Kayak Camera Sea FAQ

I'm shooting since December, ’08 with a Canon 5D Mark II, a 21.1MP, full-frame sensor dSLR. In December, ’09, I added a Canon 7D, 18MP and 1.6x crop factor. The two cameras together should give me an edge in the field.

The 5D II is a terrific camera for general shooting, because of the high pixel count and the full-frame sensor. This is critical for my kayak photos and scenics. I like going wide, and full-frame means no crop factor. Moreover, many folks don't realize the value of full-frame for selective-focus images with poster-like backgrounds, whether it's a bird, a person or floral portrait. It's tougher to get that with the smaller sensor digitals. The 7D’s fast, 8 frames/sec frame rate and high pixel density are great for photographing shy animals. In good light the images are fabulous (see Killdeer eyeball from my first 7D shoot).

I studied the 7D auto focus for a 2010_03 photo tip. It’s fast at acquisition, but also makes operator error all the more glaring. Sharp pictures from a densely-packed sensor with a 1.6x crop factor means more exacting technique. For example, I think I have a tougher time getting sharp pictures from my 7D while using a Wimberley Sidekick/Gitzo combo and a 500 f/4 lens, relative to my 5D II. That makes sense because the 1.6x multiplier is the equivalent of 800mm. You’ve got to hold it steady, or shoot even faster.

I love the 5D cameras for light-weight backpacking, although the entry Canon Rebel series, with its smaller lenses, and up to 18MP, means not much image quality loss but a substantial weight reduction. These dSLR's will get increased competition for backpacking from a new big-sensor but tiny genre of cameras—cameras like the Sony Alpha-NEX series or the Canon PowerShot G1 X. Ultralight backpacker Ryan Jordan has a review of the Sony NEX-7, suggesting it's the best backpacking camera for the weight of any current camera. A good argument can certainly be made, though it's not full-frame.

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What lenses do you use?

For on-the-water shooting, I keep the camera gear in a dry bag in the cockpit, with the lens I'm most likely to use mounted on the 5D II. In 2010, the lens will be either a 17-40mm f/4L or a 70-200mm f/4L. I may also mount a longer telephoto—on the 5D II or 7D—if I'm photographing wildlife. For longer kayak trips, that lens would be the 300mm f/4. When photographing wildlife locally or when car camping, I mostly use the 500mm f/4L.

If you're shooting from a kayak the image-stabilized (IS) lenses are a godsend. Space in a sea kayak cockpit is limited. Shoulder stocks, mono-pods, or string-pods can't easily be used—and none work in ocean swell, where IS performs superbly. A tripod is out of the question in a kayak, unless maybe you're paddling one of those fat plastic rec boats, but those aren't sea kayaks.

For a long time, the Tilt/shift lenses have been kind of a trademark for me. I would go off on early morning shoots or day hikes in the Cascades with the 24mm T/S and the 90mm T/S, plus extension tubes. They are so great for scenics, but can be useful for action as well, any time you can pre-focus. For example, the "Discovery" intertidal shot was made by tilting the 24mm T/S, for extreme depth-of-field, but retaining a high shutter speed to freeze the motion of the kayaker. The 24mm T/S is my favorite scenic lens - especially for wildflowers - where the tilt allows fast shutter speeds while retaining depth-of-field to freeze the flowers when it's breezy.

Most kayakers will find the new digitals even more useful for kayaking than the weatherproof film point-and-shoots. They take excellent pictures, they're versatile, they're fun. The instant feedback alone will push your photography to new levels. I love not having to glue my eye all the time to the viewfinder to accurately frame a picture. Put the camera at arm’s length—or plunge it into the water (if waterproof)—you can still view the scene in the LCD. Then there's the Quick Time movies—great for stroke analysis and rolling critiques.

If you want to snorkel as well as kayak, pretty much all the manufactures offer either waterproof cases rated up to 140 feet for some of their digital point-and-shoots, or waterproof cameras with depth ratings of 10-33 ft. It's great to get waterproofing without a case, which saves on bulk so you can stow it in a PFD pocket. The 14 Megapixel Olympus Tough TG-810 is waterproof to 10 meters, and the 14MP Pentax Optio WG-1 is rated to 10 meters as well. Both zoom internally, which helps make the waterproof rating possible.

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How do you manage your digital workflow? (edited 1/3/11)

This is a great question. I started using Adobe Lightroom in 2007, and now use Lightroom 3. I’ve done a lot of head scratching in the last three years coming up with a workflow that works, but I think I’ve essentially solved that, with Lightroom the central focus. After image capture, I import, sort, discard and process images with Lightroom, using it exclusively as my organizing tool. When a customer calls, I’m into Lightroom immediately to assemble a collection and submit photos. I use Lightroom web galleries as a quick way to show client images. With a custom web template that has the FTP address for upload built in, all I need do after creating a collection of images is bring them into the web module, change the title and destination folder, click on Upload, and then send a client the link.

Lightroom is a metadata-driven image editor and catalog. It’s a database—not a file browser like Breezebrowser, or Canon’s ZoomBrowser. You have to import your images into it (actually just the locations of the images, so you don’t have to disrupt your existing file system). Once in the catalog, RAW files especially can be manipulated non-destructively, with results saved in metadata as a “recipe” that takes just a few bits of hard drive. These “recipes” can then be applied to a whole shoot: optimize one image, then press Ctrl A (Windows) and Sync, and you’ve optimized the whole lot. Starting with Lightroom 2, there are features that allow individual pixel work, and I particularly like the Adjustment Brush, which I often use for scenics to easily select skies and then darken them for effect (see my Photo Tip Lightroom 2: Whoo-Hoo). Lightroom 3 doesn’t replace Photoshop because for much individual pixel work, especially stuff like merging photos or creating panoramas, Photoshop still fills the need, but my Photoshop use has dropped 80% or more (I use Photoshop Elements 10).

Lightroom contains five task-oriented modules, each with content-appropriate options. Most work is done in Library and Develop, but for specific outputs, there are some basic SlideShow, Print and Web modules. It isn’t a one-stop shop, but it’s close.

Importantly, I've cut the size of my image library in half since moving to Lightroom. I've thrown away countless TIF files, usually because I've created a better RAW "recipe" to replace them. My RAW files, saved as DNG (Adobe’s open source Digital Negative format) from my 12.8 MP Canon 5D average 10 MP, including the embedded recipe; the old TIF's were at least 36 MP, and if it was a layered PSD file it could be double or treble that. Of course, some PSD files I still need, but with Lightroom 3's adjustment brush, most images don't require creating a TIF or PSD that balloons the size to allow destruction-free work in Photoshop.

Briefly, after a shoot I put the CF card into the reader slot on my computer. I’ve set up Lightroom preferences to detect the card, and the images show up automatically, in date folders, in an import dialog box. Within a keyword box I add general words applicable for the shoot, and select a custom processing preset. I shoot only RAW images, and the processing preset is a great time-saver that adds a recipe of enhancements—stuff like vibrance, sharpening, a little fill light, etc.—so the rendered jpg looks "improved" as it enters the Lightroom Library and often needs little work. Additionally, a Metadata preset enters IPTC copyright information. I don’t do a backup on import, like many folks advocate, because I prefer to purge the junk first. After throwing away 60-90% of the images (which takes two or three passes), I do a group rename, add more specific keywords, rate a few of them (1-5 stars), convert them to DNG (again, Adobe’s Digital Negative format), backup the new folder to an external drive and then burn a DVD backup (I sometimes wait on the DVD back-up, and do that part when I find the time). Lastly, I put the CF card back in the camera and reformat. This all goes quickly unless I have lots of similar images of good quality and I feel the need to pare them down.

On import, the new images go into a year folder inside my Pictures folder, organized by the year-month-day labeled folders. That way each new folder follows the last one at the end of the list, making backups easier. I use the year folders to reduce the number of folders shown in the Lightroom Library by keeping all but the year folder I'm using un-expanded. As an example, my date folder label is 2009-02-15, for a Feb. 15th, 2009 shoot, and it goes into Pictures/2009/. I don’t much care if the morning shoot was birds in Seattle, and that evening was historic buildings in Sitka, AK. The images are text (keyword) and/or date searchable using the Library Filter. I’ve completely gotten away from grouping images by location, or trip, or subject, like in the film days. Digital is a different animal. If putting your images in date-only folders is too scary, tack a custom label on the end of the folder name so when your looking at the folder column you'll have an indicator of the content. And for same date shoots, one could be, say, 2008-05-20_Seattle and another 2008-05-20_Sitka.

For file names, I select all images in the folder, and then do a group re-name with a custom preset that again starts with the date. I only have to add a short custom name that's part of the preset. The preset automatically adds a three-digit sequential number and my last name. For example, if I'm shooting at the Seattle Arboretum, a file name may look like this: 20090110_arb_001_luhm. I put my last name in only because clients sometimes requested it.

However you do it, it’s important to be consistent whatever your workflow, so you don’t, for example, get out in the field and discover you have a card full of images, and then wonder if you’ve backed them up. Too, Lightroom isn’t for everyone. It works on the Mac or PC, but for Mac users there's Apple Aperture. And if you only work on select images to optimize for printing or for web publishing, rarely do submissions, or perhaps you only shoot jpg’s, you may have little reason to go the Lightroom route.

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Why don't you use a waterproof camera?

The 35mm SLR and dSLR are so versatile nothing else holds up comparatively. The digital point-and-shoots don't have the picture quality or focal length range, and continue to be plagued by shutter lag. My dSLR system has a focal length range from 17mm to 700mm, no shutter lag, and the ability to shoot at far higher ISO’s and produce sharp, noise-free images.

Many people have said they wouldn’t shoot from a kayak with their SLR. Paddling experience is key to knowing when you can take the SLR out of its dry bag without trashing it. For example, what happens to the kayak when you inadvertently drive the bow up on a submerged log? Or when a wave breaks unexpectedly over a submerged rock (boomer) when a bigger than normal wave set moves by?

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What about point-and-shoot digital cameras for use on the water?

Canon, Sony, Nikon, Casio and Olympus offer waterproof cases for many of their digicams. The cases are rated to a depth of 100 feet or more, with full or nearly full control of camera functions through o-ring sealed buttons on the outside of the case. All are quite compact, and are the way to go for many people, especially considering use for digital slide shows, which don't require a high pixel count like prints, a point that bears repeating. A typical digital slide show requires 1024x768 pixel dimensions. That’s less than 1MP. In it’s waterproof case, the digicams are as small or smaller than a 35mm SLR with a small lens attached, and close in size to a Nikonos V. You can wedge the camera inside your PFD, like you might with waterproof binoculars. The cameras are lighter than the Nikonos, and will hang easily around your neck. Many paddlers simple stow them under deck bungie. Most of them float, too, but barely.

My choice for an on-the-water point-and-shoot today would probably be the 14MP Pentax Optio WG-1. Its lens zooms internally, and Pentax claims it's good for a 10 meter immersion for 2 hours. It also shoots 720p video, and has an optional waterproof remote so you could mount the camera on your kayak and shoot action images while underway. You can snorkel with it without a case, and it fits in a PFD pocket!

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How do you keep your camera equipment dry?

In almost all paddling situations, my SLR sits in a dry bag that's located between my legs and under my spray skirt when not in use. I pop the skirt and open up a dry bag to use the camera. My pick for camera dry bags is Sagebrush Dry Goods. Sagebrush bags have a tough urethane skin, all-welded seams and a reliable waterproof TIZIP Masterseal zipper —not a roll-up closure that will leak if submerged. Their larger camera bag is big enough for a 35mm camera body with 28-135mm zoom and lens hood mounted for action. A pro camera body with a motor drive takes some effort to squeeze in, and could even pull the zipper apart, but if that's your need Sagebrush will make a custom bag to your specifications. I have a lot of confidence in them [Disclosure: Sagebrush has given me a number of bags to test]. Water can of course get in if you open the bag to shoot - from splash, wet hands or from the lip of the zipper if the bag itself is wet. In that it's comparable to a dry box, but with less bulk even with padding. In addition, you don't have a rigid dry box lid to lift up that then gets in the way.

I have enough confidence in the Sagebrush bags that I've begun using a custom bag from them to stow my 500mm f/4 with the 5D. The bag sits between my legs in my Mariner Max or Necky Chatham 17, but I've even used it in a Necky Tahsis - not a big cockpit kayak. To use the big lens, I pop the skirt, un-zipped the bag - pull out six grand worth of camera - and fire away. If you want something similar, I suggest contacting Sagebrush and perhaps get their "Plain Jane Duffle", or the large "Twin-center", sized for your needs.

Extra lenses, filters, and film are kept in a hard plastic waterproof (Pelican) case that I only open on shore. I also carry silica gel, a desiccant that I keep in double zip-locked bags. If moisture gets on the camera or in the dry bag, I open the ziplocks and let the desiccant dry things out. The drying power of the silica gel can be renewed by putting it in an oven at low temperature for a hour. It can also be rejuvenated with a camp stove if you really need it in the field. When the gel turns color from pink to blue it's good to go again. I've tried using a microwave to rejuvenate gel, but it drives the water out so fast it explodes the gel ganules, so I only do that in a pinch.

A big problem for me is keeping my hands dry. I do a lot of open ocean paddling, where waves and ocean swell mean your hands frequently enter the water. Often they end up looking like prunes. If you grip the paddle with your hands close together to keep them out of the water, it can result in injury. One solution is to wear latex (dish washing) gloves. I just remove them to take a picture. I also keep a cotton bandanna under my hat, and another one in the camera bag. I use them to dry my hands, and to wipe off the camera. If the bandana in the camera bag gets damp, I put it below deck, and rinse and dry it out when in camp. On windy days or in really rough seas, I usually stop photographing, and concentrate on paddling.

I'm always looking for new solutions to these problems. If you'd like to share yours, send me an email at: gluhm@comcast.net.

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Your pictures look so crystal clear. How do you achieve that?

Aside from camera and lens choice, I always shoot with a lens hood. This accomplishes three things. First, the lens hood protects the front lens element probably better than a lens cap, so I can leave the cap off. Second, the hood keeps water spray from striking the lens. Now I don't have to clean the lens as much, and I'm less likely to need a filter for lens protection. Third, and most important, the hood prevents stray light from the sun or bright sky from bouncing around in the glass, causing lens flare and reducing contrast. Outdoors, we have only limited control over light and its direction. So I always shoot with a lens hood.

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How do you get sharp pictures?

When I'm photographing I try to face forward while seated in the cockpit. I hunch over - push my elbows into my PFD. If it's calm I lean my elbows on the coaming. A bad way to photograph is to turn your body sideways to the kayak before snapping the shutter. This is an unstable position and the result will be fuzzy images and crooked horizons.

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What kayak do you use? Any advice on kayak choice?

I’m paddling all Necky kayaks now, with four in the fleet (five with my wife's Looksha IV). I’ve sold my beloved Mariner Coaster, my big trip Mariner Max and my fast, skinny Necky Tahsis. Mostly they’re gone for business reasons. The Broze brothers (Mariner Kayaks) closed their doors a few years ago. I’ve also had a business relationship with Necky ever since we traded my wife’s grey Necky Looksha IV, which she loves, for a brighter-colored, yellow-deck Looksha (same model). Photos of kayaking are the biggest part of my income, and it makes sense for me to paddle relatively new, brightly-colored boats.

I replaced the Max with a Necky Looksha Elite, a Northwest-style ruddered kayak with good handling and ample volume for the big trip. My Necky Chatham 17 serves well as an open coast tripper, especially as a photographer with its excellent stability despite a fairly narrow 22” beam, plus enough volume to keep a me happy if I take care with packing decisions. I’m also very fond of my Necky Eliza, a boat marketed to women but which is an excellent choice for small- to medium-sized guys or gals looking for a utility kayak that shines in surf and current play, has the capacity for a multi-day trip, paddles easily at a 3.5-knot pace and is so light I can pick it up with one arm (See my photo tip: Packing a small sea kayak).

In spring, 2009, I added a Necky Manitou 14, now (almost) a dedicated bird photography kayak. I couldn’t find a better kayak for photographing birds with a 500mm f/4. It has bomber stability for hand-holding the 500mm f/4 with confidence. The water line is long enough to quickly get you to photo ops, and it has enough gear stowage for an over-night (See my photo tip: Bird Photographer Kayak). It also has a skeg, which I prefer, not a rudder. I like dropping the skeg to keep me faced forward while photographing, and I like the firm footrests. At a weight of 44 lbs, it’s not super-light compared to other smallish kayaks, a consideration of women and older photographers who don’t want to deal with car-topping and carrying solo a 44 lb kayak when on solo day trips (Note: Most single kayaks weight more, some a lot more, but in its class there are a few lighter alternatives, especially in light-weight carbon-fiber and in shorter kayaks without bulkheads, rudders or skegs).

In general—considering multi-day, touring kayaks—a medium-volume kayak is probably the best choice for most photographers. A big volume kayak can be a lot to handle, so padding skills are even more important. Most folks should probably opt for something a bit smaller than a Looksha Elite or Mariner Max. Photographers especially should seek to shrink the volume of stuff that they carry. My advice is to get your gear into a boat that fits you for size and is easy to handle. For example, I used my 21” beam Necky Tahsis, for a two-week trip to Bella Bella in July, 2005. I took my big gun 500mm f/4, and all my usual photo gear. I loved paddling that kayak, loaded, or not loaded, with gear. The Tahsis is fast and tippy and I wouldn’t recommend it for photography, but with an excellent secondary I never worried about capsize while photographing from the cockpit. I kept the 500mm in a Sagebrush bag. Even though I got everything to fit, I could have done better. For instance, I took three pairs of shoes: paddling shoes, sandals, and a pair of light-weight hiking boots. It was a wet trip, and the hiking boots got damp from the get-go and were pretty useless. A good option for footwear is to pick up a pair of quick-draining paddling shoes that you can also hike in, and use calf-high gortex socks in camp so it doesn't matter if the shoes are wet.

For overnights I love paddling my Necky Eliza, which loaded or not has such low windage it’s a joy to paddle when storms roll in. The Necky Eliza is a kayak any small to medium-sized paddler should consider, although the cockpit is way too small for photographers with big lenses.

If you really feel you need for a big volume bulk carrier (bigger than the Looksha Elite), two other kayaks I would recommend for photographers are the Prijon Kodiak and the Azul Aspen. Reviews of these kayaks can be purchased on-line from Sea Kayaker magazine.

The Mariner Kayaks website is still a good place to start if you're looking for a kayak. As I mentioned, the Broze brothers have closed their store and retired, but I'd be surprised if those great hulls don't somehow find their way back into the marketplace.

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Any suggestions for wildlife photography?

Yes. Learn natural history. Get excited about animals. Get out every day, even if it's only for 20 minutes to look at birds in a city park. Be patient. Carry waterproof binoculars and use them to study subjects at a distance. Learn which animals can be effectively photographed in zoos. For example, at the Newport Aquarium, Newport, OR, you can get up close to Tufted Puffins, Black Oystercatchers, and other sea birds to create images that look natural. Also visit places where the wildlife are used to people. Many bird species are approachable in marinas, near seaside food process plants (see my fishhead essay) or sewage treatment plants, or in city parks. Boat launches, especially where people go fishing, can be great locations. Some places have an essentially tame Harbor Seal, or Sea Otter.

Whatever you do, don't feed them. A wild animal that associates food with people often ends up a pest, or dead, or results in the closure of a wild area to people. The recent (summer, 2000) mauling of a sea kayaker on Vargas Island, BC, by a wild wolf is a case in point. It was reported that this wolf had been fed previously by people, became habituated, and was probably looking for a handout.

One of the advantages of photographing wildlife from a kayak - rather than a larger boat - is you're down close to eye level with the animal. This almost always results in better photographs.

One other point: the emphasis for wildlife photographers has always been to get close, use the biggest telephoto in your arsenal and show the bird or mammal large in the frame. Work to be different, for example, by putting the animal small in the frame, perhaps using a wide-angle and a remote trigger. Show more of the environment where the animal lives, or place it as a part of the big scenic. These types of shots take some thought and often time to set up, and are therefore largely ignored in workshops.

Oh, and did I say, learn natural history?

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What would you choose for a wildlife lens?

My first choice for a wildlife lens is the Canon 300mm f/4L IS (Image Stabilized). It's compact enough to use hand-held with great results from the kayak, fast enough to capture action, and long enough for most situations. For many years, it was my most used lens. In good light, I attach a 1.4 tele-extender, giving me a 420mm f/5.6. Now that I have a 7D with its 1.6x multiplier, the 300mm f/4 is an effective 480mm f/4, and the 420mm f/5.6 becomes a 672mm f/5.6. That's quite a reach. I have to say, though, since I started shooting a 500mm f/4 from the kayak in 2006, it was a great leap forward for my bird photograhy, even though I rarely use the 1.4x with it. The 7D/500mm f/4 shot at f/5.6 at 320 iso is my standard bird photography set-up.

Another good choice would be the Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS zoom, a very versatile lens. I prefer the 300 f/4, though. It's faster for low-light situations, it has a built-in lens hood, it weights less, and you can get it and the Canon 1.4 tele-extender for almost the same price as the 100-400mm alone. You do lose the ability to zoom back to 100mm - for scenics or wildlife groupings - but then I usually have another camera handy with a zoom lens attached.

For a single, general purpose wildlife lens for kayaking, the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS zoom (or its predecessor, the 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS) is a good choice. This lens is plenty sharp, it won't break the budget, and it's compact and light compared to the 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS. You can hang onto it with one hand while maneuvering your kayak with the other. With the lens hood attached, it fits easily in a large Sagebrush Dry Goods or large Ortlieb dry bag. I used it in this picture, while bobbing about in ocean swell. The picture is tack sharp. The October, 2000, cover of SeaKayaker was also taken with this lens. Be aware, though, that you can't use the 70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS (or its predecessor) with the Canon tele-converters.

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What about bigger lenses, like a 500mm or 600mm?

I love my 500mm f/4 IS, but I've often carried it (or its predecessor, the 500mm f/4.5L) for weeks on kayak trips and it didn't get used. It's too big to use from the cockpit of most kayaks. To stop and set up for shots takes extra effort, so you want to have a good situation. Of course, the results are usually worth it. I store the 500mm in a waterproof case, a Tundra 716, which slides easily behind the seat of my Mariner Max (my kayak doesn't have bulkheads and hatches). On calm water bird photo trips, I now stow the 500mm in the cockpit in a custom Sagebrush Dry Goods bag big enough to house the camera, lens w/1.4 tele, and attached lens hood.

While I envy many a photo taken with a 600mm f/4, a lens that expensive has to be a workhorse. It would require a waterproof case so big you'll need a barge to transport it. A PWS Thunderbird would probably work — or paddle a canoe. On land, the 500mm f/4, at 8½ pounds, is far easier to carry than the 12 or 13-pound 600mm. If you need to hike a mile to a good shooting location, you'll appreciate the difference. The 600mm, of course, shines for stand-on-the-shore photography of subjects like surfing or sailing - or bears. Personally, I want to be closer to the action, where the 500mm or 300mm f/4 can compete, and I look for situations where I can make that happen.

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Any other advice?

Always reset your camera to the same settings after a shoot. An hour later, the next day, or whenever you pull your camera out again you need to know that your set-up is the same. If you only have two seconds to shoot, and you’ve got yesterdays exposure compensation dialed in or yesterday’s f-stop or you’re in manual mode - whatever it is - you’ve just lost the shot.

I leave my camera in Aperture priority, with the aperture set wide open. I always want to control aperture. Leaving it wide open assures me the fastest shutter speed, which for hand-held and sport photography is what I want most of the time.

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