Back in the west
Sitting atop a campsite overlooking Badlands National Park.
We’ve been in South Dakota since April 17th. Specifically, we’ve been bouncing between Badlands National Park and the Black Hills, both areas we hold great fondness for. To be back here is meaningful because it marks the boundary for “the west”, at least in our minds. After spending more than 5 years in the Southeastern US, we’re glad to be back in drier, more rugged terrain. This place is also special because it’s the area where we spent a great deal of time immediately after leaving our home in Colorado to begin living on the road, so a lot of feelings are tied to these landscapes.
The wide open spaces and big sky were missed.
Leica M9, Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2
Leica M9, Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2
Leica M9, Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2
Leica M9, Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2
Leica M9, Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2
Leica M9, Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2
Our time here has also marked the most we’ve dry camped in the new van thus far. Dry camping, wild camping, or boondocking, is simply camping away from resources like water and electric. This vehicle that we spent the better part of 2025 building had been tested on the east coast, but it’s hard to replicate the distance between sites, weather, and overall nature of camping like we typically do in the west. Happily, our build is holding up well, with systems doing what they are supposed to do. I may get into this further depending on interest in a later post.
Leica M9, Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2
Leica M9, Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2
Leica M9, Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2
Leica M9, Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.2
The Leica M9 still hasn’t fallen out of favor
Obviously I’ve had the Leica out. It’s making itself useful and continues to produce images that would not exist otherwise. The low risk, high reward attitude I have with this camera makes it so that I experiment more often, and enjoy it. It’s a great BTS camera and perfect for stills around camp and for travel generally. I’m also loving the Voigtlander 50mm f/1.2. It stays on the M9 a solid 99% of the time. I’m appreciating it’s speed and sharpness when stopped down, as well as its soft glow at 1.2. I am curious to find out I’d react to a fast 90mm, but for now the 50mm is perfect. All of the above photos were captured with the M9 and processed in Capture One.
Of course I’ve been busy making other images, too. It’s good to be back around the subject matter I typically lean towards. The light, skies, and textures of the western US are exceptionally powerful. Here’s a sample of photographs I’ve made in the past two weeks- more are shared in my newsletter. Sign up here if you haven’t already. I’ll talk more about our time here in a later post.
Fuji GFX 100, GF100-200mm. Visible Spectrum.
Fuji GFX 100, GF100-200mm. 830nm IR.
Fuji GFX 100, GF100-200mm. Visible Spectrum.
Fuji GFX 100, GF100-200mm. Visible Spectrum.
Thanks for watching. More soon.
