Comments on: Whitewater Photography Tutorial #4

By: Darin McQuoid

Darin McQuoid — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:05:34 +0000

I just finished #8 which talks about equipment. For the last year and a half I’ve used a 20mm and 50mm, then for the last year added in a 75-150, all on a cropped sensor. I did just move to a full frame sensor last month. cheers,

Darin

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:54:14 +0000

These tutorials are as fantastic as your shots. Thanks a ton for putting these together. I’m wondering what primes you use most/carry with you (mainly focal length) and are those on a full frame sensor or cropped? Thanks.

By: Darin McQuoid

Darin McQuoid — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:35:34 +0000

Drybag placement is total personal choice. On a multi-day I simply don’t have enough room to put it in the back, so I’ve gotten in a habit of keeping it up front between my legs. I don’t anchor it, and came close to losing it once during a bad swim. I think putting it in the back of the boat is safer by far, but more of a hassle to take out every time you want to take a shot.

By: Jaime

Jaime — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:52:14 +0000

Darin,

Thanks again for all the advice.

The dry t-shirt idea is a good one to dry hands, thanks. I do have a Watershed, but keep the camera inside a small Lowepro bag within the Ocoee.

Regarding drybag placement… I hear about “keeping the Watershed between your legs”… how do you attach it? The front pillar? I place it behind the backband, trying for it to be as central as possible…

-Jaime

By: Darin McQuoid

Darin McQuoid — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:57:50 +0000

Shaggy,

That sounds like a great method too, not one I’ve ever used but more accurate once you get a feeling for the scene.

By: Shaggy

Shaggy — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 00:46:05 +0000

Hey Darin,

Great Tutorials! On the topic of White Balance: The “cloudy” setting on my Sony A300 does work pretty well. One thing that I will also adjust if the color range is a bit “cool”, is the Kelvin White Balance. I bump up KWB +6000 to “warm” things up. Conversely, you can “cool” the color temps down if the color range is to hot. drop KWB -5600
Any thoughts?

– Shaggy

By: Darin McQuoid

Darin McQuoid — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:51:20 +0000

Jamie,

I’ve never had that problem, but then again I am lucky enough to do most of my shooting in California.

My one very wet trip was in Newfoundland, and I was still changes lenses a lot but had no issues besides fog on the outside of the view finder.

Do check your Watershed for pinholes from time to time, it’s surprising how many they accumulate if you bushwhack with it over your shoulder.

I do have some personal rules for changing lenses. I keep a dry t-shirt in my watershed to dry my hands on, and always keep the camera facing down while in the process. In cold/wet weather I keep my camera off as much as possible, the heat it generates can lead to condensation.

Expensive equipment on the river is a personal choice just like running rapids, risk vs reward. Unfortunately there is very little monetary reward for risking the expensive equipment.

I do my own sensor cleaning for dust on a fairly regular basis, it’s easier than you might think, although quite scary the first time!

By: Jaime

Jaime — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 16:30:39 +0000

Darin,

Again a great posting. I was wondering about exposing the inside of a camera while changing lenses. Once I had to send my D200 to the shop because the sensor, displays and viewfinder got all fogged. That’s one of the reasons why I got the cheaper Tamron 18-250mm. Since the time between my swims is kind of short I don’t want to risk my F2.8 glass.