Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles

When was the last time you saw balloons rising into the air? I’ll bet it was a birthday or retirement party. Balloons are associated with celebration. The morning I shot this image at Sun n’ Fun air show in Lakeland, Florida I was celebrating something very special, another day. It never ceases to amaze me how few people, relish every day as a celebration! I know what you’re thinking, if I had your job I’d feel celebrative too…. Well give me a minute to explain this to a little deeper level.

First, I’m here, on this side of the grass. Yes I’m celebrating being alive, I love life, I love everything about being right here, right now. Last night my son Wesley brought our two grandchildren over for a short visit, my grand daughter Abigail was sitting next to me at the kitchen island, in the middle of her playing with Play-Doh she reached over and patted my arm, leaned her precious little head against my chest and said,” I love you papa”. Enough said.

Second, I’m not afraid of death, not in the least, I have much to look forward too upon that day.
While life is wonderful, death means an eternity with my Lord, how could I be afraid of that. I know many have a lot of trouble believing in an afterlife, I’m not one of them. I’ve been assured by my Lord that it is so, and that’s good enough for me.

Third, I’m married to the woman, I never thought I could marry. She is beautiful, intelligent,
a great friend, a wonderful mother, and grandmother. She is my best friend, the person I most want to spend my life with. If that were not enough, she loves football, and puts up with me.

Fourth, I work with a great group of friends. While we are all different and have our own lives when we are together we make the most of every experience. I truly admire all their talents and skills, but more than that, I really like them as people. I’ve learned from each and every one.

Last, and most important, by grace and only grace I’ve been forgiven and given a new life, for here and for eternity.

How’s that for a list?

Now, over the weekend start making your own list and then when you see just how great you have it, let some balloons go……

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: Nikon D700, 24-70 f2.8, f16 @ .7 seconds, ISO 200.

What is a basic system? If I run to the car to go out and shoot for the day and I’m not sure what I will run into, I need a basic kit that will cover all the bases. I want to shoot wide, medium range, pull subjects in from far away, or crop tighter. I want to make nice portraits with nice out of focus backgrounds, and I definitely want to move in and do close-up to around life size reproduction ratio. I also want to carry as little gear in the smallest package and lowest weight possible and still fulfill those stated goals. As a photographer I’ve spent a lifetime trying to work out this little puzzle. I’ve changed the solution from time to time as new cameras and lenses are released.
As of today, February 17th, 2011 this is my latest answer to the riddle.

For today, my everyday go to FX sensor camera of preference is the D700. I love the D3s and feel it is the single best camera overall, but it weighs a lot more than the D700, which is close to it in performance. The D3s is far better at High ISO low noise, but the D700 works great out to the ranges I need most often. Just for the record, not pictured, I always carry in a separate bag, the new Nikon 7000 DX sensor camera so I can extend the range of all the lenses by a factor of 1.5.
I find the image quality from both of these cameras to be absolutely superb.

So let’s go through the new members of the traveling bag.

(1) The bag is the Lowepro Stealth Reporter AW 400. It’s a great size shoulder bag that when fully loaded with the system pictured above weighs in at only 14 pounds. If I’m flying I will travel with all this plus laptop and hard drives in the Think Tank Airport Security 2.0 or the Lowepro Pro Runner AW X400 for slighter smaller loads of gear. Once on site at assignment where lots of walking is involved I use the Think Tank Component belt system.
(2) Nikon D700 camera body.
(3) Nikon 24-120 AFS VR f4 Nikkor mid range zoom lens. Replaces the 24-70 f 2.8 because it has great range, is slightly lighter, and has VR. It will act as a 36-180 range on the D7000. Even though it is fractionally less sharp than the 24-70, it is still razor sharp. (the 24-70 is the sharpest midrange zoom ever made by Nikon)
(4) A set of automatic Extension tubes for close-up work.
(5) Nikon 16-35 AFS VR f4 Nikkor wide angle zoom lens. In my opinion the sharpest wide angle zoom made today.
(6) Nikon 70-300 AFS VR f4.5-5.6 Nikkor telephoto zoom lens. My favorite long lens in the system because of it’s size, weight, and extraordinary performance. With the D7000 it serves as a 105-450 equivalent focal length lens, in terms of images size.
(7) Nikon 85mm f1.8 AF Nikkor, moderate telephoto lens. I’ve long loved and prefer the 85mm f1.4, but it costs four times as much as this lens and is much heavier and bulkier. The f 1.8 version is super sharp, and much easier to pack, and only 2/3rds of a stop slower. In out and out performance the nod would go to the new 85 F1.4 AFS, but this little fellow will meet my needs fine.
(8) 67mm polarizer to fit the 70-300.
(9-10) 77mm Polarizers to fit the 24-120 and 16-35 lenses.
(1) 77mm Diopter close-up lens for use on the 24-120 (not shown but packed is the Nikon 5T Diopter in 62mm size that can be used on the 70-300 with a 67 to 62 step down ring. As a side note Nikon used to make four extremely high quality diopters, the 3T & 4T (52mm) and the 5T & 6T in (62mm). If you can ever find some buy them up, they are rare and worth the purchase price. My 77mm diopter is not made by Nikon (Nikon has not made a 77mm diopter yet, fingers crossed!, but is of very high quality.
(2) Nikon Remote Electronic Release, Model MC-36.

* Note shown, but always there are: Lens shades for all four lenses, a Swiss Army Knife, Micro Fiber cleaning cloths, lens cleaning swabs, extra batteries, spare memory cards, lens pen, eye drops and Extra Strength Tylenol.

* Also not shown, stored with the backup D7000 body is a Nikon 12-24 AFS f4 lens. Actual combination used to shoot the illustration above.

I own a number of other lenses and accessories for specialized work, but that’s another Tech Someday?!

This exercise may seem a little over the top, but it is an important part of how I work, the less I have to think about ht equipment the more I can think about the image, and after all that is what photography is all about…….

God Bless,

the pilgrim

First, sorry for the pun! But I had this shot and wanted to use it. Having introduced the old saying
what does it mean?

grasping at straws
Fig. to depend on something that is useless; to make a futile attempt at something. John couldn’t answer the teacher’s question. He was just grasping at straws. There I was, grasping at straws, with no one to help me.

Well life without the Lord is grasping at straws. Today’s lesson will be short, sweet, and to the point. If you choose to go through life on your own strength, wits, and good looks, then your in for a rough ride. Your strength will fade away, your wits may not be as formidable as you think,
and looks, well I don’t know about you, but for me that ones really off the table.

Come on guys this one is really simple, with Him you win, without Him you lose……..

blessings,

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: D700, 200mm Micro, f25 at 1/1.6 seconds.

We all have labor to do. The Hebrews of Moses day labored under an oppressive ruler. We may sometimes think we are having a tough day, but trust me, nothing like the Hebrews wished to escape. I’ve never seen a co-worker struck to the ground and killed because of poor performance!
No, while work can be grueling and hours long, my hands have never bled from carrying bricks for Pharaoh.

I think we are often guilty of taking our circumstances and blowing them out of proportion. Yes life can be tough, and tiring, but be careful before you complain too loudly. It has been my experience that sometimes when I act like a child, God allows me to find out what tough really is like. How could a loving Heavenly Father allow things to go from bad to worse in our lives. To fully understand we must really know what love is. As much as it hurts, for a parent to do it, sometimes we allow our children to go just a little to far so they can learn for them selves what the consequences are.

Years ago my son Wesley and I took a group of photographers to Africa. It was a wonderful trip and we learned a lot. One night I was laying on my cot and could not sleep, I whispered, “Wes, are you awake?” He responded that he was, we both set up in our tent and started to talk. The conversation went on until the sun rose. We shared, cried, and hugged each other. We had seen things we had no idea existed. We met people everyday that would never own in a lifetime what we had in our pockets. We were devastated at the realization that our lives were so blessed and we were often so unappreciative for it. During that night we decided we would change, that we would come back to America and never be the same. We’ve kept that promise to ourselves.

I warned Wes that we couldn’t tell others what we had experienced and expect it to change them.
I’ve sadly learned through out my life that some things must be learned the hard way, you must live them. Telling someone about the third world is not the same as experiencing it. Our Heavenly Father knows that better than we could ever understand. He loves us so much that He will allow us to have temporary discomfort to learn a greater lesson. His desire is for our growth in Him, and our maturing in Him. As much as I value comfort, God values growth.

The next time you think you can’t go on, remember that God’s love for you will hold you up through any adversity. God is never unaware of what you’re going through, and He always wants what is best for you. After a while, rest will come.

“Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you…….”

the pilgrim

Above All
Michael W. Smith

Above all powers above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Above all kingdoms above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure what You’re worth

Crucified laid behind the stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a Rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

Above all powers above all kings
Above all nature and all created things
Above all wisdom and all the ways of man
You were here before the world began

Above all kingdoms above all thrones
Above all wonders the world has ever known
Above all wealth and treasures of the earth
There’s no way to measure what You’re worth

Crucified laid behind the stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a Rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

Crucified laid behind the stone
You lived to die rejected and alone
Like a Rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

Like a Rose trampled on the ground
You took the fall and thought of me
Above all

* Photo Note: D7000, 24-120 AFS VR f4.

Health Update: Weighed in one day early. -3 more lbs. 226, down from 239
thank you so much for your prayers, they’re working……