Floating the Boise River

[QuietOne]

Has it been nearly 3 weeks since the last set? Boy, I'm falling down on the job!
This one, well, it's as sharp as I could make it. They were in one of the pull outs as I was walking back to the office, and I told them I'd try to get it here by the end of the week. I'm finding that it's often tough to keep things in focus, because the water really moves the rafts around.


These guys were really mellow.


Another family with an official guide/paddler

[QuietOne]

The 2 kayaks were together.


He doesn't look like he's too sure he likes this.


Ah, yes. College age males. The one was trying to shock me with pelvic thrusts and suggestive hand placement. You can see what the one friend thought of his behavior. Honestly, there's just never a fainting couch around when you need one.

[JAS_Photo]

Very cool thread QuietOne and lol at the fainting couch!

[Mad Aussie]

I love the little tot with the smilie face on her floaties

[Iguanasan]

More updates to a cool set. Fun watching all the people slide by. Amazing to me is how many don't bother with any kind of a life jacket. Are there any accidents to speak of in this past time?

Also, if you are having trouble keeping them in focus try increasing the aperture to f11, f14, or f16 and focus a bit in front of them which will increase your depth of field and give you more opportunity to keep them in focus. See Marko's podcast/post on hyperfocal distance and that might help - http://www.photography.ca/blog/2009/...ocal-distance/

[Bambi]

nice. I'll take the left-most mellow guy as my guide.....

I also like the little one with the floaties.

[Hillbillygirl]

Very interesting thread, with lots of interesting characters, and love them all QO.

[QuietOne]

Thanks, all, it's been fun watching the characters float by. The little girl with the smile floaties was a hit at work, too.

Bambi, I know what you mean about the left most mellow guy. He does look tasty (yes, MA, we're a couple of dirty old broads).

Iguanasan, life jackets are required for the kids (though it's too often ignored), but not the adults. The dive/rescue team keeps busy this time of year, and there's always a handful of accidents. They have an inflatable dive boat and 3 jet skis. For drownings this year, there was one at a diversion dam a few weeks ago, and I think someone got caught under one of the snags along the bank. The diversion dam was actually beyond the recommended float route, but it's not illegal for people to float any stretch of river, at any time of year. Just stupid, until the snags in the middle of the river have been cleared and the water volume is low enough.

Your suggestion for helping focus is on the list, as soon as I can find time for the podcast. I'm actually having to work with a couple of things. This stretch is just after a much shallower stretch. The river deepens suddenly. Rafts entering that stretch have two things happen, even if there are paddlers trying to keep them under control. The first is that they will tend to porpoise, sometimes dramatically. That's especially true if they're towards the bank I'm sitting on. The other is that they will be turned by the eddies, usually between a half and a full turn. The smaller the raft, the more likely. But everyone takes at least a quarter turn, and I've seen 2 full turns fairly often. I'm trying out the 3-d autofocus mode, to help keep focus on one of the subjects. It slows my shooting, but that's not a bad thing. I've also started trying to focus on a portion of the raft or a paddle, which is usually just in front of the people. No guarantees. And with the turns, sometimes you just get the backs of heads or people blocked by other people in less than photogenic ways. But if it were easy, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

[QuietOne]

OK, really, how could anyone resist this opportunity?

[QuietOne]

And a couple more.