This is another photo journal involving a river trip with other paddlers. I have several new experiences to share from this trip. For information and
descriptions on Fisheating Creek and to see several photos from our trip, go to my Fisheating Creek webpage.
The trip
There were four of us, two solo canoeist (including myself) and a pair in a tandem kayak. For the most part, I stayed behind everyone so I could take
my time photographing. But, it became clear that I would miss several beautiful photos as a result. More on that later. We were shuttled from the
Fisheating Creek Resorts (the only access site on the creek west of U.S. 27) to Ingrams Crossing, approximately 16 miles up stream from the
campground and shuttle service. We spent the night at about the halfway point. The paddle was casual and after arriving at our campsite around 2
pm and setting up camp, I headed back out on the water for about 1 ½ hours on my own.
New photo equipment
I had been pondering for some time about getting a fast zoom lens and was eyeing the Minolta APO 70-200mm f/2.8 for some time. On ebay, I
could not find one less than $2000, so I started looking into the Sigma version. I read reviews and finally decided that this would be a very good lens
to own. I found one for $500 and got it in the mail a few days before the Fisheating Creek trip. I tried it out briefly at home, but other than that, using
the Sigma was a totally new experience. It appeared to shoot sharp images and although I have yet to really put it through the test, I was pleased
with the results. One draw back to this lens, the lens hood falls off way too easily; there is no screw to hold it in place. As a result, it fell off several
times while sitting in my lap and the worse of it, it fell into the water. Fortunately, it was shallow enough that I could find it and fish it out.
For this trip, I brought both Sony cameras, one attached to the Sigma and the other attached to the Minolta 300mm + 1.4X teleconverter. I decided
to purchase a pelican case that would allow me to house both cameras and lenses. I sized them up first with the lenses set up with their respective
lens hoods in place for shooting, but the length of the Minolta lens and camera would require a pelican case that was too big to fit comfortably in from
of me in the canoe. I compromised and sized the case so that I could have both inside at the same time, but the lens hoods would be in storage
mode, not shooting mode. I figured that once on the water, I would keep the Minolta lens and camera on my lap and the other would stay in the
pelican case. I want the 420mm at hand for wildlife shots that come and go quickly. The other camera with the Sigma zoom lens would be for
landscape/waterscape photos. I also brought the 18-70mm wide angle lens and kept that stored in one of the dry bags. I figured I would use that at
the campsite and perhaps use the tripod with it. I also figured the water levels would be low enough that I could set up the tripod in the water once at
the campsite.
Photo opportunities on the creek
At this time of year the cypress swamp, through which the creeks wanders, is loaded with yellow flowers. They present very beautiful reflections
along the creek and provide a colorful contrast among the large cypress knees that predominate the landscape. With a stillness, the reflections in the
water are busy with flora and lots of tree trunks and branches. Through much of the creek, the water looks tea-like with its large amount of tannins.
When the sun reflects on the water, the brown tea color is quite beautiful especially where the sandy bottom shows through.
You will spot dozens of swallowtail kites. Hawks and osprey can also be spotted in flight and sometimes in a tree canopy. I found several
blackcrown nightherons, but they are very shy and often do not allow you a good photo opportunity. Several white ibises can be found feeding along
the shallow portions of the creek, but like all the other wildlife out here, they are not generous and will fly off before you get within a 100 feet. And so
are the hundreds of alligators that live here. You’ll spot many of them, small and large sunning along the creek banks and logs, but they will slither
into the water (sometimes quietly, sometimes very noisily) before allowing you to get too close. It is very common to see their eyes and snout
sticking out of the water as they pass across the creek attempting to hide from the oncoming boat.
The challenges of photographing Fisheating Creek
For photographing, the appeal of Fisheating Creek is its water and cypress trees. The best lens for this creek is a wide angle lens. I did not have my
wide angle lens available to me while paddling. Here are the many challenges and my solutions to those challenges (see photos below for more
explanations):
Challenge #1: making order out of chaos. One of the problems for me on this trip was not having the right lens attached to the camera. Mainly
because it was a new lens, I had the 70-210mm telephoto ready for shooting on this trip. I never venture out without the 300mm (420mm with
teleconverter), but on this trip I used it only a few times while paddling and decided it should have stayed home. Next time, I will have the wide angle
lens as well as the 70-210mm lens ready for shooting. The challenge of photographing Fisheating Creek (as well as many Florida waterways) is that
the vegetation grows out of control. One or two vines or weeds will take over an area without any rhyme or reason. Thus, you may see a beautiful
row of cypress trees, evenly displayed but among them are various shrubs and branches sticking out in all directions. Likewise, you’ll find many fallen
tree trunks along the creek and within a 100-sq-ft area you can count over 100 cypress knees protruding out of the water. All of these wooden
displays offer interesting shapes and formations that are so tempting to photograph. But the way I see it, in order to make any sense out of it, you
either must go in for the tight shot and highlight something specific or expand it to a wide angle shot.
Also a problem is when trying to photograph wildlife. Because of the reflections in the water and various foliage and branches in the background,
rarely due you get a clean shot of an alligator or bird. The only clean bird shot you'll get is a flight shot with the sky as the background. For this
reason, I need to get close up shots of wildlife to make any distinction of them from their surroundings. This makes it even more challenging when
you are on the move and wildlife tends to stay a safe distance from you.
Challenge #2: the lighting. This is where a lesson from my photographer friend, Daniel, came in handy after the fact. With a strong sunlight
overhead, there will be strong shadows and blown out areas all within the same photo. You may expose correctly on say a cluster of yellow flowers,
but the cypress knees and trees will cast strong shadows throughout the photo. Because there is so much vegetation and woody protrusions,
shadows will predominate the scene. Therefore, according to Daniel, the best time to photograph in a wilderness area like Fisheating Creek is when
there is a slight overcast (not heavy clouds, just a thin veil of covering). This diffuses the light and evens out the shadows and highlights. In addition
to this, using a tripod for long exposures is essential. There are two important effects from this: you capture the details throughout the vegetation and
the water appears like glass even when there are ripples from paddles or wind. A good example of this effect is one of Arthur Morris's photos,
displayed on the North American Nature Photography Association's website. Morris has a photo displayed there that shows a foggy scene over a
river with lots of cypress swamp vegetation. The name of the photo is Great Egret in Foggy Cypress Swamp.
Challenge #3: paddling with others. The most photogenic water scene on Fisheating Creek is when the water is completely still. There is only one
way I can achieve this when paddling with others, stay in front of everyone. Having kayakers or canoeists in a photo is great and I try to capture this
as often as I can, but I wanted some scenes without people and I found it frustrating having others around. One interesting effect was to capture a
paddler in front of me, but to highlight the scenery in front of that person. In these photos, you can see the still water in front of the paddler in
contrast to the disturbed water behind the paddler’s boat.
Paddling in front of others was not easy as I was often slowing down or stopping to photograph. Not everyone has the patience to stay behind to
allow you to do that. I never ask my paddling companions to change their course for me because this is not a photographing trip, per se. My solution
to this problem on this trip was to go out alone after setting up camp. This provided me some great opportunities to photograph the alligators and to
simply observe without disturbing them. I found an area where several were sunning along a sandy bank and when I appeared they all hid in the
water. I banked up against a tree and stayed still for awhile until one by one, they began to appear again. By doing this I could stay in one spot for
as long as I liked; something I cannot do when paddling with others.
The other aspect of paddling with others is that people tend to talk and paddles sometimes make noise in the water. I cannot ask my paddling friends
to be quiet so I can photograph and besides, they often have interesting things to talk about so I enjoy them for that. Getting out on the water from
the campsite on my own affords me the solitude and quiet that is so necessary when photographing wildlife. In addition, I use a very quiet paddle, it
barely makes any sound and I can paddle in such a way that it barely stirs up the water. This is essential for getting close to alligators or birds. The
one time I saw this as a negative is when I came up on an alligator that was under the surface of the water (I did not see it) and within inches of my
boat, plunged deeper into the water with a very large wake and noise. It startled me to no end and if it had been any closer, I’m sure I would have
ended up in the water with the unsuspecting animal. Nevertheless, being quiet is necessary and when you are paddling with others in this
environment, you must sometimes compromise that luxury.
What I would do next time
If I truly want to capture this gorgeous creek, I would need to go there when I am not on paddling from point A to B, preferably alone or with my
paddling companion who can spend her time fishing. I would shuttle to Burnt Bridge and from there, set up a tripod at various points along the creek,
taking my time and spend the entire day simply photographing. Eventually I would get back to the campground, approximately 8 miles down stream
from Burnt Bridge. I would not do this on a camping trip unless I could get to the campsite early enough and head out alone with my tripod.
descriptions on Fisheating Creek and to see several photos from our trip, go to my Fisheating Creek webpage.
The trip
There were four of us, two solo canoeist (including myself) and a pair in a tandem kayak. For the most part, I stayed behind everyone so I could take
my time photographing. But, it became clear that I would miss several beautiful photos as a result. More on that later. We were shuttled from the
Fisheating Creek Resorts (the only access site on the creek west of U.S. 27) to Ingrams Crossing, approximately 16 miles up stream from the
campground and shuttle service. We spent the night at about the halfway point. The paddle was casual and after arriving at our campsite around 2
pm and setting up camp, I headed back out on the water for about 1 ½ hours on my own.
New photo equipment
I had been pondering for some time about getting a fast zoom lens and was eyeing the Minolta APO 70-200mm f/2.8 for some time. On ebay, I
could not find one less than $2000, so I started looking into the Sigma version. I read reviews and finally decided that this would be a very good lens
to own. I found one for $500 and got it in the mail a few days before the Fisheating Creek trip. I tried it out briefly at home, but other than that, using
the Sigma was a totally new experience. It appeared to shoot sharp images and although I have yet to really put it through the test, I was pleased
with the results. One draw back to this lens, the lens hood falls off way too easily; there is no screw to hold it in place. As a result, it fell off several
times while sitting in my lap and the worse of it, it fell into the water. Fortunately, it was shallow enough that I could find it and fish it out.
For this trip, I brought both Sony cameras, one attached to the Sigma and the other attached to the Minolta 300mm + 1.4X teleconverter. I decided
to purchase a pelican case that would allow me to house both cameras and lenses. I sized them up first with the lenses set up with their respective
lens hoods in place for shooting, but the length of the Minolta lens and camera would require a pelican case that was too big to fit comfortably in from
of me in the canoe. I compromised and sized the case so that I could have both inside at the same time, but the lens hoods would be in storage
mode, not shooting mode. I figured that once on the water, I would keep the Minolta lens and camera on my lap and the other would stay in the
pelican case. I want the 420mm at hand for wildlife shots that come and go quickly. The other camera with the Sigma zoom lens would be for
landscape/waterscape photos. I also brought the 18-70mm wide angle lens and kept that stored in one of the dry bags. I figured I would use that at
the campsite and perhaps use the tripod with it. I also figured the water levels would be low enough that I could set up the tripod in the water once at
the campsite.
Photo opportunities on the creek
At this time of year the cypress swamp, through which the creeks wanders, is loaded with yellow flowers. They present very beautiful reflections
along the creek and provide a colorful contrast among the large cypress knees that predominate the landscape. With a stillness, the reflections in the
water are busy with flora and lots of tree trunks and branches. Through much of the creek, the water looks tea-like with its large amount of tannins.
When the sun reflects on the water, the brown tea color is quite beautiful especially where the sandy bottom shows through.
You will spot dozens of swallowtail kites. Hawks and osprey can also be spotted in flight and sometimes in a tree canopy. I found several
blackcrown nightherons, but they are very shy and often do not allow you a good photo opportunity. Several white ibises can be found feeding along
the shallow portions of the creek, but like all the other wildlife out here, they are not generous and will fly off before you get within a 100 feet. And so
are the hundreds of alligators that live here. You’ll spot many of them, small and large sunning along the creek banks and logs, but they will slither
into the water (sometimes quietly, sometimes very noisily) before allowing you to get too close. It is very common to see their eyes and snout
sticking out of the water as they pass across the creek attempting to hide from the oncoming boat.
The challenges of photographing Fisheating Creek
For photographing, the appeal of Fisheating Creek is its water and cypress trees. The best lens for this creek is a wide angle lens. I did not have my
wide angle lens available to me while paddling. Here are the many challenges and my solutions to those challenges (see photos below for more
explanations):
Challenge #1: making order out of chaos. One of the problems for me on this trip was not having the right lens attached to the camera. Mainly
because it was a new lens, I had the 70-210mm telephoto ready for shooting on this trip. I never venture out without the 300mm (420mm with
teleconverter), but on this trip I used it only a few times while paddling and decided it should have stayed home. Next time, I will have the wide angle
lens as well as the 70-210mm lens ready for shooting. The challenge of photographing Fisheating Creek (as well as many Florida waterways) is that
the vegetation grows out of control. One or two vines or weeds will take over an area without any rhyme or reason. Thus, you may see a beautiful
row of cypress trees, evenly displayed but among them are various shrubs and branches sticking out in all directions. Likewise, you’ll find many fallen
tree trunks along the creek and within a 100-sq-ft area you can count over 100 cypress knees protruding out of the water. All of these wooden
displays offer interesting shapes and formations that are so tempting to photograph. But the way I see it, in order to make any sense out of it, you
either must go in for the tight shot and highlight something specific or expand it to a wide angle shot.
Also a problem is when trying to photograph wildlife. Because of the reflections in the water and various foliage and branches in the background,
rarely due you get a clean shot of an alligator or bird. The only clean bird shot you'll get is a flight shot with the sky as the background. For this
reason, I need to get close up shots of wildlife to make any distinction of them from their surroundings. This makes it even more challenging when
you are on the move and wildlife tends to stay a safe distance from you.
Challenge #2: the lighting. This is where a lesson from my photographer friend, Daniel, came in handy after the fact. With a strong sunlight
overhead, there will be strong shadows and blown out areas all within the same photo. You may expose correctly on say a cluster of yellow flowers,
but the cypress knees and trees will cast strong shadows throughout the photo. Because there is so much vegetation and woody protrusions,
shadows will predominate the scene. Therefore, according to Daniel, the best time to photograph in a wilderness area like Fisheating Creek is when
there is a slight overcast (not heavy clouds, just a thin veil of covering). This diffuses the light and evens out the shadows and highlights. In addition
to this, using a tripod for long exposures is essential. There are two important effects from this: you capture the details throughout the vegetation and
the water appears like glass even when there are ripples from paddles or wind. A good example of this effect is one of Arthur Morris's photos,
displayed on the North American Nature Photography Association's website. Morris has a photo displayed there that shows a foggy scene over a
river with lots of cypress swamp vegetation. The name of the photo is Great Egret in Foggy Cypress Swamp.
Challenge #3: paddling with others. The most photogenic water scene on Fisheating Creek is when the water is completely still. There is only one
way I can achieve this when paddling with others, stay in front of everyone. Having kayakers or canoeists in a photo is great and I try to capture this
as often as I can, but I wanted some scenes without people and I found it frustrating having others around. One interesting effect was to capture a
paddler in front of me, but to highlight the scenery in front of that person. In these photos, you can see the still water in front of the paddler in
contrast to the disturbed water behind the paddler’s boat.
Paddling in front of others was not easy as I was often slowing down or stopping to photograph. Not everyone has the patience to stay behind to
allow you to do that. I never ask my paddling companions to change their course for me because this is not a photographing trip, per se. My solution
to this problem on this trip was to go out alone after setting up camp. This provided me some great opportunities to photograph the alligators and to
simply observe without disturbing them. I found an area where several were sunning along a sandy bank and when I appeared they all hid in the
water. I banked up against a tree and stayed still for awhile until one by one, they began to appear again. By doing this I could stay in one spot for
as long as I liked; something I cannot do when paddling with others.
The other aspect of paddling with others is that people tend to talk and paddles sometimes make noise in the water. I cannot ask my paddling friends
to be quiet so I can photograph and besides, they often have interesting things to talk about so I enjoy them for that. Getting out on the water from
the campsite on my own affords me the solitude and quiet that is so necessary when photographing wildlife. In addition, I use a very quiet paddle, it
barely makes any sound and I can paddle in such a way that it barely stirs up the water. This is essential for getting close to alligators or birds. The
one time I saw this as a negative is when I came up on an alligator that was under the surface of the water (I did not see it) and within inches of my
boat, plunged deeper into the water with a very large wake and noise. It startled me to no end and if it had been any closer, I’m sure I would have
ended up in the water with the unsuspecting animal. Nevertheless, being quiet is necessary and when you are paddling with others in this
environment, you must sometimes compromise that luxury.
What I would do next time
If I truly want to capture this gorgeous creek, I would need to go there when I am not on paddling from point A to B, preferably alone or with my
paddling companion who can spend her time fishing. I would shuttle to Burnt Bridge and from there, set up a tripod at various points along the creek,
taking my time and spend the entire day simply photographing. Eventually I would get back to the campground, approximately 8 miles down stream
from Burnt Bridge. I would not do this on a camping trip unless I could get to the campsite early enough and head out alone with my tripod.
Photographing wildlife on the creek is difficult for reasons you can see here
on the left. Both were shot at 420mm so you can get a pretty good idea
how far away I was from the alligator. The first photo is messy and the
highlights on surrounding leaves are blown out. If I could get a tight shot of
the gator's head, it would look much cleaner.
I was able to drift in closer, and you can see a tighter shot in the second
photo. The photo is less messy, but unfortunately, the branch and its
reflection are impaling the gator's snout. I still like the gator's reflection
though. I was able to get a very close shot of a brave alligator and posted
it with my Fisheating Creek story.
on the left. Both were shot at 420mm so you can get a pretty good idea
how far away I was from the alligator. The first photo is messy and the
highlights on surrounding leaves are blown out. If I could get a tight shot of
the gator's head, it would look much cleaner.
I was able to drift in closer, and you can see a tighter shot in the second
photo. The photo is less messy, but unfortunately, the branch and its
reflection are impaling the gator's snout. I still like the gator's reflection
though. I was able to get a very close shot of a brave alligator and posted
it with my Fisheating Creek story.
Making order out of chaos in a Florida swamp is a big challenge when
photographing it. The light casting a glow on these yellow flowers that
covered the cypress knees looked very pleasing to the naked eye. With
my 70-210mm zoon lens, I had a narrow range of choices and decided to
go in for a rather tight shot in order to emphasize the flowers as well as
their reflections. While the reflections look nice in the still water, it would be
a stretch for a non-Floridian native to figure out what this photo is about.
Further, the yellow flowers are rather weak compared to the messy foliage
that accompanies them, thus seeing flowers in this photo is quite difficult.
Rather, it looks like a jumbled mess of green weeds. The other issue here
is the lighting. Notice the dark shadows casting over the tree trunks. This
also makes it difficult to figure out what is in this photo. Had I used a wide
angle lens, I might have been able to pan out and capture the background
and the swamp itself, without trying to emphasis one small aspect of it that
seems to get lost in translation.
photographing it. The light casting a glow on these yellow flowers that
covered the cypress knees looked very pleasing to the naked eye. With
my 70-210mm zoon lens, I had a narrow range of choices and decided to
go in for a rather tight shot in order to emphasize the flowers as well as
their reflections. While the reflections look nice in the still water, it would be
a stretch for a non-Floridian native to figure out what this photo is about.
Further, the yellow flowers are rather weak compared to the messy foliage
that accompanies them, thus seeing flowers in this photo is quite difficult.
Rather, it looks like a jumbled mess of green weeds. The other issue here
is the lighting. Notice the dark shadows casting over the tree trunks. This
also makes it difficult to figure out what is in this photo. Had I used a wide
angle lens, I might have been able to pan out and capture the background
and the swamp itself, without trying to emphasis one small aspect of it that
seems to get lost in translation.
The photo above on the left is another example of misinterpreting the creek and its surrounding cypress swamp. The sun was giving
these yellow flowers (I will now refer to them as weeds) a beautiful glow, especially in the reflections. Again, with the 70-210mm I had
little choice and zoomed out as much as possible since there was no single item to really emphasize. I wanted to capture the reflection
more than anything. The result, as with the previous photo above is that its a photograph of nothing in particular. I decided to play with
this photo a bit and the result is on the right above. I cropped out most of the photo and left the reflection. Then, I rotated it 180
degrees. The effect is abstract and appears more like an impressionist painting with the ever so slight water ripples.
these yellow flowers (I will now refer to them as weeds) a beautiful glow, especially in the reflections. Again, with the 70-210mm I had
little choice and zoomed out as much as possible since there was no single item to really emphasize. I wanted to capture the reflection
more than anything. The result, as with the previous photo above is that its a photograph of nothing in particular. I decided to play with
this photo a bit and the result is on the right above. I cropped out most of the photo and left the reflection. Then, I rotated it 180
degrees. The effect is abstract and appears more like an impressionist painting with the ever so slight water ripples.
Two issues come to mind; ripples in the water
and not enough background to demonstrate
the scene in its fullness. The original is on the
left. I was drawn to the reflections of the
strong tree trunks, but without stillness in the
water, the reflections are ruined. Further,
there is too much of nothing on top, taking
away emphasis on the reflections. This is yet
another example of my poor choice of lenses
for this trip. A wide angle would have
captured this scene better. So I worked with
what I had and decided to crop out the top
part, placing more focus on the water; the
result is on the right. The effect also draws
you into the forest with the water.
and not enough background to demonstrate
the scene in its fullness. The original is on the
left. I was drawn to the reflections of the
strong tree trunks, but without stillness in the
water, the reflections are ruined. Further,
there is too much of nothing on top, taking
away emphasis on the reflections. This is yet
another example of my poor choice of lenses
for this trip. A wide angle would have
captured this scene better. So I worked with
what I had and decided to crop out the top
part, placing more focus on the water; the
result is on the right. The effect also draws
you into the forest with the water.
This is a good photo to demonstrate the effects of a boat in the
water. Notice the stillness of the water in front of the kayak, the
reflections are much clearer. Also notice I used a shallower
depth of field and kept the kayakers out of focus; no offense to
them!
water. Notice the stillness of the water in front of the kayak, the
reflections are much clearer. Also notice I used a shallower
depth of field and kept the kayakers out of focus; no offense to
them!
| All Rights Reserved. Copyright Constance Mier, 2007-2010 |
| Photographing Fisheating Creek: challenges, new experiences, and what I learned, March 2008 |
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