As the Hawk Flies (continued)

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"I don't walk up and start firing away. I'm interested in what they're doing." And he truly is. It's not an act that he uses to ingratiate himself se he can take pictutres. Learning about people about people is one of the reasons I he's there in the first place. Learning, experiencing and sharing are all part of the advernture. Along with technique of meeting people, their are the techmiques of taking pictures, and ne of the most important to him is what he calls "stalking the light." "It's something I'm constantly doing. Lighting is the key to evetything, and I get into a routine whree I'm up every morning, usually at 5, and on the road to an area that I'm interested in photographing. Then I'll just sit, or walk and explore and watch things happen around me as the sun comes up and the early morning light touches the lanscape. I love what I'm doing so much - to me it's what life is about, getting out onto the back roads and seeing the different lifestyles, landscapes and environments." Daryl Hawk (Above)"Native Americans were performing tribal dances at a gathering of tribes from all over North America at Rocky Boy Reservation in Montana. I was allowed to get close and photograph. I remember I was moving in all directions, doing everything I could to try to come up with shots I thought would be a little different. I got up to the dancer just as he turned, and I got it." "My goal is to get as many different shots as possible during those first few hours of the morning, maybe in one or two different areas. Then, usually around 10 or 11, when the light gets rather harsh in most places, I concentrate on meeting and photographing people in towns or finding interesting architecture - all subjects I can photograph in shaded areas. Sometimes I'll use flash to fill in, but mostly just natural light." The "Art of the Road Trip" started about five yeats ago, during those years Hawk has been to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Oklahoma, Kansas and Canada, as well as Mexico, Bolivia, Argentina, Costa Rica and Jamaica. His most memorable trip might be titled, North to Alaska...and Beyond. "I set off from Connecticut, drove straight to the heart of Nebraska, then picked up the back roads to the Dakotas, Montana, British Columbia, the Yukon, then on into Alaska, then back into the Yukon again into the Northwest Territories. I crossed the Arctic Circle and ended up in the northern-most town you can drive to in North America - Inuvik in the Northwest Territories of Canad. I drove to the end of the most northern road you can drive in North America. "It was a two-month trip, and it was extremely exhilarating." Hawk buys all his film in advance and, as you might expect, keeps it with him from the start to the finish of his adventure. When he returns, he becomes a photo editor. "I'll sit at the light box for a week going over the processed film. I'll do a major edit, trying to bring the take down to half, then maybe down hall again. Usually I'm shooting between 3,000 and 5,000 images. I try to edit down to maybe 500 photos that I think are worth keeping and captioning for other use." "Each trip varies, but I shoot on the average of six to eight rolls a day. Some people think that's conservative, but I don't go overboard on shooting. If I think something's worth photographing, I'll shoot half a roll, maybe a roll, but rarely more than that." Once the edit is completed, Hawk will create a words and pictute story about the trip, the places he visited and the people he met. The story can be presented in a number of ways. "I give slide shows throughout Connecticut to all types of groups and organizations, and I lecture on travel and documentary photography. The title fo the lecture usually will be The Art of the Road Trip." His shows are not necessarily presented to photo groups; most often he's visiting businesses and civic organizations, schools and libraries. Sometimes he's paid, but money has little to do with Hawk's motivation. "I have a real message I'm trying to get out there, and I enjoy sharing my work. Those are my main goals. If they want to kick in some money, that's great." The story of the road trip also takes the form of a promotion piece that Hawk sends off to national magazines, design firms, ad agencies, tourist boards and textbook companies. The promo shows several photos laid out to tell a story captioned with anecdotes and quotes that relate to his approach to travel photography. "Sometimes I'll get a call from someone who wants to use the photos." Hawk's latest venture is a trip into television territory. "I do a weekly show called The Unconventional Traveler on cable TV in Connecticut. Although the show is usually about my guests - who, like me, love to travel and take photos - I will occasionally do a show on my own trips." Hawk is both host adn producer of the show, which is a vehicle for his adventure, travel and photography message: "Take it slow. Don't rush through your trip. Really experience what you're seeing. It's not just a matter of getting from one point to another - it's the journey that's worth savoring. That's what you look back on. And I tell the audience that photography is a wonderful way to document their trip. And then I get into what people should do and know about photography." The show features discussions with adventure travelers, explorers, filmmakers, travel writers, photographers and others who share their photos, stories and information with each other and the viewers. Hawk got the cable show pretty much by requesting it. "There's often local time available," he says. "You just have to ask for it." Currently he's trying to get The Unconventiottal Traveler syndicated. "The show is a great outlet fot getting the tories to the public. No matter how I promote a slide show, I'm going to get only a certain number of people, let's say 50, to attend. It's nice and it's fun to share my work up close with people and get their immediate response and feed-back, but with television you can get into tens of thousands of households. I have a potential audience of 100,000 through the program." What makes his guests "unconventional travelers?" says Hawk, "They travel off the beaten path, off the main highways, onto the back roads of the world. Being an 'unconventional traveler' also means immersing yourself in the landscape, truly experiencing the surroundings and getting to know the local people and cultures."

May 1996 | Shutterbug	Page 4 of 5 | Back · Next · Return to Main Articles
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