I drove up to the mountain on Thursday afternoon and set up in the now customary spot near the restrooms. The trip was uneventful except for one strange non-occurrence. On each of the last three trips to Grandfather Mountain, I’ve stopped for gas at the same exit. Not by design, mind you, but because the truck wanted fuel. Oddly enough, this year we went a little farther. I don’t know why, the trailer and crap inside are virtually the same as ever so… I duno, it was weird
I was the first to arrive so I just set-up the rig.
BUGS. This year on the mountain there are hundreds of little tiny flies that really just love to hover around your head. They REALLY like to fly into your mouth, your beer, or even your peach cobbler. Blech!
By the time I was done I’d seen Nico and Cotty showed up with Helen, the “Official GFM Photographer”.
Even though she’s a Nikon user, Cotty struck up a friendship with her last year at the NPW. This year she picked him up from the airport, let him stay at her place for a couple days, and even agreed to be the subject of a documentary treatment that he’s working up on spec in hopes of getting funding to do it properly. So, given all that, it goes without saying that she’s really nice. She’s got some really nice photos under her belt in a scant three years of shooting. It’s nice to see someone with a passion for shooting and a fabulous opportunity like the job she has. A bright future that one has. The force is very strong with her. /yoda
Thursday night was really slow here at PDML Central (I’ve finally decided it’s ok to take up the name). No other PDML campers were here yet. Mark was on his traditional mountain goat retreat. Nico and I had brat worst at the picnic table and chatted with Rodger, Kyle, and Doug for a couple hours. Then we went with Doug to the cabin to see Don.
Tip: Bring a flashlight if you’re going to be wandering around the picnic area in the really really dark. My cell phone was only *just* enough light to get Nico and I back to safety. We could have been lost for ever!
Friday was a pretty lazy day. I really have to remember to spend more of Friday shooting next time. By the afternoon, when people start rolling in and the program gets started, it’s too late.
I did spend some time at the habitats. I finally got a good picture of a bear!
I also tried my luck at some macro flower work. There were some really pretty little blue flowers all over the campsite. Nico tells me they’re very creatively named Bluits. And despite the image to the contrary, they really are blue.
I started shooting with my old A 50/2 with a close-up filter that I’ve always had but never used & a cheep 2x tele-converter.
I borrowed Nico’s 100mm macro later in the weekend and shot some more macro stuff. Last year Mark Cassino’s presentation really had me excited about macro work but I never scratched up the spare money for a proper macro lens. This weekend I’m excited about the close-up stuff again… who knows, maybe Father’s day will be the right time for enablement?
Mark arrived back at the campground and set-up his tent. Remarkably, he was mostly dry. I believe he said it was the first time he’s not been rained on while camping on top of the mountain. Everyone wondered where Scott was… Wasn’t he supposed to be here YESTERDAY?
Cotty arrived with Helen to set up their tents. Helen offered help but Cotty, being a manly man, needs no help setting up a puny little tent. Or DOES he?
The three of us shared some cheeseburgers and shot the shit. Helen entertained the idea of steeling Mark’s bike but we talked her out of it. She did look really good on that bike though…
Mark should not leave the keys in his bike next time
The Friday night program began with the customary jokes from Don Nelson.
You really have to hear Don’s delivery to appreciate the event. The jokes are funny but it’s the way he tells them that makes it great.There’s a little bit of the Mark & Doug comedy review too. I really doubt there’s a photography contest anywhere else in the world that has such an off-the-wall and low key explanation of the rules. Its fun and I can’t decide if it’s better with or without the prerecorded sound effects.
At first I didn’t like the work of the first presenter. He’s a macro guy but he’s doing a lot of impressionistic work. He explained some of the techniques he uses including taking multiple exposures while moving the camera or racking focus or both and combining the images (in the camera). I respect his work. Its good stuff but not something I would do. At the moment I don’t really remember much about the second guy. He had some great pictures and all but nothing that really hit me and made me say “Wow, I gotta try that!”
Afterward there was the customary Beer and BS at PDML central. It was as good as usuall is with people stopping for a chat and a beer. There was much discussion of photography, Pentax’s prospects, PDML list members past and present (the good, the annoying, and the legendary), and whatever else. Doug regaled us with stories of his exploits as a river guide (whoda thunkit?) and we all turned in at a semi-respectable time.
The alarm went off at 5AM and it was raining a little bit. “Good” I thought and went back to sleep. Rain = cloudy skies = no need to get up before the crack of dawn.
I did wander out of the campsite around 7 though with the best of intentions. Each time I’ve been to GFM I’ve gone up the mountain from the trail head at the bridge parking lot. I love being up there, on top of the peaks with the wind and nothing much around you but gravity. I kept seeing great shots that were taken on the Profile trail though. Since I had never been there, I decided that’s where I’d be going on Saturday morning. I knew I’d miss the peaks, but maybe I could come up with a good shot from the lower trail through the woods.
I was doing great. Camera stuff packed, Pop-Tarts & water in my pocket, tripod slung…
I got a ways up the trail and found a really good little feeder stream with a fun little patch of moss. Then there was a bit of bad luck and I did something stupid.
In their “How to Win” presentation, Mark and Doug were extolling the virtues of bracketing exposure while shooting. I don’t normally do this but I thought I’d try. Checking out the camera, I found a bit in the menus where you can turn on “Extended Bracket” and it gives you some options. I picked saturation and shot the heck out of this stream.
Then I slipped on some wet rocks and fell INTO the stream. “Just great… I’ve been here all of thirty minutes and I’ve got soaking wet feet”. Now that I think about it, I should have taken a picture of my feet in the drink!
I decided I needed dry feet so I got back to the car and went to Boon in search of footwear. I hadn’t been to Boon since a run for provisions with Tanya and some others several years ago. I had never seen the “face” profile of the mountain that gives him his name. I couldn’t believe how defined it is from hwy 105. I almost drove off the road!
Wall-Mart boots and socks installed and I’m back on the trail. About the time I got back to the point where I’d turned around I saw something in my camera’s display that struck me as strange. “502” it said in the “frames-left” window. “That ain’t right” I thought. I only get about 100 shots on this 2GB card… OH CRAP! I’ve been shooting in JPEG…and since I HAD been shooting in RAW+ and figured the JPEGs didn’t need to be too great because I was planning to use them for the web anyway I’m shooting my contest shots at TWO FREAKING MEGA PIXLES and TWO STARS! {Expletives deleted here}
I got about a mile up the trail before it was time to turn around. I did shoot some more stream stuff but the mushroom shots were the better work.
I decided I needed dry feet so I got back to the car and went to Boon in search of footwear. I hadn’t been to Boon since a run for provisions with Tanya and some others several years ago. I had never seen the “face” profile of the mountain that gives him his name. I couldn’t believe how defined it is from hwy 105. I almost drove off the road!
Wall-Mart boots and socks installed and I’m back on the trail. About the time I got back to the point where I’d turned around I saw something in my camera’s display that struck me as strange. “502” it said in the “frames-left” window. “That ain’t right” I thought. I only get about 100 shots on this 2GB card… OH CRAP! I’ve been shooting in JPEG…and since I HAD been shooting in RAW+ and figured the JPEGs didn’t need to be too great because I was planning to use them for the web anyway I’m shooting my contest shots at TWO FREAKING MEGA PIXLES and TWO STARS! {Expletives deleted here}
I got about a mile up the trail before it was time to turn around. I did shoot some more stream stuff but the mushroom shots were the better work.
I got back to the camp with just enough time to have a shower, eat some PBJs, select the photos, write them to the disc, and rush down to the meadow to turn them in.
More sitting around the camp and catching up with Cotty while we wait for dinner and the evening’s events.
NORM was there! In the daylight!!! We got to meet his wife who told the tale of climbing the mountain by herself. “I’m not going up there” said Norm.
Saturday’s presenters are both accomplished photographers who have some really good work and words of wisdom. It’s really hot in the auditorium though and, having just eaten, I’m at first really sleepy and then really fidgety. I duck out of the second presentation about halfway through. Helen was disappointed in me. She knows the presenter and really respects his work. She tells me “Oh, you left before he showed that photo” at every opportunity.
More PDML Central hilarity ensued but it was certainly not the same without the “usual suspects”. We all went to bed around midnight to the relief of all the surrounding campers.
The alarm went off at 5:15AM. No rain this time. At around 5:30 Helen and I head for the Black Rock trail in search of Sunrise. I didn’t bother to ask how far it was. Hell I have a trail map in my bag but didn’t look at that either. Who had time? Helen was on a mission. She attacked the trail with a speed and agility that reminded me of a certain Mountain Goat I know who has a drug problem… I’m glad it was only a mile because I can NOT sustain that pace.
We shot for a while on this tiny little rock that was really too small for both of us. The light was just OK and we never actually got to see the Sun. It was ok though.
We both agreed that we’ve never really regretted getting up early to go shooting, even if the results weren’t great.
Then we decided to go see if we could get on top of the big rock behind us. WOW! This is where we should have been the whole time. MUCH better views. MUCH more room to move around without the fear of certain death should you misstep.
Then we decided to go see if we could get on top of the big rock behind us. WOW! This is where we should have been the whole time. MUCH better views. MUCH more room to move around without the fear of certain death should you misstep.
A fun time was had by all but we were both wondering what food might be about back at the campsite.
I skipped the Sunday morning presenter. It was thundering and felt like rain so I decided my time would be better spent packing up the camper so I wouldn’t have to do it in the rain. Scott helped by moving out of the spare bunk and drying the dishes. It was fun.
The Mark & Doug Show was a little late this year. Doug explained that the judging team had been on strike for better working conditions. Apparently they’d run out of beer and that was just unacceptable. The crowd that had gathered for the presentation of the winning photos seemed to accept this excuse as perfectly reasonable.
With such a small group of Pentax folks on hand, our chances of winning anything looked pretty bleak. Especially when you consider that Mark, Doug, and Nico aren’t eligible since they’re part of the team that puts on the event and SCOTT & Cotty didn’t enter any photos. Nobody was surprised to see Charles Brasswell take one or two certificates home. He’s a PDML Central regular that wins like every year.
Mark & Doug select some photos that might have been considered for winning and tell why they didn’t make the cut. I must say that I never enter this competition with the expectation or hope of winning. There are a lot of photographers there who put a LOT more into developing their craft and the winning photos usually seem pretty far out of my reach. So I was really chuffed that I got not one but TWO photos into presentation.
After the presentation we started to say goodbye to people. It’s always sad, this part. Then we got everyone together and took some pictures with a Pentax banner that Don had secured for us. We got a group photo with nearly everyone down at PDML Central and then some of us went up to the bridge with the banner. There were those who were a little more than apprehensive about taking what amounts to a big sail up to the usually VERY windy spot. But hell, this is important stuff, man…
It was time to finish packing up and hit the road. Final goodbyes were said and the group disbursed.
I love that place.
I really like the group of people. The photos are great. The gear available is pretty cool. Camping is fun. The presentations are pretty good. The weather is usually mostly ok. Really, with the exception of wireless internet connections at PDML Central, what more could one reasonably ask for?
If you enjoy those things, and you have the means to take a long weekend vacation next year, you really owe it to yourself to make the trip. It’s so worth it.
I'll have the rest of my photos in a gallery at cwaters.smugmug.com
Cory
I skipped the Sunday morning presenter. It was thundering and felt like rain so I decided my time would be better spent packing up the camper so I wouldn’t have to do it in the rain. Scott helped by moving out of the spare bunk and drying the dishes. It was fun.
The Mark & Doug Show was a little late this year. Doug explained that the judging team had been on strike for better working conditions. Apparently they’d run out of beer and that was just unacceptable. The crowd that had gathered for the presentation of the winning photos seemed to accept this excuse as perfectly reasonable.
With such a small group of Pentax folks on hand, our chances of winning anything looked pretty bleak. Especially when you consider that Mark, Doug, and Nico aren’t eligible since they’re part of the team that puts on the event and SCOTT & Cotty didn’t enter any photos. Nobody was surprised to see Charles Brasswell take one or two certificates home. He’s a PDML Central regular that wins like every year.
Mark & Doug select some photos that might have been considered for winning and tell why they didn’t make the cut. I must say that I never enter this competition with the expectation or hope of winning. There are a lot of photographers there who put a LOT more into developing their craft and the winning photos usually seem pretty far out of my reach. So I was really chuffed that I got not one but TWO photos into presentation.
After the presentation we started to say goodbye to people. It’s always sad, this part. Then we got everyone together and took some pictures with a Pentax banner that Don had secured for us. We got a group photo with nearly everyone down at PDML Central and then some of us went up to the bridge with the banner. There were those who were a little more than apprehensive about taking what amounts to a big sail up to the usually VERY windy spot. But hell, this is important stuff, man…
It was time to finish packing up and hit the road. Final goodbyes were said and the group disbursed.
I love that place.
I really like the group of people. The photos are great. The gear available is pretty cool. Camping is fun. The presentations are pretty good. The weather is usually mostly ok. Really, with the exception of wireless internet connections at PDML Central, what more could one reasonably ask for?
If you enjoy those things, and you have the means to take a long weekend vacation next year, you really owe it to yourself to make the trip. It’s so worth it.
I'll have the rest of my photos in a gallery at cwaters.smugmug.com
Cory
