[John Bennett]

Yeah, I’ve been trying to bend my mind a bit to come up with an angle/pitch.

The reality is
Hunting: How do I write about things that most readers know and do better than I

Fishing: Similiar
Fly fishing: Even more so
Canoe trips/camping
and on

Best I can think of is maybe quasi travel/destination/lifestyle. Put into words all things I see and do.

But first I need to learn to write 🙂

[John Bennett]

Grats Kendall.

Offering both the article and images definately will get you more. Next year I’m probably going bck to school to take some writing coarses. My problem is my interest are far flung, everthing from fly fishing, to canoeing to hunting I dont feel like Im qualified enough to write about any single subject. Jack of all, master of none 🙂

[John Bennett]

I think CPs are one of the more indespensible accessories we can have in our bag, however the end product is subjective. Meaning, kind of like sunsets some people like them heavily saturated, some don’t.

Same wih CPs. How much polarization you dial in, effects the look.
For maximum polarization point your finger at your subject and extend your thumb. You want the sun anywhere along the arc of your thumb as you twist your wrist. Long way of saying maximum polarisation will occur when the sun is 90 degrees to your subject.

Be carefull when shooting skies. CPs can really muck up the tones (imo)., creating an uneven distribution in the blues from light blue to very heavy, dark blue. If you notice that, keep turing the CP until it evens out some.

As Morsie said one the sun starts gettng high, they really start to make tings pop and you get maximum benefits. Other than that experiment, find what you like.
I personally shoot with a CP on 95% of the time, even when thers very little light.

Front and backlit sunrise.

Sing Ray LB Warming CP.

And they come in handy for when you want to slow down your exposure due to the fact they cut the light reaching your sensor by upto 2 stops.

Hoya Pro 1 CP, f13,1/3,fill flash

[John Bennett]

I like flares and starburst and am trying to make a conscious effort to include them more. Sort of a trial and error thing

But also find that using clouds to obscure the sun pays dividends to. I didn’t have my flash me, so the challenge became exposing the girl enough, without completely blowing the sun and sky.

[John Bennett]

Well the weekend was great. Arrived mid day Sat and promptly hit the water in search of Yak Anglers competeing to get images before they had to be on shore.

Afterwards I was able to demo a 12 foot Ultimate. Very impressed, but a wee bit cramped. Especially if I was to load my Pelican and my 500mm.

Sunday morning 6am back on the water to cover the event. Got some of my best ever Loon images……….Major Bonus.

Back at 10am, to take my youngest duaghter out in a Hobie Tandem so she could try to catch a couple small bass and qualify in the kids division.

20 minutes later she’s landing a Musky  ;D ;D ;D ;D

After that I’m back and out in a 14.5 Ultimate Propel.
Sweet ride but I prefer the paddle.

When its all said and done I’m very much leaning towards a 14.5 Ultimate now. While it’s heavier at 60pds thats no worse than many 16foot Canoe with regards to portaging, unless you spend $3,500 plus for a good Kevlar Canoe.

J

[John Bennett]

Bugs are relative.
Mosquitos and Black Flies I find irritating at worst. Deer fly and horse fly bother the crap out of me, especially horse fly, they take big chunks out you.

This trip I probably got bitten in the neiborhood of 50 times, to me thats a non issue ad very tolerable, but then I didn’t don my bug jacket once and applied Muskol only twice and that only because were were hiking through prime bug territory an I was wearing shorts and a sleeveless shirt.

In June by comparison I wore my bug jacket 24/7 and still got eaten by the blacks. One morning before the wind came up, I was wearing Simms rivertek base layer, their soft shell hoodie then my bug jacket and I ould feel black flies crawling on my back like ants. 🙂
Thats *bad* 🙂

If you wear a bug jacket you won’t get bitten much. If you bathe in Muskol you wont get bitten at all. However, I only apply Muskol at the worst of times…That stuff litterally eats through plastic and rubber, an can eat through your camera grips an lens coatings.

Cant imagine its good for your skin 🙂

[John Bennett]

Mike this thread and your help has been indespensable especially for me given my needs and what I’m looking for.

Cheers.
J

[John Bennett]

What David said Ben.
Well done.

[John Bennett]

Thanks guys.

Ben good suggestion that I hadn’t considered. Not sure which if either pops out at me, but being the photographer, sometimes picking a preference due to the subjective nature of photography isn’t really possible.

Original take on the image.

Your suggestion

[John Bennett]

Tim I can’t say enough good things about the place. Theres sooo much to see/do and you can tailor a trip to be as comfortable as you like by staying on the highway 60 corridor or as minimislt as you like by going to the interior.

My girls enjoy car camping but with that you have “luxories” like air mattresses, amenties like running water and flush toilets 🙂 etc. So both had some reservations about downsizing all the way. In the end I did a combo type thing for them. Stayed in a log cabin ( no electrocity) etc and used that as a base camp.

It worked out perfect, they got a good dose and taste of back country tripping but also had some comforts.

crossing a beaver dam on a 6km hike (note the youngest is wearing a bug jacket)

warming up while waiting for breakfast after a sunrise canoe

As a result both are willing to do a full blown back country trip next year. “Thunder Boxes” and all 🙂

Bugs were a big concern of mine as well. I figured if anything was going to “ruin” the trip for them and thus me, it would be the bugs. The reality is theres no escaping them unless you go shortly after ice out for Trout fishing at the end of April.

By June the black flies are bad, and while they are virtually done now (there were *some*, summer brings out the deer and horse flies. Theres almost always mosquitos…So pick your poison 🙂

That said they weren’t so bad by their definitions and were tolerable. My definition would have been they were a non issue. By comparison the black flies were bad when I went in early June for the Moose.
If you plan late July/early August the bugs are even less an issue but wildlife sightings/fishing get scacer/tougher.

Shoot me an email if you really start planning it and I’ll help in any way I can.  Its soo worth it. Im hoping to get back on my own for some back country in Sept/Oct and again in Dec or Jan

J

[John Bennett]

On my way up to the Park I stopped in at a Canoe/Kayak outlet to get a first hand look at Natives and will be demoing one this weekend. The organisor of a yak fishing tournament I’ll be at, has arranged for one of the sonsors to bring one. So long as thers no nasty surprises I think I’m sold.

While at the outlet, I was able to sit in the Tegris. Not only was it super comfortable, at 30 lbs vs 60+ it’s almost a done deal. Will make portaging that much easier ad apparently there’s a removable yoke you can buy. I figure with the yoke and either the bow skirt or full skirt it’s good for tripping.

The only real hurdle I have left is trying to gauge how much cargo/gear it can carry and how it will handle/perform while loaded. Specs say it’s rated for 350lbs, I’m 180. So leaving room *technically* I should be able to load 125lbs comfortably.

[John Bennett]

I would jump all over that.

[John Bennett]

Grats Mike.
Covers are a great acknowledgement. Mine are framed and on my wall. Request some extra copies of the issue, frame them, hang them and be proud of them.

J

[John Bennett]

I used to love working with RawShooter, nothing I have seen since has ever come close to the speed of it……..and like you I was gutted when Adobe bought them out and we lost future camera support. So yes, had to stop using RawShooter when I upgraded from 1D MK11 cameras to the 1D MK111 ones.

I to miss Rawshooter 🙁

In hindsight I swear Adobe bought them not to blend/better their software but to get rid of them, before launching lightroon. I mean why would thousands/millions shell out for lightroom, when RS was available

[John Bennett]

Great stuff guys, grats

[John Bennett]

Personally I think Chad hit the nail on the head with his first post when he said he tries to keep it simple by using the rule of thirds.

Then he followed that, by super imposing a kick ass graphic that illustrates it.

The BG, the horizon,etc

[John Bennett]

You are the man Mike for including this

You probably just sold a Native…If I could I’d buy one from you just for that.

The 1 thing I wasn’t sure about was whether or not I could also use a Native for some back country camping. No white water so thats not a issue, it would all be calm water with Portages being the worst hardship/hurdle.

Now I just need to decide between a 14.5 (more capacity when tripping) and 12 Tegris (half the wieght on portages).

[John Bennett]

Very nice Mike.
Keep em coming, I’m very tempted to pick up an Ultimate. After my trip this past week Im going to start doing some more back country trips and Im thinking a 14 foot Ultimate might meet all my needs.

Fishing yak
Wildlife photogrpahy
room for camping gear to do some back country camping

Will be keeping a close eye on your reports

[John Bennett]

Nice Will

[John Bennett]

Love! the second shot Henry

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