paddling with a camera

Tag: Florida

  • Florida to Colorado with 4Runner and Liteboat Rowing Shell

    Florida to Colorado with 4Runner and Liteboat Rowing Shell


    In late November, I embarked on an 8-day trip from Colorado to Florida and back. The primary goal was to bring home a rowing shell and, of course, capture as many pictures and video clips as possible. I drove my Toyota 4Runner, accompanied by my dog Milo. Our accommodations mostly involved car camping, with a couple of nights spent in a motel in Sarasota, FL. While I am still in the process of editing the images from this journey, below is a small selection for you to preview.

    My first photo session took place in eastern Colorado, capturing the sunset over the South Platte River near Crook. It showcased a typical late fall scene with low water levels and exposed sandbars.

    South Platte River in eastern Colorado near Crook, aerial view of late November scenery

    I reached Brownville, Nebraska, around midnight, and the following morning, I crossed the Missouri River before continuing my journey southeastward.

    This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is fl2023-010.jpg

    I took a longer stop at the Katy Trail near Rocheport, MO. You can see more leaves on trees than in Colorado. Rocheport is a place I consistently visit when traversing Missouri.

    • senior man is walking with a pitbull dog on Katy Trail near Rocheport, Missouri, late November forest scenery
    • senior man is walking with a pitbull dog on Katy Trail near Rocheport, Missouri, late November forest scenery

    The next night stop and morning photo session was at Colbert Ferry Park, Natchez Trace National Parkway. I love the Natchez Trace. I previously covered the entire span of this parkway in 2017 and 2018 after participating in the Chattajack Race. This visit, however, was brief, and I also explored the nearby town of Florence with additional old truss bridges over the Tennessee River.

    • Natchez Trace National Parkway, TN, USA - November 19, 2023: Toyota 4runner SUV at a November morning on a shore of Tennessee River.
    • boat ramp on the Tennessee River and parking lot at Colbert Ferry Park, Natchez Trace National Parkway, late November scenery
    • Tennessee River road sign at Natchez Trace Parkway - John Coffee Memorial Bridge, crossing from Tennessee to Alabama in fall scenery
    • Natchez National Parkway - bridge over Tennessee River from Tennessee to Alabama, foggy November sunrise
    • O'Neal Bridge over the Tennessee River in Florence, Alabama - fall scenery

    The third car camping night I spent already in northern Florida in somewhere the middle of Apalachicola National Forest near Tallahassee.

    My visit to Florida was pretty short. I picked up the Literace 1x, a solo rowing shell in Sarassota from Coastal Rowing USA. This boat is designed and manufactured in France by Liteboat. I got many valuable tips and instructions from Jim Henderson and also did some rowing in his boat. Certainly, there is much more practice and training ahead of me to get comfortable in this boat. I believe that this visit was worth driving to Florida comparing to shipping the boat to Colorado and incurring a $1200 freight cost.

    During my final photo session in Florida, I captured the sunrise over Tampa Bay from Skyway Beach. I reflected on my experiences of paddling across Tampa Bay three times during WaterTribe racing events – once in a Surfrigger outrigger canoe and twice in a Seawind expedition canoe.

    • Skyway Beach, FL, USA - November 22, 2023: Toyota 4runner SUV with a rowing shell, LiteRace 1x by Liteboat on roof racks on a Florida beach.
    • golden sunrise over Tampa Bay in Florida with some waves
    • Skyway Beach, FL, USA - November 22, 2023: Morning jogging - two male runners on a trail among palm trees along Sunshine Skyway highway.

    On my journey back to Colorado, I made another stop, dedicating a longer morning session to photography at Colbert Ferry Park along the shores of the Tennessee River. The atmosphere was enveloped in thick fog, gradually giving way to a clearing sky as the morning unfolded. I took several pictures featuring my Toyota 4Runner with the Literace boat securely strapped to the roof racks.

    • Colbert Ferry Park, AL, USA - November 23, 2023: Toyota 4runner SUV with a rowing shell, LiteRace 1x by Liteboat on roof racks, foggy November morning on a shore of Tennessee River.
    • Natchez National Parkway - bridge over Tennessee River from Tennessee to Alabama, foggy November sunrise
    • Colbert Ferry Park, AL, USA - November 23, 2023: Toyota 4runner SUV with a rowing shell, LiteRace 1x by Liteboat on roof racks, November morning on a shore of Tennessee River.
    • dawn over the Tennessee River near Colbert Ferry Park, Natchez Trace Parkway - late November aerial view
    • Colbert Ferry Park, AL, USA - November 23, 2023: Toyota 4runner SUV with a rowing shell, LiteRace 1x by Liteboat on roof racks, November morning on a shore of Tennessee River.
    • Colbert Ferry Park, AL, USA - November 23, 2023: Toyota 4runner SUV with a rowing shell, LiteRace 1x by Liteboat on roof racks, November morning on a shore of Tennessee River.
    • late November aerial view of a forest on a shore of the Tennessee River near Colbert Ferry Park, Natchez Trace Parkway
    • Colbert Ferry Park, AL, USA - November 23, 2023: Jackery Explorer 1000 Plus Portable Power Station is charging MacBook Pro laptop on a picnic table on a shore of Tennessee River.

    From Colbert Ferry Park, I embarked on a brief side trip along the Tennessee River, exploring the Riverton Rose Trail and Pickwick Lake dam.

    • local highway through Alabama forest along the Tenessee River, Riverton Rose Trail, late November aerial view
    • aerial panorama of the Pickwick Lake on the Tennesse River near Eastport, MS - November scenery
    • old adjustable-blade Kaplan propeller turbine displayed at Pickwick Dam on the Tennessee River

    I made an evening photo stop at the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, near Fort Defiance State Park in Cairo, Illinois. The scene featured bustling barge traffic and presented two picturesque old truss bridges for capturing in photographs.

    • towboats and barges on the Ohio River above a confluence with the Mississippi at Cairo, Illinois, aerial view
    • barges on the Ohio River at confluence with the Mississippi below Cairo, IL, November aerial view
    • barges on the Ohio River at confluence with the Mississippi below Cairo, IL, November aerial view
    • confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers below Cairo, IL with Fort Defiance State Park anad farmland, November aerial view

    The final night of my trip was spent in the heart of Missouri at Roberts Bluff Access, located on the shores of the Lamine River. This spot served as a resting place during all of my racing trips to Missouri throughout the year. The following day brought cold and windy weather, with snow showers starting in Nebraska. The drive back to Colorado was challenging and slow, but I safely arrived home.

    • Fort Collins, CO, USA - November 25, 2023: Toyota 4runner SUV with a rowing shell, LiteRace 1x by Liteboat on roof racks covered by snow in a driveway.
    • Fort Collins, CO, USA - November 25, 2023: Toyota 4runner SUV with a rowing shell, LiteRace 1x by Liteboat on roof racks covered by snow in a driveway.
    • Fort Collins, CO, USA - December 2, 2023: Coastal rowing shell, Literace 1x by Litebox, on stands in a driveway. This boat, made in France, is designed for competition, combining speed and stability.

    As usual, I am adding all pictures and video clips from this trip to my stock photography portfolio. They are now available for licensing as royalty-free images and video content. Stay tuned for additional images featuring the Literace 1x rowing shell, with a focus on capturing its grace on the water—coming soon.

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  • Paddling in Fog on the Lower Suwannee River

    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 im March of 2006 during the WaterTribe Ultimate Florida Challenge. I didn’t complete that race around Florida. However, after quitting the official race and some rest I paddled across Florida from Fort Clinch to Cedar Key.



    My last two nights on the Suwannee River were really cold. I believe the air temperature was dropping down to 30s. A dense fog was forming over the river making night paddling somewhat challenging. However, mornings with rising sun were beautiful and provided me with many photographic opportunities.

    The above pictures were shot with Pentax Optio WP in a fully automatic mode but usually with some adjustments of exposure time. I have assigned EV compensation to the “green button”. Right now, the exposure compensation in my Pentax is at the first position available by one click to the green button. I am often underexposing when shooting in the harsh light of the middle of day as well as during sunset or dusk shooting. You can see that the image quality at low light was pretty poor from my Pentax Optio WP, but that compact and waterproof camera was easily accessible all time.


    Florida kayak canoe

    SandyBottom aka Dawn Stewart described the foggy nights on the Suwannee at the 6th position of her Scariest Moments during the Challenge.

    6 – The fog (and dark and cold) on the Suwannee River, 3 nights in a row. There are often trees down and branches overhanging on the banks of the River creating what could be a very dangerous situation. There was also no moon the nights we were on the Rivers, it was very dark. Three nights in a row, on the Suwannee, in the pitch dark, the fog was so thick, that we often couldn’t even see the outline of the tree line. Even more frightening because there were constant turns on the River, sometimes as often as every 50 yds. These nights were also some of the coldest, with lows in the 30s. One night the fog was so bad, that DrKayak, RiverJohn, and I had to raft up and float, knowing we were going in the right direction because of the current, but worried if we hit a bank, we needed to be together, in case there was trouble.

    I don’t remember those nights as scary, however, I experienced fog at the lower more open river than SandyBottom’s group. I had also a reference to my paddling in 2003 Texas Water Safari.

    There was a dense fog at night over Guadelupe River between Dupont and Salt Water Barrier. I could see only tree tops and nothing on the water surface. I was really scared that hitting something would result in capsizing my tippy safari canoe in a gator territory. Fortunately, I didn’t hit anything in the fog. Later that night when the fog cleared, I hit a submerged log in the middle of the river below Tivoli but I didn’t capsized.

    By comparison, I felt pretty safe on the Suwannee River in my stable Sea Wind canoe. I suppose I am more a river paddler than sea kayaker. I was much less comfortable when entering the Gordon Pass during night with some choppy water condition.

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