Simple Click – Northern Light
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The Arctic is a B&W playground!
Stephanie, In The WRP Tradition
As most know, Stephanie is my assistant, has been for over a year and she has the stories to prove it. And like the bossman, she’s darn good at telling those stories. Just take a look at her latest blog posting. Great images, great story telling and that Stephanie sense of humor that keeps the bossman in stitches. Best of yet, there’s words of wisdom in her blog to help you improve your photography. Check it out, you’ll like it!
And He Made it All Possible!
After all he did to make this happen, I almost, almost feel bad about posting this photo of Kevin. But I had to do it anyways (thanks Scotty!). Kevin planned all the details, from flying the Cessna 206 up and back to the campsite to when to stop and buy a beer. Oshkosh was a great experience and being able to spend the time exploring it all with a great friend made it all that much better. Thanks Kevin. Oh yeah….love the hat!
It’s A S38
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If you saw the movie The Aviator then you saw Howard Hughes fly this puppy around. This is the actual Sikorsky S38 Flying Boat that was in the movie, not the one owned by Hughes. And it’s wicked cool!
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When we first came up to it, it’s where you see it now. It pulled off the ramp and parked right here. To eliminate the clutter in the background, I kissed the dirt.
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But it parked in the wrong place which was lucky for me. It had to move which brought it even closer to me and in fact at one point, the wing went over my head. It was a cool opportunity that just transpired. Lucky me!
Photos captured by D3x, 18AF on Lexar UDMA digital film
Plane Camping Osh Style
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I’m no where near done blogging images, experiences and lessons from Oshkosh but thought I would take a moment to answer some common and very valid questions with this posting. The questions center around the logistics of making it all work. Well here you can see the repacking process. I made it to KS with all my gear in my usual carry-ons/check-ins but cramming all of this in the back of the Cessna 206 required repacking. Since I would be packing the gear into the Cessna and not some luggage handler, I brought to small, wheeless duffles to repack my stuff into from the large check-in bags I use.
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Everything I brought with me including myself/sleeping bag went into the tent. Our tents were literally set up at the plane. Even though it was hot & muggy and we have no rain, the rain fly had to be kept on because of the nighttime dew. When I rolled up the tent to fly back to KS, after rolling it up and putting it in its stuff sack, when I turned it on end, water literally poured out. I took a day in the 100 degree heat of KS to dry the tent out.
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My gear flew up to Oshkosh and I carried it around the joint as you see here. This is a Mountainsmith Day Recycle with their backpack harness and cube inside. It carried the: 70-200VR2, 24-70AFS, 18AF, 16Fish & 24f1.4 AFS as well as iPad and some misc little stuff. The 200-400VR2 with D3x attached went on my shoulder. The system worked great and permitted tons of flexibility. I did take the D3s with me and carried it around the site the first day but it was obvious to me that shooting video just didn’t work into my plans so it was left at camp the rest of the week. The notebook and other support “stuff” was also left at camp. The iPad has become a very important work tool for me and I have found it nearly replaces the notebook. The one place the notebook still excels is dealing with uploading, filing and backing up images.
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The camp is a great place! The folks who are camping alongside of you are really nice people. At the end of the day, the first thing I would do when I got back to camp is upload all cards into the Epson P7000. Then I would go to the charging station they have built for the plane campers. They really have thought things through at Oshkosh to make it a very enjoyable experience! There the iPhone, iPad and notebook would be plugged into charge and while I was showering; the cards would be uploaded to the notebook at this time. Yeah, the place is that safe, never worried about anyone messing with my stuff. With that all done, it was back to the tent to file and blog. It was really quite easy to make it all work and that just made the whole time a ton of fun!
Looking for An Answer
I’ve been looking for an answer for over thirty years, ever since I picked up a camera and decided to make it my career. I remember all too clearly leaving a night college class and thinking out loud, “What’s the answer?” And here’s the problem. I don’t know the question. Seriously, I know the answer is out there, the one that will make it all work, make it all right, the one that solves all the problems and put everything in its right place. But if there is an answer, shouldn’t there be a question?
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All too often when folks join me on a workshop, at some point during the week the statement comes out, “I don’t know the question to ask to get the answer I need.” Ever had that problem? Don’t know the question to ask to get the answer we need, I get stuck on that one a lot. I think I have for a long, long time. Of course this answer centers around the one thing I eat and sleep, that’s photography. It’s not that I go out seeking just the one answer because in my thirty year search so far I know it’s not out there. Hell, I do look for answers everyday for simple things like what f/stop or what lens or which software, those are the easy questions to ask and answers to find. It’s what we do as photographers and perhaps that’s my problem, the answer goes beyond a mere photographic click. And the fun thing is these simple questions keep changing so the rewards in finding their answers come nearly on a daily basis. I often say I’m proud I don’t have all the answers, but I do seek this one. But what about the big answer, where does one find that?
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Once I thought I was on to it. When I started out, most photographers looked for that one thing that when they came up with “it,” “it” would keep generating income without nursing it along. It was a constant source of a small amount of income that would permit you to pursue your art without the daily grind of looking for work or selling an image (what would be a true luxury). I looked for years for just such a goose that laid us that golden egg and then I thought I found it. But like all such things that seem to be too good to be true, it was too good to be true. There is no such thing. The only long ranging security in this business is simply constantly putting the right foot in front of the left foot and staying vertical as you push yourself and your craft forward.
In the long winded career, the answer seems even more challenging to find. Every day one wakes up to turn empty space and pixels into photographs and not just photographs but at some point, a paycheck. But the answer has to be greater than just a photograph, just a paycheck. Perhaps the question might center around what are your goals for your photography and what you want your photography to bring you. Goals are a good thing and for someone like myself they are essential to provide some direction. Someone as weak minded as myself, going off on tangents that takes me down a path to nowhere is all too easy. I know, I’ve done it too many times, it’s embarrassing! Defining goals isn’t the answer I seek either, that’s just a part of life.
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I find myself when my passion for wildlife photography being foiled by weather or timing or something, always looking back and just saying to myself, “there has to be an answer, I know there is an answer” though it and its question elude me. When I get questions from other photographers, some with obvious answers and some with no answer I know of, I go looking for the answer and yet, at times none comes. I ponder if I’m the only one looking for this answer. So I read a lot, words and thoughts by those I respect and those I don’t even know, wondering if someone else found the answer I seek. Perhaps I read in search of just someone else looking for an answer as I do to find solace in that I’m not alone in my search.
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What do I think this answer might do for me or my photography? One possibility is permit me to just shoot, shoot with reckless abandon and not worrying about the outcome. Not worry that it pays the bills, not worry it makes anyone else happy, just make myself happy with my results. But that ain’t going to happen. The answer might just permit folks to accept what I have to put forth with no conditions, just that it is what it is without reading between the lines. Which of course means they just look at the images and not try to read between the lines. That would mean I could stop writing, that ain’t going to happen anytime soon either. So the answer won’t solve that. Then just what the hell is the answer I’ve been looking for all these years?
Ever heard Garth Brooks Unanswered Prayers? I kinda wonder if this answer I seek is along the same lines. I sometimes entertain the thought that just looking for the answer is the answer. Is the mere act of constantly looking for something, does that keep one going through tough times and good, could that be an answer? Is it that simple? Why does my gut doubt that, things never come that easily in photography. I hate to disappoint you thinking that after reading these ramblings of a mad man that I have the answer, I don’t have the answer for you or me. Whatever that greater question that keeps us creatives going, that keeps some of us old photographers still clicking after the decades of defeat and triumph I have the feeling will always be just beyond our grasps. The only thing I do know for sure, I will wake up tomorrow with the same feeling, out there somewhere is an answer!