Watching and trying to photograph humpback whales from a cruise ship in Alaska will go down as one of the most thrilling and challenging wildlife photography experiences I’ve ever had. First, it’s like watching for a needle in a haystack. It is daunting to look out at a vast ocean and watch for whale spouts, hoping to track them. Just because you spot a spray doesn’t mean that’s where they will stay. They can move slowly or speed up to 17 mph in the water. Then, out of nowhere, a whale may breach, and you just have to be ready to get the camera on it, focus, and capture some images.

I missed several breaching humpbacks with my camera, not only because I wasn’t able to get focus fast enough, but also because I was caught spectating in amazement at times. Second, the fog, rain, ocean spray and mist, and cold make the shooting conditions difficult. When the whales were most active, the conditions weren’t always suitable for shooting.

Lastly, the cruise ship is moving at 20+ mph, and the whales are sometimes moving in the opposite direction. Once you spot one, sometimes they are so far away that the images are too distant to capture. I feel lucky to have, firstly, seen such an amazing sight as a 40-ton animal thrust itself into the air and, secondly, been able to get some photos of it from the cruise ship.