Winter Camping at Hocking Hills, Ohio
A Place of Memories
I left my home base on February 29th and headed towards Hocking Hills State Park in Logan, Ohio. It was a State Park I had traveled to as a kid with my grandparents and remembered the waterfalls and hiking trails. For most of my life, I had been a photojournalist, covering news and events. I spent 15 years freelancing in LA, shooting stills for movies, headshots, album covers, and random work throughout the city (anything really to pay the bills).
Henri Cartier-Bresson and Annie Leibowitz inspired the photojournalistic world, Ansel Adams amazed me with the Zone System and was a photographer I looked up to when photographing nature and landscapes; unfortunately, it never paid the bills the way I wished.
I've always heard from others they love my photography, but never got the fan base on Instagram. Never really pushed the social media that you should or as they claim you need to have. Honestly, during the height of my career, Instagram didn't exist. Facebook wasn't the place it is today. I shot a film. I developed my prints in a dark room and I was a fantastic black and white photographer. I was great at making the perfect print, understanding the exposure balance in black and white that was needed.
We as artists tend to be over-critical of our work and for me until I feel like I've "nailed" the shot, it's not perfect and I need to practice. While I travel and "re-learn" aspects of landscape and nature photography that I love, I will take you along for the journey. Teach you what I've learned through the process. It will not be perfect, because I was an artist will never claim to be.
I hope you enjoy the change to the YouTube Channel. While I will show some of my RV Life and adventures, this will be more about finding the perfect photo, learning how to "see" before you shoot. Composition, exposure, learning from mistakes. Retrying it until I get it right and I will try and document these lessons to the best of my ability.
Why Camping in the Off-Season is AMAZING!!
Literally had the park to myself. I arrived on Saturday afternoon, booking three nights, so I could work on projects, edit the footage and breathe. By Sunday afternoon, I was the only camper in the park.
I had a few drive-bys, meaning people that would take the road up the hill to check out the area, not realizing it was a dead end. I had chosen a spot that put me at the top of the hill. This allowed me to be further away from lights and provided some of the best night photography I had shot in a long time.
Some Recommendations
Fill your water tanks - no hookups
Dump black tank before arriving - no hookups
Be ready for rain and ice.
Propane needs to be topped off - nights are still chilly
Keep firewood dry.
You may want a tow car or hopefully you tow - many of the locations you need to drive to.
