Would you drive 100 miles for one "keeper"?

[Sanford]

<p>Or, stated another way, if you drove 100 miles to a location where you could reasonably expect to get some good photographs, would you consider just one keeper a day well spent?</p>

[johne37179]

<p>I do that two, three times a month - -and frequently come back empty. I recently went to a location I thought would give me a great sunrise over fogged in valleys -- got to the location an hour before sunrise to set up. When the sun rose there was a cloud bank on the horizon that blew the shot. I have planned photo trips of three and four days and over 1000 miles -- keepers are rare events. OK shots may be plentiful. The more shots I take, the worse my shooting ratio gets. I think that is because my standards after 60 years of doing this are much higher.</p>

[PapaTango]

<p>Good question! Honestly, I find myself a city photographer living as a country mouse. Yes, there are things to photograph here--and I do--but those subjects I find the most interest in are located in cities large and small--all of them 30-100 miles away. Buildings, alleys/graffiti, people, industrial porn, garden cemeteries, public art, it's all there.</p>

<p>On business trips I always pack the full kit and take it along. At least half a day is spent just rambling about in the car and on foot. Sometimes, I might take a day and travel somewhere that I saw interesting things. <strong>Then there are the side adventures to be had coming and going from the location.</strong> Now, do I always get "the shot"? Depends on what you are qualifying this as. I always come back with a lot of images. Some that looked like they were going to be clear winners simply did not make the grade once back home. <strong>Some that were just general shots leapt off the screen.</strong> Some I did not see anything in when filing away had an image or two that a year later screamed "how did you miss seeing this one".</p>

<p>But at the "end of the day" as the hackneyed phrase goes--I have had a lot of fun. I saw things, met people, futzed with my gear, ate a nice meal, got some exercise--and yes--came back with at least one clear "keeper." To paraphrase another worn out old chestnut, "Life is about the journey--not the destination..."</p>

[randrew1]

<p>That happend to me this fall. We drove 90 miles to Robert H, Tremen state park near Ithaca, NY planning to do some hiking and photograph some waterfalls. I had looked at the map of hiking trails and assumed the "gorge" trail would be near the creek and a good place to see waterfalls. That's the way it is at Watkins Glen, Buttermilk Falls, and Stoney Brook. We found that for most of it's length, the gorge trail was about half way up the side of the gorge. We heard some waterfalls that we couldn't see. I was a bit disappointed in the photography but consider the trip partially successful because I know where to go the next time we visit this park. <br /><br />Here's the one keeper:<br>

<img src="http://photos.randrews4.com/photos/i-wDc4rTj/0/M/i-wDc4rTj-M.jpg" alt="" /></p>

[William Kahn]

<p>Oh, yeah, in a heartbeat. Quite often, though, the "keeper" I end up with is not the one I thought I was after, but one completely unexpected (aka the shot on the way to the shot). Lower gas prices are making it easier to pay for the trips; but, like E.J., I'm getting pickier as I get older...</p>

[dave_s]

<p>On average, I make about one really good photograph a year. So no contest, sure I would.</p>

[Tim_Lookingbill]

<p>Attempted to drive approx. 130 miles to Texas's Garner State Park several weeks ago to re-shoot in Raw format a previous trip in 2008 I shot jpegs. I also acquired a better command of exposure with my camera over those years.</p>

<p>Unfortunately my old car loaded up with camping gear, 4 gallons of drinking water could only reach 30 mph struggling to climb the one hill taking me out of town heading west that I had to turn my hazard lights on to keep from getting rear ended by 50mph traffic so I headed back home. Figured my car was going to have even more trouble with much steeper hills closer to my destination just didn't make me feel safe chancing it.</p>

<p>Turned out it was the right thing to do because the weather turned overcast during the days afterward. Just to check if I could do that park justice to make the trip worth it I scrolled through around 240 tourist shots most taken with cellphones on a tripadvisor page. What I was surprised to find is the number of shots taken in overcast with only a few taken in broad daylight with some sunsets. None were inspiring mainly due to composition and over cranked color. Even the .gov Garner Park website chose an over saturated cartoonish HDR shot of fall cypress trees as a front page banner.</p>

<p>At least I know I can do a better job if only I can time the weather, but El Niño Pacific eastward push provides very narrow windows of opportunity during the weekday which is the time to go snag a camp site before they're all taken on the weekends.</p>

<p>Just writing my account of this is exhausting as was the process of renting a car which I'm thinking is now my only option.</p>

[rossb]

<p>Not really as I do not go someplace for the purpose of taking photos. It's something I do secondary. <br>

My wife and I want to spend a day in Yosemite early next month and I will shoot some B/W film of the snow and such. It will be fun and we can hike around in the snow for a couple hours, stop in at the giftshop and buy a t-shirt and some coffee. </p>

[AJHingel]

<p>Mostly I have shot "keepers" in my own back yard or at walking distance, but I have also several times gone to the other side the globe and come back with a few shot that I personal would keep and maybe show to others. Those I have sold, are all from my back yard sort of places. </p>

[CharlesBecker-Toronto]

<p>Yes! cb :-)</p>

[Edwin Barkdoll]

<p>I have a favorite place about 80 miles away where I then have to hike about 5 hours. Alas, I have returned at times with no keepers. Fortunately, the hike is wonderful, rain or shine, keepers or no.</p>

[famico]

<p>Yes, I would. Heck, I would drive that far just to get a good pastrami sandwich! ;-)</p>

[PapaTango]

<blockquote>

<p>Yes, I would. Heck, I would drive that far just to get a good pastrami sandwich! ;-)</p>

 

</blockquote>

<p>Sometimes you have to! Rochester is the closest "big place" to us--and the real airport. We regularly go there to see a movie on a screen bigger than the one we have at home (just kidding) and have a respectable steak dinner... :-)</p>

[Laura Weishaupt]

<p>Absolutely. I drive further just to look at fungi, then photograph them. There are plenty of distant locations that I visit with photography as the goal. I usually enjoy other aspects of such trips. I once knew a truck driver who went about 2 hours out of his way for really good chocolate cake.</p>

<p>Patrick Thrush , what is "industrial porn"? Maybe I live under a clump of mushrooms, but I've never heard the phrase.</p>

[PapaTango]

<p>@Laura. Industrial porn is a label that I apply to certain genres of photographing the built environment. Maybe someone else trendier than I has used the term--but seeing as I don't circulate in those lofty environments much anymore cannot attest to that...</p>

<p>We are familiar with "ruin porn" as the artistic documentation of decaying buildings. A number of sub genres exist in that--such as the graffiti, or detritus of human inhabitation. For me, industrial porn can take on several sub genres seen when confronted with industrial sites--factories, shipping facilities, mines, chemical plants--etcetera. There is the functional stuff--facilities that are still working and excerpted frames of components of varying sizes.</p>

<p>Then there is the cousin of ruin porn--the shut down facilities that echo what they once did. I especially like those that still contain strong vestiges of what made them run--equipment, electrical and mechanical systems, so on and so forth. I find a sad elegance in the rusting testimony of the economic foundations of our 20th century American experience.</p>

[Laura Weishaupt]

<p>Patrick, thanks for the explanation. I'm not familiar with any kind of porn that has to do with buildings of any kind, unless they serve as a backdrop to something a bit more traditional.</p>

<p>But, so as to not derail the thread, if you live 100 miles from of Bethlehem, PA, then pack your camera bag and venture out to the stacks of Bethlehem Steel. You may find it worth the trip. You'd probably get a keeper or two.</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>The question and the corollary are different. Driving 100 miles, depending upon where, means from two and one half to four hours of driving there and back. WhenI drive somewhere it is not in the hope of getting a keeper, but for reasons that are more wide-ranging, such as exploring a new area or subject matter, attending an event, joining others ia photographic outing or project, developing a series of images that may or may not benefit from one particular subject or place, etc. Freeman Patterson once suggested in one of his photo books that you can make impressive photographs within a minute or less from your residence, if you learn how to develop your ability to see well enough. I agree with that and therefore do not often feel the need to make a long trip to a place the lighting and weather of which I cannot predict an hour or two earlier, unless it is a very particular subject matter that I am very intrigued with.</p>

<p>When I go to a place a hundred or more miles from where I am I will generally be able to have the time (an afternoon, a day, two days, etc.) to explore and perhaps make a good image or two. But maybe not. Having a creative instinct with some subject is not dependent on the distance travelled to make one photo, but the possibility of taking the time to understand and perceive the subject in a way to enhance success. If I chance making a good image it will be due to that and not the displacement distance.</p>

<p>So, generally, I would say no. I can more often be more motivated by light and subject matter around my house and the potential of an intriguing image, rather than something a hundred miles away to which I would specifically drive to to make a good photograph. </p>

[Brad_]

<p>>>> Would you drive 100 miles for one "keeper"?</p>

<p>No. Serendipity when I'm out and about locally works fine for me. I have no agenda or expectations.</p>

[DB_Gallery]

Sure, do it all the time.

 

 

And if I don't get a keeper on the first, second or even the third day, I just keep working it until I do. I can usually stick in one spot for up to two weeks in my built-for-photography rig. I got the idea to build it after a conversation with Jack Dykinga, a nice dry place to deal with film holders, food, etc.

 

 

I mean....how else you gonna "Avoid the Cliche"...?...;-)<div></div>

[Jochen_S]

<p>Surely! - True keepers are rare...<br>

But honestly: Is it <em>that easy</em> to get one? - I'm trying to say: If you want perfect light, perfect clouds etc., it might make way more sense to prepare for shots a tad closer to home and get them after returning a few times with unexposed film or just a digital sketch. <br>

I think one has to be pretty well organized to plan / prepare keepers 100mls away. - But nothing wrong about tourism and whatever is shot at it's side.</p>

 

[Brian]

<p>In a word, no.<br>

Keepers, if any, are going to depend more on previsualization and preparation than on location. (Plus of course there's always dumb luck, but that can happen anywhere.)</p>

[aplumpton]

<p>Daniel, I admire your mobile unit, including its solar panel. As an office or mobile workshop for more than just photography on a single date I am sure it is more than sufficient, but can a living quarter be managed in such a space or is accommodation such as a local motel, hotel or B&B necessary? I ask because one of my vehicles is also a standard size pickup and to date I have only used its cargo box to carry a rig I made for canoe transport, but I wonder about its potential for a small living and working quarter for photo trips.</p>

[Robin Smith]

<p>No, not if that was all I was expecting. But the point is you get explore and hope for more, but if I knew in advance, certainly not.</p>

[jim_service]

<p>In days past, I would do it in a heartbeat. But now I feel the use of gas is too much to justify it. So I look for additional objectives to add to the trip (another promising location or two, a friend to visit, some specialty store (like Fry's!), or one or more fellow photogs to come along.<br>

Years ago I drove all the way from San Francisco up to Salt Point because a flower forum said "the daffodils are really out". They were, all three of them. </p>

[Gup]

<p>Yes, I do it a couple of times a month at least. In fact, I drive that distance or more just to launch my canoe, then I spend 8 hours or more paddling and portaging to get to the area I'm most interested in at that particular time. Often it means carrying much more than my camera bag, although that is much lighter now it's filled with Nikon instead of Hasselblad. </p>

<blockquote>

<p>would you consider just one keeper a day well spent?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Of course. Often I return with shots that I feel I've taken a hundred times before but each time is a unique experience. Sometimes because of a new lens or body. Sometimes because of an encounter with a moose or bear. Sometimes due to the weather. Once my brother-in-law and I remained trapped by ice for over a week before a plane could land to extract us. A few years ago I drove 200 miles north to a train that then travelled several hours north to James Bay to photograph the mouth of the Moose River. At one point I rode through forest fires on both sides of the track. Adventure! <br>

I've been doing this for over 40 years now. My motto has always been, "Weddings for the bills, landscapes for the thrills".<br>

Daniel's rig is a little more elaborate than mine. I use a standard minivan, seats all removed, with a sturdy roof rack for the canoe. If it's raining or snowing really hard I will set up the tripod inside and shoot through an open side door. I have a platform for the roof that attaches to the rack and a ladder to climb up there. There are tripod leg locators to keep everything steady and that allows me a different vantage point when necessary (anything to avoid those cliche roadside shots everyone else returns with ;) ) There is plenty of room for my dog and I to spend the night in a pinch when I wish to record a sunset and sunrise from the same GPS coordinates. I have a 12 volt cooler plugged in full of food and a bag for Elwood. A water purifier for extended stays. A small stove for boiling water or heating a pot that's fuelled by pine cones and sticks. In the winter the tires are all carbide studded for a little more security. It's our home away from home.<br>

Last year saw me drive to PEI from Ontario twice in August (round trip approximately 3,500 kiolometres or 2200 miles) to shoot the fishing villages. I went twice because the lobster season moves around the island and I wanted to shoot a particular cove when the port was in action. <br>

I love driving Canada's endless highways and feel most at home camping deep in the woods somewhere. The photos are always the icing on the cake.</p>

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