Joe Kayaker is an amazingly handsome and and fit young man who takes wonderful photos. A terrific public speaker endowed with a charming personality, Joe Kayaker’s only flaw may be that he has no problem telling huge lies about his looks, age, talents, and personality.
In reality, Joe Kayaker is just another middle-aged guy with a kayak and a love of nature photography. He is not particularly good looking, or fit, although he can honestly say that he is more aerodynamic than most. Think bald. Also, he tends to be a bit of a wiseass. Get over it.
Yes, the penultimate sentence is certainly accurate.
Hi Joe, I am a Senior (80). My wife of 54 years and I love nature, camping, hiking etc.
We love nature, and keep our yard as natural as possible for their benefit and home.
Your photos are absolutely wonderful! How welcome they are in these stressful times.
Keep up your excellent photography.
Thanks, David (another baldy)
I have admired your work on Flickr and on my Daily Ray from Sierra. Fantastic shots! I am looking to buy a camera, and even though the SONY DSLR-A350 that you cite on Flickr for some of your photos isn’t being sold any more, I’m looking to buy a used one based on your results. Are you still using the camera? Can you tell me what lenses you use with it, if so? Thanks so much if you have time to answer.
Great pics! I’m a birder and kayaker as well, I posted a link to your site on my company’s Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/BirdsOutBack
Hi all. I hadn’t expected to find comments here, mostly because I didn’t expect anyone to actually read my “About JK” page. I’ll have to pay more attention.
Michele, you know me too well, which is probably how you feel about it. : )
Mr. and Mrs. Privette, thanks for checking out my stuff and for the compliment. It’s great to hear that you “youngsters” keep the faith. It’s especially good to hear about your yard. We need more folks like you folks. Stay well and keep enjoying every day. JK
Colleen, Thanks for the compliments. I really do appreciate it.
Okay, cameras and lenses. This will be a lengthy reply. Longer than most of my posts, probably. You might want to grab a cup of coffee.
Let me start by telling you why I use Sony DSLR’s. It’s not because I think Sony makes a better product than the next guy. There are several good DSLR’s on the market. Nikon and Canon both make terrific cameras. I’ve been taking pictures a loooong time. My old film SLR was a Minolta Maxxum 7000i. I had several lenses for it. When I made the switch from film to digital I went with the Konica Minolta 7D, because it allowed me to use my old Minolta lenses. The Sony corporation bought the Minolta lens mount and still uses it which allows me to use my old lenses. That’s why I shoot with Sony’s. It was a matter of economics.
If you’re migrating from a film-based SLR, I would suggest choosing a camera that allows you to use your old lenses.
That being said, the Sony’s are not bad cameras. I am a big fan of their “shake reduction” technology. I take a whole lot of pics from my kayak and in a kayak one is never not moving. The current, or the wind and waves, are always moving me along.
I still use my Sony Alpha 350, but I also have the newer 550. There are lots of times I need two lenses but out in the field – or on the water – you don’t want be changing lenses. That’s just me. Most folks – most sensible folks – will have very little use for two cameras.
Lenses. Since switching to digital, and it was many moons ago, I have replaced most of my old lenses. Most of them were over twenty years old. Plus, I tend to be a little hard on camera equipment. Nature of the beast and all that.
Also, if you don’t go with a Sony, these lens recommendations may still come in handy for any camera. They may help you choose or decide what kind of lens you want to go with.
I like zoom lenses because of the options a zoom lens offers, but you should know that you often sacrifice F-stops for those options.
My workhorse is my Tamron 70-300mm zoom lens. This lens is easy to carry – the weight is not at all constrictive. It get me close enough in most circumstances and I certainly can’t use anything heavier or longer on a kayak or even while hiking. Not without a tripod, but we’ll get to that. This is also not a lens you want to use when taking pics in a social situation. You need to be too far away from your subjects, especially indoors.
My next favorite lens is my Tamron 18-200mm lens. I really like this lens and if wildlife wasn’t so cautious of us humans, not that they don’t have reason to, this would be my go-to lens. This baby lets me get in real close with macro and still let me zoom into some cool stuff. If you do a lot of all around shooting, this is the type of lens you’re looking for.
My big lens is the Sigma 50-500. This bad boy will zoom me into where I want to be but it eats a lot of light – those pesky F-stops again – so I need a very bright sunlit day for it to be any use to me. I also need a tripod to hold it. I should mention that on two separate occasions I’ve come across people using the same lens sans tripod. I, myself, need the tripod. This is a lens that I will only take on short hikes. While this lens has its uses, I’ve taken very few usable pics with it.
My next lens will be a very wide-angle. I’m still shopping around, not to mention poor, but there are several times when I see a shot that requires more than I’ve got. The Boy Scout motto is be prepared.
I hope this wasn’t too long or boring a reply, but more than that, I hope it helpful. Good luck and good shopping. JK.
John, thank you very much. We’re practically neighbors. Well, we’re both here on Long Island. I’d be interested in where you like to kayak. JK.
Please get more Butterflies & Moths. Dragonflies and Damselflies too.
☺ Hi, i ♥ your pics!
See ,y reply to your otter pics!