Behind the scenes look from Darin McQuoid, Kokatat Ambassador and photographer at large:

“The reality of expedition kayaking is that behind the scenes we are pretty normal people. When I get back from an international expedition I am generally focused on a few things: first and foremost, spending time with my wonderful lady in Davis, California where she is a grad student in molecular, cellular, integrative physiology”. Let’s just say that she is a lot smarter than I am – I don’t understand any of it! With her busy schedule I slip into the domestic role at home, doing a lot of cooking trying to stick to day trips for kayaking. After that I spend time with family and friends, and of course pay all the late fees I accumulated during travel. I generally walk away with around 5,000 images from a trip – sorting and editing these can take a little while. Most years I end up working a few odd jobs between expeditions: I’ve done anything from raft guiding to commercial maintenance, but as the years progress and sponsorships grow I am forced to do less of this. Let’s hope the trend continues!

Needless to say I love photography, and while at home I really enjoying playing around with my camera in relaxed atmospheres where I am not “under the gun” and don’t have any pressure to produce results. Doing this helps me remember why I like taking pictures, because it can be really fun.

Blogging can be a lot of fun, and while I’m at home I try to update my River Lover blog at least once a day. As a member Clear H2O Films, I am proud to say that we have a major, out of the industry sponsor. While this has held back our regular updates during the contract process, we are looking forward to sharing the adventures we’ve had on our expeditions in Mexico and India, and we’re heading off to Brazil in just under a month. Stay tuned for and update on that lots of media this March!” - Darin