Tips For Photographing
Oregon Coast
Animals
All along the Oregon coast there are cool animals, mostly birds and sea lions to photograph. Here are some tips for photographing Oregon coast animals.
Sea Lions
First things first. They are cute, they're obnoxious, they have adorable babies, they look sweet sleeping.....you can get really close sometimes...THEY BITE. (See those teeth?)
They can be SUPER AGRESSIVE. Use your long lens and stay back. Some of the bulls can weigh 2400lbs. Yeah, as much as a car that wants your food or thinks you're going to steal it's baby for a coat!
Sea lions look nice bathed in evening light (I never saw them in morning light)
Their coats shine gold.
This shot was taken right before sunset.
Gulls and Other Birds
They are cute, they're obnoxious, they have adorable babies, they look sweet sleeping.....you can get really close sometimes...THEY BITE. (sound familiar?)
DO NOT FEED THEM to get them in closer.
They don't weigh as much as a car but they can (and will) fly in your face and remove food from your hand. Anyone who's ever been to Sea World or the San Francisco Zoo can vouch for me. They are MUCH bigger when in your face.
AND IF YOU FEED THEM...They will come back with EVERY gull on the west coast and they will all want food. You saw Finding Nemo...right?
These birds were harassing the poor guy clamming. Biting his legs and stealing from his buckets. (I wish I had a camera then that did video.
Of course more tips for photographing Oregon coast animals.....As usual, the later low light can give you really dramatic images.
Movement caught in action requires a higher ISO but is worth the effort ISO 800, F10, 1/500.
Whales
Take a whale watching cruise, stay in the boat. Bring a lens shade to avoid spray. If you don't have one, they are easy to make from a one liter water bottle :)
Take a morning or late afternoon boat if you can so you don't have direct sun on water. If it's a cloudy day..Whoo hoo!
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