WHAT'S BUILT FOR ADVENTURE?

Sully’s Alaskan Adventure

You’d think that our son, Sullivan, would be skilled and talented photographer.  He. Is. Not.  He has other skills and talents - too many to mention. But taking good pictures is not one of them.  Matter-of-fact, doesn’t have even the slightest interest in knowing about f/stops, shutter speed, and the like.

Sullivan is a dude that loves an adventure.  He recently went on a hunting trip to the Alaskan wilderness with his hunting buddy, Chuck, and four other adventurous guys.  Chuck owns 30 acres and a rustic cabin in prime moose country.  He invited the others to spend nine days at his place in the woods to hunt and fish.  

Before Sully left, he asked us if he could borrow a camera that would take both still shots and video.  He’d been to that spot once before, but without a camera.  This time he wanted to capture it’s beauty,ruggedness, and wide variety of spectacular scenery.   

Being the dutiful parents that we are, and also since we own a camera store, we fulfilled his request, and did one better.  We gave him a camera.  Any camera traveling with Sully had to be sturdy, compact, and most of all easy to use.  

I chose the Panasonic Lumix FZ300 for him to use.  As they always say, “Father Knows Best”.  This camera has a Leica 25 to 600mm f/2.8lens.  Here’s the best part.  It retails for an affordable $499.  But…currently,  there’s an instant $100 rebate when you purchase the FZ300.  That makes your cost only $399! Shop Now

Watch This short video

Sullivan loved his adventure and shared some of his stories, videos and photographs with us when he returned. We were happy to see that he enjoyed his trip, and we were especially pleased that he put the Lumix FZ300 to good use. 

Here are some of his pictures and a little info about them.

Straight Outta Lumix

All of these images were straight out of his Lumix FZ300.

Here’s what Sully like the most about the camera.  It’s versatility.  Sullivan admits that he kept the camera in Auto Mode the entire time.  That’s okay.  Not everyone needs to get out of Auto Mode.   If you or someone you know just wants to take good pictures that capture what you are seeing, and don’t care about learning the basics of photography, Auto Mode is your best friend.  Don’t let us camera nerds tell you otherwise.  The Lumix FZ300 has the advanced technology to take pictures that you can be proud of without ever taking it out of Auto.  

More about the Lumix FZ300 at the end of this blog.

Tales from Sullivan’s Most Excellent Adventure

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Lawn Mower with Wings

After arriving in Anchorage, there was only one way to get to their hunting destination in the wilderness.  By air.

Chuck is are retired commercial pilot who flies for the forest service every summer.  His property has an air strip.  Sort of an airstrip.  More on that later.

Let’s talk about his plane.  It basically a lawnmower with wings.  It holds a limited amount of weight, and not an ounce more.   With 6 guys along with all of their hunting, camping, and personal gear, the pilot had to fly them out to his property in shifts.  

Sullivan was assigned to the last shift. Since he is slightly smaller than a giant sequoia,he was the only passenger. Thankfully, his camera “gear” was just the compact Lumix FZ300.  

The plane trip from Anchorage to Chuck’s property was dicey. After one attempt to land, it was windy, the plane was getting tossed around, and Chuck aborted the landing. It was even windier on the second attempt.   So the two of them flew back to Anchorage and Sully spent the night in the hangar on a cot under the wing of the plane while the four other guys were at the cabin.

The next morning, Chuck and Sully set out again with the weather cooperating.  They landed safely, and the adventure continued.

Alaska’s Lakes: Fresh out of names.

The cabin is near the edge of Cow Lake, which is not far from Red Shirt Lake.    

Alaska… So many lakes and so few names.  There’s no end to the lack of imagination of lake names.    

There’s: Big Lake (3 of them), Long Lake,  Big Long Lake,  DeLong Lake, Little Lake, Round Lake, Square Lake, Triangle Lake.  It looks like they ran out of letters, and started using punctuation marks when they named Comma Lake.  Then there’s Lazy Lake.  That’s pretty telling.

Here’s an interesting tidbit of knowledge that’s bound to initiate a scintillating conversation at your next cocktail party: Alaska has 3,200 natural lakes that have names.  But is has 3,000,000 (yes, three million) natural lakes that are not named. So, Cow Lake is damned lucky to even have a name.   

Mostly Burly Men  

Sully met up with these guys.  They were there to hunt moose.  As you can see, there were five burly men and one future burly man (give him a few years).  They all had a great time hunting, fishing, sharing meals and stories.  This is a classic hunting trip group portrait.

Taking a tripod was out of the question for this trip.  A male grizzly bear volunteered to take the group shot.  That’s what we were told.  (Sullivan’s always been prone to stretch the truth a bit.)  We suspect it’s more likely that he put the camera on a table or bench and set the easy-to-use self-timer.

Grizzly bear scat and an unexpected surprise‍

On the first day, Sullivan ventured out in the brush.  He was hoping to get lucky with a bull moose (don’t get any ideas, Sully is a happily married man).  The brush was three feet taller than Sullivan, the ground swampy and covered with tall grass.  It was not easy to negotiate his way around since he couldn’t see over the brush.  It was late in the day and getting dark.  He stepped over fresh grizzly bear scat, and then some more and even fresher scat.  He wondered if he would encounter a grizzly bear, and end up making his own human scat.  But what happened instead was completely unexpected. 

He took a step onto what he thought was wet grass, but it was a creek that was six feet deep.  He knew that it was six feet deep,because he measures six feet tall at his shoulders.  And he was entirely underwater except for his head.

Fortunately, he did not have the camera with him on that trek. It’s mighty, durable, but it is not known for it’s swimming prowess.  It is splash proof, but not completely submersible. (We have other cameras for that.)

He climbed out of the creek, and walked soggily back to camp. He hadn’t realized how far out he had gone, and by the time he got back, it was dark.

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DIY airstrip

Sully’s friend’s thirty acres includes a lot of thick brush, a small cabin and an unimproved airstrip.  The only way in is by air.  It is truly moose country.  However, if you’ve ever been to Alaska, you realize that everyplace is moose country. The city parks, the pedestrian crosswalks, the convenience stores; the list goes on. 

What do you do for nine days in Alaska hanging out in the brush with 5 other guys?  One would think there might be some drinkin’.  Maybe some fightin’.  There was neither.   When they weren’t out hunting and fishing, they were doing home improvement projects.

They modernized the airstrip.  Well, they cut down some of the brush and made it wider, so that the plane could take off.

Sullivan could have taken before and after pictures, but he was busy clearing brush.

Wanted bull moose, settled for wild chicken

Not all hunting trips have an outcome resulting in a freezer full of meat, or even one fish.  Such was the case on this trip.  That does not take away the thrill of the hunt, or the beauty of casting your line in a beautiful Alaskan stream.

There was activity in the brush.  Moose, for sure.  Just not the kind that was legal to catch.     

While out on one hunting excursion, Sully and a buddy were in the brush, and heard wildlife rustling about.  They stalked it, and were on the ready.  It turned out to be grouse.  (Those are like wild chicken.)      

This is a cellphone picture.  Not anywhere as good as the Lumix shots, but it does prove that the guys got something!

Sullivan sings a love song

On Sullivan’s very last day in Alaska, he tried technique that his hunting buddy had taught him the night before:   Imitating the sound of a cow (female moose) in heat.

It worked!  Sullivan performed his rendition of “Looking for Love” moose style, and sure enough, a bull moose walked out of the brush right towards him!  Unfortunately for Sullivan, (but fortunately for the moose) it was too small for hunting.

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Sullivan still hunts for meat in Fresno

Back in the valley with fond memories and great images from his Lumix.  Sullivan will do his hunting for game at the grocery store until his next adventure.

7.  Lumix vs lummox - two different things that go together very well.

Just so you know, Lumix is pronounced LOO-mix (not lummox as in a clumsy awkward person).  That being said, a Panasonic Lumix is a perfect camera for the lummox in your life.  Splash proof, dust proof, sturdy design.  Hard to break.  

Here’s one of the most lummox proof parts of the Lumix FZ300 camera: The versatile lens never needs changing.  That eliminates so many problems in using a camera.  Fiddling around changing lenses is the main reason why dirt, dust and moisture gets inside a camera and ruins all your images, and can even damage the camera.   

It’s perfect for landscapes, portraits, wildlife, taking close-ups of far away subjects, low light.  For you camera nerds, it has a LEICA 25 to 600mm full-range f/2.8 lens.

Easy to use video.  If your lummox has trouble taking still pictures, and can never get the timing right, then suggest the Lumix FZ300 video mode.  They can select still shots from the videos.  It’s foolproof. 

Thanks for reading! 

Come into the store and get your Lumix FZ300 today before the instant rebate ends!  Remember, the regular price is $499, but it’s yours for only $399 right now at Horn Photo

LEARN MORE about the Lumix FZ300 HERE

Note: Sullivan Grosz is the son of Shelly & Stan Grosz, owners of Horn Photo. Sully is a Senior Vice President at Pearson Ag Realty in Fresno. Married to Erin and Father to Granger.