Before selecting gear you have to consider the subject. The whale's
appearance is unpredictable and it will be visible for a fleeting
moment. You have to find, compose, focus and shoot fast. For this
reason I would use the OM2sp in auto mode so it will take care of the
exposure while you focus. You won't have time to do both. Select an
aperture that yields a fast shutter speed to help freeze boat shake and
water motion and of course whale motion. Fast film is good. Probably the
135 would be the lens to take, the 2xa doesn't weigh much and could be
used under calmer conditions. The longer the lens the harder it is to
get the whale in the viewfinder and focus in time. On the way out
practice getting your sea legs. Allow your legs to act as your motion
dampening system. The polarizer could be used if it's bright out but
don't sacrifice shutter speed. As for technique I try to anticipate
where the whale will next appear and pre focus on that distance to save
time. Also you might ask the skipper to position the boat between the
whales and the sun (hah!) if at all possible. When you say "smallish
boat" I don't know if on the OR coast they have a zodiac type or a
larger, say fifty footer. The folks in the zodiacs around here are
issued raingear so I'd plastic bag my gear. If it's a larger "real" boat
I wouldn't worry about it falling in but I still might bag it for the
trip out.
Mike
--
Latitude 48° 32' North, Longitude 123° 7' West
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