Canoes & Cameras

Why canoes and cameras? This week I sold one of my canoes, a 14.5' tandem that we haven't used in years. Diane can't get in and out of it because of knee problems and it is too much canoe for just me. I have 3 (yes, three) solo canoes. More on that in a bit.

The camera part comes in because I was reading Kirk Tuck's* posts about his fond memories of a Canon G10 that he used to own and had just gotten another one that he was using yesterday. I owned a G10 for several years and a lot of the early posts to this blog were shot with it. Although it was prone to noise at ISOs above 400 it was a great little camera that would fit in a jacket pocket or a small waist pouch for hiking. That's where mine was when I fell into Indian Pass Brook several years back and the waist pouch wasn't waterproof. I sent the camera off to Canon and they offered to swap for a G11 in lieu of repair which I agreed to but the photo above was shot with the G10 while canoeing some time prior to its watery demise.

When canoeing with cameras I keep the camera(s) in a Pelikan box except when I am actually shooting and use a wrist strap as insurance against dropping the camera. Like Kirk, I have a fondness for the early G series Canons. I was disappointed when they stopped putting the articulating screen on them. The optical viewfinder is next to useless. I often shoot from odd angles and found the articulated screen helpful even in bright sun at eye level because I could turn it slightly downward to cut reflections. The G11 also has that style screen but my G11 needs repair and I have been debating whether it is worth the expense. I have looked at the Olympus Tough series, in particular, the TG-5, since they support RAW which was the main attraction of the G10/G11 for me. The TG-5 doesn't have an articulated screen which is understandable since it is waterproof to 15 meters. I don't think there is any way they could seal the swivels on an articulated screen but waterproof would be nice for canoeing (no further falls in the brook are planned) and it has 4K video which brings me to my latest notion that I 'might' try my hand at vlogging on my hiking/canoeing/photography outings. That is still very much in the formative idea stage. Among other things, I'd need to learn video editing before diving in, figuratively speaking.

About those 3 solo canoes; I have a 12' Native watercraft, an Old Town Pack canoe and a Hornbeck. Each has its good points. The Native Watercraft is stable. The aluminium framed mesh seat (very comfortable) is on the floor. You sit with your legs out in front of you kayak style. Because there is no deck, you can get awesome leg sunburns if you are foolish enough to wear shorts. BTDT. It has a tunnel hull that was designed with fishermen in mind. They advertise that you can stand up and cast from it and I have been assured by a couple of people much younger and more agile than I that it can be done. I have had the canoe for 12 years and have had neither the occasion or the nerve to try standing in it, but the stability makes it great for photography on the water. The hull itself is extremely tough plastic. I have shot over beaver dams in it going downstream. It is the heaviest of the three at around 50#.

The Old Town Pack canoe is one I lusted after for years and I finally bought the last one that Mountain Man in Old Forge had when Old Town discontinued that model because they couldn't get the hull material anymore. It is a traditional style canoe with a seat hung several inches off the floor of the hull and you sit up on the seat with your legs in front of you or tucked (one or both) under the seat or kneel with your butt against the seat. That (for me) is its main attraction, the ability to vary my position. As my doctors occasionally remind me, I'm old and if I sit, stand, whatever in one position too long I stiffen up painfully. I have literally rolled or crawled out of canoes after 2 or more hours on the water because I wasn't able to shift my position in the boat. In spite of that, as I thin out my belongings the Pack canoe will likely be the next to go in the thinning out process.

I won the Hornbeck in a raffle. Its main attraction is weight. It weighs all of 18#. The seat is nothing more than a slab of foam glued to the bottom and a pad for your back on the thwart. I may enlarge that back pad. It's a bit small. I wasn't at all sure I would be able to get in/out of it but Peter Hornbeck has some videos online showing how to get in and out of his boats from either the shore or a dock and his method works. It isn't as stable as the Native Watercraft and is less spacious for my camera box but it is a delight otherwise and beautiful to look at.

In the end, if you want a recommendation of a boat for photography I'd have to say the Native Watercraft is the clear winner. The other two are great in their own ways and the Hornbeck is much prettier, but the stability, durability and space make the Native Watercraft (IMO) the best for photography on the water.

* https://visualsciencelab.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-return-of-pixie-cameras-my-first.html

A Bad/Good Day

I went hiking yesterday. A trip to 'my' lean-to in the Adirondacks, one that I look after as a adopter or maintainer. It was a very nice day but as I was crossing Indian Pass Brook a rock that I stepped on rolled out from under my right foot and dumped me in the stream. I was soaked from head to foot. Fortunately the water was uncharacteristically warm, or maybe I should say "not cold", for this time of year in the Adirondacks. Not so fortunately I was carrying my cell phone in my pocket and my Canon G10 in a waist pack. I had been intending to see if the GPS in the phone would still work with only the satellites to guide it but I didn't get to test that. The phone seems to be effectively dead. The camera, after drying it out, turns on but it is squirrelly and will need repair or replacement depending on the repair cost.

I wrung out my clothes, dumped the water from my boots, redressed and hiked out. By the time I got back to my truck (4 miles away) I was mostly dry. I went on to the Cascade Lakes area to check out a waterfall but on the hike out to my truck I spotted these Painted Trillium near the parking lot. I went back with the camera (7D) I had in the truck to make this group portrait. The photos from the Cascade Mt. waterfall are on my Flickr page. Moral: When hiking, carry your gear in a waterproof container even if it is a nice day.

If 8-10 folks decided to buy archival prints from me at $50/print, I might just break even on the day. ;-)

Addendum: I talked to Verizon and it will take sales of 20 or more prints for me to break even on yesterday. Ouch!

Tree With Galls - Spring

Back in March I created a collage of photos depicting a tree on the Hatch Road that has been a frequent subject for my camera. After making the collage I decided that I should make a version in each season. This morning I awoke to a dense fog and the leaves are starting to unfold, perfect conditions for the spring version, so I dashed out before breakfast to shoot it.

Work in Haste, Enjoy at Leisure

That often seems to be the rule in photography especially around dawn or sunset. The light changes rapidly and if you wait even a few minutes (sometimes seconds) you will miss it. I almost missed this image entirely. I was at my computer with the shade drawn when Diane called out "Look out your window." I pulled the shade and saw this. Well not exactly the above. There were trees in the way, not to mention the window. I grabbed the G10 and hurried out to get  some photos. The clouds were moving, the sun was setting and within a half dozen shots it was gone except for the bits I 'froze' in pixels.

Snowshoe Sunset

For several days I've been going snowshoeing in the Southville State Forest on the River Hill Trails. I went later than usual today and was on the lower section by the river, where there is a nice grove of cedars along the river edge, when the sun was dropping behind the trees on the opposite shore. As usual on an outing like this I was carrying the Canon G10. I composed this to catch both the sun and its reflection off the water on opposite sides of this old leaning cedar.

Brisk Walk

I took a brisk walk late this afternoon, brisk in both senses, I walked briskly and it was only 25º F with a significant breeze. When I reached the  beaver pond I found it mostly frozen over and the geese finally gone. There had still been a couple dozen or more there as recently as two days ago. Much of the thin ice cover had little dots of snow on the surface giving it a speckled appearance. I shot several photos of details along the shore and patterns on the ice. Arriving back home after an hour plus of walking I showed the photos to Diane. She declared this one 'blog worthy' and so it is.

Photo made with a Canon G10 on aperture priority, ISO 400, 1/30th sec @ f/4.5.

Tracks

We were greeted with a dusting of snow on the ground when we woke this morning. When I went out to fetch the morning paper there were squirrel and bird tracks under the bird feeders and on the front walk. We have a group of Mourning Doves that  hang around our yard. They are ground feeders and they wander about in erratic patterns as if they are unsure where they want to go. This one walked under the front gate and wandered about in several circles before walking back under the gate into the yard. Some days I feel that bird, wandering about aimlessly.

The photo was taken with my Canon G10 and has been modified in Photoshop to emphasize the tracks and their pattern.

Dawn & The Art of Lean-to Maintenance

Yesterday I did my last lean-to maintainer trip of the season. I set out from home in the dark (5:30AM) and arrived at the Loj Rd. shortly before the sun rose. The dimly lit mountains stood in contrast to the color of the brightening pre-dawn sky and a small group of geese completed this image of the horizon toward the McIntye Range and Indian Pass.

The trails were quite wet, virtual streams in some places and I had made the mistake of wearing trail runners instead of my waterproof hiking boots so I ended up spending much of the day with wet feet but it was a mild day and I didn't mind. "My" lean-to is 4¼ miles toward Indian Pass (the notch right of center) from the parking lot at Adirondack Loj. I had plans to meet someone for lunch but didn't make it out until 12:30 and was another half hour getting to Saranac Lake. I returned home by the Tooley Pond Rd. in hope that autumn color had held up better at lower elevations but it was mostly gone. The canopy there was bare and the only color, mostly yellow, was in the understory.

Photo made with a Canon G10, handheld, 1/11th @ f/4.5, ISO 200.