Today was another work day, but not so packed as yesterday. More views of Lake Michigan... the lake is fascinating even on a gray day.
In the morning I was near Pentwater, and took this picture from a low dune on a private beach. You can tell that I'm not much higher than the lake surface.
I ended the day about 70 miles north of that location. After I finished my assignments, I was just a few miles from a great scenic overlook, so I took a little detour (and yes, I subtracted those miles and minutes from my work log... just in case my manager is reading this).
This is on a high sand bluff near the small town of Arcadia. I'm not going to give you a lot of specific info because this location will be the topic of my new column at Mason County Press next week.
Just enjoy the view! And you can see that I'm high above the beach here. I even had to use the telephoto to make this shot worth looking at.
Wouldn't this be great with a beautiful sunset? Well, let me tell you about yesterday. Yes, the point of this blog is to be positive, and the worst part of this story has a happy ending. Truth is, I had lots of great pix from yesterday, and only shared the bunnies, but I was really bummed out for a while.
At the last place I needed to survey, my camera quit working. It was giving me the infamous "Lens Error" message that spells the death of many Canon Powershot cameras. Although it has done this before, I've always been able to get it to recover, but it wasn't having any of my TLC. It simply wouldn't work.
Well... with this job, I HAVE to have a camera, and I had a high-value survey appointment for today at 10am. I always keep some extra batteries with me (ones that aren't completely dead, but can tide me over if the current set fails). But a battery swap with two extra sets did not solve it. Yikes!
So, on the 40-mile drive home, I was thinking that I'd have to go out yet that night and see if any place local had a camera I was willing to buy. I was grousing about spending most of what I've earned in January to replace a camera that is only three years old, etc, etc... I'm sure I don't need to drag this out.
Meanwhile, on the drive home, I got to witness one of the most spectacular sunsets I've ever seen (really), and I couldn't take a single picture.
The sky was changing between red and purple in slow cycles, and the sun went down as a clearly defined, oversized red ball. Every puddle or lake was reflecting the red. And then, to top it off, there was a sun pillar that lasted for about 15 minutes. It's the first time I've ever seen one at sunset. And no pictures. Sigh.
OK... the good news. When I got home, I looked up fixes for the lens error problem and found several that I hadn't ever tried. One of them worked. It also said that often, if the camera shuts down with the lens extended, only new batteries have enough juice to reset the camera and retract the lens. I got new batteries first thing this morning, and it worked fine all day.
Still, it's probably the beginning of the end for this camera. What a drag. I have to have a reliable camera. I charged up the battery pack and took my old point-and-shoot today as a backup, but it has issues too, so that's not really a solution.
 | See Sun Pillar in Pink See Sun Pillar from 1999 |
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7 comments:
I love the view in that second picture. That is the kind of place we have at the big state park down the road from me. I hope to get back there once they reopen the roads in the park. I hope your camera problem works out in the best way possible for you.
I know I've said this several times before, but... what a blessing to live in such a beautiful place!
Hope camera issues get straightened out...
What a nice view. Too bad about the camera problems.
Great pictures. Just my opinion, but, I say, if the job requires that you have a realiable camera, and the job is worth doing, then you have to have a good camera...bite the bullet and buy a new camera. ( :
Oh, the sunset sounds gorgeous! Sorry about the camera .. hope it works out.
Ratty- I will be very interested in scenery like that from Iowa. I know almost nothing about the state.
Ivy- We have an exceptional number of beautiful places to recreate!
Ann- it's one of the best views along the lake because of the height
Gayle- well, yes, but I have to pay bills too
Reena- it will or it won't, but I hope I can keep this one going a bit longer.
I had been having some problems with my old Canon ( it was only about 4 years old ) so I did get a new Canon G12 before coming to India. My old Canos was given to my "nephew" in Mumbai. He is just thrilled to have this camera and has taken a thousand or more pictures with it.
Isn't it a bummer to have a nonworking camera when a really spectacular shot presents itself!
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