My European Adventure

I'm taking another plunge and leaving the country for 3 months to teach in Provence and pursue a photographic project. I've been lucky enough to visit wonderful places in the past- Tibet, Beijing, Paris, London, Tuscany, Umbria- but living outside the United States for an extended period has never been a possibility until now. I'll be teaching at the Savannah College of Art & Design's Lacoste, France campus and following the academic quarter at the end of May, I'll be taking a three week road trip through Europe. The plan is to head east from Provence through northern Italy, then head more northerly into Austria, Hungary, and the Czech Republic before going back toward the west and southern Germany and Belgium before driving south and returning to the States from Marseille.

I plan to stay in primarily rural areas and small towns and photograph the people I meet along the way. Elinchrom Lighting has been kind enough to give me the use of their newest system, the Ranger Quadra, to use for this project. The Quadra is perfect for my uses. It's extremely small, light, and portable and will serve me well while I shoot portraits. It balances my duel needs between the size of small, shoe mount strobes with the power of the larger, heavier AC units. I can't wait. I also plan to use them as a demonstration to my students of how to add artificial light to positively affect qualities of natural light.

In addition to Elinchrom's support, SCAD has given me a Presidential Fellowship that allows me to spend the weeks necessary to adequately pursue the project. SCAD has greatly exceeded my hopes as far as being a supportive and exciting place to work. I feel very lucky to be here. Especially considering that it's the first real job I've ever had! I thought I'd have adjustment problems after being a self-employed free-lancer for so many years, but that hasn't been the case at all.

I'm very interested in hearing from any and all about any towns or attractions in the geographic areas mentioned earlier in this post. Please keep in mind, I'll be trying to avoid urban areas, but I know there are many of you who have traveled extensively and may have ideas for me. I'd love to hear them.