Quick Trip to the Lake

This morning I took a quick trip to one of my favorite places to photograph from my kayak. I loaded up my Ultimate Kayak yesterday afternoon onto my pick up so that I could get an early start to Clearlake well before sunrise. I was on the water by six thirty and had finished up photographing well before eight thirty. By then it was already getting too warm and the light was starting to go pretty fast as there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. Still I managed to capture some great images of Western Grebes nesting and an Osprey that settled into a tree right next to the take out. As I was loading my kayak up I heard some Canadian Geese flying in. I ended up clicking the shutter right as they passed near the sun. The image ended up being way over exposed but I still like the graphic feel to it. May you have a blessed afternoon, chris #TeamCanon All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens. The camera was supported with a custom designed and fabricated camera support I made to fit my Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 Kayak.

Back to Clearlake Part One

After Lenore saw my last batch of images from Clearlake she really wanted to go. Over the Labor Day weekend we decided at the last moment to go. So where do you think you could find me at four thirty in the morning? I was lashing Lenore's kayak next to mine on the top of the pick up. We left the house just past five thirty and we were on the lake just before sunrise. It was an incredibly calm day with just the faintest of breezes. Just perfect for kayaking! When the sun arose as we were paddling out towards the nesting colony of Western Grebes. You have to be very careful not to get too close or they will abandon their nests and the gulls will swoop in and eat the eggs. So we quietly paddled out for a short visit and then turned around and headed back up the slough. We were really lucky to not only see a lot of grebes but we saw one Clark's Grebe swimming by as well. They look a lot alike. The main difference being that the Clark's Grebes have a white face. There is no black around the eye. While the grebes were really calm the ducks and White Pelicans were not. They would take off if you were less than a hundred feet from them. Still we had a great time watching them. God's blessings, chris Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens,Bogen 3055 Ballhead with a custom camera support. Camera Settings- AV mode, ISO 400,F stop and a shutter speed varied. All photography was done from a Ultimate 14.5 Native Watercraft Kayak If you are interested in building a custom camera support for a canoe or a kayak please check out my blog on it at http://diyphotocheapodepot.blogspot.com/2011/04/kayak-camera-support.html I just got an email from my publisher. My book "Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography is being shipped to bookstores this week for release on Sept.11th. That's pretty exciting.Look for it at amazon and other fine book seller's it would make a great gift for a photographer or a birder wanting to photograph birds in their yard.

Decisions, Decisions

I've had a trip planned to kayak the Albion River for a couple of weeks now. My friend Joe called and told me he couldn't make it. Then I got a tip from the librarian that there were thousands of Western Grebes nesting over in Clearlake. Last night I debated back and forth . Still go to the Albion or risk it and go to Clearlake. The scenery and the seals of the Albion are always incredible. There was an incoming tide right at sunrise. The drive however is pretty twisty and windy. It's always a big deal to load and unload kayaks on the boat ramp there. The drive to Clearlake is about the same length but it's pretty smooth sailing. Then I checked the weather report online. Clearlake was going to be clear and the Albion was going to be cloudy in the morning and clearing in early afternoon. That settled it Clearlake it was. I got up at five had a quick breakfast and I was out the door. I got to the lake just a little before sunrise. By the time I launched my kayak the suns rays were just breaking the horizon. I had paddled only about fifty yards when a family of River Otters splashed into the water off of the bank. The lighting was pretty poor but I managed to get one useable documentary image. Paddling out to the entrance of the slough I was amazed by what I was seeing. There were hundreds of Western Grebe nests going off out of sight in both directions! It was unbelievable how many there were. Each nest was a mound of floating vegetation about three feet in diameter and about six inches high. Just incredible. I photographed a few nests and a few nesting parents and then I went back up the slough so as to not disturb them any further. God's love to all, chris Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens,Bogen 3055 Ballhead with a custom camera support. Camera Settings- AV mode, ISO 400,F stop and a shutter speed varied. All photography was done from a Ultimate 14.5 Native Watercraft Kayak If you are interested in building a custom camera support for a canoe or a kayak please check out my blog on it at http://diyphotocheapodepot.blogspot.com/2011/04/kayak-camera-support.html

Photo Trip Report: Clearlake's Rodman Slough

Clearlake in the fall is a wonderful place to visit especially Rodman Slough. I went today with two of my buddies with the intention of making it a combo fishing/photo trip but I never even picked up my rod except to move it out of the way. Joe the weatherman Benoit predicted there would be a break in the weather and he was right on. Steve the Bassman Eckdahl and Joe met me at the boat launch this morning just a little past dawn. We unloaded our kayaks and headed out onto the lake.




There was a light cloud cover so the lighting was soft and light and there were immature Western Grebes in flocks everywhere around the entrance to the slough. They were feeding on schools of minnows that were scattered over the slough.There were a lot of Great Egrets and I decided to focus on those first. I got a couple of nice perching images and then a few birds in flight as they took off. There were a few Redtail Hawks present but they were too high up in the trees for my 400 mm lens.





After the egrets I worked on getting some images of the Western Grebes. There were lots of opportunities with them as there were so darn many of them. Which actually made it difficult to get portraits without another one showing up in the frame. The fall colors on the shoreline made for some beautiful colors on the water in a couple of locations.











After the Grebes I was slowly going down the shoreline looking for ducks when I spotted a Virginia Rail on the edge of the tules. A first for me so I was pretty excited. I only managed one image of it due to the heavy cover. I caught several glimpses of it later on but it was too well hidden to even try.



Following the rail Steve called me over to capture an image of a nice Largemouth Bass he had caught before he let it go. It was a really nice fish as you can see in the picture. It took off like a shot when he let it go.



A little bit later Joe motioned to me to join him out on the main lake. When I paddled over he pointed into a cove to the side of the slough. There were literally hundreds of American White Pelicans feeding on minnows and fish pushed up against the shore. When I paddled into the cove they started taking off in waves. The sound they made taking off was incredible. What an incredible sight to witness. About then the cloud cover lessened and the lighting immediately got to harsh to photograph any more. in any case it was a fabulous morning for photography.





Rodamn Slough is located on the northwestern end of Clearlake. The slough is roughly 4 miles long. A good paddler can kayak or canoe to the end and back in four to six hours depending upon the conditions. Towards the end of summer only about half the slough can be paddled sometimes due to low water conditions. Access to the lake is from several dirt or gravel boat launches at Rodman Slough County Park. Small boats only as it would be really easy to get a larger boat trailer stuck. The park is on the Lucerne Cutoff located about a 1/2 mile off of highway 29. A kayak ,boat or canoe is highly suggested as it is all but impossible to get around on foot..

God's blessings to all,

chris

link http://www.konoctitrails.com/wt7-rodman-slough

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