Say yes when a friend invites you into their world.

This past weekend my good friend Giuli invited me to a guided bird photography walk at Pheasant Branch Conservancy in Middleton. I knew I didn't have the right lens for it but I did it anyway. It meant spending time with my best friend and trying something new photography related.

Before we started the walk we went for coffee at Prairie Café, a cute coffee shop in Middleton. I had a mocha — I am on an ongoing search for the best mocha in Madison, so far Ancora Maple Bluff wins — and we ordered a cinnamon roll to share. Also on the hunt for the best cinnamon roll in town. Current ranking: first place Mark's Cinnamon Rolls which I have only found at the farmer's market, second place Ancora again. Send me your recommendations!

Then we headed to the park to start the walk at 8am. People started trickling in and as I saw their sophisticated lenses I started to feel a bit self conscious about the 55-250mm I brought, which must be at least 16 years old. The doubt faded away about five minutes later when we all introduced ourselves and the vibes were genuinely nice and welcoming.

The best part of the experience for me was connecting with nature, feeling the fresh breeze and interacting with the group. We were all telling each other where the birds were. Look, that's a yellow warbler! Oops, it just flew away. There is something really special about a group of strangers united around the same small thing.

Surprisingly my lens performed better than expected and Adobe Lightroom came through and made the images even better. The super resolution tool helped bring out detail and made the colors pop in a way I didn't think was possible with that lens. Sometimes showing up matters more than the gear.

What I took from this experience is that if it wasn't for my friend encouraging me to come I wouldn't have felt the joy birding brings or how fun it is to mix it with photography. If a friend asks you to join in their hobby say yes. Maybe you'll find yourself enjoying it too and sharing another layer of connection with them.