John Bennett
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Can’t wait to go, on the road at 4am tomorrow morn. Everythngs packed, weather looks decent (good for this time of year). Black flies are out, due to start biting anyday.
Not worried but its a risk to keep in mind. One thing to go for a swim in the summer, another just after ice out. Ive never spilled a canoe in my life. If the winds come up and it gets a bit rough I’ll head to shore. Apparently thats what happened to the 3 last weekend, got rough and they spilled. Im more concerned about how wet and cold my hands are going to get 🙂
Guys Im going with will be trolling spoons for the lakers, and casting to shore with spinners etc for the Specks. Im bringing an ultralight with me just in case Im cant get a sniff at my flies. I have Loops 4wt yellow series all ready to go that I haven’t even cast yet. Will troll with streamers and toss buggers/zonkers for the Specks.
Lol, Im off to gods country this Sat where theres no electricity, no power boats, fishing out of my yak with some other yakkers for ice out Speckled Trout in the great white north. This time around the only hordes will be the blackflies. Been getting the yak ready for a week, cant wait to try this, never trolled for Specks and Lakers on the fly or out of a yak before. Alough the risk of hypothermia isnt turning my crank. Some kids spilled their canoe last weekend doing the same and 1 didnt make it 🙁
Then next week down around Detroit on assignment. Always love May, with all the seasons opening. Too much to do, never enough time.
Similiar to Dan I might suggest looking into “wet” shoes. They are designed with the canoeist/tripper in mind. A nice blend of traction, comfort, water control, breathability, support…the type of thing people who portage over varying terrain will appreciate. Alot depends on climate/terrain but you might want to think about them. Since moving to them for my canoe trips I wonder why I didnt years ago.
I have an older version of these Merrils. There are all kinds of makers
http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCT%3C%3Eprd_id=845524442629158&FOLDER%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302700471&bmUID=1272472685377Very nice Kurt.
Re UW with the G11. I ended going with the S90, both very similiar. Be that as it may. I’ll trade you your chalky waters for my dirty waters :). So tough to get shots with that much debris and silt. Its going to take alot of playing and experimentation.
Lowest for Bif?
No real answer to that. In part because the SS you need to freeze anything that’s in motion is dependant on both speed of subject, size of subject and distance to subject. So obviously the faster the bird, the higher your SS needs to be. Some birds are bullits, some aren’t.
So you can gt away with slower speeds on larger, slower birds than you can faster/smaller. Hand in hand with that, is distance you subject.
1/500th may freeze a fast mover at moderate distance enough for a keeper. Same SS, same bird, but at close range. It will be soft.Whenyour practised enough you can shoot birds at slower speeds. Bascially your “panning”.
1/200th with the 400mm
As a general rule if I’m looking for BiF I like 1/1000th and better.
Semi auto modes. Av and TV.
Both have their merits, both have their pitfalls. I really don’t like the pitfalls associated with TV, namely I dont want the camera mucking about with my aperature which affects my DoF.Dotn get me wrong, both can trip up and screw an image up.
Its what happens when they “work” but dont.In the case of TV if theres too much light it stops down..increasing DoF.
In the case of AV when theres too much light it increases SS. The shot looks the same whether its taken at say 1/1000th or 1/3000 (most of the time), thats not the case with a shot at f5.6 vs F11.
I always want to control DoF.
Another problem with semi auto modes, you can test this in your back yard on a day when there is consistant light. Say for example a nice sunny day, but a foggy day will work just as well.
Set your body to av or tv any metering mode. Look through the viewfinder and watch your SS or f/stop (which ever the camera is controlling) as you swing the lens around. What happens when it goes from pointing above the horizon with alot of sky in the frame, to under the horizon with less sky in the frame. The element that the camera is controlling changes….quite a bit.
Why? Meaning why would you want it to? The light falling on your subject isnt or hasnt changed. Your expsosure should be the same regardless if the BG is bright or dark.
Typically when you are shooting wildlife or subjects, you want to expose for the subject. Also, in this vein if your in spot metering (which I use a fair bit) and you slip slightly off the target.. Say from a black bird to a blue sky…if your in a semi auto mode whats going to happen to your exposure?
A whole bunch of light is going to be registered, the body will stop down or ramp up SS and your black bird is grossly under exposed. Conversley what if your metering for the whites on a bird and it slips off just a bit to something darker (water, bg, dark feathers)…Well your camera is to adjust by opening the lens or reducing SS.
blowing the lights to hell and back.
/deletefar cry from the earlier pic where I blew the breast a bit vs exposing for *it* this time. yeah the waters a little underexposes as are the blacks but this image is about as perfectly exposed as you can get. Lots of detail in both the lights and darks.
the only time I use AV is when light is very inconsistant..say the kind of day when the suns constantly in/out from
Yep, Northern Flicker.
Very skittish, very tough to get good images of. This time of year they are nesting and so it’s easier. If you can locate a nest, their tolerance level is less and so you can get images. I just got some good shots th other day of the male at work.
I was really waiting for the female to come in so I could get one in flight, a shot that’s eluded me for 4 years, despite alot of effort 🙂
Their underwings are a golden yellow and the only time you can really see it, is when they are flying.Beuatiful bird.
I just got home about 30 mins ago. I have a ton to weed out, then work on some of the better/best. Posted this one on FB, no PP other than a smidgeon of sharpening..it can probably do with a bit more.
Its good, but there are many, that are far better (imo) to come.
Its a decent sample that speak to some of what I relayed.
manual exposure
700mm, ISO 800, f5.6 @ 1/3200 full frame (no crop).I was in manual/partial metering. Reason being while their side are creamy brown, their back are dark. However ever time they flared to dry their wings, Im going to blow the white under wings and the breast. The breast is still a hair blown, but I was able to quickly “guess” I needed to adjust 2/3s (2 clicks on the dial) once they started to flare.
If your in any other mode you cant switch on the fly like that.
Critical focus is slightly off (fixable with better sharpening) but you can see how I tried to get him off center and my angle in low.Re the 400.
IS owuld be nice but honstly it’s not needed. I used it for years in low light..plenty of great shots under 1/250th..it just takes practise and that comes with time and acctuations.Good timing
Im off (hopefully) to go get some Woodies myself this am. Pics looks good. couple general tips.Try not to center. Hard not to do when they fill most of the frame.
Always focus on the eye. That is to say you want the area of critical focus to be on the eye
when possible reduce the angle.When shooting wildlife be it birds or four legged stuff, you are in control of so few variables. Maybe Im biased but to me it might be one of the harder genres. You can’t control the light, you can’t control the subjects, rarely do you get “retakes”.. Theres no taking a shot, chimping and asking your friend to move 2 feet left, etc, etc,etc.
So to me anyways one of the most important things you can do is to be prepared “mentally” for all the various “little things”. Stack the odds in your favor beforehand…similiar to pre visualisation.
Remember…critical focus on the eye, reduce angles, leave “room” for movement…lead viewers into the frame, not out of it. Practise switching AF points etc.
And sometimes you remember all those things but you cant control nature and you just accept what it gives you :).
In all my years of fishing I’ve been carded once.
Rich I understand that populations, regions etc are going to differ but to some extent it should be relative. While your state may not be the size or have the population of Ontario, it should by default if its that much smaller not have the same requirement in terms of staffing/enforcement/research/etc,et or shortfalls.
Another wrinkle would be is the state/province a tourist mecca for out of state anglers/hunters/”User groups”. Ontario most definately is. So we have thousands and thousands of out of prov and Non Canadians coming here every year…strainging the resources and paying paltry amounts really for it. Problem is, if you hike the direct cost to them directly…the tourist associations get bent out of shape arguiing that it will reduce their traffic. I realy dont care anymore. Kind of tired of out of prov people depleteing our resources for far less than $100 bucks.
edit add to give an idea how rediculous it is.
http://northumberlandnews.com/article/143933The gist of that is the Rice Lake Tourist assoc. If fighting a) the introduction of ice fishing this year because in part they argue it might hurt their summer buisnisses (americans) and b) they are fighting a reduction in the pan fish limit from 500 to 300.
Seems odd that revenue isn’t that much.
In recent year the Gov’t has started pubishing enforcement convictions, fines etc. It adds up and keep in mind, that’s with enemic enforcement and in many cases paltry fines (although they are getting stiffer). The square miles each of our COs has to cover is absurd 🙂 Beef up staffing levels and the enforcement goes up.
http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/en/Business/Enforcement/2ColumnSubPage/STEL02_164545.html
I have argued for a number years now that the solution to underfunded MNR (thats what we call it here in Ont) or DNRs should and could be to get more funding from the fines that result from teh charges laid. I also argue that except for the most serious of offenses jail time should be nixed and instead up the fines substantially.
Here in Ontario for example and in Canada they are finally starting to levy some pretty hefty fines. I recall last year someone being fined 60,000 for cutting trees. Also recall an Outfitter being fined 100k for taking American hunters into Sask and poaching deer out of season.
Great.
Problem I have is the funds are going to the provincial coffers.
Our MNR is seriously underfunded, under manned, under everything. Prov govt’s are already strained for the usual reasons. The reasons to me are immaterial, the end result is I dont think the ministry of NR can count on more funding, nor do I think the general populace will like more taxes.
The only thing I dont like about the idea is that it could lead to abuses. Being being charged who probably shouldnt be, COs waking up on the wrong side of the bed and throwing the book at people for minor offenses etc, etc.
As for licensing. I disagree there.
It may be nothing more than a peice of paper but to me it denotes some responsibility and assumed understanding of the regs, etc.With regards to Bird watchers.
Yep, they are a large “user” group of the natural resources as are many other groups. They will argue that because they don’t harvest anything they shouldnt pay.I disagree.
They put strains on parks and resources. Paths are maintained, patrolled, run into truble and call 911 just like any other user group.
Here in Ontario we have an “outdoors” card that expires every 3 years and subsequent to that we pay for our hunting/angling liscences that are affixed to the card. I wouldnt mind at all if more user groups had to purchase the cards (if not liscences). At the end of the day people are using the resources, straining staff and budgets. Funds derived from fines etc would probably alleviate alot of the funding shortfalls for NR.For what it’s worth, it’s definitely not economical to print at home.
Nope, not at all.
When friends/acqaintences ask to buy prints and I offer to do it at cost, most are suprised when I break down the cost of a 19 x 13.
With regards to the topic. I don’t know if this still holds true or not but when shopping for my printer a few people in the business of selling prints gave me this to think about.
Epson is probably the best but not as friendly on inks and ink heads.
Canon series are what i use, the i9900 to be specific. Basically the advice given to me was if high volume go Epson, if low volume go Canon.Keep in mind the more colours your printer uses ( mines 8) it gets really expensive replacing inks. A few enlargements, especially ones that are heavy in a primary colour and your replacing a few tanks at considerable cost.
What Mike said.
When it comes to your paddles, think weight first.The paddle is the one thing you can’t put down when you are tired and have a long way to go to the take out.
I spoke to quite a few kayakers before buying my Ultimate and part of that discussion was paddles… A few ounces here and there may not sound like a lot but at the end of a long day………………. As one serious yaker said to me. If you save 20 or more ounces and after a long day have logged 1,000 strokes (or more)…..
I went with a carbon by Werner that weighs 26ounces.
http://www.wernerpaddles.com/paddles/touring/performance_core/kalliste/I tend to agree with Randy.
For years, I have had a pholisophical difference with instructors (various sports but one in particular) who would break some person down and rebuild them from scratch. In my case and others “conventional wisdom” was to teach people the “correct” text book way to do it. Great for those starting out, not so great for those who had been doing it for years and competed at a national level already and did just fine.
In the case of Pro golfers and various other professional athletes you can make good arguements that its “justified”…ie millions of dollars are on the line.
Some the worlds great athletes had very unorthodox “styles”. This includes goalies (hasek), Hitters in baseball, golfers, the list goes on and is quite long.
But for recreational, advanced amateur etc Im going to beg to differ and whats more important is massaging the best out of what the individuals “style” is rather than trying to rebuild them into the picture perfect pure technical stroke/swing/delivery.
When I’m looking for help with my casting I want someone who can pick up things Im doing within “my” stroke and make adjustments to better me. Not rebuild it
