Weekend on the water

[mjs1973]

I was able to spend a few hours in the kayak over the weekend. I spent about 45 minutes watching this raccoon scouring the bank of the lake looking for a meal. This young bald eagle seemed to be begging mom and dad to bring it some food. I was able to drift very close to where it was perched. It was very hot and humid without hardly a cloud in the sky, but this cloud did form near sunset on Saturday evening.

[armando_m]

Awesome shots !!

did you shoot the eagle from the kayak ? if so how on earth can you manage to shoot 1/20 of a sec at 500mm

Great colors on the cloud

[Singletracklovr]

NIcely done Mike.
Looks like you are getting a lot of enjoyment from your Kayak.

[mjs1973]

did you shoot the eagle from the kayak ? if so how on earth can you manage to shoot 1/20 of a sec at 500mm

Yup, all the images were taken from the kayak. To shoot at 1/20 second at 500mm I hold the shutter button down to take a series of images as fast as the camera can using the burst mode (motor drive). Usually one of the middle images in the series comes out much sharper than the other images. It's a technique that has really payed off for me when shooting from the kayak.

[armando_m]

Yup, all the images were taken from the kayak. To shoot at 1/20 second at 500mm I hold the shutter button down to take a series of images as fast as the camera can using the burst mode (motor drive). Usually one of the middle images in the series comes out much sharper than the other images. It's a technique that has really payed off for me when shooting from the kayak.

OK ! thanks for sharing your technique, the results are impressive

[scott-devon]

All very good, that portrait shot of the eagle is simply stunning.

[DennisT]

I agree with your technique - in fact I moved away from full frame sony a900 to the aps-c sony a700 because it is faster and offers more frames per burst. Do this when shooting with the bigma at 500mm and, depending on the write speed of the cf disc get up to 11 frames per shot - there is almost always something close to useable in there.
You are getting excellent results shooting from your Kayak - would seriously consider one myself if we had some calm water nearby - oh well!!!

[OldClicker]

Burst mode??? What you are saying is that with multiple shots, you have a better chance of getting a good one, correct? There is nothing inherent about high speed shooting to give 'magic shutter speed', is there? – Terry

[mjs1973]

Burst mode??? What you are saying is that with multiple shots, you have a better chance of getting a good one, correct? There is nothing inherent about high speed shooting to give 'magic shutter speed', is there? – Terry

Correct. By using the burst mode you are not doing anything special as far as your shutter speed goes. When you press and release the shutter button, you are adding more movement to the camera. By holding the button down, the series of exposures you make without adding more camera shake (because you are not moving your hand on the shutter release) you are increasing the likelihood of getting a sharper image in the middle of the burst. The 1st and last shots in the series are usually blurry but there is usually a much sharper image in the middle.

Here is a thread I posted a few weeks ago with an example of what I'm talking about. If you scroll down to post 15 you can see a series of 3 consecutive frames whit the middle frame being much sharper than the 1st and 3rd.

Female wood duck and my newest N/W photo tool

[SmartWombat]

A good idea if you're on the water, where good shooting technique only goes so far.
With digital it's much more practical than with film.

[Loupey]

Nice shooting, Mike! Wow - 1/20s, non-stabilized, 500mm - I'm impressed!

I did end up buying a kayak recently. I couldn't find a good combination of photography capable yet watersports enjoyable features in one kayak so I ended up buying two (a third for the kids). I bought a traditional sit-in kayak in 10' length for photography and a 12.5' sit on top for fishing, exercise, and pleasure. Haven't really used the 10 footer nor any photography yet. The 12.5 is much more fun for now in the warm water - definitely too wet to consider bringing camera gear on board.

I'll start shooting from the 10 once the leaves start changing I think.

[mjs1973]

Thanks Loupey. I noticed you had a photo of a sit on top in the July Project thread and I was going to ask you about it. I'm really enjoying my boat for both photography and for relaxation/exercise. I need to start taking something with me to lay over the top of my gear when it's sitting in the bottom of the boat. I have gotten a lot of water drips on it but nothing that has caused any problems, yet. I did buy a rain sleeve for it but it makes things too hard to operate and it makes too much noise.

I also like to keep my G9 with me to shoot some video but I think I need to come up with a steady-cam solution.

[Loupey]

I need to start taking something with me to lay over the top of my gear when it's sitting in the bottom of the boat. I have gotten a lot of water drips on it but nothing that has caused any problems, yet. I did buy a rain sleeve for it but it makes things too hard to operate and it makes too much noise.

I bought a plastic toolbox that I will keep my camera in while paddling. Although it is not a waterproof box, it should keep most of the drips off, but more importantly, keep it off the bottom of the kayak.

For spring, I think a spray skirt will keep everything nice and dry. Plus, it should disrupt the human form enough to allow most wildlife to ignore it.

[Singletracklovr]

I use a Pelican 1300 Dry Box which holds my camera body, 18-135mm lens, 2xtele, 3 ext tubes, cir-polarizer, 3 ND filters, lens brush and spare battery.

When room allows I carry the 300mm and 500mm prime lenses in there original cases stuffed in an Outdoor Research 5L dry bag.

Even thought the Pelican floats when fully loaded I still tether it to the kayak.

Pelican details:
http://www.altrec.com/pelican/1300-d...lPageAlsoWantA

OR Drybag details:
http://www.altrec.com/outdoor-resear...eight-dry-sack