Lessons Learned: Shooting Protection Island by Boat
In July of 2006, I had the opportunity to charter a boat with a number of fellow Northwest Photographers. Our destination was Protection Island Wildlife Refuge, in the Straight of San Juan de Fuca, Washington. We had set out in search of Puffins, which assemble there in great numbers. Now, there exist only a handful of human beings who are permitted to set foot on the island. In short, it is closed to the public. Boats must observe a 200-yard buffer around the island at all times. Immediately, the logistics of this shoot presented some challenges. Hold that thought. Let's talk about arriving at the shoot...
Objective: get out of Redmond and on the road to make the Edmonds-Kingston Ferry. No sweat, I pulled it off in 40 minutes, including a fill-up. And then, it began. Now, I've heard the horror stories of the queue for boarding the ferry. All were understated. Traffic was backed up well onto the exit ramp leading off of the highway. Twin lanes of cars extended as far as I could see. Feelings of impending doom, followed by several phones calls to folks who spent the night in hotels at the destination, followed by reassurance that the ferry ride was quick and I was probably going to arrive on time. Long story short, I land on the opposite side at 1:00pm, managing to grab a hotdog and a coke on the ride over.
The phrase "hauling ass" would fall short of describing what I did driving to Port Townsend. How I managed to slip passed every local sheriff on the way is beyond me. Let's leave it at that. I got lost... twice. Reaching port Townsend, I'm already 10 minutes late. I can see the boat. I can see my fellow photographers boarding. I'm now on the cellphone talking to Bill Dewey, trip organizer, who's already on the boat. "Bill, I'm here. Where the $@#! is the parking lot?" Parked, legally? Screw it. Running towards the boat, gear in tow. The captain is pulling up the boarding plank as I leap from land to boat. Man... I'm hungry... but i'm on the damn boat! Interesting facial expressions are directed at the guy who was holding up the expedition (that's me). I make some joke about the number of Nikons present as I fix a Canon lens on my 20D. Classic ice-breaker... Moose Peterson would have been proud. It must have worked, because I wasn't keelhauled that day. Good times.
Lesson learned: Planning is essential! Also, have a backup plan!
Alright, we're all settled in now, and speeding off towards Protection Island. All manner of gear is present, from fast, hulking 300-400mm lenses to the optimistic 200mm. Keep in mind, we're not setting foot on the island. We're shooting from 200 yards. There's not a tripod in sight. There's no room to use one on deck. One guy has a monopod, but even that is tempting fate. This will be an exercise in proper hand-holding technique. My two lenses of choice were the Canon 400mm f/5.6 and the 70-200mm f/4 on my 20D. It's a good thing I saved all that money buying non-IS lenses... right?
Our captain is a great guy. He'll pretty much go wherever we like, providing we don't sink his 80ft boat. We reach Protection Island fairly quickly. Wow. 200 yards is a long way off. There are no 500-600mm lenses on this boat. There will be a lot of cropping going on. Seals are basking in the sun, just out of reach of incoming waves and our puny lenses. Bald Eagles, Gulls, the occasional Arctic Tern, and many other ocean birds are visible along the shore. The problem is that they resolve like dust on my sensor! We do experience several fly-by's, but allow me to explain how this works. I believe that there were 18 of us on the boat. The upper-deck holds 10 photogs at a time, assuming proper coordination of movement. It ends up working out quite well. The lower deck holds about the same. So... hold that 400mm lens up to your face... track that bird coming in... sweep across your field of view... and... plant that lens right into someone's face...?! Mental note, both eyes open. I'm happy to report that no serious injuries were sustained. Keeping steady on the boat proves simple enough. I've got my sea legs; not from boating, but from riding the subway in Boston for years. I can ride the red line through that bad section near Harvard Square while standing, reading a book, eating, and listening to music, sans hand-rail. Yet, my photographs are demonstrating to me that I cannot shoot from a boat. Go figure.
Lesson learned: Learn to adapt to the conditions at hand (otherwise known as "So, you're screwed, now what?").
Did I forget to mention the dust mites?! Oh, hell, why not. Half-way into the trip, I'm staring at my top LCD display. Something is moving! No, it's not that little scratch on my cornea that i've had for years. There's something there. Here, have a look. Yes, see? I'm not crazy. Wait, there's another one! Now there's one on my viewfinder! Oh man, they're everywhere! They're in the walls, man! Game over, man! Yes... my 20D had come down with a bad case of what the Nikon crowd affectionately named "Canon Crabs". They were, of course, deemed contagious! Stay away from that guy, he's got Canon Crabs! However, I later discovered that these clever mites had eaten a particularly annoying piece dust off of my viewfinder (something the folks in Canon's "sterile room" could not accomplish). Shortly afterwards, they had exited my camera. I found them assembled in a little circle next to the shutter button, and blew them off with canned air. Wonderful mites! They should come factory installed.
Lesson learned: Those Nikon guys are jerks! :-)
Hold on, now! Wasn't this trip about photographing Puffins? We saw but three of them during the entire trip! It was rather desparate. I'm not proud to say that we had the captain follow one of those damned birds clear across the sound.
So, to summarize. I nearly missed my boat. I'm not proud of one shot taken during the entire trip. Really, each and every shot was horrible. The return trip was painfully long. I made it home at 10:00pm, exhausted. How would i rate this trip? I had a GREAT TIME! Honestly. I met a lot of great people whom I'd previously only spoken to online. I saw some amazing Washington coastline, and a legendary wildlife reserve. I saw my first wild Puffins. I spent the afternoon at sea, in wonderful weather. Most importantly, I gained valuable experience. Next time I will be far better prepared, and will spend more time in "shooting mode".
Lesson learned: Even when it's all about getting the shot, it's not just about getting the shot.
I want to thank some very important people who made this wonderful trip (really, it was) possible:
Bill Dewey, who took on the task of organizing the trip. Let's do it again next year!
Members of Northwest Photographers, a great crowd!
Puget Sound Express and our fine captain.
The "Canon Crabs" for saving me $$ on a professional camera cleaning bill.
Learn from my experiences and have a laugh at my expense! I'm sure that there will be plenty more trips just like this one. Stay tuned!
Jamie, JFP
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