Craft & Vision just released a new and free e-book 11 Ways You Can Improve Your Photography edited by David DuChemin. It’s a compilation of articles from their library of e-books. A lot of of great information!

1. Make your images more dynamic by Piet van den Eynde
2. Tame your digital exposures by David DuChemin
3. The power of the print by Martin Bailey
4. Learn to direct the eye by Michael Frey
5. Understand the stages by Alexandre Buisse
6. Create projects and collaborate by Andrew S. Gibson
7. Refine your composition by Nicole S. Young
8. The power of the moment by Eli Reinholdsten
9. Forget the lens stereotypes by Piet van den Eynde
10. Slow down and learn to see by Stuart Sipahigil
11. Make stronger portraits by David DuChemin

I have downloaded and read several e-books from Craft and Vision including two books by Piet van den Eynde on using off camera flash, Making Light, and (micro)STOCK From Passion to Paycheck by Nicole S. Young aka Nicolesy. And, of course, I am also a fan of paper books by David DuChemin:

VisionMongers: Making a Life and a Living in Photography
Within the Frame: The Journey of Photographic Vision
Vision & Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom

A bird’s-eye view? Well, it’s more like a low flying goose perspective.

I am testing GoPro HD Hero camera mounted on a telescoping mast a few feet above kayak deck. My camera mast remains the same as described a couple years ago in this blog. A reversed Gitzo monopod is mounted on My Sticky Pod platform with three suction cups. I am using a toy table tripod at the top end of monopod as a tripod mount for a camera. I used plastic ties and gaffer tape there, so no permanent modifications or damages to my carbon fiber monopod were made.

The pictures come from a recent paddling on Beaver Pond (Arapaho Bend Natural Area, Fort Collins) with JKK Supernova sea kayak. The camera mast was set up on a back deck of the kayak. I cannot mount the sticky pod platform on the steep front deck with a center ridge. I would have to figure out some more creative approach. I mounted the GoPro Hero with a single suction cup in my recent paddling with this kayak.

GoPro LCD Bacpac, a detachable LCD screen is really helpful in setting up the camera and reviewing shots.

The camera was setup on a fully extended mast, i.e., about 60″ (152cm) above the deck. The stability of Supernova was not really affected. It was a different story with a more tippy Thunderbolt kayak. I wish I could place my DSLR camera, Canon 5D, that high in a kayak.

I just started my 2011/12 cold season of paddling on the South Platte River. On October 14 I took the Thunderbolt kayak for upstream/downstream paddling workout starting at Kersey. I did a little bit more than 3 miles up river just passing the confluence with the Poudre River. It was a beautiful summer weather and the river had a good flow > 700 cfs.

I was testing my new GoPro HD Hero camera. I didn’t shoot video, but I started from my favorite interval mode taking still pictures every 60 seconds. I did a lot of this kind of shooting with my Pentax Optio cameras. GoPro Hero was mounted with a suction cup from Sticky Pod on the front deck of my kayak. A detachable LCD screen makes it much easier to position the camera and play back there results of your shooting. I will be reviewing features of the GoPro camera and different mountain options, especially, the GoPro Hero suction cup mount with my own based on Sticky Pod product.

The pictures turned to be pretty good. Of course, the pictures shot in full sun were in general too contrasty. For this post I choose pictures shot in a partial shadow or after sunset. The initial shot under the bridge, not particularly scenic spot, is quite interesting. The concrete bridge structure acted as a huge reflector. Well, it’s all about light.

A waterproof Pentax Optio W30 camera was mounted on a bow of my Sea Wind canoe with Sticky Pod suction cup and a mini ball head. The camera was set in a lapse time (interval) mode to shoot a picture every 4 minutes …

I just got a fisheye lens for my Canon 5D/II: Sigma 15mm F2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye.

I recently bought Satechi TR-C Timer Remote Control for my Canon PowerShot G11 camera. It can be programmed as an intervalometer, so I can use G11 as my Pentax Optio W series cameras. Well, almost. G11 is not waterproof.

The Satechi Timer Remote Control is a pretty big device as seen on the picture above, but it works as advertised. The only inconvenience is that it has no memory, so after each turning off/on it needs to programmed again.

I set up the Canon G11 on my camera mast – a reversed photographic monopod on the top of a suction camera mounts (my sticky pod). Its design remain the same as described in a last year post (Kayak Video Camera Mast). However, I added a small ball head which gives me more flexibility in controlling the camera.

I took the entire setup and CLC Patuxent kayak (much more stable than my racing Thunderbolt) for a test paddle. A swinging LCD screen of Canon G11 which can be set up at any angle appeared to be very useful since my monopod extends really high up to 50″. With Pentax Optio I was forced to shoot blind at higher camera positions.

The camera together with the intervalometer worked pretty well. I enjoyed a shooting angle and perspective I could achieve with the mast. Unfortunately, the light was not so great at that day, so I used camera flash. Of course, it revealed every piece of reflective tape on my life jacket, spray skirt and a cup.

Related posts:
Kayak Video Camera Mast – Sticky Pod Combined with Monopod

I was looking for a new paddling camera satisfying the following requirements:
- More compact than my Canon DSLRs (D40 and 5D) and easier to carry on my racing boats including Thunderbolt-X kayak.
- Providing a better image quality than Pentax Optio W10 suitable for my stock photography. Pentax is great for paddling and shooting pictures for posting on web, but these pictures are usually too noisy for commercial applications.
- Recording RAW format, if possible, to allow me more flexibility in picture postprocessing.

I have been following the Canon PowerShot G line of cameras. Canon offers waterproof housing for them. I got spoiled by my Pentax Optio W30 and, now, would like to see intervalometer built in every camera. Some time ago I discussed PowerShot G10 as a candidate for a paddling camera.

Finally, I bought the recent G11 model. I am still learning and exploring the new camera and took it for some testing in winter conditions on the South Platte River.

All pictures in this post were shot during my two latest paddle workouts with Thunderbolt kayak. There were shot with G11 (set on ISO=100) on the same sandbar about 2 miles upstream of Kersey.

Like most paddlers I have a tendency to shoot pictures in a horizontal (landscape) format. It is more tricky to shoot in a vertical format from my tippy kayaks, especially, when I have to use a paddle to stabilize my camera.

I am trying to return back to my older articles through “Paddling Photography a Year Ago” series. However, I am running this blog for over 5 years. So, today, I offer a look at selected April posts over the recent 4 years.

I always carry one of my waterproof Pentax Optiocameras attached to a life jacket to document my paddling trips and races. The image quality is fine to display pictures on-line, but it may be not sufficient for commercial applications. Pictures shot with compact digital cameras usually show a lot of digital noise when examining at 100% view.

In November 2007 I started to sell my pictures through microstock agencies. It forced me to carry a DSLR camera for paddling trips. It is a little bit tricky in the case of a low volume racing kayak like my Thunderbolt-X. Most often, I just pack a camera with a tripod and shoot from land. However, I am also trying to shoot from a kayak cockpit or from a decked mounted camera.