Palouse Sunset - from Steptoe Butte - my THIRD frame of the tour!
Before I begin a series on my Palouse shots, I thought I'd spend one day's post describing what it was like to join a Photo Tour led by a couple of pro's.
This was the fourth workshop I have signed up for. Two were one day affairs, and two others multi-day, like this one (four full days, plus an evening and morning). Two of my previous ones were complete busts, a waste of time and money. So I was a bit jaded. But having developed an on-line friendship with fellow blogger John Barclay, I had high hopes for this one.
And as you will find out below, and in upcoming posts, my expectations were exceeded by quite a wide margin.
We had a designated hotel in Colfax, WA, the center of the Palouse area (Wheatland Inn, which I highly recommend, here's a link to it on Trip Advisor.) The first thing we did was gather in their comfy conference room for introductions, a preview of the week, the do's and don'ts, and a couple of slide shows (yes, John brings a nice digital projector). One show were pictures he and his Tour partner Dan Sniffin had taken in the Palouse, to get is revved up.
The other show was 10 images that each participant had brought, so we could see the kind of work we all had been doing. I was really blown away, there was not a bad image in the bunch. This is a very talented group of people. And it emerged that I was the only newbie. Everyone else had participated with these tour leaders before. When I introduced myself several people commented that they were readers of this blog, which was encouraging.
After this promising meeting, we were off to our evening shoot. Which was quite productive, including the above image which no joke is the third frame I took. Upon arriving John admonished those of us shooting telephotos to use mirror lockup and cable releases. I had to admit I had never used mirror lockup. Well, I will in the future as I believe you really can see the difference. First thing I learned on this tour!
So click on the continue link for a bunch more images and a "tour of the tour!"
Here is what it looks like when you get more than a dozen photographers together! This was kind of rare that everyone gathered in one spot. This particular shot involved lining up a couple of barns, so hence the tightness.
During the intro meeting, John and Dan decreed that there would always be at least 3 people per vehicle. There's just not enough room in most of the locations to have 10 cars pulled over. So this was great for me as I was quickly assimilated into the group. Two guys who traveled together to the Palouse would ride with me in my SUV (making getting in/out and working with our gear much easier).
John Barclay
When you ask a 6'6" guy to squeeze into an old junk truck to model for you, and he leaps in, not even thinking twice, you know you have a tour leader and friend that will do anything for you. I found that both John and Dan were there for whatever we needed, as much assistance, or as little, as required.
Dan Sniffin and participant Cathy
You might be wondering what is the difference between a tour and a workshop? Here you see Dan shooting. He and John would often be shooting. With this group, there wasn't actually a lot of instruction required. Everyone is an accomplished photographer with good gear and the knowledge to use it. Their role was to scout interesting locations and get us to as many as possible, in the right light. Basically, they handled all the logistics. We followed and shot. Which turned out to suit me very well.
Left on my own, I would have spent a lot of time with maps, looking online and so on. I would have probably passed by a lot of locations with promise because of being a rookie in the area. Dan has been here the past six years in a row.
I'm shooting Joe and Ellery, Joe is shooting Ellery, all in good fun.
We were also encouraged to create our own detours whenever we liked. As we would arrive at a particular location, they would announce how long we had, and where we were going next. If this location didn't appeal, or perhaps we didn't need that long, we could wander off on our own. In the above image, my travel-mates Joe and Ellery and I went about 15 miles down the road to this old grain mill.
We had FRS radios to communicate with all the vehicles.
Dinner at Swillys.
Dan is an excellent photographer, but has another skill that had equal importance on our tour: food logistics! Dan organized each food stop, and they were all excellent. He would coordinate these with our shooting location so that we arrived with minimal driving and as close to normal mealtimes as possible. And we didn't just walk in as 14 people to some hostess with her jaw hitting the floor. They all knew we were coming, had tables set up, and didn't mind our requirement for separate checks.
I have heard about other workshops where the leader(s) are so focused on everyone getting every shot possible that eating regularly is an afterthought. That would not work for me. I need a break. I enjoy sitting for a bit and relaxing. These towns are very small, yet Dan had worked out nice places in each one. Every one was not as fancy as above, but all were delicious and the staff very courteous.
Sometimes the other diners were interested in what we were up to. After the dinner above, a gentleman stopped me and suggested an area he had seen. Joe, Ellery and I headed there and we ended up with several images we like a lot.
Oh, if you must know, above we have chipotle-sage rubbed pork tenderloin, on a bed of smashed yukon gold taters and baby bok choy, with vanilla-fix sauce. Every bit as good as it looks.
But anyway, back to shooting, shall we? Here we have the ever fun Barbara Kile. She knew my work we had commented on each others' blog before meeting. And therein lies the real secret to the tour the group and the tour leaders: the people.
I was taken to a lot of great locations, and I got a lot of wonderful images. Score! But what I didn't expect was meeting so many great people and making wonderful new friends. Really, every person was interesting, fun to get to know, and a joy to shoot with.
Dan will even help you out on a cold morning.
At every shooting location, if you want to get off and do you own thing, have at it. It's all good.
Happy Barclay-Sniffin Tour Participants!
Above you see us in one of the amazing locations our tour leaders took us to, bundled up for a light rain. With their extensive experience and connections in the area, they were able to tailor our shooting locations based on the weather. Besides the typical Palouse landscapes, they had an "ala carte menu" of historic and other interesting locations we selected from.
Not only had all of the people above gone on Tours/Workshops together previously, many of them have gotten together on their own for shooting expeditions, parties and such. A group even organized themselves to go to China! My travel buddy Joe had just returned from Tibet with a couple other participants.
Truly a special group of people and I feel honored to join their ranks. Can't wait until the next time we get together for shooting. Or whatever!
Looking back...
I shot the above image shortly after returning to California on I-80. That's Mt shasta in the rear view mirror. At that moment, I was talking on the cell to my daughter as it was Father's day. But I couldn't resist this shot!
When I wasn't otherwise occupied on my drive home, I was reminiscing about the experience. Looking back, I'm pleased in every way. First of all, had I not started this blog, I wouldn't have met JB in the first place. So my little daily blog here has made a difference in my life. With the tour itself, photographically I certainly got my time and money's worth out of it. And then some. And as you have no doubt picked up from today's story, the people were a huge added bonus.
To my new friends: John, Dan, Felice, Jan, Tom, Barbara, Phil, Grace, Joe, Xiao Wei, Ellery, Stan, Evie, Cathy, Michel, and Milbren - it was great meeting each one of you and spending time with you. I really look forward to seeing you all again, hopefully soon. If you are in Northern California, I hope you'll contact me!
For my readers, I'm going to give a 5 star endorsement of the Dan/John Tours. Here is a link to the Tour/Workshop page of John's website.
