Photo Safari Noobs

Friday was another big day on the road. But, this time we had an actual destination. We needed to make it in to Denver where we had already booked hotel rooms. We got an early start and made several stops along the way to take a ton of photos. As we made our way to up the mountains we met with some pretty chilly temperatures. At the coldest point it was a brisk negative 5 with a fair amount of snow on the sides of the road.

One of our stops was in Silverton, Colorado where we took a stroll down main street. Andrew and I split a pizza that, as Andrew said, was “Worth moving here.” I couldn’t agree with him on the idea of moving to a snow covered town that was roughly 10 square blocks in total size, I definitely agree that the pizza was stellar.

Our drive was filled with amazing scenery on all sides. The drive through the mountains was full of twist and turns. Around one of the corners we found a group of people doing ice climbing, which was amazing to watch.

This truck looks like it has been parked here a while. The stove was inside the Brown Bear Cafe where we had lunch.

I have no idea what this structure is. It’s not a bridge. It’s not a mine shaft… I got nothing.

That’s it. More tomorrow.

john John Hawkins Colorado

We’re apparently making our way over a mountain range, complete with snow and, oh yeah — it’s freezing cold. Those on the driver’s side are really missing out, though: here’s the view from my side of the car.

andrew General

So yesterday on Twitter I post the following tweet

“Getting rickrolled at the Sonic in the middle of effing nowhere,AZ http://bit.ly/14feGc”

Last night, after seeing the tweet, my mom sends me the following e-mail and I just felt I had to share it with everyone. It’s not fair if my sibs and I are the onely ones who know how funny she is.

Referring to your comment in Kayenta. You weren’t in Nowhere, AZ, it is
over by Wikiup. Why, AZ is down by Ajo. There is also a Somewhere,AZ I
think around south of Tucson. Mom

Thanks Ma! I laughed all the way through breakfast after that

todd Todd Huish

We spent much of the day on the road. But, we threw in plenty of photo stops along the way. Our first stop was at a bridge across the Colorado River. Wanting to find a name to attach to the post, I asked a lady “Pardon me, do you know the name of this bridge?” She says, “No, but that’s the Hoover Dam.” I’m not sure if my jaw dropping made an audible noise or not, but I’m sure she saw it Realizing that there was going to be no polite way to explain that she was a few hundred miles away from the Hoover Dam, I simply thanked her and moved on.

A light fixture in a place with no roof

We stopped off at Four Corners and took some shots of each of us standing in different states. Todd had wanted us to each dress in character as a native of each state, but we couldn’t figure out what that would be, so we skipped it.

Andrew checking out Four Corners monument, Doug checking out his iPhone

We stopped at some tourist spot with gigantic arrows sticking in the ground as if we missed an attack by 1000 foot Indians. Everything was closed but that didn’t stop us from snapping some shots.

The Blue window frame with a bad view

We ended our day at a pub in Durango, CO. The place was cool, the food was OK and they had one hell of a selection of tequila. Sadly, we didn’t sample any of it. But, apparently the place is pretty tough. So tough they have to bolt their urinals to the wall.

The urinal at the Lost Dog saloon

Stay tuned. More to come.

john John Hawkins Arizona, Colorado, Four Corners, utah

First of all, we did not wake up at noon. I was up around 8AM (after falling asleep around 4AM) and Todd was up around 9:30AM. What Hawk fails to mention is that Todd and I did he and Andrew a favor by sharing a room because the two of us snore like grizzly bears. So, they got a good night’s sleep while we kept one another up … sort of. The sacrifices we make for art and our comrades. Yeeeesh!

So, after fueling up our bodies and the Blackbird, we headed for Page, AZ, Four Corners and ultimately Durango, CO. The drive was full of photo opps which were alternately atmospheric and unsettling. Along the way, I broke out the awesome lenses I rented from Pro Photo Rental out of Boulder, CO. Jared really hooked me up with a solid kit which I put to good use today. Photos and additional thought below.

The ride was made shorter by in-vehicle wifi and Kevin Smith: An Evening Harder which, while not as strong as the first DVD, is still pretty damn funny.

Peace,

Doug

PS: 20 Geek Dollars to the person that leaves a comment explaining where this post title comes from!

Blackbird Loaded Down

I should not have dropped that quarter!

Random Chunk of Road

Hawk on the Prowl

Mexican Hat

Red Rock Breaks

Party House on the Res

The Lucky Appaloosa ... Statue

doug Doug Daulton arrows, AZ, CO, Durango, FJC, kevin smith, mountains, NM, UT

So we crawl, some of us more reluctantly than others, out of bed and his the road. The more reluctant of us missed the continental breakfast so we had to make a quick stop at McDonalds on the way out of town. Between this picture and coffee, I’m awake!

We headed out to Lake Powell and stopped on this dam that this lady swore was Hoover Dam. Hawkins didn’t have the heart to tell her that although we didn’t know where we were, we were most definitely not at Hoover Dam.

Just past Lake Powell and Glenn Canyon Dam we stopped for gas. This place had no 91 octane, no ATM and was half full of office supplies and indian chotchkies

I have never taken a picture that so looked like a postcard

These two wouldn’t let a guy wizz in peace

Then we found this desert party hot spot. I guess there isn’t a lot else to do around here

Then we moved on to Four Corners. It’s pretty much exactly how I remember it. Plaque set in concrete and otherwise nothing else really going on. I don’t know what these two are doing now, I’m just photographing it

I have been far and wide across our fair country, not to mention some other countries and this is, by far, the tackiest thing I’ve ever seen.

todd Todd Huish

Officially, it’s still day 1. We left Kanab this morning, and began hurtling towards Four Corners (the only place in the US where you can be present in four states at once, as the natives living on the reserve will eagerly remind you as they reach for your $3/person entry free)… to see a plaque.

On the way, we came across a group of abandoned buildings. Opportunistically, we stopped and took a peek. The floor had clearly seen better days, but as long as you kept to the beams it seemed safe. enough.

John in the abandoned building

From there, it was a quick stop in Four Corners to split up into the different states and strike various and sundry suggestive poses while the camera fired away on a self timer, and then on to Durango, our destination for the evening.

About 30 miles outside of Durango, we happened upon a poor trading post that had recently suffered an attack of giant Native Americans. Understandably, the post was temporarily closed while they recovered. We would not be so easily deterred.

A giant arrow. It missed.

Our venerable transport

Once the air cleared (of John’s little gifts, not the arrows), we high tailed it. This is basically what it looked like the rest of the way (granted, it wasn’t very far). Sure, the mountains changed a bit, and the foreground was varyingly blurry, but that’s the gist of it.

On the road.

And now, time to crash and get ready for sunrise. Right guys? Todd? C’mon. It’s not that early.

andrew General

Andrew and I woke up early while Doug and Todd slept until about noon. While waiting for hibernation to end, Andrew and I took a walking tour of the town. 15 minutes later we were back at the hotel. We headed downstairs for continental breakfast where we got to make our own waffles. That was a first for me. Normally at a hotel they make breakfast for you, right?

When I saw the sticker (pictured above) on the window of our hotel, I questioned Doug on why he chose this hotel. We did get a nice discount, so who am I to judge?

Here’s some shots from our tour of Kanabe, UT. Oh, be sure to stick around for a shot of Doug tea-bagging Todd.

john John Hawkins utah

Day One is in the books. We started out more or less on time with a target of Page, AZ before we crashed. I ignored the TomTom and jumped off the I-15 a little early, which took us directly through the hairpin turns of Zion at night. Even in the dark, Zion is pretty gorgeous.

Todd made the awesome call of stopping to try out some long exposure shots of the brilliant night sky. Thanks to Todd, John and Andrew, I learned a lot about my Canon 30D and long exposure photography. Thanks fellas! Photos below.

Todd and Hawk are their usual snarky selves. Andrew, who I just met today, is already breaking my balls; which means he’ll fit in just fine to this motley crew.

Tommorrow should see us through Page, AZ, the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, the Four Corners and Durango, CO. Weather and time permitting, we may make it into Telluride, CO for the night.

Love to Kelly and Finn. Thanks for letting me go for a few days. I miss you guys already.

Peace,

Doug

PS: 10 Geek Dollars to the first post to nail the title quote in our comments!

Todd and Blackbird II

My God Its Full Of Star!s

Zion Tunnel in Ghostly Non-Focus

Sharper Focus - Pattern Study

doug Doug Daulton kanab, Long Exposure, psn09, stars, zion

It’s crazy late or I would post more words but I’ll let the pictures do most of the talking. We’ve made it from Vegas to Kanab on the first day. We had a slight detour and went though Zion National Park by accident. Let me tell you, if you want privacy, Zion at midnight is the way to go. We parked just off the road for about half an hour and not a single car came by. We made good use of that time to take some pictures of the stars. I can’t believe how many stars you can see out here!

We popped out the other side and crashed at ye olde Best Western of Kanab which was fantastic at $50 for the room and it comes with free wi-fi! Take that Vegas.

todd Todd Huish Long Exposure, night, utah, zion