Secrets of Rejection

WHAT? Who wants to talk about rejection?

Ok, I hear you thinking..."He's lost it, gone over the edge, flown the coup, not the sharpest knife in the drawer"...... Ha!

The truth? In this business of editorial photography, the marketing of ideas to magazines and publishers is riddled with rejection. You learn early on its not a personal thing. There are so many reasons why a project is rejected. It could be that the topic had been visited within five years and the editors didn't want a new take on that topic just yet. It could be the subject is timeless and the publication needs something more newsworthy. Its all a timing thing. If you take rejection personally, as if your ideas don't have merit, you will needlessly suffer. If your ideas are sound and fresh, don't give up. More often than not, the hardest part of this job is finding a home for good ideas.

"An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love this quote by Emerson. A gifted writer, his words carry meaning through many layers and are most appropriate here. As mentioned in the previous post, I am going to walk through the process of developing a book idea here. I am thoroughly convinced this idea has merit. I've presented the concept to numerous peers and friends and the feedback has been positive. And, I know outright, I'm setting my self up for rejection.

So, let's dive into the deep end and see if we can swim.

I've never entertained the thought of doing a book for kids. Over a decade ago I wrote and photographed an article for the National Wildlife Federation's kids' magazine, RANGER RICK. It was on a subject I knew very well. Wolves and wolf research. I had wonderful images from numerous assignments and thought to myself, "the writing will be snap." I submitted the photographs and story. The photographs were accepted and the story was rejected. I was torn up. My first story for kids was rejected? How dumb could I be? Unable to write a simple article for little kids.

Bob Dunne, my editor called me to talk about it. He was so gracious and calming. He began the conversation with a story about a famous author who also penned a story for Ranger Rick. His story too, was rejected. Bob went on to say that writing for kids is very difficult. We can't write in adult language. We need to simplify our ideas. And, for adults used to writing for adults, this can be more difficult than we appreciate. We worked on the story together and the works were published. I learned firsthand one of the secrets of rejection.

This brings us to; CROIX AND THE MAGIC BURL.

A combination of many personal experiences forced this book idea to the surface. I'm a parent with three kids and my interests both personally and professionally exist in the natural world. Years and years of covering assignments on conservation and environmental topics have gifted me a wealth of insight into the wilds. My photographic collection has ample visuals to illustrate a variety of topics. But, still I never had an idea for a kids book. Until, I started turning bowls as a hobby. One afternoon in Northern Minnesota looking at a birch burl on a downed tree, the light bulb clicked on.

For woodworkers, the burl is a magical thing. Its grain patterns and irregular shapes are unique. Many think the burl is a diseased part of a tree when in fact, it is not. I see it more akin to the making of a pearl. Its a treasure created by nature. A burl holds a certain spiritual power with woodworkers and that feeling caught my attention. Perhaps the burl could be a vehicle to use in teaching kids about the value of trees in the forest?

The idea was born. Once an idea is recognizable, its easy to develop. The most difficult part for me was the science issue. I see the world in pretty factual terms. I became concerned if I made the magic burl a talking voice with a personality, could I keep both the imagination of fantasy and reality in tune? As I let my own walls down, the idea of a talking burl in the forest communicating with a young girl begin to really make sense. What a wonderful way to introduce the life of the forest, the value or trees, to kids. Certainly, in today's explosion of learning to "go green" understanding the value of the forest at such a young age in terms they can appreciate can benefit us all.

So, I'm off and running. The first major decision was how the photographs would be used. Again, drawing on personal experiences, I love those kids books that are illustrations, paintings, watercolors, etchings, ect. In fact, one of my favorite kids book is Betsy Bowen's woodcut's of northern life in her epic ANTLER BEAR CANOE book. Betsy teaches the alphabet through the use of her marvelous woodcuts illustrating a slice of life in the North for each letter. Stunning. Her woodcuts reached my soul instantly.

It was my opinion, and some have contested me on this, that I would convert my photographs to watercolors in photoshop. I gave this considerable attention. Of the images I shared with peers and friends, most agreed they like this approach. My gut feelings were that for a kids book, photographs were too defined. The clarity of a photograph made things quite exacting. In converting the photographs to watercolors, I felt reality was softened and there was more room for personal imagination to blossom i the minds of kids. Let them put themselves in those locations without such photographic definition.

Above are examples of the very first drafted pages. After these, the story and pages developed quite nicely. I'm thrilled with all the wonderful lessons Croix learned from the old burl. Her grasp on the value of the forest and the wilderness life surrounding it will surprise readers of the many uses the forest provides. It is my wishes of course, these lessons from the old burl will translate into conservation values and the need to protect and manage our forests for the future. We'll see those other lessons as this blog topic continues. The design, text and images will be refined as we inch forward. Right now, its getting the idea down so we can see and feel it.

I encourage any comments you wish to share on this.

Create Your Own Book

I think its safe to say that every photographer dreams of having a book containing their creations. Its kind of the ultimate portfolio expressing a personalized vision. And, let's face it, the true rewards for a shooter don't come from money (although it helps). A shooters real passion comes from discovering the world around them with a lens. Whether a photog's outlet is a gallery exhibition, a blog, or a book, the realized joy is sharing the work.

I've been fortunate to have five published book titles under my belt on subject matter I feel passionate about. And certainly, that sense of worth is amplified when a publisher agrees to publish your work. But, the publishing industry is a state of flux these days. It scares me to think it might go away. I honestly don't believe the public is ready to give up on books. The iPad and Kindle have their place, but holding a book, looking at exquisitely reproduced photographs in a book, will always find a home on my bookshelves. And I know I'm not alone.

However, as the publishing industry finds it foothold in today's horrible economic climate and the volume of published titles dropping, there are alternatives for publishing a book. Technology has gifted writers, artists, poets, and photographers the opportunity to publish their work with minimal investment. You can publish a 80-page color hardcover book of photographs for example, for under fifty dollars. I'm not fooling. I can see you are shocked. But, it's true.

I've done several of these self-published books now. I initially set out to test the waters and more succinctly, the quality. Always a major consideration in such an endeavor. It wasn't until I had seen fellow shooter Dave Black's Book "THE WAY I SEE IT" (http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/765883). It was so beautifully done and printed so well. Instantly, I was hooked.

So, for my first book test, (http://www.blurb.com/books/1335316) 47º NORTH-Grand Marais & Beyond, I pulled together a collection of images from my favorite Minnesota town, Grand Marais. Grand Marais is a gem all in itself. It benefits from its mother figure, Lake Superior, and its population of around 1,500 fine folks. Its the foothills entrance to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and its summer population swells in numbers just like the mosquitos. Its the kind of town you fall in love with instantly. But, from a book publishing perspective, its too tiny to tickle the fancy of a publisher's investment. Can enough books be sold to warrant the expenditure? Its a tough sell to any sized publisher.

The availability of self-publishing, now a reality and easy to do, can become the vehicle to create a book on areas like Grand Marais that probably will never attract a big publishing effort. I combed through my files, located a collection of images that I felt reflected the area surrounding 47º North, limited the text, used wonderful quotes about photography, and splashed images together to form a collective mood of the Grand Marais area. Its been very popular and I'm thrilled with the quality of the book. And, customers can purchase the book directly online and preview the entire book with Blurb's slick website even before buying the book.

Ok, your asking, and I can hear you .....what is the downside? I said it was cheap, under $50. Yes, that is cheap to publish your own book. But, when you go to the bookstore and buy any book for $50 you are expecting it to be big and thick and full of surprises. You just published your own book for under $50. Cool. But, if you want to sell it, what price do you put on it? Hmm, that $50 at the bookstore gave me pretty good buying power. But, if I want to make any money on this book and it cost me $50 to publish it, will anyone buy it for say, $75? Good question. This is the downside to self publishing. Its basically, Books On Demand.

Books on demand is not a fatalistic approach to self-publishing. Its just a different way. In the case of 47º NORTH, there is never going to be a book like this unless someone self-publishes it. It will be more expensive, yes. I think I make about $5/book. But, my reasons for doing this (remember the first paragraph) was to share the images of an area so close to my heart. I'm not alone. I know many others cherish this area and its a treat to have such a collection of images tell the story of 47º NORTH. If lots of 47º NORTH sell, I make a few bucks.

The benefits of self-publishing are far reaching too. Let's not dwell on the downside. Creating your own title, and I have been using Blurb.com, and there are many others like My Publishing.com, MPix, ect,, the idea that only a few books are ordered at a time, save on paper being used, warehouse space taken up, shipping and transportation costs, and so on. You want a book-you order it and two weeks later its on your door step. How cool is that?

I bring this concept of self-publishing up for a reason. Over the course of the next month or so, I am going to create a Children's book on this blog. I'll show pages, images, and the reasoning behind the theme. And, I'll publish it. But, my end goal may surprise you with the publishing of this book called; CROIX AND THE MAGIC BURL.

Trigger Finger

Chasing my way towards Central Iowa in brilliant sunshine in route to an assignment, my mindset was bent on arriving before sunset. Even though the assignment didn't start until morning, it's always nice to try to catch that warm light just in case you are not blessed with the clarity of today's light tomorrow. The weather forecast called for warmer conditions in the morning but a pesky low pressure system was pushing North and rain and even thunderstorms were in the forecast. In December! For those of us living here in the upper Midwest, that's just freaky. Its just wrong to rain in the end of December.

My alarm goes off an hour before sunrise. I peak out of the hotel window overlooking this small Iowa town of West Union, and a eery glow blankets the town. Snow depth here is well above average. The warm air mixing with the ample snow cover created a thick fog hovering over town like whipped cream on a latte. Perhaps it will burn off, perhaps it won't. If I had to guess, it won't.

Now, I'm thrilled I arrived at sunset and was able to fire off a few frames of Main Street. This foggy light was poor for what I needed to photograph. Sometimes fog can be mesmerizing. Other times, it can be f/dark. I needed shots of town, the surroundings, the town square as part of this coverage. Repeated storms had delayed this shoot several times. Now, with a deadline looming, it was do or die.

Long story short, coverage of town and the necessary portraits were accomplished as best could be done in this light. As the daytime hours faded new concerns arose. The drive home to Minneapolis.

The fog was so thick you could not see half a city block and the wet streets were accumulating freezing drizzle. A stressful drive lay ahead. The assignment under my belt, I decided to carefully inch my way home. With any luck maybe the fog would expose something magical for my lens on the drive back. Capturing a good photograph would no doubt ease the tension filled drive.

The Iowa landscape is beautifully simple. The fog was fascinating as it shielded rolling cropland, the occasional clump of tree's, barns and livestock. Struggling to find definition in these scenes, the subject's contrast fall off was immediate into the bright glow. Fences, barns, and cows, seen up close-up revealed sharpness, but anything more than a baseball toss away was glowing in the fog. And, the brightness of it was hard on the eyes.

Yet, I could felt if something just popped out at me, I could make a memorable image. This kind of light can do that. And, it doesn't come often, especially in winter with everything coated in white. This simplicity to the landscape, the foggy conditions, were all ingredients for something cool to record.

While I should have been calmed by the exciting conditions, I actually felt anxiety creeping in. How can I be offered this amazing light and I find nothing to photograph? Mile after mile I spotted potential photographs. But, something continuously kept me from firing off a frame. A errant fence or tree, a bad background that blended into the softness and disrupted the mood, the simplicity was becoming chaotic and ever opportunity seemed to infected by a visual intruder.

In today's photography world, its so easy for many to simply say, "I can take that out in Photoshop." I must be old school. I still cherish finding the moment LIVE. Even if it does give me an ulcer!

Time after time I slowed, stopped, got out the camera and pointed my camera at various landscapes. None captured my imagination as I had hoped. I kept hoping that next hill might produce the moment like the next bend bend in the river will yield a big fish. Daylight was waning and my hopes were fading. It felt like I had a basket of fresh Georgia peaches within reach but couldn't grab a single one. It was killing me.

My trigger finger was exercised. But, I missed my target. Some days its "just like that." Here's a few images I gave a whirl.

Listen To The Messages

The joy of discussing photography has never been lost on me. I don't mean the technical jargon, like what shutter speed did you use, jpeg or tiff, Do you use Photoshop, ect. Its those explorations about living creatively. The hunt for an image and the emotional wrap we experience when the shutter opens and moment is captured.

In college during a photography lesson, a wonderful quote stuck to me like caramel on an apple. It came from the great photographer Minor White. He spoke of how we need to learn to "listen to the messages" while out seeking photographs. It really resonated with me and it's a disciplined practice I utilize daily and offer up the concept in workshops.

You know what I'm talking about. There's a chance however, you have not recognized or acknowledged it. It happens to us all. Listening to the messages? What does it mean? Here's an example; How many times have you been driving down a road, seen something and thought to yourself, Hmmm, that might be a shot? Yet, you continue driving, the image still dancing inside your head. I should stop, turn around and check that out....., but you keep driving. Finally, you are far enough away that you justify it's a lost cause, "it was nothing" and you drive on.

Well, my friend, that was a MESSAGE! Something spoke to you on a visual level. It called out your name and you kept driving.

As creative intuitions emerge, we need to do our part and listen to them and explore the message. I don't want to say that more often than not it turns out to be nothing, but give it chance. Miles Davis once said, "Everything matters, everything." If indeed you find the draw didn't produce a photograph, you made the move to look and see. You gained something regardless. At the very least, you practiced "seeing."

Recently, I was driving home from photographing BURNING MAN in the desert outside of Reno, Nevada. I had driven almost 1,600 miles on Interstates and hadn't pulled the camera out once. I specifically drove hoping to find random images along the way. I was going nuts. I felt like I was wasting time and felt depleted creatively. Usually, I don't travel Interstate's for such long distances. I prefer those local roads off the beaten track. But, I had to chase back for an assignment that came up and time became more critical. I couldn't stand it anymore.

Finally, I got to Bismarck, North Dakota and left the Interstate. Within minutes, I started seeing images. The first to catch my eye, this life-sized horse up a pole advertising a local Thrift Shop. I chuckled at it. Easy to pass up. But, I turned around and came back for a look. The quirkiness of the scene made me giggle. Seeing the horse, used for advertising, perfectly fitting in between those puffy summer clouds, made a fine image depicting Americana. I listened to the messages and found a fine photograph in the heart of the Midwest.

Last week photographing around Minneapolis/St. Paul, some images popped out. I listened here as well.

Capturing Wind

Yesterday, the low barometric pressure in Minnesota, and throughout the Midwest, broke all sorts of weather records. This massive storm reflected low pressure readings similar in large destructive hurricanes over the oceans.

These type of weather events stimulate the motivated photographer. Storm chasing has become a business in of itself. Here in Minnesota, two gals, called the "Twister Sisters," guide people close to severe weather with hopes of getting a close-up glimpse of nature's fury. Its both risky and exciting.

Yesterday, I found myself calling & emailing all my pals and Govt. sources like the NOAA, seeking information on where the waves on Lake Superior might be kicking up a fuss. For me, Lake Superior is the place I go to shoot big storms like this. The combination of Superior's size, familiarity with it's shoreline, give me a chance to position myself in locations that offer a greater percentage for successfully capturing the wrath.

Unfortunately, my schedule didn't allow me to scoot North to hunt for wind images. I feel blessed that last year about this same time, I was gifted a Superior storm (see below images) that I was able to photograph. To date, those photographs are still my favorite images from this great lake.

With all the furious communications yesterday, a few discussions about capturing wind came up. I love shooting wind and the challenges to capturing it are easier than you think. And, you don't need low light and long exposures to define it. If your camera has multiple exposure capability, you can shoot wind in the middle of a bright sunny day and still seize the movement. Simply shoot several frames over the same frame, perhaps of blowing grasses in a field, to show the windy conditions. Like magic, you have a wind photograph in the middle of the day!

In the images seen below, you will see a variety of situations that capture wind. The pain of not being able to head North yesterday failed to keep me inside. The winds were still howling here in Minneapolis and at the end of the day I stole about an hour to head down to our local park to see what I could find at night.

I grabbed my heaviest tripod and went wind hunting. Most of the trees were stripped of their leaves from the stinging rain and wind throughout the day. Fortunately, I found a Maple that still, believe it or not, had it's leaves clinging to Fall unwilling to give up just yet. There was a streetlight behind the tree illuminating it with a freaky glow that attracted me. I stopped down to f/22 and got a 30 second exposure. This long exposure allowed the windy movement to blur. The solid trunk of the tree remaining sharp, gave me my foundation. I do like to have something sharp in the midst of all that blur.

While shooting an assignment in Iceland, I experienced wind like I've never seen before. It was so windy, it was spooky. It never let up. It relentlessly pounded and pounded. It was the kind of wind that if you stopped your car to grab a shot, you had better be pointed into the wind. If you parked with the wind behind you, it would rip the car doors right off it's hinges. Don't believe me? Check out the photo I snapped of the waterfall being blown right back up into the sky! Another image created that same day of the trees blowing, I used my rental vehicle as a wind break to take a long exposure to bring out the strength of these winds.

Shooting an assignment for Smithsonian Magazine on Wind Power, I was criss-crossing the Midwest where wind farms were finally getting a foothold capturing the blowing prairie winds. I noticed that most of my coverage happened during the day, when the winds typically blew the strongest. I quickly observed that while I was getting good images of the giant turbines, I had stopped the action of the blades. I wasn't showing the wind being harnessed. I looked for other ways to show the breeze. One option was using a dollar bill with a wind turbine in the distance. I knew the dollar bill would flap in the stiff wind, and I liked the visual metaphor of generating dollars from nature. I held the dollar against a 20mm lens and fired away. The second option was waiting until nightfall and using a powerful spotlight, I illuminated the blades as they slowly moved in the darkness.

Finally, a clearing storm in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area (BWCA) exposed a rainbow while the upper level clouds were still croaking. A long exposure allowed the clouds to show movement. The image was more complete for me. It exhibited a change in weather systems, not just a rainbow created by one.

Its still blowing today. So, I gotta run!

More Capturing Wind images

PADDLE NORTH.......... is here!

The privilege of having a pristine wilderness in my backyard is never lost on me. The pleasures of canoe travel go beyond it’s ease. I delight in the sensations of floating. Paddling close to shore is my favorite. Gliding over ancient rock atop gin clear water is like watching a movie created right before my eyes.

Enjoy this new book detailing a wonderful wilderness. Paddle on!
This is the Title page. The Cover can be seen in earlier posts on this blog.