I'd love to participate in the Acadia Project, and can bring experience with the D3x (which I'll, of course, bring), Canon printers (I can't see how to get my iPF6100 there, but I've been printing with the iPF series for years and am pretty familiar with that beast if an iPF can be found), Macs (my Mac Pro with C1 Pro, CS4, etc... could potentially be loaded in my vehicle) and photo education. This could really show us some real-world comparisons, as well as being a fun way to swap ideas, skills, etc... I'd love to see ALL the manufacturers sponsor this, because it would be a chance to get some side-by-side use of the various systems, each operated by someone who knows what they're doing with it. I wonder if the Maine Photo Workshops (located 2 hours down the coast in Rockport) would be interested in getting involved in some way? They certainly have a lot of workstations located comparatively close by...
Acadia's about the best landscape in the East - to get anything as nice, we'd have to go out west. I'd recommend avoiding the height of the tourist season, though. I shot Sand Beach in February, and got stuff that would have been impossible at any other time of year - not only did the sand form amazing formations because it was frozen together, and the snow add a wonderful element of texture, but I wasn't dodging tourists who would have been everywhere in the high season.
-Dan
Great thought on the Maine Media Workshops... I've taught there, I can certainly present it to them. (don't know why I didn't think of that, duh!) Right now on the Facebook group I have both Canon and Nikon reps interested, I think a Leaf rep too. The one political issue is that most sales reps run away from "shootout" situations like they're the plague. It's really a no-win situation for any of them, if you think about it, but yet, they still seem interested. We'll see.
The more exciting possibility is the involvement of the camera review site I'm writing for. I've talked a bit to the editor, he's kind of swamped right now with other issues, but seems interested. He could pull in all sorts of stuff to play with, and then leverage a lot of good content. (one of the things we've been talking about is to let users submit their own reviews of equipment, constrained to our format, but their own take on equipment after actual use.)
Actually, high tourist season is unbelievably under control there, and one of the reasons I was considering it. They get a huge amount of traffic, I think actually second only to Yosemite, in the US, but the last times I've been there were in August, the absolute height of the season, and it's been remarkably tame. My thinking was mid-fall, before Columbus Day, for one reason- the free buses all over the island. I brought my camper up, parked it, and didn't have to drive anywhere for a week. It was awesome, and it's a model of a low-impact mass-transit system, that even the local community applauds. (It shuts down on Columbus Day, I'm pretty sure.)
Also, it's important that you know it's not just about landscapes on the coast of Maine- there's a whole ton of other subject matter if you're into it. The Beans of Egypt Maine? Egypt Maine, and some striking examples of rural poverty are a stones throw away, for the photojournalists, I have access to a full-on studio for fashion shooters, even equine photography for a friend of mine who shoots horses... really a remarkably rich array of resources.
It is an incredible place in the dead of winter, though... I went to U Maine Orono, and we always went out there, all throughout the year (along with Mt Katahdin). Oh my god, I now am remembering what the rangers shouted at me in the morning through the bullhorns... after my illegal bivouack. They said, "are you in trouble up there? if not, you will be when you get down!" LOL
Thanks for the interest guys!
