Where is Ben?

Heading to Minneapolis & Las Vegas

I'm heading to Minneapolis today. I'll be there to attend a friend's bachelor's party... I'll be in Iceland on the date of his wedding. I'll be flying to Las Vegas on Sunday and will be shooting Death Valley for 2.275 days. After that, I'll return to Las Vegas to photograph a model the same afternoon I get back and then shoot the Neon Graveyard the next morning before jumping on stage to teach my PhotoshopWorld Pre-conference "Advanced Photoshop" session.

September Photoshop Seminars

It's a little late to be listing seminars for this month:

• September 5-8: PhotoshopWorld Las Vegas, NV: I have the following sessions and trade show appearances this time around:

1. Wednesday the 5th, 1pm-5pm: Advanced Photoshop Pre-Conference session
2. Thursday the 6th, 12pm-1pm: As Easy As 1, 2, 3 (techniques that only have three steps)
3. Thursday the 6th, 2pm–In the Xtrain booth: Mastering HDR (I'll show how I create the images you've been seeing on this web site)
4. Friday the 7th, 2:30pm-3:30pm: Shooting for Photoshop (change the way you shoot, knowing you'll end up in Photoshop)
5. Friday the 7th, 4pm–In the Peachpit Press booth: Whatever I feel like showing you (I usually wing it)
6. Saturday the 8th, 8:15am-9:15am: Mastering Curves

• September 12-25: Private event in Iceland: I'll be returning to Iceland and will spend nine extra days exploring after teaching for two half days.
• September 28th: Photoshop for Photographers, Detroit: This is my standard one day seminar for Photographers. It costs $99 to attend... $79 if you're a NAPP member.

Heading to Pittsburgh, PA

Today, I'm flying to Pittsburgh, PA and will be presenting my Photoshop for Photographers seminar tomorrow before returning to Indianapolis to present the same seminar on Wednesday, August 29th.

Photo-Quiz

So... who can tell me where this photo was taken? Thousands of people walk by these every day.

Shot from Maroon Bells

I threw together the photo above just to have something to post today. I don't consider the image to be finished at this point, but didn't really feel like spending any more time adjusting the image and thought I'd post it anyway. I took this shot at Maroon Bells during my workshop at Anderson Ranch near Aspen, Colorado.

Interview in After Capture Magazine

A while ago, I was interviewed for After Capture magazine. You can read the interview on-line as a four page pdf file.

Best Books About Route 66

After purchasing seven books about Route 66, I can make some solid recommendations for what I've found to be most useful. The books below are the ones I would recommend to PHOTOGRAPHERS, not necessarily the general public. That is assuming a photographer wants to know what they should expect to SEE and how to get there without too much energy expended reading about the details. Here are the books I recommend:

1) Images of 66 by David Wickline features a very visual look at Route 66. The photos aren't fine art works or anything, but they are enough to really give you a sense for what you should see when driving different sections of Route 66. The book lacks detailed maps and turn-by-turn directions for how to find the areas shown in the photographs... and that's why you'll need the next two resources. This is the book I check out to plan which areas I think would be most valuable photographically and which areas I might be able to skip, or enjoy for other reasons. This book is only available from establishments along Route 66 or on the author's web site.

2) The best turn by turn directions for following what's left of Route 66 can be found in EZ 66 Guide For Travelers by Jerry McClanahan. Each page shows a map of a small section of Route 66, unusually covering the details of a drive between two towns. He will tell you about every turn you'll need to make, so you don't get lost, but there are few visuals (which is why you need the first book I mentioned). This is the book that I keep next to me when I'm driving and refer to often. I consider this to be absolutely essential to anyone who is serious about driving Route 66.

3) If you want to get a "big picture" of what to expect in each state along Route 66, then consider Here It Is-Route 66-The Map Series, which is a collection of eight fold out maps, one for each state that Route 66 passes through. It's made by the same guy as the book above and provides less detail and more of a big picture of your route. This isn't in any way essential, but I still found it to be useful. This might be useful when doing pre-planning, or when you're about to pass into a new state and want to see how close you'll be staying to a major interstate and determine where you might want to stay the night each day.

If you're someone who really wants to read all the details and brush up on the history of Route 66, then I'd suggest the excellent Route 66-The Mother Road by Michael Wallis. It's a very in-depth book with many interviews, historic information and photographs, but would be my last choice for keeping next to the drivers seat when trying to figure out where you are and which turns to take. This might be a good book to read well before or after your trip down Route 66 so you can absorb the history of the road, so you can appreciate it fully.

August Photoshop Seminars

It's a little late to be listing seminars for this month, but I thought I would since I hadn't gotten around to it yet. I'll be speaking at the following events this month:

• August 27th: Photoshop for Photographers, Pittsburgh, PA: This is the first time I'll be presenting the updated version of this seminar in the U.S. It costs $99 to attend... $79 if you're a NAPP member.
• August 29th: Photoshop for Photographers, Indianapolis, IN: Same as above, just in a different city.

Chicago, IL to Indianapolis, IN

Last night, I enjoyed a pie from Pizzeria Uno in Chicago (and got another to go), then today, I drove to Indianapolis.

The bus will stay parked in Indy for about three weeks as I fly off to many events and also spend some time recording a few training DVDs and writing the handbook for a new seminar (more details will come later on these projects).

The photograph above was taken exactly one week ago at Cadillac Ranch in Amarillo, TX. I lit the cars using a headlamp that I bought at REI and lit myself using a sparkler.

Litchfield to Chicago, IL... I'm Done!!!!

It rained on and off all day today and there wasn't all that much to shoot, subject-wise (not a bad combo compared to what it could have been).

I made it into Chicago around 6:30pm! That means I've made it all the way across Route 66, which is over 2,000 miles long.

I found some parts of Route 66 in Illinois to be VERY skinny. At one point, the tires on the bus was simultaneously touching both the center line and the line that marks the edge of the road. It's a good thing that there was no other traffic on that section of the road... I'd hate to have to pass a truck of RV in those tight quarters. Back when Route 66 was built, the maximum width for vehicles was at least six inches skinnier than my bus (the max went up from 96" to 102" at some point).

It feels good to be done with such an intense project and now I just have to spend about three months sorting and processing the 251.75GB worth of photographs that I shot while traveling across all eight states that include portions of Route 66. I have all the shots on my Drobo as well as DVD.

The photograph at the top of this post was taken this afternoon in Odell, IL at a nice restored Standard Oil Gas Station. As always, you can click on the image to see a larger version.