Story Behind the Shot: Connections

Most paddlers justify learning to roll for safety, but those who are crazy about traditional kayaking have taken something practical and made it aesthetic. Rolling for the sake of rolling: with your hands behind your head, with no paddle, with a brick in one hand. Arms locked straitjacket-style.

One of the most prominent get-togethers for traditional enthusiasts is the South Sound Traditional Inuit Kayak Symposium (SSTIKS) in Hood Canal, Washington. Here you will find the who’s who of traditional kayaking, from well-known kayak builders like Brian Schulz (stern paddler and builder of the skin-on-frame double in this image) to world-class athletes like Greenland na- tive Maligiaq Padilla and rolling champion Helen Wilson (bow paddler).

Many of the Greenland competition rolls are difficult and take years of training to accomplish. Not surprisingly, mastering the timing and coordination to roll a tandem kayak is exponentially harder. Here, Wilson and Schulz are performing a relatively easy standard layback roll. Although their timing is slightly off for this particular roll, they went on to nail several incredibly difficult rolls in the still waters of Hood Canal.

My photography draws from the natural world and people’s interactions with it. Light inspires me—the way it shapes dimension and tells stories. On this day, the clouds were low and thinning as they drifted across the sound, casting soft directional light and creating contrast in the scene. When fog began rolling in, most people put away their cameras to keep them safe and dry. Instead, I reached for my mine. I love the way the mist gives so much atmosphere and depth to a two-dimensional photograph. With the climatic conditions just right, I shot with a wide-angle lens to capture both the paddlers and the environment that dwarfs them.

The magic of this image is that it represents the basic spirit of kayaking—the athleticism of the paddlers, serenity of place and connection to water and sky.