Shutter Tramping: The act and art of striking out on a journey with intense photographic wanderlust, often without a specific destination or route in mind.
A Shutter Tramp ” A person whose homebase is usually his or her vehicle, even though such person may sleep in motels or with friends/family at times; travels from place to place seeking random or occasionally very specific photographic opportunities”
In late Spring of 2012, I had been a rubber tramp for several months, having given up a fixed place of residence in exchange for happily spending the Summer wandering between National and local parks in a Toyota 4 Runner loaded with a kayak, mountain bike and several worn bits of running and hiking gear. I would often drive after dark near the park I wanted to spend the day in and then park nearby, crashing in the back of the 4runner on a sleeping mat until dawn. Up at dawn I would have great light for photography and much of the park to myself before the masses awoke.
One late evening I was trying to explain to my sister and her bright friends that my passion for photography was growing and that I was considering living in my truck for the sole purpose of traveling the country freely to make photographs. I told them about rubber tramping and boondocking and shortly there after shutter tramping was coined.