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The Itinerant Photographer

10/25/2013

How do you like to travel? Do you pick a destination and then spend every spare minute researching what to do and where to go and what to eat? Sometimes that is the best way to make sure nothing important is missed. A lot of people have one opportunity to get to a location in their lifetime and no one wants to get home to find out they missed the Grand Canyon when they were in Arizona or Mount Rushmore when they drove through South Dakota. The internet has made trip researching and planning easier than ever with the advent of such sites as TripAdvisor and Google. Experiences by other travelers are openly shared on the internet helping to point the compass in the right direction.

I decided to approach my last trip more like a wandering nomad with only a general sense of driving west or east today, north or south tomorrow. It went against every grain of Type A personality planning that I have carried around since birth. This was not easy...at all. I find comfort and security in plans. I know what I'm doing. I don't have to worry about what might happen if... I decided to do it because someone I admire a lot used to travel that way. That person was Ernst Haas. He talked about it in his film documentary "To Dream With Eyes Wide Open":

I was always accused of not knowing where I am going and what I'm doing. This is really true because there is an element of surprise which for me is very, very important.

You're open, you let it happen.

The things going to happen to you which never happen to anybody who has over-researched. He comes like a banker, you know, he has an account somewhere. But if you go without plan, this for me is what we will call chance and in this chance you create your order.

©Ernst Haas and Media Loft, 1980. Videocassette.

Could this really be true, I wondered? Had I been behaving like a banker my whole life and worse yet, on my photography trips? Taking out every ounce of creativity as I marched through my itineraries, checking off my to-do list one by one?

I decided to put my trust in Ernst Haas. Just once. I took comfort knowing that if it didn't work, I wouldn't do it again. I knew where I was sleeping at night and that was it. I let the car do the driving and if something piqued my curiosity I explored it, letting myself be available to any whim that arose. From the very first photo of my trip, it lead me to off the beaten track places like this:

to the very last photo of my trip:

Was it successful? I don't know, but I felt like this method of travel worked out very good for me and I will definitely try it again. On repeated occasions I remember thinking how lucky I was and being grateful for every moment I had and working like crazy before the clock ran out of time.

I hope you enjoyed this blog and I thank you very much for coming by. As you may have noticed I am test driving a new logo. Comments are open so feel free to let me know your thoughts. Thank you!

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Going Up North: A Video

10/13/2013

I made a trip up north last week to focus on the fall colors and my landscape work. This is where my passion in photography truly resides and it is ironic how much time I spend doing everything but landscape photography. When I get around to it, it feels like coming home. Once I shake off the city armor that a lot of us urban types don, and it takes a good day or two, life becomes in sharper focus, the questions change and little concerns seem to melt away. Everything feels right.

I have lots of work to process and share, but while I was there, I made a point to make some videos for this blog. It occurred to me that while I can talk about how great a waterfall is, it is different to *HEAR* the waterfall too. I can talk about the roar but you will understand so much better if you hear it yourself. Can you feel the misty spray of water on your face and arms, so fine you can't see it but you feel it's presence?

[note: these are HD videos. Depending on internet speed, it may be best to let them load before pressing play.]

Here is a video of the waves coming in and out of Lake Superior one morning. Please enjoy a 43 second power vacation.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you will come back again soon.

Happy Halloween

2/7/2013

Originally published Oct. 29, 2011

Minnesotans are enjoying some mild weather with days in the low 50s and lows in the 30s. While many of the poplars and birch dropped their leaves a couple weeks ago, some trees are just now displaying their color.

The area I live in has a forest of red and white oaks and there are lots of deep reds and rusts in the trees right now. Some maples have started to turn their brilliant oranges, yellows and reds.

Looking out my window I am captivated by the show of those colors against the October blue sky or the occasional steely gray sky that rolls through. I find myself wishing I could transfer those colors into a room in my house so I could enjoy them all year long.

I never really think too much about the color gray because it, well it reminds me of November and the relentlessly gray skies that hang around. But seeing the gray sky or the gray rocks of the north shore of Lake Superior against the rust or orange leaves of Oak or Maple or the deep reds or even yellows is really beautiful. I could enjoy a fireplace of gray stones surrounded by orange, yellow, red, or rust decor. What do you think?

The Itinerant Photographer

Going Up North: A Video

Happy Halloween

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