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© Please contact me for usage permission at kyander@usa.net

The Portage Not Taken


loverfishy

This is probably the first photo I ever shot where I tried to give some thought to composition. For anyone struggling to figure out what the signature is in the lower left corner, it is my maiden name, J. Kyander, which I write on all of my photos that are online to prevent unauthorized usage. Critiques are appreciated, either on here or through my email at kyander@usa.netThanks!

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© Please contact me for usage permission at kyander@usa.net

From the category:

Architecture

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Hello! I'm a fairly new member, and was just looking for any

tips/advice/constructive criticism that the forum might offer for

this photo, one of the first I'd taken giving any sort of thought to

composition. Thanks in advance! Jessica J.

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So what next -- a bushwhack? I think the composition is good if you were trying to convey a dead-end sort of feeling. The canoe traveler certainly has nowhere to go. There are a couple of things I would suggest technically. Since it is a more mid-day shot, the light is harsh. You could reduce that with a polarizer and 81A warming filter. It is just that some of the detail is washed out by the light... whatever you could do to minimize that would help. I worked as a guide in the BWCAW for two years and shot in all sorts of difficult situations, so I can appreciate your shooting conditions.
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The actual portage for this area was impassible due to many fallen trees, and the area in front of the canoe was supposed to have been a semi-navigable river (I'd been on this route several times before), but the droughts that year had left several major sections of our route in pretty rough shape. The riverbed area was still pretty mushy and filled with sharp rocks and fallen trees, making a tradional portage of the canoe pretty tricky, not to mention possibly dangerous, so we ended up pretty-much dragging our canoe through this area, which was about 1/2 mile in length. We thought it would never end!
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Hallo Jessica, nice picture! I think, it will be better, if the boat is coming from the right corner below.

 

Regards, Henk.

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I had a similar experience on a solo trip I took a few years ago during law school. It was spring, so the water should have been high, but there had been less snowfall in the winter, so the water levels were really low. I was paddling into this really isolated region, and when I was approaching the end of the lake that had the portage, there was no water. So I bushwhacked into the next lake, and found mud. It is when I bushwhacked again and found mud that I decided to turn around and try a completely different route. The challenges of backcountry travel!
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