The Beginning

As the faint cry of the gulls is overtaken by the horn of the 400ft ship, people line the deck looking down on the port they are newly arriving into. Each of them seemingly carrying an identical combination of an SLR, cell phone, and fanny pack, line up to come explore this new world for the next 12 hours or so.

Some move deep into town sampling the fare, and local shops. Others walk the sunny coast along a paved trail just wide enough for a maintenance vehicle to skip through on occasion. The trail runs parallel to the Narrow Gauge Railroad, and some do hop on board, to be steamed along the coast rather than walking.

There is the occasional veer off the trail down onto the rocky shore line in search of shells, sea glass, or any number of suspected treasures.

Everyone has the same look of adventure, and wonderment, this is all so new….

Well not really, I work in an office building 2 blocks north, and eat my regular old pb&j right on that rock by the trail every day, this place is hardly extraordinary.

But that’s just it, if you aren’t there every day, it is new and exciting, and fun.

I continue to watch the cruise passengers walk along the trail, and I start to notice a trend. One by one they are drawn to the pile of train wheels that are rusted among the weeds. They stop to carefully examine the area, then whip out the camera and start taking photos.

Ill be it, this is a very cool shot, but as I watch, I honestly believe that each one is thinking they have this artistic eye for this shot, they bend and turn, and get just the right angle, having no idea that I watched someone else do the exact same think not 20 minutes before.

Over the course of the week, there is practically a worn patch through the grass, ending in the exact spot that day after day the passengers cant help but stop to take a shot of the wheels.

That’s when I first though….”How many pictures of this pile of wheels is there out there”

BINGO, the idea for MachShot was born. Why wonder, when you can go online and look?

Here is the concept. A picture is uploaded, its location down to the city or town is revealed, then you go try to find it, and take the same one. Alternatively, you can submit a photo that you want people to try to match, and see how long it takes.

It forces you to get out of the house to participate, and also encourages people to really look around where ever they are. How cool would it be if you could look before you go somewhere on vacation and make a list of the photos you wanted to try to match while there.

So Have fun, look around, and be creative. This is a project, and will have flaws, let me know how you feel I can make this experience better.