Daily Archives: December 12, 2019

Well maybe we can, but it is going to get a lot harder! The advent of the smart phone, social media and bus travel companies have all conspired to change our world of field photography.

From the top; Sunrise from Sunset Point in Bryce Canyon N.P. has become crowded beyond belief, The Navajo Nation has just closed ther photo tours, (use of tripods), to Upper Antelope Slot Canyon, Lower will be next!!! If you decide to shoot a sunrise at Schwabacher’s Landing in Grand Tetons National Park, be prepared to share the experience with 200 of your new “close” friends!

At Wormsloe State Park in Savannah GA they have placed white fences along the Spanish Oaks, imagine that shot!!!! Do I even need to talk about the crowds at Mesa Arch in Canyonpands N.P., well, just one example, last Christmas morning there were over 200 shooters in the space that could only handle 12 to get this shot!!! Arches is still doable, but it is getting so crowded they are considering establishing a shuttle system!

The Palouse has always been a great place to shoot but unfortunately because of the behavior of some workshop leaders and groups the owners of many farms are restricting access, it’s a shame and something our community needs to accept responsibility for. The truck above was moved to prevent photographers from coming on their property, used to be fine!

Going up on Cadillac Mountain for a sunrise used to be a great experience, no longer, the crowds are so bad that the park rangers block the road, to the top, as soon as the parking lot is full. If you happen to be there, you get the pleasure of shooting a scene with 300 hundred folks in the foreground.

I took a group to North Window and Turret Arch in Arches N.P. and 10 minutes before sunrise, a bus load of vistors from China arrived, fortunately they didn’t get to North Window until my folks got their shots, but only by a few minutes, could have ended differently!

I could go on, but you already know this yourself. So what are we to do???

1. Find some new places to shoot! How many of you have been to the Great Smoky Mountains, or the Badlands, maybe you could try Capital Reef, (yes, I lead workshops to all these places, what a coincidence). There are many more, do some research, may I suggest Photograph America Newsletter!

2. Maybe we need to make sure our behavior in the field will never cause the next group to not be welcome!

3. Consider expanding your shooting list, take up Americana, and maybe people or street photography, travel might be fun too and most great small towns don’t require a permit to shoot photographs, this is starting actually sound like fun!

Folks, things change, they always have and always will, lets learn to think on our feet and make a new plan, we can do it, I know we can!

Blessings,

the pilgrim