When the photographer Dan Grec was 27 years old, he decided to make a radical change. “I wanted to put myself out there and attempt something enormous,” he remembers now. After leaving his software engineering job, he hit the road. During that first off-grid photography trip, his Jeep Wrangler covered more than 54,000 kilometers, spanning the Pan-American Highway. 

Now an experienced overlander and adventurer, Grec has traveled to some of the most inaccessible corners of the globe. The photographer has been an ambassador for Renogy, a brand offering leading solutions in sustainable solar energy, for eight years now. During that time, he’s driven a Renogy-equipped vehicle across the coastline of Africa (35 counties in all) and, more recently, embarked on a once-in-a-lifetime expedition through the Australian continent. 

“With the near endless sun in Australia, the no-hassle system performed flawlessly in the most wild and remote destinations, including a ten-day crossing of the world’s most remote 4×4 track, over 1,000 miles without seeing another person or vehicle,” the adventurer remembers. These days, he’s working on a brand-new vehicle build using REGO, Renogy’s flagship off-grid solar power system. Once it’s ready, he’ll travel through the remote corners of Iceland and the Faroe Islands before exploring other parts of Europe. 

We asked him to tell us more about his off-grid photography, the nights he’s spent in the wilderness, the routes that put his gear (and willpower) to the test, and the sunrises that took his breath away.

What inspired you to embark on your epic trip around Africa, starting in 2016? Did you know where the journey would take you when it started? 

“After the Pan-American Highway adventure, I ran out of money, and I had to get another desk job to rebuild my savings account. I had been working at my new software job for less than a week when I realized that sitting at a desk for the rest of my life was not going to make me happy, and it was not something I could do forever.

“Early on, while working and saving money, I didn’t have a specific destination in mind. I just knew I needed to build a savings account so I could once again buy freedom from going to work every day. The parts of South America that stand out in my memories are when I was far from civilization and pushing my abilities to their limit, and so the more I thought about a future adventure, the more Africa fascinated me. I knew if I was going to ship my house-on-wheels vehicle all the way there, I should attempt to see as much of Africa as I possibly could.” 

Can you walk us through a “day in your life” on the road? What does a typical day look like, if there is such a thing? 

“I try as hard as I can to camp ‘wild’—just out in the wilderness away from people and infrastructure. Most mornings I wake with the sun, and I enjoy making coffee and breakfast in the early morning before the heat kicks in. 

“Depending on where I am, I will drive for an hour or two and find myself in some kind of small town or village where I will wander a local street market, buy street food for lunch. If needed, I re-supply on food, gas and water. I love asking locals where I should explore or go next, and so with any luck, I will wind up at a waterfall, or lake, or mountain, or some other beautiful place I can hike and explore and hopefully camp for the night.”

In your years practicing off-grid photography, what was the most remote area you’ve ever visited so far?

“In Australia, together with my Dad, we drove the length of the Canning Stock Route, commonly called the world’s most remote 4×4 route. The track is 1,050 miles through the emptiness of the Western Australian deserts, and for ten days and nights, we did not see a single other person or vehicle. We were extremely far out, and very much on our own.

“The feeling of isolation was intense, and I was hyper aware that we would have to solve any problems on our own. Nobody was coming to save us. The Renogy system we had to power the fridge and run our water pump was absolutely flawless not only for this extremely remote section, but all around Australia in the intense heat and horrid corrugations.”

What are some misconceptions people have about your life on the road—or a life “off-grid” in general? 

“I think many people assume living on the road means eating poorly, something like tinned food or ramen noodles for every meal. While this may have been the case twenty years ago, the advent of quality 12v fridges, solar and lithium batteries means this is no longer the case. My partner Katie and I cook and eat fresh meals with plenty of vegetables every day, and we always have plenty of fruit and healthy snacks in the fridge.

“I think people also assume life on the road must be very lonely and isolating, while the opposite is often true. Everywhere on the planet, there are people exploring, and they’re always looking to make connections with others on the road. Furthermore, locals are proud of their country and town, and they always jump at the chance to meet a foreigner and show them around their small part of the world. While on the road, I’ve had a more vibrant social life than when living in a city and going to work every day.”

What is the most powerful memory you have from all your years of traveling and shooting off-grid photography? 

“On many occasions around Africa, I would arrive in a small mud hut village right around sunset. I was often exhausted, and felt very vulnerable. In all honesty, I even felt a little scared, and was worried how local people would react to a strange person showing up in their village in a big four wheel drive.

“On every single occasion, I was welcomed warmly by the village, and often locals tried to give me food and water, and were very happy to show me a place I could camp safely for the night. These people were not doing this because they wanted money, or anything like that, they were doing it because they’re friendly people, and welcoming strangers is part of the culture in Africa. I will remember the friendliness of the people all across Africa that I will remember as long as I live.”

What have been the most challenging aspects of life on the road? Have there been any moments where you considered giving up, and if so, what motivated you to continue?

“There are many challenging aspects of life on the road, and depending on how exhausted I am on any given day, a different one will rise up to be the most irritating. Heat, humidity, and dust are extremely tiring after years on the road, as are bureaucracy, corruption and trying to achieve things like applying for visas or crossing an international border in a completely different culture.

“No matter what the frustration of the day is, I have to remind myself that I’ve chosen to be there, and that life on the road is much more interesting and exciting than life sitting at a desk, which is exactly what I wanted. Often, I just need to drink a huge bottle of cold water from the fridge, eat a snack, and take a huge deep breath to consider what is actually bugging me.

“I’ve never seriously thought about giving up, though when I feel burnt out, I try very hard to slow way down, maybe even setup on a beach somewhere and to not move for a week. I will swim, surf, cook and eat good meals and make sure I get plenty of sleep to recharge my batteries and make sure I’m ready to take on new challenges.”

How have your travels influenced how you feel about the future and about sustainability? Have they given you hope that we can live more sustainably? 

“Without a doubt, my travels have taught me that people around the world are generally good, and we all want the same things—to be happy and to be safe. While the media shows us a lot of doom and gloom, there is an enormous amount of good in the world. 

“In terms of sustainability, I’ve seen solar and wind farms in every country on the planet, and it always brought a smile to my face to see locals crowded around a mud hut covered in solar panels they’re all using to charge cell phones and flashlights. As the price of solar and quality batteries continues to fall, more and more people will adopt them, and we will have a much better chance at a sustainable future.” 

What’s next for your off-grid photography adventures?

“I’m currently building and outfitting a new overland vehicle with the goal of increased interior living space to travel to much colder climates. I have integrated an insulated living habitat onto a Jeep Wrangler, so I can go anywhere on the planet while being warm and dry. This vehicle has much higher energy needs than my previous ones, including an induction cooktop, large fridge/freezer, and diesel heater, so I require a much more comprehensive electrical system.

“I am outfitting the vehicle with a Renogy REGO system including self-heating smart Lithium batteries, flexible solar panels, charge controllers, and system monitoring. This system will ensure I can power all my vehicle systems, cameras, and laptop no matter how remote I explore.”

Further reading in off-grid photography:

• Portraits of a Community Living Off the Grid in a Remote Spanish Ecovillage

• A Powerful Portrait of Living Off the Grid in Northern Canada

• A Look Inside a Protest Camp on the Fringes of London

Discover More

One spring afternoon in 1983, I was walking around Glasgow with my camera. The city was changing, building up to rebranding itself in 1990 as European City of Culture. At that time, Glasgow had the same feeling as New York – there was always something going on in the streets. A lot of my shots come about by chance while I’m wandering about. You turn a corner and find something you didn’t expect. I don’t really plan anything when I photograph: things somehow fall into place.

That was the case with this photograph taken at Kelvingrove Park, in the west end. Most weekends then there were events, concerts and exhibitions at Kelvingrove Art Gallery, which sits in the park. The photograph reflects what Glasgow was at the time: a place on the up. I was enjoying the orderliness of the queue – and then this dog came haring past with its tongue hanging out, as if it wanted an ice-cream too. It was a nice composition, it just worked. Of course, shooting with film, you hope to hell you’ve got it, that you’ve got a straight horizon and no one in the queue is staring at you.

I was working for the Scottish tourist board at the time. I was there for 11 years, until 1984. It was a great springboard: I was given cameras and a pretty free hand. After I left, I had a lot of contacts and the work didn’t seem to stop. I did city guides and went all over the world. An editor once told me I’m a good travel photographer because I always get lost. The best pictures come up that way. I’d always meet interesting people. Once I ended up being driven around Manhattan by a stranger in a 1950s Chevrolet – just because I’d said: “Great car!” He said: “Hop in, I’ll show you around.” Things like that happen to me a lot.

I’m not into manipulation. You’ve got to work with what’s in front of you. The most I’ll do is, say, remove an ugly cigarette packet. I just like straight photographs. Composition is the most important thing. When you’re shooting from the hip, you’ve got to take everything in – shapes, forms, balance – and then you start noticing other things that create a little story. That’s the ideal photograph, but you’re lucky if you get four or five a year.

I’m a photographer by accident. I got a job on a local paper as a trainee commercial artist, but when that fell through they felt sorry for me and put me in the darkroom. I learned a lot, from the copies of Life magazine and Picture Post that were in the office. In the 1960s, I got a job making blow-up prints for film premieres at Leicester Square in London. I was doing 30ft prints of Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight. They’re a blinking nightmare – you’ve got £50 worth of paper and you have to process it in a huge bath. I’ve spent so much time in darkrooms I don’t want to go back. What I love is the finished image: if there’s an easier way to get there, I’ll take it.

I’m archiving all my pictures now. I’m 76 and the drag at my age is not being able to take risks. I used to climb up buildings and go to ridiculous levels to get a picture. When I look back, I think: “Oh my god, did I really do that?” I once got into the sea at North Queensferry, on the Firth of Forth, in November – just to get the right angle for a picture. You can imagine how cold the water was in winter. I introduced wild swimming to photography – but I’m not going to carry on with it!

I’ve been a photographer for 60 years. The National Galleries of Scotland took six of my photographs recently. One was taken when I was 15. Of course, you gain knowledge and technique, but I still look for the same things. I suppose my work in tourism still affects my photography: I’m not happy showing a place not at its best. I don’t need the blue skies, the pretty clouds and smiley faces, but I do think photographers have got to shoot what they believe in. And I have to look on the bright side.

Douglas Corrance’s CV

Born: Falkirk 1947.
Trained: Self-taught.
Influences: “Henri Cartier-Bresson, Bert Hardy, André Kertész and Arnold Newman”
High point: “Publishing my first Edinburgh book in 1979”
Low point: ‘Getting mugged in Marrakesh in 1971 and losing allmy gear’
Top tip: “Always ask yourself why you want to be a photographer”

Kodak has announced a limited-edition release of the KODAK Super 8 film camera. They tout it as the most advanced camera in it’s (albeit narrow) category.

16:9 (widescreen) shooting and increased visual resolution. The Super 8 Camera extended gate optimizes more capture area of the film strip – allowing for an 11% larger image than traditional S8 cameras.

This 14:9 full frame gives your Super 8 film the flexibility to intercut with other modern media capture formats, seamlessly filling the frame of today’s TV and video screens.

The new Super 8 Camera comes equipped with a detachable wide-angle 6mm 1:1.2 C-mount lens, offering a range of creative choice for filmmakers of all levels. Use any other C-mount prime lens or adapters to mount the lens of your choice. Experiment with vintage lenses for a retro feel.

The MSRP is $5,495 US.

Each KODAK Super 8 cartridge is loaded with 50 feet of motion picture professional film – choose from 3 different KODAK VISION3 Color Negative Film stocks, or reversal stocks including TRI-X Black & White Reversal Film and EKTACHROME Color Reversal Film.

Read more and sign up to buy here by November 28th. Datasheet and Manual. Kodak Super 8 film.

Two days after the Kennedy assassination, photographer Bob Jackson captured the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald.

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. — Most people of a certain age remember where they were when they found out President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. Bob Jackson of Manitou Springs certainly does.

Jackson was riding in the motorcade, a few cars behind the President’s car in Dallas.

It was Nov. 22, 1963, and he was a 29 year old photographer with the “Dallas Times Herold.”

He had just taken pictures of the President and First Lady greeting people at the airport Love Field.

The motorcade was winding its way through downtown, and Jackson had just unloaded his camera to give the film to a reporter along route.

He had an empty camera when he heard three shots ring out. He looked up to where he thought the shots were coming from, the Dallas Book Depository Building.

He saw two people in a window on the 5th floor looking up to the 6th floor window above them.

“Then I of course saw the window ledge above them, and there was a rifle resting on the ledge and he drew it in,” Jackson said.

Jackson never saw who drew the rifle in, but to this day he says there were only three shots, and they came from that rifle in that window.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have pictures to prove it because his camera was empty. Jackson knew he missed the chance to get pictures of one of the most famous moments in time. Little did he know, he would get another chance two days later.

Jackson was scheduled to be at Police Headquarters to take pictures of the suspect in the Kennedy assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald.

Oswald was going to be put in a car and transferred to the County Jail. There were many photographers there, including network photographers to capture the scene on live TV.

Jackson said he checked the wind lever on his camera a dozen times to make sure he was ready. When Oswald was led out by police, someone stepped out in front of him.

That person had a gun and fired it. Jackson said the gun fired, and immediately he fired, pressing the shutter. In those days before digital photography, you didn’t know what you got until the film was developed.

Back at the newspaper he saw his picture and knew immediately he got it, he captured what had happened perfectly.

Jack Ruby, the shooter, holding up the gun. Oswald, impacted by the bullet, screaming in pain. And Dallas Police Detective Jim Leavelle, reacting to it all.

An iconic photo that would, a few months later, win the Pulitzer Prize.

Bob Jackson went on to have a long and successful career, including at the “Denver Post” and “Colorado Springs Gazette.” He took thousands of great pictures.

He started out photographing car races, and that’s how he honed his craft. He shot pictures of the Beatles performing, and emotional pictures of news events all over the world.

But one picture he took stands out, and still has special meaning 60 years after it was taken: Oswald and Ruby.

For a news photographer, there may be no better feeling than knowing you captured a big moment in history.

More Positively Colorado stories:

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Two days after the Kennedy assassination, Photographer Bob Jackson captured the killing of Lee Harvey Oswald.

MANITOU SPRINGS, Colo. — Most people of a certain age remember where they were when they found out President John F Kennedy had been assassinated. Bob Jackson of Manitou Springs certainly does.

Jackson was riding in the motorcade, a few cars behind the President’s car in Dallas. It was November 22nd, 1963, and he was a 29 year old photographer with the Dallas Times Herold.

He had just taken pictures of the President and First Lady greeting people at the airport, Love Field.

The motorcade was winding its way through downtown, and Jackson had just unloaded his camera to give the film to a reporter along route.

He had an empty camera when he heard three shots ring out. He looked up to where he thought the shots were coming from, the Dallas Book Depository Building.

He saw two people in a window on the 5th floor looking up to the 6th floor window above them.

“Then I of course saw the window ledge above them, and there was a rifle resting on the ledge and he drew it in,” Jackson said.

Bob Jackson never saw who drew the rifle in, but to this day he says there were only three shots, and they came from that rifle in that window.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have pictures to prove it because his camera was empty. Bob Jackson knew he missed the chance to get pictures of one of the most famous moments in time. Little did he know, he would get another chance two days later.

Jackson was scheduled to be at Police Headquarters to take pictures of the suspect in the Kennedy assassination, Lee Harvey Oswald.

Oswald was going to be put in a car and transferred to the County Jail. There were many photographers there, including network photographers to capture the scene on live TV.

Jackson says he checked the wind lever on his camera a dozen times to make sure he was ready. When Oswald was led out by police, someone stepped out in front of him.

That person had a gun and fired it. Bob Jackson says the gun fired, and immediately he fired, pressing the shutter. In those days before digital photography, you didn’t know what you got until the film was developed.

Back at the newspaper he saw his picture and knew immediately he got it, he captured what had happened perfectly.

Jack Ruby, the shooter, holding up the gun. Oswald, impacted by the bullet, screaming in pain. And Dallas Police Detective Jim Leavelle, reacting to it all.

More Positively Colorado stories:

An iconic photo that would, a few months later, win the Pulitzer Prize.

Bob Jackson went on to have a long and successful career, including at the Denver Post and Colorado Springs Gazette. He took thousands of great pictures.

He started out photographing car races, and that’s how he honed his craft. He shot pictures of the Beatles performing, and emotional pictures of news events all over the world. But one picture he took stands out, and still has special meaning 60 years after it was taken.

Oswald and Ruby. For a news photographer, there may be no better feeling than knowing you captured a big moment in history.

SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Latest from 9NEWS

[embedded content]

9NEWS+ 

Watch more from 9NEWS on the free 9NEWS+ app for Roku and Fire TV.      

9NEWS+ has multiple live daily shows including 9NEWS Mornings, Next with Kyle Clark and 9NEWS+ Daily, an original streaming program. 9NEWS+ is where you can watch live breaking news, weather updates, and press conferences. You can also replay recent newscasts and find videos on demand of our top stories, local politics, investigations and Colorado specific features.      

To download 9NEWS+ on Roku search for KUSA.       

To download 9NEWS+ on Fire TV search for 9NEWS.     

RELATED: Watch 9NEWS for free on ROKU, Apple TV, Fire TV