I took these on the hike back to Logan Pass from Hidden Lake in the early evening.  Both pictures have hikers in the frame.  You’ll have to look a little harder in the second one.  Like I said in a previous post, it was pretty weird walking across deep snow in the middle of July.  It was also very slippery.  I had to try very hard not to fall because I was carrying two cameras, my Canon 40D with the 70-200mm f2.8 + 1.4x teleconverter and my Canon 5D with the 24-105mm f4 lens.  That was about $6K worth of equipment around my neck…definitely not something I wanted to fall on.  Thankfully, I didn’t, but there were a few close calls.

Why carry so much equipment?  I carry the 40D combo for shooting wildlife and the 5D combo for shooting the landscapes.  I don’t like to constantly change lenses as I hike, so I carry both so I don’t have too.  Wildlife doesn’t usually hold still long enough to change lenses and still get the shot.  Even landscapes can change quickly (clouds/shadows moving across the scene, rainbows that appear suddenly and then disappear just as quickly, etc.) and you don’t want to miss a great shot because you were busy swapping lenses.  Besides, the more often you change lenses in the field, the greater your chances of getting a dirty sensor, exposing your electronics to the elements, or simply just dropping a lens.  I’m willing to carry a little extra weight (one extra camera body) to prevent that.

…but, shortly after I took this picture, I wanted to slap myself upside the head. I had just switched lens and grabbed my bike to head to my next location. I lost my grip on the bike for a moment and in my haste to re-establish it, I must have forgotten the camera in my other hand. Instead of the bike falling, my 5D slipped from my hand, slid down my leg, and hit the asphalt from about 2 ft up. My heart stopped.

After I started breathing again, I picked it up and examined it. It looked like everything was fine. Everything seemed to be working. No major damage. Just a few small scratches on the corner. All the electronics appeared to be working correctly. I thought I had gotten lucky and rode off. When I got to my next destination however, I discovered I hadn’t been. When I took my first picture, the mirror flipped up and down three times in quick succession and an error appeared on the display. It did take the picture, however. I power cycled it and tried again. Same result. I turned it off, removed the battery, waited a bit, and then tried one more time. Same result. Crap.

Looks like I’ll be visiting the local camera repair shop on my first day in Missoula. There probably isn’t enough time to get if fixed here before I go. I guess it’s a good thing I bought the 40D. At least, I can keep shooting in the meantime…and the strap will be around my neck at all times from here on out.

On a lighter note, tomorrow is my last day of work. You may be excited for your three day weekend, but I’ve got a six month weekend coming up.