Fall, day 2

I was up very early and needed coffee, I left before dawn to find a cup of coffee and perhaps a photo.  It was a beautiful morning, and very nice light.  I headed for Lake George, our local "great lake" and did find a few photos.  I have been saving bread for the ducks, so not only did I satisfy their tummies, I satisfied my quest for a photo.  I still have bread, and I have an idea or two for another photo to two there that needs different light so I will head back there soon.  There is even a churchy thing going on with the photos taken at dawn.

I have been playing with different lenses and actually bought two lenses yesterday.  One, the one that shot most of the photos with yesterday was a real steal at Pawn America.  There are two versions of this lens, a $500 dollar version and a $150 dollar version.  This was the $500 version, but it was priced at $79.00.  Ah, the joys of clerks who don't know squat about cameras and sell lenses for a quarter of their value.  The lens that took the backlit trees along the river was a fine optic that I bought at Savers thrift store for $9.95.  Maybe not the absolute sharpest, but I know what lens I am going to use when it is raining.

I am thinking so much about lenses because I am, as usual, spending far more time packing a camera bag than I do packing anything else for a 10 day trip to Europe.  I can buy socks and t-shirts if I forget to pack them, but what if I forget to pack the perfect lens?  Silly, I know, but anyone who has traveled with me can attest to my (slight) craziness about this.  There are two directions I can go...one is to plan for everything and bring everything which results in about a 40 pound bag.  Or the other way is to keep it simple and take a minimalist bag with only a few cameras and lenses.  Of course, some people would only bring one camera but let's not be extreme.  My thoughts on this change almost hourly.  Then there is the decision if I take any film cameras.  I had fun in Italy doing that, but that adds another camera and seven or eight pounds. Decisions decisions decisions.  Or, what a loony tune I am.