Fishin and Learnin

A couple weeks ago I posted a blog about heading down to the coast with some buddies. What I didn't mention is that most of them are photographers I have known for a decade or more.
Above are the photographers that made the trip this year (left to right). Jeremy is a freelancer and magazine photographer in Fort Worth. Mike is a freelancer and color tech at the Dallas Morning News. Gary is multimedia and online producer for the Dallas Morning News and Shanon is a freelance commercial and fashion photographer in Dallas.

For nearly a decade we have made the pilgrimage down south to chase fish and photos. And with five of us there it's always interesting to count up the number of cameras and photo-related toys that make the trip down to the coast.

This year was no different. I brought my first point and shoot. A Canon G7 which everyone agreed was a very cool little camera. It makes wonderful photos for such a teeny little thing and includes a lot of the features of my much larger DSLRs.
Jeremy brought a wireless TTL flash system that we played with (and I ended up buying from him) as well a plethora of used gear that he bought at a stupid cheap price.
And Gary brought the gear he uses to produce 360 degree panoramas. An 8mm fisheye, a Nodal Ninja and a computer software program called PTGUI.

Most of the day we lay around, eat, fish and have a few beers... sometimes a nap. But then at dusk a crazy thing happens. In those last waning moments of daylight when everything is golden and beautiful everyone seems to scramble. I snatch up my DSLR and wide angle lens to shoot the sunset. Shanon grabs his cameras and starts shooting stock images of fishing poles on the porch and Gary bolts down the long boardwalk to the pier with his pano gear.

Some years I shoot a lot of photos and some years I shoot none. But it never fails that on the trip I will learn something from my friends and recharge my creative batteries. Then I return... tired but rested, ready to take on the world of the daily newspaper again.

To see Gary's very cool pano of the fishing pier click on the photo below. You will need Quicktime, but it's free and well worth the time to download.