Waking Up at an Unearthly Hour

Well, here it is, 3am on Saturday morning. I am awake and can not go back to sleep. I am tired but this list of things I must do today is now running through my over analytical brain. Screw it, I am getting up. All I must do is get through the day and make some tacos. Then I can relax next to a warm campfire and sip some whiskey and go to bed. Boy I couldn’t be much further from what was about to unfold.

Camera Gear and Morning Revelations

Coffee is brewing and the shower is hot. Some how I thought I would be able to make this work and maybe get a nap in somewhere. I can do this, but I keep forgetting I am not in my 20’s anymore and my superpowers are still at full strength. Now that I am awake, again, from a fitful slumber I start where I just left off. I go back to finish inventorying and packing the box of camera gear to take to Robert’s while enjoying this cup of caffeinated bliss.

After finishing that up I migrate down to the garage and begin to get the camping gear set out to pack later. By this time the sun is starting to come up with the faint glow on the horizon. I refill my cup once again and sit down to catch up on some news. Low and behold the National Weather Service Indianapolis has changed the forecast and migrated this big yellow blob right over where I live and going camping.

The NWS was forecasting heavy rains, flash flooding and possible tornadoes. While this weather forecast is not very indicative to camping much less camping in a hammock, it did excite me very much as this would mean storm chasing and weather photography also with a new camera is now in the works. Do you see that? This is the third time I had to change my plans for this weekend! Well, here is a positive note to being creative, spontaneous, and dynamic.

Trading Nostalgia for New Beginnings

Now it’s 10am I call Robert’s to let them know I am on my way down. It is happening, all my old camera gear is going away. To be traded in and a below market value. But I knew this would be a huge time saver and not having to deal with the stress of trying to sell this huge amount of stuff online. I was ok with taking the financial hit. 2 of my cameras I never used anymore. The other 2 just had got to the point where there were debilitating factors in play.

The Nikon Z6 while I love the size and weight of it always let me down in the auto focus department. It also left me wanting more when I used it for weather or landscape subjects. The 24-megapixel count was nice in some situations but was lacking in others where I needed crop in. The Nikon D850 on the other hand always made me smile. This camera is a beast even today. Though, my aging eyes were starting to have problems with the low resolution of the back display and the optical viewfinder. Something I found I just loved with the Z6. The D850’s size and weight was also cumbersome. Some days after a long shoot, the weight made me wish for the Z6.

It wasn’t until very recently that Nikon released the new Z8 camera. This is what I had been waiting for, this was the camera I said I would upgrade too and now it was happening.

I walk into the door at Robert’s, and they have my camera waiting for me. I dropped my box off so they could appraise it the contents value. When the appraisal came in my heart sank some. I saw how much money I left at the table. Then I begin to think how much time and stress it saved me again. So, I ate some on the trade in, but I was off to the races regardless.

Reconnections and A New Toy

While I was in Indianapolis, I decided this would be a good time to call a very close friend of mine who I hadn’t talked to in a couple of months and check in on him. I was literally in the neighborhood as I was heading home and sometimes you just must keep those bonds kindled. We talked for a while catching up and it was good. My social tank had been running low as I had not done much socializing or anything creative past my desk. I needed some hang time, and I knew it would be good. While Nikon may arguably be a great company, I find it extremely odd they store their brand-new batteries at a near dead state. This is not a good practice for storing lithium-ion batteries. Putting one of my batteries on charge while I was there it was a good idea. I did it so I was able to get this one picture of his dog before departed back the house.

Home, Hunger, and Hustle

Now I am back home, 2’ish hours of sleep, no breakfast, and no lunch. I had to get this camera setup fast for the upcoming weather. Time for more coffee! Also had to brine the chicken I was now no longer cooking for tacos. Bag up all the other accompanying ingredients for the tacos, that I would not be making. By golly, there will still be tacos even if I do not make them. Throwing all my existing camera gear on the bed to start sorting and condensing 2 camera systems that lived in 2 separate bags now into one bag. Almost forgot, I have brand-new dead batteries I need to charge too. Then I must load and set the truck up for storm chasing too. This day is just not letting up and I am running out of gas quickly.