UPDATE # 1

Hi Photowalkers,
I spent a recent weekend photographing and scouting out the town of Miami AZ. I had the good fortune of meet with some very nice locals who are excited about the Photowalk coming their way. From the west side of Phoenix it took me about 2 hours to make the drive. We will be arriving in town with early morning light so if the sky is clear we should have ‘golden light’ and long shadows with quiet streets (the tourists will come later in the day).
When driving in from Phoenix look for a street light at Forrest Ave. and turn left. Go over the bridge and make a right on Sullivan. Two blocks down Sullivan you will see a park on the corner of Inspiration and Sullivan. That will be our meeting place.
After a brief networking time (bring informal printed out ‘cards’ that list your contact information and areas of photo interest to exchange with the group) we will proceed to break up into sub-groups and photograph the area for two hours. Part of the downtown area is flat but there are also steep hillsides with stairways leading to more picture opportunities. Since parts of the town are in disrepair, choose your footwear for traction and ankle support (you may even want a walking stick for the climbs). We don’t want anyone slipping and twisting an ankle – there are plenty of shooting opportunities on the flatter sections of town so don’t feel like you need to climb unless you like to. Hats, water bottles and sunblock are also recommended.
You may find that wide angle lenses help get the tight areas and telephotos can bring in some of the shots you can’t get to by foot. A monopod or light weight tripod would give you better shots in low light (but we all know what a drag it is to lug them around – IS to the rescue) If you have a polarizing filter bring it along and since the light will be from a low angle a lens hood might also be helpful. Peeking through the boarded up buildings with a camera and flash may reveal some interesting interiors if you are comfortable using a camera mounted strobe. If you are new to photography don’t worry about all this stuff – you will still get great shots with simple gear. I was back and forth between my DSLR (no tripod) and iPhone camera and was happy with the results from these very different cameras.
After our two hour shoot, Linda Gross (no relationship to your leader – but the editor of the area newspaper – thank you Linda) is in the process of organizing a one hour social time at a local B&B while we wait for Guayo’s El Ray restaurant to open at 11. Bring your own $ — the food is good and they will try and get us a separate room so we can talk and look at photos from our morning’s shoot.
All of the above takes places within several square blocks of the old down-town so you shouldn’t need to drive anywhere during the shoot.
These are the plans so far. They look pretty solid but keep your eyes on your email if there are any last minute changes. If you don’t mind confirming that you got this email I would feel more comfortable knowing that the lines of communication are open between us. See you soon – RG