We drove along redbud-lined roads under a brilliant blue sky to hike not to the top of a mountain, but lower down, in a valley, where we hoped it’d be green and protected from wind. In spots where the sun shone on the trail, the air smelled like warm, golden pine needles. I heard bumblebees buzz in the quiet and saw yellow swallowtail butterflies flutter above the trail.
In February 2020, our son asked if we could go to Iceland. We told him if he still wanted to go in two years, then yes, we can go to Iceland. It’s two years later, and he still wants to go. We’re taking him at the end of May for his high school graduation gift. And after this hike, I want a new lens to take on that trip.
I brought my 35mm* lens on the hike and had fun photographing flowers and unfurling ferns. But when we stumbled on a waterfall that I had a hard time framing, I realized that my current lens is fine for the photography I typically do around here — everything I photograph is fairly close up. In Iceland, I’ll be photographing landscapes, and I want a wider, 23mm lens.
For today, though, here are some spring shots from an Appalachian forest, at Bottom Creek Gorge Preserve.
*I bought a used Fujifilm X-T30 about a year ago. It is my first experience with a mirrorless camera, and the 35mm lens I have for it is the equivalent of a 50mm lens for a 35mm camera; a 23mm lens will be the equivalent of a 35mm lens on the cameras I’m used to.
Butterfly Mind 