Your Favorite Place

Make no mistake about it: I love hanging out with photographers and talking about photography. There are always comments and questions. "Where have you shot recently?" "Where did you shoot that image?" "What lenses do you carry in your kit?" Stuff like that. Pretty innocuous for the most part right? But without fail there is always one question that starts the hamsters jogging on the wheels in my mind.

Last night I attended the Annual Shindig of Rocky Mountain Nature Photographers and had a great time. Good food, good beer (thanks Aleks) good conversation, and great photography speak. I saw some folks I hadn't seen since I left the photography biz 10 years ago and plunged into Corporate America, and connected with some new friends that I'd previously only known from reading their posts on the RMNP forum. I can definitely say that all were had by a good time.

But there I was, having a conversation with Richie V's lovely wife Veronica. We were talking about how we'd met in 2007 at Morraine Lake in Banff, Alberta, Canada. Small world, eh, when 3 people that live about 5 miles apart in Colorado have to get together in the mountains of Canada? We talked about trips I'd taken recently and trips Richie and Veronica had been on and she asked THE QUESTION!

"What's your favorite place to shoot?"

Wow....talk about thought provoking. Of course I came back with a smartass reply of "the next place I visit" but it did start me thinking about some of the places I've been fortunate enough to see with my cameras recently. Let's see....I could probably list 50 spots that I love to photograph but that would take all day and you'd all get bored before the end of the blog. But I could probably list the 4 top candidates for my favorite places to shoot.

The Pacific Northwest: I've been to the Northwest and Canada quite a few times recently. The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in April has drawn me back repeatedly for the abundance of colorful photos and I've had some great photo days on Vancouver Island and on the BC mainland. I still need to photograph the Palouse region of Washington and the rain forest on the Olympic Penninsula. And I've never spent any time shooting on the Pacific coast of Washington and Oregon so the future trip possibilities are numerous. Yep, this is definitely a favorite.

New Mexico: Since Heather started going to school at ENMU in Roswell I've had the chance to photograph at White Sands, Taos, Santa Fe, and most recently, Bosque Del Apache. I'm in the planning stages of a trip to Bisti Badlands with Richie V in April and there are many more photos to be had at the places mentioned earlier. Another favorite.

Yellowstone: I love watching wildlife and Yellowstone is the American Serengeti. Undoubtedly the best place I've ever seen to view wildlife up to and including grizzly bears and wolves. There are also some wonderful memories there since it was the first National Park I visited with my parents back in the mid 60's. I made a shooting trip to Yellowstone in 2007 and came back with some great images but there are still many more to be had. I'm planning a pre-graduation trip there with Heather in May. She's been asking me to take her there and this seems to be an appropriate time. No way Yellowstone and Grand Teton aren't on my list of favorites.

Moab and Southeast Utah. I was there last in September 2009 for an 8 day shooting trip and it only served to reinforce how much I love photographing this part of the country. I could make 100 trips to this region and still not get all the images I'd like. Undoubtedly a favorite.

That's 4 and there are so many more. Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, anywhere in Colorado, and I'm even considering traveling to the Ozarks this fall for changing leaves. Where does it stop? More importantly, how do I choose just one? It's impossible!

So I guess my answer to Veronica wasn't so flip and smartass after all. My favorite place to shoot just may be the next place I visit. How bout you?