China - Juizhai Valley National Park, Foursome Reflection / Ed Krempel

My, how I missed the Bigger Cahoona when composing for shots like this!  Not all bad, though.

Don't know the likelihood of this ever happening, but I'd love to visit these kinds of places with the D850 and a tripod.  Had a friend at church many years ago that sported a D300s coupled with a 600mm fixed lens.  His name was Ed, and he had absolutely zero family anywhere...no ancestors, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, or any of that.  We'd never met anyone so unattached in our lives.  But he was one of the most optimistic people we'd ever known.  And because of his lack of attachments he spent freely on any photo equipment that his heart desired, often giving the leftovers to friends (I got a laptop, other friends were given high-quality expensive lenses over time as he bought upgraded replacements).

Anyway, I have memories of us going on photo excursions together and seeing him carry his big-rig tripod along with that giant lens with his Nikon attached to the back.  The results were professional level, but the weight of the lens was so great that he developed back problems and had to go to the doctor.

So what became of Ed?  This is a mystery.  He decided to quit work for a year and travel the world just taking pictures.  When he returned from one of his jaunts he'd drop by and update us on the adventures he'd had and, naturally, some of the spectacular photos captured from places like Egypt and Antarctica.  When the year ended he took an accounting job in China, and nobody every heard from him again.  Once in a while I'd check in on his website, but any new development stopped and it can't even be found any more.  Since that was his life, we concluded that he somehow just disappeared, whatever the cause...