River shots from a canoe

Hello, I'm heading out to a local river here in florida to take some

pictures and I was wondering if you guys had some advise on how to

take good shots from a moving canoe. As far as equipment I have:

Canon 20D

70-200 2.8 Canon

28-135 IS

12-24 wide angle (Sigma)

18-55 canon

 

Any advise on right exposure? right aperture?

 

Thanks in advance

Alain

Advice: "Keep 'er steady, mate."

 

If you can see a lot of specular highlight reflections from the water, I would recommend taking & holding a meter reading from the shore area without water in it. You might want to use a polariser to reduce the reflections, but without *any* reflections water often looks unreal.

 

Aperture can be anything you like. Wide open with the tele lens if you want to limit DOF, stopped down with something wider if you want everything in focus.

Not to rain on your parade, but you need to consider water protection. Unless you are going to be in a non-motor area, you run the risk of jerks trying to swamp your boat (personal experience talkin' here!). Just have something handy to stuff your camera in if needed and keep your other gear sealed when not in use. It may not be a problem, I have been out many times in my canoe without issue, but it does happen from time to time.

 

As far as lenses go, I typicaly dont use a lot of wide angle on the water but that may be due to my subject matter. I find the most interesting stuff to image to be the water birds or the occasional abandoned (and decaying) dock or boat house. Lots of reflections so use lens hoods and consider taking a circular polarizer.

 

Where are you going by the way?

 

- Randy

I enjoy a canoe on a river but not with my 10D and lens. Why? because I have a few times had the canoe roll over. Had my A300 p&s (thank me not my 10D) and the canoe rolled over, but the A300 went into the water. The good side is the A300 still works today, but dont know if my 10D and L glass would? If you do take it be careful not to lean to much to one side.

Enjoy and hope you have good luck with photos and camera staying dry :+)

Usually in such situations, I bring my backup (e.g. old) camera and some less expensive lenses. My best equipment stays on dry land.

As a lot of folks have mentioned, be careful of your geat, it can get wet in a canoe. As for exposures, just make sure you're using a fast enough shutter speed so you don't get motion blur from the movement of the boat, even when the boat is still there'll always be a little movement. Most shutter speeds you can hand hold should work fine.

 

Peter

I frequently shoot from Florida streams via canoe and don't consider it to be much of risk. However, I typically restrict the kit to one or two lenses and bring a waterproof bag (for rain). I've never been swamped by boaters. Biggest risk is getting tipped by submerged snags (if your partner is good and you are diligent that's not much of a risk either). If I owned your kit I'd bring the 70-200 and the 12-24 to really open up possibilities for shooting gators and dramatic scenics.

 

Right exposure is a matter of taste, but the subtropical light can be very harsh on forested streams providing 5 or more stops across deep shade and harsh highlights. So get out as early and stay out as late as you can. Partly cloudy or even slightly overcast days work nicely (like God's own diffuser), allowing for more evenly lit scenes to be obtained. Flash looks like flash and tends to throw harsh reflections off leaves. My 10D and 1D M2 meter Florida forests and water at least as good as I could with a spot meter.

 

Most Florida rivers are placid and it's easy to slow down to a virtual standstill. I've found I can generally use whatever aperture-shutter speed combo I can handhold for widlife shots. If you want scenics with lots of depth of field, its often easy to find places on the opposite bank to tie off to, wait for the canoe to quit rocking and then shoot as you woud otherwise from a seated position.

 

Have fun and be safe.

Thank you so much for all your responses. I'm going to the loxahatchee river. I called the other day and the one that runs the canoe rides told me that it was hit pretty hard with the hurricanes, and suggested to wait until the summer for good shots. So I guess, I'll be waiting. I'll be enough time to save up for a wide angle 2.8 L lens. I guess my technique questions regarding aperture was, is it a good idea to put it in apperture priority at f16 or 22, and let it choose whatever time it needs. I want to concentrate in deeply vegetated areas with old trees, and the ocacional aligator where the light is very soft. What iso should I use 100, 200?

 

Thanks again

The delay will give you time to make sure your insurance will cover replacement cost for any and all gear that may get dunked. I wouldn't even <i>think</i> about getting in a boat (much less a canoe) with uninsured camera gear.

The Lox is beautiful. Some sections required lots of portages or pull overs across snags even before the 'canes. These can tip a canoe and pose risk to your gear. The best insurance you can buy would be a waterproof rafting expedition bag or Pelican case. The second best insurance policy is to place the camera strap around your neck immediately after removing the gear from your bag/case and return the gear to the bag immediately after shooting. Purchasing insurance is a personal preference. Some people see value in it, others don't. I'm a wetland scientist and have shot hundreds of Florida waterbodies from canoes, power boats, air boats, wading, and kayaking without insurance. I have dropped two cameras during the last 15 years. One in a creek and one in a parking lot. Both fell off of my tripod because I was careless about locking down the quick release. Since I spend a lot more time shooting creeks than parking lots, I consider the lots to be more dangerous.

 

Your 20D sensor can produce almost noiseless images at 400 ISO and noiseless at 200. Experiment, and see if you agree. You'll often have a tough time successfully handholding f16 or f22 in the canopied portions of the Lox and shouldn't need that kind of DoF with a wide angle prime lens. If you really want that much depth, you probably will have to work out of the canoe with a tripod. Clyde Butcher (a local photographer with an international client base) wades sections of the Lox while pulling his large format gear behind him in the canoe. That way he can work off his tripod and he doesn't risk tipping the canoe by getting in and out!

Alain,

 

I frequently canoe and shoot on the rivers and swamps here in Florida. I have yet to have any mishaps with the canoe tipping (notice I said "yet"). When taking lots of gear, I place it in dry bag, specifically designed to keep stuff dry. I take out only what I think I'll need. The rest stays safe. This is particularly handy for overnight trips when I'm also shooting on land etc. For shorter day trips, I use a "dry box". It has things on it that attach to the side of the canoe. The lid closes and snaps securely. I tested it in a swimming pool before using it-stayed dry as a bone. It's large enough to hold my camera body, two lenses, and some filters. I keep it attached right in front of me so I can grab what I need quickly. The only problem is that it does take up some of your knee space. A small sacrifice to keep your stuff safe and dry.

 

The dry bags and dry boxes can be purchased anywhere that sells canoes. You might also check to see if "Old Town" sells stuff from a web site.

 

Be prepared for extreme lighting conditions from very bright to very deep shade on the Loxahatchee. Luckily, there are plenty of places to pull out and set up on the bank.

Hey, I've done a few trips on the Withlacoochee River (sp?), north of where you're going. As far as a dry box I use an old ammunition can (box) with some foam in it. You can pick them up from about any army surplus store, just make sure there are no holes and the rubber seal makes a good seam. Its a real cheap solution if you can't afford a nice dry box, but fairly loud when you're trying to sneak up on something. They make plastic ones too, check a sporting goods store. Hope that helps.