Swan Lake

When DW and I head out in our kayaks, I always find myself conflicted as to whether I should bring my Sony α6700 with me. DW almost always brings hers and I often think that having two cameras is a bit of an overkill.

DW acquired her Canon EOS R7 with a 100–400mm lens in December; primarily, for birding. Her previous camera, an EOS M50 with a 70–250mm lens just didn't have the reach and there was no suitable lens for this camera, so she decided to upgrade.

Since then, she's been taking fantastic shots of birds, making me envious.

When I bought my Sony α6700 and added a 70–350mm lens, I was very happy with my decision. I had a greater range for capturing photos than my Nikon D750 and 200–500mm lens (the crop sensor on the Sony effectively gives that telephoto zoom lens a range of 105–525mm) and this new setup weighed only about a third of what I was shooting with to get my shots.

I have no regrets.

But DW gets an even greater reach with her camera—the 400mm setting equating to 640mm—and when we're out, photographing birds together, she is always able to get closer images, cropping her photos less than I have to.

When we're kayaking, I often let her handle the bird photography and the closeups, whilst I capture the video and action of our excursions. When I create the videos that I share on YouTube, I insert DW's photos.

But I often feel a bit of FOMO when we're drifting as she takes her photos, regretting my decision to leave my own camera at home, or worse, in the car. I could have had my camera with me but I chose to leave it hidden away in our vehicle.

The last few times we've been paddling, however, I've tucked my Sony into a dry bag and sat it on my lap as we've navigated various waterways. When we did a sunset paddle around Petrie Island, I was glad I had my camera on me. While I only took a few stills, I mostly put it into video mode and captured an egret taking flight and a great blue heron perched on a log.

Last weekend, we paddled on Whitefish Lake, near Jones Falls. It was the first time that DW and I were out on this section of the Rideau Lakes since we packed the kids in a 17-foot canoe, in 2013, and paddled from Kingston to Ottawa.

We didn't know what kind of wildlife we would encounter on this recent journey but that's the excitement of being out in nature.

We put our kayaks in at the Morton Dam, just off Highway 15, somewhere between Smiths Falls and Kingston. It's a beautiful setting, near the Rock Dunder Nature Reserve, where sheer rock cliffs meet the water, and a thin channel takes you out onto Whitefish Lake.

When we were out in the main part of the lake, we could see that there was an island between us and Jones Falls. Looking to the far end of the island, we could see the red and green buoys that mark where boats follow along the Rideau Lakes route, and we decided that we'd take the channel that was closer to where we were, possibly avoiding any traffic.

The east side of what I learned, from Google Maps, was Hog Island, was that this channel was quiet, though large cottages stood atop hills. The water was weedy and lined with lily pads, showing that motorized vehicles seldom, if ever, passed through this side.

As we rounded the island to the north, we could see two swans in the distance, just where this channel met the busier west channel. I pulled my camera out of the dry bag, from under the spray skirt that kept my legs protected.

DW asked me to not get too close, as she also wanted to capture photos of these magnificent birds.

Because I knew she'd get better shots, being able to zoom closer, I switched my camera into video mode. I still haven't taken any time to get to know the best settings for shooting video with my α6700 so I put it in Auto mode and let the camera decide what was best.

Both of our kayaks were gliding toward the swans, as we shot, and at a point we both realized that we'd soon be getting too close for the swans' comfort. We'd have to put our cameras down, pick up our paddles, and either stop or change course.

I figured that we must have captured what we wanted, by this point, and it would be time to continue toward Jones Falls. But before returning my camera to the dry bag, I switched the camera to still mode, dialled in my custom setting for capturing birds, and snapped a few stills.

The video work that I do with my Sony will go toward a final video that I create for my YouTube channel. But the stills will stay here, where I think they belong.

The YouTube video won't be released until November 6.

Happy Friday!