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One thing about being a gun guy or gal is you will do a lot of trading.  You see something you always wanted, buy it and after a while you fall out of love with it and move it on for something different!  Carry guns are different, you don’t really take them to the gun range and shoot them a lot, but enough to be really good with them!  They are harder on your hand with their lighter weight, they often have pretty good recoil.  A carry gun is mostly for just in case situations.  Situations you pray will never happen!!

 

My carry/car gun for several years has been the Smith & Wesson Shield 9mm.  It is  good gun, very reliable, fairly compact, but I really hated the trigger.  I traded it for the gun above, the H&K VP9sk.  This is a bigger gun, heavier gun but with a great trigger, and not carries 2 more rounds, 10.  I may still get something very compact for t-shirt carry, but I love this pistol.

 

It’s hard to beat H&K quality.  This one is the LE variant, with night sights and  it came with 3 – 10 round magazines, two with the very comfortable pinky extensions.  I will try carrying it for a while and see how it goes.  At the range, in combat type firing, (one shot a second or faster), I was able to keep all shots in a 6″ area from 7 yards, 20 times.  Not sharpshooter territory, but perfectly adequate for close range emergency shooting.

 

I will keep you updated on how the H&K is doing for it’s intended purpose!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

At a workshop a couple of years ago, I shot this photo of a friend in Arches N.P.  I was amazed then and still am today.  This was the Fujifilm XF 100-400 zoom hand held at 1/15th of a second at an equivilent 600 mm!!!!!  You can see every thread, hand held!!!!!  That’s why I now no longer carry any of  their long zooms except this lens!

 

This lens is the equivilent of a 150-600mm krange zoom, and it also does remarkable close-ups, as well!!!

 

 

…..and with this essentially 1:1  (life-size) shot the working distance was almost a yard away!!!!!  Once again this was “hand-held”!

 

I rest my case!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

The last week of September a small group of us will be touring the beautful South Dakota Hill country!  We have a small group of six people and will limit the trip to 10.  Jack Graham and I will lead this tour and trust me it is a great landscape area, few have discovered!  It is a 6 day tour starting noon Tuesday, September 25th ending Sunday the 30th.  We will spend two days inthe Badlands National Park, an amazing landscape!  Then we will travel to Spearfish, S.D. and shoot in Custer State Park, Spearfish Canyon and the Black Hills!

 

Here are some of the wonderful areas you will enjoy!

 

The Black Hills

 

Spearfish Falls in Spearfish Cany0n!

 

Stream in Custer State Park

 

Prairie Dogs in the Prairie Dog Town in the Badlands.

 

More spectacular peaks in the Badlands!

 

Consider joining us and contact Jack at:  jackgrahamphoto.com

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

 

 

 

All three of our children, and most of their families will be with us this weekend.   I’ve been going throug thousands of images that record the history of our family, going all the way back to 1970 when I was blessed with the greatest earthly gift of my life, Sherelene!  We’ve reared three children welcomed three great new members to our family as each were married and are now blessed with 6 wonderful grandchildren!  I will put a music and image show together to share while we are all together.  I also saw a lot of images from my professonal life while searching for the family images.  The evidence of an incredible life is there in these images.  Let me be sure you understand, that I understand, (sounds like Dr. Phil),  That all of these incredible blessings are from God and any thing good that has happened to me, in my life, the credit, honor and glory all go to Him!!!!!

 

In going through the images I found several of my very favorite family images of all time, thought you might enjoy seeing them.

 

Early in the Great American Photography days my daughter Catherine ran the office and accompanied me on a number of workshops.  After one workshop a guest sent me this image he had shot of us, it is my favorite images of us!  What made it extra special was Catherine had it blown up and wrote an incredible thank you note to me, one of the most touching things I have ever recieved, it still hangs proudly on my wall and in my heart!

 

My son Wesley is an avid hiker an backpacker, an actitivty that I have seldom done with him, but Sherelene always wanted to hike to the top of Mount LaConte in the Great Smoky Mountains and Wes and she did it together, I have no idea who shot this image, but it is one of my favorites because of the sheer joy they are sharing in a beautiful place!  I love how deeply our family loves one another!  Sherelene has done LaConte three times, shame on me!!!!

 

My oldest son, Scott was busy getting and education and raising a family during the Great American Photography days and sadly we never got to travel around the country like I did with Catherine and Wes!  A few year’s ago I gave him an evelope for Christmas saying,” anywhere you want to go for a week, just the two of us.”  He chose the Golden Circe in Utah (Bryce, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands and the Page area), and we had an incredible father-son time, we are going to do it again soon!!!  Wherver he wants to go!

 

This is my favorite photograph of Sherelene and I together!  She more than makes up for what my looks are lacking!  A few Christmas seasons ago my sister-in-law, Terri Fortneym Homer’s wife, came down from Harlan and did portraits of all our family members.  Terri is an incredible portrait photographer, especially kids, which I qualify for, at least at heart!!!!

 

This is an oldy but definately a goody!!!  The late, great Don Nelson, years ago, ( look at my hair and beard ), invited me to be the master of cermonies for the Southern Short Course, the most prestigous of the early photojournalism conferences.  I did a stand up comedy routine and they invited me back for several more years, where I met and made friends with the giants of photojournalism.  Above top row left to right, Porter Binks of USA Today & Sports Illustrated, the pilgrim, the late Bernie Boston legendary pulitzer prize winning photographer, Dick Darcey, legendary sports shooyer for the Washington Post and  the government rep for Nikon, God forgive me and I can’t remember his name!! I am 72 after all!

 

This one goes back to the very early part of my career when I worked for two coal companies and I can tell you, every time I look at this image I thank God I work above ground now!  Photo Credit:  Danny Lawson.

 

Some of my favorite childhood images from each of my children, adults!!!!

 

 

Now, do you see why I know I’m blessed by God!

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim