For most of the kayak-crazy out there, sitting on the water in a beautiful setting with a paddle in hand is the ideal daily routine. If daily paddling in exotic locales isn’t your reality, get some kayak inspiration from the amazing adventure photographers on Instagram. Their captivating photos celebrate nature, wildlife and kayak culture, and they’ll give you great ideas for new paddling destinations to see for yourself.
10 photographers on Instagram with great kayaking photos
1. Ian McAllister
Ian McAllister is a conservation photographer and the executive director of non-profit Pacific Wild. His photography focuses on the beautiful wildlife and natural world that many kayakers come to care deeply about through their connection to the marine ecosystem. His captions often share interesting knowledge about the interconnectedness and relationships between different parts of the environment.
2. Andis A
Andis is an artist, photographer, guide, conservationist and Adventure Kayak contributor. We love his photos from kayak travels around Alaska, shots of snoozing seals, ocean-swimming bears and bat light-trails.
3. Jaime Sharp
Jaime Sharp doesn’t seem to stop moving. He is an outdoor instructor, guide, photographer and filmmaker. His feed is full of super awesome photos from his extensive travels and kayak adventures on diverse bodies of water from British Columbia to Norway to the White Salmon River.
4. Rachel Kristensen
This travel writer and tour leader is currently cycling from Vancouver to Alaska with kayaks in tow, and you can follow the journey through her vibrant feed. From misty shots on the waters of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest to photos of a kayak being dwarfed by a monstrous iceberg in Alaska, her feed will make you want to paddle ASAP.
5. Sarah Schwimmer
Sarah Schwimmer, a.k.a. The Vagabondist, is an expedition guide in the polar regions, and beautifully documents the wildlife and remote areas she is so lucky to work in. Our favorite photos are of a humpback whale breaching and a baby black bear hanging out with a sibling in a tree while their mom catches salmon in a nearby stream.
6. Chris Bensch
Bensch’s photos give little glimpses into kayaking life and culture, like a shot into the interior of a Greenland kayak and one of a kayak parked in the water beside San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge. It’s hard to pick but we think our favorite is his image of Nick Scoville surfing at the Surge Narrows—we liked it so much we put it on the Fall 2015 cover of Adventure Kayak.
7. Freya Fennwood
Outdoor adventurer photographer Freya Fennwood takes beautiful photos (including an Adventure Kayak cover shot!) and tells stories in the wilderness. Her images of kayakers exploring beautiful locations and sea life combined with a wealth of awesome skiing shots make her an inspiring adventurer to follow.
8. Daniel Fox
Daniel Fox is an explorer and storyteller who uses his work to help inspire people to reconnect with nature. His feed is full of bow shots, clouds, sunsets, wildlife and mountains—basically photos of everything you need to get stoked for your own kayak adventures.
9. Tomasz Furmanek
This adventure photographer has a robust 80,000 Instagram followers loving the many crisp bow shots of his adventures paddling around Norway. His beautiful use of light and the variety of spectacular destinations he visits make his feed a great distraction for when you are in between paddling trips.
10. David Hartman
We are big fans of this documentary filmmaker and photographer’s work, especially a video he shot last year of two Orca whales swimming in tandem off the B.C. coast. We also love his photos of mountains, endless breaching whales and the stories he tells in his captions.
You know who else posts awesome kayak photos? Us! Follow us on Instagram @paddlingmagazine.