Thelma and Louise, Bonnie and Clyde

ivar

I love traveling and what can be better than taking a road-trip, with an awesome friend?

I've recently been to the United States and did some non-work related traveling; a road-trip! I had the pleasure of having the very lovely and talented Schmoo as my road-trip partner :clap

It started with the Dgrin Shootout, actually. I've wanted to be part of one for a very long time and this year it was finally going to happen! I had signed up, paid the deposit and got some time off from work. Since Arches National Park is a bit of a bicycle-ride away for me, I decided to take some extra time off from work and do some traveling before the actual shootout. Schmoo doesn't have a problem with traveling either and at some point (I'm not even sure what point or how it happened exactly; it was just 'there' all of a sudden ) we agreed to take a road-trip together. Sort of like Thelma & Louise, except for the fact that we are a boy&girl, didn't have a gun and that we didn't drive of a cliff in the end. (Actually, one of us hasn't even seen that movie yet. I won't tell you who it is, but it's not me :lol3)

Tickets were booked, cars were rented, and hotels were reserved.


The general idea/route.
Initially we both flew in to San Jose (California). We stayed in the Bay area for a few days, then moving south towards San Luis Obispo (California). From there, we'd go east/north towards our interim destination Salt Lake City (Utah). From there, the final destination, Moab to meet up with the other shoot-outters After the shootout, Schmoo was going back home, and I was going to Florida to visit some friends.

A picture says more than a thousand words:

The markers you see are just some places we stopped, definitely not all

The images that are used in this thread, are a mix of images shot by my Canon 30d, an IR converted Rebel XT/350d, an iPhone and a Canon G9. Also, some photos are clickable and bring you to a (bigger) lightbox version.


The first day we visited SmugMug headquarters, I had actually never been there before.
I was in luck, since quite a few Smuggers were around that day, so I got to meet a lot of them. (Later in Moab, I met some of the other ones, too.) They were all very awesome, actually.

Baldy's quest for the perfect pano of San Francisco was ongoing and at some point it was decided that the three of us would give it a shot (lame pun intended :lol3). We headed up to SF, and found a spot:

This is a 6-shot Panorama of San Francisco:


Later, we also found another spot. Baldy suggested it was great for getting a shot of the Bay Bridge, but by the time we made it there, it was actually quite foggy:


Baldy showed us around San Francisco a bit more, we took a few night-shots and then we headed back.

The next day, Schmoo and me went back to San Francisco to do some day-shooting and meet up with one of her friends.

Before we met up with her, we visited Chinatown; Of course, a shot of one of the many trams had to be done


People sitting around, reading papers of which I didn't understand anything :scratch. It might as well have been Chinese :dunno


We walked around a bit, had some sushi in the 'floating boat sushi restaurant' (When in Rome....) and took some photos. There was this one multi-story store that sold all sorts of Chinese things and a lot of them. The basement had a lot of Sake and tea bottles/kettles and glasses:


Across the street, another store; This 'cashier' was sitting on the counter and couldn't be bothered by anything happening around him (her?).


We also saw some decoration on the walls. I'm not sure exactly what it was about, but it looks interesting:


More reasons to be very happy and excited; I got my hands on an IR camera :smo
This is San Francisco with the bay and the Palace of Fine arts in the distance on the left:


I've never seen signs like this, and I had never seen Alcatraz either:


San Francisco has a wave organ, too.


At the wave organ, I also photographed Schmoo:


After the Bay area, we drove South, towards San Luis Obispo.
There was a hotel there which apparently is pretty famous, for the type of rooms they have. They are all.... different. In every way you can think of.

One of the most obvious 'different' things, was this dining room :lol3


I liked the shadows of the deck:


This was one of the staircases. It reminds me of "What's behind door number 1?!"


Breakfast time! This was shot in a mirror. Every room was 'special'; This whole room was filled with copper chairs and tables, flowery carpet and other things:


We visited the city of San Luis Obispo to have food, and have a look around. We found an old mission, at least that is what the sign said :lol

Around the mission there were white trees, almost looking like elephants' legs; There also was an interesting, citrussy, smell there. This is Schmoo, trying to figure out if the smell came from the trees:


Back in the hotel, I noticed a penny-machine. I also saw this sign, which was funny to me; I could just see a whole line in front of the machine, someone discovering this sign, and then a stampede of half the line to the other machine :lol3


The next day, we drove on, passing the Mojave desert.
Along the road, there were tons of windmills. We have quite a few of them in the Netherlands, but I've never seen this many together really.
We stopped on the side of the road to take a few shots and record a small movie clip.


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We stopped in Mojave, too. It excited my very much, because of the fact that Scaled Composites is located there (not that I saw them :lol3).
Scaled Composites is an aerospace and composites company. They played a big part in developing Spaceship One. They have a lot to do with other interesting air/space-crafts. Maybe they need a test-pilot?

The Chamber of Commerce even had a big sign of one of their ventures on the building



Driving on! Along the US 58, somewhere, this farm:


And later on that same road, another IR shot of the US58 itself.


More driving!!! We stopped in Las Vegas, but Las Vegas didn't like us :wxwax
We tried to find the strip, I got a sign of what is probably the most tacky store in Vegas and we had some dinner, before we moved on.


We actually stayed the night in Mesquite, NV;

The next day we drove on to Salt Lake City, but not without making some stops on the way.

We got very close to Zion National park, so how could we not stop there?
We made the mistake of going in to the park by car; You can only park your car in the beginning, after which a shuttle takes you around. Too bad there was no parking space anymore, though :wxwax We must have been looking for one for about 45 minutes? Just by the time we decided we were going to leave, a spot opened up! I guess all we need to is threaten;



More to come, later!

coldclimb

ivar wrote:

We got very close to Zion National park, so how could we not stop there?
We made the mistake of going in to the park by car; You can only park your car in the beginning, after which a shuttle takes you around. Too bad there was no parking space anymore, though We must have been looking for one for about 45 minutes? Just by the time we decided we were going to leave, a spot opened up! I guess all we need to is threaten

More to come, later!

We used our battering ram to nudge our way into some bushes and park in Zion. Nice pictures Ivar, looking forward to seeing more!

Ann McRae

Love the deck and staircase shots - great perspective and color.

I am also looking at your SF shots for ideas for my December trip!

Looking forward to more.

ann

Cuong

Fantastic photos and story, especially the fisheye and IR shots.

Cuong

Tango

very cool, i love the US58 road shot.

DavidTO

Nice summary of what looks like a great trip!

Oh, and nice shots, too!

I like the off-kilter b/w road shot. Oh, and aside from the camera in her face, that's a mighty cute (intentional use of the word for Schmoo's sake) shot of Schmoo!

Dee

I like the map! Looks like you had a great time.

grimace

I really like the IR shot of SF. Well done.

schmoo

DavidTO wrote:

I like the off-kilter b/w road shot. Oh, and aside from the camera in her face, that's a mighty cute (intentional use of the word for Schmoo's sake) shot of Schmoo!

We totally should have done what John and crew did to find parking at Zion. Why didn't we think of that after 30 minutes of circling?

Man, what I wouldn't give to be on the road again, Thelma. Photos don't do the experience justice! But you're giving it a real run for the money. I really can't wait to see what else you've got up your sleeve.

ivar

Thanks for the compliments so far, guys! I agree Schmoo, this thread doesn't do the actual trip justice. But it's still fun to relive it

ivar

Here is a little more:


After we visited Zion National Park, we stopped in a little place in Springdale to get some food. Besides food, they also do drinks. HUGE drinks, like ice tea:


After some food, we drove on again. This is our car, around sunset:
(I think Chronologically, this actually goes before Vegas, but I forgot about it earlier )


And we thought WE had a lot of crap with us....


We arrived at Salt Lake City (close enough, anyway ). We were staying with someone who lived up a little higher, and from the end of the street, Salt Lake City could be seen.
We tried to shoot Salt Lake City by night; I'm not sure about Schmoo, but my attempts failed miserably. This was our spot, Schmoo and some of our gear:




Onwards! To the Dgrin Shootout '08! (Moab/Arches National Park area)
The first spot we visited was 'Delicate Arch'.We were not alone; Photographers were all over the place;

Some (Andy) had the tendency to get in front shots and then say "Is this annoying?"


Other photographers (Ian408) were found, sort of cocooning on the ground:


Did I mention we weren't the only ones?


The sunset was gorgeous, and a lot of people were enjoying it:


After Sunset, most people left. We stayed around for a little bit.


And, I had my first try at Startrails! :smo


We also visited Dead Horse Point: (also posted here)


Chip 'n' Dale made their appearance at Dead Horse Point were since the goal of a Coldclimb and Prezwoodz' (photographic) hunt (which was successful, too):


The same two guys, together with 3 others, decided to, well, basically jump in to a big whole in the ground:


I think it was Jess who dared Tracy to play the "can you eat 7 saltines in one minute?"-game. She didn't win:


Jess is reconsidering before her first jump:


Richard, on the other hand, is totally ready:


Near Landscape Arch:


Again, there always seem to be other photographers in the way of shots
This is the sunrise at Landscape Arch:


The last day;
Again: and we thought WE had a lot of crap with us....
You may have seen shots of their car in other threads, but I still wanted to record this as it was just too funny (and impressive at the same time) to see


Tea! This was shot with my G9, during our last real breakfast together, at 'the love muffin' (where they didn't know the difference between vegan and vegetarian).
For two people who drink a lot of tea, we sure didn't drink a lot of tea during our trip, even though we carried several pounds of it, at least. On most days it was even limited to one cup a day BUT we got to have some nice tea, here:


It started with Schmoo photographing Baldy, when we went shooting with him in San Francisco. Later, I was the target, and now I got Schmoo The funny thing is, we kept cleaning the windows, but only the right side of the car, since that was the non-driver's seat, and (s)he could take pictures


After the shootout, we drove back to Salt Lake City; Sadly it was the last day that I would have my road-trip partner around

My last shot of Schmoo; I shot this at high ISO, at the airport. I actually kind of liked the noise in it, so I added some more:


After our trip, Schmoo went back home, and I continued my journey (not by car ) to Naples, Florida.
I have lived in there for several years and I wanted to go back to visit some old friends.

One of my friends gave birth to twins almost 5 weeks prior to me visiting;
Meet Ella:


and Jack:


Finally, one last IR shot of one of my favorite places in the world, downtown Naples, Florida:

Tentacion

I know I'm wierd perhaps in what I like....But I LOVE that shot of the Bay Bridge.

Besides that, I loved all your shots....your capture of memories is Mahvalous!!

coldclimb

Oooh, wow, awesome stuff Ivar! Thanks again for sharing, I'm loving seeing everyone's different perspectives of the same event.

schmoo

I love your take on things! And you already know how I feel about it but I have to tell the world just how awesome this shot really is to me, and I'll do it by getting publicly gratuitous with the smilies:



lustlust clapclap bowbow

Your photography is, as always, such a great collection of candids captured at the most precise, perfect moments, just when things are looking their best. That's not something that comes easily!

Thanks for preserving such a great two weeks so well.







(You missed a spot on the Rebel sensor, btw )

ian408

schmoo wrote:

I love your take on things! And you already know how I feel about it but I have to tell the world just how awesome this shot really is to me, and I'll do it by getting publicly gratuitous with the smilies:

I was thinking the same thing. For a place so crowded, this is awesome.

Awais Yaqub

Ivar !
Amazing photos man loved them

leaforte

A nice collection of Schmootography! An insight for sure.

PS: Nice essay.

RogersDA

This has got to be one of the most fun journey threads I've read. Coolness to you and Schmoo for doing that and sharing the images.

roentarre

You have such a stunning journey. The photographs are like a diary. Wow!

cunarder534

Excellent journey. Loved all of them.

ivar

Tentacion wrote:

I know I'm wierd perhaps in what I like....But I LOVE that shot of the Bay Bridge.

Besides that, I loved all your shots....your capture of memories is Mahvalous!!

Thanks so much! It's not that weird, is it? I just had the bay bridge printed, at 20x20 and it looks great!

ivar

coldclimb wrote:

Oooh, wow, awesome stuff Ivar! Thanks again for sharing, I'm loving seeing everyone's different perspectives of the same event.

Thanks! I have some more shots from/for you and the rest of the alaskan gang soon

ivar

schmoo wrote:

I love your take on things! And you already know how I feel about it but I have to tell the world just how awesome this shot really is to me, and I'll do it by getting publicly gratuitous with the smilies:



lustlust clapclap bowbow

Your photography is, as always, such a great collection of candids captured at the most precise, perfect moments, just when things are looking their best. That's not something that comes easily!

Thanks for preserving such a great two weeks so well. [/SIZE]

Thank you so much, my dear. I had that one printed, also, 20x30 and it too looks great

See you next week!

ivar

ian408 wrote:

I was thinking the same thing. For a place so crowded, this is awesome.

Thanks man, I appreciate it. It's one of my favorite pics from the trip too, actually.

ivar

Awais Yaqub wrote:

Ivar !
Amazing photos man loved them

Thanks Awais! that means a lot coming from you

ivar

leaforte wrote:

A nice collection of Schmootography! An insight for sure.

Thanks!

ivar

RogersDA wrote:

This has got to be one of the most fun journey threads I've read. Coolness to you and Schmoo for doing that and sharing the images.

Woah, thanks so much! I appreciate it!

ivar

roentarre wrote:

You have such a stunning journey. The photographs are like a diary. Wow!

Thanks, I did have an AWESOME journey actually, I still think back about it a lot.

ivar

cunarder534 wrote:

Excellent journey. Loved all of them.

Thanks so much! I'm glad I'm not the only one enjoying the images