David Watson Photography.com

In the winter months here in Prince Rupert I find it hard to photography wildlife, sure I could photograph the 300 or 400 deer that wonder the city, but houses and cars take away from the photo.. so the last few years my camera’s gathers dust, my fingers get restless and start to twitch out like a junky needing a fix.
So this year I have decided to try some new things, branch out if you will. With the help of my friend Chad Graham who’s wisdom and guideness has helped in my new endeavor.

Night photography, I alsways enjoyed looking at other photographers work seeing the night sky brought to life in a photograph. Why had I not tried this sooner, I have no idea. For the last 2 nights I have gone out and did some photography. I have to admit I was not ready for the cold I felt on my fingers and face, yes I was underdressed, a mistake I would not make again after the first night. what seemed to be a eternity, was only a few hours. I set my exposure to 30 sec, F stop down to 3.5 iso 200 and started my adventure in night time photography. Some of my moon shots were fest shutter speeds.

What I learned.

1.first dress appropriately to the weather, if your going to be out side for long periods of time, you need to stay warm. other wise you may get frustrated and leave early.

2. Bring a thermos of hot chocolate, or any other hot beverage too keep you warm on the inside.

3. A tripod is a must, due not try and take a long exposure of the night sky with out one. unless you are trying to paint with lights.

4. Bring a small light with you, too see the buttons and other setting on your camera.

5. For long exposure times you will need a cable trigger.

6. Bring a friend along, it makes the time go faster plus you get to share the experience.

7. Get out of the city, the lights from the city will make seeing the night sky near impossible to see.

8. Be aware of your surroundings you don’t want to fall in to a hole, or trip over a rock, knocking down your camera and smashing your new lens.

9. Bring your camera manual, unless you now your camera inside out.

10. Have fun…..

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The Killer Whale (Orcinus Orcais) the largest member of the dolphin family and they tend to be found in groups called pods, a group of related families. Occasionally two or more pods join together temporarily and can consist of up to 100 whales.

There are three different populations of Orcas encountered along the West coast of North America. These three groups appear to be genetically different and do not interact socially–in fact, observed behaviors indicate that they normally avoid contact with each other.

Offshore, Resident and Transient, I have been lucky enough to photograph Resident and Transient Orca Killer Whales.

The resident population is comprised of groups of genetically related clans or extended family groups of Orcas. These clans have established territories and fairly predictable patterns of movement within those territories. They travel in pods and sub-pods, often groups of up to 20 whales or more with individuals scattered over a wide area.

Transients, on the other hand, have neither established territories nor predictable patterns of movement. They swim in small groups of two to five or six, usually in close physical proximity.

Researchers have recently had several encounters with the third known West Coast Orca population, currently labeled the “offshore”. These whales have been encountered primarily in the open ocean, and in large groups of 30 to 60.

One of the primary reasons residents, transients, and off shores exhibit different behaviors is that their diets are very different. Residents feed almost exclusively on fish, and exhibit a strong preference for salmon. At the moment it is believed that the off shores are exclusively fish eaters as well, but, given the relatively small number of encounters with the off shores, it can’t be said with certainty.

Transient whales feed primarily on marine mammals. Transients observed in waters of B.C. and Washington State have been seen preying on seals, sea lions, dolphins, porpoises, and other species of whales. Their diet, however, isn’t strictly limited to marine mammals. Transient killer whales have also been observed eating sea birds, and the stomach of a dead transient whale recovered up in Alaska contained the remains of a moose. Apparently the moose chose the wrong moment to swim from one Alaskan island to another–something that moose, deer and other land animals frequently do.

From the website whalesbc

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If you get the chance take a trip to Prince Rupert, BC. If you love wildlife you will not be disappointed, the last few days I have been out with adventure tours, we got to see killer whales, sea lions, humpback whales and Eagles. they give a top notch tour.

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I love flickr it has opened my eyes to different types of photography, One that im realy liking is HDR photography for those who dont know what HDR Photography is I will explain.

high dynamic range imaging (HDRI) is a set of techniques that allows a greater dynamic range of exposures (the range of values between light and dark areas) than normal digital imaging techniques. The intention of HDRI is to accurately represent the wide range of intensity levels found in real scenes ranging from direct sunlight to shadows.

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Sunsets in Prince Rupert must be one of the most beautiful things in nature too see.

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Prince Rupert, Bc has so much wildlife around, you never get tired of finding something to photograph. Today I photographed Eagles, Seals, and Sea Otters. here is a taste

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For the last 3 and half years, I have been tracking a local wolf pack on Kaien island, I have taken numerous pictures and video of these wild coastal wolves. its amazing to see and hear these magical but misunderstood creatures. I have had over 30 incounters with different pack members over the last 3 years. and this spring I will be spending a few days tacking them again. here are some photos of the local coastal wolves.

Here is a brief description of the wolves we have come across so far there is the Alpha male, old grey.

The alpha female red neck for her patch of red fur on the back of her neck.

Next is Poser, this wolf posed for us for 45 min, dark red coat.

And then there is Blondie for its light color coat.

For more wolf pictures check out my flickr account.More wolf pictures, click here

For more infprmation about the kaien island wolf pack and coastal wolves check out my other website.Kaien Island Wolves.com

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For the last 3 years Stacey and I have gone to Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary with Captain Doug Davies on the The Georgia Master. we have seen and photographed countless Grizzly bears. This year Stacey and I will be going up again.

For more Grizzly bear pictures check out my flickr account.More Grizzly pictures, click here

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This photo I took was simply amazing, well not the photo itself but the fact that 8 seals came so close to us. they were touching our hands right on the dock.

here are a few more pictures from that day.

Chad’s hand

Amber and Chad with Seals

and then there is me.

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Prince Rupert is a safe haven for the local Eagle population, and at the water front you can find at least 30 to 50 eagles on any given day. Some times they are in the tree’s or on the docks, or even on the beach like this fellow.

this is a mature eagle.

for more eagle pictures check out my flickr account.More eagle pictures, click here

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