Not from this trip, but I still love what the X100s can do with single color filters!!!!!

 

I got back from the Black Hills and the Badlands at 1:00 a.m. this morning, it’s great to be home!  I have to say my week in South Dakota was wonderful, while I missed home, I had a wonderful shooting week!  I took what I was afraid might be a big risk on this trip, I went with only my Fuji system, no Nikons!!!!  My health has been so much better not carrying a heavy system, and I simply wanted to have fun. Let me me be very clear, I love my Nikon bodies and lenses, I’ve always had complete confidence in them, I just have gotten to where I really suffer if I carry all 25 pounds in a shoulder bag or back pack!  In a way, this was the ultimate test of the Fuji gear, would I come home and say I made a mistake???  I won’t keep you in suspense, I had one of the best shooting weeks of my life!  Would the Nikons have done well, I’m sure they would have, but they still would have weighed almost 25 pounds,  the 7 pounds of the Fuji X system was a lot better for my back and energy level!

 

What do I gain with the Fuji System:

 

The fun factor, I simply really enjoy shooting with it!

 

The  color in the files, Fuji really has a very good handle on color, and I get spectacular jpegs right out of the camera!

 

The lens quality is spectacular!!!  (admittedly the Nikkors are also pretty wonderful!!) The good news is I don’t  loose anything with the Fujinon glass.

 

What is the downside?

 

The D800 would have made bigger, more information rich, files, and that’s about it!!!!!

 

For such a small difference my back is thanking me for my decision……

 

Here are some of my favorite shots!

 

And my favorite again……..

 

 

All in all, I’m very happy with the outcome of the experiment!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

 

 

I will be on planes all day tomorrow so I won ‘t be able to post so I thought I would get ahead today!!!  I found a field of fire trucks on my way back to Spear Fish today from Sturgis.  I will share those images with you, but first a couple of wrap up points from this week in South Dakota;

 

1.  Some of the nicest people I’ve met in a long time.  The Black Hills Shoot Out group was very warming and welcoming, I really enjoyed my time with them!!  The team; Jason, Nicole, Les, Chad, Jerry, and the rest of the gang were all great!  Thanks guys for inviting me to your fantastic event!

 

2.  Thanks to all my brothers and sisters that prayed for my Friday night program. The Holy Spirit really showed up!!!  He gets all the credit and glory!!!

 

3.  Jack Graham and I are teaching a sold out Ohio workshop week after next, but we still have some space in  the Death Valley trip  November 7th-12th, it will be a small group and should be a great trip!!  Please consider joining us, you can contact Jack at:    Jack Graham       jack@jackgrahamphoto.com

 

 

And Number 4.  We are definitely coming back to South Dakota in the future!!!!!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Photo Note:   Fuji X-E1, 14mm, 18-55, 55-200.

 

Thanks for your prayers, my talk at the Black Hills Shootout last night went great, wonderful group!!  Thanks to Jim Begley who shot me a song I needed for my last image synch!!  Thanks Jim!   This morning I wanted to sleep in but the trip up to Spear Fish Canyon sounded too inciting!  I needed to scout this area for potential shooting locations for a future workshop.  The trip was lead by Chad Coppess who I knew really knows this regain, he is the South Dakota tourism photographer.  It was a good call and this gorgeous canyon will definitely be on the to do list when we come to South Dakota!  Hope you enjoy the images, it was 31 degrees and my thumbs took an hour to thaw out!!!!

 

 

I think it is safe to say we’ve got a winner here in Spear Fish Canyon!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Photo Note:  Fuji X-E1, 18-55 and 14 f 2.8 lenses

I drove over to the Black Hills an Custer State Park today for some further scouting, the          conclusion is simple, we will run a workshop in South Dakota!  Got to find a place in the schedule!  Maybe 2015!  This is a target rich environment!  The needles area of the Black Hills ar spectacular and the valleys of Custer are equally wonderful!  I start my program at the Black Black Hills Photo Shootout tomorrow, and will be busy through the weekend, I will share some images Monday, before i fly home!  Have a great weekend!  Until then get excitd about the Black Hills!

 

Thanks for sharing my God given adventures with me!

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

Photo Note:  Fuji X-E1, 18-55, 55-200.