Canon offering free photography workshops in national parks this summer

by Kraig Becker on

Camera manufacturer Canon is preparing to hold a series of digital photography workshops in several national parks this summer beginning in Yosemite this June. Those workshops will run from the 7th through the 28th, before moving on to the Grand Canyon National Park in July, then on to Yellowstone and Acadia National Park in August. You can check the full schedule of locations, dates and times, by clicking here.

The workshops will be led by teams of professional photographers, who will share a host of tips to improve your photography skills, including how to get the best outdoor scenery shots possible. Best of all, the workshops are absolutely free, and you don’t even need to bring your own camera equipment if you don’t want to. Canon will have several of their own DSLR models, as well as a variety of lenses, on hand for you to test drive.

Each of the parks will offer their respective workshops on a variety of days and times, but generally there are options for morning, afternoon, and evening sessions. Check the schedule for the park you intend to visit to find the time that works best for you. It is also recommended that you get there 15-30 minutes early, as the photos courses are expected to fill up quickly.

And when you’re done with the workshop, and you’ve captured that perfect photo, you can enter it into the Canon Photography in the Parks contest. All landscape and wildlife photos are eligible, and the winner gets an all expense paid trip for two to a national or state park, and a Canon photography package that includes a Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera, an EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM kit lens, and a Pixima Pro9500 Mark II photo printer.

[Photo Credit: Mila Zinkova]

Florida’s love bugs: Fact and fiction

by Leigh Caldwell on

Memorial Day weekend in Florida means crowded beaches, crowded theme parks, crowded roads, and crowds of love bugs. That’s right, love bugs. Those bugs are getting it on. Did you really think it was a sweet mama and baby photo?

Unless you have visited Florida during May or September, you may not have seen these weird creatures that even fly joined at the…well, you know.

Love Bugs, also known as March Flies, appear in certain Florida areas in droves — I mean, unbelievable swarms — twice a year. They annoy us for a few weeks, and then they are gone. We almost, almost, forget about them until they start showing up again.

And then, one day, they resume hitting our windshields in such copious numbers that they make it difficult to drive.

It’s even more difficult to get them off the car; the bug residue is almost impossible to remove. And the insects’ fatty tissue can eat away at car paint, though some modern paint finishes seem to be immune to the love bug’s bite.

Speaking of that, angry red thorax notwithstanding, these bugs don’t bite or sting. They simply annoy — to the point that outdoor workers in Florida sometimes refuse to work at the height of a love bug flight, according to the University of Florida.

Love Bug Legend

If you are traveling in Florida during a love bug flight, you’re likely to hear a love bug urban legend from a local. There’s a widespread belief here that love bugs are a creation of the University of Florida — a genetic experiment gone awry.The most common story is that the bugs were bred to control the Florida mosquito population (and don’t even get me started on Florida mosquitoes!). Depending on the storyteller, they were either accidentally or experimentally released into the wild.

But, it’s all false (or what I’m about to tell you is a giant cover-up). The university says the bugs are native to Central America, and they were likely stowaways on cargo ships that docked at the port in New Orleans. The bugs headed to Florida for vacation, and like many other Florida visitors, decided to stay.They were first recorded in the Florida Panhandle in the 1940s.

But what do they do?

An almost equally common urban legend is that love bugs serve no purpose. That’s false, too.

Because they are unseen for most of the year, and they’re so annoying when they are seen, many people consider these insects a pest. However, scientists deem them beneficial.

Female love bugs lay their eggs on the ground in decaying vegetation. The larvae help break it down further, enriching the soil.

One more freaky thing

If it’s not freaky enough to see swarms of sex-crazed bugs flying in tandem on your next Florida vacation, consider this fact I learned while researching this post: The male dies after mating.

And the female? The female keeps dragging that dead man’s body around with her, until she lays her eggs and dies.

Talk about letting a relationship weigh you down.

GadlingTV’s Travel Talk 014: U.S. Drinking laws & more Portland adventures!

by Stephen Greenwood on

GadlingTV’s Travel Talk, episode 14 Part 1 – Click above to watch video after the jump
Blame it on the weather, the beautiful scenery, or the friendly hop-growing climate – any way you look at it Portland, Oregon is the proud home to the most breweries (and some of the best) in America.

As we continue to explore Portland, we take a look at the strange and obscure laws of consuming and purchasing alcohol in the United States. It’s important to know what the law is wherever you’re traveling, so tune in to find out who has the earliest last call, what a ‘dry county’ is, and why 21 isn’t necessarily the legal drinking age in the United States.

Check back soon for our continuation on Portland & a look into the most conservative & most liberal liquor laws around the world!

If you have any questions or comments about Travel Talk, you can email us at talk AT gadling DOT com.

Subscribe via iTunes:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V).
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Links
Be informed – list of consumption laws state by state.
When in Portland, take in the views from the aerial tram!
The spiciest wings in Portland! Fire on the Mountain!

Contest:
We’re still giving away two free tickets on Virgin America!

To enter, join our Facebook group and send us an email, telling us 1) where you would go 2) what you would do there 3) who you would take.

At the end of May, one lucky winner will be randomly selected from our inbox. So, get your friends to submit to increase your chances!!


Hosts: Stephen Greenwood, Aaron Murphy-Crews, Drew Mylrea


Produced, Edited, and Directed by: Stephen Greenwood, Aaron Murphy-Crews, Drew Mylrea

All music used in partnership with nonstopmusic.com


Daily Pampering: Japanese-themed spa opens at Miyako Hybrid Hotel

by Melanie Nayer on

There’s a new kind of relaxation sensation making its way to the U.S., and SpaRELAKEN at the Miyako Hybrid Hotel in Torrance, California, is prepping its pampering techniques.

spaRelaken opens at the hotel on June 27, 2010, as the first spa in the U.S. to feature the SGE ganban-yoku (or “bedrock bath”) treatment – a specialty of Japanese bathing culture that involves lying on a large bed comprised of ore mined from the mountains of Kyushu, Japan, known as “Super Growth Energy” stone.

The beds are placed low to the ground and located in a sauna-like steam room. When the stone beds are heated, the stones emit infrared rays as well as negative ions, which help heat the body and ignite the detoxification process through perspiration. The net effect is refreshment and relaxation, says the spa, as well as improved circulation and metabolism.

In addition to the bedrock baths, the spa features four treatment rooms, including one for couples’ treatments; separate areas for men and women to enjoy the dry sauna and deep Jacuzzi baths; and offers customized body treatments.

Want more? Get your dose of Daily Pampering right here.

Summer travel: how not to sizzle your skin

by Laurel Miller on

The good folks at CNN have released a helpful guide and accompanying photo gallery horror show of solar ray-blasted epidermis. In “5 ways to avoid getting deep-fried,” you’ll find dermatologist’s tips to protect your sun from UVA/UVB damage, skin cancer detection links, and entertaining anecdotes of CNN reporters’ worst sunburns/precursors to melanoma.

I love the sun as much as most holiday-makers, but years of basting myself in baby oil, combined with the onset of crow’s feet in my early twenties and my mother’s own ongoing struggle with basal and squamous cell carcinomas have turned me into the Queen of Sunscreen. While my friends still mock me, and a former farmers market employer once remarked, “I can always tell when you’ve been hugging my dog, because he smells like sunscreen!” I feel vindicated because at 41, I look a good ten years younger, and have yet to develop my first pre-cancerous lesion. I get an annual screening at my dermatologist, and religiously apply a minimum of SPF 30 UVA/UVB sunblock over all exposed body parts (please remember the back of your neck, hands, ears, and knees, and tops of your feet).

Gadling has a more detailed explanation of what the heck all this SPF stuff means, and a guide to choosing sunglasses that do more than just look hip. I also wear, and heartily endorse (unpaid, of course) the sun protective clothing by ExOfficio, and sun protective hats by Outdoor Research. Sounds wacky, but these items are constructed with UPF (ultraviolet protection factor) textiles that, while not a substitute for sunblock, provide a great dual-defense system. They’re also attractive, and incredibly versatile and travel-friendly. Don’t hide from the sun this holiday weekend; just take precautions, have fun, and think of all the money you’ll save by not requiring reconstructive surgery and Botox.

(Image credit: Flickr/Saspotato)