Shooting Paddlers: Photographic Adventures with Canoeists, Kayakers and Rafters

Janet Money is a writer and policy analyst for the Canadian Cystic
Fibrosis Foundation in Toronto.

Toni Harting is a Toronto-based photographer who specializes in
paddling, particularly canoe expeditions. His chatty account of how to
make the most of photo opportunities in the outdoors is bound to make
any photographer, from the rank amateur to the quasi-professional, look
through the viewfinder in a new way.

Covering recreational paddling, competitions, marathons, and the humble
campsite, Harting presents 238 photographs with brief explanations of
why and how they work or do not work as good photos. At times, he
assumes too much knowledge on the part of the reader (he mentions the
“rule of thirds” twice before actually explaining what it is, and he
never does explain how to achieve a silhouette). And on occasion he can
be patronizing, as, for example, when he reminds the reader to use a
neck strap while taking photos in a canoe.

Caveats aside, Shooting Paddlers is an excellent photography lesson,
one that will encourage weekend paddlers to make good records of their
adventures.