Originally posted by ramseybuckeye I would probably forget about the app
Try the calendar on your phone with it set to give you reminders.
The joy of canoe camping is.... you paddle in poor light (daylight sun) , but you have time in the mornings and evenings when the sun is optimal to take images. That gets you away from the downside of being trying to get shots while travelling and the inability to control the sun. We always look for campsites that are on a point facing south or west, so we get a chance at a sunset or sunrise each day. I always tell clients if I see great picture I'm going to stop and take it, but it rarely happens.
Here we are, end of the day with my daughter and three grand kids. It's a west facing campsite with a bay behind it.. mom pulled a huge catfish out of the lake, it was quite a struggle. Then she called her chicks over and everyone pigged out. . We'd already set up camp. We just sat and watched life being life.. We're pretty sure everyone was well fed, and I got good pictures. But if this hadn't happened we were still having good time socializing on the beach, kms away from any kind of civilization.
Here we have Cameron road in Algonquin... Photographs of Chickadees, Blue Jays, Canada Jays, wood peckers , an Nuthatches and even the odd Pine Marten can be had here on any given day. Most of these people have driven up from the Toronto area, for the day, the weekend or even the week. They don't even have to hike. Just don't park where people are feeding the birds.
A Cameron Rd. Canada Jay
So what does my travel kit look like? K-1 for landscape with the DFA 28-105.
K-3 for wildlife. with the DA 55-300 PLM. (Spruce Bog Hiking Trail)
Waterproof camera for images on the portage trail or from the boat.(If all you want is a few snapshots to help remember the trips and maybe a few sunsets etc, I don't know why you'd want more than this.
Typically, The K-1 with 28-105 with the 100 macro in one case, and most often the Sigma 24 macro, which takes almost no space.
The K-3 with the DA 55-300 PLM in another case, with the TC.
The waterproof camera (currently my iPhone) convenient in a pack near or under my seat for easy access while travelling.
But bottom line, we like paddling, and we like photography. We don't have to break it down and say we like one and it's more important than the other. If I just want pictures, I'll join the other road warriors and drive up and down Hwy. 60 looking for images where all I have to do is get out of my car.
Go to this
page and 6 images were driving , usually to go shopping, and spotted something along the way. 3 are at a set location you can drive to where the wildlife in question was likely to be found.(Cameron Road, Arrowhon Lodge. Costello Creek,) only two were on camping trips or hikes. (Two were in my back yard.)
This might be the only one I've ever taken after spotting an animal on a hike, where no animals had been previously seen.
So in 15 years and probably 60 trips and more than 100 hikes, I've seen one mink, one Pine Marten, and some birds, and a few moose in places I didn't expect them to be. Expecting wildlife on hikes is not a zero sum endeavour, but pretty close, unless walking through habitat known to be places they habituate.
The truth is people don't hike far with big lenses. It's not an activity conducive to wildlife photography. For DSLRs, and long hikes... a K-3 and DA 55-300 PLM is the most I'll carry. That combo is great when conditions favour it. But it may not be efficient to carry more than that, on long hikes. That and the DA 16-85 and possibly the 100 macro, is probably what I'd want to carry, at the most. And often, just the DA 18-135.
The problem with on the the fly hiking is, if you're moving, wild animals know you are there from a good distance. If you don't have open country and a long lens, you probably aren't getting a shot. And in fact, GPSed cougars and Grizzlies have been passed by hikers who were 60-100 feet away from them, and the hikers never knew they were there. They don't just sit out in the open and pose.
The best photographers, find animal hunting grounds (like an owl working a meadow), stay in a location long enough for the animals to get accustomed to them, or where they can sit long enough without moving than an animal can wander by without getting spooked. So from my perspective it comes down to there are those who don't really plan for pictures (and for the most part get nothing special) , but will take one if one presents itself, and those who go places and plan time for taking pictures.Those who plan to are a lot more successful as photographers. I actually don't even call the others photographers. Any human with phone can do that.
Don't believe for a second you'll be successful as a photographer while walking around doing something else. You can carry any camera you want, it won't matter. Good photography needs good light. And good light usually depends on being there morning or evening.