Here are some of the more spectacular photos from a recent paddle through New York Harbor, described by Johna here. All of the photos from the paddle are here.
Great photos! NY is a kind of paradise — in ruins. OZ after the Apocalypse. I was in Brooklyn last week and caught the sky on two occasions — after a sun shower there was a double rainbow over Gravesend and in the afternoon with the day threatening thunder storms all day there where 5 mile high thunder heads that never became storms — instead we were treated to a spectacular cloud display. I fortunately caught both sky’s on my iPhone. But I think the phone has become an obsession — I am forgetting to take a real camera. My iPhone shots are good but would be better if I had my LX5 in addition. I’ll post a blog entry about these later.
Our trip was last week, too—specifically, June 5. So your cloud display might well have been the same one as ours (although most days last week had interesting clouds, I noticed).
During our rain shower we had a beautiful rainbow too. But I never saw it—otherwise I would certainly have taken a picture of it to complete the apocalyptic set! It was behind me and lasted only a very short time, and I never looked back just then. Johna saw it and was pointing at it to get me to look. But I was too far away from her to notice, especially as I was madly snapping pictures and at the same time trying to keep track of all the ferries around us. Oh well—next time!
The camera is a Pentax Optio W90. (The Optio W90 has now been superseded, however, by the Optio WG-2.) No waterproofing is needed—it’s intrinsically a (so far, at least) waterproof camera…
Just checked it out, it looks pretty nifty. Have you submerged it in water yet – on purpose to capture underwater shots or accidentally when your kayak capsized? :)
I see I’ll have to do a post on kayak photography—my version of it, anyway—since I get asked this question often. I was planning to, actually… :-)
I dip the camera in seawater often, as it is good for its health… actually, to clear the drops off the lens. I’ve had the Optio W90, two of them in fact, for several years and they haven’t failed yet under fairly wet and rough treatment, although they are showing some signs of wear and tear round the edges now. Before that I had the Optio W30, and that too is still going strong. So my impression is that they really are reasonably waterproof, as claimed. But probably I have also been lucky with these individual specimens. I’ve had experience with waterproof diving watches, for example, where one individual was waterproof for years and another individual of exactly the same model let in water immediately. So it’s a lottery—if you have a waterproof camera that really is waterproof, hold on to it as long as possible!
Yes please, do a post about kayak photography, I’d love to get your version of it! And I never doubted for a moment that you’d only capsize on purpose. ;)
I should add that one drawback of the Optio (W90, and I assume the WG-2 too) is that it doesn’t generate RAW files. It’s basically a fancy point-and-shoot camera. So I generate JPG files, which, especially when one zooms in, have that distinctive “painterly” look that I assume comes from the JPG compression (further enhanced by the algorithm of the “mode”, such as for landscapes, flowers, etc., that the camera employs if one chooses such a setting). I happen to like that look, but…
I actually have the WG-2 too—just arrived, haven’t used it yet. 16 megapixels versus 12 for the W90. Can’t have too many pixels in kayak photography, as typically photos have to be cropped. So you might see an improvement in the quality of the photos soon!
Thanks for liking my color gallery in the Weekly Photo Challenge. And your photos of New York Harbor above are incredible. I miss NYC. My kids used to live there but then they moved away. I don’t get there anymore.
That was a uniquely spectacular day… but yes, even on ordinary days there is always plenty to see, different each time… Thanks!! I hope you do manage to make it back to NYC sometime! :-)
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Great photos! NY is a kind of paradise — in ruins. OZ after the Apocalypse. I was in Brooklyn last week and caught the sky on two occasions — after a sun shower there was a double rainbow over Gravesend and in the afternoon with the day threatening thunder storms all day there where 5 mile high thunder heads that never became storms — instead we were treated to a spectacular cloud display. I fortunately caught both sky’s on my iPhone. But I think the phone has become an obsession — I am forgetting to take a real camera. My iPhone shots are good but would be better if I had my LX5 in addition. I’ll post a blog entry about these later.
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Hi, Frank!
Our trip was last week, too—specifically, June 5. So your cloud display might well have been the same one as ours (although most days last week had interesting clouds, I noticed).
During our rain shower we had a beautiful rainbow too. But I never saw it—otherwise I would certainly have taken a picture of it to complete the apocalyptic set! It was behind me and lasted only a very short time, and I never looked back just then. Johna saw it and was pointing at it to get me to look. But I was too far away from her to notice, especially as I was madly snapping pictures and at the same time trying to keep track of all the ferries around us. Oh well—next time!
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Spectacular shots, Vlad. What camera and waterproofing do you use? I’m in awe of those skies.
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We were in awe too!
The camera is a Pentax Optio W90. (The Optio W90 has now been superseded, however, by the Optio WG-2.) No waterproofing is needed—it’s intrinsically a (so far, at least) waterproof camera…
LikeLike
Just checked it out, it looks pretty nifty. Have you submerged it in water yet – on purpose to capture underwater shots or accidentally when your kayak capsized? :)
LikeLike
I see I’ll have to do a post on kayak photography—my version of it, anyway—since I get asked this question often. I was planning to, actually… :-)
I dip the camera in seawater often, as it is good for its health… actually, to clear the drops off the lens. I’ve had the Optio W90, two of them in fact, for several years and they haven’t failed yet under fairly wet and rough treatment, although they are showing some signs of wear and tear round the edges now. Before that I had the Optio W30, and that too is still going strong. So my impression is that they really are reasonably waterproof, as claimed. But probably I have also been lucky with these individual specimens. I’ve had experience with waterproof diving watches, for example, where one individual was waterproof for years and another individual of exactly the same model let in water immediately. So it’s a lottery—if you have a waterproof camera that really is waterproof, hold on to it as long as possible!
My kayak doesn’t (usually) capsize accidentally!
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Yes please, do a post about kayak photography, I’d love to get your version of it! And I never doubted for a moment that you’d only capsize on purpose. ;)
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I should add that one drawback of the Optio (W90, and I assume the WG-2 too) is that it doesn’t generate RAW files. It’s basically a fancy point-and-shoot camera. So I generate JPG files, which, especially when one zooms in, have that distinctive “painterly” look that I assume comes from the JPG compression (further enhanced by the algorithm of the “mode”, such as for landscapes, flowers, etc., that the camera employs if one chooses such a setting). I happen to like that look, but…
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I just checked the WG-2 and yes, it’s JPG also. But you get great shots from yours, even without RAW, and the price is good too. Nice one.
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I actually have the WG-2 too—just arrived, haven’t used it yet. 16 megapixels versus 12 for the W90. Can’t have too many pixels in kayak photography, as typically photos have to be cropped. So you might see an improvement in the quality of the photos soon!
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Spectacular! The third one in particular!
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Thanks, Madhu! Interesting that you like that one…
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Amazing shots of what looks to have been an amazing day. Hey, have you thought about entering Field Notes From Fatherhood’s photo competition? I’d love to have you enter some of your shots. Here’s the link: http://fieldnotesfromfatherhood.com/2012/12/28/family-travel-photo-of-the-year-competion-is-offering-a-fantastic-prize/ Have a look if you’ve got a moment. And once again, remarkable pictures.
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Thank you! And I will check out Field Notes From Fatherhood… :-)
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Thanks for liking my color gallery in the Weekly Photo Challenge. And your photos of New York Harbor above are incredible. I miss NYC. My kids used to live there but then they moved away. I don’t get there anymore.
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That was a uniquely spectacular day… but yes, even on ordinary days there is always plenty to see, different each time… Thanks!! I hope you do manage to make it back to NYC sometime! :-)
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I hate envy, but it could have been very exciting to have been there :-)
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It was very exciting to be there :-)
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