When Denise, her parents, Julian, and I set off for England in the Spring of 2004, we had no idea what we were getting into.
I have a pet theory that the trips where everything goes perfectly are less memorable... that in order to have truly memorable adventures, sometimes a few things have to go wrong. Of course, you don't want too much to go wrong, just a little bit. The times when you're presented with a challenge or two... those are the times you remember the most.
Right from the start, we were presented with more than our fair share of the "adventurous adversity" on this England trip. We had two cars, two pairs of walkie-talkies, and one map when we headed out of Heathrow. Within a few minutes, wouldn't you know it, we were separated. Spent the rest of the day (8 hours) driving up to York, where we just hoped we would meet up with the other car. Denise's mother and I arrived first... can you imagine how nervously I paced the street until Denise, Dad, and Julian arrived?
Especially during the first few days, the biggest challenge was the fact that Julian, two and a half at the time, could not understand what jet-lag was all about, and how to deal with it. He would be up, talking loudly at 3am. Some of my best pictures are actually the result of my need to take Julian out of the hotel. We would go out driving around at 4 or 5am... a perfect time to scout locations for great sunrise photos.
The following two images were both photographed in such early morning light - one in the Northeast, along the coast, and the other at Castlerigg, an ancient stone circle in the Lake District.
The funny thing about Castlerigg is that the stone circle is inhabited by a herd of cattle. At one point, the evening prior, I looked up from my gear to realize I was surrounded by very curious cattle. I just stood quietly and watched them while they stiffed my tripod. When one started licking and slobbering over my laptop, I drew the line and waved them out of my "personal space".
The upshot of this trip was this: we ended up having a great adventure. All of us, including Julian, look back on the trip with a sense of fondness and rich memories. Julian now talks often of getting on a plane to go to England.
What's more, I had a great yield, photographically speaking. Nearly a quarter of the images in my recent photography how-to guidebook were photographed in England. That is an amazing return from any one trip. You can take a look at some of the other images in my book (where you can also see the shot of the cow gobbering up my laptop!) or in this photo gallery at Miotke.com.
I'm thrilled to have gone on the trip and even more thrilled when I held the finished book in my hands yesterday.
We are having a big celebration this month in honor of the fact that this book has come to fruition. If you're interested in learning how to make better digital photos, check out the BetterPhoto Guide to Digital Photography - I think you'll enjoy it as much as I enjoyed the variety of adventures that went into it's creation.
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