Description

“Adventure is a path. Real adventure – self-determined, self-motivated, often risky – forces you to have firsthand encounters with the world. The world the way it is, not the way you imagine it. Your body will collide with the earth and you will bear witness. In this way you will be compelled to grapple with the limitless kindness and bottomless cruelty of humankind – and perhaps realize that you yourself are capable of both. This will change you. Nothing will ever again be black-and-white.” –Mark Jenkins

Sunday 16 February 2014


The seven year itch

Having decided to revisit breathtaking Brazil for a second time (The Pantanal) I have been justifying the decision to myself for weeks now with all sorts of reasoning... different time of year, considerably greater chances of seeing Jaguars, I will be better prepared this time, I know what to expect, blah blah blah... but now that I have made the decision and bought the flights etc. I have been struggling with something else instead. Yes, it will be the end of the dry season this time around, and the camps will have come on somewhat since the experience seven years ago, but I am slightly ashamed to say I've been considering infidelity, the seven year itch maybe? (surely I'm way too young for a mid-life crisis - and if I'm not, it's acceptable in this case to lie to me). I've been a loyal Pentax girl for close to 20 years now so this period of indecision bothers me - Is it time to buy my first professional camera? Is it time to ditch the Pentax and move to Nikon? Because if so, now would be the time to decide. Only 8 months to go and a demanding job provide precious little practise time (and of course endless rain and a new sofa giving me lame, but frequently used excuses to stay indoors).
I love my camera, I love my telephoto lens and the three of us have a long history together, we are comfortable together and they are so familiar to me. So why am I even considering it? Have I really reached the limit of what I can do with the K5 IIS? - of course not. I think it might just be time to get the manual out again and remind myself why I chose it in the first place.