Brian Merriam’s RANGE-sponsored road trip seemed like the perfect way to celebrate our first issue of RANGE Magazine because his photography is so inspired by the magic of the outdoors. With nine days on the road, traveling through four different states out west, Brian was able to capture both highly visited and remote destinations in a new light. We recently caught up with Brian to learn more about his journey:
Q. Could you tell us about your overall road trip experience?
A. The trip came at a great time for me to be able to escape New York and get my mind focused on other stuff. The weather was absolutely perfect the entire time and the trip went off without a hitch, except for me leaving my phone on top of the car and driving away on a tiny mountain road in Oregon.
Q. How would you describe the RANGE road trip image collection?
A. I hope the images convey feelings of both adventure and mystery. When I take trips like this one, the plan is to always take the road less traveled. Although some of the destinations are popular national parks with lots of visitors, I try to find the most interesting, and often times the longest, route between them.
Q. Did you have a favorite stop?
A. I really enjoyed the area around the Snake River and Hells Canyon. Up north, the river is the border between Oregon and Idaho, and that entire area was truly beautiful. There was a lot of smoke in the air from wildfires in the region, which definitely added something special to a lot of the photos. Also, Crater Lake and the stretch of the Oregon and California coast, between Gold Beach and Redwood National Park, was really wonderful.
Q. What kind camera/lens did you shoot with?
A. I have my setup pretty much boiled down to three cameras, but I brought along a fourth that I bought just prior to the trip.
The Voigtlander Bessa R3A with a Nokton 50mm 1.1 is my main camera, but I always have my Fuji Klasse S, a really handy point-and-shoot with a fast lens and wide variety of useful features. I also use my Contax G2 with a 90mm 2.8 Sonnar quite a bit. The new addition for this trip was a Fuji GA645 medium format point-and-shoot, which took some really nice photos as well.
XX Sydney