Well, Massachusetts has Cape Cod, a lovely and unique place in America. My portfolio shows you a lot of what you can expect, though I have yet to do much photography of the many historical buildings we have. I usually have a bed available, and the kitchen's always open, but you need to leave the Bowie knife at home, please :-)
LOL, bear, I do not go around carrying all my stuff! It is all under lock and key. Everyone has to have a hobby!!!!! I do girlie things, like ummmm I have kids! lol Thank you, I will look through your port, and see what the airfares are!
Eug, if it helps, I always pay the carbon footprint option!?!
I live in the Portland OR area and I love that there is the beach just about an hour away and the mountain (Mt. Hood) about 1.25 hours away. In downtown Portland we have the Rose Garden (in June) and the snow melt creates wonderful streams and falls to photograph all over. Head further east and you have the dessert. Up North a ways we have Mt. St. Helens and the wonderful Ape Caves that are lava tubes under ground (highly recommend it during summer - too cold in the winter under ground). I think our coast line is one of the most beautiful to photograph - swimming is WAY cold :-)
If you ever come up this way, drop me a note I'll pass along some sites that can help you plan your trip depending on what you are wanting to do.
LOL, bear, I do not go around carrying all my stuff! It is all under lock and key. Everyone has to have a hobby!!!!! I do girlie things, like ummmm I have kids! lol Thank you, I will look through your port, and see what the airfares are!
Eug, if it helps, I always pay the carbon footprint option!?!
Fly to Providence for easiest access, Boston may be cheaper flight. If renting a car, either will do. If wanting pickup, has to be Providence, much easier for me to get to. There's also a regular shuttle from Boston to the Cape, around 20 bucks each way.
As for the "carbon footprint", don't worry about it; the plane's flying anyway and it won't burn any less fuel if you're not on it...
#1 - 2hr drive to the ski slopes if you like to ski/snowboard
#2 - 2hr drive to the coast if you like the beach/water
#3 - San Francisco is just over the hill (There's all kinds of photo opps there!)
#4 - American Graffiti(the movie) was filmed about Modesto!
"Much of the action in the film, which has several plot lines inter-woven around Lucas's own teenage years in 1950s Modesto, takes place at night as the teenagers in a typical American town of the post war period cruise the main "drag" in their cars."
From Arizona, there are some really inexpensive flights to Orange County, California (my home), as well as to Los Angeles. Try Southwest Airlines and America West/USAir. Check out my portfolio for Orange County beaches photos.
DOh I am so excited now, I want to do it all next weekend!!! Thank you guys, I am getting realy stoked about this now. Oh skiing, havent been this year and getting twitchy thinking about it!!!
OR does the most the gorg coastline, I did at one point think that it would be a good idea to drive from Tucson to Depo Bay in OR with 2 kids both under the age of 3. It didn't look that far on the map and the miles didnt seem that bad.
4 days later I got there lol, it was a fun trip though.
I did do the same thing with MINN when I was single and just had my dog with me. Being from England, 1 inch on the map is like 200 miles. That was a long driving trip and I was so annoyed by the time I got there I didnt see much as I had to turn back around the next day.
I tell you what, when I have my blonde moments, they are really huge ditzy blonde moments!!!!!!!!!!!
Eug, if it helps, I always pay the carbon footprint option!?!
Don't get me started on THAT tangent or we'll SERIOUSLY go off-topic.
It's ok, really. It's just I hear that the number of planes in the air is at an all time high and that traffic in major airports is very congested and wonder, "Why can't they use fewer, larger, more efficient planes?"
#1 - 2hr drive to the ski slopes if you like to ski/snowboard
#2 - 2hr drive to the coast if you like the beach/water
#3 - San Francisco is just over the hill (There's all kinds of photo opps there!)
#4 - American Graffiti(the movie) was filmed about Modesto!
"Much of the action in the film, which has several plot lines inter-woven around Lucas's own teenage years in 1950s Modesto, takes place at night as the teenagers in a typical American town of the post war period cruise the main "drag" in their cars."
#1 - 2hr drive to the ski slopes if you like to ski/snowboard
#2 - 2hr drive to the coast if you like the beach/water
#3 - San Francisco is just over the hill (There's all kinds of photo opps there!)
#4 - American Graffiti(the movie) was filmed about Modesto!
"Much of the action in the film, which has several plot lines inter-woven around Lucas's own teenage years in 1950s Modesto, takes place at night as the teenagers in a typical American town of the post war period cruise the main "drag" in their cars."
State? Come to Canada! It probably isn't any more expensive to get here and and it might be a tad cheaper to stay here. Alberta has Banff (west of Calgary) and Jasper (west of Edmonton) for National Parks and you could spend months in either of them and not take the same shot twice.
British Columbia is beautiful and has a variety of places to check out. Vancouver Island (i.e. Victoria) is magnificent especially Butchard Gardens. You could take the ferry actually from either Anacortes, WA or Seattle to the island which is a remarkable little trip on its own.
The rest of Canada? Toronto (think mini Manhattan) and Regina (middle of prairies) are nice. I've heard (but haven't personally seen) the Maritimes (Nova Scotia, Newfoundland/Labrador, Prince Edward Island) are incredible.
Want to REALLY get away from your comfort zone? The Canadian North (North West Territories, Yukon, and Nunavat) is great. Of course being out of the way the cost to get there goes up quite a bit.
American destination? (If you are set on that)
Seattle was cool especially Fisherman's Wharf.
San Francisco has sooo much to see.
New York City however is my favorite thus far. So many photo ops its crazy....
There are SO many cool shots in Arizona that I'd probably never leave if I lived there - from around Flagstaff all the way down to Bisbee it's just too beautiful...but pine vistas do get boring after a while ;)
Some places I've visited on road trips that I'd recommend:
- Northern Florida, Alabama, Georgia: so many tiny little towns hidden away with lovely old buildings. Stay off the freeways and just get lost...the photos are everywhere
- Boston and the Mass Coast, Cape Cod, Rhode Island: gorgeous land/seascapes, amazing colours in the trees, lovely old architectures again
- Vegas: capture the insanity on film (or compact flash!) - the city never sleeps and there's always someone to shoot. Amazing for candids on the strip, streaming lights with neon etc.
- Northern Cali, Oregon, Wash: some amazing national parks (Crater Lake is wow) but generally gobsmacking beauty at ever turn
- Hawaii: Expensive and in parts horribly overcommercialised, but the most amazing places if you avoid the tourists (parts of Kauai, the Big Island (Hilo in partic)) and some of the most amazing flora I've ever seen.
Places that I'm in no hurry to get back to (photographically):
- Wyoming: interesting if you really want to get off road, but generally flat and boring
- Salt Lake City: I failed miserably trying to capture the whites in the salt flats...maybe you'll do better
- Area 51: once you find it (near Rachel) there's not much apart from a sign post and scary looking military security vehicles looking on from afar - otherwise not a lot of photographic interest.
- Most of Southern California: LA, Santa Barbara and San Diego were all great but didn't grab me photographically
Cheap rental car + cheap motel + camera = maximum fun! My SW trip took 3 weeks and I covered 6300 miles...I was sending home UPS boxes filled with films ;)
It is so funny you said Canada, I fly over it every year and keep saying, yes i will go, then never do. What is even more ironic is that the airfare to Calgary was really cheap today ($180 return trip) and that was going to be my first stop. Then I saw that it was like MINUS 94867984672094820948 degrees. Unless I am skiing, I am a wimp (too many hot days have thinned my blood!)
Bear Music, dude, you have a deal, it is stunning up there and I may even see if I can try to bribe you into taking me sightseeing on some of those most amazing places you have photographed.
Karmat, I have actually been to NC, gorg landscapes and weather just like England, freezing cold and raining one day, bright 80 degree sunshine the next, amazing place.
