A year ago, almost to the day, I started a series of "Prime Glass" articles for Revive which were to focus on two things, fly fishing with fiberglass fly rods and photography with prime or fixed lenses. Literally thousands of images, and months past my resolution to only shoot prime glass, I am still really only shooting with prime lenses. Where in the beginning I really thought that this resolution was going to limit me and what I could do with a camera, I've instead found that I can really do whatever I want with two or three lenses on a trip with the f/1.8 50mm, f/1.8 35mm, and 10mm fisheye. All three do something a little bit different and the only thing I might want to change is to purchase a second Nikon body so I am not always switching lenses on the go. Overall, I really think that my photography has gotten better and I am certainly thinking a lot more about the shots that I am taking. I feel like I am getting better at capturing a moment or a single aspect of what I am taking a photograph of, rather than just grabbing it all with a wide angle lens.
This trip to Montana started how quite a few trips seem to happen now, with a text to a guide friend to see how things are going? Through the course of the back and forth with Joel Thompson of Montana Troutaholic Outfitters, the idea of an early spring trip began to come together and it wasn't long before my friend Dave Lofthouse wanted in too. He had been recovering from a shattered ankle (with complications) for almost two years and hadn't been on the water in quite some time. He needed and deserved this trip a lot more than I did and I figured that I'd go along to take the backseat of the raft, snap a few photographs, and play clean up from the cheap seat.