Guess what, I'm still around and still taking photos and posting them on https://www.flickr.com/photos/greg_shields I'm also guessing that no one has looked at this blog for ages, to which I don't blame them since it has been dormant for almost 10 years.
So, I'm getting ready to go on another 2 month sabbatical and I was planning to keep a journal of travels. Then I remembered, I have a blog! It took a big of finagling to log back into it, but here I am so I figured I better catch everyone up on what has happened since the last post, in 2015....
My 2015 2 month sabbatical in Europe was pretty darn good, but I didn't upload a ton of photos. One of my favorites was this photo taken in the northwest of Spain when I was driving to Mont-Louis in France.
Pyrenees Mountains - Spain
Glacier National Park - Montana
In 2016 I hopped in my Mk7 Golf R and road tripped to Glacier National Park. Olympus OMD E-M5 MKII + 12-40 f/2.8 Pro
Sorento, Italy
In 2017 I flew to Italy for a couple weeks, here is a photo taken in Sorento. Olympus OMD E-M5 MkII + 17mm f/1.8
Yaguina Head Lighthouse - Oregon
In 2018 I started dating my wife, we spent most of our time exploring the Oregon Coast, like Yaquina Head Lighthouse just north of Newport, Oregon. Olympus OMD E-M5 MkII + 12-40 f/2.8 Pro
In
WWII Memorial - Washington D.C.
2019 I took a trip to Washington DC with my father and nephew. Here is a pano I took of the WWII Memorial. OMD E-M5
2020, the best year of my life
2020 happened and my life changed forever. You're probably thinking, "duh, it changed for everyone that year, it was a pandemic!" Yes, the pandemic did cause a major disruption in all of our lives and I'm not going to sugar coat it. Many loved ones passed away and there was turmoil as different ideologies clashed over different points of view of how the nation should deal with the pandemic.
But for me personally, 2020 was also a wonderful year because my wife and I were married in September at the
Ainsworth House & Gardens in Oregon City. We even were able to have a small group of people attend our wedding. Our wedding photographer, Kate Holt of
https://www.kateholtphotography.com was awesome and if anyone in the Portland Oregon area are looking for a wedding photographer, I highly recommend her. Kate put up a blog post of our wedding which hopefully never goes away.
Getting to know an old friend again
In 2020, I started shooting with my Canon 7D again. Yes, in
"Digital Camera Years" it is ancient, I bought it back in 2010. But it is
built like a tank and takes great photos. I had hauled it around the world to places like Egypt, China and Australia. That tank build also means extra weight compared to my Olympus E-M5 MkII, which is why it was left behind on future overseas vacations when I wanted to travel light.
But, going back to a DSLR was a breath of fresh air. Battery life is stupendously better then the E-M5 and in my opinion the look you can get with the 7D for landscape is way more appealing compared to the EM-5. The next few shots were taken with the 7D.
NEOWISE - McClellan Viewpoint, Washington
Other highlights from 2020 was the NEOWISE comet, this was taken at McClellan Viewpoint in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Canon 7D + Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Mt Adams - Trout Lake, Washington
To get out of the house 2020, I went camping on the eastern side of Gifford Pinchot National Forest near Trout Lake, WA and took this photo of Mt Adams. Canon 7D + Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Heceta Head Beach - Oregon
My wife and I spent our honey moon at the Oregon Coast, renting a house on the beach in Waldport. In 2020, the Oregon Coast was pretty much empty of people, here's a shot of the Light Keeper's house at Heceta Head Lighthouse from the beach. Yes, there were just 4 of us on the beach, the couple in this photo along with my wife and I. Canon 7D + Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
Haystack Rock - Cannon Beach, Oregon
You'll start to see a theme here. During the pandemic, we spent many weekends at the Oregon Coast. Here's a shot of sunset at Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach, Oregon. BTW, this was taken with a Canon 5D MkII + Canon 24-104mm f/4 L, more on that in a bit.
Gooseberry Badlands - Wyoming
In 2021, things started to open up "a bit". My wife is from Colorado and hadn't seen her family for way too long. So for the week of July 4th we took a road trip out to Fort Collins, CO to visit family and friends. Afterwards, my wife flew home and I took a couple more weeks to wonder back home in the Golf. Here is a photo of the Gooseberry Badlands in Wyoming which was one of many stops. Taken with my Canon 7D + Canon EF-S 15-85mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM.
Olympic National Park - Washington
For our first wedding anniversary, we headed north to Olympic National Park in Washington State. On our actual wedding anniversary, we were driving back to our hotel and saw this amazing light over Crescent Lake. I pulled over at the next pull off, but by the time I got my camera gear out and ready, the light was gone. So, we enjoyed the afternoon by the water and then the light was back! I quickly snapped some photos and this one came out the best. Taken with a Canon 5D MkII + EF 24-105mm f/4 L.
Lessons learned buying used camera gear
As I mentioned earlier, I purchased a used Canon 5D MkII off of e-bay. I found that it
doesn't focus right unless you use Live View. I took it into a local repair
shop and they said the main circuit board had been replaced without re-calibrating it with the CMOS focusing sensor.
This seems to be a common thing where people take a couple broken bodies to build a quasi working body and sell it. So, be careful who you buy from.... My local repair shop doesn't have the capability to re-calibrate the camera and the couple of bigger repair shops they recommended wouldn't touch it.
The 5D MkII takes great photos and I love the look you get with it. But
using Live View to focus is slow, I mean extremely slow and it eats batteries fast. So, this camera stays on the shelf. I should see if my local repair shop wants to buy it for parts.
Back to more photos
Samual Boardman Scenic Corridor - Oregon
In 2022, we spend more time on the Oregon Coast, but one of the highlights was the southern Oregon Coast driving the Samual Boardman Scenic Corridor on HW 101. Canon 7D + Canon EF 24-105 f/4 L
Going back to Mirrorless
In 2022, I had an itch to upgrade my camera. I hadn't bought a new camera body since the Olympus OMD EM5 MkII in 2015. And, like a lot of people, I had a ton of money burning a hole in my pocket because we were still working from home and not going out nearly as much for dinner and other places to spend money.
I wanted to go full frame and had some nice Canon EF L glass for my Canon 7D. So I bought a Canon EOS R6 / RF 24-105 f/4 L kit and an R to EF adapter. It's a great camera and the in camera Image Stabilization is amazing. I still shoot with the E-M5 MkII and 7D, but most of the time the R6 is in my hand. The R6 is "fairly" lightweight, especially compared to the 7D. But it doesn't have that tank feel of the 7D.
When traveling and I am planning to do some fairly serious photography but want to travel light, I now pack the following:
- Canon EOS R6
- Canon RF 24-105 f/4 L IS USM
- Canon RF 16mm f/2.8
- Canon RF 35 f/1.8 IS
If I feel like carrying a little more weight, I pack the following gear instead:
- Canon EOS R6
- Canon EF 16-35 f/4 L
- Canon RF 24-105 f/4 L
- Canon EF 70-200 f/4 IS II L
- Canon RF 35 f/1.8 IS
- Canon Adapter EF-EOS R
Pandemic restrictions eased, the wife and I started exploring places other then Oregon
Maui, Hawaii
Late in 2022, things really started to open up so we spent our second wedding anniversary in Hawaii on Maui. Here is a photo from Haleakala National Park. It was socked in solid with clouds, then for a maybe 5 minutes it opened up and I got this shot. Canon R6 + RF 24-105 f4 L.
Seattle, Washington
2023 we headed north to catch a Colorado Avalanche game in Seattle, WA. The Avs beat the Kraken and I got this shot from the Space Needle. Canon R6 + RF24-105mm F/4 L
Acadia National Park - Maine
Fall of 2023 we went to Bar Harbor, Maine to capture some fall colors and explore the carriage roads and rocky coastline of Acadia National Park. Canon R6 + RF 24-105 f/4 L
England and the United Kingdom
In 2024 we decided to head to the U.K. for 2 weeks. We explored London for a few days, caught a train north to Edinburgh, Scotland and wondered the streets there and then rented a car and headed into the highlands. All in all, it was a great trip and I want to go back again after the rest of the world gets tired of international travel. :-) It was crowded, and we were there during the "low" season in early May. But after getting over the crowds, we enjoy the culture, the scenery and the food.
Big Ben Canon R6 + RF 35mm f1/8 IS
Stonehenge Canon R6 + RF24-105 f/4 L
Edinburgh Castle from the Vennel Steps Canon R6 + RF 24-105 f/4 L + Tripod at 15 seconds. The IS isn't THAT good ☺
Glencoe - Scottish Highlands Canon R6 + EF 16-35 f/4 L
Edinburgh Skyline Canon R6 + RF 24-105 f/4 L
The Three Sisters - Glencoe Canon R6 + EF 16-35 f/4 L - Pano of 7 vertical shots merged in Lightroom
Redwoods, California
Early fall of 2024 we road tripped down to the Red Woods in Northern California. My favorite shot of the trip was this one of my wife walking among the giants. Canon R6 + EF 16-35 f/4 L
And that about catches you up to the present. I'll hopefully be good this time and actually post photos and blurbs about my upcoming sabbatical. It won't be non-stop travel this time, just 3 or so weeks on the road in my Mk7 Golf R and then back home to do some projects around the house.
Here's a fitting photo to end this whirlwind of a blog entry as I attempted to catch you up on the last 10 years of my life in quick blurbs and photos. Until next time.
Sunset on Mt Hood - Oregon
Taken from NW Cornelius Schefflin Road just south of Cornelius, OR which is about a 5 minute drive from my house. Remember, you don't need to go so far to find beautiful scenes to photograph. Canon R6 + EF 70-200 f/4 IS II
