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TWiP #156 – Hitting the Mother Road

TWiP #156 – Hitting the Mother Road

July 6, 2010 19 Comments

Audio MP3

Frederick sits down for a special interview this week with Chris and Beth Fenwick to discuss their recent month-long photography journey down Route 66.

Host: Frederick VanJohnson and special guests Chris and Beth Fenwick.

INTERVIEW WITH CHRIS & BETH FENWICK

This week, Chris and Beth Fenwick join Frederick to talk about their recent trip down Route 66. They spent a full month on the road travelling the 2400 miles of historic Route 66, making stops along the way to photograph whatever interested them. This is a great way to see things as most folks have a tendancy to worry about getting from point A to point B whereas Beth and Chris flipped it around making the journey the destination.

“Being in a car for a full month, we packed too much stuff. You really need to consider how you pack your gear so that it’s easy to get at. We took a 5D Mark II and a 7D. We brought four different lenses: 24-70, 16-35, 70-200, and the 50mm f/1.2. We had a couple of laptops, 2 card readers, lots of cards, and more batteries than we probably needed. We also avoided bringing camera bags because they become a barrier between you and a potential photograph. You can use a case to carry lenses, but your camera body should always be out so that you’re ready to shoot at any time.”

“One piece of advice we can give is that when travelling, it’s great to tell your story. Guaranteed someone likely has taken a better photo of the places you are visiting so make sure to insert yourself into the scene since this is your story. Another big part of the trip involved stopping and just talking to people, and trying to interject ourselves into the various communities.

During the rest of the interview, Chris and Beth discuss their love for geo-tagging, how their little MiFi saved the day, and how they managed their data workflow while on the road. Be sure to check out Chris’s blog for lots of great tips for anyone wanting to work with video.

Chris’ biggest tip is to give yourself time if you’re thinking of doing a similar trip. Beth’s tip is to meander and to meet the people that are there.

You can learn more about their trip and check out their photos at http://bethfenwick.com/route66

WRAP UP

Frederick Van Johnson – www.frederickvan.com or www.twitter.com/frederickvan

Chris Fenwick – www.chrisfenwick.com or www.twitter.com/chrisfenwick

Beth Fenwick – www.bethfenwick.com or www.twitter.com/bethfenwick

CREDITS

Join the Flickr critique group. You can also join our Facebook group.

TWiP is sponsored by Squarespace.com. The fast and easy way to publish a high quality website or blog. Head over to www.squarespace.com/twip for a free trial and then enter the offer code TWIP to receive 10% off.

Show notes by Bruce Clarke at www.momentsindigital.com or www.twitter.com/bruceclarke

Bandwidth provided by Cachefly. Intro Music by Scott Cannizzaro

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About Bruce

Bruce is a wedding and event photographer in Edmonton and the creative force behind Moments in Digital. Bruce is also the Director of Content for TWiP and has appeared as a guest on the podcast.
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  • http://www.tophermartini.com/ Topher Martini

    Awesome episode to hear the story behind a journey down the Mother Road! Very inspirational to share your thoughts about taking time away from the hustle-n-bustle of Bay Area life to explore parts of the country that most people will never experience.

    So when will sign-ups for the TWiP Road Trip get started? ;-)

  • http://www.appliedtechonline.com chriseldred03

    As we were listening to the episode, my wife and I began to talk about doing the road trip. If one gets put together, make sure to talk about it on the show!

  • chrisfenwick

    we’d love to host, guide, or facilitate a tour… we would probably do just the end of the road… maybe Flagstaff to LA or maybe start as far out as Albuquerque… Please keep bugging Frederick… I think this trip HAS to happen!!

  • http://blurdotblog.com/ blurdotblog

    Just listened to this while walking the dog and it really got my feet itching for a road trip. Great interview.

  • nwcubsman

    Sounds like a fabulous trip. Life on the interstate is completely uninteresting.

  • http://salsajam.com(underconstruction) salsajam

    Great episode Frederik, you have inspired me to plan my own Rt 66 trek. I just suggested it to my wife as our 20th anniversary event in 4 years.

  • Dennis

    I’m all for a road trip from Albuquerque to LA, and would do all I could to attend. Please let us know when this might happen!
    Cheers!

  • beachbum64

    how about a quicky long weekend trip, lets say starting in barstow and driving east

  • http://Www.Allajack.com allajack

    I’m ready to go! When do we leave?

  • sixty4

    I just got my first SLR, a little one a Canon T2i and this was my first show but I found it interesting. Question, I have an Eye-Fi card that I got for free when upgrading my Google storage and have been using it adding Geotagging to it. Any reason why this is frowned on for Geotagging?

    Also I have a MiFI through Spring, just a note that the MIFI also has GPS that easy to use with Google maps for example.

    Finally, I am on the market for a zoom, any suggestions for the T2i?

    • http://bethfenwick.com bethfenwick

      Sixty4 – Congratulations on your new camera.

      I have a Eye-Fi card in my Panasonic LX3. While it does send the geotagging info to Flickr when it uploads a picture, I find that when I import that picture to my Aperture library, that info does not appear. I will sync those pictures with my geotagging info that I have recorded with my GPS logger and then embed the info into the pictures (which by the way, only works on the jpgs – not the RAW files for the LX3).

      I have not tried using the MiFi as a GPS source, but the problem with that would be it will not last the full day.

      For the zoom lens, it depends on how much you want to spend. and what type of events you are shooting. As your skills grow as a photographer, you will want to move up and grow. You can out grow a camera body, but if you start with “good glass” that will last through many cameras. The only lens I’m really familiar with is the Canon 24 – 70mm 2.8 – which on your camera with the crop sensor is like having a 35-100mm (roughly). The best thing to do would be try and renting or borrowing lenses to see how different lens behave.

      Hope this helps

  • http://randallhullphotography@yahoo.com fototeacher

    I really enjoyed the interview. Sounds like a wonderful trip.

    I am puzzled about the photographs displayed. They mostly seem to be 1 armed snapshots from various locations.

    Are there more “Serious” photos of the trip posted elsewhere?

    • http://www.chrisfenwick.com Chris Fenwick

      yea, we do a lot of self portraits, we get teased a lot about them… beth’s flickrstream has more photos… but to be clear… we aren’t really pro photogs… we are, what i like to call, well funded amateurs.
      My work affords me the ability to buy nice gear and it is a pleasure to go out and use it… i have mad respect for the photos that i see from other, more serious, TWiP listeners.
      Keep bugging Frederick about a road trip.. we’d love to host one.

  • http://www.chrisflowers.name/Blog chrisflowersmd

    This was a great interview with the Fenwicks. Would have loved to hear more from Beth as well as Chris.
    Inspired me once again to consider a roadtrip like this – would love a month off to do this.
    Great idea from Frederick to have a van or two and have a TWIP roadtrip – 4-5 days?

  • pheidingsfelder

    Great episode! I’ve traveled some of RT66 through Flagstaff and around, I’ve always dreamed of doing the entire route!!
    I’m down for a photog trip, that would be amazing!

    @sixty4 if you’re looking for a good walk around zoom for the Canon crop sensor, the 17-55 2.8 IS is very hard to beat! L quality optics, just not sealed. Don’t mind a little dust they all get it! Check out photography-on-the.net/forum for good Canon support!

  • Richard Thorkildson

    A trip from TX sounds great!

  • http://www.mike-caine.com Mike Caine

    We did the whole of Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles in 2008. We did a side trip up to Las Vegas while we were passing.

    It’s funny how you saw some places we’d never seen and possibly vice versa?

    I’ve some photos of our trip in a gallery at http://www.mike-caine.com/usa-photo-gallery/

    We’re from the Isle of Man, which is about 32 miles by 12 miles at most, so it was quite an adventure for us!

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