Mistakes can be valuable, as long as we learn from them. Time and experience help prevent experts from making mistakes. When experts do make mistakes, they know how to catch them before it's too late. In photography, its possible for an un-caught mistake to ruin a whole photoshoot. That's a big problem for events you can't re-create like sports photography or wedding photography. That's why it's good to trust an expert.

Photo documenting a build process can be simple, if a good lighting set-up is already in place. My "wood shop" is in my basement. Basements aren't known for great lighting. That's why I buy daylight-balanced lights. They're designed to shine at 5,000k instead of 4,400k. I love these LED fluorescent-replacements. That color difference improves the feeling of working down there. I shot this whole post on my phone. Having a thoughtfully lit work area helps simplify photo-documenting the process. 

Bring these 5 items to your next photo shoot. 

Camping with cast iron.

I wouldn't want to carry a cast iron Dutch oven on a long hike. For this weekend, we didn't care about pack weight. Instead, we bought the best tools for the job. 

I recently joined Hartley Brody and Mike Ewing for a weekend winter bushcraft workshop with Micah Surprenant. The first day Micah taught us how to build a shelter, harvesting wood from the forrest, and we built a long fire to keep us warm at night.

Lechmere Station:

Found this one kicking around in the archives.

I made it down the mountain.

Over the next week, I recovered and spent a few days in Seattle and Sequim. I had lots of time to process everything that happened and what I learned. I got some great thinking done while my legs recovered.

Camp Muir, 11:35 pm

The bunkhouse door flew open. Time to wake up and start our ascent. By 12:40am, we rigged for glacier travel and started hiking. We stepped outside into the howling wind, sandblasting our faces with volcanic dust. Our down parkas kept us warm in the coldest temps we'd faced so far. We were finally ready to head up the rock and ice to the summit. 

Whisky tasting day arrives.

After breakfast on the farm, we headed for Glendronach. We arrived just after one of the tours started, and needed to wait for the next one. Hungry again, we headed into the nearby town for sustinance.

We flew back to the distillary after grabbing a utility meal at Tesco's nearby. A couple of sandwiches would soak up the whisky. Their strawberries were irresistable and also made the car smell great.

Morning light came early.

I rose to pull the curtain and saw the countryside for the first time. We woke in our room in the farm in the Scottish highlands. At 5:30am, the morning light warmly lit some old red farm equipment. I did not take out my camera then. Instead, I climbed back into bed for another 2 hours. 

We woke early.

Very early, as the sun streamed in the crack of our window shade. Both of us rolled back over and slept until a quarter of 8.

Travelogue - May 26, 2014. Edinburgh Day 2. Read day 1 here.

Standard full English breakfast was standard. Bacon, sausage, eggs (scrambled or fried,) beans, tomato, toast and coffee. I snagged a nectarine for the road.