We spent a few days hiking the North Shore of Minnesota and it’s taking me a long time to process through all the images I made. So here’s a teaser of what’s to come. It wasn’t shot as a panorama, just cropped that way. The image begged for it, and the detail seems to support it.

This was the first time I had the M9 out for ‘real’ nature shots. It was again wonderful. In the past, I would have struggled with a heavy, awkward backpack holding several lenses and a big DSLR. With the exception of a downpour at Split Rock, the camera was constantly in my hand with no fatigue.

The simplicity of this camera still marvels. There is a great deal of freedom in the lack of options, and this camera literally has no features. Set the aperture, set the shutter using the light meter or instinct (no auto exposure). Manually focus the camera. Take the picture. Even reviewing in the field is a bit ‘film like’ because the LCD on the back is low-resolution and frankly useless. But when I get back, load the card into the computer and first see what the big, beautiful sensor has captured, I’m usually floored.

Over the next week or so I’ll post probably 15 or so shots from the North Shore. Maybe six will be good, but that’s not bad.

(make sure to click the image to the left for a better view!)