Danger in the Bog. Part III

And then it happened…

More voices, children squabbling, a cry of , “Look, this bog  is  dry too!”

They were coming down the trail towards me, the chattering of children, and an adult head of hair just visible above the shrub-line.¹

Then an bellow, “STAY ON THE TRAIL! CAN’T YOU READ?”

For a moment I thought she was talking to  me, but I quickly realised she could not have seen me yet, her attention be fully bound to the mob that milled around her.

Besides, I was on the trail.

I was gob-smacked. Unless this was a second school class having a tour, the teacher from h..k had actually not only contrived to send groups of children in small, timed package-bombs up the trail the wrong way, she had divided the class and sent some up the right way! In other words, she had deliberately arranged the school tour to be as disruptive as possible to the other inhabitants of the bog…

Of course I was not standing there dumb-struck. All this passed through my mind as I hastily bagged the loose equipment, donned the back-pack, gripped the tripod and legged it back to the exit. I had had enough. Not for me the noble sacrifice for the sake of art. Every man has his limits, and I had reached mine. I had lost the day.

I fled as doth  foxes, with torch attached.²

A marl pond.

¹ Or, as my brother would turn the phrase, "...an adult head of shrub, just visible above the
  hair-line."
² Judges 15:4/5

 

Lowepro Sling Bag Review

We spent a morning in Elk Island National Park on Tuesday, my wife and I on foot while our daughter slid about on cross-country skis. The snow was hard packed on the trail around Tawayik Lake, so walking was easy. As is usual on a weekday winter morning we had the trail to ourselves. With temperatures hovering around freezing and patchy blue skies, it was a pleasure to get out again. We did a bit of photography, but mostly the trip was a chance to be outside again and feel the sun on our faces.

I was also trying out our new Lowepro SlingShot – 300 AW sling bag for its first trial run. I have always found a regular backpack somewhat frustrating, in that you need to take it off and set it down to access your gear–something that is not always possible or efficient. Regular shoulder bags have the habit of sliding off the shoulder just as you are releasing the shutter, and even with an added hip-belt they become clumsy when you need to kneel down for macro work or crouch for stalking. The new sling bags being offered by many manufacturers seem to offer a solution to the problem.

Lowepro Sling-shot 300 AW.

The Lowepro bag I chose is just large enough to hold my basic trail equipment: a Nikon D80 with the 80-400mm VR  lens mounted, Nikon 18-70mm, Tamron 90mm macro, Kenko Pro 1.4x tele-extender, Kenko automatic extension tube set,  Nikon SB-600 flash, Nikon SB-R200 flash, Nikon DR-6 right-angle viewfinder, flash cable, flash diffuser and spare batteries all in the main compartment. The upper compartment holds a shoe-mount level, a lens-pen and my macro-flash bracket and panorama rig, which also doubles as a focusing rail. The remaining front pouch is large enough to hold my basic filter set (77mm B&W slim circular polarizer, 77mm B&W 0 .9 neutral density filter, and a Singh-Ray graduated neutral density with a Cokin P series filter holder and two adapter rings) and a microfibre cleaning cloth.

Comfort was excellent. The bag has a substantial shoulder strap and a hip-belt for extra support. I found that when the camera and large zoom was in hand the use of the hipbelt was not required. When the bag is pulled forward the main compartment can be accessed through the side, however it is a bit awkward to reach all the compartments without first lengthening the shoulder strap. The top compartment is also a bit awkward as it is designed for top access, and it would be far more useful if the zipper opened  at least partially along the bottom. The bag also has 3 slip-lock straps (one on the shoulder strap, 2 on the main bag) that allow the attachment of Lowepro Slip-lock cases – something I am sure I will need soon. Other key features for us are the built-in rain cover that pulls up over the whole bag and the clippable retaining belt that prevents you from completely unzipping the main compartment (and thereby lessening the chance of all your equipment falling out!)  before returning the bag to your back. Although we are happy with the reverse-sewn zippers that provide extra dust protection, we are a bit concerned about the durability as they are much smaller zippers than we are used to.

All in all I am satisfied with the pack so far. Time and many more day hikes will tell if the purchase was worthwhile. If you have any further questions, please add them to the comments or view the website.

(Photo from Lowepro. This is an independent review and I have no other association with the company except as an occasional customer)

 

Fifteen Photographers Featured…

WebEcoist is featuring 15 nature photographers. Nick Brandt’s monochrome photo’s are particularly stunning.

 

Elk Island National Park

Elk Island is the closest National Park to Edmonton and has long been one  been one of our favorite areas for walks, canoeing and cross-country skiing. In this early autumn trip (Sept 1) we decided to canoe Astotin lake to see if the birds had begun aggregating for the seasonal migration south. It was a fine day, sunny with scattered cloud and only a light breeze – a perfect day to be out on the water. As usual we brought a picnic lunch and our camera gear.

My D80 was set up with the Nikon 80 – 400mm while my wife used the D70 with the 18 – 200mm, both very useful VR lenses on  a moving canoe. We keep them in our camera bags loosely covered so they are protected from stray drops of water, but ready for quick removal should a subject present itself. For wide angle pictures from the back of the canoe I used our trusty Canon A620 compact.

We didn’t see the mass gatherings of birds as in former years, but it was a good birding trip. First spotted was a Greater Yellowlegs working the shore line. Further on, we approached Cormorant Island, which can always be relied upon for – you guessed it – cormorants. And soon after passing them we came upon a juvenile Night Heron, but he flew off while he was out of range of my lens. I am hoping that the Kenko Pro 1.4x tele-extender I recently purchased will help avoid that problem in future.

We headed for a small bay where we often used to cruise close to the shoreline. There were a few coots there, who scooted off on our arrival, but photographing their long pattering take-off distracted us long enough that we unexpectedly found ourselves mired in the silted up bay. It became a real struggle to back out again and to get into open water – the silt was too deep to use the paddles as poles for pushing, and the muck grips the canoe so tightly that paddling became almost useless. With a lot of effort (and silent cursing on my part), we  reached open water again. This act of labour put us in mind of lunch and refreshments, so we directed ourselves to a headland where we often stop to eat.

At the  headland we found ourselves already hitting gravel 5 or 6 canoe lengths from the shore – the same spot where we used to disembark at when we first began to explore this lake. It was all boulders and silted gravel here, so I had to wade out to pull the canoe forward to a point where  Arwen and Yuet could step out onto rocks and make there way to the shore.

What we have noticed on canoe trips here lately is how much the lake has silted up and how water levels have declined over the last 25 years – areas where we once paddled freely are now impassable, and many disembarkation points are  now so shallow that wading out and hauling is the only solution to prevent the canoe bottom from being torn out by boulders.

On top of the headland we had a pleasant sandwich lunch with hot soup from a thermos. Arwen and Yuet managed to scavenge a few late season raspberries and then we went back to the canoe. I reloaded our gear and once more dragged it out into deep enough water to allow us to step in. We headed back to our launch point – somewhat disconcerted with the knowledge that ‘our’ Astotin lake was succumbing to time and yet still appreciative that we had enjoyed another beautiful day on the waters of Elk Island National Park.

And visit this page to see evidence of a little creature that came home with us…

 

Frans Lanting and The Life Project (2007)

From TEDtalks:

In this stunning slideshow, nature photographer Frans Lanting presents The LIFE Project, a collection that tells the story of our planet, from its eruptive beginnings to its present diversity. Hoping for a glimpse of the world the way it was in the age of photosynthesizing stromatolites, “back before the sky turned blue,” Lanting journeyed to a remote lagoon in Australia, the only place in the world where stromatolites still exist. The story moves forward from there, via a lyrical collection of photographs set to a soundtrack from Philip Glass.