Most people enter the BWCA to fish, but there are those of us that love to spend the time taking pictures of the wildlife. I am one of those people. I like to fish, but photography is what draws me up north every year. I thought it would be interesting to find out what type of equipment and tips and tricks people have used to capture that special moment in the BDub.

I've been waiting for someone to start such a group, Thanks jenrobsdad!

I think this will be a great group as well. I'm thinking of upgrading my point and shoot digital to a digital SLR, probably Nikon d40 or d60. If you have an SLR what do you carry it in while in the BWCA? I would want it to be waterproof and to float, but not too cumbersome when I see that "perfect shot".

In a related note, does anyone know of a point and shoot digital with good optical zoom. The Casio that I use has 3x which isn't great for wildlife.

I have used several while in the BDub. I used two Sony Mavicas for years, but could not save many pictures. They were ok if I didn't want to get enlargements. Last spring I bought a Canon XTi and I tool some awesome shots especially at night. I lugged up a tripod and took some awesome shots of Lake Agnes with a 4 minute exposure. You could see some sort of glow from the SE part of the lake. The star trails were awesome.

sweet, a photography messageboard.

b-dubber, go with the slr, you'll have more freedom with what you can do with your camera.

Well here I am, teach me oh wise ones! I love photography and don't fish so my free time in the BW is usually spent with my camera (or chasing my kids). I got a new camera just before last years trip (CanonEOS XTI) and look forward to using it again. Anxious to hear your tips and tricks of the trade!

L2P.... You will love the XTi up there even with the lens that came with the kit. I do suggest getting a all in one lens like a 18mm - 200mm so you can take wide angle shots along with zooming in on that loon. If you can afford it go with the image stabilization. I like the night shots the most. You have a bulb setting on your camera that you can do long exposures with. Also get a 4 GB card or higher. I recommend taking pics in the RAW and jpeg mode so you can adjust for white balance and brightness right off your computer. Good luck with it. Post pics when you get back from your next trip.

Great idea! I too go up there with a primary objective being photography. In case it helps anyone, here's what I do. As jenrobsdad said above, add your own tricks to help the rest of us out.

Camera: Canon 20D

Lenses: I usually bring two. 17-40mm and 100-400 image stabilized. By the way, if you're looking to buy a digital SLR, I HIGHLY recommend you buy either Canon or Nikon. Why? Rentals. By buying Canon or Nikon, you gain access to an enormous rental network for lenses. It's nice to capture those once-in-a-lifetime photo ops with high end glass. For about $100 a week, I rent a 100-400 image stabilized professional level canon zoom lens from an online broker to take with me. To buy, the lens would cost me over $1000, which is out of reach at the moment. I'm personnally not a fan of "superzoom" lenses like the 18-200mm lenses because they require too many compromises and aren't up to snuff IQ wise, especially due to barrel distortion at the wide end. I figure if I'm going to go through the trouble to bring an SLR, I may as well get optimum results.

Keeping it dry: I use a large sized granite gear roll-top dry bag inside my day pack. It's waterproof, light weight, and allows quick access. I keep the day pack in front of my feet with the main pocket open. The dry bag is kept rolled closed until I need the camera. Batteries: I bring 4 or 5. Replacement batteries are cheap for my camera since it's a couple generations old. Support: Carbon Fiber Tripod with ball head. Memory: Two 2GB cards and a 40GB mini self-powered hard drive that has CF and SD card slots built-in. I've lost some great shots when I had a CF card fail after a trip...

Johnny-come-lately here ...

I use two cameras. One is an Olympus SW720, which is waterproof and has 7MP. I mostly use it to capture the approach to and departure from portages, which not only records what the landing looks like but also enables me to keep track of how long the portages take. Since the Olympus is waterproof I keep it in the pocket of my PFD with its leash around my neck.

The other camera is a Canon 40D, which lives in a Pelican case with room for a second lens. The case is inconvenient but it's bombproof. I originally brought the standard 28-135mm kit lens and a 75-300mm but found I didn't use the long lens much. So I got an 18-200mm and now leave the 75-300 at home. Since the 40D has a 1.6 crop factor it gives me an effective 320mm, which is enough.

lmislinski, you're right that the 18-200 has some minor distortion issues, but I find that stopping down one or two f-stops helps.

I used a lightweight tripod with ball head once but the camera was too heavy. I'm not sure if I'll bring my more substantial tripod or just continue to brace and hold my breath. I do OK handheld down to about 1/2 second. Night shots are a different story though.

I brought my Canon Rebel XTi along in a small, padded Lowepro bag that held an extra lens and the charging and cleaning items. I kept it clipped to the canoe between my legs and hoped we didn't tip. We had calm weather so I never worried about it. I did have space in a dry bag in case wind or rain was present. I'm SO glad I brought the SLR as opposed to the point and shoot. My extra lens was a Tamron 28-300 zoom lens which came in handy for wildlife and the kit lens was great for capturing the huge sky and landscape shots.

Photos from the trip here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/croixboy/sets/72157622318974185/

I just found this forum recently.

I bring a canon SLR with a tamron 18-250 lens. I know I sacrifice some quality here but I go to the BW for other reasons too and I got sick of changing lenses in the canoe when something pictureworthy happened.

I bring a cheap vide camero tripod that works for everything I need so far. I leave my heavy tripod at home and so far no regrets. I also don't worry too much about my camera getting ruined. I do keep it in a tamrac soft bag inside a dry bag in the canoe.

Last year my camera "broke" in the BWCA and I thought about sinking it in the lake so I didn't have to carry that worthless thing around anymore but hauled it out. I brought it in to get looked at and found out that the shutter assembly was broken and need to be replaced. It was an original digital Canon rebel so not worth fixing. Then I remembered that I have a rider on my homeowner's insurance for it. I talked to my agent and they agreed that since the repair cost exceeds the replacement cost of that camera I should just buy a new comparable camera. I got a check from my insurance company for about $850 towards a new camera. Very nice - my rider costs me about $5 a month and covers my video camera, digital camera, and wife's wedding ring.

Good info on that insurance rider!
I never thought of that, I will talk to my insurance guy before the next trip.

I have taken three different cameras with me on the four boundary waters trips I have been on as I have grown as a photographer. I started with a pentax k1000 Film SLR, moved to a Canon 20d DSLR, and now I currently own a Canon 5D MKII DSLR. I love my 5D and I hope it can go on many trips with me to the BWCA.

I think a wide-angle lens is a must have for the Boundary Waters. Something capable of zooming out to 15mm-35mm for landscape shots. I usually carry Canon's 24-70mm lens that I rent and that is usually enough lens power for me. I have brought a 70-200mm lens that I just didn't really have much use for plus it was heavy and bulky in the pack and just one more really expensive item to worry about. It would have been nice to capture wildlife with but that's about it.

Here is a photo to share: My brother fishing on pine lake. Taken with my Canon 20d and 18-200mm tamron lens (don't care for this lens much but love the photograph).

Nice action shot - and an interesting choice of color enhancement.

Thanks, Koda.

I need to become more aware of my surroundings as I just found this forum. Pumped to see what everyone is capturing this year and maybe a little more of what they did to get their shot. I'm wedding photography by trade, so landscape and wildlife photography is a welcomed relief from the everyday shooting.


I'm going up with 3 other photographer friends next Tuesday, so hopefully I'll have some shots to share when I come back