Friday, April 1, 2011

This blog has a new home

I've expanded my blogging and so have moved to a new blog home.

The new blog at is mobile friendly. It will continue to deal with kayaking and photography. It will talk about each separately and in combination to help you get the most out of your cameras and your kayaks, whether they are together or not. (That is, the site will help you with your kayak and with your camera, independent of each other.)

Hope you enjoy the new site,


Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Getting closer to wild animals, without walking towards them

The key to approaching wild animals, is to remember that they are wild. Profound isn't it? Well, for this lesson, it boils down to this- if you walk directly towards an animal, that is an aggressive form of behavior. In the animal world it generally means that you want to defend your territory, invade another's territory, steal prey, steal a mate, or turn what you are walking towards into dinner. The natural response if it is a rabbit, deer or bird is to flee. If it is a predator or large mammal (such as an elk or moose,) the response can be to attack.

Regardless of the end result- being left with no wildlife to photograph, or you lying mangled on the ground with a broken camera- walking directly towards wildlife is not the way to go. Instead walk at an oblique angle to your subject, so that in the course of 30 feet you get perhaps three to ten feet closer. Also, walk farther than your closest point to the animal. It's a little tricky to explain, so let's look at a diagram I made-


It is important to remember however, that if you get too close, any animal can feel threatened. Still use your telephoto lens (I prefer a 200 mm or more.) You don't want to scare off the wildlife, stress it out, or get attacked, so maintain your distance. Because you can get closer doesn't mean that you should be foolish. Don't expect to be able to go five feet from a Grizzly without being attacked, just because you try this method. A hawk is still wild, and won't want you right next to it. This is not a magic trick, and you must still show respect for the animal and the fact that it is wild. If it seems to be getting nervous, you should stop, and even perform a slow retreat. (Too fast of a retreat can be as alarming as too fast of an approach.)





The shore is not the horizon

I spend a lot of my time photographing on the water and near the water. As such there have been a few things I've had to learn- water reflects light, water is bad for your camera, your feet get wet if you only watch your subject (and not where you are going,) and that the shore is not the same thing as the horizon.




For the lower image I used the straighten tool on my computer's photo viewing software, lining up the horizon with the grid lines. It feels more natural in the composition. There is no strong foreground element that declares where level is, so I am able to "create" a new level that makes sense to the eyes. In this case, out of level can look more natural.

A way to "straighten" an image without post processing is to use your cameras focusing grid. I sometimes do this when I am out shooting. I place two of my focal points that are in line with each other on the horizon, and "preset" the lean. Sometimes, if I don't notice something in the foreground, or if there is a nearby tree, this can work against me. Buildings or trees can acquire a "lean" if I "level" the photo out.






Sunday, March 20, 2011

The "Why" of photography

When I am out making photographs, I find one of the most important questions I can ask myself is "Why?". Not so much "why am I taking photos?" but rather "why am I taking this photo? Why does this scene inspire me?" which makes me pause and think about what in the scene it is that really interests me, inspiring a slew of other questions that can help me take a better picture in the end.

Is it how the subject blends with its background, or is it how it stands out from the background? If it's about how it stands out, that can make me rethink my composition, my aperture, even the lens I am using. Why does it stand out, and how can I emphasize it in my picture. How can I draw people's eyes to it. Should I blur the background? Or try for detail in it, that may just distract from the main subject? Which elements of the background will either add or detract? This helps me choose what angle I will be shooting my image from, and how much depth of field I want.


Saturday, March 19, 2011

Wildlife Kayak Photography


With any wildlife photography it is important to understand that you are seeing wild animals. Their lives are fraught with danger and they don't understand that we just want to shoot them with a camera and not a gun. They don't realize we are creeping closer just to see them better, that we won't suddenly pounce on them and carry them off. They need us to respect them and keep some distance. Stress is harder on them- there are animals that can literally be frightened to death. So please, even though there are no physical obstacles between you and that seal when you are on the water, give them their space. They will fly away or swim away if you approach them incautiously or too closely, losing any chance for that great photo. Also, it is against Federal Law in the U.S. to approach and disturb marine mammals.






  Try to make sure you don't drift right at the animal, aim your path to the side, giving the animal enough room that you don't frighten it. This will also give you the most angles, and the largest range of lighting. You can't direct the animal, so direct yourself.









Don't just look for animals on the water. Look on the immediate shore, but also a little distance onto land. Some of my best wildlife images of raccoons, deer, bobcat, elk, and coyotes all came about while I was kayaking. They don't necessarily watch the water for dangers and might not notice you if you stay quiet and fairly still. If they do notice you, you are such a different creature from the person that is walking and stomping around, that they generally aren't as freightened, and can be more curious as to what you may be.








Sunday, March 13, 2011

Why to kayak with your camera

Yesterday I addressed some of the issues people new to kayak photography should think about, without realizing that I never said "why" people should kayak with their cameras in the first place. So today, I will talk a little about why I started taking my camera out with me, and about some of the pleasant surprises that awaited me (i.e. why I keep taking my camera out into watery danger.) Maybe they will inspire you to try a new style.

I live alongside this amazing natural feature called Tomales Bay. Twelve miles of semi-tamed Pacific Ocean, with rolling, grass covered hills on one side, and rugged national seashore on the other (there's a lot more to each side, but I am trying to keep this somewhat brief.) On the side with most of the grassy hills, a road runs about two-thirds of the length, often times fairly close to the shore. There are nice turnouts along the length of it, offering some beautiful shooting opportunities.

It's fantastic... except that the turnouts and shore always offer the same views, the same angles. Sure, the light is different each day (as demonstrated by the first three pictures on the right,) and the sky and the clouds were always changing, but I was taking many pictures of the same scenes. I was starting to get frustrated that there was this amazing place, and I could only capture a small percentage of it. I began to hunger for a way to see more, get different angles. I needed a way to get away from the road and the shore so that I could have different perspectives. I started having dreams of a miniature personal blimp (which I still dream about,) of motorboats and sailboats... and finally I thought of a kayak, without ever realizing how perfect it would be for nature photography.

It didn't always seem perfect at first, but as I got more comfortable being on the water, and started thinking less about the possible mishaps, I became more impressed by the pictures I was bringing home. I started to understand the potential, and the inherent advantages.

When you are in a kayak, you are down low, only two or three feet off the surface of the water, you're entire perspective has changed. You are at, or just above the eye level of many birds and marine mammals. For landscapes, this same angle gives you a nearby foreground that gives perspective to the images. You don't have to crouch down to get this picture plane, you automatically have it. Kayak = knee level point of view, but with photogenic water stretching away.

Even better, you get to drift. No moving your body in ways that will frighten wildlife. Breezes can push you. You can get moved along by the current. If you are on calm unmoving water, you can get up speed, point yourself in the direction you want to go, and your momentum will carry you for a good ways, gliding quietly along.

It's quiet. No motor to scare wildlife away. The sounds of the kayak are similar to waves lapping the shore, or of fish and other animals swimming.

There are more reasons why kayaking and cameras can go well together, but this is only my second post, so I have to save something for later. In the meantime, go out and try something new, get a different perspective.