It’s just after 7 AM on Sunday morning, there’s no football on for another couple of hours, and my weekly mileage goal as part of the 2023 Soil The Woods Tour was met roughly 20 hours, 4 beers, two failed chicken tacos, and one pre-bed peanut butter and syrup sandwich ago. So, with no better place to be— here I am.
Saturday morning’s 4.30-mile hike around the wet woods was to be the most chill pace of the week, so I took my go-to woodsy photo-walking set-up; the Nikon z50 and the DX 50-250mm lens.
I have almost sold my z50 multiple times1, but it’s so little and light, even with a 250mm lens, that I keep holding on. Not to mention, B has my z6 at school, my D4 is like carrying around a cinder block, and while I love my Fuji x70, the fixed 28mm equivalent lens is obviously not the best for shooting critters.
I find it funny that I run into somebody on the trails at least once a week, and they ask me, “Gettin’ any good pictures?” And most often, my reply is, “Not today, not much going on.” Or I lament a missed shot.
Saturday was no different; I ran into some dudes camping, they asked how the picture-taking was going, and I, of course, had one shitty photo on my SD card. However, not more than half a mile later, I saw turtles, frogs, a snail, and a bunch of other shit, and finally shook the feeling of being “that oddball that always hikes with a camera and never takes photos.”
I had a good hike, met my mileage goal, and managed a pretty good day of shooting, mainly thanks in part to cooperative critters.
I’m looking forward to the coming week, some more miles in the woods, and hopefully warmer temps. I mean, in less than 24 hours, it will be May, yet there are still chances of wet snow in the forecast! No wonder Michiganders can be so fucked up; you can’t put 10 million cold, vitamin D-deficient people in a state and expect them to be normal! And don’t get me started about when it does warm up; it’s 4 months of redneck Caligula on a pontoon boat with guns, American flags, pasty white about-to-be-sunburnt skin, now visible bad “We The People” tattoos, ill-fitting swimsuits, ATV deaths, MAGA hats, and Oberon-scented urine-filled inland lakes. It’s like Michigan turns into Florida for four months. But hey, at least it’s warmer.
Later.
- A Nikon z50 and 50-250mm f/4.5-6.3 can be found used for under $1,000. I got my lens from mpb.com and the z50 body from usedphotopro.com some time ago on the cheap. I can’t say I’d ever want it as my primary sport and wildlife camera, but its weight is barely noticeable on hikes when paired with a BlackRapid strap.