The Thousand Islands By Air (1)

The Thousand Islands are one of the world’s most photogenic settings.

Scattered from Alexandria Bay on the US side to Kingston in Canada, these islands on the mighty St. Lawrence river present the photographer with endless vistas.

On this quiet day on the water, I send the drone up to its maximum altitude of 400 feet to capture a wide angle view of the islands. A solitary powerboat is headed east along the Canadian Middle Channel, its wake segmenting the surface.

The sheer glory of this scenery, with the low sun glowing against rocks, treetops, and cottages, brings Esther and me back to the islands year after year. During most of our time here, we choose to anchor in sheltered coves.

It’s a glorious life. Waking up by diving off the stern of our sailboat, exercising on island paths, cooking simple meals, exploring the channels, flying the drone.

Here, Second Wind is anchored from the bow and, at the stern, tied up to Camelot Island, one of our favorite homes on the water.

On this hot day, the sun was glaring bright off the rocks at bottom right. Editing the photograph later, I reduced the highlights so the detail of the rock wasn’t obscured. It’s a good example of how shooting in RAW as well as JPEG allows me greater control during post-production.

I generally use the solar panel, the grey rectangle at the stern of the boat, as a take-off platform because it’s large and stable. As soon as the drone lifts off, I back it away from the boat so it won’t get hung up in the boom, the lines, the shrouds, or other dangers the sailboat offers.

I’ve learned from a couple of bad experiences that it’s best to choose a big, flat take-off area that evenly reflects back the downdraft from the props. It’s called “ground effect”, and it helps aircraft of all types to take off.

However, if I place the drone too close to the edge of the solar panel, or I’ve chosen an uneven piece of ground, the ground effect may be stronger on one side than the other. As a result, the drone may tip over as it tries to take off.

Although it’s feasible to land the drone on the solar panel, I often find it nerve-wracking. Because the boat is swinging on the anchor, the exact point of touch-down is uncertain, literally until the final second. So I generally prefer to hand-catch it, backing the drone toward me gently till I can reach out and safely grab one of the legs.

When we’re not at anchor, we tie up at the Gananoque Marina where the staff are friendly and extraordinarily helpful. It faces across the channel toward a lovely peninsula terminating in a lighthouse. That means that the harbor is well-marked, especially comforting when we’re returning to dock at night.

The town itself is lively in summer, with lots of restaurants, food, drug, and hardware stores, and excellent live theater.

I particularly like to take aerial photos of towns from the water as the lights come on at dusk. Every sparkle from streetlights and windows draws the viewer’s eye to explore deeper into the photograph.

In the Thousand Islands, unless there’s a storm brewing, the winds are generally from the southwest, and as you can see, the forest has adapted itself to the prevailing breeze.

If the wind is strong (more than 25 kilometers an hour), I generally choose caution, and keep the drone out of the air. I figure it’s not worth the risk that it will get blown away.

In the next blog: fireworks and sunsets illuminate the 1000 Islands.