Kayaking through Mobile Delta

[jonh68]

I have recently acquired a kayak and I have a few pics from the Mobile Delta. About 200 miles of canoe trails are mapped out, of course I haven't travelled the entire trail, yet. I used my 70-300 and 18-55 for these pics. Would rather lose the camera and these lenses than my 18-200 VR.

1
http://www.jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/178689180-M.jpg
2
http://www.jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/178688979-M.jpg
3
http://jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658351-M.jpg
4
http://jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658366-M.jpg
5
http://jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658407-M.jpg
6
http://jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658516-M.jpg
7
http://jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658594-M.jpg
8
http://jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658667-M.jpg
9
http://jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658707-M.jpg
10
http://jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658711-M.jpg

[Skippy]

I have recently acquired a kayak and I have a few pics from the Mobile Delta. About 200 miles of canoe trails are mapped out, of course I haven't travelled the entire trail, yet. I used my 70-300 and 18-55 for these pics. Would rather lose the camera and these lenses than my 18-200 VR.



Hi John,

Are those just the coolest looking trees or what :D
I'm sure the gators love the trees too :rofl and all that fall off the trees as well :rolleyes

Thanks for sharing ..... Skippy :D
.

[dbaker1221]

fantastic captures!:ivar I'm pretty sure that I would not be kayaking where there are gators!! you're much braver than me:bow

[jonh68]

The gators do everything they can to swim away. It's pretty difficult to get a good shot of one while kayaking because they are usually swimming the other way. Now, snakes dropping into the yak is another thing!:jawdrop


Thanks dbaker and skippy!

[anwmn1]

Very cool!! I have been looking to get a kayak myself- how do you store your gear (waterproof) and have you mounted a tripod or do you shoot handheld?

[Shasoc]

Beautiful sceneries and amazing colors, John. We got a place on the Alabama river, up north, and alligators and snakes are our closest neighbours. :D But we also have birds and butterflies.
In case you would like to know your butterfly is a Red-spotted Purple, from the Admirals family. Beautiful butterly, with beautiful blue iridescence on the upperwings.

[Maestro]

Great set of pics showing the representative flora and fauna. My favorite though is your first tree picture.

[thegridrunner]

Nice set of pictures, nature scenes are so cool.

[jonh68]

Very cool!! I have been looking to get a kayak myself- how do you store your gear (waterproof) and have you mounted a tripod or do you shoot handheld?

Everything is handheld. I shoot several pics to make sure I get one that's clear. I use a waterproof fishing tackle box which I secure with straps to the yak. That's also useful when I go fishing on the yak as well and I want to take pics. A paddle clip is a must as you need to put the paddle down at a moments notice. I am not brave enough at the moment to take out good lenses on the trips.

Here's a pic of my setup. The red and black bag stores the camera fishing tackle.
http://jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/171745185-M.jpg

Thanks for the comments Maestro and gridrunner!

[jonh68]

Beautiful sceneries and amazing colors, John. We got a place on the Alabama river, up north, and alligators and snakes are our closest neighbours. :D But we also have birds and butterflies.
In case you would like to know your butterfly is a Red-spotted Purple, from the Admirals family. Beautiful butterly, with beautiful blue iridescence on the upperwings.

Thanks. I am glad I ID'd that one correctly. I sent some of the pics to the paper. Can you tell if I ID'd this one correctly? While it looks like a monarch, I beleive the patterns match up more with a Viceroy.

http://www.jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658559-M.jpg

I identified this one as the state butterfly: Eastern Tiger Swallowtail

http://www.jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658587-M.jpg

I almost stepped on this guy going to the Battle Creek Indian Mound:
http://www.jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658468-M.jpg

Here's the mound. Highest point goes up 45 ft. The misty haze is condensation. The air was very heavy.

http://www.jonh68.smugmug.com/photos/179658430-M.jpg

Here's the gallery if anyones interested:
http://www.jonh68.smugmug.com/gallery/3243782#179658336

[raptorcaptor]

Excellent series! :thumb Looks like a great place for kayaking!

[LCD]

You had me wishing I could go along until I saw that gator!
Great series. I especially like 1 and 4.
Lisa

[Shasoc]

You are correct, John. The first butterfly is a Viceroy, and the second is a Tiger. Great job, again.
Socrate

[jonh68]

Thanks everyone.

It is a great place to kayak. The current is not too fast and there are quite a few areas for overnight camping.