01-01-07. Happy New Years.
I took this picture while floating in a canoe on the Niangua River. This is my 9th year in a row of floating on New Years Day. It has become a tradition that I would hate to miss. We had marvelous weather for our float today. As you can see by the picture, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. (previous years have brought us sleet, snow, rain, single digit temperatures, and even 75 degree weather)
We took a fairly short float this year. Only Mom, Stuart, and I made the float. We put in upstream and floated down to Mom & Stuart's new property on the river. This picture was actually taken on their property.
This was the first time I had seen their property, so we spent some time walking around scoping the best house site, picnic area, and swimming hole. I'm sure we'll have many more family gatherings at "Leatherwood".
For those of you thinking I'm crazy for taking my camera on the river, you are probably right. I have been floating a long time, and I've never tipped a canoe. I've been carrying my camera with me ever since I've had it, and I couldn't imagine being on the river without it. I do put the camera in a dry bag if we come up on rough water, but for the most part I leave it hanging around my neck. Since my D200 is still in the shop, I only had my D70. I am still a little scared to take my expensive 70-200 VR lens on the river, so this was shot with my cheapie 70-300mm.
This eagle had been leading us down the river all morning. I took several other shots of him as we floated along. At the end of our float, I spotted him on the river bank. It looked like he was eating something. I kept taking pictures as we closed in on him. He finally flew up and headed right towards us. He flew directly over us close enough for us to hear the swish of his wings. I was just glad my slow-to-focus cheapie lens was able to keep up with him. Anyway, I was very excited to get this shot. I only see Bald Eagles about once or twice a year, and I'm usually not in the right place to get a good shot.
You might notice that he has bands around his legs. I'll have to do some research about what kind of tracking is being done with bald eagles.
UPDATE- I'm in the process of adding more photos from the day here:http://www.milesboyer.com/gallery/2302687/1/120343887
I took this picture while floating in a canoe on the Niangua River. This is my 9th year in a row of floating on New Years Day. It has become a tradition that I would hate to miss. We had marvelous weather for our float today. As you can see by the picture, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. (previous years have brought us sleet, snow, rain, single digit temperatures, and even 75 degree weather)
We took a fairly short float this year. Only Mom, Stuart, and I made the float. We put in upstream and floated down to Mom & Stuart's new property on the river. This picture was actually taken on their property.
This was the first time I had seen their property, so we spent some time walking around scoping the best house site, picnic area, and swimming hole. I'm sure we'll have many more family gatherings at "Leatherwood".
For those of you thinking I'm crazy for taking my camera on the river, you are probably right. I have been floating a long time, and I've never tipped a canoe. I've been carrying my camera with me ever since I've had it, and I couldn't imagine being on the river without it. I do put the camera in a dry bag if we come up on rough water, but for the most part I leave it hanging around my neck. Since my D200 is still in the shop, I only had my D70. I am still a little scared to take my expensive 70-200 VR lens on the river, so this was shot with my cheapie 70-300mm.
This eagle had been leading us down the river all morning. I took several other shots of him as we floated along. At the end of our float, I spotted him on the river bank. It looked like he was eating something. I kept taking pictures as we closed in on him. He finally flew up and headed right towards us. He flew directly over us close enough for us to hear the swish of his wings. I was just glad my slow-to-focus cheapie lens was able to keep up with him. Anyway, I was very excited to get this shot. I only see Bald Eagles about once or twice a year, and I'm usually not in the right place to get a good shot.
You might notice that he has bands around his legs. I'll have to do some research about what kind of tracking is being done with bald eagles.
UPDATE- I'm in the process of adding more photos from the day here:http://www.milesboyer.com/gallery/2302687/1/120343887
01-01-07. Happy New Years.
I took this picture while floating in a canoe on the Niangua River. This is my 9th year in a row of floating on New Years Day. It has become a tradition that I would hate to miss. We had marvelous weather for our float today. As you can see by the picture, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. (previous years have brought us sleet, snow, rain, single digit temperatures, and even 75 degree weather)
We took a fairly short float this year. Only Mom, Stuart, and I made the float. We put in upstream and floated down to Mom & Stuart's new property on the river. This picture was actually taken on their property.
This was the first time I had seen their property, so we spent some time walking around scoping the best house site, picnic area, and swimming hole. I'm sure we'll have many more family gatherings at "Leatherwood".
For those of you thinking I'm crazy for taking my camera on the river, you are probably right. I have been floating a long time, and I've never tipped a canoe. I've been carrying my camera with me ever since I've had it, and I couldn't imagine being on the river without it. I do put the camera in a dry bag if we come up on rough water, but for the most part I leave it hanging around my neck. Since my D200 is still in the shop, I only had my D70. I am still a little scared to take my expensive 70-200 VR lens on the river, so this was shot with my cheapie 70-300mm.
This eagle had been leading us down the river all morning. I took several other shots of him as we floated along. At the end of our float, I spotted him on the river bank. It looked like he was eating something. I kept taking pictures as we closed in on him. He finally flew up and headed right towards us. He flew directly over us close enough for us to hear the swish of his wings. I was just glad my slow-to-focus cheapie lens was able to keep up with him. Anyway, I was very excited to get this shot. I only see Bald Eagles about once or twice a year, and I'm usually not in the right place to get a good shot.
You might notice that he has bands around his legs. I'll have to do some research about what kind of tracking is being done with bald eagles.
UPDATE- I'm in the process of adding more photos from the day here:http://www.milesboyer.com/gallery/2302687/1/120343887
I took this picture while floating in a canoe on the Niangua River. This is my 9th year in a row of floating on New Years Day. It has become a tradition that I would hate to miss. We had marvelous weather for our float today. As you can see by the picture, there wasn't a cloud in the sky. (previous years have brought us sleet, snow, rain, single digit temperatures, and even 75 degree weather)
We took a fairly short float this year. Only Mom, Stuart, and I made the float. We put in upstream and floated down to Mom & Stuart's new property on the river. This picture was actually taken on their property.
This was the first time I had seen their property, so we spent some time walking around scoping the best house site, picnic area, and swimming hole. I'm sure we'll have many more family gatherings at "Leatherwood".
For those of you thinking I'm crazy for taking my camera on the river, you are probably right. I have been floating a long time, and I've never tipped a canoe. I've been carrying my camera with me ever since I've had it, and I couldn't imagine being on the river without it. I do put the camera in a dry bag if we come up on rough water, but for the most part I leave it hanging around my neck. Since my D200 is still in the shop, I only had my D70. I am still a little scared to take my expensive 70-200 VR lens on the river, so this was shot with my cheapie 70-300mm.
This eagle had been leading us down the river all morning. I took several other shots of him as we floated along. At the end of our float, I spotted him on the river bank. It looked like he was eating something. I kept taking pictures as we closed in on him. He finally flew up and headed right towards us. He flew directly over us close enough for us to hear the swish of his wings. I was just glad my slow-to-focus cheapie lens was able to keep up with him. Anyway, I was very excited to get this shot. I only see Bald Eagles about once or twice a year, and I'm usually not in the right place to get a good shot.
You might notice that he has bands around his legs. I'll have to do some research about what kind of tracking is being done with bald eagles.
UPDATE- I'm in the process of adding more photos from the day here:http://www.milesboyer.com/gallery/2302687/1/120343887
See photo in gallery
