The Next Place You'd Like to Visit is...

NSXTypeR

It's just a general question- you don't necessarily need to go with a camera.

I found out that I enjoy traveling quite a bit now and to some extent the camera can enhance or detract from the traveling experience.

In some cases, when you're the designated photographer, if you get a big family you get hassled by people wanting their photos taken. Or if you're traveling with a tour group or family, you may not get the time you want to photograph something. It can be inconvenient at times, but it's definitely something to consider.

If I were to go, I'd definitely be bringing my camera for sure. I'd like to go to Kyoto, Japan, France and England. Mont Saint-Michel would be a very nice place to visit.

My only issue is time- I haven't got any right now. I'm really busy with school stuff for at least the next 4 years, possibly longer. Japan can be incredibly photogenic, but I know zero Japanese, so that may be a problem.

I may not even want to go for a week or two- I'd like to stay for longer, possibly 3 to 4 weeks in just one city and wander around, sort of what I did when I went to Hong Kong. It was nice to have a home base and just wander around some streets, going where you'd like and trying out street food without a real aim.

So where would you want to go?

spraynpray

Noo Yoik!

Msmoto

Noo Yoik is great, but to make this thread acceptable...we all need to take a camera.... )
My thoughts are, unless you understand the dynamics of a large city do not go alone..A smaller camera...the V1 or a P & S, possibly something like the NEX 6 from Sony might be best if alone.

Symphotic

Since I get paid to go places and, among other things, take pictures, I'm looking forward to a job in Baku, Azerbaijan. I hope to stop off in Istanbul as well. I have the contract, but no dates have been set.

Msmoto: I'll be taking only the V1 on this trip. It will involve sea time, and the D800 kit is too big for this purpose.

Msmoto

Interesting, Symphotic. I recommended to a friend to get his wife a Sony NEX 6 and so he showed it to me...a very nice camera, DX sensor, and will fit in a purse...

spraynpray

@NSX: If you go to France, to get decent pics of Mont Saint Michel you will need to get up at silly o'clock as the place gets rammed with tourists who end up in every shot. Low water shots looking back from the beach beyond it during the appropriate golden hour are super. You will enjoy some of the best seafood - especially oysters - at Cancale which is a stretch at the west end of the bay.

Msmoto

A very nice place to visit is Nova Scotia, Digby is called the scallop capital of the world, not really true now, and Yarmouth has some very interesting sites.

But, the best place to visit is Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA during the weekend of July 26, 27, 28 at which time we will be getting together some NRF members for a chit chat and whatever we can think of doing.

Symphotic

Interesting, Symphotic. I recommended to a friend to get his wife a Sony NEX 6 and so he showed it to me...a very nice camera, DX sensor, and will fit in a purse...

I'd like a bigger sensor than the CX in a tiny camera. I'd really like to see something like the Minolta CLE with an FX digital sensor. I visited with one of the wildlife film producers at NHK last time I was in Japan and he had a Sony NEX 6, which seemed to me to be very close to the ideal.

NSXTypeR

Noo Yoik!

Noo Yoik is great, but to make this thread acceptable...we all need to take a camera.... )
My thoughts are, unless you understand the dynamics of a large city do not go alone..A smaller camera...the V1 or a P & S, possibly something like the NEX 6 from Sony might be best if alone.

Let me know if you guys ever swing around!

Haha, but if you looked at the forum member locations thread... I'm already stationed in New Yawk.

I do agree, I have loads of fun doing some street shoots, especially in mid town or Chinatown.

@NSX: If you go to France, to get decent pics of Mont Saint Michel you will need to get up at silly o'clock as the place gets rammed with tourists who end up in every shot. Low water shots looking back from the beach beyond it during the appropriate golden hour are super. You will enjoy some of the best seafood - especially oysters - at Cancale which is a stretch at the west end of the bay.

Hmm, good to know. Do you know if Mont Saint-Michel is threatened at all by rising seas? You always hear about Venice being flooded but you never really hear about Mont Saint-Michel.

spraynpray

No problems there, it is well above sea level. You will see water in Manhatton before you see it there I reckon.

BenH

It turns out I'm going to Europe for a month in July but I still haven't planned out my itinerary yet. I will be taking my new 24mm and 85mm (thanks for the rebate, Nikon!) and my old 35mm 2d and/or 50mm 1.4d. I've never been to Europe so I don't know if I'll also be needing a 24-120. I'm hoping to hit as many national parks as possible.

spraynpray

'National Parks' eh? Good luck with that in France.....

scoobysmak

I would really visit Europe in general but for what ever reason at this very second Germany and Ireland really stick out for that. My other trip I would like to take is Alaska but mainly just to track down eagles. I am sure there are locations that are closer that might work out for this as well but hear Alaskan wildlife overall is a good experince. The odds of me getting a trip in the next 3 years is rather slim though so things will probably change before I get the chance.

BenH

@Spraynpray: Why's that? (re: national parks in France) Point taken on being out before the *other* tourists...

spraynpray

France is a place of great beauty, but they are not big on National Parks like the USA. I lived there for 8 years and was surprised to find that they have no culture of Hiking in general throughout the country. In the UK, there are many National Parks and it has about 1/5 the land mass of France. I advise you to do plenty of research before going to France to avoid disappointment. Don't get me wrong, there is plenty to shoot there, but it is not a 'National Park' kind of place.

BenH

I see... Thanks for the heads up. I have been doing a bit of research and yeah, it looks like most 'places to visit in Europe' are man made.

proudgeek

Woah, this is almost as fun as compiling a fantasy gear list. Some of these places I've gotten to see, but there was nothing in the OP about return visits.
For scenery:
Iceland
New Zealand
SW Coast of Ireland
Alaska
Desert SW of US (I've been to Moab several times, but would go back in a heartbeat)
Iguazu Falls
Antarctica
Patagonia

For wildlife:
Kenya
Alaska
Galapagos
Amazon Rainforest

For urban environments:
New York (of course, but I used to live there)
Bangkok (a friend of mine did a shoot there and it was fantastic; very gritty)
Paris (the architecture looks incredible)
Rome (can we do something about all those crowds though?)

Man-made landmarks:
Machu Picchu
Great Wall of China
Golden Gate Bridge
Angkor Wat
Pyramids
Petra

BabaGanoush

2013: River cruise from Amsterdam to Bucharest (scheduled)
2014: Huahine and Bora Bora in French Polynesia (in the planning)
2015: Either Pohnpei, Micronesia + Papua New Guinea (2nd time) or else Aitutaki, Cook Islands (haven't decided which)
2016: Sulawesi and Borneo, Indonesia, for the total eclipse of the sun (for sure)
2017?: Palawan, The Philippines

Almost forgot Santorini. Must.see.before.I.die. Can it surpass Capri in beauty?

Symphotic

Wherever you go, the 24-120 is a great travel lens.

spraynpray

@Baba: Santorini is lovely, but there are prettier islands in the Aegean Sea IMHO unless you prefer the stark volcanic landscape there but Capri is very lovely, I agree.

tcole1983

We are planning on Cozumel or Puerto Rico for our next vacation. Not necessarily for the pictures. I will most likely be in Denver for a couple weeks for work. And work might eventually take me to cool locatio

For a photographic trip that is hard to say. So many beautiful placed that are too hostile atm. I think Alaska might be up there and Costa Rica intrigued me. I would love to see the Himalayas and trek around there.

spraynpray

@tcole: Google TFTTF Chris Marquardt does Himalayan treks for photogs.

donaldejose

Monument Valley in Utah. Been there once for a day long before digital photography existed. A day is not enough time. Quite a dramatic landscape. Always wanted to go back for many days just to soak up the atmosphere and photograph the changes in light.

tcole1983

@tcole: Google TFTTF Chris Marquardt does Himalayan treks for photogs.

That looks pretty sweet. It would be a long time until I could come up with funds to do something like that though.

Paulohn

NYC, to buy some gear.

(In Brazil, photography is a hobby that costs twice as much if one buys gear locally)

Gitzo

Monument Valley in Utah. Been there once for a day long before digital photography existed. A day is not enough time. Quite a dramatic landscape. Always wanted to go back for many days just to soak up the atmosphere and photograph the changes in light.

Monument Valley (and the surrounding area) is one of the most scenic places in all of North America to visit, and especially to photograph; to do justice to a photo trek in MV, you really should have a decent 4X4 vehicle;
If you plan on getting "up close" to any of the big red sand stone "monuments", you'll need to hire a Navajo guide to go with you; otherwise, you'll have to do ALL of your picture taking from the dirt road; tourists are NOT ALLOWED to wander off of the road (without a Navajo Guide) As you leave the blacktop road and pass through the gate, you are no longer in the United States; You're in "The Navajo Nation"; A good thing to remember when visiting Monument Valley is, "When In The Navajo Nation, Do As The Navajo Do"! Which includes, do not litter (or else), and don't act stupid; (Navajo have very low tolerance for "stupid") (they're not too terribly keen on white people either!) But they will "put up" with you if you don't litter their land, and above all.......don't act stupid ! (act "respectful", and "quiet"; they like that.)

You can get a lot of very good shots FROM the dirt road, but you can do MUCH, MUCH better after you get away from the road.

Probably one of the most "photogenic" of all the National Parks and other sites in that entire area is Zion NP; it's many times bigger in area than Monument Valley, and you won't be obliged to deal with "cranky Indians" while you're enjoying it.

If you are ever in California and you want to see some spectacular scenery, take a drive up the road that runs north from Lake Isabella and along the Kern River; about 20 miles north you come into the Yosemite National Forest; If you have never seen sequoia trees "up close", THIS is THE place to see them ! If you went on North to Yosemite National Park, you'll see more sequoia trees, but in the NP, you have to contend with 9 million "Wal-martian" tourists, and you'll have at least a thousand in every picture you take; That's why I love going to the National Forest; same sequoia trees, but NO tourists ! Tip: if you plan to photograph sequoia trees, it's NOT easy ! (take the widest WA lens you have; The things are so big that if you get far enough away to get the whole tree in the frame, you're back among so many MORE trees that you can't see the sequoia trees. Believe me, there is no feeling like standing right next to 4 o 5 trees that are all 15 to 18 feet in dia, and 250 tall; they really make you feel "small"!

In the same forest are sugar pine trees that are 10 to 12 feet at the base, over 200 ft tall, with big 18 inch long pine cones hanging from them, and incense cedars that are also that big, and are exactly the color of freshly ground cinnamon ; (probably one of the most beautiful trees on the planet) If you ever go to Sequoia National Forest, be SURE to have a GPS, or at least a good compass; you can hike 500 feet from the road, and have to spend all day trying to find your way back! (if you're lucky; if you're not, it may take a week) ( That's not an exaggeration either; a homing pigeon will get lost among all of of those huge trees.)