Originally Posted by DavidTO After that first year there hasn't been anyone interested in leading the charge. But maybe that's about to change? The shootouts were a wonderful thing, and I'd love to see it happen again. If there are people who are willing to step forward to make it happen, they'd have my full support and I'd share all that we've learned from past shootouts.

I would be glad to help organize some things in the Southeastern part of the US. I am familiar with some neat and interesting location in Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida; having lived in those areas extensively. And since I will be traveling southern Utah and AZ this summer for about a week, I might have some good ideas and input for those areas. And I also have lots of travel experience in Washington state, most from when I was growing up, but with close family moving back I have much more.

So I just throw out ideas or what? Should I start a new thread, is there a way I title it so as to identify it as organizing something.

Originally Posted by bham So I just throw out ideas or what? Should I start a new thread, is there a way I title it so as to identify it as organizing something.

That's how these things start. A dialog begins with ideas.

Some considerations for shootouts have been:

Several really cool places to shoot in a somewhat small geographical radius. Something we can all congregate in for a day or two, and then move on to another nearby location for another day or so. The location subjects should offer challenging and intriguing settings. Hiking is a plus.

Hotels and prices. What seemed to kill the last trip in the planning stages a few years back, is that it would be too expensive for the three or four nights. That location was Yellowstone and the Tetons. The time of year we seemed to be focusing on was late summer or autumn. The thought of $250+ each per night (even at double occupancy), along with the travel costs, plus having some select pro photogs there (paying them to be there) and having a hotel(s) have a meeting room available each night (additional costs); all this was getting us thinking that the numbers of shooters wanting to anti up for those prices was going to be low.

What days of the week to get best airline and hotel rates. Most shootouts have run from Thursdays to Sundays that I've attended.

It is a bunch of work in planning. This is what ultimately killed the last one. Everybody involved had day jobs, and the ideas and plans weren't coming together as quickly as necessary to get 'er done. Also, some one person would have to place all the rooms on their CC, and without firm numbers of shooters, that sum might be huge.

Which pros would one hire, and how long out would one need to book them? Pros have all been part of these, as an attraction (workshop-like environment), and for the evening critique sessions.

If the number of committed shooters diminished from the estimate (to make it all worth it - say 30-40), the costs would go up per person. How would one absorb that, or would the shooters anti up more in that case?

Food. There has to be food nearby, and in quantity.

Perhaps DavidTO can add to this, as he's been personally involved with most of the Shootouts, and I think he's attended all five.

Originally Posted by bham So I just throw out ideas or what? Should I start a new thread, is there a way I title it so as to identify it as organizing something.

We need to set up a time to talk. I'll get you all set up. I'll PM you tomorrow.

Well how about this idea, "The Forgotten Coast of Florida" in January. Its major off season, I usually visit there and relax. There are a plethora of homes, condos, motels available (since its built for peak season spring to end of summer) for rent and its the cheapest time of the year. The forgotten coast is consider the area from Mexico Beach, FL on the east side to somewhere around Crawfordville, FL on the west side. They call it Forgotten, because the lake of major developments and the look and feel of old Florida still abounds. I travel them multiple times a year and will be glad to try and organize some photos to show you some of the uniqueness of the area.

Another thing, maybe instead of feeling the need to hire a pro, fly them in, etc; maybe call it a photo excursion. If you don't have to hire someone and then figure out how much each participant is going to pay, then your cost for each person is travel to and from, their stay and their food. The other thing if you do a excursion and say have a time period of 4 or 5 days, and since there really isn't a share cost for one item, people could come and go based on there schedule. One person could for the first two days, another could come for the entire time, another for the last 2, etc. It really is just an organized outing for a better description.

Originally Posted by bham Well how about this idea, "The Forgotten Coast of Florida" in January. Its major off season, I usually visit there and relax. There are a plethora of homes, condos, motels available (since its built for peak season spring to end of summer) for rent and its the cheapest time of the year. The forgotten coast is consider the area from Mexico Beach, FL on the east side to somewhere around Crawfordville, FL on the west side. They call it Forgotten, because the lake of major developments and the look and feel of old Florida still abounds. I travel them multiple times a year and will be glad to try and organize some photos to show you some of the uniqueness of the area. Another thing, maybe instead of feeling the need to hire a pro, fly them in, etc; maybe call it a photo excursion. If you don't have to hire someone and then figure out how much each participant is going to pay, then your cost for each person is travel to and from, their stay and their food. The other thing if you do a excursion and say have a time period of 4 or 5 days, and since there really isn't a share cost for one item, people could come and go based on there schedule. One person could for the first two days, another could come for the entire time, another for the last 2, etc. It really is just an organized outing for a better description.

That all sounds fine. I would suggest that you find a place that's willing to do a group reservation. You can set it up so that each person pays for themselves, rather than funneling the money through you, but at least that way everyone would be in the same place and will be able to get more of a sense of community. Meeting for dinner/drinks in the evening, not to mention it makes meeting up for sunrise easier. They may ask for a deposit, depending. If so, we'll have to figure out how to make that work.

Which dates are you thinking of?

I was thinking of Thursday Jan 10th to Sunday Jan 13th.

Here are a couple potential places to stay. They are all within like 10 blocks of each other, so even if some chose one location or another, its easy to coordinate.

http://www.ranchoinn.com/

http://www.coombshouseinn.com/index.html

http://www.gibsoninn.com/index.php

http://www.waterstreethotel.com/

The Rancho is going to be the cheapest at about $65 a night, the others will be about $120 a night. I believe all have wifi and most basic amenities.

And if we got a decent size group, more than 4 or 5, I don't doubt I could get a group rate. At that time of the year, the area doesn't have many visitors so getting a little better rate shouldn't be much of an issue.

If you all are interested, I could be of assistance in orginizing and booking people as I do this for a living and can look into getting group rates and such through my suppliers and resources to find the best deals. Let me know if your interested! :)

While the timing is bad for me as I'm scheduled to go to Kenya in Feb. I'll be willing to give you what assistance I can. I coordinated 5 photo shoots on the Space Coast in the past.

Originally Posted by Nikolai (gosh, I still remember the loud and well-echoed "clank" when TonyD dropped his D300 at South Window - luckily it survived:-)

Wow... Nikolai, that should not be a memory, it was much too long ago!
BTW, it was the lens that saved the camera. $250 later and the lens is like new!