Hibernation

To those of you who have stuck with us over the last two years (ish), thank you so much!

Due to a lack of time, lack of interest, lack of adventure recently, we are putting thevisualCollective in hibernation.

We thrive on adventure, so we will still be doing our own trips and having fun out in the world... just not with/as tvC.

If you've got a trip you want to put together, let us know. We'd be happy to talk about making it happen.

Until then, keep creating and stay true to your vision...

-Matt

Packing for Havasupai

Believe it or not, thevisualCollective has been around for 1.5 years now.

We are excited to celebrate with a killer backpacking trip to Havasupai!

Last year, most of us n00bs packed too much stuff. Here was my list from last year, with changes highlighted so you can see what I'm bringing this year.

Starting at the bottom left corner and working clockwise:
2x T shirts (downsizing to one spare and one on my back)
4x Socks (downsizing to two spare and one on my feets)
Adventure pants (quick-dry, zip-off, cargo pants - double as swimshorts)
black hoodie
serious rain jacket 
3x bandana
Serious hiking boots
Adventure hat
bag of miscellaneous medications
3x 1 liter water bottles
First Aid kit. Scissors, Gauze, tape, gloves etc.
SB 600 Speedlight
6x 4gb 300x CompactFlash memory cards
18-55mm kit lens
D300s camera body
35mm f/1.8 lens
Bread!
PB&J (not pictured)
2x Flashlight
headlamp + spare + batteries
75' of rope (now just 50')
48 AA batteries
Hammock
Sleeping bag
Adventure knife
Sarong/scarf

There you have it. Additionally, I will be wearing my second only pair of adventure pants and a second T shirt, as well as a third pair of socks. The bag weighs less than 30 25 pounds with water-weight, so it shouldn't be too hard on me.

Reducing redundancies will keep my bag lighter. I will also be bringing a hiking pole (or two) and *may* bring an extra liter of water.

Things you may notice as missing: propane stove and alcohol.
I'd rather carry bread and PB&J than two tanks of fuel (one as a backup) and a stove-thing - no open fires are allowed in the canyon.
Also, the Havasupai tribe prohibits alcohol in the canyon.

Culminator Winner Announced.

After some delay (so sorry for the delay) tvC is pleased to announce the winner of last month's Mission, Aaron Wilson. Aaron's submission for The Culminator struck our fancy enough to award our most fabulous prize of the Vivitar Freelance camera package. We can't wait to see what kind of lo-fi wizardry you can come up with utilizing this little gem...be sure to stop by the last Sunday Photowalk to claim your prize...

Check out the rest of Aaron's submission below, and be sure to stay tuned for updates on everything else that has been happening over here at thevisualCollective...

Put the Camera Down

More and more in the last few weeks, I've been learning the value of leaving the camera at home or in the car. Sometimes, you just gotta have the camera. Perhaps that's most of the time. But sometimes, you benefit from just experiencing the world around you without the barrier that is created by the camera. Dance at the music show, look around at a beautiful landscape. Free yourself to be part of the experience instead of simply recording it for later.

Taylor and I have both experienced this recently - setting the camera down and existing as a human being, not as a photographer.

For instance, at our recent ZION adventure, I shot less than 150 frames in three days. Most of the time, I was simply enjoying the beauty of the park and the rain. It was a very refreshing change.

There you go. Don't forget to exist once in a while.

Culminator Prize

As promised, the winner of "The Culminator" mission will win a complete camera system from the extensive personal collection of yours truly, Señior Photographía. What we have here is the Vivitar Freelance camera system comes complete with camera, USB cord, instructions and proprietary software for Mac and PC. 

This 2.1mp camera can hold up to 120 still images on the built in memory card, and shoots video. Is it low-fi? Yes. But it is small, compact and since we are giving it away free, if it breaks, falls in water to is run over by a bus, you lose nothing. 

tvC firmly believes that it isn't the gear that makes a photograph, but the vision of the person pressing the button, so get out there, shoot some images and get your Culminator submission in by July 24th. Get all the details over on the Missions page http://www.thevisualcollective.com/p/missions.html.

The gear isn't the problem... (a rant)

This is an excerpt from a post on The Vault Blog (Matt's personal blog) that we think merits sharing again.

My favorite lens is also the least expensive lens I own. It's the smallest, easiest to carry, and the most durable piece of glass I have. If I had to sell all my gear but one lens, I'd keep the 50mm and be happy for the rest of my days.


Curiously enough, the people I talk to don't WANT to hear that the 50mm F/1.8 is my favorite lens. They want to hear that the 70-200mm F/2.8 or the 400 F/2.8 or the 600 F/4 is my favorite lens, because all those lenses are hideously expensive, and thus generally out of reach for these beginners and amateurs who don't have thousands to spend on glass.

They can say, "Well it isn't my fault that my pictures suck, I don't have the right gear, I don't have the money. If I could only have ____, then I'd be a better photographer."

On the other hand, a $125 or $220 lens?* Anyone can buy that with a little bit of smart spending/saving. Cut back on your coffee or cigarette or energy drink habit and you've saved enough to buy one in a month or two.

If the gear you need is within your reach, it becomes YOUR fault that your pictures suck. It becomes your problem that you haven't spent any time thinking critically about how to communicate with a still image. It becomes your fault that you don't care enough to take your time to compose an image worth sharing. All of a sudden, when you realize that gear is not the issue, all your shortcomings as a photographer become your problem.

Of course this is stupid. The fact that you never bothered to learn proper exposure has always been your problem, but you used to be able to brush it off and pretend it wasn't your fault.
Those damn camera companies just make things too damn expensive. Damn THEM!

Uh uh. No dice.

Do yourself a favor, buy a 50mm prime. Use it exclusively for a week or a month. Put a few hundred frames through it. Something tells me that you too will discover its power.

The one lens.

To rule them all.

Monday Inspirations...

Here is an article from The New York Times 'Lens' blog. It outlines a paradigm shift in photography, away from the lone-wolf and toward cooperation and collaboration...humm, sounds familiar...

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/18/a-lone-wolf-approach-disfavored/