Do you canoe?

OK, so everyone likely doesn't remember the commercial for some fragrance a while back... At any rate, I decided it was time to give something a try.

One of my photographer friends is always getting some pretty nice images of various waterfowl and shorebirds by taking his gear aboard a canoe. To me, this always seemed like a HUGE risk.

Why take the risk? In a canoe, you are just a couple feet off the water. In most cases, this put you at the subjects' same level. You get a much more appealing angle on your subject. See for yourself at the 2 posted images contained in this entry. Both were shot handheld with a Canon 500L IS f/4 on a Canon 1D Mark IIN.

Well, Becky has wanted to take me canoeing the past couple visits to my folks' house in WI. So, we finally took that canoe trip.

I was quite surprised at how stable the canoe was as well as how easy we seemed to glide along the water.

We decided, based on the amount of waterfowl and shorebirds we had seen, that we'd for sure have to go back again with my camera gear. So later that afternoon, we did just that.

We observed numerous Green Herons, Great Blue Herons and a group of Mallards. As we'd approach a subject of interest, Becky would slowly position the canoe for me to get the optimal angle.

Many great images were the result of this journey - a journey I know I will surely make again... and again!