Whales by Photographer Alexander Safonov


    [My name is Alexander Safonov, I’m originally from Voronezh, Russia. I have lived in eastern Asia since 1998, spending decade in Japan first and currently residing in Hong Kong. I’m a professional software architect by trade, working as a consultant with financial firms. I got my diving license in 2002, and began to experiment with underwater photography in 2004, starting with compact cameras and by 2006 progressing to the digital SLRs. My favorite photography style is wide angle, and favorite subject – marine life, close and personal]. – Alexander Safonov


    [Sperm whale opening it's huge mouth, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Sperm whales are the biggest carnivorous animals on the planet. Each teeth in the mouth of adult specimen weights more than 1 kilogram. Interestingly enough that modern marine biologists believe that these teeth despite being fearsome play little role in capturing and eating giant squid – with their main function being mainly ritual aggression between males!]. (Alexander Safonov)


    [Sperm whale opening it's huge mouth, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Sperm whales are the biggest carnivorous animals on the planet. Each teeth in the mouth of adult specimen weights more than 1 kilogram. Interestingly enough that modern marine biologists believe that these teeth despite being fearsome play little role in capturing and eating giant squid – with their main function being mainly ritual aggression between males!]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




    [Sperm whale closeup, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. This week will be dedicated to the sperm whales of Ogasawara archipelago, Japan. I went there together with world renowned underwater photographer Tony Wu to realize my long time dream. On the very first day I had one of the most memorable encounters of my life ! ^_^]. (Alexander Safonov)


    [Sperm whale closeup, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. This week will be dedicated to the sperm whales of Ogasawara archipelago, Japan. I went there together with world renowned underwater photographer Tony Wu to realize my long time dream. On the very first day I had one of the most memorable encounters of my life ! ^_^]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




    [Breaching humpback whale, Wild Coast, South Africa. After heavy rain, storm and flood we had on our second, third and fourth day in Port St. Johns when we finally went to the sea on fifth day sky was interesting. Remains of storm clouds combined with low winter sun produced unusual hue – reddish colors on this photo are not photoshopped, they are real. On that day we had several breaching humpback whale encounters, which resulted in some unusual images, like one above]. (Alexander Safonov)


    [Breaching humpback whale, Wild Coast, South Africa. After heavy rain, storm and flood we had on our second, third and fourth day in Port St. Johns when we finally went to the sea on fifth day sky was interesting. Remains of storm clouds combined with low winter sun produced unusual hue – reddish colors on this photo are not photoshopped, they are real. On that day we had several breaching humpback whale encounters, which resulted in some unusual images, like one above]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




    [Humpback whale showing his belly, Wild Coast, South Africa. Humpbacks are without doubts the most photogenic whale specie. They have unusually long pectoral fins which they like to put to use while showing various acrobatic stunts on the surface or in the water. They like to breach throwing themselves completely into the air with just several movements of the powerful tail. Finally they are incredibly talented singers too, with their songs bearing very complex nature and serving various ritual and communication purposes. This image was taken in July in South Africa – when one friendly specimen decided to stick with us for about 50 minutes, showing off his beautiful underwater dance]. (Alexander Safonov)


    [Humpback whale showing his belly, Wild Coast, South Africa. Humpbacks are without doubts the most photogenic whale specie. They have unusually long pectoral fins which they like to put to use while showing various acrobatic stunts on the surface or in the water. They like to breach throwing themselves completely into the air with just several movements of the powerful tail. Finally they are incredibly talented singers too, with their songs bearing very complex nature and serving various ritual and communication purposes. This image was taken in July in South Africa – when one friendly specimen decided to stick with us for about 50 minutes, showing off his beautiful underwater dance]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




    [Sperm whale hanging vertically in the water column, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Despite being part of what is called [charismatic mega-fauna] sperm whales are hardly photogenic. They appear like some sort of rocks or even asteroids ridden with [craters] – scars from giant squid tentacles acquired during violent battles at the extreme depths of the ocean. In this photo whale is hanging vertically in the water, and I'm positioned above him. For someone not familiar with the subject it might not be easy to figure out that they are looking at! It is quite challenging to make good pictures of sperm whales which will have broad audience appeal]. (Alexander Safonov)


    [Sperm whale hanging vertically in the water column, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Despite being part of what is called [charismatic mega-fauna] sperm whales are hardly photogenic. They appear like some sort of rocks or even asteroids ridden with [craters] – scars from giant squid tentacles acquired during violent battles at the extreme depths of the ocean. In this photo whale is hanging vertically in the water, and I'm positioned above him. For someone not familiar with the subject it might not be easy to figure out that they are looking at! It is quite challenging to make good pictures of sperm whales which will have broad audience appeal]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




    [Sperm whale getting closer to camera, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. As living submarine gets closer he is starting to use sonar to scan my body to understand what I'm – experience comparable to the one of standing next to the very powerful sub-woofer in dance club ! ^_^]. (Alexander Safonov)


    [Sperm whale getting closer to camera, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. As living submarine gets closer he is starting to use sonar to scan my body to understand what I'm – experience comparable to the one of standing next to the very powerful sub-woofer in dance club ! ^_^]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




    [Juvenile humpback whale having fun, Wild Coast, South Africa. Playing with ancient God on the South African Wild Coast]. (Alexander Safonov)


    [Juvenile humpback whale having fun, Wild Coast, South Africa. Playing with ancient God on the South African Wild Coast]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




    [Sperm whale taking the plunge, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Sperm whale diving cycle lasts for about one hour, with ~45 minutes spent underwater, at extreme depths up to 1000m while hunting for giant squid and octopus – and only 15 minutes on the surface. For us it's only possible to see them during this short time period – and it's necessary to use hydrophone to locate rendezvous points. Hydrophone allows to capture sounds whales make even at extreme depths – pointing to the area where whale is going to surface]. (Alexander Safonov)


    [Sperm whale taking the plunge, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Sperm whale diving cycle lasts for about one hour, with ~45 minutes spent underwater, at extreme depths up to 1000m while hunting for giant squid and octopus – and only 15 minutes on the surface. For us it's only possible to see them during this short time period – and it's necessary to use hydrophone to locate rendezvous points. Hydrophone allows to capture sounds whales make even at extreme depths – pointing to the area where whale is going to surface]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




    [Breaching humpback whale, Wild Coast, South Africa. Sometimes when I see image above – I can't stop thinking that humpback whales are great dancers, with signature moves constituting their own GangnamHumpback style! ^_^. It's always incredible to see these 35 ton animals throwing themselves in the air with no seeming effort. I just don't want this to happen when I'm in the water next to them ! ^_^]. (Alexander Safonov)


    [Breaching humpback whale, Wild Coast, South Africa. Sometimes when I see image above – I can't stop thinking that humpback whales are great dancers, with signature moves constituting their own GangnamHumpback style! ^_^. It's always incredible to see these 35 ton animals throwing themselves in the air with no seeming effort. I just don't want this to happen when I'm in the water next to them ! ^_^]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)


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Whales by Photographer Alexander Safonov


[My name is Alexander Safonov, I’m originally from Voronezh, Russia. I have lived in eastern Asia since 1998, spending decade in Japan first and currently residing in Hong Kong. I’m a professional software architect by trade, working as a consultant with financial firms. I got my diving license in 2002, and began to experiment with underwater photography in 2004, starting with compact cameras and by 2006 progressing to the digital SLRs. My favorite photography style is wide angle, and favorite subject – marine life, close and personal]. – Alexander Safonov


[Sperm whale opening it's huge mouth, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Sperm whales are the biggest carnivorous animals on the planet. Each teeth in the mouth of adult specimen weights more than 1 kilogram. Interestingly enough that modern marine biologists believe that these teeth despite being fearsome play little role in capturing and eating giant squid – with their main function being mainly ritual aggression between males!]. (Alexander Safonov)


[Sperm whale opening it's huge mouth, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Sperm whales are the biggest carnivorous animals on the planet. Each teeth in the mouth of adult specimen weights more than 1 kilogram. Interestingly enough that modern marine biologists believe that these teeth despite being fearsome play little role in capturing and eating giant squid – with their main function being mainly ritual aggression between males!]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




[Sperm whale closeup, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. This week will be dedicated to the sperm whales of Ogasawara archipelago, Japan. I went there together with world renowned underwater photographer Tony Wu to realize my long time dream. On the very first day I had one of the most memorable encounters of my life ! ^_^]. (Alexander Safonov)


[Sperm whale closeup, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. This week will be dedicated to the sperm whales of Ogasawara archipelago, Japan. I went there together with world renowned underwater photographer Tony Wu to realize my long time dream. On the very first day I had one of the most memorable encounters of my life ! ^_^]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




[Breaching humpback whale, Wild Coast, South Africa. After heavy rain, storm and flood we had on our second, third and fourth day in Port St. Johns when we finally went to the sea on fifth day sky was interesting. Remains of storm clouds combined with low winter sun produced unusual hue – reddish colors on this photo are not photoshopped, they are real. On that day we had several breaching humpback whale encounters, which resulted in some unusual images, like one above]. (Alexander Safonov)


[Breaching humpback whale, Wild Coast, South Africa. After heavy rain, storm and flood we had on our second, third and fourth day in Port St. Johns when we finally went to the sea on fifth day sky was interesting. Remains of storm clouds combined with low winter sun produced unusual hue – reddish colors on this photo are not photoshopped, they are real. On that day we had several breaching humpback whale encounters, which resulted in some unusual images, like one above]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




[Humpback whale showing his belly, Wild Coast, South Africa. Humpbacks are without doubts the most photogenic whale specie. They have unusually long pectoral fins which they like to put to use while showing various acrobatic stunts on the surface or in the water. They like to breach throwing themselves completely into the air with just several movements of the powerful tail. Finally they are incredibly talented singers too, with their songs bearing very complex nature and serving various ritual and communication purposes. This image was taken in July in South Africa – when one friendly specimen decided to stick with us for about 50 minutes, showing off his beautiful underwater dance]. (Alexander Safonov)


[Humpback whale showing his belly, Wild Coast, South Africa. Humpbacks are without doubts the most photogenic whale specie. They have unusually long pectoral fins which they like to put to use while showing various acrobatic stunts on the surface or in the water. They like to breach throwing themselves completely into the air with just several movements of the powerful tail. Finally they are incredibly talented singers too, with their songs bearing very complex nature and serving various ritual and communication purposes. This image was taken in July in South Africa – when one friendly specimen decided to stick with us for about 50 minutes, showing off his beautiful underwater dance]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




[Sperm whale hanging vertically in the water column, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Despite being part of what is called [charismatic mega-fauna] sperm whales are hardly photogenic. They appear like some sort of rocks or even asteroids ridden with [craters] – scars from giant squid tentacles acquired during violent battles at the extreme depths of the ocean. In this photo whale is hanging vertically in the water, and I'm positioned above him. For someone not familiar with the subject it might not be easy to figure out that they are looking at! It is quite challenging to make good pictures of sperm whales which will have broad audience appeal]. (Alexander Safonov)


[Sperm whale hanging vertically in the water column, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Despite being part of what is called [charismatic mega-fauna] sperm whales are hardly photogenic. They appear like some sort of rocks or even asteroids ridden with [craters] – scars from giant squid tentacles acquired during violent battles at the extreme depths of the ocean. In this photo whale is hanging vertically in the water, and I'm positioned above him. For someone not familiar with the subject it might not be easy to figure out that they are looking at! It is quite challenging to make good pictures of sperm whales which will have broad audience appeal]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




[Sperm whale getting closer to camera, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. As living submarine gets closer he is starting to use sonar to scan my body to understand what I'm – experience comparable to the one of standing next to the very powerful sub-woofer in dance club ! ^_^]. (Alexander Safonov)


[Sperm whale getting closer to camera, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. As living submarine gets closer he is starting to use sonar to scan my body to understand what I'm – experience comparable to the one of standing next to the very powerful sub-woofer in dance club ! ^_^]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




[Juvenile humpback whale having fun, Wild Coast, South Africa. Playing with ancient God on the South African Wild Coast]. (Alexander Safonov)


[Juvenile humpback whale having fun, Wild Coast, South Africa. Playing with ancient God on the South African Wild Coast]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




[Sperm whale taking the plunge, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Sperm whale diving cycle lasts for about one hour, with ~45 minutes spent underwater, at extreme depths up to 1000m while hunting for giant squid and octopus – and only 15 minutes on the surface. For us it's only possible to see them during this short time period – and it's necessary to use hydrophone to locate rendezvous points. Hydrophone allows to capture sounds whales make even at extreme depths – pointing to the area where whale is going to surface]. (Alexander Safonov)


[Sperm whale taking the plunge, Ogasawara Islands, Japan. Sperm whale diving cycle lasts for about one hour, with ~45 minutes spent underwater, at extreme depths up to 1000m while hunting for giant squid and octopus – and only 15 minutes on the surface. For us it's only possible to see them during this short time period – and it's necessary to use hydrophone to locate rendezvous points. Hydrophone allows to capture sounds whales make even at extreme depths – pointing to the area where whale is going to surface]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)




[Breaching humpback whale, Wild Coast, South Africa. Sometimes when I see image above – I can't stop thinking that humpback whales are great dancers, with signature moves constituting their own GangnamHumpback style! ^_^. It's always incredible to see these 35 ton animals throwing themselves in the air with no seeming effort. I just don't want this to happen when I'm in the water next to them ! ^_^]. (Alexander Safonov)


[Breaching humpback whale, Wild Coast, South Africa. Sometimes when I see image above – I can't stop thinking that humpback whales are great dancers, with signature moves constituting their own GangnamHumpback style! ^_^. It's always incredible to see these 35 ton animals throwing themselves in the air with no seeming effort. I just don't want this to happen when I'm in the water next to them ! ^_^]. (Photo by Alexander Safonov)


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Bold Italic Underline Strike | Align left Center Align right | Insert smilies Select color | Add Hidden Text Insert Quote Convert selected text from selection to Cyrillic (Russian) alphabet Insert spoiler

It is forbidden to use not normative lexicon, insult other users of the site, active links to other sites, advertising in the comments..