Chaco canyon Trip

[Kirk Gittings]

My friend Allen Rumme, Ralph Barker and I are planning a fall LF shooting trip to Chaco Canyon Sept. 29th - Oct 1st . Join us. This is not a workshop. I need more vacations, not more work, but if anyone wants to join us they are welcome. It will be camping with minimal facilities and pretty cold at night.

[Raymond Bleesz]

Kirk----please keep me posted on this activity---up here in Vail, Colo.---Raymond

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Sounds great!

I have not been to Chaco in several years and have been itching for an excuse to head down.

With a 2 year old and a 4 year old I will have to play it by ear, but who knows I might be able to swing it - it is many months away after all.

Thanks for the invite, hope others can make it.

Eric

[Ralph Barker]

Yes, this should be great fun.

I should note that I suggested a "Trump Towers, Chaco" for the more comfort-oriented, but The Donald hasn't responded with a construction schedule. ;-)

[Kirk Gittings]

I'd love to see you there Eric. Try hard to make it. I did the Chaco Body book when my kids were that age. Bring them along! We used to have easter egg hunts in the ruins! It was is a gtreat place for young kids.

[Bill_1856]

You are a generous spirit, Kirk Gittings.

Except for the 7000' altitude, I'd join you in a flash. Unfortunately, when going to Per Valquartz's first free workshop a few years ago, I very nearly died from altitude sickness at Lee Vining and Mammoth. Now, I look with longing at all those exotic Western locations, where I'll never be able to photograph.

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Sounds like a great time Kirk- thanks for the offer- wish I could join you. Too bad I moved from the Land of Enchantment to Cali last summer! At least now I can take advantage of Per Volquartz's California large format get togethers! I'm pretty sure there's more LFers in the Bay Area than the entire state of New Mexico...

[Allen Rumme]

Yup, this should be fun. It will be my first trip to Chaco and I'm really looking forward to it.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Kirk,

I will start laying the ground work with my wife now! :-)

I would love to be there and will work it out somehow. I like the idea of having an easter egg hunt in the ruins, I wonder how spooky Halloween would be? :-)

That is such a beautiful time of year is the SW, I hope several people can join and experience it.

Thanks again, this should be fun.

Eric

[paulr]

sounds tempting. i miss the desert. not so sure i miss dragging a big tripod around the desert, but just being there is worth the trip.

[Wilbur Wong]

Kirk,

Thank you for the invitation. I am just laying out my schedule for the rest of the year (workwise) I would love to be able to participate with other LF photographers. Please keep me in the loop.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Kirk,

Looks like I am in, see you in Chaco ( and look forward to meeting you and others on this forum).

Eric

[Kirk Gittings]

Cool. We will try and return you in one piece.

[Matt Long]

I've been trying to slip away during the fall and head south for the past few years, but it always seems that a scheduling conflict comes up and scuttles my plans.

BUT ... Sept. 29 is my birthday, and what better gift to give oneself than a mini vacation in the Southwest! Hmmmm.

[Mark Carney]

Kirk

Keep me informed. I'd love to go!

This would be dream come true.

[Marko]

This would be wonderful, I'd love to join too, if the business allows.

Please keep us updated here.

Regards,

[Kirk Gittings]

Everyone who is going should familiarize themselves with the "fascilities".

www.nps.gov/chcu/campgrnd.htm (http://www.nps.gov/chcu/campgrnd.htm)

[Hans Berkhout]

And be aware of the park wardens, they carry quite visible handguns. Great shooting location!
Not able to make it, maybe another year. Thanks for the open invite Kirk.

[Kirk Gittings]

Reminder!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sept. 29th

[Eric Biggerstaff]

I will be there for sure.

Look forward to meeting you and many others!

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Should we plan some sort of get together on Friday night or something so everyone can meet? We should be easy to spot, not to many others with LF cameras poking around I suppose.

[Marko]

I was really looking forward to this, but I'm about to leave for a two-month trip to Europe and won't be back until mid-October. I hope nobody will take offense at me not saying "unfortunately". :)

But I do wish these two trips did not coincide this way...

[Kirk Gittings]

I will be in silver Toyota Tacoma, double cab with a shell. I will try and get there by mid-afternoon and stake out a few camping spots. Remember we have to bring EVERYTHING including firewood!

Sorry to miss you Marko (or is that Psuedomarko). Maybe with enough beers we would have gotten your whole real name.

[Marko]

Sorry to miss you Marko (or is that Psuedomarko). Maybe with enough beers we would have gotten your whole real name.

A few beers would definitely work, but then again, so does my email, and it's even cheaper. :)

[Eric Biggerstaff]

Kirk,

I wil lbe looking for you, maybe we should get a group campsite?

I will be in a grey/green Trailblazer with Colorado plates. Right now I am planning on getting there sometime late Friday afternoon. I am taking the LONG way from Denver to photograph around Telluride then will come down ( I am leaving on Thursday).

I will bring pleny of adult beverages and food, wood, etc.

Looking forward to it.

[matthew blais]

OK, I'm thinking about this...
Cons: It's a ten+ hour drive...but doable

Plus's:
Never been there...
It falls between gigs for me...


Hmmm...

[Kirk Gittings]

Come on down, because of my extensive experience there, I can point you in the right direction for different times of day etc. which can make your time there very productive.

[roteague]

Sounds like a great trip - I hope everyone gets some great images. As for me, I'm off to shoot in the Australian Outback.

[Brian]

I just might be interested. I live in Santa Fe, so it's not too long a trip for me. Thanks.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

I called Chaco today to try and reserve a group site but they are booked for that weekend, so the sites are first come first serve. The ranger told me that the traffic at Chaco has been very light this year and while they expect it to pick up in the fall we should not have much trouble finding camp spots.

See you there.

[Kirk Gittings]

Could people check in as to who might be there so that we can grab enough camp sites? All I know right now is myself, Allen Rumme, and Eric B.

[Ralph Barker]

I'm still planning on being there, too. I'll be in my black Suburban.

[Hans Berkhout]

Will be joining, looking forward the trip (from Calgary) and shooting/socializing. And sleeping in a tent! Last time our drinking water was frozen in the morning, T- shirt weather otherwise- october. And that road in, from the North!
Anybody bringing a vacuum cleaner for camera innards?

Kirk may I ask you to reserve time for a (your) booksigning session?

Peace,

Hans B.

[Kirk Gittings]

Steve Simmons cannot make it as he is going to Photokina. Too bad he could have told us rodeo war stories over the campfire. I guess I will hae to make some up about him.

Hans, that is great. Did you know that I went to graduate school in Calgary?

[Brian]

Kirk:

My wife and I and planning to attend. That would add two to the growing list. Should we try to reserve a sight for ourselves, or will one of you be reserving a number of sights for all.

Thanks,

Brian

[Kirk Gittings]

WelcomeQ! My wife (a professional chef) will probably be there too. Eric Biggerstaff talked to the park. The group campgrounds have been booked for some time, but it will not be a busy time of year. Allen and myself will get there early and try to reserve enough spaces.

[Alan Rabe]

Hi Kirk,
I am new to the forum but have been doing LF since I bought my Zone VI camera in 89 from the real Zone VI studios. I have enjoyed your commentary as well as your support for their products. Seems some people like to trash old Fred a bit.
Anyway I use to live in AZ which is where I got into photography. I now live in Virginia.:-( I try to get out west every couple of years but haven't been able to for about 4 so I am kind of going thru withdrawels. I will leave Wednesday morning and probably arrive late Thursday or early Friday. When I leave Chaco I will be going to Monument Valley for a couple days and then on up to Moab, UT for a few days at Arches and Canyonlands. I got me a new mechanical mule and Chaco will be a great place to try it out.
Thanks for the invite. I am also looking forward to meeting Eric and the rest of the LF'ers that will be there. Most of them I recognize from their entries in the forum and feel a somewhat kindred spirit.

[steve simmons]

"Steve Simmons cannot make it as he is going to Photokina. Too bad he could have told us rodeo war stories over the campfire. I guess I will hae to make some up about him."

Just tell the truth. I was up on a horse 18 days after the accident!!!

Chaco is an amazing place. I am sure everyone will enjoy the time there.

steve

[Kirk Gittings]

Alan, It will be good to meet you.
Kirk

[Kirk Gittings]

Something to think about if you are new to photographing archeological sites:

http://bcn.boulder.co.us/environment/cacv/cacvvist.htm

[steve simmons]

If you will be photographing in black and white I suggest the yellow-green, light green and green filters. These will help separate the subtle tones of the rock. If you use yellow,orange and red filters you will mush the subtle tones together.

steve simmons

[Kirk Gittings]

Steve is half right...........Actually filtering at Chaco has alot to do with time of day and subject. It is true that if the rock in the canyon is full sunlit you need a green filter to preserve the rock highlights and get some darkening of the sky, but if the rock face is lit from the side and there is alot of texture in the rock from oblique sunlight you can get away with an orange filter. Most of the landscapes in my book are examples of the later and shot with an orange filter.

[Kirk Fry]

As an experiment take some of your color Velvia scans and split the color layers out in photoshop and convert them to B&W. You can see how they would look with a Red/Orange or Green filter. It is very interesting........ Maybe you don't need B&W film after all. Just a thought. :-) Kirk (Fry).

[steve simmons]

If I was going I would make sure I had the yellow green, light green and green filters. Not eveyday will have dramatic storm clouds and harsh sidelighting.

steve simmons

[Kirk Gittings]

I assume you mean in addition to your regular filters. Most people have their favorites in the yellow/red series, but many people do not carry the green filters which are inportant throughout the SW where yellow or red sandstone dominates the landscape.

I have made some 50+ trips to Chaco. I normally carry Yellow 8, Yellow-Green 11, Orange 21, Light Red 23A (the yellow is the least used, the orange the most).

[Kirk Gittings]

Kirk, Good point. I have played around with that some. It takes a good saturated film like Velvia to pull off the dramatic skies in B&W conversion. I recomend JP Caponigro's conversion action.

[Kirk Gittings]

Can people that are for sure going mail me a business card that I can pin to a picknick table to claim it. I will try and get there early Friday morning and claim as many spots as I can.

Kirk Gittings
1414 Phoenix NW
Albuquerque, NM 87107

[Alan Rabe]

Hi again Kirk and Others,
Since the campgroup allows 2 tents per site, I was wondering if any of the other participants would like to share a campsite. I wouldn't mind and it would make a more compact group. If not, it's no problem.

[Kirk Gittings]

But does it allow two cars per site?

[Allen Rumme]

Kirk,

According to the NPS Chaco Canyon web site, two cars are allowed per camp site.

[Kirk Gittings]

Good, that helps.

[Ralph Barker]

If need be, I don't mind sharing a site. I'll probably be sleeping in the 'Burb, anyway.

[Eric Biggerstaff]

I am happy to share a site for sure.

[Capocheny]

Hi Kirk,

Just did some Googling of Chaco Canyon and it looks like it would be a beautiful place to shoot. All that history!

I'd love to make it but, after taking the time off to do the workshop with Per Volquartz, my desk will be piled higher (than it is already) with paper work and things to do. So, it'll definitely be catch-up time for me!

This working for a living really gets in the way of life!

But, I hope you all have great fun down there and end up with some magnificent images... perhaps, another time and place! :)

Cheers

[Kirk Gittings]

Too bad, Maybe next time.

[Kirk Gittings]

For those who are arriving in the late afternoon, grab a campsite first. If you want to do some shooting, late afternoon is good at many sites on the east side of the canyon which face west, but if you have never been to Pueblo Bonito it is a good bet in late afternoon if the light is good.

[Alan Rabe]

Hi Kirk,
I just sent off my business card but I was wondering a bit about the best way to get there. I am planning on getting to Grants Thursday night and then going up from there thru Whitehorse and then Pueblo Pintado. I have a 4X4 pickup so road conditions shouldn't be a problem. Is this the best way?

[Kirk Gittings]

That is not the "smoothest" way, because they don't maintain that road as well as the Nageezi entrance. There are nice outlier ruins at Pueblo Pintado and Crownpoint, both with tower kivas. So in many ways that is the more interesting route.

For directions see:

http://www.nps.gov/chcu/planyourvisit/directions.htm

[Alan Rabe]

Ok, I guess I'll just go up to Bernalillo and grab 550 to Nageezi.

[Kirk Gittings]

Is anyone going on this little shindig that uses BTZS? I would like to pick your brain, watch you work and maybe have a little shootout at the Bonito Corral.

[Ralph Barker]

. . . and maybe have a little shootout at the Bonito Corral.

Oh, can we bring firearms?

just kidding.

[Kirk Gittings]

Lightmeters at 50 paces..............

[Kirk Gittings]

I have recieved cards from Hans Berkhout, Ralph Barker and Alan Rabe so far.

[Jan Pietrzak]

Kirk,


I took a long hard look at the time spot, 10 to 12 hrs out and the same back. It was good to see you in LA, at Freestyle and I really wish I could go to Chaco but not this time. Have a good trip and we will try again next year. I still want to do some thing next year.

All the best to Chaco travelers, I wish you all well, and safe travel

Jan Pietrzak

[Alan Rabe]

Kirk,
I have an order in to Satin Snow for new ground glasses. During our emails I had mentioned I was going to the Southwest and would be using them. They asked were I was going so I told them and since I knew they knew you also mentioned you would be there. They then said that they couldn't get your email address to work and asked me to tell you that your order was shipped yesterday (Wednesday) and should be there Friday or Saturday via USPS.
I will be leaving Tuesday afternoon and will be in NM on Thursday evening and will go to Chaco early Friday. Is there a specail part of the campgrounds you would prefer. If I get there before you I can stake it out.