Help me plan a trip…

I was talking to my mom last night and she inadvertently convinced me that I should take a trip touring the western half of the U.S. this summer. Me, my camera gear, a GPS, my laptop, a sleeping bag and my car. I would probably be leaving from southern Michigan as early as May or as late as June and return sometime in August. Since I’m poor and gas alone will probably eat through my savings, I’ll be camping and relying on truck stops and laundromats to keep from turning into someone who looks like the unibomber.

Anyways, this is the part where you come in. I need help figuring out where to go. I’m gonna take a couple months and move at my leisure but I only have a few locations on my itinerary so far. If you can think of somewhere else I should visit, leave me a comment. If you’re willing to offer a couch, a shower or access to a laundry machine, leave me a comment.

So far, my trip looks like this (in no particular order):

  • Visit a friend in Ohio
  • Visit a friend in Iowa
  • Visit my brother in Utah
  • The Grand Canyon, AZ
  • Monument Valley, UT/AZ
  • Glacier National Park, MT
  • Grand Teton National Park, WY
  • Badlands National Park, SD
  • Mount Rushmore, SD
  • P.S. Please comment at my blog instead of whatever feed you may be reading this on.

    Calling all Photographers

    I could use some advice on the following image (my first attempt at in-city long exposures involving headlights).

    Night Photography attempt

    The street lamps are hard to white balance as I assumed them to be sodium vapor, but that really threw off the colors. Also, there’s some light distortion (see the note on the flickr page) and the car headlights appear to be blown.

    Thoughts? Suggestions?

    Panasonic DVD Players – H02 error

    I put a DVD into my Panasonic DVD-RP56 player this evening and to my surprise, it could not read any disc that I inserted. Instead, it simply displayed: “H02 Error”. A quick Google search indicated this was a common problem (defect perhaps?) to many Panasonic players.

    The solution is pretty simple: remove the case, open the tray and then unplug the unit. Inside you’ll see the portion that spins the discs. Give this a few good whirls and start it up again. If it doesn’t spin on its own, spin it around yourself a couple times and it should start up.