How the Southwest Summer Drive was Conceived
Ten Tips for Your Road Trip to the Southwest
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© 2011 Eric Gouldsberry Art Direction.
Behind the Scenes
The Southwest Summer Drive took place from July 25-August 9, 2009; the 2011 update was from August 10-16,2011. Building the web site based on it took longer, with many early mornings, late afternoons and late nights devoted to completing it.
My hope was to develop a photo essay utilizing all my creative urges and strengths: Graphic design, copywriting, photography, a passion for the subject and a craving for developing that “big project.” I saw a vision for an entertaining and informative way to allow others to “relive” the trip, acted upon it and, I hope, delivered on that vision.
To make the site’s experience as powerful as possible, I set the parameters of the frame to the highest recommended dimensions (1280x800), so it should be completely viewable on most monitors, including laptops. I even cheated on several photographs, going widescreen to exploit some of the more dramatic panorama shots taken. These pictures will require scrolling to the right, but this inconvenience will pleasantly trump the option of reducing the image into a letterboxed setting within the standard 992x655 image frame common throughout the site.
For the trip, I used a Nikon D40 digital camera, which is not top-of-the-line but still quite adequate to handle this assignment. There were times I was wishing for an additional zoom lens, but there’s only so many toys I can afford. Although I took care of most of the photography you’ll see on this site, more than a few of the shots were taken by my wife, Michelle. Even Ryan, my eight-year old son, snapped a few with the Nikon—to the point that we finally thought it would be a good idea to get him a disposable camera to let him shoot his own stuff on his own free will. (Alas, none of Ryan’s shots made the final cut for this site.)
Photoshop came to the rescue on many of these pictures, restoring the original view of what my naked eyes had seen; if anything else, working on these images taught me a whole lot more about Photoshop’s strengths. (Note to my pro photography buddies out there: No worries, I’ll still be hiring you for the paid work.)
I would love to do this again. Maybe next time, it’ll be the Rockies. Or the Pacific Northwest. Or the Alaska Highway. And, shamelessly speaking, if there’s a potential travel industry client out there who’s getting sparked by this site, hey, I’m at your disposal. Because I never get bored doing this kind of gig.
Eric Gouldsberry
Eric Gouldsberry Art Direction (EGAD)