But I Digress – Cruising Photo Favorites

December 31, 2019.

In the late 1990’s, my wife Lynn, daughter Carrie, and I departed Miami for an Eastern Caribbean cruise. It was our first. We enjoyed it, but times being what they were, it would be 2007 before we would make our second cruise. Since then, it’s become our favorite way of vacationing. In the next 16 years, we’ve visited the Caribbean islands twice, Hawaii, Fanning Island (Tabuaeran), went through the Panama Canal twice, and as the photo above implies, we departed Seattle for Alaska (you can tell by the tiny Space Needle in the far right background of this image captured on the Norwegian Pearl.)

But I Digress – Action Shots with the Nikon D500

As I’ve branched out in photography from landscape to other types of photography, I’ve added new, more versatile tools to my camera bag. In late 2016, I made my biggest photo investment in a new camera body, the Nikon D500. Reviewers at the time heralded its capabilities in action and wildlife photography. In my nearly two years of ownership, I haven’t taken the opportunity to focus much on either genre, but I have at least taken advantage of the camera’s power in these areas. If you’re looking for a review here, you’ll be disappointed. My only purpose here is to share some images I’ve considered successful and probably not likely to be duplicated with my other cameras.

But I Digress… An Anniversary and a Promise to Keep

Buckeye, Arizona.

On March 18, 2013, I was sitting right where I am now, in front of my computer where I pushed the Publish… button in WordPress for the first time. That button push launched Journeys With Johnbo onto the InterWeb. I am writing this at the same desk at our home here in Buckeye contemplating a couple of more local trips before we head north back to our home in Fargo. By now, you might be asking, “What’s up with the weird half monochrome – half color photograph.” The purpose of that photo will become clear a little further on down the page.

But I Digress… My New Traveling Camera, Sony RX100-V

San Antonio, Texas.

This week, my journey takes me back to San Antonio, but this time it’s less about the travel and more about the tools. If you’re looking for a review of the popular Sony camera mentioned in the post title, you’ll need to look elsewhere. There are plenty of written and video reviews that can do a much better technical job than I at comparisons and specifications. This article is about solving a problem, and that’s where I will start. I love to use my Nikon D500 and the D7000 before it, especially in conjunction with the long 16-300 MM Tamron lens. But, my friends, when I need to jump on an airplane and travel to a location where photography isn’t my priority objective, I’ve been longing for something more than my cell phone camera without all the hassle of my full-blown photo travel pack.

But I Digress… A Personal Journey

Fargo, North Dakota.

The old man in the photo above may be a senior citizen, but as this is being written, he is in the best physical shape in many years. OK, so now I will stop writing in the third person. That photo of me was taken in Oklahoma in the summer of 2017. November 29, 2017 marks the fifth anniversary of the beginning of my personal fitness journey. Most of my life, I’ve been considered obese by the nefarious BMI (Body Mass Index) scale. In November 2012, my doctor convinced me that I needed to do something about my increasing weight. He showed me a history of my weight gain over the last several years, documented each year at my annual checkup. That November, I bent the scale at 231 pounds in the doctor’s office. Each year for over a decade, I’d managed to add a few pounds to that number. Though I’ve been able to maintain an aviation physical and continued to fly, I was concerned about my blood pressure and cholesterol, was taking a daily BP control med, and a prescribed statin for cholesterol reduction.

But I Digress – Social Media

Fargo, North Dakota.

On this Monochrome Monday, I thought I would share my social media connections with you. Each week I feature a different theme and once a day I post an image to my social media accounts. Most are images from my gallery, not all of them were published here on Journeys with Johnbo. This week’s theme is #SteamIsKing and features both fixed and mobile steam engines captured on my travels. 

But I Digress – UnderCover, Inside Operation Julie

Fargo, North Dakota.

It was a Christmas present, sort of. During our Christmas holiday in Fargo, the postman brought me a book, one that traveled across two oceans from its printing in England to the Philippines where the author signed it, and then across the Pacific Ocean again to my home in Fargo.