Cascada de Tamul... a Big Freakin' Waterfall!

Attention paddlers and wanna-be paddlers!!!! Visit your local pro-shop and pick up the latest issue of Rapid Magazine! The good folks up there in the nether-regions of North America have always treated me well.

In this latest issue you'll see a kayaking pic a took in Mexico of my friend Ben Kvanli. Ben is an Olympic lunatic who must paddle every day, lest his brain explode. This photograph was made at the Cascada de Tamul. Where the Rio Gallinas and the Rio Santa Maria rivers meet to form the Rio Tampaon, you will find the Cascada de Tamul... a behemoth. Ben, in his infinite wisdom, figured it would be a good idea to try to paddle as close as he could to the falls.... Now Ben is a strong dude... he paddled in the 1996 Olympics when they were in Atlanta (though the kayaking events were held on the Ocoee River in Tennessee), and like I said, it is very rare that Ben goes a day without paddling. Thank heavens he wasn't strong enough to actually make it to the falls... I don't think anyone would be. The air current alone from the downdraft of the thousands of cubic feet of water pouring over that cliff was thankfully enough of a barrier to hinder his self-destructive attempt.... because I guarantee if he made it all the way he would have been pummeled to death by the ferocity of those waters.... boooooo... no one likes it when a friend is pummeled to death.

Anyway... at least the attempt made for a decent photograph. :)

Meet Wayne Dickert...

70mm :: 1/2 sec @ f8, ISO 50

Meet Wayne "Wayner" Dickert... Olympic paddler and all around awesome fellow. I shot Wayne over the winter for the Canoe & Kayak Beginners Guide magazine (on newsstands now). We had one of the toughest winters on record out here in North Carolina, and when C&K asked me to shoot Wayne I don't think they had snow and ice in mind... but snow and ice is what they got. I figured, if you got it, flaunt it... so I showed up early and scouted the most brutal location I could find.

Wayne is the head instructor at the Nantahala Outdoor Center... which according to National Geographic Adventure is "one of the best outfitters on the earth." Though they paddle many rivers in the south-east, the NOC is built upon the Nantahala River, so I limited my scouting there. There is a section called The Cascades, class V paddling with awesome waterfalls... that was my initial idea, but the access was way too treacherous due to ice ice everywhere... I'd hate to kill my subject (almost happened once... more on that another day). I tooled around in my truck with my dog looking for the perfect spot, and then I found it, down a long snow-covered dirt road. Tucked back in a little cove with decent access was this cascade... the mist coming off the waterfall affected by weeks of freezing temperature had created a frozen white winter wonderland... everything was covered in snow and ice.

I went and picked up Wayne and we bushwhacked our way through the forest. I selected the exact spot, tied a few branches back out of the way, and set up one light. Using just one light is not typical for me (unlike the immensely talented Zack Arias), but I didn't have much of a choice this time around. Despite my sometimes ridiculous devotion to building the perfect shot, I wasn't about to ford an icy river all by myself to set up kickers on the opposite shore... I was just going to make it work. I used a beauty dish on a White Lightning connected to my own battery powered rig (12 volt lawnmower battery and an inverter - cheaper and with more power than a Vagabond). I underexposed the ambient by about 1 stop, dragging the shutter to blur the water, and popped a bit of light onto Wayne with a 1/2 sun gel to even further cool the background color temperature and allow Wayne's warm flesh tone to stand out against the blue environment. A few minutes and a few frozen fingers later... (sorry, no behind-the-camera timelapse on this one... but I've got a ton of good ones coming up in the future)

Patrick Cavan Brown :: Editorial & Commercial Photographer :: Asheville, North Carolina

Meet Michelle Kvanli...

Meet Michelle Kvanli...

It isn't often that you get to shoot one of your best friends for a national magazine (Canoe & Kayak)... and it isn't often that someone deserves it as much as Michelle does.

Michelle is a professional kayaker and one of the most honest, generous, and genuine people on the planet. Her and her husband, Ben Kvanli (1996 Olympian paddler), run a non-profit kayak instruction school in San Marcos, Texas, Red River Racing and KayakInstruction.org. They have introduced thousands of folks to paddling over the years (I have taught many a class with them)... they coach a Jr. Olympic team (awesome kids!!!)... and also run a kayak rehab program for veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

Michelle has spent much of the past year training and competing around the country, and after recovering from successful shoulder surgery has had her best competition year yet. Michelle placed first in the U.S. open division at the NOC, and took 3rd at the team trials in Durango.

I encourage you read more by clicking on the tear-sheet above, or just head over to KayakInstruction.org and learn to paddle with Michelle in the spring fed 72 degree waters of the San Marcos River.

"Rapid" Profit Loss

I've sold this photo a number of times, and each time I sell it I make less and less $$. This time it was to Rapid Magazine out of Canada... they produce a great product for the whitewater paddling community and have purchased a number of images from me in the past. But what has this wonderful economy and dwindling print market brought us? A rapid depreciation in the amount of cash I can make in the editorial market. Not only was it chump change from this 1/2 page image, but it was in Canadian Dollars... which means after converting it to US Dollars and eating the fee associated, I made about enough money for a cheap dinner (sans the bottle of wine) and a matinee movie for me and mi chica... which we are going to blow watching District 9 and eating egg-rolls at PF Chang's tonight!

BTW... The image was taken on the San Marcos River in San Marcos, Texas... we've got a new whitewater kayaking park there in that spot, but we didn't even make this list! The irony...

Wanna learn to paddle? See my friends Ben and Michelle Kvanli at KayakInstruction.org in San Marcos, Texas.

Meet Philip Curry...

Canon 5D - 1/100 - f2.8 - ISO 50 - 100mm Macro

Meet Philip Curry... Owner / founder / president of Astral Buoyancy. If you are a paddler, chances are you own one of his PFDs (Personal Flotation Device)... prior to forming Astral, Philip started Lotus Designs, now owned by Patagonia. Philip is a kayaker and started Lotus out of the frustration of not being able to find a comfortable and maneuverable paddling PFD. He picked up sewing in college and made his first few life jackets by hand. Philip met his wife, Linda, a seamstress, and together they made the first professional samples which he sold at paddling shops. I talked to Philip's mom the other day (she got my number from the magazine and called for a copy of the portrait)... she told me how in the early days even she would cart the jackets around and sell them from the truck of her car. The rest is history now... Lotus, and now Astral, are the biggest and most innovative PFD designers in the business.

This was shot for the great folks at WNC Magazine. They've got me shooting the "Local Seen" segment each month, which I love... there isn't anything much more fun than a conceptual portrait. The Asheville YMCA was kind enough to shut down their pool for an hour in the middle of the day for us. I was only yelled at by one patron, though quite a few were unhappy about not being able to swim in their favorite pool (though there are two pools). I dropped a blue backdrop into the water, used battery operated strobes (stands in the water), underpowered everything to get get a nice shallow depth of field, and got myself nice and wet. Kudos to the YMCA, and to Philip for jumping through hoops with me! Gracias!

On a side note... still no more time-lapses... haven't gotten the G9 fixed yet... but this would have been a good one!

Canoe & Kayak Whitewater Magazine... Meet Jerry Jascomb

I was super excited... A few evenings ago I was buying a couple of new bicycle inner-tubes at my local outdoor shop, Sunrift Adventures, when I happened to glance over and notice the new issue of Canoe & Kayak's Whitewater Magazine. They were going to mail me one, but I was compelled to plop down my $6 for the issue immediately because it contained my second assignment for the fabulous paddling publication.

Meet Jerry Jascomb... He's been paddling class 5 whitewater in the southeast for almost 20 years. He's even got a handful of first descents, including the famed Talullah Gorge. C&K asked me to shoot a portrait of him to open up their section titled "Old Man Ripper" about the old-timers who've paddled these rivers longer than just about anyone else.

Our location was the Green River Narrows, the southeast's most famous class 5 steep creek. I hiked in the day before to scout... a 2 mile hike with a killer steep section towards the end. I took the mutts and we picked out 3 spots to stage lit-portraits. The river is dam controlled and water is released only a couple of days per week... thankfully not on this scout day, because I slipped and fell into the river, like a dummy, camera in hand and phone in pocket... the water was low and I was able to float downstream to a point where I could climb out... camera OK (held it above my head), phone dead (and still at the repair shop).

The following day Paul Mehaffey (good buddy and invaluable assistant) and I hiked down into the gorge. Jerry and his buddies paddled down and I met him near the beginning of the hard stuff. I shot a bunch of pics of Jerry paddling, then we set up for portraits while his friends paddled a second round. I used a one light set-up with a Canon Speedlite and a shoot-thru umbrella, but unfortunately it wasn't as simple as it sounds. My Pocket Wizards were on the fritz, and the infra-red Canon trigger wouldn't reach at the distances we were shooting, so I actually had to have Paul manually trigger the strobe when I clicked the shutter... a pain in the ass even though I was shooting a 1/2 second.... I wanted the soft water look, but I couldn't slow the shutter down any more without increasing the F# beyond the limits of my strobe.... so it was just me flailing my arms around and Paul trying desperately to sync... we managed and it worked out well.

The hike out was a bear!!... I quickly learned that it is time to start exercising again (hence the bicycle inner-tubes)...

PocketWizard, if you are listening, I could really use a donation of 6 of your fancy new Flex TT5 Transceivers. Pretty please?

And Canon, I'd love to replace my old busted up Speedlites as well... interested in charity?

Canoe & Kayak Magazine...

I must thank Jeff Moag, Editor Extraordinaire, and rest of the good folks over at Canoe & Kayak Magazine for giving me the honors of my first assignment with their world class publication. I've always wanted to shoot for C&K, as they are tops in their field. They dug the shots (flying commercial with your kayak), and thankfully dropped another shoot in my lap: a portrait of a long-time paddler and holder of some local first descents, including Tallulah Gorge)... those pics are coming soon... just waiting on the June issue)

I snagged a friend (fellow photographer and soon to be fellow paddler) Paul Mehaffey, and we raided the Greenville, SC airport one sunday afternoon. We went gorilla, no permits or permission, and stayed as low-key as we could. After half an hour or so I had to pay a quick visit to the Airport Chief of Police, but he was kind enough to let us continue. I used no strobes, just available light and a tripod. The Greenville-Spartanburg Airport is anything but bustling, so I took multiple exposures of blurry people and layered them up in photoshop... an old-school technique.

Sorry, no time-lapse.

Read the article below...

Guest Blogger: Bruce Litton - Video: Tallulah Gorge, Oceania

Guest Blogger: Bruce Litton

Long Trip Report For A Short Trip (subtitle: Confess Thy Swims)
I haven’t done one of these in a while but this trip deserves a report.

THURSDAY – South Sauty Creek (AL) – Matt Taylor and Jerry Fant had paddled this the day before and were raving about it. Matt and I paddled it and it was a fantastic class III-IV creek. Sauty has excellent slots, boofs, technical boulder gardens, etc., but nothing too big. We boat scouted everything except the first waterfall (the put-in rapid) and the Slot rapid. We ended up walking the Slot as it had ugly wood in both slots and the only other option was a boof that landed on rock AND THEN flushed into a pin rock. South Sauty was a great start to the long weekend of paddling.

FRIDAY – Chattooga Section 3 (GA) - We were joined by Patrick Brown from South Carolina (formerly San Marcos) and met up with Charlie Laws at the NOC Chattooga outpost. With recent rains we had high hopes of getting on a creek. The North Fork and West Fork French Broad (NC) were our first choices but they were on the low side and dropping. We thought the Chauga (SC) might be good so we went to look at the gauge nearby, but it was below minimum. We even considered Overflow Creek, but I wasn’t sure I was (or ever will be) up for that so we didn’t make the trip to check the gauge. Originally we had planned to paddle Section 4 but at 2.5’ the level was a bit too high for us mere mortals. Plan B (or C or D) was in effect and that meant Section 3. I had to do a little convincing with Matt as he wanted to go run Killer Fang Falls Of Death Creek or something (he’s young). I told him he HAD to do Section 3 sometime in his life and today was the day. It was a hoot. We did the entire 12 miles in about 3 hours. It was all read and run except for scouts at Dick’s Creek Falls and of course Bull Sluice (VERY IMPRESSIVE at that level – the biggest I had ever run it). It’s a beautiful river with great rapids and it had been over 10 years since I had run all of Sec. 3. It was also great to paddle with Charlie and go to dinner with him afterwards to laugh at all his stories.

SATURDAY – Cheoah (NC) – Matt and a couple of his friends that had joined us (Drew and Harrison) decided to do a BIG double – Tallulah in the morning and Cheoah in the afternoon. I’m too old for that much excitement and needed to do a little shopping at the NOC so Patrick, Jerry and I headed for the Cheoah. At the Nantahala we had a chance to visit with Michelle Kvanli and watch a couple of her Junior Olympic racers run the course at Nantahala Falls (BTW, the weekend before Michelle placed 1st in her slalom race – awesome!). The last time and only time I ran the Cheoah over two years ago the release was 850 CFS, and we took out before the bottom section. Today the release was 1000, and with creek inflow it was estimated to be at 1200. It was HUGE – definitely the biggest, most powerful river I had ever run. None of us knew the lines so we felt our way down boat scouting and were doing pretty well until………. Takeout Rapid (not because it’s at the takeout but because people screw up and choose to take out). On river left I boofed a pourover. Unfortunately on landing I pitoned into a rock and it bounced me right back into the hole. I was stuck side surfing in the hole. I was stable but the hole was deep and sticky, and I was stuck between the hole and the downstream rock that had bounced me into it. I rolled but was still in the hole (much to my chagrin). I tried again to dig myself out but it wasn’t happening so I reluctantly pulled the skirt and bailed. I ended up on a river center rock next to a guy who had swum out of the same hole. His friends roped us both to shore and then the search was on for my boat and paddle. Jerry and I found my paddle (broken) and Patrick found my boat about ¼ mile downstream. I was feeling pretty smug about packing a break-down in the boat until……… I discovered that the center section was no longer in the boat (lesson to you youngsters – when packing a break-down fasten it well in the boat or it will not serve its intended purpose). No injuries, but 1 broken paddle, 1 lost thermos, and 1 useless back up paddle. Jerry had decided to get off the river and as Patrick and I were getting ready to restart Matt, Drew and Harrison pulled up. I borrowed an extra paddle Drew had and they joined us for the rest of the run. Thankfully we now had a guide as Drew knew the river well and we (mostly) followed his lead through massive waves, holes, and pourovers. By then we were concerned about running out of water so we didn’t scout anything, including The Big One (Bear Creek Falls) which I never imagined I would run without scouting (we ran the center line with no mishaps). The river picked up even more in intensity. It was so pushy that constant corrections were needed to stay on course, and as I discovered later Drew was taking us down the “hero” lines. There were no more incidents until…… Yard Sale – the last rapid before the lake. I followed Drew to a big pourover boof over a nasty hole. He had not led me wrong yet so I opted to follow him down this “hero” line rather than take an easier way around (I was tired and should have). Drew hit the boof hard and flipped, but he rolled up out of the hole. I hit the boof not so hard and got sucked back into the hole. So there I was again, side surfing in a big hole. This one was REALLY deep and trying to surf out in either direction was like climbing a slippery mountain – it wasn’t happening. A flip and roll didn’t do it either and I realized pretty quickly that the only way I was getting out was to swim. A friendly NOC raft (that thankfully did not squash me in the hole) helped me get to shore with boat and paddle (which I did hold onto this time). There were just a couple of small drops left and then we hit the lake. What a day! What a river! The swims were unfortunate (my first since my face and hand were cheese-gratered on the Ocoee 2 ½ years ago), but those are just part of the game. We’re all just between swims. It’s only a matter of when.

SUNDAY – Tallulah (GA) - It was time for the Grand Finale. I had wanted to paddle this river ever since they started releases in 1997. Saturday is 500 CFS and it was 700 CFS for us on Sunday. Paddling it were myself, Matt, Patrick, Harrison, and Drew (who would again be our guide). The first (Class V) obstacle at the Tallulah is the put-in – 600 steps into the gorge. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be (but my legs are still feeling it 4 days later). The first rapid (Last Step) is one of the hardest on the river and I completely screwed it up. I missed the line completely and pitoned briefly, went down a large drop, pitoned again, and then rock bashed down a steep slide. Needless to say this was NOT a good start, but I was determined (and the only way out was a walk back up the steps – no way). Next was Tanner’s Launch, which is the biggest auto-boof in history. If you add a stroke to it the boat practically flips over backwards. Next was Oceana. That is the most amazing rapid I had ever seen close up. The explosion of water coming off The Thing can’t be imagined until you’re next to it. I may run it some day, but on this day I elected to take the river right dry line. Maybe if I hadn’t missed the line at the first rapid I would have felt more confident and run it? I don’t know, but when you’re on the river and decide to walk a rapid it is always the right decision for that time and circumstance. Patrick and Harrison did fire it up and had great rides down the left side. The rest of the river was amazing, exhilarating, extraordinary, indescribably beautiful, and……… difficult. For me it was true edge of the seat paddling - flickering between moments of exhilaration and fear. Drew was a great guide and he said later that after we all made it through The Gauntlet (HUGE!!) he knew we would be ok. Also of note for me were Road To Aintry, which has a big slide into a big hole that I got stuck in (here we go again?) but was able to surf out, and Tom’s Brain Buster. On Tom’s Drew told us to just stay right to avoid “bad dreams” to the left. I got eddied out inadvertently, leaked out of the eddy backwards, and ran the bottom, steepest part of the rapid backwards. Another very notable rapid was Lynch’s Wrench. It was one of the few we scouted. It required a big boof off a rock flake to make it over a massive hole/seam/ugly water area. I did not want to surf that hole and thought about walking it, but I went for it and made it. Everyone paddled great. There were a few flips, a few missed lines, and a few scary moments, but no swims and no big problems. The Tallulah is truly an amazing river and despite the Class V put-in and the long lake paddle at the end I will be back to run it again as soon as possible.

What an amazing four days of paddling. It was short but intense. Except for Friday every day was at or over the limit of anything I had ever paddled. I also realized that I can do a trip like this and take off only two days of work (Thursday and Friday) and still get to paddle 4 days. Of course the front end and back end have to be done on little sleep, but it can definitely be done (I was home working by 9am Monday). In addition to the October Ocoee trip I’m going to make this long weekend springtime trip every year if at all possible. Come on and join in. You will not be disappointed.

Finally, I would like to put in a quick plug for American Whitewater. If not for their efforts the Tallulah and the Cheoah would still sit dry, as they did for 80 years. Thanks to AW and other local groups they have scheduled releases that you can plan a trip around. To paddle even one of them is worth the trip. To be able to do both in the same weekend – simply stupendous. If you are not a member of AW don’t hesitate – JOIN NOW! You also get a great magazine out of it.
http://www.americanwhitewater.org/

That’s all (and quite enough). See you on the river.

Bruce

Thank Heavens

Thank Heavens! I actually got to go kayaking this week. Some good ole friends from Texas happened up for Ocoee Drawdown Week, and I am very thankful that they did.

See more adventure pics here.

Working on a new project for WNC magazine next week... the tear-sheets won't be out for a few months though... I'll post them when they are available.

Maybe one day this week?

Been busy around here, doing one thing or another, but I might, just might, get to go kayaking this week! Check out more kayaking pics in my Adventures Gallery, or more pics from Mexico (this image is from the Rio Pilon in northern Mexico) in my Mexico Gallery.

Michelle Kvanli of Red River Racing

Speaking of Michelle Kvanli, I just heard through the grapevine that she took 3rd in the Nationals! Fresh off surgery to her should last season, Michelle has come back strong... I'll be looking for you in 4 years, Michelle.

To find out more info on Michelle, check out KayakInstruction.org and RedRiverRacing.org.

Mexican Creek :: Medina River, Texas

Fun stuff, though this run hasn't seen significant flow in over a year. It relies on Lake Medina being filled and with significant water going over the spillway. But watch out for the landowners and a Deputy Sherif who is hired on his off-hours by the landowners.

Wanna learn to kayak? Check out Ben and Michelle Kvanli in San Marcos, Texas at KayakInstruction.org.

You can see a few more kayaking pics in the Adventures Gallery of my website.

Here is a decent video from Mexican Creek... just hit the mute button first.