Whaleshark Madness - Isla Mujeres

A trip that certainly lives up to it's reputation. Just got back from a fantastic trip with Mauricio Handler.

Still working on images, but here are a few.

Very cool, Jeff.

Really like the last one. I do like those mouth open in your face shots. Still remain to be convinced that a whale shark makes an attractive silhouette (not a match for a manta or turtle).

Alex

Great shots Jeff, glad to here you had a great trip!

Mike

Perhaps a few more details on your trip Jeff? Which operator did you go with? How many days? Obviously you went past where the regular operators go to get the blue water, what time did you leave in the morning?

I went in June to Isla Mujeres and had a great time, but we were in green water the entire time.

Great photos...

thanks,

John

Wao Buddy ! Great shots !

2nd one is my favorite , really cool !

John , i think that probably you were at Holbox .

Thanks guys; I agree with you Alex, not the greatest shapes for a silhouette, but then from a shape perspective they're not the sleekest animals and my favorite angle is from behind. Like this one below.

Hey JA, how do you like #3 with Trevor pushing the envelope?

John we were in the same place as the rest of the boats, about 20m from Isla. Water was greener the first two days than the last two, though I think some of the blue is in my processing. Left at 7am the first 3 days, and at 6am the last, but they took longer to show up so there was nothing gained. Every day their behavior and aggregations were different.

Wao Buddy ! Great shots !

 

2nd one is my favorite , really cool !

 

John , i think that probably you were at Holbox .

Nope, I was at Isla Mujeres, I've been there many times. Approximately same place Jeff was. Holbox is quite a boat ride from Isla

Great shots Jeff!

There is no lack of impact in any of them!

Adam

Great stuff Jeff! I tried for the tail shot, but never got anything decent

Like you said, a trip that lives up to its reputation!

Phil

great stuff! love whale sharks

Wow, fantastic shots! Thanks for sharing.

great stuff! love whale sharks

Like Golden Retrievers, how can you not love them. I think what's intriguing with these guys, as huge as they are, is all the different angles one can shoot them from. Here are a few more, apologies for the post processing variations, but still trying to decide on the real wall hangers.

And a couple more

was there a seminar/workshop/presentation from Mauricio about shooting big animals?

was there a seminar/workshop/presentation from Mauricio about shooting big animals?

Nothing formal; just an informal editing session every afternoon. Mauricio has a unique approach to mood and lighting underwater, and very strong ideas on in camera capture, no cropping etc - with his Nat Geo background. I love his images, also enjoy to pull his chain, because I think almost every pic can be improved with a little cropping etc.

haha, i am same as him then.. crop with your fins

That last pic with the 2 remoras shows the size of these guys. what was an average length shark? The ones we have in Indo are only about 18ft (5-6m) sort of teenagers i suppose

Quite varied in size; junior here in some of these pics was probably 15-17 feet, otherwise adult females mostly 25-35 feet. Only saw one male, big boy that I guess was 35 feet or more.

As to cropping, no amount of finning can change the proportions, some images just look better as squares rather than rectangles, nothing sacred to me about a 2:3 proportion. (I guess Hasselblad doesn't qualify as a decent format )

ya, Hasselbad haha

Very very nice set. I think the silhouette shot with the diver's legs is a phenomenal shot. #1 and #3 are my favorites.

What a trip it must have been.

Very very nice set. I think the silhouette shot with the diver's legs is a phenomenal shot. #1 and #3 are my favorites.

 

What a trip it must have been.

Thanks; I think those are ramoras.