It makes a huge difference when you're driving on the highways. More power and a larger car is safer, basically.
Quote:
Originally Posted by David Henderson
Here in the UK petrol is between $9 and $10 per gallon depending on type and where you buy it. The roads are still packed Of course one difference is that our cars here are generally made to deliver much better mpg than cars sold in the US. For example I spent the first half of February in California. I hired a Rav4 which turned in maybe 22 mpg- which one of the best I've had from a SUV sold in the US. The same car in the UK would deliver up at least 35mpg, and my larger 4wd Volvo here gets me about that level too. The thing I find increasingly difficult to understand about the US is why there is not a great deal more pressure put on manufacturers and importers to deliver much better fuel consumption. Most other places in the world just put much more efficient engines in the same cars and if they didn't then they wouldn't sell many. The US consumer seems to be very concerned about the cost of fuel but not really concerned about cost per mile which surely is the important currency to judge. Put another way, instead of concluding that you need to stop photographing or stop photographing alone, why don't you (and others) simply swap your car for one that reduces your cost per mile. If you all stopped buying new cars with lousy mpg and stopped buying used ones so the prices collapsed, there would be a message going out that the Fords of this world could not afford to ignore.
...I do once in awhile go with other photographers because I also do enjoy the comradely of what we do. I don’t do much photography then and do more talking shop or listening to stories of my companions. Different aspect of photography but just as important to me.
So, my next question to you is. Do you think with the coming price costs, do you see doing more carpooling?
I would like to know what you have to say and share on this subject. I do see myself curtailing my outings to certain times, locations and destinations. What do plan to do?
If you're of the inclination to photograph with another photographer, you might just try going with another APUG-er. Invite a local APUG-er to you to go shooting, or invite an APUG-er visiting your area to go shooting. Makes for a great time! I had a great time shooting with papagene here in S.D. when he was visiting family. Balboa Park will never be the same!
__________________
Save the Earth. It's the only planet with chocolate.
Sponsored Ad. (Subscribers to APUG
have the option to remove this ad.)
Location: Datchet, Berkshire UK- about 20 miles west of London
Posts: 280
Andy, I know about US gallons. But the difference in consumption is still very significant. And reference the diesel Volvo- thats exactly what I've done.
Andrey. The "power" is just engine size, not performance. The vehicles I hire in the US ( and incidentally I drive maybe 5000 miles a year there) don't have more performance or ability to get me out of trouble . They just have big, old-fashioned, inefficient engines because the motor industry doesn't want to invest in more frugal and more modern technology- which incidentally makes them safer in an accident- and because the US consumer lets them get away with it because low R&D means lower prices.
Andy, I know about US gallons. But the difference in consumption is still very significant. And reference the diesel Volvo- thats exactly what I've done.
Andrey. The "power" is just engine size, not performance. The vehicles I hire in the US ( and incidentally I drive maybe 5000 miles a year there) don't have more performance or ability to get me out of trouble . They just have big, old-fashioned, inefficient engines because the motor industry doesn't want to invest in more frugal and more modern technology- which incidentally makes them safer in an accident- and because the US consumer lets them get away with it because low R&D means lower prices.
I don't know my engines that well. What is this "engine R&D" you're talking about?
I thought it was a stable industry with no innovation. In US the cars are bigger and eat more gas. In europe - smaller.
i drive a fairly economical car. i will keep traveling to shoot. i like to drive and i enjoy shooting in different locations. higher gas prices have been long over due here in the USA so i am just continuing on with what i do.
i plan to use cars and plans for my traveling. i may be able to get back over to SE Asia this year......maine for sure and possibly out to SLC for some fun in the dessert.
as for car pooling....i got too much camera gear to fit anyone else in my wagon......my wife barely fit sin.
eddie
__________________
photoshop is somewhere you go to buy photo equipment.
I remember when gas was .20 cents a gallon back in '69. You could get a clean but old downtown hotel room for $2.50 a night and buy a decent 3 bedroom home in California for $20,000. So... since everything has gone up 10 or 20 times in the last 35 years we shouldn't be shocked at $4.00 per gallon gasoline which by world standards is a pretty good deal. I have to look at it that way or I too would be stressing excessively about the economy of today.
My biggest concern is the (possible) return of the dreaded "stagflation" that made life so interesting back in the early to mid 70's.
__________________
"A certain amount of contempt for the material employed to express an idea is indispensable to the purest realization of this idea." Man Ray
Linear Mode
