TECHNICAL DETAILS
Sony A7ii, Sony FE 70-200 4.0
1/1000 @ f/5.6, ISO 100
COLD WHITE WATER & RED HOT ADRENALINE
Leigh and I were returning from a weekend at the cabin, and as part of our ongoing quest to hit all of Minnesota’s State Parks, stopped by Jay Cooke State Park near Cloquet to take in the fall scenery. The St. Louis River was running unusually high for the late fall season, the product of some recent prodigious rains and a wetter-than-normal season overall. The air was crisp and colors bright. We explored a trail down along the river, running past a huge array of impressively noisy cataracts. The hiking conditions were not great. The trails were very muddy, and high water conditions made getting down to explore river banks treacherous. Even lower parts of the trails were under water in a few spots.
To reach the trail, we crossed a long, narrow cable suspension bridge that spans the swiftest part of the current right below where the river has split into two falls a hundred meters or so apart. They join back together right under the bridge. After our hike, as we worked the mud off our boots and warmed up in a sunny spot on the river bank above the falls, we saw a group of kayakers heading downstream toward the biggest section of white water on the other side of the foot bridge. Surely they wouldn’t go over the falls. Or would they? I put on my 70-200 lens, and we headed back down the shore path toward the bridge, just in time to see the group emerge from the spray of the biggest section of rapids! I was both incredulous that they had run that stretch, as well as pissed that I had not gotten down in time for a shot. But, as I reached the bridge and started across, I saw that the group had pulled into the shore on the far side right under the crossing, and were hoisting their boats out indicating that they were going to carry them back above the falls and run again. I confirmed this with one of them as they passed by the end of the bridge, so I headed upstream on the far side to find a prime vantage point.
A few hundred feet upstream from the bridge, the trail allowed access to a rocky outcrop hanging out over the water just below the falls. It wasn’t too big, and the rocks were slippery boarding on icy as I scrambled out to find a place to shoot. From where I perched, I couldn’t visualize a clear and obvious line that a kayak would run through the roaring torrent. I didn’t know where to focus. I knew the action would be fast once they appeared upstream, so I ensured I was on continuous AF mode and switched to shutter priority to hold 1/1000, thinking that would still be a good balance as I didn’t know if they would appear in the shadowy or sunny parts of the frame. It gave me f/5.6, which was a good compromise for isolating a boat and still being uncertain where in the image one would appear. The Sony A7ii I was shooting has a burst mode of a fairly modest 5 frames per second. It’s not exactly a screaming sports-oriented body, and truth be told, I rarely shoot much fast action. So I know as soon as something appeared, there would be little I could do but “spray and pray”, firing in burst mode and hoping I captured a peak moment of action.
It took quite some time–probably a good 10 minutes–for the guys to portage their boats back above the falls. And when the first boat appeared coming over about a 10 foot drop on the left edge of the frame, I have to admit I was totally unprepared. I had thought that they would run the more central part of the falls. Since I had not hiked farther upstream to see the put-in spot and lay of the river, I didn’t know that their whole aim was to bypass the central rapid to take the perfect plunge on the left of the bank. I totally missed the first paddler as he launched, being focused farther upstream and framed accordingly. By the time I saw him, reframed and hit the shutter release, he was already bobbing in the water under the drop. There were, however, five boats. For the next one I was ready. I had pre-focused on the launch point, and at first sight of a flash of blue plastic, squeezed and held as the camera fired away. This image is the second in a series that starts with the bow just visible and follows this boat through it’s drop, a moment of being submerged, and then bobbing up in the foam and sun. I like the position of the paddle going forward, and how the bow is just starting to nose over for the drop as the boat shoots off the falls. In real life, it happens with remarkable speed. Makes me crave a body with a bit better FPS performance. Until I remember that I’m not really a sports shooter anyway.
I got the others as they went through their paces, too. And shot as they played in the waves down under the bridge to the take-out point. I introduced myself after and gave them a card, telling them to contact me if they wanted copies, as I knew I had a few good frames. And I did. I posted a gallery of maybe 30 images online for them, and am glad I got to shoot such a dramatic scene.
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