"Quickie" destinations

[Hany Aziz]

Because of work commitments and conflicting interests I am always on the lookout for "quickie" destinations that would be doable on a 3 or possibly 4 day weekend. For e.g. doable on a Thanksgiving or Christmass or Martin Luther King etc weekend possibly with an extra day off.

Requirements:

1.Spectacular or interesting. My main interest is B&W but destinations more suitable for color are also welcome.
2. Close to a major airport with easy availability of car rental. Ideally within a 1 hour, max 2 hours, drive.
3. Once there little further travel is needed. This way the weekend is not too hectic and I don't need a vacation to recover from my quickie vacation.
4. I live in New England and therefore may be partial to locations more easily reachable to me. One offering a warm retreat from the New England winter is welcome but not essential.

One example I can think of is Yosemite although Fresno's airport is less than ideal for someone traveling from the east coast. Once in the Valley however little further travel is needed. Another possiblity which I have never been to is Death Valley.

Any ideas or suggestions welcome.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Hany.

[John Kasaian]

Hany,

Other targets reachable from Fresno are Kings Canyon/Seqouia NPs.

Either Reno or Sacramento is an easy drive to Lake Tahoe, Virginia City, and the Gold Rush country.

There are a slew of locations accessable from San Francisco/ Oakland/ San Jose.

This is a small example of whats available in my neck o' the woods. My experience is that the rest of the country is more of the same and all of it is readily available on post cards.

If what you want is a vacation and a chance to set up your camera a few times, thats great, but I'm not sure how satisfying it would be.

My last "quickie" was to a geological formation about a 3-1/2 hours drive away. It was tiring but satisfying because I had my reasoons for going:
1) To shoot those formations I'd heard about but never seen--I was curious about them.

2) To "re-connect" with an area I'd been to many times and always regretted not having my camera---this was a 'scouting' trip of sorts.

3) I had a brief window of opportunity to go somewhere and shoot.

IMHO, I'd look for a Quickie maybve closer to New England, perhaps Appalachia, the deep South or the Maritimes (now that I'm thinking about it, the colonial architecture of Puerto Rico is really interesing) Find something about the area that stirs up an interest within you---say the St Lawrence Seaway, Civil War battlefields, Bahama boat builders, Pikes Peak---get all the info you can, work out the logistics and go for it!

Have fun!

[Louie Powell]

Hany -

My wife and I did a quickie this week.

(Not that, perv!)

On Monday afternoon, we drove from Sarartoga Springs out to the Finger Lakes area of NY. We spent Tuesday driving around Seneca Lake, tasting wines and making photographs. On Wednesday, we drove to Canandaiga to the Sonnenberg mansion and gardens, and then on to Rochester to the Eastman House. On Thursday, it was back to Utica to photograph the Utica train station, and then spend a couple of hours in the Munson Williams Procter Museum before heading home.

Relaxing, saw some potentially great images (need to develop the negatives to know for sure), tasted some interesting wines (and added to our collection), and had a generally nice time. Bit of a hassle yesterday because the Thruway was closed in the AM due to flooding around Fort Plain and Canajoharie, but we coped with back roads.

The point: you don't have to go far.

Other places on my wish-list: the Springfield Arsenal, the Emily Dickinson Museam (in Amhearst), Cooperstown and the Farmer's Museum, Storm King Art Center, Crown Point fortifications, Boston/Rockport/Cloucester, and day trips to Manchester (Vt), Woodstock (NY), Rhinebeck (NY), and Gt. Barrington (MA).

[Brian Vuillemenot]

My advice to you is that you scout around your home base, taking day trips within an hour or two, and then revisit those places over and over again, studying the light and appreciating the subtle nuances of the environment. Why not take advantage of what there is to offer in your neck of the woods, and distinguish yourself by creating a unique portfolio of work? Pretty much any trip that involves packing up your camera and gear and flying off to a "classic" landscape destination involves lots of complicated logistics, not to mention high cost, and going for just a few days is not very practical. In addition, most of these locations (Yosemite, pretty much all of the Colorado Plateau, California and Arizona deserts, etc.) have allready been done to death and done very well by those who live literally in thier backyard.

By the way, Death Valley is hardly a "quickie" location, unless you like to drive for hours and hours!

[Keith S. Walklet]

As was mentioned in the thread about potential View Camera conferences, Las Vegas is central to quite a few quickies.

Death Valley is three hours.
Zion is three hours.
Grand Canyon is 4-1/2 hours.
Not to mention the local attractions (natural and artificial).

In Idaho, one can fly into Boise (nice airport, BTW) and be in the Sawtooths in 2-1/2 to 3 hours.

Fly to Portland and you've got the coast and the Gorge, national parks.

And while easterners often cringe at the drive times posted for these destinations, this is the wide open west where two hours is like around the block.

[Robert Ley]

Hany,
I great and cheap place to fly is Las Vegas. Flights are usually pretty cheap and rental cars are cheap and plentiful. Within two to three hours is Zion NP and further is Bryce. To the south is Death Valley and of course the Grand Canyon. Probably can't do it all in 3-4 days. You will just have to go back several times.:)

[Hany Aziz]

My advice to you is that you scout around your home base, taking day trips within an hour or two, and then revisit those places over and over again, studying the light and appreciating the subtle nuances of the environment. Why not take advantage of what there is to offer in your neck of the woods, and distinguish yourself by creating a unique portfolio of work? Pretty much any trip that involves packing up your camera and gear and flying off to a "classic" landscape destination involves lots of complicated logistics, not to mention high cost, and going for just a few days is not very practical. In addition, most of these locations (Yosemite, pretty much all of the Colorado Plateau, California and Arizona deserts, etc.) have allready been done to death and done very well by those who live literally in thier backyard.

By the way, Death Valley is hardly a "quickie" location, unless you like to drive for hours and hours!

But I often do that anyway. I will be photographing in the vicinity of Boston this weekend, and often do spend several weekends an hour away in south eastern Vermont each year photographing. I also continue to explore my immediate vicinity in Western Massachusetts. I do in fact thoroughly enjoy photographing snow, ice, frozen streams and the New England landscape and architecture. I am in fact looking for a more distant (but still not too hectic) destination. My only problem is that when using Bradley airport which is my closest airport travel to the west coast is often a one or more often two stop flight with significant time delays. I realize Yosemite and the desert southwest may have been photographed to death but I will still thoroughly enjoy myself. My ultimate aim is personal enjoyment. I am not insisting on originality or uniqueness.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Hany.

[Marko]

My advice to you is that you scout around your home base, taking day trips within an hour or two, and then revisit those places over and over again, studying the light and appreciating the subtle nuances of the environment. Why not take advantage of what there is to offer in your neck of the woods, and distinguish yourself by creating a unique portfolio of work? Pretty much any trip that involves packing up your camera and gear and flying off to a "classic" landscape destination involves lots of complicated logistics, not to mention high cost, and going for just a few days is not very practical. In addition, most of these locations (Yosemite, pretty much all of the Colorado Plateau, California and Arizona deserts, etc.) have allready been done to death and done very well by those who live literally in thier backyard.

By the way, Death Valley is hardly a "quickie" location, unless you like to drive for hours and hours!

Great advice.

There's a lot of really interesting places in the Los Angeles area, but the general problem is that the skies are clear most of the time. I go to those trips wenever I can, carry a digital p&s with me and use it to snap ideas. Then I keep the keepers in an ideas file waiting for good weather. Like this one:

http://www.studiothreesixty.com/marko/sfv_pano01.jpg

Waiting for nice clouds to show up, it will probably be awhile, but once that happens, the location is less than 15 minutes driving from where I live. Next time I'm going to take the big guy there and hopefully get some nice shots.

[BrianShaw]

Stoney Point, Santa Susana Pass, Topanga Canyon... we should meet for a latte some day!

[Marko]

Stoney Point, Santa Susana Pass, Topanga Canyon... we should meet for a latte some day!

Absolutely! Plenty of Starbucks in the area too... :)

[Ted Harris]

Marko and Brian, why settle for a Starbucks when there is a great little Middle Eastern joint hiddne in an otherwise nondescript shopping center just down the road. You guys probably knw where I mean.

[Marko]

Marko and Brian, why settle for a Starbucks when there is a great little Middle Eastern joint hiddne in an otherwise nondescript shopping center just down the road. You guys probably knw where I mean.

Afraid not... Plenty of places around here and I'm not that big on Middle Eastern style restaurants.

But do share, if you would, it never hurts to try a place that someone would recommend.