in the San Juan Islands

While I'd like to show you fine details on the gull, I really like the concentric rings created by its bathing - so you get the wide view!

We spent several days of our anniversary in the same place we spent our honeymoon, on Orcas Island in NW Washington.  While most of the time was foggy and rain-free, a few times the sun broke out and gave us some great views.  The K-01 and Limited lenses received most of the use but the Sigma 15mm fisheye and a zoom or two also had some sensor time.  It was a fun trip but it was very cold - no surprise on mid-January trips at 48°N latitude!  Even the wood stove was reluctant to do its thing, but some store-bought kindling brought things around.

This was our first trip with the new car, and it performed admirably.  Lens buying will be restricted while it's being paid off but the warranty and reassurance of a new vehicle are worth it.  I'm still quite comfortable with the camera gear I have right now, so if I take good care of it all this Pentax stuff will easily outlast the car payments!

2013 begins!

And so the new year sweeps in.  Portland had no frost until the 29th, then three straight frosty mornings; winter arrived at last.  I pulled out the Promaster 100mm macro and visited the fungi in the front yard, and got a few keepers.  Some day I will do this with a tripod and 2-second mirror lockup... oh wait this was shot with the K-01, no mirror to lock up!  Funny how old habits and reflexes go, some slide past with no regret while others stay locked into memory and refuse to budge.  Shooting macros handheld is an old habit that I've yet to shake - just often enough, it works well enough.

The K-01 is clearly a different way to work compared to dSLRs, but it's not a bad way.  Many things I felt sure of were not important to getting an image, and some are nearly fun (like time-lapse movies, though that will take more practice).

In any case, 2013 should be a fun year to take pictures!