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Saturday, April 21, 2012 – a very full paddling day on the North Platte River in Wyoming. It was a training run with Rob Bean before our incoming Canyonlands trip (down the Green River from town of Green River to the confluence and up the Colorado River to Moab).

I paddled Sea Wind canoe and Rob his Kruger boat (Sawyer Loon). The weather was sunny and beautiful, but with a strong head wind during most of the day. The head wind combined with a shallow and relatively slow river (below 1000 cfs below I-80) made our run longer and tougher than expected. We started at Treasure Island about 9am after early morning drive from Fort Collins and finish well after sunset at Fort Steele (I-80 boat ramp).

Spring was still very early along the North Platte – no green leaves, but a lot of wildlife: geese, ducks, bald eagles, herons, deer, otter, and later after sunset numerous beavers. The last memorable picture: the deer silhouette high above the river on a rocky edge against the fading sky.

Most difficult part of the trip: driving home after paddling.

GPS odometer:

57.6 miles, moving time: 10:00h, stopped time: 1:32h, overall average speed: 5 mph, max speed: 10.3 mph.

Spot live trace:

I was paddling with a Spot device and was recording a live trace. Please note that the trace is displayed on two pages for some reasons.

Picture gallery:

The pictures below were shot with my Pentax Optio W30 camera during paddling except two pictures shot on land with Canon 5D Mark II near Eagle Nest Rapid. Well, you can see difference between a waterproof point-and-shoot-camera and a full frame DSLR. Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to shoot more around sunset – we were running behind the schedule.

Related posts:
Sun, Snow and Wind on the North Platte River in Wyoming
Bennett Peak to Pick Bridge on the North Platte River, Wyoming
44 Miles of the North Platte River in 2 Minutes
7 Landmarks and Highlights of the 2008 Wyoming Outback Challenge
The Floater’s Guide to Wyoming Rivers: Paddle and Portage

On Saturday morning (June 9, 2012) I managed to paddle 12 miles in JKK Supernova kayak. I started from the Sunrise Area south of the Soldier Dam and paddled to the South Bay. I was returning back with a strong and gusty wind and drove home just before the High Park fire plume was visible over Fort Collins. The fire started about 6 am when I was still paddling..

Pictures below were shot on Sunday evening from the Centennial Road under strong wind conditions (camera: Canon EOS 5D Mark II with24-105mm lens on a tripod). They are available for licensing as royalty free digital downloads starting with $ 2 or/and as prints from my stock photography portfolio.

Related posts on paddling the Horsetooth Reservoir:
Early Morning Paddling on the Horsetooth Reservoir
Springtime Paddling on the Horsetooth Reservoir
Paddling Horsetooth Reservoir in Winter Scenery
Thanksgiving Day Paddling on Horsetooth Reservoir
160 Lakes and Reservoirs of Colorado

US Wildfires Map

I am using lightweight Zaveral paddles for my canoe paddling and racing. However, black carbon fiber is quite challenging to photograph and not really photogenic. So, over years I have gathered a small collection of wooden canoe paddles. Much more fun to photograph. Sometimes, they serve as spares, but mostly they are just photo props.

I am using single blade paddles with my Surfrigger (outrigger canoe), Kruger’s Sea Wind canoe and Spencer Xtreme (racing hybrid canoe for Texas Water Safari). I am also trying them on some of my kayaks, e.g., a recovery alternative paddling for my JKK Supernova kayak.

Here are some of paddle photos from my stock photography portfolio. These and other pictures are available for licensing as royalty free digital downloads starting with $ 2 or/and as prints. If you cannot find what you need in my stock portfolio I can shoot custom designs at affordable prices. Most of my pictures are also available in various stock agencies including Shutterstock, Dreamstime, BigStock, Graphic Leftovers, iStockPhoto.

Do you own an interesting kayak or canoe paddle? Handmade, perhaps? Would you like to get free pictures of your paddles? If you live or paddle nearby in northern Colorado, please let me know. Actually, old, scratched bitten paddles are great photography subjects too.

Of course, I paddled much longer on the Boyd Lake, but I stopped for 10 minutes in the southern end of the lake to enjoy a magic light just before sunset. I shot several pictures looking north trying different angles, different placement of a horizon, with and without a kayak bow in the frame and switching from horizontal to vertical format. All pictures were shot with Pentax Optio W10 with EV compensation set between -1 and and -1.7 and white balance left on “auto”.

The above 6 pictures were selected from 20+ pictures I shot during that 10 minute photo session. The light was changing. You can see these young flooded cottonwood trees in the light at first, then they went into shadow. It looks quiet and calm, but passing power boats were sending wakes to my tippy photography platform – WSBS Thunderbolt-X kayak. It would be rather embarrassing to flip over in 1 foot deep water.

Then, it was time to look west and shoot the sun and clouds over mountains, but that is another photo story.

Which is your favorite picture? There are larger images behind the thumbnails.

This article was originally posted in my old blog on June 26, 2007. I was shooting with Pentax Optio W10 at that time. I have just upgraded my paddling camera to Pentax Optio WG-2 after shooting with W30 for several years.

Related posts:
Horizontal or/and Vertical Format in Kayak Photography
Where to Place a Horizon in Your Paddling Pictures?
Photography composition books”> at Amazon.com

paddling with a camera