Clito Swimming Hole (Via 17-40mm f4 L)

Recently I posted on Facebook that I was considering selling all my Canon gear and going back to the new Pentax K5-iis.  I had been in a funk photography wise and really didn't like shooting with my Canon.

I think part of this was because of my lens line up. I only had 3 lenses and all were prime.  There is nothing wrong with shooting primes(super fast/sharpest available/less quality compromise), it's just much more difficult out in the elements to be changing lenses/filters to get the shot.
Back when I was shooting Pentax primarily, I had multiple zoom lenses that made shooting fun and easy.  It's also significantly less expensive to shoot a camera with an APS-C(crop) sensor.
Now that I have a full frame sensor I have found purchasing lenses to be difficult, to say the least.  I read reviews left and right, compare different lenses to different applications, and it seems that there is always a compromise.  And when you are on a budget and want the best you can afford, compromise is a must(even though it isn't super fun).
I ended up purchasing a 17-40mm f4 L from a store called Lee Hartman and Sons, in Roanoke.  It's the best compromise for me, I think.  It's sharp, weather sealed, much wider than my previous lens, and uses a standard 77mm filter.  The compromise, or downside to the lens is the f4 aperture(static stars need not apply), and the vignetting.

Today was the first day with my new lens.  I had an awesome time crawling about and wading in the creek today.  Having the ability to zoom was something I had taken for granted for sure!  I love how wide the perspective is, how sharp the images are, and just overall I find this lens to be a great fit for me.

Now I know why the 17-40mm f4 L is such a common lens among nature photographers. 

I used two images to capture more depth in this scene.

Leaves were falling like crazy today!

The Clito Swimmin' Hole

This area is along a dirt road called Clito.  Just turn off Spring Valley past the brand new moth-balled school onto Clito Road. 

When you hear country music stars talk about 'cooling off in the creek' or 'skinny dipping in moonlight' or any other kind of swimming hole, this is what they are talking about.  Being from Montana, I can't say I have a lot of experience swimming in rivers.  Mountain streams are bitter cold, and to me, even the lakes aren't swimmable till 2pm in the summer.  And the larger rivers can be hazardous to your health(currents that can KILL!)

But, when it's 95° out and humid as can be, a cool creek down in a hollar is quite refreshing.

Even now in October, the water was somewhat pleasant, not too cold to stand in for a long period of time.  Towards the end of my little outing I attempted to cross the creek in an area about waiste deep, but the farther out into the creek I went, the more and more the current was about to push me over, and since I was carrying my 'nice' camera, back to the shore I went:)

The below image was shot using two images.  One was focused on the foreground leaves, and the second on the background.  I could have gottent most of the scene in focus using f22, but the diffraction of that aperture can really bring down the sharpness of an image.  Hence, I shot the two images using f8 or f11 or something like that:)