March 26 to 29, 2028. Six photographers max. A small-group, boat-based workshop on Sitka Sound during the spring herring spawn, with in-field coaching from Alaska-born photographer Michael Schultz.
SPRING 2028 PHOTO WORKSHOP
$6,950 lodging included, shared room
Questions? Email or 907-590-1567
“This trip to Alaska was probably one of the finest I have attended.”
Paul D. · Fall Aurora Workshop, Alaska
★★★★★ 5.0 · 34 five-star reviews
IN-FIELD INSTRUCTION
How I Teach on the Water
Shutter speed on a moving deck
Shooting from a boat changes almost everything you learned on land. The platform moves as much as the subject does, so most of what I teach on this workshop is shutter speed, how you stand and brace, and reading what a whale is about to do before it does it. On land, 1/1000 of a second is plenty to freeze most wildlife action, but on a moving deck I start around 1/2000 of a second and go faster, up to 1/4000, when a bubble-net group is about to break the surface, and I'll help you set up your autofocus so the focus tracks a moving subject from a moving platform.
Exposure and a clean background
For exposure I shoot in manual mode with auto ISO, because manual gives you better exposure control over bright water and dark whales while auto ISO handles the light as it changes. Aperture priority with auto ISO works too if that's what you're comfortable with, and I'll help you pick whichever one fits how you shoot. The other thing I work on with everyone is the background, because a clean background of dark water or a distant shoreline is what makes a whale photograph stand out instead of getting lost in clutter.
Handheld at the rail
A tripod doesn't help you on a rocking deck, so everything is handheld, and a lot of the work is learning where to stand on the boat and how to hold a long lens steady when the water isn't. Bubble-net feeding gives you a few seconds of warning at most, so a big part of the week is learning to read the birds and the bubbles and be pointed at the right spot before the whales come up. Patience is most of it. There's a lot of waiting between surfacings, and the people who come home with the best pictures are the ones who stayed ready for the right time instead of firing at everything.
Small group and image review
With six photographers I can get to everyone during the action, which is why I keep the group small, so everyone gets personal attention when it counts and builds real photography knowledge on the water instead of just a card full of your own images. We finish with an image review session, either in Sitka or on a scheduled Zoom call after the trip, so you get feedback on the frames you made.
THE WILDLIFE
What You Can Photograph in Sitka in March
Humpback Whales
Humpback whales are why this trip exists. Not every humpback leaves Alaska for the winter, and the ones that are here in March come to Sitka Sound to hunt the herring. When they feed together, a group of humpbacks will blow a ring of bubbles under a school of fish and come up through the middle of it with their mouths open, and watching whales bubble-net feeding is what most people are hoping to photograph. It's the behavior I shoot for, and the captains who work Sitka Sound every spring will tell you March and April are when it happens here. I wrote up how humpback whales bubble-net feed if you want the background on the behavior itself.
Steller Sea Lions, Bald Eagles and the Herring Spawn
The herring spawn is the reason the whole sound comes alive in March. Millions of herring come into the shallows along the coast to spawn, and the water can turn a milky turquoise from the spawn itself. The herring fishing fleet is out working the same water, Steller sea lions chase the same fish the whales do, bald eagles gather in big numbers along the shoreline to catch what they can, and gulls and seabirds are everywhere the herring are, so there are photo opportunities in every direction.
Sea Otters, Gray Whales and Marine Wildlife
Sea otters live in Sitka Sound year-round, and they're one of the easier subjects to work from the boat because they tend to stay put. Gray whales move past Sitka in spring on their way north, orcas come through the sound some years, and harbor seals and seabirds round out the list. None of it is promised, and what shows up on a given day is up to the animals and nature, not me.
It isn't only wildlife either. Sitka sits between snow-covered mountains and the open Pacific, and Mount Edgecumbe, the volcano across the sound, is in a lot of frames if the clouds let it be. March still has snow down low on the mountains, so it's worth having a wider lens ready for the landscape between animals. Some of the best frames of the week put the whale in its environmental context, with the mountains or the volcano behind it, instead of filling the frame with a fluke.
FROM THESE WATERS
WHY THIS WINDOW
Why Late March
The herring spawn in Sitka Sound runs from roughly mid-March into April, and that's what sets the dates. Late March puts us inside that window, when the herring are in the shallows and the whales, sea lions and eagles are feeding on them. March in Sitka is also quiet. There are no cruise ships in town this time of year, so it's us and the working boats on the water.
The spawn doesn't keep a calendar, so read that as the window and not a forecast. What I can tell you is that we're out on the water every day for four days during the spawn, and that's the best way I know to stack the odds in your favor.
$6,950 per person, lodging included
Shared room | $2,000 deposit reserves your spot
MAKE IT A BIGGER TRIP
Add the Spring Aurora Workshop
If you want to make a bigger trip out of it, my spring aurora workshop in Fairbanks runs the week before, with shooting nights March 19 to 24, 2028. You can add it to this workshop for $3,500, which covers the aurora workshop and your lodging in Fairbanks. Airfare isn't included, so you book your own flight into Fairbanks and your flight from Fairbanks to Sitka on March 25, the day before we head out on the boat. The add-on closes December 1, 2027, or sooner if the aurora workshop fills.
You can read how that week runs on the spring equinox aurora photography workshop page.
WHO IT'S FOR
Who This Workshop Is For
This humpback whale photography workshop is for intermediate and advanced wildlife photographers interested in whales who already know their camera and want to learn to shoot from a moving deck. You should be able to change settings without looking at the camera, and beyond that I'll help you with the part that's new.
Physical Requirements
Physically it's easy, but it's cold. You're on the boat most of every day, and the only thing that takes some getting used to is standing on a moving deck in March weather for a few hours at a time, so how you dress matters more than how fit you are.
GEAR & EQUIPMENT
Camera Gear for Wildlife Photography From a Boat
Your Camera
You don't need a particular camera for this, but a fast body helps. Whether you're shooting a Canon EOS R5 Mark II, a Nikon Z9 or something a few years older, what matters is a body with good autofocus tracking and a fast burst rate, and knowing it well enough to change settings without looking.
Your Distance
100 yards
Federal rules keep boats 100 yards from humpback whales, so the law sets your distance and the distance sets your lens.
Your Lenses
A versatile telephoto zoom in the 100-500mm class does most of the work, and a zoom beats a long prime on a boat because the distance to the whale changes constantly. At 100 yards you'll spend a lot of time at 400mm or longer, so whether it's a Canon 100-500mm or something similar, plan on shooting near the long end. A second body with something wider covers the landscape and the close sea otters, and it saves you from changing lenses on a wet deck.
The Weather
Sitka in March is cold and wet, so protecting your equipment is part of the job, and I'll show you how to keep salt spray and rain off your gear on deck. Weather-sealed gear helps and rain covers for both bodies aren't optional. Batteries drain faster in the cold, so bring more of them than you think you'll need, along with plenty of memory cards, and dress in warm layers with real rain gear on top and gloves you can work a camera in.
A complete packing list with clothing recommendations for Sitka in March will be sent after you register.