I’m right on the shore, the waves of the incoming tide lapping against the legs of my tripod, sometimes making me step back to keep my feet dry. The sun is just setting off to the right, casting an orange warmth on the largest of the rocks. The sky is simple, but it’s smooth, the gentle color soothing, and the lines and details on the rocks are mesmerizing in their intricacy.
California is a beautiful place. Due to its population and popularity, it always always the most east access, but if you get there and get settled it’s really breathtaking. There’s so much to see and so little time to get it done before rush hour.
We’ve been on the road about two weeks and are about halfway through our Spring trip. Heading to CA first, I taught a few workshops, and now we’re moving out of CA and headed for more landscapes and adventures. We plan to head into AZ now and visit the Grand Canyon. We’re trying to avoid campgrounds and get out in the boondocks as much as possible.
CA has been a tough State. Really beautiful, but sometimes frustrating. The State, County, and National land tends to be outrageously priced (don’t get me going), and it’s sometimes hard to find the free boondocking areas that are prevalent in many other States.
We carry a MiFi with us so we can keep the business running, research and mark locations, find the best gas prices, etc. Apps like All Stays Camp & RV, Gas Book, Right Here, and Geotag Photos Pro are invaluable.
I’ve also started experimenting with a 4×5 view camera for the resolution it can give me in larger prints. Learning what it can do is quite an experience. I’m being very conservative with frames, but in the right situation, I think it will be amazing. It sure feels good to use. As long as you’re not in a hurry.
Of course, I’m still capturing digital images. I think, in the future, both film and digital will have a place in my work at the initial capture . They both have strong advantages in various situations. It’s become a good learning experience as I study 4×5 technique.
Stay tuned for some new pieces as we move along. If you want to see more frequent updates, you can get those on my facebook page…
I’m talking a bit today about photography competitions. Whether you’re a pro or enthusiast, competition will really challenge you to raise the bar. At some you can win cash and at other you can get merits, trophies and even earn industry recognized photography degrees from PPA.
You can find the forum discussion for this episode on the forum thread. Go share your experiences.. Gav
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Photo Couch is the companion podcast of Gavin’s f164 project. Sort of an audio journal. Nothing fancy here. Just short musings, tips and thoughts on photography. You can listen below, or subscribe for free and get all the latest episodes. If you want more you can also check out Gavin full podcast, Pro Photo Show.
On this roundtable we go LIVE with listeners in the chatroom and calling in. There were a few glitches but for a first live show it came off well. Lots of business talk in this one so if you don’t want to hear about things like Facebook marketing, use the time indexes below to skip segments.
This is a live show. Uh no, not the PPS live show. I just thought this would make the post a bit cooler 😉 Gav
NOTE: Due to a double link the feed iTunes was pulling the previous episode for the first hour or so. If this happened to you, delete the redundant episode. Then right click Pro Photo Show in your podcast list and choose “Show All Podcast Episodes”. #76 will show up again and should be the updated file when you re-download.
So as mentioned on the last episode of Pro Photo Show, PPS #76 will be our first ever live call in episode. A photography talk show where we’ll have a panel discussing topics of like normal, but the all of you will be able to tune in live, join the chat room, give feedback and even dial in, ask questions and voice your opinions.
This is all happening on March 24th 2011, at 5PM PST/8PM EST. It’s our first time live and we may be working out a few kinks as we figure out the system, but this should be a blast.
Mark it on your calenders and come join the fun on PPS LIVE. We’ll see you there… Gav