Road Trip

Road Trip Photographer - America - Open Road

What a winter it’s been. The snow just keeps on coming. Made an impromptu road trip up to Jackson Hole again for a mix of business and pleasure. More on the business part coming soon! We had two days of incredible backcountry snowboarding. The best of which was in Grand Teton National Park, where the snow was literally as good as it gets. Felt like floating on a cloud. The road trip portion was a lot of fun too, although the weather conditions made it quite interesting. On the way south while driving through northern Nevada, an emergency alert popped up on my phone. I figured it was just an overreaction, then got slammed with some of the worst driving conditions I’ve ever witnessed during 10+ years of road trips. The snow and wind was so heavy, that there were moments when I couldn’t figure out if the car was moving forward or backwards. It was also the first time I ever called it and got a hotel due to weather. That hour and a half of driving in those conditions completely fried my eyes and brain. Gotta love the road. It keeps you honest. Will be posting new images soon from the cowboy project.

Road Trip Book

Photographing the American Road Trip

Another feature for Roadside Meditations! Very grateful and hope they keep coming! This one is over on the photography website All About Photo, which does a great job of featuring and writing about some very inspiring photography projects. Honored to have my latest photography book on the American Road Trip be a part of it.

Click here to read the article

Click here to order a copy of the book

American road trip photography book Roadside Meditations featured on All About Photo .com

Best photo book on the Great American Road Trip

Best book about the American Road Trip

Fine Art Road Trip Photography

The Open Road - America

It’s great to see Roadside Meditations getting some press, especially overseas. L’Oeil de la Photographie in France did a piece on it. You can head over to their website and use Google Translate to read it. If you’re wondering, those fancy looking words mean “The Eye of Photography” in English. Any press for the book is welcomed, but it feels particularly good being featured in magazines that specialize in photography.

Click here to read the article

Click here to order a copy of the book

American Road Trip - USA Photography

The Open Road

Photography and the Great American Road Trip

The library of road trip photographs is starting to get out of hand. And as usual, I’ve been slacking on sharing images. So here is a selection made over the past couple years in Iowa, Utah, Nevada, Virginia, and California. Taking these trips is so much fun, and equally as fun is going back through the images after not having seen them for quite a while. It’s sort of like reliving each trip again and putting yourself right back in each of these places.

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Click here to pick up a copy of Roadside Meditations

Sunset on a country road in Iowa

Sunset on a country road in Iowa

Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System

Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System

Dense forest in Virginia

Virginia

Abstract fine art photography

Virginia

Driving through the Eastern Sierra Mountains near Mammoth, California at sunset

Eastern Sierra - California

Abstract fine art photography

Upstate New York

A truck kicks up dust as it drives down a country road at sunrise in southern Iowa

Iowa

The Utah landscape - photo

Utah

Abstract fine art photography

Iowa

Country road in Virginia

Virginia

The capital building in Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa

Sunset on train tracks going through farmland in southern iowa

Iowa

American Photography

Photographing America - Road Trip - USA - Travel

Every day spent on the road is educational in some way, especially when you drive for hours upon hours without producing anything. Half days even. A full day, and you still might not have put the camera up to your eye. Then you get to some kind of hot spot, for the lack of a better word. That’s what happened here. These top 3 images were made within 100 feet of each other in some small Illinois town on a day that otherwise produced almost nothing. Odd how that happens.

Click here to see more from my America series.

American Motels

Road Trip Photography - American Culture

American Motels - Open Road - Americana

Another one of those subjects I can’t seem to stay away from - American Motels. Maybe it’s the nostalgia or all the time I’ve personally spent in them? Not sure. Said this in a recent post, but it was shocking to see how many of these old places had shut down during a trip out to Texas a few weeks ago. What a shame.

Click here to see more from this series.

On The Road Again

Winters are typically when I spend the most time on the road to get as much snowboarding in as possible. This has been a very dry year for snow but that hasn’t kept the miles off at all. The better part of the last 30 days was on the road for two different trips filled with a weekend getaway to Tahoe for Emily and I, a commercial shoot, two editorial shoots, personal shooting (of course), and a “ski” trip with old friends in Sun Valley, Idaho that turned into a fly fishing trip due to the severe lack of snow. More on all this later.

Click HERE to see some of my road trip photography

American Road Trip

As has become standard, the miles are piling up this season even with it be an extremely dry winter around the western states. Really unfortunate for the ski industry. I’m sure Vail is doing ok though!!??

Seems repetitive to say that this “last” road trip was great, memorable, productive, etc. etc. etc., but reporting otherwise would be a lie. Time on the road really is a special adventure that should never be taken for granted, nor should it ever be rushed. Grateful not just for the time spent in Montana, but also for the two stories I worked on and will be sharing more of soon. After Montana it was south to Colorado for a hut trip in the Gore Range which was truly unforgettable. The longer I snowboard the less desire and patience I have to ride at a resort. Being in the backcountry is always rewarding, but being in a hut with good friends miles and miles away from everything else is in a whole different category.

Images coming soon.

ROAD TRIP

Hopefully I’m wrong but this is probably the last road trip of the winter. If that’s the case, I’m thankful it was so productive. Started with some personal shooting, then a commercial shoot in Nevada, more personal shooting, and then some incredible snowboarding with friends in the San Juan’s. Really grateful for all of it, but also hate saying goodbye to winter. It’s never long enough. Or maybe I’m just greedy?

Click here to see imagery from my America series.

Map321.jpg

American Photography

American Photography

Colorado - Utah

Whenever possible I make it a point to take new routes even when the destination might be a place (like Denver) I’ve been a hundred times. That way it’s easier to be inspired by new sights. Occasionally though, when you don’t have a ton of extra time, you find yourself on a familiar highway just motoring from A to B. At this point I’d be confident in my ability to drive from San Diego to Denver with a blindfold on. Still though, it’s a world class stretch of road that should never be taken for granted. Keeping this in mind, I returned to places along the way that I’ve photographed before, while remaining open to things that might have been missed before. Happy with the outcome.

Click here to see more from the AMERICA series.

ROAD TRIP

After 5+ months of Stay at Home it seems like I’m more than making up for the downtime with plenty of miles on the road. Very thankful for it. After last months trip up to Wyoming, I just completed a ride out Colorado - a place very special to me where I hope to one day have a second home. If the route you see on the map looks weird, that’s because it is. As usual, I started in Southern California and went up to Mammoth for a couple of days camping with Emily and Mojo. Then drove back down to LA for a two day commercial shoot with GNC, and left directly from there for Colorado. Most of the time there was spend in the Steamboat area for some backpacking and fly fishing. More from all this to come.

Click here to see images from previous road trips.

Road Trip

Another one in the books, and what a trip it was. This was the time that I planned to be heading east for our annual family trip to Cape Cod, but that was canceled due to COVID. That was a real bummer. Still though, I wasn’t going to let it stop me from being on the road. As you can see from the route, this trip was quite different from the rest. Then again, every trip is quite different from the last. Was very happy to see parts of the country not previously seen, most notably in Nevada. Overall this trip was filled with fly fishing, backpacking, camping, commercial shooting, personal shooting, old friends, new friends, good times, and as always lots of food.

After leaving Southern California, I headed out toward Nevada and went up the western border of almost the whole state. It was 117 degrees out there, so not a lot of productive shooting got done. Loved what I saw though. And northern Nevada is almost an entirely different state altogether. Very mountainous. From there I clipped a portion of Oregon, then into Idaho where I met up with a couple old friends and met up with a photographer that I greatly admire. Next it was on to Wyoming for some fly fishing and back packing with friends in the Wind River Range. More on that later. When that was done I made my way back to San Fransisco for a 3 day commercial shoot, which was also a hell of a lot of fun. Then Emily and Mojo met me there and we started a week+ long drive up the coast. Completing the 101 was never an intention, but it worked out that way. And I have to say, it was really special. That route has a great reputation for a reason. Almost sounds dumb saying it out loud, but the coast of California, Oregon, and Washington are world class places. We ended the meat of the trip up on the Olympic Peninsula, which could be a whole trip in itself. The amount of shellfish we harvested alone was worth the drive. Every day we were eating fresh oysters, clams, mussels, and crabs. Once we started heading south, my truck decided to act up, causing a detour and semi brief stay at the RAM dealership. Not a huge deal though. After that happened, it seemed like the universe was telling me it was time to head home. So, with some fresh clams in the YETI, I did just that.

Stay tuned for images.

American Motels

Americana Photographs

The last couple months have been weird. Everybody knows. Weird probably isn’t the right word, but I’d like to stay away from the negative. And now that things (knock on wood) feel like they are loosening up a little bit, it’s caused me to look back on what has occupied my time during quarantine. Aside from the dishes, I’ve spent on lots of energy going through my absurdly large Lightroom catalogue that contains images from 2012 on. Specifically focusing on personal work that hasn’t been developed, I’m starting to see themes in the work that was never noticed before. This is very encouraging because I know it’s from all the time that’s also been spent on Zoom workshops about editing your work, creating photo books, how images work together, etc. etc. Didn’t realize it until now, but an education took place in the last 90 days that I’m extremely grateful for. All my time on the road over the past 8+ years has produced a handful of different bodies of work that I never knew how edit. Certainly not saying it’s figured out or will be, but things are adding up. It sounds simple, but one key that that was learned is that a common theme is necessary. “America” which has been a main focus for me, is not a theme. Just because I drive around this country taking pictures of it doesn’t mean all the images work together. Quite the opposite. It’s also quite a gem of power to learn and accept that you’ll frequently have to discard your favorite images from an edit because they simply don’t work for the bigger picture. Can’t stress that enough. Setting the ego aside can be a hard thing, especially for photographers who are so emotionally connected to their work. Has to be done though. And if the image is really that good, it will find it’s way into another body of work somewhere down the line. One theme I noticed popping up again and again over the past couple months is hotels. Apparently I enjoy hotels, and have photographed quite a few over the past 8 years. So expect to see more of them in the future.

Click here to see more from my “America” gallery.



Cleveland Photo Gallery

Cleveland, Ohio Street Photography - America

If we’re being honest, I’ve lived my whole life under the assumption that Cleveland is a complete shithole. Have probably passed it on the road 20 times for that very reason. Was out there a few weeks ago for a commercial shoot and was not only pleasantly surprised, but felt like an idiot for those assumptions. It might be one of the cleanest “cities” in America. It’s hardly big enough to classify as a city like New York or Chicago, but damn it is clean. Shockingly so. Any time I’m in a place for a commercial shoot I make it a point to get out and do some shooting for myself as well. It’s a great way to relax and learn more about the place you’re in. After a couple hours of walking around, my opinion was completely changed. Also noticed immediately that the people there are incredibly nice. Like, go out their way for you nice. It just felt like a very hospitable place. Cheers to you, Cleveland.

Click here to see more of my American photography

America

8,141 American miles are in the books. If you made me choose, this is probably the thing I love doing the most with a camera. It's all fun, but this is really the tops for me. Just being out on my own for weeks at a time can't be beat. Every trip is different and great in it's own way. This one started off a bit rocky. Not long before leaving, I had some work done on my truck which I assumed was all set. Then, a couple days into the drive, the engine started screaming while going up Monarch Pass in Colorado. Keep in mind that this is practically a brand new truck. So I pulled over and opened the hood only to see that the coolant was actively boiling. I was supposed to be meeting a buddy at Denver airport the next morning and then on to our mutual friends house to surprise him for his birthday. It was obvious that wasn't going to happen. I let the engine cool down then put it in neutral and coasted as far down the mountain as I could to try and get some cell service. After trying for an hour I was finally able to reach a tow truck driver. He came and got us (Mojo) and dropped us off at the garage, which of course was closed until the next day. Threw a couple bags on my back and we schlepped it to a hotel about a mile+ away. The only hotel that would allow Mojo had no air conditioning to combat the brutally hot summer temperatures. Oh well. Next morning we schlepped back up the hill to the garage. Owner said he wasn't sure what the problem could be, but would take a look ASAP. That ASAP was about 3 hours, so Mojo and I walked into the woods(the only place we could sit down and be out of the sun) and read a book. Garage ordered the part they thought would fix the problem, but it wouldn't be there until about 3:30 and they close at 5. This was a Friday and they don't open again until Monday. Now I was faced with the real possibility of the truck not being fixed until the following week. So I started looking into rental cars. The only option was a local guy who had a few vehicles to rent, but when I started filling out the paperwork I realized that his vehicles aren't aloud to go more than 150 miles away from town. Next. There was one car left in a town that would require $115 cab ride, and the rental fee was going to be $400 for 3 days. Plus I would have to drive 6 hours southwest to Pagosa Springs to return it, when I needed to be continuing on northeast to my final destination (Cape Cod). Tried arguing with RAM to give me a loaner vehicle for a couple days, but that didn't work. The customer service woman called back twenty minutes later and said she was able to get me a rental in Durango under their very reasonable corporate rate. So I took the $115 cab ride and got the rental, figuring that 3 nights of hotels staying in town waiting would be costly anyway. Picked up the car, then went back to the garage to grab all my stuff, only to find out that the truck had been fixed. Now I had a fixed truck and a rental car. Screw it, I left the rental at the garage and hoped that the rental company could come pick it up on Monday. Turns out the 0-ring on the cap for the coolant reservoir was bad so the coolant was leaking out the whole time I was driving. And it got low to the point of not being able to cool the engine and just when through the roof while going up Monarch Pass. A tiny piece that probably costs 2 cents to make caused that much trouble. Unreal. Things really sucked for about 20 hours, but I made it up to Denver on Saturday morning and we were still able to surprise my buddy. Looking back now, I can't even believe that was part of the same trip as all the images below. It's funny how things start melting together on the road. You're so stimulated by everything you see that it's hard to make sense of it until you get home and let it all digest for a while. Love the road. Can't wait to get back out there. 

Side note: It seems that on every trip there is one state that treats you better then all the rest. Not sure why it is, but photographically things tend to gel in one state the most. It's a different state every time, but it always happen. On this trip, I believe that state was Illinois. Cheers Illinois! 

Click HERE to see more from the America series. 

Travel

Recently completed what I would have to consider my largest collective journey to date. It started last month with a road trip from San Diego to New York. From NYC I traveled to India and did a lot of exploring in Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. After returning, I then did another cross country road trip from New York back to San Diego. Not even sure what the total mileage is on all that, but each leg was a great time, and I did a lot of shooting for a number of different reasons.. As always, more to come on that.....

Buffalo, NY

One of the many great things about road trips is the food you can find along your way. Some of it is totally random. And then there are places which are obviously known for a certain kind of food. Buffalo, NY is one of those places. Birthplace of the chicken wing. I'm originally from NY, so naturally have a deep appreciation for the chicken wing. Now living out in San Diego, it's hard to find a proper wing. So while traveling through western NY, I thought it only fitting to try the best. I'd never been to Buffalo before, and it seemed like a good enough excuse? Buffalo itself was a pretty cool place. Has a very "neighborhood" feel to it. Like everything is friendly and local. The outskirts though, were much different. Lots of deserted old factories. Great for shooting. And had it not been for the chicken wing, I never would have stumbled on this scene. Sometimes it pays to eat. 

TRAVEL.MORE. 

Rob Hammer