Better Glass

Last month, when we experienced a partial lunar eclipse, I ran outside with my camera, on a tripod, and mounted my most powerful telephoto lens on it to get the shot.

It wasn't a great shot.

Even at maximum magnification, on a cropped-sensor body (which essentially made it an equivalent of 450mm), the moon only filled a fraction of the frame. Cropping the photo, it was obvious that it wasn't a clear image.

I posted the photos on Mastodon and Theads but wasn't happy with the result, so largely forgot about them.

When DW and I started thinking about our next vacation for 2025, two places came to mind but I was hesitant.

"I'm not going to either of these places until I have a better telephoto lens."

For years, I've wanted a better lens than what I have in my 70-300mm zoom. Sure, it takes some decent photos but if I want to crop a photo to magnify the subject more, the photo starts losing sharpness.

I've wanted a prime telephoto lens, either a 600mm or 800mm, but those start at about $9,000. Without a benefactor, I'm not going to ever have something like that.

Now that people seem to be switching to mirrorless cameras, there are good deals that can be found on lenses for D-SLRs. A few months ago, I saw a used 500mm lens in a camera store, but they still wanted $4K for it.

"That's more than the price of our trip to Akumal," DW said when I called her about it. "Don't you dare!"

Sigh.

When we settled on a destination for our 2025 trip, I said I didn't want to go unless I had some good glass.

So, we searched used equipment sites: I went to Kijiji; DW searched Facebook Marketplace.

We both spotted a Nikon 200-500mm f/5.6 lens that might be suitable. Several folks were selling it, in various states of condition and at various prices.

One person said that her lens was three years old and she had only used it a couple of times, and was asking only a few hundred less than a new lens. I tried to negotiate but she wouldn't budge on her asking price.

Another person had the same lens and said he didn't use it often. And before the warranty expired, he sent it to Nikon for an inspection and cleaning.

He has the receipt.

I was able to negotiate for the price I'm willing to pay and we're meeting later today. He recommended that I bring my camera body to try it out before I hand over any cash.

I'm bringing both D-SLRs.

Fingers crossed. I'm hoping that the next time I shoot the moon, it'll be worth sharing.

Happy Friday!

Five

It's hard to believe that I only have five months left in my 50s. In March, I'll officially be a senior citizen in the eyes of the Canadian government.

DW will sometimes tell me that I can still act like I'm five, but that's usually when I tell her that she's not the boss of me.

As I approach my 60s, I've started thinking about how I'm not far away from the age that my dad was when he died. Thinking like that weighs heavy on a person and I've started thinking about all the things I've wanted to do, and how I should do them as soon as possible because I don't know how much time I have left.

Over the weekend, my mom gave me a couple more years.

As I've been filling out missing gaps in my Ancestry family tree, I've always thought that my dad was born in 1939, making him 62 when he suffered his fatal heart attack. But my mother corrected me: he was born in 1937.

She knows this because a) she's smart and hasn't lost her marbles yet, and b) because she is five years younger than him. I've updated his details on Ancestry.

My goal, over the past couple of years, has been to outlive my dad's age when he died. I thought I only had to hold out three more years but I guess I now have to hang on for another five.

And speaking of all these fives, here's a picture of me when I was that age, with some AI manipulation.

I'm using it as my profile picture on Mastodon and Threads from now until my 60th birthday. DW may still say that I sometimes act like a kid, and now I can look back on what I looked like when I really was one.

Happy Thursday!

Family Vacation

This will be our first family vacation since 2018 and our first really big vacation since 2016.

In 2016, we flew to Phoenix, Arizona, where we visited family and travelled all over the state. We also drove to San Diego, California for a few days. It was a great trip but it left me never wanting to go back to the US again, and I haven't crossed the border since.

In 2018, we stayed in Canada and travelled east, to Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. I suppose it's a big vacation, too, but we've been out east a couple of times and it feels close to home.

Either way, we haven't had a family vacation in more than six years.

In 2019, it seems as though all of us went in different directions. DW and I flew to Mexico to celebrate our 25th anniversary, and a couple of months later, I flew to South Korea on my own.

Kid 1, after graduating from high school, went to Europe with her best friend, visiting Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, and France. At the same time, Kid 2 left for Greece with her best friend and family.

Nobody went anywhere in 2020.

Over the last month, DW and I became hooked on the TV series, Long Way... with Ewan McGregor and his best buddy, Charlie Boorman. These friends have ridden motorcycles around the world over three seasons, and we binge-watched them all within a week.

And it got us thinking about travel.

Yes, we have a booked vacation in Mexico, this December, but we like to look ahead. We scratched our head about where we'd like to go, largely based on McGregor's and Boorman's travels and some of the great cinematography that their cameramen shot.

When we decided on the country we wanted to visit, Kid 1 became interested. We told her that if she paid for her airfare, we'd pay for everything else (she works full-time and lives at home, so she's financially good).

We didn't want to leave Kid 2 out but she's a classic struggling artist. So we told her that if she could kick in a small amount, we'd love for her to join us.

She said it was no problem.

So, we're all booked. The kids will join us for the first week and head home together, and DW will finish out the trip on our own. We're so excited: we've already purchased new luggage and a new wardrobe.

Where are we going, you might wonder? Well, I'm keeping it secret for now. In the coming months, I'll offer clues along the way. For now, let me just say that it's somewhere that was visited in one of the three seasons of Long Way... (Long Way Around, Long Way Down, Long Way Up).

Guess where we're going?

Stay tuned.

That Mighty Mississippi Was A'Callin'

There are times when I think we'll never get around to publishing our Costa Rica videos.

I think what's holding them back is that I want to sit down with DW to work on them, together. For all of my other YouTube videos, I've been the sole editor and so any travel videos that I've made, they've all come from my point of view only.

For Costa Rica, I want her input.

And so, as long as the weather has been good to hit the water in our kayaks, we've been heading out, and on most of those treks, I've attached my video camera to my boat. Since May, the only videos that I've published to my channel have been about kayaking.

Not that that's a bad thing.

My latest video dropped on Saturday. It covers our paddle from Appleton to Almonte, in Mississippi Mills. At just over five-and-a-half minutes, it's a good distraction.

Have a look.

And as I always say, if you like the video, please give it a thumbs up and subscribe. My channel is small and I was hoping to reach 300 viewers by the end of this year, but that seems unlikely without your support.

If you like my blog, please like my channel. (Please clap.)

Happy Tuesday!