4th Annual SmugMug / Dgrin Shootout -- Arches National Park October 2008

Andy

The moment that you all have been waiting for is here: our official announcement for the SmugMug / Dgrin shootout '08!

We'll be going to Utah, to Arches National Park, Canyonlands, Deadhorse Point and the Moab area.

Dates: October 8-11, 2008 (checkout Oct 12th!)

Lodging: Red Cliffs Lodge - a superb resort, on the Colorado River just a few miles out of Moab. It's a beautiful resort, gorgeous rooms, and a great restaurant - plus they have their own vineyard :1drink

Pros: Marc Muench, Dave Porter, and Andy Williams, will return to instruct, guide and lead our expedition.

Food: SmugMug will be hosting a banquet dinner on Friday night, the rest of your food is taken care of individually.

Group: Limited to up to 60 people. First come (i.e. paid!), first served.

Activities: Shooting at Arches NP, Canyonlands, Deadhorse, Moab, heck you can even go river rafting, horse back riding, and Jeep trailing if you like! Special Activity!: Kelsey Gray and John Borland will be attending the shootout... If you don't know, this area is one of the premier climbing spots in North America. John and Kelsey are our favorite photographer/climbers and would love to get together with other so inclined dgrinners to share their climbing and slacklining adventures. You've seen their awesome pics, now it's YOUR chance to get a little taste of what they do. You can get all the details, ask any questions or just talk about these plans in this thread.

Travel: Fly to Grand Junction, or other nearby cities and then drive to Moab. We will be arranging for shared rides and rental cars, and participants will be splitting the cost of rentals/fuel. There will be information threads posted on travel and cars as the Shootout draws nearer.

Cost/Payments: There is no fee for the tuition or attendance of the shootout and workshop! SmugMug picks up the cost of the pros who are leading the workshop. Attendees pay their own way, and pay for the lodging and meals. The exact lodging costs are still to be determined. The range in room prices is due to the different accommodations we have.

Here are the room descriptions for the Shootout:

King River Suites: (we have 13 of these reserved)
Each room has one King bed with log furniture that steps down into the dining area which includes dining table and chairs, refrigerator, coffee maker, microwave, sink and queen size sofa bed. Each room includes a private patio which faces the Colorado River. Amenities include, Direct TV, phones, DSL internet connections, hair dryer, Iron & board, robes and Bath & Body lotions, soaps and shampoo. (Maximum 4 persons) Rate: $199.95 for 2 people.

Queen/Queen Creekside Suites: (We have 6 of these reserved)
Each room has two Queen beds with log furniture that steps down into the dining area which includes dining table and chairs, refrigerator, coffee maker, microwave, sink and queen size sofa bed. Each room includes a private patio which faces the Castle Creek. Amenities include, Direct TV, phones, DSL internet connections, hair dryer, iron & board, robes and Bath & Body lotions, soaps and shampoo. (Maximum 6 persons) Rate: $199.95 for 1 or 2 persons

Queen/Queen River Cabin Suites: (we have 17 of these reserved)
Each cabin suite has two Queen bedrooms with log furniture and shared bathroom. Bath includes whirlpool tub and tiled vanity area along with robes, hair dryer, iron & board, Bath & Body lotions and soaps. The living room area boast a central located fireplace & TV as well as queen size sofa bed. The cabin kitchenette has dining table and chairs, refrigerator, coffee maker, microwave and sink. Each cabin includes a private patio which faces White Rapids on the Colorado River. Amenities include, Direct TV, phones, DSL internet connections, hair dryer, Iron & board, robes and Bath & Body lotions, soaps and shampoo.
(Maximum 6 persons) Rate: $299.95 for 2 people.

You can take a virtual tour of the rooms, here.

We're going to be handling the finances a little differently this time, as we are only accepting a deposit, there is no final payment made to us. You will pay your balance at the lodge. There are just too many variables to keep track of for everyone. The deposit will be $300, part of which will go to the shared cost of the meeting room for our critiques, after which the balance will be applied to your room. Deposits are non-refundable after July 15, 2008.

Payments are made via Google Checkout, in this gallery.

Sign up: The Shootout is currently full. You can request to be placed on the waiting list, just send an email (no PM's, please!!!) to David Rosenthal (linked in this gallery), and make sure you include your preference for room, if any, who you will be traveling with (if anyone) and if you're interested in the climbing/slacklining. Some of the rooms are more appropriate for couples, others for singles, so please specify.

Questions? Ask them here in this thread! We're fortunate again this year to have David Rosenthal (DavidTO) helping to organize, and put things together. David's going to handle all the reservations, and will be putting up all the informational threads, as the trip draws near. He's your go-to guy for this trip!

The last three trips were completely filled, so get your reservations and deposits in early.


Attendees:
(updated September 23, 2008)

The following people are fully registered for this event (63 people):

Aaron Newman anwmn 1
David Ryan jdryan3 1
Nikolai Sklobovsky Nikolai 1
Tony DeJoie Tonyd 1
Chris Pedersen ChrisP6 1
Doug Quist NorCalDoug 1
Fred Weinert FredW 1
Richard Atkinson Dixie 1
Lee Shepherd bigwebguy 1
Jeremy Olson Digital-Gopher 1
Larry Olson butcho 1
Lars Olson 1
John Borland ColdClimb 1
Kelsey Gray Prezwoodz 1
Leah Peasley catspaw 1
David Parry devbobo 1
Ian Clements ian408 1
Andrew Gorohoff greenpea 2
Mike Iem Iem 2
April Tse aktse 1
Kerry Ellis Llywellyn 1
Clifford Whitmore CliffW 1
Matthew Palmer mANVIL 1
Dave Porter Dave Porter 1
Marc Muench Marc Muench 1
Ivar Borst Ivar 1
Nick Wrzesinski Gluwater 1
Christina Dale Phyxius 1
Maxine Niblock skippy 1
Bill Gerrard beachbill 1
Kevin Bailey stuffjunkie 1
Ken Mucke 1
Brett Coon brettcoon 1
Dean Aceto II cwphotos 1
Eric Crusius esc2476 1
Joel G. kdog 1
Terrence Randell terrence 1
Cuong Nguyen Cuong 2
Dave & Kate Vichich davev, katev 2
Karen Moureaux cpagility 2
Sam and Beth Nichols Shizam, bethy 2
Teresa Torres ttorres33 1
Scott Hair SBH 2
Chris Abbey cabbey 2
Andy Williams Andy 1
Jim and Kathy Pickrell pathfinder, nightinggale 2
Jack Buchanan & Sharon Vaughn Calfee Rider 2
Adam & Kendall Grim Grimace 2
Stephanie and Travis Theune schmoo, zweiblumen 2
Chris Vogt CavalierPhoto 2

Here is the waitlist (30 people):

Don Piele 1
TylerW TylerW 2
Richard Crowe 1
Daniel Thorp 1
Carlos Jaramillo Cjaramillo 1
Dave Shaver 1
Jody McDevitt parhead 1
Robin F. Pimentel Robinp12 2
Roger Pickett 1
Ari Bixhorn 1
Carl Silverstein 1
Bill Pelzmann Pelzmann 1
Chuck Barnes CBarnes 1
Dave Swartz Swarzy 1
Adam Wooley 1
Hank Stoklosa 1
Rob Cunningham 1
Eric Tetens 1
Ralph Adam Fine 1
Marcy Ugstad firelook2 1
Jeremy Brechtold jrbechthold 1
Chris Carney 2
Mike Dege LizardRanch 1
Ed Hughes ehughes 3
Anita Marto 1

UPDATE: WE ARE FULL. If you want to go, email David (no PMs!!!!) and he'll put you on the waiting list.

And finally, here are a few images to whet your appetite for some great shooting!


Photo Credit: Andy Williams



Photo Credit: David Rosenthal



Photo Credit: Andy Williams

---

And some photo threads as they pop up:

- Marc Muench
- Phyxius
- CavalierPhoto
- Dixie
- Greenpea's snapshots thread
- Skippy's IR, 2
- jdryan, 2
- pathfinder
- ivar
- FredW
- Nikolai
- cwphotos
- schmoo

Nikolai

Payment sent! :ivar
This is gonna be FUN!

Nikolai

Question
Can someone (David? Andy?) explain what does this "maximum X people" mean?
I mean, if there is only one King bed in the room, how can it fit 4?
Or it means there are 4 rooms and one shared restroom/bathroom?

I guess we're all a bit sensitive about that after St.Mary's Lodge experience

Andy

In.

schmoo

Pros, Smuggers, AND KELSEY???

DavidTO

Nikolai wrote:

Can someone (David? Andy?) explain what does this "maximum X people" mean?
I mean, if there is only one King bed in the room, how can it fit 4?
Or it means there are 4 rooms and one shared restroom/bathroom?

I guess we're all a bit sensitive about that after St.Mary's Lodge experience

Nik,

That info is lifted directly from the lodge's site. It's really just to give you an idea of the room. There is a King and a Queen sofa sleeper in the room, so what the lodge is telling you is that you can have 4, 2 on the king, 2 on the queen. Make sense?

DougNorCal

Payment sent
I'll be traveling with ChrisP6 again this year and hope to get one more friend to come with us.

Who do we contact if we want to arrive a few days early and have the same room for pre-shoot and shoot?

Don't know yet about the slackline stuff. Too early to see how my back will be.

We would prefer, I suspect, a Queen/Queen River Cabin Suite.

Sorry if this info should have gone someplace else. Still way early in the morning to be thinking straight.

photobanks

This sounds awesome.... shame you do not do something smilar in the UK. Oh well, will have to save up thhe pennies and hopefully come next year!!

Michael

davev

Kate and I are in.

DougNorCal

photobanks wrote:

This sounds awesome.... shame you do not do something smilar in the UK.

I think it would be awesome to do something in Europe. Scottish highlands, Baveria, Swiss Alps, etc. etc.

Where do I sign up?

digitalpins

add me to the list

grimace

We're in too!!

denisegoldberg

I'm in, deposit sent.

That area is a favorite of mine (although I've only been there twice), and having the opportunity to play with some dynamite photographers - well that sounds like a great experience to me.

wholenewlight

I'm in!

Just sent deposit

Terrence

I'm in. Payment sent.

DavidTO

DougNorCal wrote:

I think it would be awesome to do something in Europe. Scottish highlands, Baveria, Swiss Alps, etc. etc.

Where do I sign up?

Stay tuned!

OffTopic

Would it be okay for a non-photographer spouse to tag along? My anniversary is the 10th, so I guess I shouldn't take off on my own, but since this is how we spent our honeymoon, and how we're spending this year's anniversary, I think (hope) he'd be up for it.

ivar

I'm in

DavidTO

ivar wrote:

I'm in

w00T!

The deposits are flying in, much faster than I can process them (life, work, etc. getting in the way). I'll be updating Andy's post with a real list of real deposit paying attendees in the next few days. But this one is filling up fast!

DavidTO

OffTopic wrote:

Would it be okay for a non-photographer spouse to tag along? My anniversary is the 10th, so I guess I shouldn't take off on my own, but since this is how we spent our honeymoon, and how we're spending this year's anniversary, I think (hope) he'd be up for it.

Lori,

I'm concerned about filling up our limited space with non-photographer attendees. That's not a "no", it's a "let's see". If you want to make your deposit now, I have no problem with that. We can talk about this down the line, OK?

Nikolai

DavidTO wrote:

Nik,

That info is lifted directly from the lodge's site. It's really just to give you an idea of the room. There is a King and a Queen sofa sleeper in the room, so what the lodge is telling you is that you can have 4, 2 on the king, 2 on the queen. Make sense?

Ah, ok, got it, thanks!

z_28

OffTopic wrote:

Would it be okay for a non-photographer spouse to tag along? My anniversary is the 10th, so I guess I shouldn't take off on my own, but since this is how we spent our honeymoon, and how we're spending this year's anniversary, I think (hope) he'd be up for it.

Lori,
you got full year to learn your worse half
where is shutter trigger and which part is a lens.
Set camera to Auto or Program and voilà

Happy Moab Anniversary guys

ChrisP6

DougNorCal wrote:

I think it would be awesome to do something in Europe. Scottish highlands, Baveria, Swiss Alps, etc. etc.

Where do I sign up?

I'd be up for something International as well -- partly to support the DGrinners there (e.g. Gus, we could come down-under), and partly to have another excuse to travel.

For now, I'm excited about Moab next year. This'll be a blast!

digital_gopher

deposit sent.

Jeremy

Nikolai

Lori,

OffTopic wrote:

Would it be okay for a non-photographer spouse to tag along? My anniversary is the 10th, so I guess I shouldn't take off on my own, but since this is how we spent our honeymoon, and how we're spending this year's anniversary, I think (hope) he'd be up for it.

Just a fair warning: shootout schedule can be very exhausting (last year in Moab we usually woke up at 3-4am and went to bed around 11pm, that and a long hikes:-), and, for a non-photog, extremely boring and annoying (stopping for "seemingly nothing" 10 times for 10 minutes each over 0.1 mile hike:-).
Proceed at your own risk
That's been said, it's gonna be a great event!

DavidTO

Nikolai wrote:

Ah, ok, got it, thanks!

Let me clarify further: since you're not paying for your lodging up front, only making a deposit towards it, you can opt to save money by letting me know that you want to save money, and I'll put more of you in one room/cabin. Some may more about saving money than their accommodations, some the other way around. If you let me know your preference, I'll do my best to accommodate it.

Make sense?

Awais Yaqub

OMG wow

Nikolai

DavidTO wrote:

Let me clarify further: since you're not paying for your lodging up front, only making a deposit towards it, you can opt to save money by letting me know that you want to save money, and I'll put more of you in one room/cabin. Some may more about saving money than their accommodations, some the other way around. If you let me know your preference, I'll do my best to accommodate it.

Make sense?

Totally! Thanks!

I have just emailed you my prefs :-)

greenpea

payment sent!

I'm in!!!! ivar

DavidTO

Just an FYI to everyone:

Please be patient. There is a lot of work to be done in processing all of these registrations, and what with work, family, etc. I'm just not keeping up. I will be caught up on Saturday, and will make sure that all the details for all who have registered are handled by then. I will also start to keep a list of registrations in the first post.

Thanks for your understanding!

Man, the registrations are just FLYING in!

wholenewlight

DavidTO wrote:

Just an FYI to everyone:

Please be patient. There is a lot of work to be done in processing all of these registrations, and what with work, family, etc. I'm just not keeping up. I will be caught up on Saturday, and will make sure that all the details for all who have registered are handled by then. I will also start to keep a list of registrations in the first post.

Thanks for your understanding!

Man, the registrations are just FLYING in!

No worries from me - thanks for the work!