lake. Image ID: 26062 Species: Aspen, Populus tremuloides Location: Bishop Creek Canyon Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA |
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| Fall colors and turning aspens, eastern Sierra Nevada. Image ID: 26065 Species: Aspen, Populus tremuloides Location: Bishop Creek Canyon Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA |
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| Bishop Creek and aspen trees in autumn, in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains. Image ID: 26074 Species: Aspen, Populus tremuloides Location: Bishop Creek Canyon Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA |
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| Aspen trees, with leaves changing from green to yellow in autumn, branches stretching skyward, a forest. Image ID: 26073 Species: Aspen, Populus tremuloides Location: Bishop Creek Canyon Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA |
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| Bishop creek and turning aspens, south fork of Bishop Creek in the eastern Sierra Nevada. Image ID: 26071 Species: Aspen, Populus tremuloides Location: Bishop Creek Canyon Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA |
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| Aspen trees, fall colors, reflected in the still waters of North Lake. Image ID: 26077 Species: Aspen, Populus tremuloides Location: Bishop Creek Canyon Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA |
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| Aspen trees in autumn, fall colors, eastern Sierra Nevada. Image ID: 26083 Species: Aspen, Populus tremuloides Location: Bishop Creek Canyon Sierra Nevada Mountains, California, USA |
*banzai photographer (n): (1) a photographer with a working spouse and multiple kids each of whom has lots of activities that require driving all over the place during the week, help with homework in the evenings, and then driving all over the place on the weekends; (2) a photographer who crams five days of photography into a single weekend; (3) a photographer with a banzai attitude about life; (4) a photographer who photographs banzai trees.
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Updated: June 20, 2013
