JCMAdventureJournals Needs a Telephoto Lens

My name is James, and I’m an aspiring journalist and wildlife photographer. My SO, Rebecca, and I have recently begun investing time and money in documenting our adventures. Our initial push is in the realm of nature watching— but our adventures are broad and I’m looking forward to blending art, artistry, music, nature, and all of the things in the world that fill us with wonder. Our initial plan is to launch with strong social media presences on Instagram, Facebook, and Imgur. Followed shortly by a Wordpress blog and weekly newsletter. Our first undertaking is to visit and scout the wildlife locations that have been setup throughout our home state and assess what kinds of adventures they could lead us into. As a start we have purchased a Canon DSLR and begun visiting one or two of the Wildlife Management Areas each weekend. We quickly noted that the included lens did not manage the kind of reach needed for serious wildlife photos and purchased a budget telephoto lens (a fully manual one mounted by adapter). The lens, while thrifty, has been a great asset— in the few weeks we’ve had it we’ve managed to take some wonderful photos, but we’re missing more than we’re getting because of the low quality of the optics and manufacture. For these reasons we are launching a GoFundMe Campaign to gather startup capital to cover the initial web hosting costs ($460 for 3 years) and the purchase of a higher quality, though still thrifty, telephoto lens ($850).