Help with Dolphin Pictures

[newtodis]

Hi there....currently have a Kodak Z710 point and shoot camera. We're taking DH's family next Saturday on a dolphin tour and want to get some great shots for them. DH and I took our boys on the same tour a year ago and DH only got one picture-because he only tried to take one! (what was I thinking giving him the camera?? ) So, this time I want to let them focus on "seeing" the dolphins while I take the pictures (later I'm going to print them to use, as a Mother's Day/thanks for visiting scrapbook). On the tour, it's basically us in a small boat on a small waterway. The water's pretty shallow (I think at least) and I guess my "theory" is to just take lots of pictures hoping that you get some good ones to use later?????? Any suggestions on this?

We were at the beach this weekend and saw two dolphins out playing. I did "learn" that if I used the view finder (not sure if that's the right term-hole you look through) instead of the lcd screen, I had better luck that way and actually got a picture of one out in the open water.

Thanks so much to anyone who has any suggestions!! I really appreciate it!

 

[Groucho]

Dolphin photos are tough. I've tried to shoot them several times from a boat down in Florida and had mixed results. My best were probably taken a few days ago but I haven't looked too closely at them yet. Using the viewfinder may help because it's easier and quicker and more natural to aim the camera that way, rather than holding the camera in front of you and staring at the LCD screen (which is about the most unnatural way possible to take a photo.) Because you generally only get fleeting glimpses of the dolphins and you don't know where they'll pop up, the camera has to be fast to operate and fast to actually snap a photo. This can be a tall order for a point-n-shoot but not impossible.

My own opinion is that, from what I've seen, don't expect dolphins in the wild to behave like dolphins at Sea World - you just get a fairly quick glipse of a dark-colored back and dorsal fins, and maybe a little of the tail, then they're gone again. The best photos are still not that exciting, so I wouldn't worry TOO much about it.