Travel

FROM THE ROAD; 2017 TRIP TO UTAH

FROM THE ROAD

We have returned home from another trip photographing in Utah. We did come home a couple of days early due to impending winter weather here in Texas. It was near warm out West, while everything from Texas Eastward was in the deep freeze. We did have an excellent trip and we had an amazing time finding new things and making new photographs of some of our favorite places.

Here are a few statistics from this year’s trip:

DAYS ON THE ROAD TOTAL: 29
DAYS IN BRYCE CANYON NP: 3
DAYS IN SPRINGDALE, UT: 16
DAYS IN MOAB, UT: 5
NUMBER OF DAYS PHOTOGRAPHING: 16
SUSAN 4X10 FILM: 87
SUSAN 8X20 FILM: 7
JB 8X10 FILM: 67
JB 11X14 FILM: 12
TOTAL MILES DRIVEN: 3,745

It will take us some time to get the film processed, sorted, filed and proofed. Hopefully we brought back more interesting photographs to print. We invite everyone to follow us on our Web Site, our BLOG and FaceBook. For those of you that traveled with us and followed our ‘FROM THE ROAD’ 2017 emails, thanks for traveling with us! We have gathered all of the emails into a PDF you can view here:

FROM THE ROAD 2017

Hope you enjoyed traveling with us, it is always fun sharing the ‘From the Road’ updates.

JB & Susan

Posted by JB Harlin in Film, Photography, Travel

DCP SPEAKER SERIES; 04/20/2017

Hello Everyone;  Mark your calendar for April 20, 2017 and join us at the DCP for an evening of traditional photography.  We will be giving a talk titled “FULLY COMMITTED:  MARRIED TO THEIR CRAFT AND EACH OTHER.”  We will also have cameras and associated gear, along with a few original photographs on display.

DALLAS CENTER FOR PHOTOGRAPHY

 

 

 

DCP SPEAKER SERIES

Looking forward to seeing you at the DCP!

JB & Susan


 

Posted by JB Harlin in Events, Film, Photography, Presentation, Travel

FROM THE ROAD; OUR 2016-2017 UTAH TRIP

FROM THE ROAD; OUR 2016/17 UTAH TRIP

We did come home. . . again. . . after a great trip to Utah!  The last week has been filled with trying to find things again, put stuff up, do laundry and just decompress from a month on the road.  It is always extremely exciting to take a trip, yet it is always good to be home!

Here are some of the details from this year;

DAYS ON THE ROAD TOTAL:  30
DAYS IN BRYCE CANYON NP:  3
DAYS IN SPRINGDALE, UT:  15
DAYS IN MOAB, UT:  8
NUMBER OF DAYS PHOTOGRAPHING:  19
SUSAN 4X10 FILM: 102
SUSAN 8X20 FILM: 5
JB 8X10 FILM: 65
JB 11X14 FILM: 17
JB 16X20 FILM: 4
TOTAL MILES DRIVEN:  3,791

It will take us some time to get the film processed, sorted, filed and proofed. Then we will begin to sort through what we have and the process of printing will begin. We invite everyone to follow us on our Web Site, our BLOG and FaceBook. Also, we have gathered the entire ‘FROM THE ROAD’ 2016-2017 email collection into a PDF for those that were not on the mailing list. You can view the entire trip mailing in PDF format here;

FROM THE ROAD 2016-2017

We would like to thank everyone on our mailing list for sticking with us on this trip. It has been fun doing the ‘From the Road 2016-2017’ updates and we hope everyone enjoyed riding along with us.

JB & Susan


 

Posted by JB Harlin in Photography, Travel

TIME FOR A CHANGE & A NEW TRIPOD BOX

We decided to retire our 2006 Chrysler Town & Country minivan this year and move into something a little bigger for road trips.  This minivan has served us well for the last ten years.  It has traversed from the Pacific to the Atlantic coasts. . . more than once.  But, there comes a time when you need to look into making changes.  We have loaded this little Town & Country and the previous Plymouth Grand Voyager to the hilt and trekked off on road trips many times.  But, there comes a time when you need to reassess the situation.

We have worked out a loading scheme that allows us to carry the main cameras we use, but there is more!  I have not hauled the 16×20 camera in near 10 years now.  It is just too much to fit into a minivan.  Seeing how our Town & Country is now 10 years old and just turned over 100k miles, we started thinking about something new.

It has taken 3 months of research, a lot of looking and just thinking about what our traveling goals really are.  We wanted something a bit larger, without all the fluff of computed-out over the top luxury vehicles, like the current minivans all seem to be obsessed with.  What we wanted was a TRUCK!  We looked at a pickup with a topper, but that did not suit our goal.  Everything we found in a van was either massively big, or ridiculously small.

On the last trip to Utah we had the opportunity to see a lot of rental vehicles on the road and in the parks.  That along with a lot of searching the Internet, it was becoming obvious we were not finding anything that would work for us.  Near giving up, on a day lost to rain in Springdale, UT, I found something searching the Internet one more time.  There is one vehicle that fit between too much and too little.  More research, and then a visit to a dealer, after we returned home, pretty much sold us on the idea that we had found a vehicle that would work well for us.

We finally settled on the Nissan NVP 3500 12-passenger van.  This is a relatively new vehicle, just going into production in 2012.  The NV is basically a Nissan Titan truck built into a van.  They have several models that are sold with no interior for work trucks.  But, Nissan did something that makes real sense.  They build a passenger model, with full interior and seating for 12 people.  We drove one and decided this, minus the seats, would be just fine for us.

The NVP has become very popular with large families and are somewhat hard to find. . . at least if you want a particular color or configuration.  We made a request for what we wanted and sure enough, the salesman found one and had it brought in for us to see.  That did it. . . Sold!

We spent a few hours at the dealership and brought the blue NVP home.  First order of business. . . remove the seats.  They are removable and are just latched to the floor.  Into the storage barn they went.  Next we needed to build a new tripod box.  Took a little time and some CAD work to come up with a new box and a way to get it mounted to the floor.  Had to design a mount that would attach to the factory seat hold downs in the floor and then build a new box to hold four tripods.  

Some plywood, some glue, some aluminum bar stock, a few dozen deck screws, assorted hardware, sawing, machining and finally a luxurious covering with speaker carpet and there you have it.  The tripod box is installed and ready for the road.  Now we need to get out. . . and yes the 16×20 will be back on the road!

And not to forget the 2006 T&C. . . we removed the tripod box that has been in it for the last ten years and put the factory seats back in.  It now looks just like it did when we first got it.   The 1999 Plymouth Grand Voyager with near 170k miles had to go and was sacrificed as the trade-in.  

Yes. . . it is Time For A Change!

JB


 

Posted by JB Harlin in Photography, Travel

THANK YOU, EVERYONE!

Susan and her 4x10 Zion NP

Susan and her 4×10, Zion NP


We spent the greater part of last December traveling in Southern Utah.  We visited Bryce Canyon NP, then traveled to Zion NP and the area surrounding Springdale.  Next we ventured to Moab, where we visited Arches NP and Canyonlands NP.  Hope everyone enjoyed our random From The Road emails and thanks for traveling along with us!  We will put up a travel album on our web site as soon as we get a little time.

Don’t forget the selfie!  That seems to be the latest fad and though irritating at times, the preverbal ‘selfie’ has its appeal.  We are no different, I guess.  We did make a few obligatory selfies on our last trip.  Saw a few people with those selfie sticks. . . some were pointed out car windows or an open moon roof while driving.  Really wonder what kind of images they got?  Having said all that, and not to be out done, we include a few here for your viewing pleasure. . .

Needless to say, we have quite a bit of film to process and that will take at least another month before we begin to see what we brought back.  In a world of instant gratification (keep that selfie stick out of my face!), there are those that can’t understand how anyone could be that patient.  This is one of the greatest attributes of LF and ULF film photography.  It teaches you patience.  You take your time when finding a subject.  You spend even more time composing the image.  Making that exposure is a one time thing.  You make sure. . . then you make doubly sure, before you expose that one sheet of film.  You know that you will not even get an inkling of what you captured for quite some time, so you give it your best and hope what you do pays off.

We continue to follow our passion for LF and ULF film photography and do send our deepest heart felt thanks to everyone for your continued support.  Each year there seems to be more and more interest in film and is extremely encouraging.  Happy New Year to all.  Hope everyone has a great 2016!

Agin, Thank You Everyone!

JB & Susan


 

Posted by JB Harlin in Film, Photography, Travel

From The Road 01-08-2015 Back Home. . .

We did return home and this week has been little more than a blur.  The gear is stacked in the living room awaiting a quick cleanup and being put away.  Some of the clothes are put away. . .  Susan did most of the laundry in Moab before we left, so there is little to do there.  We will now begin to work on our film notes, which is the first step before film processing starts.  JB is already hauling distilled water, and if  things go as usual, film processing should start in 2-3 weeks. . . you never get in a rush to process film!

Here are a few stats from this year’s adventure;

DAYS ON THE ROAD TOTAL:  31
DAYS IN BRYCE CANYON NP:  4
DAYS IN SPRINGDALE, UT:  15
DAYS IN MOAB, UT:  7
NUMBER OF DAYS PHOTOGRAPHING:  20
SUSAN 4X10 FILM: 93
SUSAN 8X20 FILM: 18
JB 8X10 FILM: 103
JB 11X14 FILM: 21
TOTAL MILES DRIVEN:  3,641

There have been a few questions about when will finished photographs be seen. . . that is a good question for sure.  It will take a month, at the least, to process, sort, file and proof the negatives.  Then we will begin to sort through what we have and the process of printing will begin.  This usually takes 2-3 additional months, since we never get in any rush.  It takes time to think things through. . . it is a very intense process of creativity and may take some time for an image to mature. . .  some photographs take years to ripen, mature and stabilize into the finished image.  We invite everyone to follow us on our web site, our BLOG and FaceBook.  We have also put the entire From the Road 2014 e-mail collection on our web site for those that were not on the mailing list.  You can download the entire set in PDF format here;

Trip 2014:15 A

We would like to thank everyone on our mailing list for sticking with us on this trip.  It has been fun doing the ‘From the Road 2014’ updates and we hope everyone enjoyed riding along with us.

JB & Susan

Posted by JB Harlin in Photography, Travel

NELFPC. . . 2014 EVENT VIDEO

We are so proud to have been invited to attend this really exciting and motivating NELFPC photography event.  Tim did a great job shooting and editing this video.  Watch and you will see only a snippet of what transpired during this long weekend saturated in fine art photography.

Thanks to the New England Large Format Photography Collective!

JB & Susan

 

Posted by JB Harlin in Events, Film, Photography, Travel

SUSAN AND HER VERTICAL 4X10, ZION NP, DECEMBER 20, 2012

Here is another video of our travels.   In this short video you will see Susan with her 4×10 vertical camera making the photograph “WATERFALLS, ZION” December 20, 2012.

JB

Posted by JB Harlin in Darkroom, Film, Photography, Travel

VIDEOS FROM OUR 2013-2014 TRIP WEST

On our last adventure we traveled to, and photographed in; Yosemite NP, Zion NP, Arches NP and along the Colorado River near Moab, Utah.  Here are a few videos we made during our trip.

Enjoy!

JB

 

 

 

 

Posted by JB Harlin in Film, Photography, Travel

WE CAME BACK HOME!

We just wrapped up another trip to the South-West.  This year we got a delayed start, due to that pesky ice storm here in North Texas, but we made the best of it and only lost four days.  This was one of our usual trips we love to take this time of year.  It was nice and cool with snow in places. . . just right.  We could have used better skies, but you take what you get.  Here are the quick stats:

  • Days On The Road:  26
  • Days Shooting Film:  18
  • Total Miles Driven:  4,326.3
  • Total Elapsed Motor Time:  94:26:50
  • States Visited:  New Mexico, Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado
  • Places Photographed:  Yosemite NP, Zion NP, Arches NP, Colorado River near Moab, UT
  • Film Exposed JB:  114 sheets 8×10  15 sheets 11×14
  • Film Exposed Susan:  101 sheets 4×10  12 sheets 8×20

Next we have to start processing film. . . but first a few days to unwind!

We have created an album on our web site from the numerous snapshots we made and we invite you to take a look HERE.

Posted by JB Harlin in Film, Photography, Travel