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.

Fog on a river may be really photogenic. Well, if it is not too dense. I rarely have occasion to paddle in fog in a dry Colorado and when it happens it is usually too cold to enjoy it. I just returned back to my pictures shot during the 2006 WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge.

April, 2005.
I had been thinking for a longer while about taking a camera for Texas Water Safari, 260 mile non stop race down the San Marcos and Guadelupe Rivers. My first digital camera, Canon PowerShot S40 in its waterproof case was just too heavy to carry it through all portages and logjams of the race. So, I bought Pentax Optio WP, the first waterproof compact digital camera, as soon as it was available.

Pentax Optio W60 is making a ratcheting type sound while taking videos …

Good news: Your camera is not broken! Bad News: It is normal, unfortunately. These little cameras are very good in recording noise from lens mechanism/motor when zooming or autofocusing.

A lot of paddling on my local waters in northern Colorado including Beaver Pond, Horsetoorh Reservoir and Boyd lake. Starting paddling season on the South Platte River. I was paddling Thunderbolt-X kayak and shooting with Pentax Optio W10.

New camera owners are often getting pretty bad, blurry pictures and are really disappointed with a purchase. Shooting on water from a kayak or canoe requires some extra efforts and practice from a paddling photographer.