BRT Insights - WW Kayaking & Hiking

I use GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program) software for advanced photo projects that simpler software cannot accomplish. For example, working with layers allows multiple photos to be combined into a photo collage. GIMP freeware is available for PC, Mac and Linux computers. It is well documented and well supported by an active user community.

More about:
• Software, Books, Videos, & Websites - critical reviews by BRT Insights.
• IrfanView software for enhancement of digital photographs - BRT Insights.

Tags: digital photography, software.
Tags: freeware, photo editing.

Labels: software

Record and display the locations of your landscape and other travel photographs while walking, hiking, running, biking, kayaking, canoeing, rafting, tubing, etc.

1. Personal Navigation Devices (PND) triangulate your position using the GPS satellites, record the route you travel (GPS track) and the time of day at each point along the way.
• GPS receiver (Brands: Garmin, Magellan, TomTom, Trimble, Holux)
• Smartphone - iPhone or Android (Brands: Apple, Garmin, TomTom, HTC, BlackBerry, Palm)
• GPS receivers are built into some smartphones; external GPS receivers can be attached to some smartphones.

2. Digital cameras automatically record the date and time of day when your pictures were taken.
• In IrfanView software click on Image menu - Information.
• In The GIMP software install the Exif Viewer - GIMP Plugin, then click on File menu - View Exif.

3. GPS Travel websites plot GPS track data on the map. Matching time of day information from the GPS receiver and the camera enables the locations of the photographs to be plotted on the map.
• GPS travel websites: MapMyHike, EveryTrail, Wayfaring, MapMyWalk, Wikiloc, Backcountrysecrets, TrailChaser.

4. Trees, hills and tall buildings can block the GPS receiver from connecting to the GPS satellites and prevent the track from being recorded. Thus, GPS mapping methods may be unsuccessful in many places such as downtown areas of big cities, trails with thick tree cover, and rivers with deep and narrow canyons.

5. Examples of Hiking and Biking Photos Synchronized to Map of GPS Track.
• California Hiking Trails Directory Pg. 1B. Scroll down to see GPS Track Hiking and Biking section.

6. Examples of Paddleboating Photos Synchronized to Map of GPS Track.
• Black Canyon Colorado River - Kayaking Canoeing - prathmann 09mar2010.
• Kayaking Black Canyon on the Colorado River - geobau 04oct2009.
• Dog Paddle Down the Russian River - SnoWake 09aug2009.
• Russian River Canoeing - tmeekins 22june2008.

7. GPS Receiver: Garmin GPSMap 76S is a useful tool for outdoor exploration.

8. GPS Mapping Software: Topo! mapping software from National Geographic.

9. GPS receivers also record speed, elevation and distance travelled, so runners and bikers use maps of their GPS tracks to record their training and competitions.


IceRocket Tags: GPS, GPS receiver, personal navigation device, smartphone, iPhone, Android.
Tags: photography, landscape photography, travel, walking, hiking, running, biking, kayaking, canoeing, rafting, tubing, paddleboating.

Labels: equipment, map, software, website

Panoramic photography provides the wide view needed to capture the full beauty of river valley landscapes.

The compact digital cameras that many kayakers, rafters & canoeists carry on whitewater river paddleboating trips have limited zoom capabilities and no replacement lens options, so the full width of a beautiful river valley landscape often cannot be captured in a single photo.

Panoramic photography is done by taking a series of overlapping photos which can later be assembled into a single seamless photo. I use this technique frequently whenever a single photo cannot capture the wide landscape scene that I want to photograph. Panoramic photography can be done with any camera. No tripod or special equipment is required. I just try to have 1/3 of each picture overlaping with the next one and try to keep the camera level as I move from one photo to the next.

Pixtra PanoStitcher software allows these series of overlapping photos to be assembled into beautiful seamless panoramic photos. After loading two or more photos into the PhotoBench most panoramas are quickly and easily created by the Stitch and Blend functions in PanoStitcher.

Panoramic Photography Galleries.

Some of my recent panoramic photos made with PanoStitcher are online at Cache Creek Wildlife Area hiking trip. Older panoramic photos that I assembled with PhotoShop Elements software are online at Death Valley panoramas.

PanoStitcher is a great software! The free trial version is fully functional for stitching two photos together. The full software costs only $30 to assemble larger panoramas from multiple photos. (**** - my rating 4 stars out of 5 - recommended!)

More about:
• Panoramic Photography at Death Valley National Park, March 2005.
• BRthomas6 hiking & camping photo gallery.
• Brthomas6 whitewater river kayaking photo gallery.
• Taking photos while kayaking whitewater rivers is really challenging - BRT Insights.
• Reviews - Books, Videos, Websites & Software for White Water River Kayaking.

Tags: kayaking, river, whitewater, rafting, canoeing, paddle boating, panoramic photography.

Labels: software

Whitewater river kayaking is a very challenging environment for action photography.

It is difficult to take pictures of moving kayakers, rafters & canoeists while I am bouncing around in the river in my own kayak. Usually the best I can do is point and shoot in the general direction of my subject and hope for the best. There is never time to make adjustments of all the setting options that my Olympus 720SW waterproof camera offers to perfect the pictures at the time they are taken. Thus, whitewater paddleboating and playboating pictures from river trips always need some enhancement after I get home.

IrfanView software helps to make your whitewater kayaking photos look their best !!

IrfanView photo editing software can be downloaded from the Internet and installed on your computer. Donations to the software designer are highly recommended to help ensure the continued development of this great little software.

IrfanView has all of the basic tools needed for easy, quick & simple photo enhancement. View-Fullscreen zooms the pictures for easy previewing. Kayaking pictures almost always need to be cropped. Kayaking is done out in the bright mid-day sunshine, so pictures often need color adjustments for bright spots and dark shadows. Using the Auto Adjust Colors tool often is all that is needed, but the Color Correction tool can be used to make manual color adjustments. Pictures that are uploaded to the Internet need to be resized to economize on download times and storage space. I typically resize & sharpen the pictures to a width of 400 - 600 pixels wide for display on the Internet.

IrfanView also has a very powerful batch conversion tool that enables many photo enhancements to be applied automatically to an entire folder of pictures.

IrfanView is a great software! For many digital photographers IrfanView provides all of the photo editing tools that they will ever need. (**** - my rating 4 stars out of 5 - recommended!)

More about:
• Brthomas6 whitewater river kayaking photo gallery.
• Taking photos while kayaking whitewater rivers is really challenging - BRT Insights.
• Reviews - Books, Videos, Websites & Software for Whitewater River Kayaking.

Tags: kayaking, river, whitewater, rafting, canoeing, paddle boating, playboating.

Labels: software

Reviews - Books, Videos, Websites & Software (subtopic)

Whitewater river kayaking is a paddlesport that we must learn by getting out on the river and doing it! Fun, safety and performance on the river can be improved by learning many kayak paddleboating skills, styles and strategies in advance.

Jump down to: Books, Videos, Websites & Software.

Book Reviews

• Hooked on Hiking: Northern California: 50 Hiking Adventures.
• American River Canyon Hikes - trail guides for Auburn State Recreation Area.
• Wildflowers of Table Mountain, Butte County, California.
• Hiking to Waterfalls in California - Books.
• Whitewater Rescue Manual - New Techniques for Canoeists, Kayakers and Rafters - 1995.
• Ultimate Guide to Whitewater Kayaking, 2004.
• California River Maps - Atlas & Gazetteer by Delorme, 2008.
• Essentials of River Kayaking, 2004.
• California Surfing Guidebooks & Travel Guides for the California Coast.
• Ocean Surf Kayaking Skills - paddlesports books & videos.
• The American River: North, Middle & South Forks, 1989.
• Sierra Whitewater - A Paddler's Guide to the Rivers of California's Sierra Nevada, 1974.
• Down the Wild Rivers- A Guide to the Streams of California, 1972.
• Paddler's Atlas of U.S. Rivers West, 1993.
• Klamath River Access Guide - From Road to River's Edge, 2004.
• West Coast River Touring - Rogue River Canyon and South, 1974.
• Canoer's Guide to the Wild and Scenic Middle Klamath River 4th edition, 2006.
• Ann Dwyer's Easy Waters of California North, 2000.
• Kayak: The New Frontier, second edition 2007.
• Canoeing and Kayaking Instruction Manual, 1987.
• California Rivers and Streams: The Conflict Between Fluvial Process and Land Use, 1995.
• America's Wild and Scenic Rivers - National Geographic Society, 1983.
• Performance Kayaking, 1990.
• Western Whitewater From the Rockies to the Pacific, 1994.
• The Bombproof Roll and Beyond, 1993.
• The Best Whitewater in California, Third Edition 1998.
• Paddling Northern California by Charlie Pike, 2001.
• DeLorme Northern California Atlas & Gazetteer 6th edition, 2003.
• DeLorme Northern California Atlas - Road Maps for Kayakers.
• Stretching for Paddling Boat Trips.
• California Whitewater - A Guide to the Rivers, 1995.
• Kayak - Animated Manual of ... Whitewater Technique, 1986.

Video Reviews

• Videos vs. Photos for Documenting Outdoor Adventure Trips.
• Muir Woods National Monument - Walk in the Redwood Forest Cathedral 29may2011.
• Ode to the Club Boater - whitewater river kayaking carnage video by tgerencer1.
• Play Daze, kayak playboating instructional video, VHS 1999 - review.
• SOAR - Skills On All Rivers: Intermediate and Advanced Kayaking Technique, VHS 2000.
• Essential Boat Control, whitewater kayaking instructional video, VHS 1996.
• Full Circle, kayaking action video, 2001 - review.
• Grand Canyon Adventure - 3D movie playing at IMAX theatre in Sacramento California.
• Mystery of the Nile River - IMAX movie review.

Website Reviews

• Use Google Street View to help plan your road trips and outdoor activities. • Webcams for Parks and Hiking Trails in California. • Waterfall Trails in Northern California USA.
• Waterfall Hiking in California - websites.
• Wiki Websites for Kayakers, Canoers & Rafters.
• Road Maps Online.
• Topographic Maps Online.

Software Reviews

• GIMP is a Powerful, Free Software for Digital Photo Editing. • Pixtra PanoStitcher software for panoramic photography of river canyon landscapes.
• IrfanView software for enhancement of digital photographs.
• Topo! mapping software for exploration of whitewater rivers and creeks.

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Labels: book, software, subtopic, video, website