Shooting Birds From A Boat - Your Experience

[canonloader]

Well, I am waiting anxiously for arrival of my new/used boat. It's a 14' flat bottom, flat front Jon boat with a 9.9 HP motor on it, and two nice cushioned swivel seats. It comes with trailer, oars, life preservers, even has a trolling motor and battery and case. I could not believe this deal when I went to look at it last night with my brother. And the motor started on the first pull. so it's due today about noon, and the old owner is going to deliver it since I can't get a hitch mounted on my van until next week.

I have lived on and owned sail and houseboats for many years, but don't have much experience with this sort of thing. I have been out twice recently with a friend who owns a boat very similar to what I bought and we got bird shots that were exception, IMO. There is an opportunity and a perspective of shooting from the water that you can never get from land or out the window of your car. Different birds, different scenery.

So I was wondering if anyone else has done this and what to look out for. Aside from the obvious of falling overboard with your gear. :)

[Scottes]

Several of us have done the GMOS - Great Maine Osprey Shoot - trips, which always involved renting a boat and knowledgeable captain for 6 or 8 hours. He took us around all the osprey nesting poles in the middle of several rivers, a Great Blue Heron nesting site on an otherwise unreachable island, several bald eagle nesting and resting spots, and so on.

My tips from these brief experiences:
Either IS or high shutter speed is a must. (Duh)
Bring a polarizer. If you shoot something on the water, like a duck or seal or loon, the polarizer will be priceless.
Don't wear a hat unless it has a chin strap. Fast boats + hats = no hats.
Bring a trash bag to quickly and easily cover gear to protect it from spray when you're hauling ass.
They make great blinds. But blinds don't have motors, so cutting the motor and coasting is a smart thing to do.
Spend a lot of money on gas to learn all the places where the wildlife is. The captain we hired had been driving boats on those rivers for over 50 years, and ran a fishing charter service so he spent a lot of time on them. On a good day, the only time we weren't clicking the shutter is when we were hauling from point A to point B.
So I guess that it might make sense to have a case of beer on ice and thus have a reason to quiz other boaters and fishermen about wildlife locations. :D

[joedlh]

I've shot from a sailboat and a kayak. If you are in protected waters (i.e., "flat ass" calm), IS will work for you. However, if the craft is underway and/or the sea is active in any way, I think IS will work against you. I haven't seen any technical discussion of this by people who would know. However, IS is designed to handle hand shake, which is high frequency and low amplitude. The motion of a boat by contrast is low frequency and high amplitude. In my experience, it falls in between handheld and panning. Manufacturers recommend that you turn off IS when panning. I've found that my shots are generally sharper when I have it turned off. However, I can't claim that I've done a scientific comparison.

[canonloader]

Great tips Scott. I have a friend who also shoots birds and does the boat thing. I've been out with him twice now, and he has shown me many of the spots within several miles of down town and I have been to many from the shore side and have an idea of where I am anyway. We're also going out again tomorrow, if it doesn't rain.

Part of the fun though, is finding all the new spots. For me, that's half the adventure. :)

By the way, the boat is out there in the yard now and I have just called to order a tow bar for the van. I had no idea this deal was going to come up like this, but there it was and I could not refuse it, so went ahead and bought the boat first. My plan was to get the tow bar installed then do some serious searches for a boat and motor. Many of my plans work out that way though. :)

[canonloader]

Joe, no IS lenses in my stable, I will be using the MkIIN and 400/5.6 almost exclusively. Been out twice, had great light and got lucky. 80% of my shots were acceptibly sharp and I was hand holding. These shots were all handheld and while moving (http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=709876), some slowly, some flat out, the in flights, we were moving right along. And I was more amazed they came out this good than anyone could be. ;)

[Blue Deuce]

An anchor is a necessity. Get one sized to your boat and the type suited to the bottom you will usually be over. Put your bow into the wind or flow of the current,whichever is greater. Use a ratio of line out to depth around 7-1. This sounds basic but don't forget to pull it up before taking off. If stupid can be done on the water I have probably done it once.

Don't try lugging a tripod on a small craft. Either shoot handheld and / or use a good bean bag.

I shoot or fish from a boat at least 100 days a year for the last 20 years (no exaggeration). The following or something similar is indispensable especially on a boat such as yours thats not really considered dry. Toss everything you don't want to lose such as keys and wallet in it.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_101836_999039514_225000000_225015000?cmCat =CROSSSELL_PRODUCT

In theory a polarizer is a good idea but in practical terms it doesn't seem to pan out. Even on a glassy day you will encounter more movement then on land or in a vehicle. You have to keep your shutter speeds up higher then your use to and a full stop loss is a lot.

Shoot with the motor off to reduce vibrations.

I will add more but I am heading out myself right now.

Be safe.

[canonloader]

The boat came with two mushroom anchors. I have everything you need to be legal on the water here. So far, when I was shooting, Mike was driving and it was glass smooth as rivers get sometimes. It was like sitting here at my desk. The other times, we were in secluded backwaters, coasting along very slow and very stable. again, no problem shooting hand held with no IS. For the camera and lenses and other stuff, I have a pelican case. My wallet goes in there, although there is nothing in it the water will hurt. We actually did use tripods, but the boat was nosed up onto the bank and very stable. Mine is a little narrower than his, by 6 inches, but I will soon find out how it does. Mike has offered to come drag it to the launch ramp for me after he get's off work tonight and we can go give it a run. :)

I hope to have some pics and more stories tonight when I get back. :)

[Stormin_24]

I'd like to help you Mitch, but the only experience I have with boats, is club tournaments in a bass boat I used to own with a 150hp Mercury motor.. Dang, if I only knew at that time, I could have taken shots at 60mph... lol ;) Well someone could have!!!

[Jim Neiger]

I shoot birds from a boat on an almost daily basis and I conduct photography workshops from the boat as well. There are several huge advantages to using a boat. You can typically get much closer to the birds from a boat. I think this is because the birds feel safer with water between them and you and because they are used to people in boats not bothering them. Another huge advantage is that you can get away from other people that may disturb your efforts and get to places where others can't go without a boat. Many birds are only accessable from a boat. I use a pontoon boat so I can provide a safe stable platform for 6 photogs without compromising where I can go. My boat only drafts about 14 inches. I can also take my Kayak with me to get into really tight shallow places. I use a remote controlled electric motor so I can position the boat precisely and approach silently. I hope this helps. Good luck and safe boating.

P.S. Make sure you learn and follow all the rules of the water for your area.

[canonloader]

Thanks Norman and Jim. I took the boat out for an hour or so yesterday afternoon, to get an idea of how it would perform. It ran fine, but it's small and only has a 10hp motor, so it's slow. Slow is OK though, as there are boat ramps everywhere here, so I can get close by driving if need be. But, in 15 miles of river there must be a hundred islands and 200 channels to explore, so there will be no shortage of places to find and shoot birds.

Jim, a foot controlled trolling motor came with it and I am charging the battery now. I can see where this is going to be very helpful. I have tried a canoe with my brother, but the birds seemed to be terrified of it, leaving the county as soon as they would see us come into sight. I still can't figure that out, as they don't even wake up half the time as the power boat idles by. Good idea about the rules of the water, I am surfing for sites about that now.

Yesterday, we were just cruising the back channels and the boat was quite stable enough to shoot hand held from when the light is good enough for faster shutter speeds. I'm still waiting for delivery of the tow bar and it will be installed by a local shop when it gets here, probably next week. I am psyched for sure, looking forward to my first day on the water. :)

[canonloader]

Woo-Hoo, going with my friend tomorrow, in his boat, to a Pelican rookery he knows of just South of here. Can't wait to see what that's about. :)

[canonloader]

Some from today. Earlier, there was a high fog which made the most atrocious light. It was like being inside a milk glass in strong sunlight. Just no way to expose for it. I wasted a lot of shots.

http://www.picturelacrosse.com/birds09/waterbirds09/pelican-5632-070509.jpg

http://www.picturelacrosse.com/birds09/waterbirds09/pelican-5699-070509.jpg

http://www.picturelacrosse.com/birds09/waterbirds09/pelican-5792-070509.jpg

[artyman]

They look pretty good :)

[canonloader]

Thanks Art, there were about a hundred birds in this group, and the oddest thing was, not a peep out of any of them. Totally silent, which was something I didn't expect. :)

[HYBEagle]

That's some beautiful shot you got there.

[canonloader]

Thanks HYBEagle. I am just starting with the boat, but I can see already, I will be spending a lot of my time on the water this summer. :)

[tdodd]

If you can park up near a fishing vessel you may find that plenty of birds are attracted to that. A bait ball towed off the stern may do no harm either. I went on an albatross trip in New Zealand a couple of years ago and this was their approach. The birds were flying all around us, a bit like Cylons surrounding our little battlestar.

[canonloader]

Good ideas Tim. This is dead of summer, new chicks, lot's of baby birds around now. But the real gold mine is coming. This fall, when all the swans, ducks and geese are headed South will be prime time. I am already planning on it. ;)

[J-dubya]

you should look into making/buying a blind for the boat. it will give you a good hide for waterfowl this fall. park next to the bank in some tall vegetation or under over-hanging trees and pull up the blind.

something like this http://www.mackspw.com/Item--i-AVE123S

[canonloader]

We have a lot of hunters here and I have seen many different setups, but it's more trouble than it's worth to me. We have no kill zones all up and down the river here and the geese, tundra swans and ducks all know where they are. Pretty smart of them I think. That's where I will be puttering around. Be my luck I'd get out there in a camo boat and end up getting shot by one of those fools, happens every year. :lol:

[CyberDyneSystems]

Some really OT political stuff removed.
Folks,. lets remember this is a photography forum and try not to turn EVERY thread into a personal political sandbox.

[canonloader]

My hitch arrived and will be installed this afternoon. And guess what? It's raining and they are calling for three more days of it. What else? :p

[Scottes]

If you had a boat blind you could stay dry. :D

[canonloader]

Never seen a blind that covers the top. Never looked real close either though. It's a small boat, I don't think I want to add anything thats going to make it top heavy or the wind can blow around. And the truth is, so far, I have seen no reason to use a blind. We have been able to ease right on up to birds, or just float past within feet of them, and they simply ignore us. A few weeks ago, we coasted within 15 feet of a great blue fishing the shallows. Who would have ever thought that was possible? :)

[Scottes]

There's a place near my house where I regularly get blues and often have to back up because they're too close for the 400mm f/5.6L. A few weeks ago I was within maybe 5 or 6 feet of a blue - I never expected one to be so close, and was looking out in the distance. I didn't see him until he moved. GBHs are funny birds.

[canonloader]

They are regular clowns. I lived aboard my houseboat at a marina on Kentucky Lake a few years back. After dark, I would sit out on the front deck and watch what was going on, to kill time. There was a monster Great Blue that was a dock fixture and was intelligent enough to fish near the footlights, which attracted the bugs and swarms of Bluegills. Old Blue was a big bird.

Every other night, two sisters, in their 90's would walk out on the dock with their little poles, some worms and a 5 gallon plastic bucket to hold the fish they caught. Every night, Old Blue would hang back, watching them. Once they had 5 or 6 fish in the bucket, he would sneak up behind them while they were fishing and talking, and grab a fish.

More than once I hurt my stomach muscles watching this and trying not to laugh out loud. This was better than going to the circus. Of course, the sisters knew it and were allowing Blue to have a fish or two before shooing him away. It was quite a show. :)

[Perry Ge]

Ohh, it's funny to find this thread. I birded from a boat yesterday, and got this!
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=721749

[canonloader]

Nice catch. We don't seem to have Ospreys around here. Seems odd with all the water, but I have only seen a few. Maybe the eagles chase them away.

So far, I have found it surprisingly easy to shoot hand held from a boat. And I am not a fan of hand holding. I guess it helps when the river is flat too though. ;)

[canonloader]

Well, the weatherman was wrong again. Amazing how they can keep their jobs. Took the boat out after U-Haul installed my hitch yesterday afternoon. If you ever need that done, they are the place to go, very efficient.

My brother and I were out almost two hours, just puttering around the back channels of the Mississippi, getting use to the boat and the territory. Everything really looks different from a boat. On a micro scale, I got lost, but knew about where we were, so not really lost. If you want to see what we were up against, check out the Google Map (http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=la+crosse&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=48.909425,112.851562&ie=UTF8&ll=43.759937,-91.228323&spn=0.043889,0.142908&z=14) for where we were. :)

Since it was the first time out with the boat on my own, I did not even take my camera, which seems now like a good idea, since we didn't see any birds other than Blue Jays and Red Wings bathing in the river. Today is nice and clear and we will be going out again soon, this time to places I know there are birds and I will take the camera. Hopefully I will come back with a few good shots. :)

[canonloader]

Getting ready to take the boat out again today. It's clear and calm, and rather cold, but it's going to be worth it. Two weeks ago, a thief got into my back yard and stole my gas tank and a couple parts off my motor mount, trying to steal the motor no doubt. But, like all thieves, he didn't know what he was doing, even though he must have had tools with him. I now have a security cam pointed at the boat and am waiting for him to try again. I do know what I am doing.

In the mean time, I am going out on the river and try and get some decent early light shots of the birds on the river. :)