I didn't realize John Sessoms was there and regret not getting to meet him.
Bill On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 7:28 PM, Mark Roberts <[email protected]> wrote: > OK, another year and another GFM Nature Photography Weekend has passed into > the history books. Words cannot describe how exhausted I am now. I'm now at > my friends' place in nearby Ashe county having a beer after a sound > afternoon nap. > > I think this was the best, smoothest running GFM ever. It certainly bodes > well for the future as founder Don Nelson reduces his involvement with the > event and Doug Brewer and I take over more of the management role. (We're > already scheming about 2012.) The 10th anniversary of the original PDML > meet-up at Grandfather Mountain had a smaller PDML turnout than usual, but > fully 50% of the original 6 from ten years ago were present: Myself, Doug > Brewer and Bill Owens. I really must apologize to John Sessoms and Ted > Beilby for not being able to spend more time with them during the weekend. I > always want to take advantage of the rare opportunities to meet with PDML > members in person when the opportunity arises but this event is a major time > sink. > > On Saturday I did my annual photography hike, again on the Profile Trail, > but this year had only Pentax shooter and occasional PDML lurker John Weber > for company. None the less, our trek yielded some good photos for me and a > *prize-winner* for John. Not bad, all things considered. > > John and I also hatched a scheme to take advantage of the unusually clear > weather to try to get sunrise photos from the Cragway Trail on Sunday > morning. This trail has stunning views but is usually socked-in with fog in > the morning (Doug and I tried a pre-dawn photo expedition there a couple of > years ago and enjoyed 50-yard visibility during sunrise). We planned a 4:30 > AM departure, which seemed reasonable at the time. We soon found an extra 4 > people added to the expedition. We were up at 4:15 an on the trail only > slightly later than planned (due to the extra difficulty of coordinating the > larger group) but made our way to the spot called Top Crag View by 5:50 > after an aggressively-paced hike up the trail. Hiking difficult trails by > the light of headlamps in pitch darkness is an acquired taste. Despite the > unusual lack of fog, sunrise was obscured by a bank of clouds on the eastern > horizon, but there were some fairly good photographs to be had and everyone > enjoyed the hike. Still, the early start made for a long day... > > Photo contest judging and awards preparation were completed ahead of > schedule(!) and the contest entries were some of the best ever. I think the > "Doug and Mark Show" was one of the best ever, too. It really helps when > you're prepared and relaxed. Amazing, huh? > > But the 4:15 AM start made for a long day and even with an afternoon nap I'm > fading now. I've backed up all my SD and CF cards onto the laptop and I'm > going to quit "work" for the day and relax. I still have two presentations > to prepare for later in the week but for now I'm just going to chill a bit. > I'll have photos and more videos on line soon. > > Good night all. > > > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and > follow the directions. > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
