phil hawkins wrote:
With all due respect, are you guys photographers or tourists? I built my career shooting places in Yosemite that are among the most photographed sights in North America. The difference between me and the typical Japanese tourist is that I approach Tunnel View to see \"How can I shoot it different than anyone else?\" If all you do is drive up, shoot several frames and drive away, then yes, your shots will be nothing better than that of a point-and-shoot owner. The fact that it\'s \"...where you\'re almost certain to photograph the exact same things in the same way a million other people who didn\'t want to pay for a guide have photographed them.\" should be a clarion call to challenge your creativity! Further, you might as well stay home if you have no more self-confidence that your shots are going to be no better than \"...a million other people who didn\'t want to pay for a guide have photographed them.\" What a defeatist attitude...
Go Phil!
To put it bluntly, I think most \'photographers\' ARE tourists. Tourists with fancy cameras.
I\'ve been on a few field trips with a large group out of Phoenix. Last year I tried to organize a trip to the Page area, planning to visit a number of locations in the general area. I was a bit dismayed to find that very few people showed any real interest in Wire Pass, Buckskin Gulch, the colorful hills surrounding the Paria townsite, the hoodoo forests in the area, etc. No! The only thing these people wanted was to do was shoot those dumb light beams in Upper Jackalope, and hike The Wave. They didn\'t want to hear about wall-to-wall crowds at Antelope, or the > 60:1 odds against winning a next-day Coyote Buttes pass. They essentially demanded to do exactly what every other camera carting tourist before them has done. I finally convinced them that the Wave was impossible, but they could not be saved from the \'Lure of the Beams.\' Sure as <bleep> they came back moaning about the crowds and the cattle-drive experience. Go figure.
I DO appreciate that not everyone has the spare time to roam the \'net and discover all the semi-hidden gems that are out there. At the same time, there is no excuse for blindly following the crowd, only to moan that all their destinations have become over-commercialized and been trampled to dust by hordes of Tourons. There are \'only\' about 5 bazillion pretty, non-technical slots in Az/Ut that are just begging to be photographed. Pick one and go exploring! And if Monument Valley is too crowded / expensive, go pitch a tent at Valley of the Gods, not 50 miles up the road. Stay as long as you like, for FREE! Photograph the place under a full moon, during a thunderstorm, or just enjoy the wildflowers on a pretty Spring day. Whatever you do, find the courage and make the effort to produce something unique! (Isn\'t that the whole point )
Aug 27, 2011 at 11:13 PM
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