Quickie Photography Destinations

[Hany Aziz]

Any suggestions for destinations for photography. Basically a destination that would allow me to fly to it and enjoy a nice 3-4 day weekend photographing, generally a 3 day holiday weekend possibly with an extra day off. I prefer to fly and dislike long drives (anything over 100 miles). Ideally it should involve:

1. Proximity to a major airport, allowing one to fly in and reach the desitnation quickly.
2. Spectacular and somewhat unique scenery. I genreally prefer landscapes (e.g. Yosemite, Antelope Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, Rocky Mountain National Park etc)
3. Ease of getting there. The overall ease of flying in, renting a car, staying close to my destination and then flying out. The idea being that the whole trip does not turn into a tiring logistical nightmare.

Reasonable options I can think of are Yosemite (using Fresno as the airport) and Rocky Mountain National Park (using Denver). I live in the Northeast US and would ideally prefer destinations that don't turn into a hassle flying to them but am generally flexible.

Ideas? Suggestions?

Thanks a lot in advance.

Sincerely,

Hany.

[Walter Calahan]

Provincetown!

Puddle jump from Boston. Great landscapes along the National Seashore. Eclectic architecture and people. No time-zone change.

Good enough for Edward Hopper; good enough for me.

But do it after high season, with a cottage in Truro-bama.

Second on the list, Asheville, North Carolina. What's not to like.

[Bruce Pottorff]

Fly to Palm Springs. One hour to Joshua Tree N.P. Piece 'o cake.

[Frank Petronio]

Salt Lake City has a lot within 50 miles or so. The Salt Lake itself is a cool subject, the mountains are beautiful, and all the women are blonde.

[BarryS]

My favorites are usually Denver and Albuquerque. From Denver, RMNP is great, but lately, I've been heading west since I like the high desert. The area around Grand Junction and Colorado Nat'l Monument is very nice and it's a short and spectacular drive to drop down into Utah and visit Arches. Maybe a little more driving than you'd like but the drive is gorgeous. From Albuquerque, heading north offers a lot of possibilities and the drive isn't long to get Sangre de Cristo mountains and the loop outside of Taos.

[Skorzen]

Where in Massachusetts are you? There are some great locations in Western MA. The Potholes in Shelburne Falls are interesting and there is a lot of great scenery along rt. 2 in the Berkshires.

[k_redder]

I vote for Seattle. My favorite destination. My favorite part about the area is the range of environments within a couple of hours of the city. Mount Rainier NP, Mount St Helens, the Cascades, Olympic NP, Lake Crescent, rain forests, beaches galore, you name it, and you can get to any of it within 2 hrs of the city. My only problem with it is there is so much to see and do it's impossible to do it all in one trip (which is why my wife and I keep going back again and again).

[John Kasaian]

Fresno is good, but if you're doing this on a 3-day holiday go to Sequoia / Kings Canyon National Parks---less crowds!

Fly into Montery or San Luis Obispo and Big Sur is close enough for your pleasure.

Fly into Reno, Nevada and Lake Tahoe and portions of the Eastern Sierra are within easy striking distance.

Fly into Sacramento and the Gold Rush towns are a hoot and holler away.

Fly into Bend, Oregon and there is plenty of spectacular scenery close by.

Flying into Santa Rosa will get you into the heart of the Wine Country and Redwoods quick enough.

Flying into Las Vegas will put you within striking distance of Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon if you budget your time carefully.

There's lots of stuff to shoot around Santa Fe, NM (the enchanted circle makes for a fine day trip) and Salt Lake City, Utah (the Wasatch and the Great Salt Lake) and dno't forget that Jackson, Wyoming is close by the Grand Tetons and Bozeman, Montana will give you entry into the Gallatin and Yellowstone.

These are just a few places. The hardest part I think would be to pick just one!

[Mark Sampson]

Phoenix can lead to Arcosanti, Sedona, and Flagstaff, which leads to the Grand Canyon, and that's just in one direction.

[Bill_1856]

Hi Hany,
I believe the most exciting single photographic destination remains POINT LOBOS. It took me three trips before I began to get anything that I wasn't ashamed to print.
Fly into Monteray, stay in Carmel, and enjoy great accomodations and food, as well as several of the premium photography galleries in the US.
But since you'll be flying rather than driving, you will probably have to leave 100# of your famous camera collection at home.
Best luck.

[Louie Powell]

While I seriously appreciate Bill_1856's point about Point Lobos (and Carmel in general), I think Walter's suggestion is the best - just go to P'town. The photographic opportunities are just as good, the food is outstanding, and you will save enough money to be able to make the trip two or three more times.

[Hany Aziz]

Great ideas all! Keep them coming.


Provincetown!



I do appreciate my "backyard" for it's photographic possibilities and have indeed more keepers from Massachusetts, southern Vermont and the surrounding states than from more distant and more exotic locales, partly because I have spent more time locally and have found a more personal vision than when chasing after the tripod holes of Ansel Adams or Edward Weston, which is an easy temptation when visiting Yosemite or Point Lobos. Indeed I have just spent the Labor day weekend on the southern Maine coast, and the weekend before was spent in southern Vermont and New Hampshire.

My natural inclination is to gravitate towards the Maine coastline because I find a rocky coastline more photogenic than a more sandy coast. Provincetown, believe it or not is also a little further than I would like to drive to (from western Mass) though I have sought out the western end of the cape and Buzzard bay. It may be time to dig out Joel Meyerowitz's Cape Light for inspiration. Southern Vermont has for me also provided the most interest, it's landscape, towns and people are almost a Norman Rockwell painting come to life and I find the photographic possibilities excellent.

I am however seeking out advice regarding more distant destinations doable as a quick four day trip. Santa Fe does sound very tempting, so does Point Lobos though I suspect that the travel needed to get there and back would end up being too time consuming specially for a four day trip.


Where in Massachusetts are you? There are some great locations in Western MA. The Potholes in Shelburne Falls are interesting and there is a lot of great scenery along rt. 2 in the Berkshires.

I live in western Massachusetts (Pioneer valley) about 45 minutes south of Shelburne falls, unfortunately local authorities have decreed the potholes in Shelburne falls off limits due to fear of liability though I suspect a determined photographer can still find his way to them. I should probably visit the area with someone familiar with it's nooks and crannies (literally), my trips there on my own have been fairly unproductive. I should explore Rte 2 more. In general heading west from my house along Rte 20 alongside the Westfield river into the hill towns has been quite productive in the past, though I have yet to capture any keepers from those trips. They do make a very pleasant drive through very picturesque terrain though.

Great suggestions so far, please keep them coming.

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Hany.

[John Bowen]

Hany,

Great Thread!!!

Where in the Southern Maine Coast did you go? I'm planning a trip up that way in the next couple months.

Best,

John

[z_photo]

fly into knoxville, drive 20 minutes to townsend or an hour to galtlinburg and shoot in the smokies. there are several images on the site i have linked from the profile here. if you want something other than a dive hotel look into cabin rentals. i can give you specific choices i have used that are quite convenient to the park.

[eddie]

you sound close to me in albany ny area.......lets go shoot.

salt lake city is my choice. i leave on the 21st! last year it was 200 RT non stop. this year $325 RT NS! yellowstone, tetons, sawtooths, arches, canyon lands, bryce, zion (maybe better from vegas....same price RT and NS)

eddie

[z_photo]

oh yeah, tetons are a great and easy trip. land and you can be shooting gorgeous scenics withn an hour. yellowstone is just up the road and beyond that are the beartooth mountains. excellent idea. that is if you don't get stuck in the rental pick up hell that the jackson airport can be.

[Skorzen]

I live in western Massachusetts (Pioneer valley) about 45 minutes south of Shelburne falls, unfortunately local authorities have decreed the potholes in Shelburne falls off limits due to fear of liability though I suspect a determined photographer can still find his way to them. I should probably visit the area with someone familiar with it's nooks and crannies (literally), my trips there on my own have been fairly unproductive. I should explore Rte 2 more. In general heading west from my house along Rte 20 alongside the Westfield river into the hill towns has been quite productive in the past, though I have yet to capture any keepers from those trips. They do make a very pleasant drive through very picturesque terrain though.


Hmmm interesting about the Potholes being off limits, I was actually there about a month ago and no one said anything to me about it. There were actually quite a few people around, I tried to do my shooting early before all the other people showed up. That being said access to the Potholes was not really marked (down a steep trail form the parking lot) so maybe I wasn't supposed to be there but usually there are some signs :confused:.

Oh and by the way it sounds like you are right around the corner from where I am when I am home from school (Springfield).

[The Dread Pirate Robins]

May I suggest Portland, Oregon?

The airport is big enough to have a fair number of major airlines serving it. There are car rental companies just past the baggage claim and so are their cars.

An EASY drive from the airport is the Columbia River Gorge. It can be reached either by taking I-84 (boring drive but some great views), by crossing the river and taking Washington SR 14 (not so boring but I think the scenery is not quite as good), or, my favorite, getting on the old highway as soon as possible and following that, stopping at the waterfalls and spectacular views along the way. If you push it further, you can get to the eastern side of the Cascades and take pictures of some of the rolling hills and basalt cliffs. The change in vegetation in just a short time is really quite stark.

The Oregon and Washington coasts are not far away. The closest points on the Oregon coast are about a 1.5-2 hour drive (kind of depends on traffic in the Portland metro area. Just about any way you go is scenic. I happen to like Highway 30 along the Columbia, and sometimes at Rainier I will hop over into Longview, Washington and travel along the river on that side of the river. Just about any beach or cove or rock or anything on the coast is photo worthy.

Mt. Hood --- not far from the airport and definitely a place to go look for some landscapes.

Near Bend is Smith Rock State Park. Imagine a sheer rock face in the high desert with a stream running by. The light on this rock face is INCREDIBLE over the course of a day.

I could go on and on. I am biased. I live here.

Oh, there are at least two photo stores in Portland that sell LF film (possibly three, but I haven't visited that other one recently as it is out of my way).

[mrladewig]

Flying into Vegas and renting a car will grant access to Zion, Death Valley and the Grand Canyon with reasonable effort. There are certainly other derivatives including all of southern Utah, northern Arizona, Nevada and eastern California.

[Hany Aziz]

Hany,

Great Thread!!!

Where in the Southern Maine Coast did you go? I'm planning a trip up that way in the next couple months.

Best,

John

I wish I could join you at the Rock festival! Due to work commitments, I can not. Two of my colleagues at work are out at that time making things tight.

I stayed close to Ogunquit and went as far as Portland on one day. Would look at the Marginal way in Ogunquit, and York harbor (Fisherman's way). If lighthouses are an OK subject (sorry Bruce) then Nubble light (Point Neddick) and Portland head are interesting.

I did not go that far north this trip but as you drive on to your destination you should definitely stop at Pemaquid point. The patterns in the rocks there are extraordinary. Wish I could have gone back there but I was time (and distance) constrained.

I had my 4x5 with me but ended up doing a lot of my photography particularly color using a digital SLR.

Good luck with your trip.

Sincerely,

Hany.

[John Bowen]

I wish I could join you at the Rock festival! Due to work commitments, I can not. Two of my colleagues at work are out at that time making things tight.

I stayed close to Ogunquit and went as far as Portland on one day. Would look at the Marginal way in Ogunquit, and York harbor (Fisherman's way). If lighthouses are an OK subject (sorry Bruce) then Nubble light (Point Neddick) and Portland head are interesting.

I did not go that far north this trip but as you drive on to your destination you should definitely stop at Pemaquid point. The patterns in the rocks there are extraordinary. Wish I could have gone back there but I was time (and distance) constrained.

I had my 4x5 with me but ended up doing a lot of my photography particularly color using a digital SLR.

Good luck with your trip.

Sincerely,

Hany.

Hany,

Thanks for the info. I have already planned a stop at Pemaquid point for the trip up. We will miss you. I'll bring prints the next time we get together.

John

[Willie]

San Francisco and the North Bay, Point Reyes National Seashore, Coastal redwoods and driving North along Highway 1.

Salt Lake City with its major air pollution will have you down with sinus infections for weeks after the trip. From the pure chlorine gas in the air from the Magnesium processing plant on the South Shore of Great Salt Lake to the refineries, copper smelting and vehicle pollution you will be sorry you tried the place.