American Road Trip - USA Photography

The Open Road

Photography and the Great American Road Trip

The library of road trip photographs is starting to get out of hand. And as usual, I’ve been slacking on sharing images. So here is a selection made over the past couple years in Iowa, Utah, Nevada, Virginia, and California. Taking these trips is so much fun, and equally as fun is going back through the images after not having seen them for quite a while. It’s sort of like reliving each trip again and putting yourself right back in each of these places.

Click here to see more American photography

Click here to pick up a copy of Roadside Meditations

Sunset on a country road in Iowa

Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System

Virginia

Virginia

Eastern Sierra - California

Upstate New York

Iowa

Utah

Iowa

Virginia

Des Moines, Iowa

Iowa

American Photography

Photographing America - The Open Road

Road Trip Photography Prints - Americana

A new batch of American photographs from the last couple road trips around the country. This series has gotten increasingly overwhelming from an archive perspective. It’s probably the largest series to date, but also the one I’ve done the least with. And by “least”, I mean nothing. So to look at it as a whole feels like a monumental tasks to make sense of for a book or any other publication. Guess it’s time to turn things over to a professional??!!

Click here to see more of the America series.

Contact me directly to order fine art prints for your home, office, or commercial space - rob@robhammerphotography.com

Hawthorne, Nevada

Honolulu Club - Yucca, Arizona

Tuba City, Arizona

Southern Iowa

Griswold, Iowa

Big Island, Virginia

Mountain Home, Idaho

Hillsboro, Illinois

California Desert

Whiting Bros - Yucca, Arizona

Old movie theater - Hawthorne, Nevada

Lovelock Speedway - Lovelock, Nevada

Shoe shop - Texarkana

Griswold, Iowa

American Road Trip

Every year you hear the same story on the news - people left stranded in airport after thousands of canceled flights. Same thing. Every year. This December (2022) marks 10 years that I’ve been driving from San Diego to New York to do some shooting and see family for the holidays. It’s also the first December in a decade without Mojo, so I pulled an audible to the normal cross country drive, instead trying to focus time and effort on the cowboy project. The plan was drive to a couple ranches in northern Nevada for several days of shooting on each. Afterward leave my truck at the Salt Lake City airport and fly home to Albany from there. Plans don’t always work out. After rushing to the airport I walked right through security with a knife and a lighter. Didn’t plan on having them with me, it just worked out like that. My flight had several delays as did Emily’s. She was supposed to land in Albany 5 hours prior to me. I finally made it there at 5am, while she had been rerouted. Which meant taking my mothers car, driving to Boston to pick her up, then back to Albany for Christmas Eve at my Aunt’s house. Then up to Lake George for 3 days at my sisters. Those 3 days were fantastic. Then on Tuesday I woke up to a text saying my Thursday flight was already canceled. Phone calls to Southwest resulted in a busy signal or that annoying ring from yesteryear that happened when the number you called was no longer in service. An internet search revealed the next available flight wasn’t until January 2nd. Who knows if that would actually happen though? So I rented a car and started the next morning on a drive back to Salt Lake City where my truck was waiting. Honda Accords with summer tires are no fun to drive in the winter, especially when the weather reports are filled with storm warnings. Slowly, it did the trick. Meaning it got from A to B, but not much else. Unfortunately there wasn’t enough time during the ride to do much shooting, but I still managed to squeeze in a few early morning frames of southern Iowa.

The ride through Wyoming on the 80 was par for winter in Wyoming on the 80 - a windy/snowy mess. Thankfully it remained uneventful. After picking up my truck in SLC, I started the drive south through 3+ hours of rain. At some point of tiredness I pulled off into a truck stop and slept in the back of the truck. Tried anyway. The days coffee intake was far too high for any real sleep. Around 2:30 am I was back on the road, pulling off again for a nap around 5 am just south of Vegas. Waking up from the nap was a pleasure. That hour or so before the sun actually rises is really special in the desert. From about 7am to 9am I was shooting almost non-stop. Everything just seemed photographable in that beautiful light. Really though it’s the lack of light that makes it particularly desirable, in my opinion. Low ambient light through the cloud cover without any harsh direct sunshine is premo. The side road took me to a part of Nevada I’d never been before, into a place that seemed completely disconnected from the rest of the world, despite only being 25 minutes from the highway. From there is was back into the mess that always is southern California traffic.

There were two lessons learned over those couple weeks of travel. 1) I’m an idiot for not driving the whole way. 2) the pictures will always come if you’re patient. The first day of driving 15 hours straight from Albany to a hotel in Iowa was frustrating. I hate burning country without making images, but there was a deadline to meet, so I didn’t have much of a choice. That next morning the weather was interesting, so I hopped off the 90 for an hour and managed to make images I’m quite happy with. The itch was scratched. Still though, it would be wildly disappointing to drive from coast to coast only making a few images in a small section of one state. It worked out though. The incorrect amount of coffee led to a sleepless night that put me in exactly the right place/right time. Situations like this have happened many times over the years on road trips, international vacations, etc. So the lessons have slowly changed the way I go about finding images. 10+ years ago I couldn’t sit still until images were in the can. Now, I’m learning to let them come.

Click here to see more from the America series

Serenity in the Marsh: Stunning Duck Blind Views that Connect Hunters to Nature

Capture the Beauty of Duck Hunting: Photography of Tranquil Marsh Views from the Duck Blind

The stillness of the marsh at dawn is unlike any other—where the world feels suspended in time, and the only sounds are the subtle movements of nature. From a duck blind, hunters are immersed in a breathtaking view that connects them deeply to the environment. These photographs showcase the serene beauty of those moments—the quiet reflection of the marsh in the water, the mist rising off the reeds, and the vast openness of the landscape.

As a duck hunting photographer, my goal is to capture not just the action, but the peaceful relationship between hunter and environment. These stunning images reflect the calm before the hunt, allowing companies in the duck hunting industry to showcase their gear in the most authentic and serene setting. Whether it’s a perfectly placed blind, a well-crafted decoy, or the right camouflage apparel, these photographs offer a powerful narrative about the connection between the gear and the natural world.

For hunting gear companies, these images are an opportunity to highlight products that enhance the experience of duck hunting, providing a visual representation of both functionality and the serene beauty of the marsh. This collection of photographs not only invites viewers to appreciate the tranquility of the environment but also serves as a testament to the role that quality hunting gear plays in a hunter’s success and enjoyment.

Click here to see more of my duck hunting photography

San Diego Botanical Gardens

Lightscape - San Diego Botanical Gardens

Christmas Light Show - Photography

The last few weeks haven’t seen much action with the camera, unfortunately. Instead the days have been filled with end of the year business nonsense that I don’t enjoy. Going for any amount of time without making images causes a bit of uneasiness, so I brought the camera for a walk through Lightscapes at the San Diego Botanical Gardens, and played around with some hand held long exposures. It confused a number of workers that we would actually walk to the event, instead of driving.

Kansas City Basketball

Basketball Hoop Photography - Prints

Story Behind The Image

Of my many vices, BBQ is damn near the top of the list. Food in general is a big part of my life, but great BBQ is an especially large weakness. Many years ago while driving cross country, I stopped in Kansas City for some of their famous meat, and almost immediately complained to friends about the quality of that particular establishment. One of them recommended Arthur Bryant’s on Brooklyn Avenue. Ever since that trip AB’s has been a must stop anytime I’m within a couple hundred miles. They don’t miss. You know walking in there that they are going to take care of you. The place just feels right. Like walking into Madison Square Garden, you can feel the history. What the hell does this have to do with basketball? Nothing really, but if you’ve ever had a proper plate of BBQ, then you know the only thing that follows is immense satisfaction followed by meat sweats and a nap. So the ritual goes that I eat too much food, sparing the napkin full of scraps that are saved for Mojo who is (was) always waiting in the truck, drool already hanging several inches from his mouth. Poor bastard had to sit there while the smell of burnt ends and pulled pork wafts steadily in the window. After his treat we go for a long walk which turned into the same familiar route over the years. One of the regular sites is an abandoned school that I’ve made some mediocre images of. Viewing it from the outside always led to daydreaming of what the  gym inside looked like. As luck would have it, while walking by one year the plywood on a ground floor window was ripped off and the metal grate had been ripped open. That’s an invitation, right? Of course it is. Anyone that takes if for anything less is a fool. So I hopped in the window with a tripod, camera bag, and a headlamp. Kansas City summers are hot to say the least. Inside a sealed off brick building is something else altogether. It felt like you could chew on the air in there. Walking into the gym didn’t even seem real. My jaw must have drooped right to the floor. Couldn’t believe what a gift I was handed.  The whole room was all but gutted, yet the backboard still stood. I could have been happy in there for days. Still though it wasn’t a place to be for long. There were obviously people squatting and I didn’t have much interest in them knowing I was there. So after waiting waiting waiting for my lens to defog, a few frames were made, and I hit the road without any interactions between the squatters or the police. Moral of the story is eat more BBQ. 

If you’re a photography collector looking for basketball wall art, please contact me directly. All of my basketball hoop photography is available as fine art prints - rob@robhammerphotography

American Photography

Photographing America - Road Trip - USA - Travel

Every day spent on the road is educational in some way, especially when you drive for hours upon hours without producing anything. Half days even. A full day, and you still might not have put the camera up to your eye. Then you get to some kind of hot spot, for the lack of a better word. That’s what happened here. These top 3 images were made within 100 feet of each other in some small Illinois town on a day that otherwise produced almost nothing. Odd how that happens.

Click here to see more from my America series.

The Open Road - Photography

American Road Trip Photography

There’s been a hold up with the delivery of Roadside Meditations from Germany, so the release date is looking more like early to mid December. Instead of using this blog post to vent, it seems like a better opportunity to share some new work from the series. They were made over the past two months during two separate road trips to Wyoming and Arizona while working on the new cowboy series.

Looking at these photographs now, there is certainly a calming meditative nature to them. The thing that stands out though, is they aren’t something I could have or would have made 6 months or a year ago. That’s called progress, isn’t it? They aren’t landscapes. So what are they? Not sure you really need to classify them at all. If they are pleasant to look, provide a documentation, or education, that’s what’s important.

Will keep you all posted with updates on the new book as soon as possible.

Utah

Utah

Utah

California

California Desert Road Trip

Road Trip Photography - America - Travel - California Desert

It’s interesting how certain places can grow on you that at first didn’t seem so appealing. And light seems to be one of the biggest determining factors of that in my opinion. It doesn’t have be traditionally beautiful light either. It just has to be interesting light. Or, maybe light that you understand how to work with? That knowledge is part of growing as a photographer. Most people focus so much on that “perfect” light that occurs during a sunrise or sunset, but beautiful images can be made at all times of day if you know how to work under different conditions. Even midday sun can transform a scene from completely forgettable to “I can’t wait to come back here”.

Click here to shop the Roadside Meditations book

Contact me directly about prints of my American road trip photography for your home, office, or commercial space - rob@robhammerphotography

American road trip photography

California desert - Mojave, CA

Mojave Desert

Windfarm in Mojave, California

California desert near Lone Pina

Mojave, CA

Road Trip Photography

A train going through the desert town of Mojave, CA

Roadside Meditations - Kehrer Verlag

Just returned from the road to find the first copy of Roadside Meditations waiting quietly at home. Feels so good to finally hold a hard copy in my hands after the long (but fun) production process with Kehrer Verlag in Germany. Unfortunately the books aren’t for sale yet in the States, but I will be posting and talking much more about this when the time comes. Hoping to have them up and ready to sell on my web store in about a month. Check back here or Instagram (@robhammerphoto) for updates.

Fine art photography book Roadside Meditations by Rob Hammer and Kehrer Verlag.

American Road Trip Photography Book

The Open Road

Photography and the American Road Trip

The new book went to press today in Germany! We’ve been working on it for quite some time now, so having forward progress on a physical product feels great. I’m really proud of the work and excited to be able to share it with everyone. Depending on shipping, the books should be here in the middle of October. Follow along on Instagram @robhammerphoto for more frequent updates.

Kehrer Verlag

Roadside Meditations - Kehrer Verlag

Roadside Meditations - Kehrer Verlag

Western Road Trip Photography

American West Road Trip Photography

The American road has a way of pulling you back. Long stretches of highway through Nevada and Utah feel endless, but in that repetition there’s a rhythm. Old motels with fading neon, empty casinos standing against the desert sun, and roads that cut straight through the silence — these are the kinds of places I stop for. Photographing them isn’t about chasing a postcard view; it’s about capturing the way travel really feels out here. The grit, the solitude, and the strange beauty of what’s left behind. Many of these kinds of photographs found their way into my book Roadside Meditations, a collection built from years behind the wheel documenting the overlooked corners of America.

Why the Open Road Keeps Calling
There’s something about the freedom of the highway that never wears off. It doesn’t matter how many miles I’ve logged — each trip feels new. With every mile marker comes the possibility of something unexpected: a forgotten town, a roadside diner, or a stretch of desert that feels infinite.

Nevada’s Overlooked Beauty in Photographs
Nevada isn’t just casinos and flashing lights. Once you get off the interstate, the state opens up into a landscape of wide valleys, mountains in the distance, and towns that feel frozen in time. Photographing here means noticing the quiet — the old gas stations, fading billboards, and roads that seem to go on forever.

Utah Road Trip Photography and Timeless Highways
Utah is a different kind of dramatic. The land rises and folds into formations that feel older than time, and the towns tucked between them hold their own stories. Photographing here means chasing light across red rock, watching storms roll over plateaus, and pulling over just to breathe in the silence.

From the Road to the Book: Roadside Meditations
This series of photographs is part of a larger body of work I’ve been building for years — a meditation on the American road. Many images similar to these live in my book Roadside Meditations, which gathers together the motels, highways, small towns, and wide-open spaces that define what it feels like to drive across America. It’s less about where you’re going and more about what you see along the way.

Click here to shop my road trip photo book - Roadside Meditations

Click HERE to see more of my American Road Trip Photography.

Desert road in Goodsprings, Nevada - American Road Trip Photography

Winnemucca, Nevada

A beautiful stretch of road going into Capital Reef National Park in Utah

Photograph of the Fallon Nugget casino in Fallon, Nevada

A view down Winnemucca Blvd in Winnemucca, Nevada

Photograph of a church in Winnemucca, Nevada

Photograph of U.S. Highway 15 going through a beautiful section of Utah

The Peacock Lounge in Carlin, Nevada

Photograph of dust blowing over a dirt road in a remote part of Nevada

The Peacock Lounge in Carlin, Nevada

Roads in a desert section of Nevada

Fields of solar panels in Nevada

Interior photograph of a classic American motel.

The view outside Capital Reef National Park, Utah

The commercial casino in Elko, Nevada

Photograph of a train going through a remote area of desert in Nevada

A beautiful sunset in Nevada

Basketball Culture Photography

Basketball Hoop Photography - Culture

Communication Arts Photo Annual - Award Winning Photos

Competitions have become one of the many shams in the photography industry. Today is seems like there are as many competitions as there are Starbucks, and they all prey on people, promising “exposure” that will lead to a world of endless possibilities. What they really are is a bullshit way for companies to rake in a boatload of money on entry fees. Communication Arts on the other hand, has a long standing reputation for high quality and publishing the most inspiring work of the year in their Photo Annual. So I’m honored to have my American Backcourts images included in this years pages along with breathtaking work by incredible photographers.

Click HERE to pick up a copy of American Backcourts

Communication Arts Photo Annual

Photographing America

American Photography - Fine Art

Road Trip Photos - Travel

Walking away from our work can be such a benefit. Meaning that we need to not see it for quite some time to realize what’s good and what isn’t. The “America” series has, like most of my projects, been going on for ten years now. I love it, but things have reached the point where the library is so big that it’s overwhelming. Making it hard to share in any productive manner. Everything you seen in the post was made over the last two or three years, which is usually the amount of time it takes to make sense of it all. That’s not a good thing. It’s time to enlist the help of a professional editor.

Click here to see more from the America series

Carthage, Missouri

Boise, Idaho

Holcomb, Kansas

Wallace, Idaho

Texarkana, Arkansas

El Paso, Texas

Iowa

Arkansas

Texas

Oregon

Green River, Utah

Avilla, Missouri

Fallon, Nevada

Oregon

Rest Stop - Indiana

American Photography

Some frames from the last road trip up to Idaho and back. Seems like I’m always saying “______ is my new favorite place” and I can’t help that because I love this country so much. For now though, Nevada is becoming that new favorite place.

Looking at this set of images is interesting because they all fit into the different major ongoing series that have taken shape over the last few years. “American” , “Hotels” , “Barbershops of America”, and the latest “Roadside Meditations” which comes out in June. Only one missing is “American Backcourts”. None of these images were intentional. I didn’t set out with the thought to add to those series, it just happens. Grateful for that.

Click here to see more of my American Road Trip Photography

Mountain Home, Idaho

Carlin, Nevada

Carlin, Nevada

Mountain Home, Idaho

Carlin, Nevada

Elko, Nevada

Mountain Home, Idaho

Jackpot, Nevada

Eureka, Nevada

Eureka, Nevada

Fausto Ferrari Barbershop

Traditional Barbershop - Cincinnati, Ohio - Photos - Americana

It’s crazy what BBQ can bring into your life besides good times and a happy belly. There are countless images made on the road that have been a direct result of my love for smoked meat. In December 2013 I was cruising around downtown Cincinnati in a huge snowstorm when a (meat) smoker caught my eye in front a non-descript store front. If it weren’t for the huge plums of smoke coming from it I would have went right on by. Luckily it was about the only form of life on those empty streets that day. So I stopped for some food which happened to be next door to a beautiful old barbershop, which at the time, was closed despite the listed hours stating it should be open. I remember asking the owner of the bbq joint about the barber - “Good luck. That guy comes and goes whenever he wants to. Who knows when he’ll be back.” I had to take a gamble though, hoping he would indeed be cutting the following day. After spending the night I showed up at his stated “opening” time, but there was no sign of the barber. So I sat in my car wondering if he would show. Quite some time after, he did.

Over the past 10 years of working on this project I’ve encountered an almost endless list of characters. Mr. Fausto Ferrari is at or near the top of them all. Despite being in this country some 50+ years, he still spoke very broken English, so our conversations were fun to dissect. One of his long time customers came in shortly after he arrived and it was obvious that they had quite the history together. Halfway through the cut Fausto went into the back room . The man in the chair could see how much I enjoyed the barbers antics and said “I keep a file on my computer of all the stories he tells me”. Fausto was entertaining on his own, but watching the two of them was a gift. The kind of chemistry that can only happen between old friends. They carried effortless conversations that were often interrupted by the barber abruptly saying “Seeeñññoooooorrr” and the man in the seat volleying back with a smile “Faaaauuuussstooo”. Then the conversation would continue like it never stopped until the next volley. A special interaction that I was luck to witness.

Señor Fausto recently passed away after 94 years. A beautiful ride that any of us would be luck to match. Rest in Power Mr. Ferrari. Cincinnati will miss you.

Click here to grab a copy of Barbershops of America

Photo was made on 12/7/13

Fausto Ferrari

American Portraits

American Portrait Photography

Road Trip - Americana - Culture

It’s really interesting to look at what you do and don’t shoot over a long period of time. Way back when I first got going it was only people. That’s all I would shoot. Then at some point drifted away from that to basketball hoops and people-less places in small towns. It was never a conscious decision, but it happened. It was a conscious decision to start again however. Not sure why, although it occurred to me that subconsciously I was missing human interaction from COVID? Don’t know. Either way, it’s a plus. I love America so much. And just this second as I’m typing, a commercial comes to mind of John Cena saying “To Love America, is to love all Americans”. While that’s not a reality for most, it’s true. And talking to people from all over this country can teach you so much, about people, and the country. One of my favorite things in the world is being on an empty road for long periods of time, but nothing can replace the interaction between someone that lives, thinks, and believes in things opposite of yourself. It’s also an opportunity to give. To help change a person’s mind about a possible misconception they have of “people from California”, which as I’ve found out is not a liked stated.

On a photography related topic, you also learn a lot from what you can’t have. The first shot here of the woman in the Minion coat was made about 7:00am while she was out walking her dog/smoking a cigarette. Her response to being asked for a picture was “as long as my face isn’t in it”. That frustrated the hell out of me. What good will this portrait be without her face ? Then she put her head down and the Minion eyes/mouth appeared and solved the whole problem. And on top of that you can still see the cigarette sticking out. So the result wound up being way better than the image I originally set out to make.

Tennessee

Montana

Arkansas

Arkansas

Texas

Tennessee

California

California

Basketball Hoop Photography

American Basketball Culture - Wall Art - Photography Prints

When you’re a kid the “golden arches” of McDonald’s are a beacon. Recognizable anywhere at any time of day or night. You can see them without even looking. It’s probably been 15 years since I’ve eaten at McDonald’s but it comes to mind every time I work on this project. Weird correlation? Probably, but basketball hoops have become very similar to those famous arches. A shape so distinctive that my mind subconsciously registers it and tells me to hit the breaks. American Backcourts the series has been going on for about 10 years now, yet even after publishing the book it’s a subject that never seems to get boring.

Click here to see more basketball photography from the American Backcourts series. And contact me directly with all print inquiries for your home, office, and commercial space.

Missouri

Tennessee

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

Iowa

American Photographs

Photographs of Small Towns in America

A few images from the most recent cross country road trip that go along with my America series. This type of thing wasn’t the main focus of the trip, but I can never help myself . One of these days or years all the images in this series will add up to something that makes sense and it will be a book. Still working through it…

Click here to see more from this series

Big Island, Virginia

Hamburg, Pennsylvania

Danville, Illinois

Danville, Illinois

Danville, Illinois

Nebraska

Indianola, Iowa

Carthage, Missouri

Carthage, Missouri

Nebraska

Kehrer Verlag

The first book I published was in 2012-ish with the first printing of Barbershops of America. but my relationship with books, photo books in-particular, goes back much farther. Hard to say when my collection really got out of control, although it’s not something I’ll ever apologize for because I can trace all of my significant growth as a photographer to the endless mesmerizing hours spent digesting work of the greats (and unknowns). That, and learning how ego is the enemy.

After self publishing the first book, my obsession with the project continued, as did the shooting. Which led to another self published book on the same subject. Again, shooting continued as it still does 10 years later. About a year and a half ago I published a 3rd barbershop book, this time with an actual publisher out of Pennsylvania. Around the same time also self publishing the American Backcourts book. So I’ve gained quite a lot of knowledge of the publishing world. Most all of that knowledge of course came from making infinite mistakes along the way. Grateful for every single one of them.

Fast forward to last November, I signed a contract with Kehrer Verlag in Germany for a new series with the working title of “Roadside Meditations - Travels through America”. I’ve long been a fan of Kehrer and the beautiful work they produce, so it’s an honor to now be on their roster. Photo books and the industry surrounding it has changed so much over the last 5+ years, and it’s my opinion that there are very few fine art photo book publishers out there doing things the right way for the right reasons. Making me even more grateful to be with Kehrer. The way in which this project/book deal came to be is a whole other story and one that has also taught me a great deal. Roadside Meditations is due out internationally in the Spring of 2022 and domestically in the Fall of 2022. I’m beyond excited about this and can’t wait to see what comes of it.

***This is a mock up of the book in Kehrer’s Spring Catalogue. The final design is still a work in progress.

Roadside Meditations - Kehrer Verlag