Photographer travels 20,000 miles by thumb, foot, van, and train. This is how his camera ended up

One of the biggest selling points for more professional cameras is their rigidity. Mag-alloy body vs. Plastics; better weather sealing, and all and all better constructions, but photographer Mike Quain from Arkansas shows that you can pull it off with an entry level Nikon D3300 and a cheap 35mm f/1.8 lens.

Mike (A.K.A The Nikon Kidd) did quite a bit of travel with the camera: A total mileage of 17,803 (9214 miles Hitchhiking, 5,500 miles by van, 1,900 miles by bus, 739 by freight trains and 450 by Amtrak) this camera has been around the block.

Mike did not start travelling with a 2 years photography project in mind, instead, he left his home town (Arkansas) after it was hit badly on the recession, and he was miserable with his night job of stocking shelves at the local Wallmart. The result is a facinating travel story documented on Mike’s Facebook page.

As for the photo above, Mike has an encouraging message:

This one is just a little Nikon D3300 with no weather sealing, but it’s been with me through sandstorms, rainforests, and salty ocean spray. It just won’t die. I’ve woken up next to it, covered in dew. It’s been frosted over. I’ve dropped it off moving freight trains and down steep embankments and I think I lost the lens cap somewhere on Interstate 40 two years ago. No amount of abuse has ever bothered it. Sometimes when it gets wet, the rear dial stops working, but it’s fine after it dries out in the sun.

Here are some of the portraits Mike has taken in the course of his travels:

Today though, Mike has updated a bit. He now uses a D610, a 24-70, and a couple primes, plus a few film cameras. the old D3300 is still in a usable condition.

To wrap it up, Mike has a pretty inspiring call for action:

What I’m saying is don’t be afraid to get out there. Your camera is a tool that works best when you use it to capture photos that nobody else will. Your camera can take abuse and so can you! :)