I recently talked with a kayaker, that while stopping to take pictures in his boat felt that he lost stability (balance). This he said only happened while he was focusing to take the shot. I didn’t have an answer for him. He is a good kayaker, decent health. Anyone experience this? Thanks for your thoughts in advance. LJB.
I think sometimes
when you lose your horizon, you can get tippy. If I stare straight up too long it happens. Like looking at the sky at the clouds or stars. Maybe the same thing happens when you look through the viewfinder of a camera too long.
Yep…
I’ve seen one fellow tip over a very stable boat while trying to take pics of birds flying overhead and a brand new digicam went to the bottom…
Hold still
In addition to the other reasons I think maybe it could have something to do with trying to hold yourself still and rigid to get the shot. Sort of instinctive to lock yourself firm to the boat and in so doing the center of gravity is raised, since your upper body is now more like a part of the boat.
Just a thought.
Mike
Once again, GP’s are great
I slide my GP to one side of the boat, and pinch the blade against the coaming & spray skirt. The bouancy of the blade makes a sort of outrigger, and I can concentrate on operating teh camera or using binocs.
Digital advice: I bought my Canon A-60 for several reasons, one of which was the secure grip design. Easy to hold onto.
More advice: Go to Radio Shack and buy a package of “e-grips” for cell phones. They are grippy appliques in various sizes that can be stuck to your slippery silver digital camera to make it less likely to be dropped.
Jim
That’s why…
… I always loop my camera’s strap over myself in some way.
Another plus for digital camera is you don’t look THROUGH the viewfinder. You look AT it. So you still have some peripheral vision left for the horizon.
binoculars
I find that binoculars cause the same-but-worse for me.