THE LOW PERSPECTIVE

Muskrat, Mississippi River, Mud Lake, Iowa

We used Memorial Day weekend for two kayak trips. The first one on Sunday took us to the backwaters of the Mississippi River and we paddled in the Mud Lake area, not far from home. All photos in today’s blog post are from this enjoyable tour.

Bald Eagle

Paddling a kayak is a relaxing exercise for body, mind, and soul. Sure, it can be risky taking the gear into the small boat. Who wants to loose a camera or lens? They can sink darn fast…😉 If you are a paddling novice or need still all your attention to deal with the ins and outs of kayaking or canoeing, you don’t want to take any valuable photo equipment on a trip. If you are comfortable doing it, it will open new doors for your photography.

Map Turtle

I think the biggest advantage is the low perspective you have in a kayak, very close to the water surface, and quite often near eye level to the animals that are out there. The boat allows to approach a critter very quiet and many animals stay in place much longer than they normally do when they are approached on land.

And when you think you finally have him in the viewfinder,  the American Beaver makes a big splash with its tail and dives down again…

All photos: Nikon D750, Sigma 150-600mm / f5-6.3 DG OS HSM S

FIRST PRIORITY

American Bison, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

No, we were not stupid enough to lie down in the prairie grass and in front of a full grown American Bison male just for making a photo from an interesting perspective. We rather used a drop in the terrain and repositioned our car several times for good perspective and background. Staying safe while shooting has to be first priority at all times!

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES AT MOUNT RUSHMORE

Nikon D750, Nikkor 16-35mm / f4

If you go to the Black Hills for the first time you probably want to see Mount Rushmore National Memorial. It is impressive and definitive worth a visit. We had done this before a few years ago and skipped it this time. However, there are some interesting viewpoints around that give you a good opportunity to see the four presidents from different angles and perspectives.

The first photo was taken at a parking lot along the road that goes around the monument, called Profile Viewpoint. We didn’t have very many clouds during our time in the Black Hills, but here the deep blue sky and some white clouds brought some dynamic around the face of George Washington.

Nikon D750, Nikkor 24-120mm / f4

Another good point to stop the car was behind one of the road tunnels south of the memorial. In both images the Ponderosa Pines lead the eye to the subject and provide some color contrast to the blue sky and clouds.

DOWN TO EYE LEVEL

Despite the mild winter so far the squirrels must have used up all their food reserves. At least they started feeding sunflower seeds from our bird feeders with much higher intensity than in December or early January. Who knows? There isn’t much exciting about a photo of an Eastern Gray Squirrel feeding but the snow crystals in its fur triggered my interest. I don’t want my photos look like they were shot with a phone camera, from above and as boring as possible… ;-) The option was to lay down and bring the lens to the eye level of the critter. And that’s what I did to get this shot.