There’s nothing photogenic far from your vehicle ― why search?

[paulr]

The National Bureau of Standards is about to raise the official distance to 550 feet, in order to discourage excessive driving. It may remain 500 feet for those driving hybrids.

Seriously, my take on that remark is that it doesn't presume the world suddenly getting ugly or boring when you venture from the road. It's based on the idea that the world is interesting and worth photographing everywhere, so if you feel you have to travel far just get interesting pictures, something is likely wrong.

This says nothing about people who like to walk for walking's sake, and who bring a camera because they want to.

[Vaughn]

Looking for an image of my favorite photograph, I found this...

"After parking the car and investigating further he found a suitable situation some six hundred feet from the road, he returned to the car to retrieve his 8 x 10 in view camera and set about capturing this image."

Underline and bold added by me

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Shop/a...naya_creek.htm

Of course he was a younger man in 1948!

[Jim Galli]

So it is an American thing? Pretty much only Americans responding here, and none of the (admittedly few) European LF photographers I know stick close to their cars.

In Europe if you walk 500 yards from the car you get to another road.

[Bill_1856]

Looking for an image of my favorite photograph, I found this...

"After parking the car and investigating further he found a suitable situation some six hundred feet from the road, he returned to the car to retrieve his 8 x 10 in view camera and set about capturing this image."

Underline and bold added by me

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Shop/a...naya_creek.htm

Of course he was a younger man in 1948!

He spotted it from the road while crossing the bridge in his car.

[Daniel_Buck]

In Europe if you walk 500 yards from the car you get to another road.

good call. There are many places here in the US that you can drive modern highways and not hit a gas-station, grocery store, or house for almost an hour. And especially when you start hitting the back roads. And on back roads you might not even see another vehicle or person for that hour or more. I'm taking a trip across the US to visit friends and family, and I'm going to put probably 12,000 miles on my jeep in 5-6 weeks!! that's more miles than most folks drive in a year, haha!

[Preston]

It's very easy to look around, whether you are 50 feet from the road or five miles from the road. In each case, however, seeing is the challenge before us.

--P

[paulr]

In Europe if you walk 500 yards from the car you get to another road.

In my neighborhood you walk 5 yards from the car you get to a wall or fence.

Of course, you're usually well over 500 yards from any parking space, so it makes more sense to sell the car and just walk around, tripod slung over your shoulder, like Jesus.

[tgtaylor]

In Europe if you walk 500 yards from the car you get to another road.

One morning, while getting my morning dose of caffeine in a campground coffee shop in Crete, the girls working the counter asked me how big the US was. I told them that it was 5000 kilometers across (coast to coast). They didn't say anything but as soon as the manager who once lived in San Francisco came in they told him in rapid Greek that I said the US was 5000KM across. He looked down for a second while computing the distance in his head and then looked back up to them and nodded "yes."

The US is a big country compared to many others.

Thomas
"That's a big name in greece."

[Roger Cole]

good call. There are many places here in the US that you can drive modern highways and not hit a gas-station, grocery store, or house for almost an hour. And especially when you start hitting the back roads. And on back roads you might not even see another vehicle or person for that hour or more. I'm taking a trip across the US to visit friends and family, and I'm going to put probably 12,000 miles on my jeep in 5-6 weeks!! that's more miles than most folks drive in a year, haha!

I've heard that, but I don't know these "most" folks. I drive more than twice that much a year, and most people I know drive at least 15k-18k.

On the other hand, I suppose it's balanced out because I don't know anyone who lives in New York City:

In my neighborhood you walk 5 yards from the car you get to a wall or fence.

Of course, you're usually well over 500 yards from any parking space, so it makes more sense to sell the car and just walk around, tripod slung over your shoulder, like Jesus.

Yeahbut, New York is just nominally in the same country. It's actually a different world. (Meant kindly but half seriously.)

[Bill_1856]

good call. There are many places here in the US that you can drive modern highways and not hit a gas-station, grocery store, or house for almost an hour. And especially when you start hitting the back roads. And on back roads you might not even see another vehicle or person for that hour or more. I'm taking a trip across the US to visit friends and family, and I'm going to put probably 12,000 miles on my jeep in 5-6 weeks!! that's more miles than most folks drive in a year, haha!

Let's see: 12,000 miles @ 18 mpg @ $4.00/gal = $2667. Haha yourself!