I guess it's the ocean that brings out the photographer in me. Or maybe it's the break from Reddit and the Internet at large. Whatever it was, I was more than eager to explore an oft-visited area of the country -- Mystic, Connecticut and the surrounding areas -- armed with cameras. Specifically, I came out swinging with my Fujifilm X100s, Lee ND filters, iPhone 6 Plus, and my new 85mm f1.8 for the Nikon.

Morning hike at Bluff Point State Park -- 45s exposure

Long exposure photography is still a pretty experimental thing for me, but it's intoxicating. The limiting factor, unfortunately, is the Fujifilm camera, which as some of you already know, is in my opinion the best thing ever. While the smaller-sized filter set I bought for it works wonders, the camera isn't exactly weather sealed. Its batteries don't have much stamina. Even with the wide-angle adapter, its lens is just not wide enough to truly capture seascapes and other natural things. While it's a fantastic camera for nearly everything else, I think I need to make my Nikon D7100 the primary landscape rig. And when I say "need to", I mean, I need to find $500 for the matching filter set. Anyone have any spare B&H gift cards laying around? I'll take them off your hands. ;)

Apart from the dedicated cameras, the iPhone 6+ held more than its own when combined with the VSCO Cam app. It didn't skip a beat, even when getting mildly drenched for the below dock shot. Who the hell would think it'd rain in New England!

As vacations go, this one was no exception -- it was over in nearly an instant. Still, it's clear that the break from mountainous email inboxes and funny picture subreddits did me good.

Who wants to ring in the new year with a trip to Island Beach State Park? There's something about hiking on the shoreline in the dead of winter...

Holiday Photo Roundup

Bokeh Wall

Minimal Long-X