TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY

In a couple of days I’m presenting an overview of travel photography to students at The Art Institute of Seattle. I’ve included my outline here for those who are interested:

1. Introduction

Choosing a destination
Research
Packing light
Pacing yourself
Staying healthy

2. The Essential Ingredients

Culture/People:
Events
Arts and Crafts
Sports and Recreation
Food

Architecture:
Icons
Skylines
Attractions
Perspective

Geography:
Landscape
Weather - Sun/Moon/Water
Flora and Fauna

3. Logistics and other considerations

Transportation
Access/Being there
Language/Guides
Model/Property releases
Moving beyond the cliché - connecting to a sense of place
Colors/symbols/motion/shadows/textures/gestures/moments
Working with an Editor/Writer
Stills/Video – shoot lists, backing up media

4. Marketing - Don’t give it away.

Assignments/Commissions
Stock
Personal Work

Fine Art
Films/Books
Teaching/Writing
Public Relations

Join ASMP, read their business practices

BACK FROM CALIFORNIA

Just home from two weeks away on a very rewarding trip. I want to thank all the people involved with making my exhibit and film in Salinas a success: Colleen Bailey, Deborah Silguero, Paul Van de Carr, Thom and Gail Steinbeck, Susan Shillinglaw, McIntosh & Otis, Tony Straka, James Johnston, Kurt Henze, and last but not least my wife, Andrea Wells. Thanks also to Curtis Autenrith and Chuck Miller for their support.

My next step is setting up a photo exhibit this winter and working with my agent, Bob Morton, to secure a book deal. Then it’s off to clear rights and set up the necessary PR. In the meantime you will see that I have added a link to my photography store where you can order prints and keep informed of my book’s progress. Lots of work ahead, and lots of work behind.

30TH ANNUAL STEINBECK FESTIVAL

“Journeys - Steinbeck Around the World”

Thursday, August 5th - Sunday, August 8th
NATIONAL STEINBECK CENTER, SALINAS CALIFORNIA
“We do not take a trip. A trip takes us.” –John Steinbeck

This coming weekend, set out for the open road.
Your destination: The world - today and at key moments in history, with John Steinbeck as your guide. Eat, drink, and dream of far horizons. Go behind the Iron Curtain in the 1960s and wander through Moscow, Krakow, Budapest. Stand at the Berlin Wall. Visit Rome, Paris, and Mexico. See literary landmarks around the globe. Drive through the Badlands of North Dakota with a poodle just like Steinbeck did 50 years ago. Create your own journey.

The National Steinbeck Center unveils its 2010 Steinbeck Festival, Journeys: Steinbeck Around the World, to be held from August 5 – 8, 2010 . The festival will explore journeys of all kinds, throughout America and the wide world, through the eyes of John Steinbeck and others. Each year, hundreds of people from all walks of life attend the annual four-day festival, which includes talks, tours, film and the visual and performing arts. I will have a photo workshop for high school students and a large fine art print photography exhibit, as well as a 20 minute film on display during the festival weekend and continuing until October 22nd. See you there!

http://www.steinbeck.org/pages/steinbeck-festival

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Here’s wishing you safe travels and the freedom to do what you want today.

Some American quotes:

“The United States are essentially the greatest poem.” - Walt Whitman

“Each generation of Americans has to face circumstances not of its own choosing, by which its character is measured and its spirit tested.” - Jimmy Carter

“United we stand, divided we fall.” - John Dickinson

“The great social adventure of America is no longer the conquest of the wilderness but the absorption of fifty different peoples.” - Walter Lippmann

“Energy in a nation is like sap in a tree, it rises from the bottom up.” - Woodrow Wilson

“In every community, there is work to be done. In every nation there are wounds to heal. In every heart there is the power to do it.” - Marianne Williamson

“This monster of a land, this mightiest of nations, this spawn of the future, turns out to be the macrocosm of microcosm me.” - John Steinbeck

OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHER ARTICLE

The September 2010 issue of Outdoor Photographer magazine will present a five page article with my photographs titled “50 Years After Travels With Charley.” This feature will cover my twelve year, 150,000 mile journey following John Steinbeck’s route from his 1962 travelogue. My book agent is contacting prospective publishers about my work-in-progress project, which celebrates the publication of Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley in Search of America fifty years later.

http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/locations/north-america/50-years-after-travels-with-charley.html

HIDDEN WILDS OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

In my travels I sometimes come across a slice of Americana so remote and hard to get to that it remains essentially unchanged from earlier times. As you might imagine, locations like this are becoming increasingly scarce. The only thing that keeps these communities isolated from progress are roads so treacherous that transport along them is ill-advised. I recently came across such a location on my last trip to California. If ever there was a hamlet that idealizes these qualities most clearly it is Forks of Salmon. The narrow crumbling road to and from this tiny village borders a river that runs hundreds of feet below without any guard rails to protect you. It is magnificent country.

NATIONAL STEINBECK CENTER FINE ART PRINT EXHIBIT

I am pleased to announce that I have been honored with a 40 print photography exhibit at the National Steinbeck Center in Salinas, CA during this year’s Steinbeck Festival weekend August 5-8. In addition, I will be presenting a multimedia video that will also be playing in the Center’s theatre during this time until October 22nd. My humble thanks go to the Center’s Executive Director, Colleen F. Bailey, and Curator, Deborah Silguero-Stahl, for their support of my project. Hope to see you there!

For more on The National Steinbeck Center please visit: http://www.steinbeck.org

MT. ST. HELENS BLOW OUT ANNIVERSARY

Thirty years ago today, Washington state’s Mount St. Helens had its catastrophic eruption. It was the most destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Fifty-seven people were killed, and 250 homes, 47 bridges, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. The eruption spewed ash for hundreds of miles and caused a massive debris avalanche, reducing the elevation of the mountain’s summit some 3,000 feet from its prior height of nearly 10,000 ft. The resulting crater, dust covered surface, and barren fir trees made for an eerie lunar like landscape. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan and the U.S. Congress established the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Following the 1980 eruption, the area was left to gradually return to its natural state. When you consider this area has been a center for volcanic activity for 37,000 years - it’s worth a visit. Many trails, viewpoints, information stations, campgrounds, and picnic areas have been established to accommodate the increasing number of visitors each year. Check out Windy Ridge or the monument’s visitor’s center at Silver Lake for more info on where to photograph.

BACK ON THE ROAD

I’m back on the road again - this time to Monterey in my modified 1972 911T for the annual R Gruppe track day and weekend gathering (Treffen). I’ve been to every one of these over the past ten years, so there’s no reason to stop now! I’ll also be photographing along the way - shooting HD video is my latest passion. So inland Oregon, the Redwoods and coastal California will be my subjects over the next two weeks. With my book project in full swing this will be a nice break from the computer!

EARTH DAY

On April 22 1970, Earth Day marked the beginning of the modern environmental movement. Approximately 20 million Americans participated. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values. In observance of this 40th anniversary, Earth Day Network has created multiple global initiatives that will see at least 1.5 billion people participate in events and programs to create environmental awareness.

Enjoy spring today in your own way, be it a walk in a greenbelt, planting a tree or just smelling some flowers along the way.