My Call
My two favorites from the last blog post were #4, Bald Eagle tight flight, and #1, Grove of earthquake drowned trees — vertical pan blur.. Number 3 (Bald Eagle adult turning in flight against white sky) and number 5 (Glaucous-winged Gull winter adult taking flight) were not bad either. I was not a big fan of #2, the habitat shot, as it paled by comparison to the somewhat similar image in the post before the last.
If you are impressed by the images you see below and with those you saw in recent blog posts and by the unparalleled learning that takes place on a Homer IPT and are seriously interested in joining me next year, please LMK ASAP via e-mail or via text to 863-221-2372. Several spots are already spoken for.
Fissipeds
Fissipeds, also known as “split-footed” animals, include sea otters and polar bears.
Thanks to Dr. Fish, AKA David Policansky, for correcting my original error. I thought (without giving it much thought), that Sea Otters are pinnipeds.
What’s Up?
I headed down the lake early on Friday morning and had a ton of fun with a perched Turkey Vulture, large flocks of migrating Tree Swallows, and the two crane babies at the south end of the South Peninsula. The family is getting used to me observing and photographing them from my vehicle from a good distance away.
My squamous cell surgery went well. Nineteen stitches. The guy was sure that he got all the margins clear and the test showed that he was right. No swimming for two weeks 🙁
Today is Saturday 1 March 2025. I will be heading down to the lake early and am hoping for a cloudy morning to do the crane family feeding below the big oak trees; the mixed light makes things very difficult. Whatever you plan on doing, I hope that you too opt to have a wonderful day. Do remember that happiness is a choice — Byron Katie, The Work.Com.
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This image was created on 14 February in the harbor at Homer, AK on a 2025 Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT. Standing on the boat, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering +0.3 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 3200: 1/1000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 2:16:47pm on a cloudy afternoon. Performance with Tracking: Spot XS/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection was inconsistent. Image #1: Sea Otter with pup in boat hull reflections |
My Harbor Cruising Rig
As noted here previously, I forsook my 300mm f/2.8 lens for the harbor cruising and went with the 200-600 as it gave me 600mm of reach when needed and allowed me to zoom out as necessary. On our first harbor shoot on Friday the 14th I opted to work in Shutter Priority mode with AUTO ISO and Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. I did OK. On the way back to the hotel, Anita North busted me for this approach. I realized that she was right and on our next foray in the harbor I went back to Manual mode.
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This image was also created on 14 February in the harbor at Homer, AK on a 2025 Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT. Standing on the boat, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 565mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. The exposure was determined via Zebras with Exposure Compensation on the thumb dial. Multi-metering +0.7 stops. AUTO ISO set ISO 3200: 1/1000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Shutter Priority mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 2:26:37pm on a cloudy afternoon. Performance with Tracking: Spot XS/AF-C with Bird Face/Eye Detection was inconsistent. Image #2: Sea Otter head portrait |
The Best Captain
While there may be some other good captains taking out the eagle photography tour groups, I am 100% positive that Gabe is the best by far. He has come to understand the wind, the light, and the sky conditions so well that when working together, we always wind up in the best possible location. When working the wall in China Poot this year, he came up with a brand new strategy that had the eagles flying right at us despite the unsuitable wind direction. Gabe’s boat-handling skills are unparalleled. He skillfully maneuvered his boat to within yards of the handsome otter resting on a dock. I’ve never seen a head portrait of a free and wild Sea Otter before. And best of all, when we had our fill, Gabe backed away and left the otter resting on the dock.
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This image was created on 18 February 2025 in the harbor at Homer, AK on a 2025 Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT. Standing on the boat, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 326mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 2000. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/1600 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 12:15:02pm on a cloudy afternoon. Tracking: Spot XS/AF-C with Animal/Bird Eye-Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Image #3: Sea Otter yawning while holding pup |
Animal/Bird Face-Eye AF/C
The a-1 ii offers Animal/Bird Face-Eye AF/C as an AF subject choice. As we were coming across the occasional loon, gull, or duck along with the otters, I checked the box for Animal/Bird and found it perfect for our harbor sessions. It did an excellent job of acquiring the eyes of both the otters and the birds we encountered.
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This image was created on 19 February in the harbor at Homer, AK on a 2025 Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT. Standing on the boat, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 2000. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/1000 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 12:17:19pm on a cloudy afternoon. Tracking: Spot XS/AF-C with Animal/Bird Eye-Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Image #4: Sea Otter yawning while holding pup |
A Great Year for Otters!
Sea Otter photography in 2025 was better than ever. Possibly because of the unseasonably warm weather. In previous years, these animals were usually quite shy. On both IPTs, they were very easy to approach. As seen above, I made my best Sea Otter images ever.
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This image was also created on 19 February in the harbor at Homer, AK on a 2025 Homer/Kachemak Bay IPT. Standing on the boat, I used the hand held Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens (at 600mm) and the and The Latest Greatest Flagship Body, the Sony a1 II Mirrorless Camera. ISO 2500. The exposure was determined via Zebra technology with ISO on the Thumb Wheel; 1/1250 sec. at f/6.3 (wide open) in Manual mode. RawDigger showed that the exposure was dead solid perfect: AWB at 12:33:08pm on a cloudy afternoon. Tracking: Spot XS/AF-C with Animal/Bird Eye-Face Detection enabled performed perfectly. Image #5: Harbor Seal on dock |
More Great Boatmanship by Captain Gabe
Once again, Gabe got us within yards of a usually shy subject, close enough for front-end verticals. And again, with everyone moving very slowly, we were able to back away and leave the animal where we saw it originally.
Note that with each of today’s featured images, I opted to stand rather than sit (even though Gabe always lower the front ramp/gate). While many believe that getting Lowe is always better for wildlife, I disagree. Getting low on a harbor photo cruise almost always introduced distracting background elements.
Typos
With all blog posts, feel free to e-mail or to leave a comment regarding any typos or errors.
Hi, Artie. I also don’t remember seeing a head portrait of a sea otter so #2 is my pick of the litter. Sea otters aren’t pinnipeds. You didn’t say they are but the post title implied it. I have become so used to manual mode for wildlife photography that if I went to shutter priority with auto ISO and exposure compensation I’m pretty sure I’d get terrible results. Av still works for me.
Thanks for the fissipeds info David. All is corrected above.
When do you use Av mode? Do you use it with AUTO ISO?
artie
Thanks, Artie. I use Av mode for landscapes and portraits. I don’t use auto ISO because I haven’t figured out when and why it would improve my results.
Art: Difficult choice today — they are all so good! My favorite is #2, the portrait, because of the detail (fur, face, whiskers). My second choice is #3, the mom with the pup because you caught the mom yawning, mouth wide open. I really liked the harbor seal too — the look on the face and the flippers.
Thanks, Pat. 2025 was a very special year for several marine mammals in the harbor at Homer.
with love, artie