Travel Summer

It’s going to be a busy summer.

After spending the last two weeks traveling by bicycle and train, I’m off by 4Runner this weekend to shoot some abandoned buildings out on the plains. Dan, Craig and I are working on a zine together, and we’re exploring to find new things and places to shoot. Which means by the time you read this Steph and I will be bouncing down the road on the 4Runner en route to the badlands with large format in tow. There are worse ways to spend a Saturday.

I think this summer will be more road time than not. I’ve been slacking, not putting enough effort in to my photography. It’s getting a little stale as a result, my skills are slipping some. This summer will be the time I go out and exercise those muscles and get them back in to shape.

The zine is designed to help with this problem. It will get me out and shooting more. Producing more work for consumption is what I need on more than one level. New stuff for the blog, the zine, and most importantly myself. In addition to honing my craft, it helps with the sanity levels and keeps me focused.

I’m going to be putting a heavy emphasis on large format from here on out. I’ll be shooting more of it, getting better at it, and then printing it. I’m getting a bathroom darkroom set up with an eye towards contact printing negatives. I’ll hang the best of the lot in the apartment until I tire of them, then replace them with new shots.

Traveling and widening my horizons on tour made me happy. Hopefully, it made my shooting better as well. I want this to continue. Although shooting downtown Denver is easier and good practice, I need more than that to progress in my work.

So, there are going to be long drives ahead. Nights camping in the back of the 4Runner. Clear, crisp dawns in the badlands, with sunrise silhouetted windmills and all but empty towns. Grain silos, cowboy bars, and pickup trucks to shoot. By fall, I hope to have something to show for my efforts.

There will be interruptions, of course, I need to go back to the south at some point. We should see both of our families. We’ll probably do one more tour before the snow flies. Not as big, but still substantial.

For today, the badlands are calling and we are rattling down gravel roads as I rubberneck looking for abandoned farm houses and businesses. It’s time to get out there and see.

Travel Summer