National Geographic Expeditions Photographer Susan Seubert heading to Alaska

Greetings!  After a month of surfing and shooting in Maui, I’ll be headed to Alaska’s Inside Passage for an expedition with National Geographic and Lindblad aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird from May 22-29, 2010.  Last night we saw at least six humpback whales off Ka’anapali Beach here on Maui and I’m looking forward to seeing more of these large cetaceans in Alaska where they migrate to their feeding grounds.  Here in the Hawaiian Islands, the whales mate and give birth, but they don’t eat, so they’ll be mighty hungry when they return to the colder waters of Alaska. If you’d like to join us on this expedition, please sign up here.  See you there!

National Geographic Expeditions "Alaska's Inside Passage"

Read Full Post »

Commercial, Editorial Photographer Susan Seubert heading to Maui

Tomorrow, April 20th, marks the beginning of another adventure in the Aloha State where Susan Seubert will be based for four weeks.  With headquarters on Ka’anapali Beach, she’ll certainly be spending many mornings surfing and enjoying the tail end of the Humpback whale season,  the large cetaceans that migrate to this area every year from Alaska.  Otherwise, she will be available for assignments. Hawaiian Air just announced new non-stop service to Tokyo and Osaka in Japan and Incheon and Busan in South Korea.  For portfolios, stock requests or assignments, feel free to contact Susan directly at susan (at) sseubert (dot) com or by phone at +1-503-819-6692.  A hui ho!

A young man surfing at a popular winter break on the North shore of West Maui, HI

Read Full Post »

Multimedia by Susan Seubert from National Geographic Expeditions, Among the Great Whales

Saturday night, or possibly Sunday morning, my 737 delivered me safely home to Portland after I spent 16 days in Bahia de Magdalena and the Gulf of California, otherwise known as the Sea of Cortez.  It was a thrilling adventure aboard the National Geographic Sea Bird where I was the National Geographic Photography Expert on board the ship.  I met many, many lovely people who had come from all corners of the earth to enjoy the extraordinary drama of this place.  In Bahia de Magdalena, one of three nurseries for Gray Whales along the Pacific Coast of the Baja Peninsula, we encountered these behemoths.  It is difficult to put into words the feeling when a month old baby whale sticks its head out of the water, looks directly at you, and invites a scratch on the chin.  The whales chose us as their companions and judging from the size of these cetaceans, we knew we had to follow their lead.  The expedition took us to many islands in the Gulf of California where amazing rock formations and incredible diversity of plant and animal life welcomed us.  The water changed color constantly depending on where we were in the Gulf. The shallow coves were inviting for kayaking, snorkeling and bbq’s under the star littered sky.  Our brief stop in San Jose del Cabo was a nice visit to terra firma and an opportunity to bird watch in the estuary.  Otherwise, shopping and sightseeing were an added treat to a trip dominated by the wild blue yonder.  We encountered not only Humpback whales and their calves frolicking in the ocean, but also numerous dolphins, and magnificent Blue Whales, the largest animals ever known to have existed.  Here is a very brief multimedia piece that I hope offers a tiny sliver of this incredible expedition with National Geographic and Lindblad.  Enjoy!

Among the Great Whales, Baja, California

►

Read Full Post »

editorial photographer Susan Seubert heading to Maui, Hawaii

Happy New Year to all!  2010 was certainly a fabulous year filled with many glorious adventures and it looks like 2011 will be a continuation of the same.  On January 4th, I will be heading to Maui where we hope to spend time watching the humpback whales.  One of the largest parts of the Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale Marine Sanctuary is just steps from our home in Maui, viewable from Ka’anapali Beach.  This time of year marks the beginning of the peak of the whale sighting season and you can often see them tail and fin slapping or breaching right from the beach.  It’s not unusual to see them just at the drop off point, hanging just at the surface, their humps conspicuously sticking out from the ocean’s surface.  If you have a good pair of binoculars, (I recommend the Canon Image Stabilizer Binoculars), then you can see a good distance.  I’ve spent the better part of many days on the beach, under an umbrella, watching these gentle giants.  It’s also great to view them on a kayak tour, from a stand-up paddle board, or in the comfort of one of the many whale watching boats.  Aloha!

Kayaking off of Olowalu on West Maui

 

Read Full Post »

Multimedia Photographer Susan Seubert, underwater with the whales

whale_sounds

►

During whale season in Maui, one can head out to calm waters and listen to the whales call to one another.  We swam out to a popular snorkel spot on Ka’anapali Beach called Pu’u Keka’a, otherwise known as Black Rock, where the lava forms underwater valleys that collect the sonar that the Humpback Whales use to communicate.  Breathing lightly through the snorkels, the whale calls are unmistakable and make me wish for more pro equipment to collect them!  The reef is alive with snapping shrimp and sometimes there are lots of people, but some days, the winds are calm, few people have swum around the point, and one can simply float in the water, ears just beneath the surface and be suspended in a completely different world.  It’s truly amazing and I recommend it to anyone comfortable enough to dangle in the open ocean.  The person in this multimedia piece is my husband who had stopped to listen.  He was too close to the reef, and I had swum out to deeper waters to try and get away from the snapping noise and was able to lay that sound over his image using iMovie.  Although this isn’t the best recording of whale calls, I hope that you enjoy it nonetheless.  I used a Canon SD1000 Digital Elph in a WP-DC13 Waterproof housing for both the video and the audio.

Read Full Post »

Maui Photographer Susan Seubert, enjoying the whales

On mornings like this one, the surface of the ocean is glassy, the winds have died down and the sun is still behind the West Maui Mountains but is, from this vantage point on Ka’anapali Beach, lighting up the island of Lana’i in such a way that every valley on the windward side is placed in high relief.  On the horizon, an approaching storm front is gray and foreboding, but there’s a calm here at the ocean’s edge that betrays the oncoming weather.  The smooth waters reveal what appears to be holes in the ocean surface where whale spume appears like steam vents.  Just beyond the reef point, a mother humpback whale boosts her newborn calf out of the water, apparently teaching it how to breach.  This is the sort of morning that calms my heart and makes me so very grateful to be here, now.

maui morning

This photo was taken much later this morning, after the trade winds had picked up.  I took it from a stand up paddle board, about 50 yards off shore.  I was using a Canon Poweshot SD1000 Digital Elph in a water housing.  The combination of swell and wind didn’t allow for much picture taking, but I got a good view of a pod of breaching whales and a very nice run-in with a very large turtle.

Read Full Post »