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 am trying to shoot some paddling oriented pictures in my home studio. Here is the recent composition: two Watershed waterproof duffels with a wooden canoe paddle and a hat. I am going to take it set up outdoors and add a river.

Waterproof duffels

I bought these two Watershed Yukon duffles for the 1994 Watertribe Everglades Challenge , and used them also in the 2006 Ultimate Florida Challenge, two Missouri River 340 races and numerous overnight trips. They fit very tightly side by side in a cockpit of my Sea Wind canoe behind a seat and serve three purposes:
1. my main cargo storage with an easy access
2. extra flotation
3. a “bed” to lay down back to rest or take a nap on water or land

After years of use and abuse they are still in a good shape, waterproof and airtight.The only drawback, especially for racing: a long seal is somewhat time consuming to close. Watershed has several models in different sizes.

Hat

This is my cold season head cover. I like it especially for paddling a kayak with a wing paddle which splashes a lot of water onto paddler’s head.

Paddle

I paddle my canoes with Zaveral racing paddles. They are great for paddling, but not so great for photography. The nice wooden Bending Branches Cruiser paddle above travels with me only as a spare in the Sea Wind canoe and appears in action mostly for photography like here on the South Platte. It is much more photogenic than black carbon fiber.

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.

After posting the “Paddling in Clouds” picture, I’ve got several questions: How did you do it? And, I had troubles to provide a reasonable answer since this shot was technically really trivial.

After my skating I had a long photo session featuring a big pipe supplying water to the lake from Horseshoe Reservoir.

Just local paddling in northern Colorado with some nice sunsets, several posts on cameras and photo gear, finally, a trip to Portugal and Poland. I mentioned upgrading my Canon ESO 10D DSLR camera to …

7 examples with a commentary from paddling and shooting around a lake …

I often use a paddle to stabilize my Pentax Optio camera, especially, when paddling rather tippy boat like Sisson Nucleus or Spencer X-treme. It serves two functions: 1. To have your paddle ready for bracing. 2. To avoid shaking the camera when pressing a shutter button.

You can learn a lot from his book. It is designed to help all paddlers strengthen their ability to see, recognize and record meaningful images. At the same time the book is simply fun to read or browse through it.