Hey Ya'll! How's your week doing? Mine? Fantastic ! This week I want to talk about 24 hours of photography that I had this weekend with my Photo Wingman Robert. My camera club has workshops every month and sometimes we have add-on workshops in-between . This weekend was going to be an add-on workshop. It was supposed  to be a perfect weekend to photograph the milky way . We wanted to go to Cape Hatteras with the unique lighthouse in the foreground and the milky way behind. But the lighthouse is having maintenance done on it and has scaffolding all around it. So we decided on Bodie Island Lighthouse. We have done this shot in the past that's why we wanted the Cape Hatteras shot somthing different. Maybe next year.  A week before the workshop the weather forecast was not good and was forecast to be 100% cloudy and not to have clear skies which is best for the milky way shot and the club cancelled the trip. Robert and myself had reserved a place to stay for the trip in Manteo North Carolina and we decided to go anyway. If it rained we'd get some rainy day shots. Maybe we could get some cool shots.

We started our trip on Saturday morning at 10:30 and headed toward Manteo. But instead of going the quickest route to get there we took a long way there purposely going through small towns that we haven't been to or really looked at before.  Our first planned stop was in Williamston North Carolina we stopped at a park that runs along the Roanoke River that was named Moratoc Park. It was a small park with water access for fishing boats and kayaks. There was a building there that looked like it was used for events and weddings. We then headed out again to  our next stop which was Bertie Beach on the Chowan River on the Bertie County side of the bridge. This brought back memories for me as I grew up near hear and did a lot of swimming in the Chowan River with cypress trees all around. We then headed toward our next stop in Elizabeth City North Carolina. This is a town that I want to explore more. We drove around town and stopped for a photo or two.  Our next stop was Kitty Hawk and the Wright Memorial National Park. I have been here  many times I really like the National Parks and being retired military I get a lifetime free pass to enter into the parks. Robert picked up his America the Beautiful Pass as he is retired military also. We stayed here and took quite a few shots. Our next stop was to check into our place we were staying and get something to eat. We like to eat local and not chain food like McDonalds. We saw a local restaurant that wasn't for tourist but looked liked locals ate there and so we ate there . Big win! If you are in Manteo eat at Darrells it's awesome and good prices too.  We then went to Kitty Hawk State Park which is comprised of Sand dunes. We had found a sunset shot we wanted to get. It was very windy and sand was blowing everywhere and hiking in the soft sand after a big meal was not the best for me! Thanks Robert! LOL we did find the spot and set up for sunset photos. But the clouds did not cooperate with us and we got some shots but nothing great. We made it back to the car and went and got some cold drinks and headed to the Bodie Island light house. If we thought 
that the wind was blowing bad at Kitty Hawk it was twice as bad at Bodie Island lighthouse. Had to hold down my tripod to keep camera as still as possible. At one point the wind blew Roberts tripod over but he caught it in time. I'm guessing that the wind was steady at 25mph with gust up to 35mph. But we got some shots and I was very pleased. The wind was blowing so hard that the clouds kept moving and we actually got shots with the Milky Way and clouds in it . Pretty cool. I was very satisfied with the results. We headed back to our room for a few hours sleep before we would go out again to shoot.

The next morning there were puddles in the parking lot telling us it had rained overnight but it wasn't raining so we went to our next stop a small lighthouse in Manteo. Marshes lighthouse to shoot a sunrise. It was so early that we could park very close to the waterfront and we set up and started shooting. We shot for an hour or so and we got some color in some of our shots and it was cloudy and we could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. After the sun was well risen we headed for breakfast. We stopped at TL's Family Restaurant and had a great breakfast. I highly recommend !
 We then headed back home the more direct route than the one we came on. We stopped in Columbia at the visitors center and took some photo's at boardwalk there. We left there and headed home. On the way back we had a black bear cross the highway in front of us before we got to Plymouth. It was a very healthy large bear. We slowed down but our camera's were packed away so we didn't get any shots but it was still awesome to see this bear. We made it home about 10:30 in the morning. 24 hours of fun and shooting! And we got some keepers also. 

Gear I took for those that want to know. Main camera body was a Sony A7C a 24mp camera. My lenses were 20mm f/1.8 for the milky way shot. My new to me Sony 20-70mm f/4 G and Sony 100-400 GM. This is pretty much my landscaping kit except I would swap out the 20mm for a Sony 16-35mm f/4. This is the kit that I take to trips where versatility is a must. I have the assortment of filters and all of the accessories that go along with the kit. All carried in a Shimoda 30 liter Action X backpack. The original. I also took my newest companion film camera the Canon Demi EE17 a half frame that uses less film and is really fun to shoot. I think this little camera will accompany me on lots of adventures to come. My tripod was a Sirui AM 284 carbon fiber with a Inndrel N44 ball head. I picked this up this year since I went back full frame it's a little larger than the Pro-Master one I have used for years. If I go anywhere where street or travel photography will be I also take a Platypod Extreme camera support plate instead of a tripod.

I don't really have a moral of the story here. I think the club made the correct decision on not going on the workshop but I also think we made the right decision also on going. I had already cancelled one trip to Manteo earlier in the year so I was going to go either way. Didn't want to cancel again. We both had fun and it wasn't too expensive splitting cost of gas and lodging. So find you a Photo buddy or wingman to go on photography trips with. You'll have a ball and come back with some good photo's to boot! Until Next week! Get out and Shoot!