Images taken on Assateague Island
on 2010 August 21st
Each image can be increased by a click
|
|
Hiking with Dolphins Images taken on Assateague Island on 2010 August 21st Each image can be increased by a click |
|
|
On Saturday 2010 August 21st I went to Assateague Island and witnessed a scene I had never seen before : a large herd of wild dolphins playing in ~50m / ~150 feet from the surf line; sometimes even jumping out of water... They were next to the beach for at least several hours, and accompanying me all my way from the parking lot to the North tip of the island ( ~ 11km / ~ 7 miles ) and then the same way back. Some boaters were approaching them very close but they were not afraid at all... And sometimes they were that close to the surf that I can say that I was not only watching the dolphins but even was swimming with them!.. 
Unfortunately, the quality of the images and video clips I took is not very good... Taking pictures of playing dolphins turned out a challenge because the place where they appear was unpredictable... If you don't use the zoom, the angle of your frame is wide and you will likely catch them, but they will be small on the picture... But when you use a strong zoom, the angle of your frame is narrow and, therefore, you have to be very lucky to catch something in the frame... Besides that, the camera needs both time and a distinguish object to adjust the focus. If there is only waving water in the frame the camera can't set the focus properly and when the dolphins appear they come out blurred. But if you wait for a dolphin to appear to let the camera adjust the focus, the dolphin disappeares faster than the camera sets the focus... That's why the majority of pictures came out blurred... And, of course, there were wild horses, herons, seagulls, crabs, shells... A few words about weather conditions. The air temperature was about 26C / 80F ( not too bad... ), but the water temperature dissapointed me : it was colder than in June : only 21C / 70F... |
|
Thank you, and have a nice day ! |
