Category Archives: olympus

Decade in review: 2000

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Happy New Year everyone! This time of year always makes one reflect on the past and I’ve been doing my share. I’ve also realized that this year is a landmark of sorts for me — it marks my first decade as a travel photographer.

Well… that’s not entirely true. I’ve actually been shooting and selling to travel publications for much longer than that but it was more of a side business that I had outside of my full time job. I also shot mostly close to home. All through the ’90s I had been building a very complete library of Kansas stock and in the latter half of that decade (mostly after I quit my job in ’97 and went full-time freelance), I had been steadily expanding my coverage into Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and the Great Lakes region. But the year 2000 marked a shift — Sally joined Midwest Travel Writers Association and we attended their conference in Vancouver, British Columbia. That organization didn’t allow photographer members but I could attend as the spouse of a writer-member.

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This wasn’t my first international trip, but it was the first international trip I took specifically to shoot travel. It was also my first experience with a travel writers conference which, in some ways, is similar to a press tour. A great first experience. And I ended up with a lot of useful stock as well as a bunch of contacts and new friends. Until this point, I only knew a couple of other stock shooters and they had fairly different areas of interest than mine. It was a huge help to begin to develop a network of other travel shooters and to share ideas and experiences with them. A couple of years later I would join the Society of American Travel Writers (which does have a photographer member category) to continue to broaden that network.

To commemorate the past 10 years, I thought I might share a shot or two from each year here over the next few weeks. Not necessarily my “best shot” from that year, but something showing where that year took me. It’s also a great opportunity for me to re-visit some of my older files and see if they can be re-interpreted a bit with more modern post-processing. These two photos from that trip in 2000 were taken with (I believe) my old Olympus OM-4 and I’m guessing it was on Velvia. I probably used my old work-horse Tamron 28-80 zoom although the dock could have been my Zuiko 24mm lens. The first shot is of Qualicum Falls on Vancouver Island and the second is Saturna Island in British Columbia’s Gulf Islands. The meeting had been held in the city of Vancouver with a post-tour option on Saturna Island. We had driven so we tagged on some exploration of Vancouver Island on our own afterward. A really amazing trip. Standing on the edge of the small car ferry to Saturna and watching the Orcas swimming along just feet away is something I’ll always remember (I still carry that ferry pass in my car for sentimental reasons).

Train chasing

Durango Silverton train

Last year I rode the Durango & Silverton train with my Photodude’s buddies. It was a great trip and we got lots of shots from the open-air cars of the front of the train as it snaked around bends in the Animas River canyon. Yesterday, I got to shoot the train again but not as a rider.

I met the train at the station as the locomotive was being positioned. It was a cool morning and the steam was belching into the sky backlit by the early morning sun. I shot until the train pulled out and then hopped in the car to race ahead to a spot I had remembered from last year’s ride where the train would pass a lake surrounded by pastures of horses. Mapquest was a huge help in finding places where the roads and tracks would intersect. I don’t think I would have ever found the spot without it.

It was fun to get another chance to photograph this great train. I understand they have some special excursions for photographers where they will actually stop the train and allow you to photograph it as it steams past, then it comes back to pick you up again. Maybe I’ll get a chance to do that some day.

Headin’ west

Mesa Verde

I’ll be trekking through Colorado and New Mexico for the next few days. As usual, I’ll post photos when possible. It will be a driving trip this time which feels good. I’m ready for a break from airports, baggage weight restrictions, and cramped seating. Gas around here has even dropped below $3 so it’s all good. I love driving, too. Seeing the gradual changes in landscape and having a real feeling of distance is much preferable in my mind to being plopped down in a new place with no bearings or feeling of relationship between where you came from and where you find yourself. No, a long drive can be a very good thing.

Oh, and this shot is from a trip I made to the Four Corners area last year with my Photodudes buddies. Guys — we need to hit the road again together soon!

Self-serving horn tootin’

Native American dancers, Cortez, CO

It’s been another busy week but one filled with good news. Not least of which was that the above photo of Native American dancers at the Cortez Cultural Center in Colorado earned me the “Photographer of the Year” award from the Central States Chapter of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW). Thanks, folks!

All good news on the new house front as well. The inspections haven’t turned up any horrifying secrets and we are scheduled to close next week. Various contractors have already been lined up to meet us at the house soon after. We only have a week to get some bids going before we head for Michigan for a week of shooting and story research. I’ll be home for one day after that before catching another plane to South Carolina where I will be giving a presentation on digital photography workflow and image management. Hopefully, by the time I’m back from that trip, we’ll be ready to get things moving on the new house in hopes of moving in later this summer.