Howdy!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I have been, to say the least, under the weather. However, I was able to get a start on our new ‘Photographer’s Travel Guide to La Jolla’. I finally decided this will be a four part series (well 5 if you count this week’s iPhone Friday). Why four? Well, when I began to plan the guide, I identified four distinct areas that were very interesting to me…Scripps Pier, Mt. Soledad, UCSD, and of course La Jolla Cove. During our stay, we visited each of these areas and made images. Over the course of this week, I will share my favorite image from each location. I also hope to shed a little light on my approach to ‘photo tourism’.

Today’s Image

I only knew about Mt. Soledad because I used to give a cycling buddy of mine a hard time about the lack of climbs to ride in SoCal. He always told me stories of the epic climb up the mythical Mt. Soledad. So I researched it (more about my research tools on Wednesday), and added it to our itinerary. I set the alarm, grabbed some coffee, and beat the sun to the top of Mt. Soledad. I had other plans for the sunrise. Images of a costal awakening danced through my head. However, as hard as I tried to make that image…it just wasn’t happening. I didn’t give up! I kept working, and working, and finally…my muse led me to today’s image. I sure as heck didn’t plan on a black and white image at a sunrise shoot, but the square peg in the round hole wasn’t working.

Here are a few of those square pegs (hopefully you all can learn something from my failures)….

Too much haze…however given the right light, this might make a great image as sunset? That is downtown San Diego. You can see forever from the top of Mt. Soledad.

Might be cool if I work it up, but it wasn’t doing it for me at the time.

This might have worked with a bit more highway and slower shutter speed to make it interesting. As it stands, it is a waste of bits.

We now come to my first thoughts regarding ‘photo tourism’. I’m going to work on a better name.

• The first rule of ‘Photo Tourism Club’ is…there is no ‘Photo Tourism Club’!
• The second rule…Photo Tourism is planned – For some reason, I have always associated travel photography with a passive approach to location photography. You are traveling, and happen to be taking pictures. I do it all the time, and I think it’s great. However, Photo Tourism is about seeking out destinations, researching the area well ahead of time, and committing to an plan. Why plan? Because safety (and image making) is no accident!
• The third rule…Photo Tourism is Active – You will need additional gear beyond your camera. Whether it is snacks and a jacket or a parachute and a flare gun, you aren’t making images from the window of you car on the side of the road. No sir, you are earning that photograph.