Snake River Float

For a number of years, my friend Chris Conant, who guides on the South Fork of the Snake River, has said he would take me on a float so I could take photos of beautiful Fall Creek Falls from a river perspective. Well today was finally the day. Chris, his first mate Sage, Rick Schuessler and I made the voyage down the Snake. It was a beautiful float and we had a great time together especially the first mate. We saw many raptors along the way both perched in trees and in flight. Unfortunately, I had very little luck getting decent photos of these magnificent birds. My guess is that my shutter speed was too slow (~ 1/250 sec) for an in-focus capture in a moving drift boat in moving water. If I get the opportunity to do this again, I believe I will shoot for 1/1000 sec or maybe even higher. We did get some really nice photos of the falls. While at the falls, Chris spotted a moose on an island adjacent to the falls. It was feeding on the willows. We took some photos while also taking photos of the falls. The moose then went into the water and swam towards the falls. Chris was ecstatic as in all of the many, many times he had been down that section of the river, he had never seen what we were observing. Upon reaching the area just beneath the falls, the moose fed on the vegetation. Quite a nice viewing experience for all... well the first mate did not seem to be too impressed.