So Many Kilometres: So Much to See

Usually, we catch a flight to visit our Michigan family. This time, we drove. Flying anywhere seemed so uncertain. 

It’s a long drive, about 4000 kilometres. To get there a 3 day trip is possible. We took six days. There was so much to see. 

Our first stop was Spokane, Washington. It’s there that my camera paid the price of a split second of carelessness. It hit the pavement as I was unloading the car.  I was not a happy camper. 

So for the rest of the trip I used my iPhone camera,  though not with a lot of enthusiasm. 

Thinking about my damaged camera as we travelled I asked myself why I didn’t have a backup camera. At one time or another I’ve owned two cameras. So why not now? I certainly do enough photography to warrant having another in the bag, just in case. Could a solution be found on eBay?

Research began in earnest the day after our arrival in Flatrock, Michigan. I learned that if I wanted to get one quickly it had to come from within the United States. Prices varied. Finally, a Nikon d300s caught my eye. It would work well with my collection of lenses. I had this model about 10 years ago. Some of my favourite images were made with this camera model. The one I was looking at on eBay was not pristine. It had some minor scrapes and bruises. But the seller advertised that it worked well. Best of all it came with a one month return policy. I decided to give it a try. Three days later it arrived and I quickly put it to work.

It was fun to be “back in the saddle” again. I so enjoy making images, especially when I’m using the gear that I’m familiar with. The images below are some of those I made on the way to Michigan and around the Flatrock, Michigan area. Only one, Bales on the Prairie was made with my iPhone. The rural landscapes were made in Washington State prior to my camera being damaged. Those images depicting fall colours were made in Michigan in and around Trenton’s Elizabeth Park.

Our return trip to home begins shortly after this article is posted. I’m not sure which route we will take but as always there will be much to see and much to photograph.