Make your next Hike a Photo Safari!

We are fast approaching the fall, my favorite time of the year.  I love to take long walks or hikes when that crisp morning air is breathing just a hint of the cold that will overtake most of the country in just a few more months. If you are anything like me you love the hike, love the scenery but are constantly thinking what else can I do to make this great experience even better? Well, the answer is to bring some of that wonderful hike home with you, bring your camera and capture the moments that take your breath away.

 Some people may go out for a walk in the woods or on some hiking trail with a camera worth more than their Mortgage payments, while others may just grab a disposable off the shelf of the Walgreens when stopping for a bottle of water. I fall some where in the middle with a nice little, semi-affordable digital camera that fits nicely into my jacket pocket. A visit to your local Best Buy, Costco or even eBay should help you find exactly what fits your needs. Make sure it has an adequate zoom, wide angle and can handle some intense close ups as you just never know what or who you will encounter that day.

Once while taking an early morning stroll through one of the wooded parks in the heart of North Miami, Florida where I live, I struck up a conversation with a gentleman that I recognized as a member of the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins Super Bowl Champs, who graciously posed for a photo with me.  On another walk 40 minutes west of Ft. Lauderdale I ran into a very curious yet non aggressive Black Bear.  The point is to be ready to turn your walk or hike into that memory that will live forever.

 If you live in a part of the country that is known for fall foliage, be prepared to capture that special moment when the light hits those leaves just right and seems to set the trees on fire with brilliant colors.  If you live near the ocean, the waves may be crashing against the shore with the spray creating rainbows or that dolphin skyrocketing out of the water seemingly just to pose for your lens.

You may ask, “Why are you not giving us information about what type of equipment to use or what lens and speed?” The reason is that I am not a photographer, I don’t know the answers to many of those questions, you can go to http://hochmanphotography.com and ask my brother who is an expert at that stuff, personally, I just love to go out, hike a bit and if something great presents itself to me, I take a picture. I am here to tell you, get out and enjoy! Just being outside on a glorious day is satisfying enough, but with today’s compact digital camera’s, you can take some of that experience home with you. It doesn’t matter whether you are hiking a trail in the Everglades, up a hill in the Adirondacks or in Denali, AK, as long as you are doing it under wild blue skies you are a winner!