Well, my week long photo excursion is over, and I had a blast.
Did some shooting in Shenandoah and Grayson Highlands before heading
down to Grandfather Mt., shooting some ladyslippers I'd found in
addition to the ponies. Spent some time on back roads shooting barns and
farmland. Ate some bad food.
Grandfather is a great place to shoot. If you can get there, you should
definitely check it out. You could incorporate it into a trip down the
Blue Ridge Parkway, or spend several days in the area. If you get there,
go to the lunch room and have the BBQ sandwich and the vegetable soup.
Admire the stamina of the cinnamon bear. Stand on top of McCrae Peak in
80 mph wind.
Pulled in Wednesday, and I was the first one there, so I tooled around
and saw what I could see. Doug showed up a few hours later, then, I
think, Tony Sweet. Around sunset we headed up towards the top for some
pics.
I'm telling you, if you haven't ever hung out and shot with good
photographers, you should. Just being around these guys is highly
motivating and instructional.
After that, we headed back down, but found that jeepgirl hadn't shown up
yet. We were a bit concerned since the gates were locked, so I tried
calling the number she had given me. Turned out to be her Mom. Mom and I
had a little talk, and I found out she wasn't due until the next day.
Mom said I was pretty polite, as internet stalkers go.
At some point Bill Owens showed up with his charming wife Phyllis. He
gave me a beer, so we're friends for life.
So the next day rolled around, and Bill took us to a stream he knew
about. We shot for a while...I think someone may have fallen in. Luckily
the borrowed MZ-S and FA 400/5.6 didn't get wet...
At that point, I had a BBQ sandwich.
Jeepgirl showed up that night safe and semi-sound. She brought her
cousin Jessica, and a bunch of us hung out and talked about this and
that. A good time was had.
The next day we got up at 4:45...I dragged jeepgirl and Jessie up the
mountain to try and get some sunrise shots, but it was so foggy you
couldn't see more then about 10 feet. So we found Doug and another
friend and headed down to McDonalds. Again, more talking, and before we
knew it 3 hours had passed. Everyone seemed to click, and enjoyed each
other's company. Or maybe it was just those delicious McMuffins casting
their spell. I don't know.
About this time the photography weekend proper was about to start, so we
headed back, got Jeepgirl and Jessie registered (I didn't enter the
contest since I was helping) and went out to shoot. I had it in mind a
PDMLer should win, so I served as Jeepgirl and Jessie's personal coach.
We ran here and there, and they didn't seem too irritated to have me
along, though that could be because I have a fisheye.
At that point, I had another BBQ sandwich.
That night (Friday) Doug gave his talk. He's a good speaker, and has a
bunch of nice stuff we haven't seem here on the PDML before. He also
made a point to be extra thankful for the PDMLers that showed
up...Jeepgirl and I wept openly. I think Bill may have actually sobbed
out loud. Everyone was impressed and proud. Doug's a good guy, and a
good photographer.
His hair looked great, btw.
Let's see...we went back to camp after that, hung out for a bit, drank
some of Bill's beer and went to sleep. Jessie forgot to tell us she's
only 19, so the NC police (pronounced pO-lice) may be looking for me for
alcohol violations.
The next day I had gate duty at 0-dark-thirty. I opened the entry gate,
and decided to open the exit gate just in case someone needed to leave.
Everyone ignored me and drove in through the exit gate. I cursed them.
Jeepgirl showed up for a minute to beg for a lens.
When gate duty was over, Jeepgirl found me and we headed out again. They
each had about 10 frames left for the contest, so we chased the fog
around, trying to get some of those "god-rays" on film.
It was time for a BBQ sandwich, so I had one. Or 2.
2 o'clock rolled around, and it was time to hand the film in. We crossed
our fingers and placed the film in the box. What anxiety! I needed a BBQ
sandwich.
That night Tony Sweet gave his lecture. He's the man.
http://www.tonysweetphotography.com/
That was the night we took the lighthouse pictures, plus a PDML group
photo. I might have that ready tomorrow. You'll have to wait for
jeepgirl to get back to see the lighthouse pics.
The next morning the film came back, Doug and Tony judged them, and
Jessie got an honorable mention. Jeepgirl got robbed, so I let the air
out of Doug's tires and I did some more cursing.
The winning photos were very impressive.
At that point, the weekend was over, more or less. Hugs and kisses,
buh-bye.
I have to admit that on the way down, I felt just a twinge of
trepidation. What if Doug turned out to be an anti-social geek? What if
Jeepgirl was really jeep-dirty-old-chatroom-trolling-dude? What if Bill
Owens was one of those southern guys who make their own alcoh...uh,
nevermind. Anyway, you never know what'll happen when you meet people
offline for the first time. Turns out that they, and Mark Roberts and
John DeLoach, who I unfortunately only met briefly, are fine folks, and
the camaraderie we sometimes enjoy on the PDML managed to survive in the
"real" world. It was really a great experience, and if you can pencil
yourself in for next year, do it now.
Later.
tv
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