Category : blog

The old School House at Cumberland Gap National Historic Park.

 

I have always loved this shot, it was made with an old Nikon and the 18mm lens.  I love it because it brings back to my memory the last school room I taught in in the early 70’s, the last school room in the state of Kentucky to be heated by a pot belly stove just like the one in this picture! I remember how much fun it was to see those 6th graders learn and get better prepared for life!  That was the last time that what I taught had such an important impact on people’s lives.

 

Almost all my teaching since then has been helping people learn how to be a better photographer!  While that has been rewarding too, it has not been as impactful as what those 6th graders learned!  It is satisfying to see my new students benefit from what I and my fellow instructors are able to share!

 

My current student is Dr. Tony Rogers, my heart surgeon from last year!  I met Tony in the pre-surgery meeting and we have become great friends ever since.  Now that he has retired, he has had time to work on his photography skills!  Tony just did his first week long photo trip to Maine, on his own,  and I’m thrilled with his images.  It is very rewarding to see his great progress in such a short time!  Please allow me to share some of my favorites of his, with you.

 

 

So there you go!  I’m thrilled with Tony’s vision and his skill to bring it all together!  Maybe the joy of seeing people develop new skills is important?  I’m happy that God has given me something I can share!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After all my heart issues in May of 2023 I’ve been working hard to regain what I lost because of all of that.  As the old saying goes “Dying really takes it out of you!”  Having coded twice on Mother’s Day of last year it really has been a slog to get back!  I’m happily back to where I can use my preferred and heavier system for my serous work again!  I enjoy the Micro 4/3rds gear but still prefer the APSC sensors in my Fujifilm cameras!  Plus you just can’t beat the Fujifilm color science with any system other than Fujifilm!

 

The photo above is my new attempt to meet my field work needs and stay under my self imposed 10 lb. limit on the bag and contents!  The key is to have a good enough spread of focal lengths, in the fewest lenses.  I will carry a back-up body in a safe place just in case anything goes down, but honestly in 54 years of doing this I’ve never had a body die on me, except for the one I dropped out of a canoe into a river!

 

I will make two adjustments depending on the kind of trip I’m on;  The constants are the Fujifilm X-T5 body, the 10-24 wide angle zoom and the 70-300 long zoom and the TC-14 teleconverter.  On some trips I will change out the 16-80 for the 18-135 and the 50mm f 2 for the 60mm f 2.5 Macro, also depending on subject matter, I may leave out the 16mm f 1.4!  Either way I’m covered from 15mm to 630mm!

 

I’m thankful to be feeling so much better and ready to get back in the field soon to continue what I’ve loved for half a century, shooting God’s Glorious creation!

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim

 

 

2023 was a pivotal year in my life.  Those of you that follow my blog know of the health issue I faced in the spring of last year.  For those that don’t know I had a heart valve replacement and a week later because of AFIB was rushed to the ER where I coded twice within 30 minutes.  They flew me to Lexington where I got a pacemaker and started the long slog back to normal.  Over 6 months of cardiac rehab has me most of the way back, but it certainly has impacted my life and level of activity.  In October I will do my first two workshops in over a year and I’m anxious to get back into the field with my students and friends!

 

Problem one:  I am not comfortable carrying the heavy system I have been using for the last 12 years.  Even though the Fujifilm gear is much less bulky and heavy  than full frame gear it still is heavier than what I’m planning to use for these two trips in October.

 

Solution one:  Over the past couple of months I have been aquiring a full, but small and light Micro 4/3rds system.  The bag above, a Tenba Solstice 7L sling a much appreciated gift from Carl Turner, holds the complete system:

Panasonic Lumix G9 camera body

Lumix – Leica 9mm f 1.7   (18mm equiv.)

Olympus 12-40 f 2.8 Pro   (24-80 equiv.)

Olympus 45mm f 1.8   (90mm equiv.)

Panasonic Lumix 35-100 f 2.8  (70-200 equiv.)

Panasonic Lumix 100-300 f 4-5.6    (200-600 equiv.)

 

With this system I have focal length range of 18mm to 600mm!  The entire system weighs well under 10 lbs.  In a separate small Domke bag I have a Lumix GX85 with the Leica 15mm f 1.7 (30mm equiv.) and and the Olympus 12mm f 2 (24mm equiv.) and the Lumix 40-150 f 4-5.6 (80-300 equiv.)

 

I will post images from both trips and we will see how we do!!  My pre-testing has given me a great deal of confidence of success, if I can hold up my end of the bargain! I know that many will ask if I’m dumping my Fujifilm system?  Absolutely not, I’m just adjusting my carry system for the situation I find myself in.  I still have the vast majority of my Fujifilm bodies and lenses though recently I have started to sell off items I seldom use.  I have told my students many times that if you are using any camera system from the last 5 years and you are not making spectacular images, it’s not the camera!

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim

 

Thought Number One:  As you guys know I have been playing around with Micro 4/3rds and really enjoying it!  One disappointment was I bought a OM System OM-D-E M1 Mark III.  The camera is well made, and has tons of great features and makes wonderful files, but……..  the controls and control placements just didn’t work for me.  If you have one and it works for you, that’s great, but it didn’t for me!  I also bought a Lumix GX85 and its menus and controls were near perfect, but I still wanted a bigger more capable body!  When I was wrestling with this I decided to sell some Fujifilm gear that I loved, but honestly were not using, much, so I listed them.  I got an email from a dear friend, and good photographer who also happens to be a FBI agent.  He and I have corresponded a lot and he wanted to buy my Fujifilm XF 100-400 and happened to mention that he was shooting both Micro 4/3rds and Fujifilm and he had a mint condition Lumix G9 that he would like to use as part of a trade and cash for my lens.  He said he would be happy to send me the G9 to try and he was sure I would find it a lot less confusing I terms of controls and menus!

 

Long story short, I love the G9, it is a much friendlier camera in terms of controls and using the menu system.  Problem solved!

 

 

Thought Number Two: Once I got rolling with the. newer body I wanted one long zoom lens to use with it…… but most of the choices were in the thousands of bucks. and I I didn’t think I would use it that much!  In the past I would only invested in very expensive long glass, but I found a Lumix lens that covered a range of 200-600 with a maximum aperture of f4 -5.6, and it got very good reviews so I sprang for one and to my shock, while not a super heavy duty made lens, it was very sharp, some images below.  It cost less than half of the more expensive and much larger alternative lenses and was actually a faster maximum aperture!

 

 

Lumix 100-300 @ 500mm and f 8.

 

Lumix 100-300 @ 600mm and f 8.

 

Problem two resolved.

 

Thought Number Three:  I really resisted getting into the Micro 4/3rds world, fearing that noise would objectionable, the mega pixel count might be little low and fear of lower quality all around!  Well I was wrong on all counts, the G9 and the GX85 both have great low noise out to 3200, and the noise at 6400 is easy to fix with Topaz DeNoise!  I shoot at 1600 a lot and I see nothing that bothers me at all!  The lenses for this system are small, light and optically very, very good!  What about Fujifilm?   Still have it, still love it and still use it, but it is heavier and the lighter Micro 4/3rds stuff is easier on my 78 year old body!  …..and the images are making me happy!

 

All these images made with the Lumix G9 and the Olympus 60mm macro lens, handheld!

 

Thought Number Four:  Do we worry to much about medium format vs full frame or APS-C vs Micro 4/3rds?  I guess it depends on how severe your pixel peeping condition is!  I’ve been a working pro for over 53 years and I have set very high personal standards for my work, and I’ve shot all the formats mentioned above.  I would never say that each of those formats doesn’t have certain advantages and disadvantages was well, but for me, I can have a lot fun and make images that please me with any of them!  Whatever you love, shoot it and dedicate yourself to getting as much out of it as you can, just don’t let the technical stuff steal your joy!

 

Thought Number Five:  Have Fun!

 

Blessings,

 

 

the pilgrim