A year ago I built a light-weight panorama tool out of wood. My hope was to make back-country panoramas. My dream was to rival the pixel count of high-end, medium-format digital backs, or scanned 4×5 film cameras without the weight, bulk or cost. Here in Washington State, I imagined Prusik Peak in the Enchantments, or […]
God’s Pocket Resort with Sea Kayak Adventures
A high-summer, resort-based, guided trip with Sea Kayak Adventures at a remote wilderness archipelago called God’s Pocket. July, 2009. Hurst Island, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. My wife Kate and I join with guests of Sea Kayak Adventures on a resort-based kayak trip—five days paddling and five nights at the God’s Pocket Resort. The location is in God’s Pocket […]
Photo Tip: Image Maturity ___ 08/2009
The late, great Galen Rowell crafted the term “image maturity” to describe a quality of an image. In his 1993 book, The Art of Adventure Photography, Rowell explained that “immature” subjects require straight-forward depiction; with “mature” subjects, subtlety or originality prevail. He used a Snow Leopard and a deer as an example. A Snow Leopard […]
Photo Tip: 10-day Power Trip ___ 06/2009
Gearing up to photograph for a ten-day trip without power—in this instance a sea kayak trip—has two obvious concerns: flash memory and batteries. You need enough capacity in both to shoot through to the finish. Still, ten days isn’t so long that you can’t keep it simple. On a recent trip around Isla Carmen in […]
Photo Tip: Finding Perspective ___ 04/2009
In 1999 I made my first visit to the Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival, held annually at the world-renowned point break Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, CA. It’s a lovely venue, and perfect for spectators who get a close-up view from the cliff that abuts the action. I shot film with a tripod-mounted telephoto that […]
Photo Tip: Vision in Photography? __ 12/2008
I received some nice complements for my “American Dipper with salmon egg” photo, taken on a recent Seattle Mountaineers outing—complements like “great shot”, “outstanding!” and “great vision”. I’m flattered by the “vision” thing, though I’m not sure what that means. Vision implies seeing the future, in a non-obvious way, like getting a patent. I do […]
Sea Kayaking: Baja, Sea of Cortez
An early November, 2008, guided trip with Sea Kayak Adventures to Baja, Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, an ideal time for warm water, pleasing temperatures, moderate wind, and—lucky for us—blooming wildflowers in the aftermath of hurricane Norbert. November, 2008, Loreto, Baja, MX. My wife Kate and I are on a guided kayak trip with Sea Kayak Adventures, joined by […]
Orca Whales, Johnstone Strait
On a guided trip with Sea Kayak Adventures, we kayak Johnstone Strait off Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, to see Orca Whales. September, 2008. Telegraph Cove, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. The afternoon skies are a bright-overcast—photographer’s light—with just a wisp of a breeze that would make pulling the paddle through the tranquil water a joy if […]
Packing a Small Sea Kayak ____ 02/2008
Photographers carry a lot of photo gear, so a big-volume sea kayak logically meets the need. A long, large kayak can be fast as well, but can also be a heavy lift solo, and a bear wrestle in wind or in surf. Most photographers aren’t burly-burly men. They just want a kayak to get them […]
Photo Tip: People in Nature ___ 11/2007
A missing element to make many a great scenic saleable can be pretty obvious. It’s an element that’s also ignored, overlooked, forgotten and even belittled by us nature photographers. Yet it’s an element we find endlessly fascinating, an element that grabs the attention in every scene. That element, of course, is people, and there’s no […]