Kayaking last year.

FocusingOnFlorida

Hello, I'm new here. Figured I would start by posting a few from a kayaking trip a few months back.

Phyxius

Welcome

I can't understand why you have 27 views and no comment!?!?! These are great!

I love that second shot of the deer, wow. Great detail and I love the motion in the water making the reflection "soft".

I'm sure Harry will like the Cormorant, I'm an embarrassment to him, posting only little rodents. Oh, he'll like the Anhinga too, he's a fan of bird on a stick pictures too. He shows off and gets EAGLES to preform though.

Wow, even though it's a small gator I don't think I'd want to be in the water with one!

Nice pictures and welcome again!

FocusingOnFlorida

Thank you for the kind words. There were a bunch of gators out there on the day I was there. I had to get through a row of five on the way back and they weren't going to move either. I finally went for it and got right up on one about 9 foot. When he finally took off, he made the kayak rock.

Here are a few more gators from the trip.



And an old monster. He wasn't concerned about anything. Looked pretty full.

Phyxius wrote:

Welcome

I can't understand why you have 27 views and no comment!?!?! These are great!

I love that second shot of the deer, wow. Great detail and I love the motion in the water making the reflection "soft".

I'm sure Harry will like the Cormorant, I'm an embarrassment to him, posting only little rodents. Oh, he'll like the Anhinga too, he's a fan of bird on a stick pictures too. He shows off and gets EAGLES to preform though.

Wow, even though it's a small gator I don't think I'd want to be in the water with one!

Nice pictures and welcome again!

bsvirginian

kayak
Your images bring back fond memories of my kayak adventures on the upper Hillendale River in FLorida with the exception of the riffles. It's been a long time so I might have misspelled the river name. But I saw a lot of exotic birds and quite a few gators. BS

FocusingOnFlorida wrote:

Hello, I'm new here. Figured I would start by posting a few from a kayaking trip a few months back.

kdog

These are superb captures and compositions. thumb

Those gators are just plain scary. :eek1

Keep 'em coming!!

Regards,
-joel

schmoo

Great photos! What on earth is that anhinga eating? Rope?

bsvirginian

Let's change that to the Hillsborough River. BS

bsvirginian wrote:

Your images bring back fond memories of my kayak adventures on the upper Hillendale River in FLorida with the exception of the riffles. It's been a long time so I might have misspelled the river name. But I saw a lot of exotic birds and quite a few gators. BS

FocusingOnFlorida

Thank you, Glad you liked them. You are more than welcome to come back and go at it again.

bsvirginian wrote:

Your images bring back fond memories of my kayak adventures on the upper Hillendale River in FLorida with the exception of the riffles. It's been a long time so I might have misspelled the river name. But I saw a lot of exotic birds and quite a few gators. BS

FocusingOnFlorida

Thank you Joel,

I normally am not too bothered by them. They are typically shy except that day when I was trying to get back before a storm hit.

kdog wrote:

These are superb captures and compositions. thumb

Those gators are just plain scary. :eek1

Keep 'em coming!!

Regards,
-joel

FocusingOnFlorida

I believe it was to be nesting material, but yes it was rope. I couldn't follow it when it flew off.

schmooo wrote:

Great photos! What on earth is that anhinga eating? Rope?

Skippy

FocusingOnFlorida wrote:

Hello, I'm new here. Figured I would start by posting a few from a kayaking trip a few months back.

Ohhhhhh my gosh you were in with gators and only in a kayak
Ohhhh you are a brave sole truly you are

You got yourself some terrific shots, bet you were beside yourself with joy capturing all that wild, man I would have been rapt to the eyeballs
Thanks for sharing those are brilliant........ Skippy
.

kgarrett11

I really like this series. Great job.

JenGrace

Hey, someone from around my neck of Florida! Nice to meet you. You've got some really nice photos here.

FocusingOnFlorida

Skippy wrote:

Ohhhhhh my gosh you were in with gators and only in a kayak
Ohhhh you are a brave sole truly you are

You got yourself some terrific shots, bet you were beside yourself with joy capturing all that wild, man I would have been rapt to the eyeballs
Thanks for sharing those are brilliant........ Skippy
.

Thank you Skippy,

I did have my Canon 400mm L with me to crack them over the head if they decided to get cocky with me.:toni Then you know what I would do with them. :eat

Honestly, I get more worried about dumping the kayak with all that equipment.

FocusingOnFlorida

kgarrett11 wrote:

I really like this series. Great job.

Thank you for the kind words.

FocusingOnFlorida

JenW wrote:

Hey, someone from around my neck of Florida! Nice to meet you. You've got some really nice photos here.

Hello Jen,

Thank you. Maybe we'll cross paths someday. Feel free to PM me or Email me.

Phyxius

FocusingOnFlorida wrote:

There were a bunch of gators out there on the day I was there. I had to get through a row of five on the way back and they weren't going to move either. I finally went for it and got right up on one about 9 foot. When he finally took off, he made the kayak rock.

Yikes. I kayak too, but I'm WAY to chicken to do so ANYWHERE near a croc or gator. We've got water moccasins and they're bad enough!

When I was down in Miami a couple years ago we went to Billie Swamp Safari it was very cool and I was totally fine with them on the other side of the fence or while I was in a buggy.

Thanks again for posting these!

dbaker1221

fantastic series. great job!!

FocusingOnFlorida

Like I said, I haven't had a problem with them yet. We did have three gator attacks here last year, but I believe they were all poor judgement. One a girl died while swimming a reed line. Another attacked while jogging, then sitting next to the side of a river in the early morning hours (this is rare). The last one was attacked in about 2am while smoking crack and skinny dipping in a gator filled lake. I think he just lost an arm and a butt cheeck. I just hope they don't read about some poor soul out in a blue kayak with a 30D and a long white lens.

Phyxius wrote:

Yikes. I kayak too, but I'm WAY to chicken to do so ANYWHERE near a croc or gator. We've got water moccasins and they're bad enough!

When I was down in Miami a couple years ago we went to Billie Swamp Safari it was very cool and I was totally fine with them on the other side of the fence or while I was in a buggy.

Thanks again for posting these!

FocusingOnFlorida

Thank you, Dbaker.

dbaker1221 wrote:

fantastic series. great job!!

Maestro

Awesome shots! I love the BIF!

FocusingOnFlorida

Maestro wrote:

Awesome shots! I love the BIF!

Thank you and I give up. What's a BIF?

Phyxius

FocusingOnFlorida wrote:

Thank you and I give up. What's a BIF?

Bird in Flight!

FocusingOnFlorida wrote:

I just hope they don't read about some poor soul out in a blue kayak with a 30D and a long white lens.

THAT'S what it is! The big white lens is keeping the gators at a safe distance.

FocusingOnFlorida

Ahh, Thank you. I was looking through the images and trying to figure it out.

Phyxius wrote:

Bird in Flight!



THAT'S what it is! The big white lens is keeping the gators at a safe distance.

pathfinder

Great series of shots, FoF. Sharp, nicely composed, great color, and very well done.

I have been considering a kayak for some time. The ability to shoot towards shore from a kayak seems like it should be a great help in shooting shore birds and wading birds. I would love to be able to do that.

Do you take any precautions about losing your photo gear into the water? How stable a platform is your kayak when shooting with a 400mm lens? Or is this a skill that takes years to develop?

davev

All great shots.

I think I'd move up to a row boat though.

FocusingOnFlorida

Thank you for your comments Pathfinder. Actually, I grew up on the water in Michigan and here in Florida. I have used just about every boat imaginable including a canoe that I had for about 25 years. I sold the canoe a few years back and got a small Jon boat with a small 8HP motor. While nice for fishing, it was still a bit loud for photography. I was in BJs toward the end of last year and saw the kayaks onsale. I had always wanted to try it so I picked one up. That was actually my first time in one. I took it for a small test ride before coming back for my gear. I did bring a trash bag to keep my stuff dry getting into and out of the kayak. (They do make "dry bags" for this, but I hadn't found one locally yet.) I did locate a shop down Cape Coral that has them at a reasonable price. I believe I paid $19USD or so for a 25 quart dry bag.

The equipment is not protected once I bring it out though. I do keep the strap around my neck when the camera is out and tie a rope to the bag when it is in there.

BTW, I did get caught in a storm while out the first day with white caps on the water. I was on the oposite side of the lake and there is no developement on this lake. I thought for sure that was it, but that was when I found out that the kayak handles MUCH better than a canoe in this circumstance. Hope this helps. Insomnia tonight.

pathfinder wrote:

Great series of shots, FoF. Sharp, nicely composed, great color, and very well done.

I have been considering a kayak for some time. The ability to shoot towards shore from a kayak seems like it should be a great help in shooting shore birds and wading birds. I would love to be able to do that.

Do you take any precautions about losing your photo gear into the water? How stable a platform is your kayak when shooting with a 400mm lens? Or is this a skill that takes years to develop?

FocusingOnFlorida

Thank you Dave, I actually prefer my kayak to the jon boat now. I couldn't get into that lake without it. There was a tree down of the river leading to it and there is now houses or development at all on this lake. I will see if I have a few shots of the landsacpe and post them. I will see if y'all have a landscape area. If not, I will post them here.

The other lake with the gator and the fishing boats was on another lake.

davev wrote:

All great shots.

I think I'd move up to a row boat though.

FocusingOnFlorida

I didn't see a landscape area so here they are. These were taken with the Rebel XT and the Canon 28-105mm lens that I am selling on Ebay. The one with me in the Kayak was taken by my wife with the 30D and the Canon 70-200mm for the bridge where I launched. The bridge can be seen in the forth image.

Here is the link to the Ebay auction, if anyone is interested. http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=012&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=220079906985&rd=1&rd=1

1. Cypress - This is what the lake looks like most of the way around.



2. I had to get a shot with the kayak in frame.



3. This is a shot in the canal heading to the lake.



4. This is a shot heading back to the bridge.



5. Yep this is me, My wife came down to see if I was still alive or if she could call in that insurance policy.



6. This is where you I come out on the lake loking back at the canal.