I have many great (IMHO) portraits of PDMLers and friends at GFM, a few decent shots of the venue. All of course are still 1.5-2.5 mb, include distracting elements like dust, bunny ears, etc. that will take some time in PE. Posting to come later. Meanwhile, some preliminary thoughts:
Greywolf is not the shaggy mountain man I expected. Put him in a coat and tie and he would fit well in a corporate boardroom.
Geoff was about 10 years younger than I expected. His friend Wendy is a super young lady and I hope to see more of them in the future.
Tan was about 10 years older than I expected. (That is a joke, folks.)
Bill Owen's hospitality far exceeded any possible expectations. He and Phyllis were great 'hosts' to this gaggle of people. Don, our main host, makes a great breakfast of sausage and eggs. I was also impressed with his comment to the room full of Canon and Nikon shooters: "It is all about the glass, not about the camera hanging off the back of the glass. And in that regard, Pentax glass will kick your ass all day long." Or words to that effect. Don is also blessed with two sons that would make any father proud.
Mark Roberts is about 6" taller than I expected.
Frank, tv, Cotty, and Cesar were all pretty much as I expected them. But I had met them all before.
Cesar and I are long-lost half brothers; it is like a yin-yang thing. He is always buying stuff, I am always selling stuff...
The talent in this group continues to blow me away. There was some informal sharing of portfolios - this is a talented group!
Grandfather Mountain itself is a good venue for this sort of Nature Photography gathering, but it would take more scouting than I had time for to find the 'good spots'. I am impressed that Jostein managed to find the only three Lady Slippers on the mountain.
Don't try to follow a marathon runner up a rugged mountain trail. If you do try. leave the bulky photo equipment behind.
Many confirmations of one of the fundamental laws of photography, and its corollary:
a. if you carry it, you won't use it;
b. if you don't carry it, you will desperately want to use it.
If you are going to camp in North Carolina, or anyplace where it is know to rain, then it would be better to have a tent that doesn't leak. [Note to self: 33 years of usage may be about the useful life span of the North Face tent; buy new tent. Soon.]
There is an advantage to staying with the group - those who were off-mountain had significantly fewer hours available to socialize. e.g., Marnie, Bruce, Bob S., Charles... There is also an advantage to being a paid guest rather than a worker - tv, Mark, Doug, Bill all had duties that kept them from relaxing and enjoying the crowd.
It was good to meet all of the PDML contingent. It was especially good to meet those from outside the U.S. that I have not met before: Tanja, Adehlaid, and Jostein. As well as meeting with Cotty and Frank again. They bring a slightly different outlook on life that challenges one to examine his/her own assumptions.
Norm should not give up his day job for a modeling career. Cesar, on the other hand, might do ok.
These are all good people; if you have the opportunity, whether at GFM or elsewhere, look them up, get acquainted.
By the way; film is dead. I heard it at GFM and so it must be true.
A great weekend, one which I shall hope to repeat.
Stan
