I'm back from Michigan and Utah. Hope I didn't miss too much talk about guns,
darkroom chemicals in the sewer, and SUVs. :-)
I will say this on a controversial subject, now from first-hand experience: the
free shuttles at Zion are SUPERB! Now, I realize that those on this list who
argue for their God-given right to drive anywhere they please are careful,
conscientious drivers, but I cannot imagine the sort of congestion there would
be if every yahoo were allowed to bring their SUV and/or motorhome into that
tiny canyon.
The busses were propane-powered and fairly quiet and clean. With minimal
planning, I was able to pack the gear I needed and ride the bus, without
waiting in traffic or having to worry about where to park.
The Green Loop bus (southern 16 miles of the park drive) wasn't running at
Bryce, but I spent the entire day in the lower hoodoos, so I don't know if it
was congested without the shuttle. I didn't go to the South Rim of the Grand
Canyon, so I can't comment on the shuttles there.
But I hope other parks follow this lead. We are in danger of loving our parks
to death. And that's all I'm going to say. (Please change the subject if you
want to continue this thread.)
Favorite lens of the trip: Zuiko 24/3.5 shift. It basically lived on one OM-4.
Folks, this lens is not just for architecture, it's for CANYONS! I tried the
18, 21, and 24 (non-shift), and they just made things look too distorted.
Anything longer didn't get the view I wanted.
Distant second: Zuiko 16/3.5 Fisheye. I would often use this to crawl inside
some little crevice, or when shooting in a slot canyon. Keep the dominant line
through the center, and no one will ever know it's a fisheye shot.
I did a few macros with the 90/2, a couple bird shots with the 600/6.5, and
some 4x5 work (with tilt/shift, of course), but otherwise shot the whole trip
with the shift and fisheye. So why did I haul 40 pounds of stuff around?
Exercise, I guess... :-)
We shot ten rolls of 35mm and 12 frames of 4x5 on this trip. I'll try to get
some photos up this week. (What's the current TOPE topic?)
--
: Jan Steinman -- nature Transography(TM): <http://www.Bytesmiths.com>
: Bytesmiths -- artists' services: <http://www.Bytesmiths.com/Services>
: HTML email goes right in the trash! Turn off HTML if you want to email me.
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