rick_wong

hi Jim if you are driving roundtrip I would head stright to Jackson hole if thats where you want to go and then head home through yellowstone park and end up exiting through the northeast entrance near Cody, WY.

 

A lot of the hotels will be closed in the park but you can find places to stay near any of the small towns at the entrances of the park.

If you are thinking of the Antelope canyon you see in all the photos then it will be faster to just drive to the parking lot next to the highway. it is also on reservation land so you must get a permit and I heard you now need to be lead in with a guide.

 

Navajo Canyon would be your best bet to explore and photograph by Kayak. here is a link to places to visit on lake powell. http://elakepowell.com/freds/index.htm

I am on my last leg of my road trip from Seattle to LA. Been on the road for 9 days now and was in old town just this morning. I am in Redding right now and plan to be home sometime on sunday. I started by taking i-84 in Oregon and shot the gorge, worked the late afternoon light and then headed to the painted hills in John Day Oregon for first light. I then went down the back side of Or. andinto Nevada (gas was under $3 a gallon in nevada ) I then shot over to Bodie from the Nevada side then into death valley to Las vegas then on to LA. spent 4 days in LA and headed home through SF, Sacramento, up I-5 and home.

 

If you can make the painted hills in the late afternoon light the hill will be lit with the warm light.

 

have a good trip

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/traveloutdoors/2003030595_nwwbugs01.html

Here is a link to an article in our local paper on how to deal with bugs

http://www.bythom.com/support.htm

This link will take you to a article by Thom Hogan on tripods.

Hi Binyuan

 

I just came back from a trip to Victoria BC and got a room at the Red Lion Inn for $39 per night through priceline. The catch is that people are afraid to use them because you give them your credit card and they buy you a room and you do not have a way to say no. At this following link is a web forum like photonet that people list where and how much they paid so you can bid the same way to get the hotel that you want. http://p070.ezboard.com/bpricelineandexpediabidding

Sometimes posters will also review the hotels.

 

And LA is big but if you plan on going to Disneyland anyways why not just get a place near Disneyland (better prices for hotels) and drive in to town after the rush.

 

Rick

If you plan on going through the Gorge anyways.. head east into eastern washington. right about the middle of june and into july the Palouse in washington should be getting close to having the wheat fields changing from green to gold. The early fields will be a golden color while some of the fields will still be a dark green and everything in between. Steptoe Butte State Park is where most shots are taken at first light and last light. http://www.parks.wa.gov/parkpage.asp?selectedpark=Steptoe%20Butte

here is a link for a sample of what I mean.

http://riwong.smugmug.com/gallery/600798

You can then catch I-90 and come back through the back side of Rainier through Yakima or do the grand circle and come across highway 20 through the north cascades. head down I-5 back to Portland

Victoria would be your best bet.. J-pod has been working the inside passage between Washington and BC. here is a link to resent whale reports:

http://www.island-adventures.com/whalereport.cfm

 

I have used Islander the last two years and we have been into the orcas on every trip. One nice thing about this tour company is they are one of the few that does a late afternoon trip so you have a chance of a sunset and late afternoon light.

here is a link of some of my whale shots

 

http://riwong.smugmug.com/gallery/616087

It is do-able I have done many Seattle to SF 3 day weekends. I would instead start around Coosbay and travel north through Oregon and if there was enough time go up to Astoria but if there was not enough time I could cut it short at Newport head for I-5 and shoot home.

 

I would travel at night find a place for sunrise work the morning light, travel to where I want to be at Sunset take a nap work the late afternoon and then travel to my next spot.

 

Reason for traveling at night less traffic and you will stop less to take pictures.

Hi Kristy

If the film industry is the area you are interested in you need to be near the people learning the field to network. You can go to any college in LA and I am sure they will offer some type of course in photography. I teach at Seattle Central Community College and we have a two year program in commerical photography. If you want to be a photographer it's who you know not how good your photos are.

 

One of the best schools for film is USC even if you were not interested in their program the people you meet will be able to open doors for you in the industry. Also in film production you will learn thing like lighting, location work, and post production.

 

If you want to start your own Studio. why not take a Business minor or go through USC's Photography program. Even though you will not be in the same classes as the Flim school students you will be on the same campus. here is a link to their website. http://www.usc.edu/

 

if you would some more info email me at: riwong@sccd.ctc.edu

 

My web site is at www.rickwong.com

 

Later Rick

Blackstone bay out of whittier is a good short trip which gets you into some wilderness not too far from Whittier. You a can get a water taxi out to blackstone bay and kayak back. here is a link for sme background info. http://www.kayakplace.com/essay/revbob05.htm

here is a link to photos from my trip. http://riwong.smugmug.com/gallery/465599

If you plan on going to Alaska, the last two years during the last week of August the weather has been great and I was able to see and photograph the northern lights. http://riwong.smugmug.com/gallery/529804

so yes take your tripod.

4 Gigs will not be enough. if you have a laptop just bring it along then you can download your card every day. bring a power strip so you can pug in your chargers. Remember your room will be yours for the whole trip so you can bring all your toys without having to pack everything up to travel every day. every room will have a safe which is big enough to lock up my laptop camera and lenses. If you donot have of want to carry a computer. Bring a card reader and a stack of CD's. Depending when your ship arrives in Juneau there is a public library just a few blocks from where your ship docks. There is also one in Sitka right near the marina. the best thing is that they are free with broadband. if you are shooting JPG you will be able to upload to your online photosites but depending on how many images you have you can be there for a while.

 

In Juneau you can book your own tours from shore lots of time when the weather is bad you can get deals which you can't when booked on board the ship. Juneau is also one of the better places to go Whale watching. beware of the wildlife cruise they are bigger boats and will cruise around the harbour looking for all kinds of wildlife like seals, and gulls. for the same amount of money you can get on a Jetboat whale watching tour and be with the whales for most of the trip on a smaller boat (less people) 40 people vers. 150 people.

in Sitka you can find lots to do just walking around town and visting the national park ( totems are displayed along the trails )

If you want to do the whitepass train ride it is a good tour but if the weather is bad just hang around town lots to see and do.

 

May is the dry season in SE Alaska so you might get lucky but bring your rain gear just in case. when shooting in the rainforest it can get pretty dark so a tripod can come in handy and if you do get lucky and have a clear night with some sunspots you might see the northern lights. last year while cruising on the Alaskan Ferry to Juneau I happen to go out on deck around midnight I happen to see a weak showing just as it started to get dark.

 

here is a link to my alaska cruising photos http://riwong.smugmug.com/gallery/529284

http://www.snopes.com/luck/pele.asp

While vacationing on the big Island I met a local who's job is to return rocks that people mail back to the postoffice in Hilo. It seems that Pele puts a curse on the rocks and sand taken from the park.

 

Later Rick

Hi Daniel

It depends if the trip to the Palouse is for photography or if you just want a three day trip. I live in Seattle and have photographed the Palouse many times on three day weekends in all seasons.

 

It's only a five hour drive from Seattle if you leave on Friday night at Midnight you can be at Steptoe Butte for first light. Spend the morning working the area, get a Campsite at Kamiak state park shoot that evening at the park you will be in the park for first light on Sunday, after shooting in the morning pack up you camp head out to Steptoe Butte for the rest of the afternoon.

 

After it get's dark you can go to town and get a room or like a lot of photographers go into town get something to eat drive back to Steptoe Butte. and wait in the parking lot for first light.

 

in the spring everything will be green May, In July the fields will diffrent colors, some green others golden. in Aug most of the fields will be yellow to brown with a few dark green fields.

 

in September harvest time the fields will be all golden and brown with dust in the air for great red skys.

 

Anytime you go is a goodtime you just need to get there..here is a link to a few images for the Palouse

 

http://riwong.smugmug.com/gallery/600798

I did a 21 day Kayaking trip in Alaska last year. I was in the backcountry for 18 days of my adventure before I ran out of power. I was using a Nikon D100, a Laptop, portable hard drive and a PDA-GPS. I found that I could last a week with my D100 where with my D1 would only last a day or two of shooting. So I had three extra batteries for my camera four total. The larger battery for my laptop, and the Digital camera Battery http://www.digitalcamerabattery.com/80_Watt_NiMH.htm

 

I have cords for both Laptop PDA and camera for the Battery pack and as an added bonus with the camera plugged in I am able to lock up my mirror for field cleaning of my sensor.

 

I ended up filling up 60 gigs of hard drive space (30 gigs with an other 30 gig backup to external hard drive.) I also ended up bring with me 16 gigs of memory cards which in the end I only cleared as needed to save on power.

 

I had to cut my trip short because on the 17th day I ran out of power and couldn�t run my camera. What I would next time I go on an extended trip in the backcountry. Leave my Laptop at home. The laptop is extra weight, I ended up using the computer to download, backup, and even editing my files. Great if you have power but if there is no power it�s a big power drain. I would use two coolwalkers so that I have a backup.

 

Link to Alaska trip: http://riwong.smugmug.com/gallery/738107

I have the Dryzone it is a great softcamera bag if you need your gear to be protected from water. I was on a 21 day kayaking trip last summer in Alaska and if it wasn't for the dryzone my nikon and 300mm 2.8 lens would be a pile of rust when my kayak was turned over by a large wave. I had a oly 7070 in a outback drybag that filled with salt water and ruined a camera and pda less than a month old. The Dryzone carried my nikon d100, digital camera battery, 300 2.8,2x converter, flash, 24-120 vr, and a laptop, extra batteries, This all fit in the dryzone which was placed in back of my seaton the floor of my kayak which at times needed to be pumped out every hour.It is a poorly design backpack and feels more like a bookbag of day pack. When I go backpacking I have a mountainsmith which I load with my camping gear and wear my camera in a holster bag in the front.

http://www.academicsuperstore.com/?page=QuickSearch&qks=1&TOKEN=b10586db615be01a8414f02a95911b4c&qk_srch=photoshop+cs2&x=23&y=3 here is a link where you can get Photoshop at academic rate. You should be able to take a course at your local college and get a student ID or have someone you know that is going to school to get you a copy. If you buy directly from a college that has a bookstore there is a special sale were you will be able to pick up cs2 pro suite for $199.00. UW students enrolled are able to get this price. Myself as a Teacher cannot.

check out Russell Browns Website at: http://russellbrown.com/tips_tech.html

 

Adobe Bridge work flow, and camera Raw

 

As for a LCD monitor there is not a good free way to calibrate it. It's kind of like using the cheat sheets that came with your film to get the right exposure, or when you went with the sunny 16 rule. you need to get a calibration meter so that you can create a profile. I have the Eye-One Display 2 here is a link to their web site: http://usa.gretagmacbethstore.com/index.cfm/act/Catalog.cfm/catalogid/1861/Subcategory/Eye%2DOne%20Solutions/category/Eye%2DOne/browse/null/MenuGroup/Menu%20USA%20New/desc/Eye%2DOne%20Display%202.htm

Yellowstone in the winter is just magical. I lead a one week tour the first week of Feb. I have my students meet me in West Yellowstone and then we take a snowcoach to Old Faithful snow lodge for three days and two nights. We spend a day just skiing and snowshoeing around the lodge and the other two days is just the coming in and out of the park. What I have found out is that if it is the middle of the week when you go into and out of the park you will most likely have the coach to yourself. The driver has stops that he has to make but you can pass on some and stay longer where you want. If you have to share with a lot of others you will be stopping and doing small tours at selected locations. They will stop for animals but you will not be spending hours a one location.

When photographing Animals you need to be out at first light. You will find that is when they will be the most active. During the middle of the day they kind of disappear. You will find the big herds in Lamar Valley. The snow is not very deep there so with a car and snow tires you can easily get around.

 

We drive up to Mammoth but we stay GARDINER, MONTANA where you can get Rooms for under $50 a night. and food is cheeper. If you do stay at the lodge you will be within walking distance to the hot springs.

 

we spend the next 4 days photographing around Lamar valley. It's around 24 miles from the north entrance so I head out around 5:00 AM and drive to the valley. around 10 or 11 I head back to town for Breakfast shoot the hot springs and head back out in the late afternoon

 

If you are serious about finding wolves and finding kills you will do better by renting a car when you are at Mammoth and use it like a moving blind to photograph the animals. With the tours you will be covering lots of ground but not spending a lot of time because most of the people on the tour will not be photographers and all they are interested is just seeing a elk a mile away and they will be happy.

 

The important thing is to dress warm and have fun.

 

Link to some winter photos at yellowstone http://www.rickwong.com/National%20parks.html

I shoot year round so in addition to my photo gear I am equipped for camping, hiking, kayaking, and snow sports. I have found that using a Gore-Tex gaiter works great for long lenses just be sure to use a big lens hood. This summer I was on a kayak trip in SE Alaska where It rained half of the 18 days that I was there. my setup to photograph Humpbacks in the rain was with a D100, 300/2.8 and 2X converter. My OP Gore-Tex gaiter worked fine in pouring down rain while waiting in the open for the whales to surface. and when it is time to hike back to the car or camp you can use your gaiters to keep your pants legs dry. Here is a link to photos from that trip http://riwong.smugmug.com/gallery/738107<div></div>

Adam this use is not for finding locations but I use my GPS to mark my photo locations and then when using my Smug Mug account map feature I just type in the Lat and Long and the location shows up on the map. click this link for an example. http://maps.smugmug.com/?feedType=geoAlbum&Data=738107

Like everyone has said it has been a wet spring and summer here in Washington state. if you are planning to backpack in for day 4&5 then Lake Ozette might be where you want to spend the extra day. You and do the triangle and visit both sand point and Cape Alava. Because of the long days here in Washington The sun is setting in the NW and rising in the SE which will give you colors on the coast for both sunrise and sunset. Cape Alava faces NW and Sand Point can have some nice colors in the morning. to see an example of sunrise color check out this link:

 

http://riwong.smugmug.com/gallery/531862/1

 

and view photo #2 & #3. The only problem is that to camp out on the beaches during the summer you need to make a Backcountry campsites reservation which goes fast if the weather is nice.

 

You can hike in the dark but it is DARK you will be hiking through old growth forest and most of the time on wet boards and uneven plank stairs (easy to slip off or walk off).

 

If you are looking for a spot where you can drive right up to the ocean Rialto Beach is a good spot which is near the town of Forks, there are a few sea stacks off the beach. It is also just South of the Hoh Rainforest road. I have Camped at the Hoh campground explored and photograph during the morning and moved and setup camp at Rialto Beach in time for sunset. (Only need to hike in 1 mile before you are allowed to set up camp)

 

enjoy Rick

check out this site: http://www.bythom.com/cleaning.htm

 

Rick

I own a pelican case, drybags, and the Dryzone 100. good waterproof dry bags will cost you around $100+.... the Dryzone is waterproof and built with an inner and outer bag. It is bulky but on my last outting of kayaking on a mt lake and rockclimbing it wasn't that bad.