kwilliam8 Offline Upload & Sell: On
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It’s been awhile since I have posted any images on this forum. The Skagit River in Washington State drains much of the western slope of the North Cascades Mountain Range. The Skagit River empties into Puget Sound near the town of Mount Vernon. This area is one of my favorite areas for wildlife viewing. I have been going there for several years. Inspired by several kayaking photographers on this forum, I bought a recreational kayak (Wilderness Systems Pungo 120) early in the summer and taught myself to kayak (there was a lot to learn; e.g., gear, self-rescue, river currents, tidal influences). At any rate, after a bunch of trips kayaking on nearby lakes, I have been able to finally make it safely and comfortably into the Skagit River estuary system. Here are some images from a couple of recent paddles. All of these images were taken with the new Nikon D500 camera and the Nikon 300mm f/4 Phase Fresnel lens (with the latest Nikon 1.4x teleconverter attached). This combination is a great setup for wildlife photography from a kayak.
https://photos.smugmug.com/Things/Animals/i-dQMWpCR/0/XL/20160825-_D502548-Edit-XL.jpg
1. Harbor Seal, 1/4000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 640
https://photos.smugmug.com/Things/Animals/i-sNHdk97/0/XL/20160825-_D503249-Edit-XL.jpg
2. Harbor Seal, 1/640 sec, f/5.6, ISO 1000
https://photos.smugmug.com/Things/Waterfowl/i-Fz6TjbM/0/XL/20160909-_D504186-Edit-XL.jpg
3. Mallard blast-off, 1/4000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500
https://photos.smugmug.com/Things/Waterfowl/i-vWQTNgt/0/XL/20160909-_D504188-Edit-XL.jpg
4. Mallard take-off, 1/4000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 500
https://photos.smugmug.com/Things/Birds/i-nR22nG7/0/XL/20160909-_D504478-Edit-XL.jpg
5. Long-Billed Dowitchers, 1/5000 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800
https://photos.smugmug.com/Things/Birds/i-ZXkkBCZ/0/XL/20160909-_D504551-Edit-XL.jpg
6. Long-Billed Dowitcher, 1/3200 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800
https://photos.smugmug.com/Things/Animals/i-QwMW8Gg/0/XL/20160909-_D504994-Edit-XL.jpg
7. Harbor Seals, 1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800
The Dowitchers got to within 5 feet of my kayak, and did not seem to be bothered at all by my presence. I hung out for quite a while simply enjoying their company. I have found kayaking to be very enjoyable. Any decent images that I come away with are just a bonus! Thanks for taking a look. Comments and feed-back are welcome!
Keith W.
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