I love a tripod. Especially at sunrise and sunset. I also love paddling in my Pelican Magna 100 kayak. Well, you can’t quite have it all.
The shots in the gallery below are all taken from the seat of my kayak at sunrise. The location is a go-to spot above the dam on Nogies Creek (between Bobcaygeon and Buckhorn in Ontario, Canada).
The sharpness is all the Canon 50mm prime lens (nifty 50). The beaut allows for higher speed in lower light situations. I do believe I even left the ISO at 100.
Sunrise Photo Gallery From The Kayak
A perfect blend of golden light and mist dancing across the water’s surface made for some pretty decent images. The photos have been cropped a bit to fit the gallery. To see at full-size, simply click on the individual pictures.
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Keeping That Water Glassy
The major challenge of shooting from a kayak, or any boat, is the effect your movements have on the surface of the water. The morning these photos were taken, the surface of Nogies Creek was flat and glassy. Any ripples in the photos were caused by me.
To get the water back to flat, you need to sit for several minutes. The problem is, in those several minutes the boat will move and your composition will be compromised.
If you can stop against a rock, stump or in some weeds, you can stop moving. But, often to get what you want, you’re on open water.
And then, after sitting long enough for the ripples to go away, any movement by you will cause fresh waves. twisting your body to get the shot. Slapping at a bug. Itching your nose. Amazingly small movements can cause relatively large movements.
But, chances are if you’re up at 5am, paddling out on a body of water where there’s rarely another human, you’re getting the shots that no one else is. So, a little imperfection certainly can be overlooked.
Why I Love This Place
There’s no mountains. There’s no waves crashing on a rocky shore. This area is basic. But, I’m always taken back by the raw beauty of the place. Just a few kilometres away, cars and trucks rush by on a cottage country highway. Just a few kilometres away, an impossible number of motor boats speed around Pigeon Lake.
Hell, this place isn’t even natural. Sure, a creek has always run through here. But, it’s unnaturally dammed up to provide flow control for the Kawartha Lakes and to provide a fish sanctuary to keep those lakes full.
The stumps remain many decades after. It always amazes me how wood is preserved so well in fresh water. The cut logs in my back yard have mostly rotted back to soil after maybe ten years.
The damming process created a handful of islands. These are what gives this area character. Some are just small rocky outcrops. Some are large enough that it takes several minutes to walk across. One now houses a family of American Bald Eagles.
This is my sanctuary. So close to the action, yet so far away from it.
My Favourites
I love all the photos from the gallery above. But, if I had to pick my top three, it would start with the crooked stump (second row, left side). This is impossible to capture unless you’re on the water. The unique curve to the wood makes it almost haunting in the mist.
The misty sunrise at the middle of the bottom row would be second. The fact that I captured that with a handheld camera alone is quite an accomplishment.
Third is the rock in the bottom right corner. This is my favourite rock. It has such an awesome shape that makes it photogenic from any angle. At its best, it leads into the island seen behind it in this photo.
Nogies Creek Sunrise Video
Taken last year, this video shows the area where I was at for these photos.
