Digital Meetup somewhere in the world...

[NILOLIGIST]

Well,

Since people here have SO MUCH money, I am suggesting...A meetup somewhere in the world in 2005.

If anyone thinks this might be a good idea, add your suggestions here. I suggest we pick a place in the world that is safe and would be great to do some serious photography agreeable to all...

My first pick is Costa Rica. It is beautiful, affordable and has plenty things to photography for most.

If you think this is a stupid idea you can add that comment too.

NiL,

[Mills]

Sounds good to me. There are so many places to choose from though.....

[vvizard]

Costa-rica.. No where's that.. I'll be away doing some googling here...

Back.. Spain, yes.. That sound swell :) I was planning on going there to meet a girl this Christmas, but I chose a 10D instead, and have never regretted it =D Spain is at least affordable for us in Europe, but quite a bit more expensive for those of you in the U.S and other parts of the world I guess. But a compromise there must be, and Europe/America is probably the biggest candidates due to most active forum-members from there. For a not-so-scientific-but-quite-usable graph on where people on this forum live, you can check the webserver-graphs for the domain I host the pictures I link to from this forum. It's almost entirely used for those pictures, and those pictures stand for well above 90% of all the traffic. "Norway" is rated high of course, since apart from photography-on-the.net, I'm (obviously) the biggest visitor. Some visitors don't have reversable IP's either, so those fall in the unresolved/unknown category. So not scientific in any way, but still a quite usable visualization I think:

http://www.127001.org/stats/usage_200405.html#TOPCTRYS

EDIT I don't got a reversable IP on my home-connection, so I'm actually not screwing up the graph. I just fall into the "uresolved" category.

EDIT2 I'm totally for the idea though. I don't care much about where it's scheduled (as long as it's affordable) :)

[PacAce]

Costa-rica.. No where's that.. I'll be away doing some googling here...

Back.. Spain, yes.. That sound swell :) I was planning on going there to meet a girl this Christmas, but I chose a 10D instead, and have never regretted it =D Spain is at least affordable for us in Europe, but quite a bit more expensive for those of you in the U.S and other parts of the world I guess.

If you're referring to Costa Rica, it's not in Spain. It's in Central America although they do speak Spanish there. :)

I'm going to be traveling to mainland Japan and Okinawa for some sightseeing and a high school reunion and then continue on to the Philippines for more sightseeing in 2005 so I'm not sure if I'm going to have any money and energy left for another international travel for a photo-shoot that same year. But I'll keep my options open since it does sound interesting. :)

[vvizard]

If you're referring to Costa Rica, it's not in Spain. It's in Central America although they do speak Spanish there. :)


LOL! Guess I should've done better googling before posting :lol: All I did was reading the two lines google extracted from one of the top links:


Costa Rica - Home Page
Costa Rica Community. ... Spanish Version. En Español. 2004 Costa Rica Tide Information.
The 2004 Costa Rica Tide Information is now available. Enjoy it! Back to Top ...
www.costarica.com/ - 22k - 20 May 2004 - Cached - Similar pages


Guess the "Spanish version" threw me off :lol:

[NILOLIGIST]

Okay, Canada? Somewhere in the US. I want to save and really go somewhere nice and cheap. Spain has a high crime rate and so does Brazil. I want...I want....Oh well...

More thoughts?

NiL,

[drisley]

Central Canada in January please....
:lol:

[johneo]

More thoughts?

I often wondered if anyone from this forum got together to share their thoughts on photography ... in person.

On one of the Sony Mavica forums I used to frequent would have "Shootouts". Anyone from anywhere could plan one and whomever wants to go, goes.

I had planned to go to one at about a 2 hour drive from me but the flu made me decide to skip it and I understand I missed a good time. They usually met at a pub or restauraunt. Had a little to eat, drink and get to know each other and would then head off for a shooting.

In the days following, all that attended would share their experience and photos with everyone else on the forum.

Same idea you have, NIL, but on a more affordable, local setting.

[NILOLIGIST]

Actually, I have met up with someone from the forum and we went out shooting a few times. It was fun. I don't feel anything wrong with it. In fact, I would rathe go out with you guys than someone I met on the street. I feel like we are family here. We haven't met in person but we spend a lot of time with each other everyday.

This post might sound like it is way out there but I am really serious. This is something for NEXT year 2005, sooner if we all agree and still have pennies after making all of these purchases.

We really can't talk affordable. We spend huge amounts on camera gear so money is not really an issue. If we plan now, we have plenty of time to make the necessary arrangements for next year.

I would like to do something reasonable and affordable. But what is affordable to me might not be to you. So we have to agree on where and what we would like to spend.

Keep posting your thoughts.

NiL,

[vvizard]

Local meetings are good ..... if you tend to live close to other forum-members. I don't. A "global" meeting with shootout would be real cool. It cost a lot of money, but hey, most of us (with exceptions probably) are either relatively wealthy, or wealthier than we think ourself. If not, we would probably not hang out in the EOS-section I think.

This is a trip for 2005, so even for a student like me, there is time to save up money if one really want to go. And I do :) I've never been further away from Norway than Malta, and I really want to go someplace "exotic". I don't find the tourist-attractions of middle Europe "that" attractive, as it's mostly filled with .... other tourists. And travelling on a charter-trip with Norwegian tourists to a warm and cheap place ain't that attractive, as it usually just "floats" away in way to much alcohol, due to Norwegian alcohol-prices beeing _MANY_ times higher than middle-Europe.

So a non-charter trip with people I "know" would just be so awesome :)

[vvizard]

Heh, quite similiar content we got there NIL ;) I was writing mine when your was published. And no, I'm not that slow of a writer, but I took a break while at it :)

Agreeing on something affordable can't possible be done, as we live in all parts of the world, but we need to find something affordable to "most" of you, and then the rest of the guys living in farther away locations, like me, will have to decide if they really can spend the amount. Impossible for me to tell until we can agree on where/when. But I really want to try doing it. I know I get a $1000+ tax-refund June 2005, and that alone can cover at least the flight to USA. But if this is pre-June 2005, I'll just have to try saving harder. I'm all for it anyways.

[mjordan]

The way things are in the world today, the only place save I can think is inside NORAD, which is a half mile inside of Cheyenne Moutain in Colorado Springs, CO. I worked inside there in the 70's and it was suppose to be able to take two direct atomic hits. That would be pretty safe... uh, you'd have to bring flash though to get pictures. It's pretty dark inside. :lol:

Mike

[vvizard]

How about "sticking" this thread until we find out if this trip is likely to be pulled off? To reduce the number of sticky threads, remove the MK-II shots around the net. There's plenty enough of MK-II's floating around now, so that anybody capable of a google or forum-search can find them.

[D60DIETER]

I would prefer San Francisco in the end of Mai or September. This place is absolutly great for taking pictures :D . And if we feel celebrating ourselves we can head for Nappa Valley (including a ballon tour) 8).

Keep me informed. I try to make up my plans for 2005.

Dieter

[jalafer]

Okay, Canada? Somewhere in the US. I want to save and really go somewhere nice and cheap. Spain has a high crime rate and so does Brazil. I want...I want....Oh well...

More thoughts?

NiL,


I have to tell you that Spain has not a high crime rate. In fact Spain is quite a safe country. Of course in the very big cities as Madrid and Barcelona and in the very touristics ones as Sevilla you have to take care of the pick pockets and small robs, but you don't feel at risk even late in the evening.
The smaller cities like Bilbao, San Sebastian, Zaragoza, Girona, etc... are probably the safest in Europe.

[aeroshots2003]

I'm with Jalafer here!

I LOVE Salamanca; ancient city away from the touristic coasts, yet beautiful spanish female students to admire on their way to university :wink:

Another one? Ronda, in the middle of AndalucÃ*a, with its 3-day festival in early september. Bullfights, horses and... nice señoritas in flamenco dresses 8)

Spain has lots of beatiful sites at close distance to eachother and... there's ALWAYS the sun 8)

And you can easily combine it with Portugal - cheap and fabulous.

[vvizard]

Oh yeah, sun! It need to be a place with "weather-guarantee" ;) I'm not going to fork over a big pile of money to live Norway, just to end up in another "weather-hell" ;) As some other guy mentioned in another thread here about wheather..

"Te good thing is you don't need a gray-card, you can just meter off the sky" =D

[ssim]

I think that this is a great idea. Pretty much anywhere works for me, I'm an airline employee.

When I joined this board I started to message with a person who everyone knows as IanD. We did finally hookup and it turns out he lives less than 5 minutes away for me.

We do go out shooting and, even though his shooting technique may seem a little to the rear, he is actually a very nice man. His wife and himself have been very good to me.

[iwatkins]

Easter Island would be fair. Just as difficult to get to for most people. ;)

Cheers

Ian

[vvizard]

North Pole to shoot polar bears =D First man/women there get a MK-II from the loosers. I'll start running now, and if you never see me again, be sure to let the right people know, so every dead polar-bear can have his stomach examined for my microdrive, in case any of the shots turned out OK :)

[Jemmind]

vvizard, but you won't get to go will you if you are off fighting in the army?
hopefully it would be after yoiur duty.



Julie

[vvizard]

vvizard, but you won't get to go will you if you are off fighting in the army?
hopefully it would be after yoiur duty.

Julie

Depends. If I'm doing foreign services, I will probably not :/ "hey guys, see you later, I'm off to USA to meet friends and photograph! Take care!" =D ... or not :cry:

But if I'm stationed in Norway, I think there's a fair chance of getting a "perm" for such a trip. A lot of guys I know have gotten perms (don't know the English word, but like "off duty") to attend the world largest computerparty which we throw in Norway each year. And if that's good enough to get perm, travelling to the USA or some other remote location probably should qualify as well, as long as it doesn't collide with important training or such.

[msvadi]

may be some people have missed it:
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=29415

[defordphoto]

How about Photo Heaven? One of THE most famous photographed places in the world by one of the world's most famous photographers?

Yosemite.

Other than that I vote for the Pacific Northwest as these days I can hardly afford to go to the bathroom! ;) But hey, I do have a cool camera! :lol:

[psk4363]

I'm up for Yosemite too!

But as a radical alternative, and as no-one else has suggested this side of the pond (or did I mis-read a post?), what about the beautiful Scottish Highlands, say around the Trossachs in the Autumn (fall). Why? Beautiful scenery, excellent wildlife, local charachters, and of course visits to the world-famous whisky distilleries to round off a day's shooting! 8)

Cheers,
Barry

[IanD]

With enough advanced planning, this would be a great idea. Location is not critical to me as I have a passport that they have not revoked and my day pass can be extended into an overnite pass if I'm good and don't throw my food around. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Of course a couple of ducks close to the site would be an added bonus. Count me in if the dates do not comflict with "work".

[c0ntr0lz]

how about Destin Florida??
AWESOOOOOOOOOOME white sand beaches and crystal clear water

[Lamplight]

How about Nashville Tennessee? After all, that's about as far as I could afford to go. :lol:

[SWPhotoImaging]

Well, in 2005 I already have a trip to the Amalfi coast of Italy planned for late May. But I live just a couple of hours from Yosemite, so that sounds good too.

[NILOLIGIST]

Okay, so we do something domestic. Where in the US is good for anyone? I would love to go to Butterfly world or somewhere that has a lot of flowers, bees and bugs.

I would like Florida, it is as close to Costa Rica I can get. :(

Of course we can do something locally by forming groups near where we live.

State where you live.

I am in NYC. I work in Manhattan's midtown area.

NiL,

[aeroshots2003]

Why not go to our holy ground itself? Combine the trip with a visit to a Canon 1D MkII production plant :wink:

I suppose it's located in some low-cost country, so that would mean low budget travelling. But more interesting, on the way out of the plant pick up one of the babies at production cost 8)

Sayonara greetings to Canon :P


BTW, does anybody know where the 10D, 1D MkII,... production lines are?

[NILOLIGIST]

We could all just stay home too. :( Let's have a vote. Everyone list where we would like to go and then we will take the most responses for each place and vote.

NiL,

[johneo]

Okay, so we do something domestic. Where in the US is good for anyone? I would love to go to Butterfly world or somewhere that has a lot of flowers, bees and bugs.

I would like Florida, it is as close to Costa Rica I can get. :(

Of course we can do something locally by forming groups near where we live.

State where you live.

I am in NYC. I work in Manhattan's midtown area.

NiL,

I'm in Rhode Island (in the northeast USA for anyone not familiar)

I notice that some of the responders are from Canada and when you said "flowers ... " my 1st thought was Niagra Falls. Beautiful gardens as well as the falls. I know it's a tourist trap but a nice place and not far away is the locks and Great Lakes. Just a thought.

I like the idea of Yosemite too.

Hey, come to Rhode Island ... "The Ocean State"

[mjordan]

the falls. I know it's a tourist trap but a nice place and not far away is the locks and Great Lakes. Just a thought.



Are they locking up the Great Lakes now? Gee whiz, is nothing safe anymore?


:lol:

Mike

[vvizard]

Of places mentioned so far, my vote goes for Scottland. Beautiful country!

[D60DIETER]

And very photographic!

Rain, sun, rain, sun, clouds, rain, sun, clouds, fog, fog, fog, rain, sun, clouds, :D :D :D :D :D

[psk4363]

NiL, :idea:

How about having regional get-togethers? I mean get-togethers by, say, continent as an initial step and then, if that's successful, maybe stretch it to a global event.

The regions could report on how their respective meeting went to the other(s).

At least this would minimise travel costs at the start in case the global event proved too costly for some for an unknown venture.

Just an idea - aimed at suggesting an alternative.

Cheers,
Barry

[NILOLIGIST]

Good idea...We can have small meetups. I would also be interested in anyone that wants to go outside the country too.

I am in NYC.

NiL,

[IanD]

http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=30548
This is happening in 2 weeks.
So far we have 6 folks from here attending. Anyone else interested?

[D60DIETER]

I´m from Germany (munich area) and I will be in the US in the beginning of July 04. Here are the dates:

6th-11th july Glacier Ntl. parc MT
12th-18th july Ventura CA

Dieter

[CyberDyneSystems]

FYI all.. as IanD says.. the Canada meet is allready on...

...And New York as well..

A Europe one has just started in the planning stages too.... 8)

Seems no one posting here even reads the Stickies :roll: :?: :)


Anyway.. we now have a huge pile of these meetings.. some still in the planning,. some allready scheduled.. I think this is great!

[Canuck]

I'm up for Yosemite too!

But as a radical alternative, and as no-one else has suggested this side of the pond (or did I mis-read a post?), what about the beautiful Scottish Highlands, say around the Trossachs in the Autumn (fall). Why? Beautiful scenery, excellent wildlife, local charachters, and of course visits to the world-famous whisky distilleries to round off a day's shooting! 8)

Cheers,
Barry

The Scottish Higlands...interesting, they are awesome, but one problem...the weather is incredibly hit or miss and you are far more likely to miss.

I cast a vote for the Adirondacks of New York during the peak of the fall foliage. There are a ton of places to go shoot up there, literally!

[roanjohn]

Colorado...............the mountains..........

Or Death Valley...........................

Or Sedona.....................................

All these places I want to take photos of before I go "Kaputz!!!"

Ro1

[NILOLIGIST]

I don't mind meeting with people in NY. I would also like to meet somewhere next year outside of the country in a SAFE place and have a shootout vacation.

Anyone interested in the original topic...POST!!

NiL,

[Alexandre Gabriel]

Okay, Canada? Somewhere in the US. I want to save and really go somewhere nice and cheap. Spain has a high crime rate and so does Brazil. I want...I want....Oh well...

:twisted: Go to Blockbuster and rent "Bowling for Columbine" from Michael Moore. Beautiful piece of art. :twisted:

[Canuck]

How do you fancy pics of glaciers in June? I've heard Alaska is nice. I have always wanted to go there. I've also always enjoyed the Adirondacks of New York and there are plenty of photo ops. I could also say the same about the Pacific Northwest if is isn't raining. :) There is also a lot of cool places in Canada like Niagara Falls, Ganonoque, Kingston, Ottawa, around Upper Canada Village/Upper Canada Bird Sanctuary to name a few. Just some ideas.