Cedar Strip Canoe on eastern Georgian Bay

Strutting with my canoe, eastern Georgian Bay.

I've officially survived my busiest time of year and am stoked to have more time to get out to shoot for fun... and catch up on long-overdue blog posts!

For most of my life, I've dreamed about paddling my own cedar strip canoe. I serendipitously found one for sale at a great price this year and couldn't resist. My girlfriend and I decided that an epic location was necessary for the maiden trip, so we pointed the bow towards a small chain of islands on eastern Georgian Bay, characterized by spectacular granite patterns. We lucked into superb weather for paddling, camping and photography!

Gear: Canon 1D mk IV, Sigma 15mm f/2.8 fisheye, Gitzo tripod. 

My favorite location is an island I dubbed "The Ramp" because of the smooth sloping rock that tapers off into the the water. The striations here are remarkable and it's easy to walk into the shallow water to shoot from that perspective.

  

During the middle of the day when the light was too harsh for serious shooting, I decided to show my girlfriend how stable the canoe was and how great my balance was. As I stood on one foot and lifted the paddle over my head, I promptly fell over backwards and flipped the canoe. She clicked at the right time to capture the decisive moment (above). Thankfully, I'd taken all of the gear out of the boat! 

As sunset approaches, I become completely focused on shooting images at the top  locations we've scouted out previously. The hour around sunset it downright intense.... it's a race against the light! Here are a few of the images we captured during the evening shoot.   

Gear: Canon 5d mk II, Sigma 24-70/2.8, Singh-Ray LB warming polarizer.

Gear: Canon 5d mk II, Sigma 35/1.4, Singh-Ray 2 stop soft edge ND grad. 

Gear: Canon 5d mk II, Sigma 35/1.4, Singh-Ray 3 stop hard edge ND grad.

Gear: Canon 5d mk II, Sigma 35/1.4. 

After sunset, we paddled back to our campsite under twilight on glassy calm water. I snapped this photo of my girlfriend with the new Sigma 35mm f/1.4 lens, which is superb in low light!     

Gear: Canon 5d mk II, Sigma 35/1.4.