Box Time

With the gear loaded in the trailer, it’s time for us to jump in. The small trailer looked like it was straining just to carry our gear let alone the additional weight of the two of us. Its tongue was attached to an ATV and a vision of the ATV flying over on top of us as we sat down inside passed through my mind. Safely seated, we started off with a lurch. The elderly lady at the controls had made some comment under her breathe. Breathing in the dust of the trail and fumes from the exhaust, we puttered down the path beside the river. The great trees lining its bank are still bare, spring has not sprung. The river water is brown as the winter runoff does its best to do its job of scouring away old growth. A half mile later we make a turn and come to a stop. “You’ll need to get out here and walk the rest of the way” the voice said over the putter of the engine. We get out and as I lean over to pull my camera bag from the trailer, the ATV lurches forward again, the trailer running over my foot. Mark & I just looked at each other and started laughing. We walk down to the blind where the trailer with our gear was now parked and waiting for us to unpack it. A few moments later we’re inside with our gear and the door soon closes on the box, not to open for 18hrs.

The windows of the blind are opened giving us small slits onto the world in front of us, the Platte River. “Nothing out there yet” Marks says. We sit on the carpeted earth, lean back against our sleeping bag rolls which are supported by the wall of the plywood blind. And without missing a beat, Mark and I go on with our conversation start earlier. 18:30hrs we hear the first call ringing down from the sky above, the conversation ceases for the next 2+ hours. Oh, there was the occasional, “there” or “dancing” or the most common, “Wow,” Beautiful,” or “Spectacular!” but otherwise the only sound was the incredibly romantic music floating in the windows of the blind. When the last drop of light from the day has been wrung out of the sky, we close the windows. Oh, the music was still playing outside, we just couldn’t see the choir anymore. With few words, we each took an opposite corner of the small blind, climb into our sleeping bags and call it a day. A grand day!





An hour before sunrise, the alarm of the iPhone goes off. Mark later asks, “Did you hear church bells this morning?” I answer, “That was my alarm.” In the dark we set up our gear and then ever so slowly we opened the windows of the blind in front of our lenses. The melody that played all night long (best music ever to sleep by) comes flooding in the windows at such a volume we couldn’t converse if we had to. And out of the window you could see the choir, over five thousand Sandhill Cranes roosting on the Platte! The shutters start clicking, their slamming metal can hardly be heard over the cranes. The slight cloud cover is enough to diffuse any great sunrise color but that’s OK, sunset was great and it extended our morning shooting. The birds though are farther away then normal. It doesn’t matter, it really doesn’t! The shots that can be made are special. I’m hard pressed to think of a better way to spend 18hrs of my life then in the box.


Sharon & I were incredibly touched by the warm and passionate reception of my Photoshop World presentations. I came directly from PSW to Nebraska (1hr stop at home) and I wondered how going from that emotional, energized high to the blind would make me feel. My presentations didn’t contain f/stops or shutter speeds, not technical actually and I barely mentioned even focal length and I don’t think I even said the word Nikon (after the Precon). All my presentations were centered around one concept, passion. Passion for photography, passion for the subject, passion for story telling, and passion for sharing with the viewer of the photograph. When folks came up after a presentation, stopped us in the halls, even at Midnight Madness or dinner to say I brought them to tears, we knew our message had gotten across. One question I was asked by a tearful lady I don’t think I have ever been asked before. “Where did you get all that passion?”





Our last morning on the Platte was a gamble. NE skuzzy clouds had been around, never really giving us great light or color but good enough. It was still special and when you truly, honestly have nothing to lose, well at the very least I go for it. So we stayed late and went till sunrise. So the sun-up found us standing on a bridge over the Platte staring east, look for the big, red fireball to rise. But it didn’t make an appearance. Rather, it was grayed out at first and then a few minutes later, a little light and color peeped out. We gambled and as far as we were concerned we won, it was the perfect end to a great week! Mark after the experience took the words right out of my mouth. “It was good for the soul!”


I honestly don’t know how many times I’ve been so fortunate that while photographically being “skunked” that I’ve walked away saying, “It was good for the soul!” So in answering that question about finding passion later on in my own mind, the answer might just be all those times I have been skunked but still enriched and rewarded in a much greater sense. Without knowing the low, and they come often in wildlife photography, how can you recognize, know or appreciate the high? It’s from that combination I think that my passion was born, its nourished and used in the creation of those images that touch others.





I Tweeted from the blind that I was very fortunate. A Tweet came back saying, “We are all very fortunate!” It’s that recognition that tells me that this person has too seen the lows and highs and knows the passion. Of course one has to put in the time behind the lens to experience the lows and highs. One has to have the wisdom to recognize both and of course listen to their heart to appreciate it all. And for me, this all comes together when I have time to be in my own mind, be in the presence of the thing I love (besides family), wildlife, and appreciate the times just to reflect – the “good for the soul!” If you wrap that all up along with a bunch of other of life’s experiences, then I can now answer that question of where I find that passion. It might help you in finding and expressing your passion knowing this. And if all else fails, give a try what I’ve come to really appreciate in this busy world, a little box time.

Simple Click

The room is dark and packed with eyes staring at the screen. By the light of the monitor you can see the character on the face of the presenter as he views his own images. The images appear on the screen one at a time and at a pace dictated by the presenter’s index finger tapping on the keyboard. You can hear a chair in the audience squeak as the room is otherwise dead silent. The audience is riveted by what they see on the screen with only a word or phrase said here and there, the show unfolds. Very few words are spoken during the fifteen minute presentation as none are really required. The photographs speak for themselves. The images, choice images taken in the last six months of New York life, feel the screen, the air and the imagination of all the viewers. While never the same images, I’ve seen this presentation over a dozen times and each and every time I’m just left in awe. Jay Maisel, who is called the father of color photography is the inspiration of the Simple Click.

If you’re a Moose Blog follower then you know about the Simple Click but perhaps not the story behind it. Jay Maisel is the master of the simple click. He’s images of NY life that he captures by always, always carrying a camera with him (D3 / 70-300VR) is the very essence of the simple click. No lights, no reflectors, just using the faces and places of New York as a canvas for the amazing light he finds on his travels. And for me he tops this off in his presentation with little or no words. The photographs carry the entire burden of saying the words. And isn’t that at the heart of our photography? Or better put, shouldn’t that be the heart of our photography?


Now before you get any idea that I’m some genius with the addition of Simple Clicks to the blog, keep in mind that my Simple Clicks was born just six months ago after seeing my last Jay Maisel presentation. That means I had seen it a dozen times before and after seeing those dozen, the idea never took seed. The message I fear was lost on me. Here’s our challenge, to not just learn all it is to be a photographer (you know, that technical stuff), it’s not to just get out behind the lens all we can (though that is essential), but to take in all the stimulation we get and put it into the click. And what better than a simple click?

Personally, I think the majority of photographers take photography just damn too seriously. Seriously! With few exceptions like the content of Pulitzers and the like, most of what we do as photographers is create entertainment. We might be creating education with our clicks, but we’re not solving the world’s problems with our clicks, we’re simply sharing the fortunes we are so fortunate to see with others not as fortunate. We’re telling a story, the story of our life and that of the moment’s experience all wrapped up in 1/250 sliver of time. If we’re successful, that story will reach out and touch the viewer of our image and grab them as the moment originally touched us. But this is all entertainment and if we expect to make the experience for our viewer fun, don’t we have to have fun doing it? And if that’s the case, don’t we have the most fun, the greatest enjoyment in most things in life when it’s simple? My dad thank goodness pounded many things in my head, one that really took was the KISS theorem. Keep It Simple Stupid.


The Simple Click was originally posted because, well, to be honest, as a quick way to get a posting up when I had no time. I picked an image I felt told its own story and needed nothing more from me after the click to grab you. I lucked out, it worked and keeps working it seems with most images. Jay planted the seed of keeping things simple and provided the recipe, I just had to follow it. But the response to the Simple Click still blows me away. And what is the Simple Click, it’s no more than what Jay does every day in every way, carry a camera and when light and life strikes, go click!

We had a participant on our January Yellowstone Adventure who has joined us on many a DLWS. At DLWS, we go through camera technique to the digital darkroom finishing techniques in the pursuit of the gorgeous landscape photo. But when shooting wildlife, all the work, all the stress, all the finishing for me is done at the moment I go click (my wildlife images don’t see PS). The Simple Click. This is what I teach when out with folks shooting wildlife. The Simple Click. This participant though has for a long time dealt with the “pressure” of the digital darkroom for finishing so photography went beyond the click and in some ways, had become a drag because of this extra after hours work. Half way through the week in Yellowstone, you could see what seemed to be a great weight lifted off his shoulders. Yellowstone tends to do that, it’s part of its magic. I asked though what was up and to paraphrase, he said he now felt free again, that his photography without all the trappings of post processing was fun and rewarding for him. He had forgotten that joy. The Simple Click!

Photography can come with a lot of trappings. All these lenses, this body, those accessories and every imaginable tool and toy for post are available for those willing to shell out the dead presidents. I’m the first to admit that it is really easy to circum to these addictions of photography and get hooked. And in that quest to have the latest, the best, the most treasured, perhaps comes the pressure to take photography so seriously. Perhaps that’s why Simple Clicks is so popular, giving some permission to not be serious, to just enjoy what it is to be a photographer. I think that’s what Jay did for me, said it was alright to be a photographer again and make it all happen at the moment it clicks with what HE so apply calls color, light and gesture. The man is a genius, a one of a kind and a photographer documenting the complexities of life on a daily bases in its simplest forms, with a simple click!

And the Price?

It was one of those weeks. We’d flown up to Alaska, did the delayed by weather thing, and then finally, a day later I was at the small airport to catch the bush plane ride over the inlet. “I know you don’t mind the bumps Moose,” the pilot said, but this flight over might be a little bit of a roller coaster ride.” Under gray skies and over dark, rough water, we flew over the inlet. After making one pass over the beach to make sure we could land, down we came. We hit with a little bit of a hard landing but we walked away with our bodies still in tact, and once all my gear was on the beach, the plane flew out. Just then, the little rain sprinkle turned into an Alaska rain. It’s the kind of rain where you just think like a bear, you put your head down and prepare for the soaking. The ATV ride into the lodge; although only a half mile away, was enough to cause me to put clothes in the dryer and get all my gear out on the bed to dry the photopack.

By mid afternoon, the weather turned bad. How can it get worse than this you ask? The big, bucket size drops of rain that were once falling straight down were now traveling horizontally. The gray skies turned super cell black and even though there should be nearly 24/7 sunshine, we didn’t see the sun for the next four days. Yeah, we were snug in a warm lodge with a fire in the hearth keeping us snug. Yeah, we were eating good food and there were plenty of tapes for the VCR, but I wasn’t on vacation. I hadn’t just bought a brand new 400f2.8AFS to carry it to AK and sit, it was to be shot through and don’t think for a second that by day 4, some people were really, really grumpy. We were there to photograph griz. By day five, the light turned gorgeous and the griz who were also hunkered down during the blow were out too, so shooting commenced. But the next day, most would be flying out so shooting time was limited and what should have been a gazillion gig week turned into a couple of KB.


The sun breaks over the horizon, its warmth does nothing to take the chill out of the air. It’s 5 AM and we’re standing hip high in the frozen waters of Churchill, Manitoba Canada and in front of us is the most gorgeous, most spectacular, and the sweetest Pacific Loon to ever find its way to my viewfinder. It was just one of those once in a lifetime treats you know after paying your dues, comes all to rarely. The next morning, 5 AM finds us in the same local as well as the next day. The sun in early June sets around 11PM and just like the loon, there are literally thousands of other subjects befalling in front of our glass. The exhaustion is overwhelming, good thing we’re on dirt roads as we drive about as we’re falling asleep just driving the few miles to “work.” After five days of this, some people bail on the last morning shoot, they simply can’t get out of bed, they are just too exhausted to function. That morning, it was simply too spectacular to capture on film, the experience was one of those you think only happens in the movies. Most definitely never thought it would happen to you and for sure blows away a couple more hours of sleep.





The life of a wildlife photographer has no guarantees, it has thousands of highs and lows and when you are really lucky, it affords no sleep. The hours can be long, the boredom almost lift threatening with the excitement all too fleeting. And yet with that knowledge, I seek it out every day. “How do you get those photographs?” “You must have so much patience.” These are two very common and valid sentiments I think really speaks to how little folks understand the passion or commitment the wildlife photographer must have to be successful. This is especially true if you’re in the business of wildlife photography. There are times when you are sitting on your butt for days with everywhere to go but no way to get there. And after that, so much to do and so many places to go the frustration along with the lack of sleep make you almost postal. But that’s what comes with the territory, that is the price of admission of getting into this game.





The low chances of coming back with not one click to the high of filling up every CF card you have can be experienced on a nearly daily bases if you’re constantly behind the camera. And if you’re not constantly behind the camera, then these highs and lows stretch out over greater times and often are the cause of many putting down the camera for good. I can only speak for myself, but I don’t know any other way to life then the continual daily dealing with nature of the business, this love for what it is to be a wildlife photographer. Sitting at a nest for hours upon hours upon hours with nothing to shoot, standing in fridge water for hours with not a single glimmer of light, waiting in the burning desert sun waiting for the squirrel to emerge in the good light, this is just what it takes to make the image.


You don’t have to go to these lengths to enjoy wildlife photography, I’m not saying that. You can fall out of your car on the weekend, make a couple of clicks and have some nice images. We are very fortunate that we still have a wild heritage affording us this luxury and that’s too cool. But this is not enough to feed a passion, feed a family and only occasionally feed the soul. It is enough though to feed the idea of taking up the passion full-time, but not enough to fuel it for a lifetime and that’s what is required.

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I often; no scratch that, I always say that anyone can do what I do and I sincerely mean that. But lately after having paid my dues for 30 years wonder if everyone can make the sacrifice that is required. The photography part is truly the easiest part of this equation and that’s what was always in my mind when I said anyone could do what I do. But now with age, the rest of the formula is becoming clearer, the stubbornness, the tenacity, the heart, the drive, and to be honest with yah, selfishness and prickness (I know, not a word but I like it) to push through all the rest of life just to be behind the camera. I have been incredibly fortunate in my career to have most of these ingredients either earned, paid for, given or blessed with which I’m finding isn’t the case for some and that’s sad. Acquiring some photos have a price tag which can’t be expressed and a value that in incalculable and I’m now thinking that’s the way it should be, it’s just not meant for everyone. Which puts more responsibility on those who can obtain it to share their good fortune with those who can’t. I’ve always said wildlife photography is not a poor man sport, but my definition of poor has expand of late to include much more important things than money.


As you explore your own photography and find your own walls and catapults, your mind will wonder during good and bad times if it’s all worth it. Always count your blessings and remind yourself often when admiring that great image you so cherish all that went into is by asking yourself, and the price?

Invite the Viewer In!

It’s the big day, you’ve been planning it for what seems like months. You’ve got the house all spruced up so the first impressions are as good as they can be. You’ve laid in plenty of drinks of all flavors and types. You’ve labored over the menu for months and then went out and bought only the best ingredients. Then you slaved in the kitchen for days to assemble all those ingredients to what has to be the best tasting goodies imaginable. You get all the goodies arranged and set on the table. You make sure the last minute preparations are done, flowers here, napkins there, it’s a thing of beauty. The clock reaches the magic hour and you wait by the door. But no one comes, not a single car pulls up. After all of that, you forgot to send out the invitations!

The summer thunderstorm season is fast approaching. You’ve always wanted to get out to the southwest to get that photo you saw of red rocks, massive gray clouds and the drama that comes from that light. You’ve just bought that brand new camera body and knowing you’re going on this trip, you buy that lens you’ve always wanted and now have the perfect excuse to buy it. You see that Split Grad Filter at the store that Moose tells you you need in your camera bag. You buy that too. The week prior to leaving you get all your gear out, cleaned, arranged and ready to pack. The car is serviced, software updated, hard drives cleaned off, it’s time to go. You make the drive, you get in the right place, the new camera and lens perform perfectly and you make the click. You get in the computer and take great care to finish the photo. You bought only the best ingredients, you assembled with great care and then you share your photo, but no one gets it. You forgot to send out the invitation!





“What’s this photographic invitation I am  talking about?” That question has to be going through you mind. You’ve never read any book talking about an invite, there are no articles proclaiming an invite secret. So what just the hell am I speaking of? It’s one of the elements that isn’t spoken of, it’s just known by those who have found it and understand how to incorporate it. You probably have experienced what I just mentioned, the planning of the perfect trip, having the perfect gear making the perfect click with the perfect finishing in post only to have the viewers of your photograph not moved, not effected, to have it pull no heart strings. That’s because you didn’t invite the viewer to get involved in all that you did to make the photo happen, you didn’t invite them into the moment.





If there is one thing I truly believe about photography as a whole is, the photograph has to grab heart strings to be truly successful. The last thing the world needs is another technically perfect photograph. What it needs are more photographs with passion. And it’s that passion that is the opening of the invitation of the viewer into your photograph.  That’s the one element there is no recipe for, no step by step directions for inserting the magical ingredients into your photos. Have you ever looked at wedding invitations? There are thousands upon thousands of styles of them with a variety of verbage and paper and thoughts and sayings and, and, and…there is no one invitation that fits all. Photography is no different.


There is no difference in photography which is why you probably have never heard of it. You have to have the camera body and lens, the f/stop and shutter speed and light, but how do you assemble these pieces is totally up to you. That’s what makes the photo, yours and yours alone. Then there is the experience that comes from taking the photo, the toils and troubles, the highs and lows and the experience itself of that very moment in time and space. Then the most important ingredient, all of your life experiences that are summed up in how you experience that moment you go click. Your life experiences are a very important part of the photograph, one that is often overlooked. But this is still not enough to invite the viewer into your photograph.





What’s the invite you ask? It could be a glint in the eye, a lilt of a wing, the color of a rock, the wisp of a cloud and so much more that a droplet of light brings to life and invites the viewer of the photograph into that moment in your life, the life of the subject and the life of the world. Look at all the great photographs, you will see there is something, often very small and insignificant on its own but in the context of the photograph grabs you and draws you in. It is those very subtle details that tend to be the invites, what the viewer finds special, unique or interesting enough to stop and look deeper into your photograph. It’s those little details that get past the, “Here’s a rock” impression and into the “Here’s a gem” feeling. Not to start some cliché festival, but to have the viewer feel what they are viewing is a diamond in the rough and by only taking a heartbeat or two or three, the gem will shine and the investment in time will grab more than a sense of place.


Not every photograph falls into this category, but often those are the ones you and I are probably not after taking in the first place. Since we deal more often with subjects that are heart grabbers though, this important and unspoken element is something you need to seek. What’ the major problem with this? You can’t buy it, you can’t teach it, you can’t fix it in post, it has to come from a relationship you establish with the subject even if it is fleeting one and transmit it through your click to the viewer. Can you draw the viewer’s attention to this with your camera gear and technique? You betcha! Can you finish your photograph in post so the viewer has no choice but be taken by it? Damn straight you can. But you can only get to that point when you get beyond the frustrations of what’s the best f/stop or should I shoot Canon or Nikon and open your photography up to the possibility that it transcends capturing a moment, but captures a heartbeat! You have all the makings of a great party, you can celebrate life and all its splendor with the gear in your bag, techniques in your head and tools of post. So after you assemble all of this in your photograph, don’t forget that to share it with others, you’ve gotta invite the viewer in!

Checkmate

There I am sitting in the back of a darkened room, the light on my face comes from the gorgeous images being projected on the screen. I have my yellow ruled pad of paper in front of me with my pen in hand as I watched intently. I see a few look at me with their faces asking that question, “He’s Moose Peterson, he is so accomplished, why is he in class?” I might have 30 years of photography under my belt, but that really doesn’t count for that much when starting out in a new venture. I’m there in the back of the room watching presentations that are not only full of beautiful images and mind blowing photographs, but the technicalities of the presentations themselves, the money spent to bring them to us had my attention. I madly scribbled notes that will hopefully provide me and Stephanie ideas in which to move our own message forward. More importantly I cram down on the pad ideas for this and that photograph, locations to shoots, tactics to use. The presentations are just great! It’s then a video clip appears on the screen and begins to plays and the light bulb smacks me right in the face, the speaker says, “…in college I learned how to move the pieces, at work I learned how to play chess!”

Holy cow! Does that not sum it all up so clearly, so succinctly but it gives hope and direction! I’ve been shooting for years which while it has helped me learn all the pieces, when it comes to aviation photography, I didn’t know how to play the game. I’m here at the ISAP convention and while I’m a speaker, I’m here more as a student wanting to play the game. Can an old dog learn new tricks? If anyone is a shining example of this it has to be me. I have the kindest, friendliest mentor Richard (he doesn’t yell at his students), who since our very first meeting, has shared his vast knowledge with me about aviation photography. It’s been the most magnificent flight of photography and growth that I’ve treasured so much. And while I had the rules, I’m just now learning how to play that game.


You might be a regular reader of this blog, you hopefully have dug deeper and read material found here on the sight and in the perfect world, you own a Moose book or two and have read them. So if you have all of that at hand, you probably are just getting a handle on the pieces. You might be just starting out and this revelation might be really discouraging. Put yourself in my shoes with thirty years of experience and being in the same boat, just getting to know the pieces. It’s at this point that the boys are separated from the men (or girls from the ladies is that’s even a saying?). It’s at this point, you realize to give yourself a break, learning is part of the process. I guess you could sum it all up with, you never, ever have all the answers.





This is not something new I’ve written about but seems to be something I’ve not stressed enough, highlight bright enough or simply, not made truly clear. Photography, no matter where you are in your photographic career, you are truly just starting out. You might feel that you are accomplished, you might have a ton of rewards and accolades, have tons of published credits, with all of that under your belt, you wake up only to find that you don’t have all the answers. To make the point relevant and personal, I’ve been shooting stills for nearly thirty years and wham…here’s video built into your DSLR. Now what do you do big shot?!


Photography is an amazing grand pursuit that literally every day, you realize just how little you know and how much you have to learn. I’m not sure why others look at me in a darkened room with notepad in hand in shock. The learning process is a constant and ever evolving one if, if you are doing to not only survive but to grow.





While not some Rhode scholar, I’m pretty darn good at describing not only bird species by unique characteristics but also by habitat and biology. But put an A-10 in the viewfinder flying over about to break right to land on strip left after flaps down and wheels locked with flight F coming in and breaking left and making a pass, and I’m just hoping I know which end of the camera to look through. Then add this piece of gear you’re not to photograph with this tail marking you are which makes it a special plane and this pairing making it a special flight, and you feel like it’s time to break out the trucks and play in the dirt at your feet.


This is the evolution of all photographers in any facet with every passion to go click. There is no finish line, there should be no wall, no barrier, just a continuing game board, begging you to make the next move. Buy this new piece of gear, following this growing fad, worshiping this photographer or that, and of course, swearing allegiance to this brand or that all in the pursuit of the holy grail. And after doing so, you still, most of the time, don’t win the game. But then there are those moments, those clicks where you simply say, under your breath so no one can hear your cockiness, SCORE!





Photographers, at least speaking for myself, seem to be constantly collecting the pieces and only until pushed, do we commit to playing the game. And it’s only when we commit to the game and accept the possibility that we might lose, that we actually win. What determines a win? That’s the funny part, a win might actually be, a loss. In trying something new we might fail, and that failure opens the doors to countless wins. It’s such a funny thing, it’s such a life thing, it’s such a thing that often only getting old smacks you in the face and says, “Hey you, look, you won!” I truly relish being a student, I love learning and even more, taking what I’ve learned and applying it to my own particular version of a game. I’m in pig heaven this week with the amazing and generous folks who make up ISAP. My mind is spinning, I have probably driven Stephanie & Brent nuts with all the ideas that are exploding from just the first day of presentations. Damn, I won’t be able to sleep tonight. To share what I’ve learned with those coming up behind me, to learn from those ahead of me, life gets no better. I’ve been presented a whole bunch of new pieces, it’s time to continue a new game of chess!!!!

You ARE your ONLY Competition!

The moment is seared into my memory, the morning I strategically placed that note on the boss’ desk. It took me months to screw up the courage to even entertain the thought, countless conversations with Sharon weighing all the pros and cons of my decision. It was a life altering decision I’d come to and not one to be taken lightly. We had two sons that weren’t even in preschool yet, how would we make it? That night I printed out a hundred copies of the note, trying to keep the message and sentiment short, sweet and to the point. Each iteration that came out of the printer just a little tighter, each one leaving less wiggle room for me and the boss. I changed the paper, I switched to the card, not sure who I was trying to convince this was the way to go, the boss or me. Then came that morning, I carefully placed the note on the boss’ desk and went to my desk to wait. A couple of times I thought of taking it back, it was a mistake, the time wasn’t right. I didn’t and when the boss came in, he read the note and went on as if nothing had happened. It was time for me to move on.

It was one of the scarcest things I’d done in my life, at age 22 deciding that I could on my own, make it as a photographer. It was a few months prior to the Gulf War and if we’d a crystal ball, we’d probably never have decided to take the path we did. But there are no crystal balls, there are no sure bets in life. So as we have always done, Sharon & I ventured out on our own, following the path we were creating in a direction we thought was right. We’re still following that path, the journey has been so far one helluva ride!


Has the thought ever crossed your mind, “I could make it in photography.” You had a spouse, friend or parent say something to the effect, “Your photography is so good, you should turn pro!” You’ve won an award, you’ve found some acclaim on the web, the folks at the photo club all look up to you, you pang to always be behind the camera? Everything is pointing and pushing you towards being a professional photographer (a term that no longer has the same credibility). The question is, do you take the leap?





You’ve probably read in some magazine or on some website something to the effect, “It’s too competitive to make it, the times are bad, the web is killing business, folks are giving away their images killing the industry, magazines are dead.” All of that is true, all of that is bullshit! Which is it you ask? Well, as far as I am concerned, both can be true. The difference between the two is YOU!


Unlike your basic 9-5, 40hr a week job, there is NO guaranteed paycheck on Friday in this job. There is absolutely NO security in it. As my good friend Wayne Lynch says, “This is the only profession where you’re looking for a new job every day.” And that’s so true. And with that piece of sound advice and honest observation, I’m here to tell you, you can do it! And YOU is the key to all of this!





Does your 40hr a week job seem like a cranker, you can barely make it through you week? I’m here to tell you, it’s nothing compared to being a photographer. Are you tired of someone dictating your time, your life for 40hr of each week? That’s nothing compared to how you’ll drive yourself, at least if you’re one of the successful ones. No matter how you look at the pros and cons, there are incredibly great pros and tremendously scary cons to sway you either way, to make the job or not. But here’s the thing I think, logic has nothing to do with your success or not! There are no numbers, no personal advice, nothing that can make it happen or not happen except one thing, and that’s inside of you.





The only true answer to whether you should or should not turn “pro” is locked up one place and one place only, in your heart. The same place where the great images are born is where the business succeeds. Successful photographers, those who make it past the seventh inning stretch are those with the passion to push through the hard times and relish the good times. Because I’m here to tell you from first hand experience, you experience plenty of both your entire career. But pushing is everything. Selling a lens to pay the bills, missing a shoot because you just don’t have gas money, that huge check for the use of just one image, that repeat contract bringing in a nice check every year, it all comes and so much more down the road at you. And in the good times and the bad, if you have the passion to be in the business, if you should even be in the business, is answered by what’s always in your hand. A camera!


I am a firm believer that if you want to succeed in wildlife photography, make a living from it, that even in these times you can do it! Where’s my proof? Ever open a magazine, seen some half assed exposed, fuzzy photograph and say to yourself, “I’ve got better.” There’s proof. Look at the guy who’s blog you’ve visited to read this. Totally self made and still in the making process and totally happy, rewarded. Is it for everyone? Not even! Is it easy? Hell no! To repeat myself, if you have a passion for making images, for being behind the camera, in thick or thin, better or worse, because it is a marriage between your vision and reality, then you too can succeed in this industry. I passed along this piece of wisdom I was presented as a great gift when I started out. “You’re only as good as your last photograph.” That means then You are your ONLY competition!

You Are the Best Judge, Really!

There’s probably only one thing better then spending a day shooting with folks, it’s having dinner with them and reliving the day’s fun! Like any gathering of photographers, be it a large group or just a couple of folks, conversation always tends to head towards the philosophical side of photography. One of the questions that’s been raised many, many times has to do with the image(s) and whether one or others liked this or that image or not. One of the most requested features at DLWS is the crit session, where the participant sits with an instructor and the instructor gives their input into the image. It raises a very important aspect of our photography that I think too many take way too for granted!

I more then understand that getting the opinion of someone who you respect helps your ego, but does it really help your photography? When I see folks go out the very next day and make the exact same mistake we just discussed hours earlier at their crit, I question what’s being learned in the crit process. Don’t confuse this though with the value a crit you might get from an editor, which is totally different because the end result might seem the same, but it by no means is. I’m talking about the peer to peer comments which so many seem to hang on.

When you push the shutter release, as far as I am concerned, the ONLY person you need to please, make happy, entertain and overwhelm is yourself! Photography is not a team sport. While there is no I in photography (sorry, watch too many movies), there is a Y which sounds close enough for me but really should stand for YOU (I know, lame). When we’re at the computer going through our images, who makes the final decision to keep this one image or delete that one? You do, right? That’s because they are YOUR images and you keep those you like and delete those you don’t. You don’t have a paneled jury saying yay or nay, do you?



Your decision to keep an image can be based on many factors. Since they are YOUR images, you can keep whatever you like for whatever reason. Perhaps the image has a sentimental hold on you, it’s a one of a kind, it could be fun or, it simply might be a darn good photograph. That’s a damn good reason to keep a photo (not necessarily why you’d show it to others though, that’s a totally different criteria). Whatever the reason you decide to keep an image, they are your reasons and they are ALL valid! (I have always said that folks delete way too many photographs!) These are all images that you like and that makes them golden in my eyes, keepers!

If that’s the case, why do photographers like to show their images to others? That’s a complicated question, lots of reasons from good to bad but whatever the case the point, what did you want to accomplish with your photograph? Did you want to please yourself, or yourself and the world? We all know how difficult it is to please ourselves at times with our images. It’s no easy feat, right? When I’m editing through my day’s takes, I normally don’t let anyone else in the room with me because I’m muttering out loud, good, bad, stupid, idiot, right on, excellent and many other things. If it’s that hard to please ourselves, than isn’t it reasonable to expect that it’s that difficult, if not at times, impossible to please the world? Damn right!

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On a daily basis, sometimes hourly, I’m asked to make a comment on some one’s photos. Some just down right suck and yes, I say they suck (technically speaking). The majority though are in that no mans land of images where the photographer saw something but because of lack of inexperience, they just didn’t quite capture it to express it to the rest of the world. And that’s OK because it’s a place we’ve all been or are at in our photography, and it’s part of the learning curve. Whether I or someone else says they do or don’t like your photo, it should only be taken with a grain of salt. I know personally, there are tons of my own photographs that I love and the world simply doesn’t, and that’s OK. There are some that have received general acceptance and when that occurs, it’s a darn good feeling. When it comes to your photography, while other’s opinions might mean a lot to you, in the final analyze, their opinion won’t make or break your photograph or your photography. Your opinion will though! Take stock in what’s in your head and in your heart when it comes to your photographs. You are the best judge and you are the only judge!

What’s the Best Investment?

We’ve got a great accountant, had the same crazy guy since day one of our business, literally, since day one. I remember going into his office for the first time (and actually the only time) 29 years ago like it was yesterday. I was scared to death, how much this was all going to cost me just kept running through my mind as with lightning speed he tapped the keys of the adding machine (big box, bunch of buttons with paper that streamed out the backside), making this noise that just sounded like money being sucked out of my wallet. He looked at the figures I scrolled down on his form; he looked up at me, and then back down at the figures and hit those damn keys again. I sat there for about ten minutes as my meager paycheck went off to pay taxes.

He got down to the box containing the dollar amount for all the gear purchased that year when he stopped and looked up at me and said, “That’s All?!” “I’m just starting out…I don’t have any money to spend…I’m only 21, I can only do so much.” He sat there and looked at me, which by the way, a stare that was very unsettling. Then after a moment he said, “Is this your business plan, excuses why you can’t do something?” I wasn’t sure how to take that, I felt like crying. Then I built up enough courage to say, “But I simply don’t have the money, what am I to do?”

John sat there for a moment contemplating, what we now have to expect from him, that wise, fatherly advice which is why we’ve counted on him all these years, that has always steered us so well. “Well, if you don’t invest in yourself, who in the hell ever will?” “If you don’t get off your butt and make things happen, how will anything ever happen, you think it’s just going to walk into the door and get handed to you?” “The best investment you can ever make is in yourself, whether it’s education, equipment or both. The door has been opened and now you must walk through it!”

What door had been opened? At that moment in time, I couldn’t see it. Yeah, I had my first image published in Audubon and I had a couple, just a couple of clicks under my belt but looking back at it now, it’s easy to see what that door had been. That wasn’t the case then.

It’s amazing how such little things in life can have such out reaching ripples. The new TC-20e3 for example, a piece of insignificant gear I figured would barely warrant a blog mention. Yet, this little piece of gear seems to be incredibly important to many, for the simple financial reason it gives them the reach they think they need (to repeat, think they need) to get into the game of wildlife photography. When John gave me those great words of wisdom was just after I had just purchased the Nikkor 400f5.6 EDIF lens, the longest lens I had owned for the next four years. I bought it used and wore off the coating shooting with it. There are images in my upcoming book taken with that lens, there are images in our files shot with that lens that still garnish a good payday to this day. That lens taught me tons, much of what I share with you to this day.



When it comes to listing the offenders buying new gear when it first comes out, my name has to be in the top five, seriously. If there is even the slightest possibility it will solve a problem, bam, it’s on my desk the next day (yeah, the 24f1.4 is on that list). And while I make that financial investment in my gear and John still makes sure I stay in the black doing so, he also pushes the bigger investment and that’s in myself. I’m so proud that I can say I don’t have all the answers, that every day is a new opportunity to learn something new and in doing so making that investment that will pay big dividends someday down the road.

I take 270 pages (and growing daily) to spell this out in the book, but here it is in a real nutshell. Biological knowledge is worth at minimum 200mm in focal length. That $600 you’d spend on that TC-20e3 if invested instead into four solid weekends of shooting would more than pay for itself with images that are not just better, but subjects that are larger in the frame because you’ve learned how to get closer physically. I put in four years with the 400mm and the lessons it taught me I use to this day, every day and what got me to this point in my career. It takes gear to make the images, but it takes the person behind the gear driving through to make it sing and produce. And that’s the door that was opened for me within that first meeting with John. It’s all up to you, not your gear, to make the opportunity happen and make the image come to life.



With that knowledge, am I giving up my 600mm? I don’t think so. But rather, I feel even more pressure to make the most of that opportunity life has provided me. I was told by the very first editor who bought my image a piece of wisdom I still hold close. “You’re only as good as the last image you took.” That means there is always, always room for improvement. And coming back to that very important piece of business advice John gave me so many years ago made all that more relevant. The best investment is in yourself!

What's the Best Investment?

We’ve got a great accountant, had the same crazy guy since day one of our business, literally, since day one. I remember going into his office for the first time (and actually the only time) 29 years ago like it was yesterday. I was scared to death, how much this was all going to cost me just kept running through my mind as with lightning speed he tapped the keys of the adding machine (big box, bunch of buttons with paper that streamed out the backside), making this noise that just sounded like money being sucked out of my wallet. He looked at the figures I scrolled down on his form; he looked up at me, and then back down at the figures and hit those damn keys again. I sat there for about ten minutes as my meager paycheck went off to pay taxes.

He got down to the box containing the dollar amount for all the gear purchased that year when he stopped and looked up at me and said, “That’s All?!” “I’m just starting out…I don’t have any money to spend…I’m only 21, I can only do so much.” He sat there and looked at me, which by the way, a stare that was very unsettling. Then after a moment he said, “Is this your business plan, excuses why you can’t do something?” I wasn’t sure how to take that, I felt like crying. Then I built up enough courage to say, “But I simply don’t have the money, what am I to do?”

John sat there for a moment contemplating, what we now have to expect from him, that wise, fatherly advice which is why we’ve counted on him all these years, that has always steered us so well. “Well, if you don’t invest in yourself, who in the hell ever will?” “If you don’t get off your butt and make things happen, how will anything ever happen, you think it’s just going to walk into the door and get handed to you?” “The best investment you can ever make is in yourself, whether it’s education, equipment or both. The door has been opened and now you must walk through it!”

What door had been opened? At that moment in time, I couldn’t see it. Yeah, I had my first image published in Audubon and I had a couple, just a couple of clicks under my belt but looking back at it now, it’s easy to see what that door had been. That wasn’t the case then.

It’s amazing how such little things in life can have such out reaching ripples. The new TC-20e3 for example, a piece of insignificant gear I figured would barely warrant a blog mention. Yet, this little piece of gear seems to be incredibly important to many, for the simple financial reason it gives them the reach they think they need (to repeat, think they need) to get into the game of wildlife photography. When John gave me those great words of wisdom was just after I had just purchased the Nikkor 400f5.6 EDIF lens, the longest lens I had owned for the next four years. I bought it used and wore off the coating shooting with it. There are images in my upcoming book taken with that lens, there are images in our files shot with that lens that still garnish a good payday to this day. That lens taught me tons, much of what I share with you to this day.



When it comes to listing the offenders buying new gear when it first comes out, my name has to be in the top five, seriously. If there is even the slightest possibility it will solve a problem, bam, it’s on my desk the next day (yeah, the 24f1.4 is on that list). And while I make that financial investment in my gear and John still makes sure I stay in the black doing so, he also pushes the bigger investment and that’s in myself. I’m so proud that I can say I don’t have all the answers, that every day is a new opportunity to learn something new and in doing so making that investment that will pay big dividends someday down the road.

I take 270 pages (and growing daily) to spell this out in the book, but here it is in a real nutshell. Biological knowledge is worth at minimum 200mm in focal length. That $600 you’d spend on that TC-20e3 if invested instead into four solid weekends of shooting would more than pay for itself with images that are not just better, but subjects that are larger in the frame because you’ve learned how to get closer physically. I put in four years with the 400mm and the lessons it taught me I use to this day, every day and what got me to this point in my career. It takes gear to make the images, but it takes the person behind the gear driving through to make it sing and produce. And that’s the door that was opened for me within that first meeting with John. It’s all up to you, not your gear, to make the opportunity happen and make the image come to life.



With that knowledge, am I giving up my 600mm? I don’t think so. But rather, I feel even more pressure to make the most of that opportunity life has provided me. I was told by the very first editor who bought my image a piece of wisdom I still hold close. “You’re only as good as the last image you took.” That means there is always, always room for improvement. And coming back to that very important piece of business advice John gave me so many years ago made all that more relevant. The best investment is in yourself!

Where Did that Week Go?

So I’m back where it’s cool and the humidity doesn’t run down my cheek, back in the snow filled Sierra. I’m back from an amazing week in Kelby Land, that magical place where there is no limit to energy that drives the creativity. I’m incredibly lucky to have been able to spend the week with Scott as we wrap up my new book. Scott is the editor and man, I am so glad he is. Couldn’t sleep all week, just too darn excited. But while at NAPP shot more videos, Dtown, Photoshop UserTV and of course, hung out with my bud RC (we have a new workshop we’ll be announcing shortly). And of course my fearless assistant Stephanie was there the whole time making sure I wasn’t late, notes taken and hair in place for all the taping. I even got in a little shooting as you’ve seen here. But with all of that, there was no one Friday Thought and when the book comes out, you’ll understand why. But I wanted to leave you with a couple of things for the weekend.

Syl Arena has come out with his new book. LISLIPS or Lessons I Didn’t Learn in Photo School is a an insightful and humorous book looking at what it is we do as photographers. You’ll find a book full of one liners like, “You can’t create and edit at the same time.” and then a paragraph defining that statement. There is a lot of wisdom in his words and it is a good read. While I enjoyed reading it, one nagging question kept cropping up in my mind. Where are the photos? All this wisdom and not one visual. If nothing else, I would love to have seen one photo to know all this worldly advice came from a click I could relate to. It is a fun read and in this day and age of passing along “sage” advice, this is a great addition to your library. You can get your copy here.

Another book I want to recommend is from a Moose’s hero, Michael Forsberg. Michael is a marvelous photographer and his book Great Plains is a photographic treasure trove! The “flat” part of our country gets so little attention, I’m so glad Michael put out his great book drawing attention to this rich heritage. I can’t say enough about this book other than, I wish I had had the opportunity to make all those images and produce it myself. great read!

And finally, here’s a little for the photographer in you. My bud Jeff Snyder at Adorama hooked me up with the new TC-20E3. I’ve just started my testing of this new converter and I’m liking what I’m seeing. I wanted to give you a little preview so went out with the 200f2VR and made a quick, handheld click. It’s not a flat subject but I think you’ll see the quality is pretty schweet! The focus point is the trunk dead center in the photo, shot at f/2 with effective f/4.

You want to click here to open up aTC-20e3 image in Zoomify.

I’ll have a thought his week I’m sure for next friday. Have a Great Weekend!

This Unsettling Thought Might Bring Some Comfort

We’re sitting at our favorite coffee shop in Bozeman taking care of some work before heading out to the airport. In between emails and blog posts, we stop to sip our coffee and reflect on our weeks up in Yellowstone. It is such a grand place, and we’re so lucky that in the past, others have thought so much of it to preserve it just for us to enjoy. I always take comfort in knowing that it was a photographer, WM Henry Jackson who came, shot and shared his images with congress that got protection for Yellowstone in the first place. It’s with that thought that I’m often saddened when I see the actions of other photographers.

In all honesty, it’s just a damn photograph! I don’t know how many times I’ve said that yet we still see photographers do things that common sense in the very least says not to do, all in the efforts of getting that one photograph. On two separate days, we saw two different groups of photographers way too close to a group of bull Elk. We even had a talk with a ranger who stopped to watch one group, very interesting his take on it and why he didn’t write them up. We heard from a wolf biologist how another group of photographers chased a wolf through a forest, technically a Federal crime. All of this in the name of a click?!

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Oh yeah, there are times when I feel the pressure of the click. When I was the first and only photographer permitted to go in and photograph the Palos Verde Blue Butterfly that had been rediscovered after it was thought of being extinct for a decade, I felt pressure. Especially since I was stupid enough to not have a “macro solution” in the bag to function in the two-hour window I had to get the photo. I was working on a secure military depot and only 3 male butterflies had been seen. My solution, get the biology of the PVB from the biologist and camp at one food plant in hopes it would fly by. Trampling down the habitat chasing a butterfly is pretty stupid, camping out at least didn’t hurt any habitat but up until the last minute, seemed just as dumb. As it turned out, I got the shot and within two weeks it had been published 110 times. Even with the pressure, common sense kicked in and said not to harm the habitat, don’t risk the species. That ain’t going to happen with an elk photo from Yellowstone and not with a wolf photo either. The photo won’t change the world or be seen by thousands within weeks. So then why the pressure, why the risk?

With the Palos Verde Blue photo, at least there was an end need. But the efforts some people go through into getting a photo just to add to their collection is why in some National Parks, photographers are not looked upon with the same high regards as they were just a decade ago. Ever ask yourself why that is? Ever stop a ranger in Yellowstone or Yosemite or Grand Canyon or any other busy national park and ask why they watch photographers now with suspicion? I do, I want to know, I don’t want to be part of the problem! You hear a story from a ranger in Grand Canyon tell you about talking to a group of elementary kids about the need to stay behind the fence so they don’t fall over the rim only to then have a photographer do exactly what he warned against right in front of the kids, go over the fence and you can start to understand the distain for our profession at times.

Sharon & I were just sitting back, watching bighorn sheep this past week. I wasn’t up with the mass of shooters on the edge of the road keeping the sheep from crossing because not only was that potentially dangerous for the sheep, it’s clearly against the rules. We were just watching the sheep and the chaos when a shooter who recognized me came up and asked why I wasn’t shooting. When I replied the shot wasn’t worth the price, he just scratched his head and wondered off. Didn’t ask what I meant, just took it as weird and left. A minute later, he was part of the mess adding to the problem and not being the solution. Why, what the hell was he going to do with that photo that made it so damn important?

I often don’t put the camera to the eye, I don’t rush out to get the shot because I know my actions could possibly lead to the endangering the critters welfare. I passionately believe that NO photograph is worth sacrificing the welfare of the subject. Period! And there is no need for it. Heck, just in the free pages on this site you can garnish enough biological trivia to prevent this from happening. But more importantly, when did the damn click become so damn important?

For nearly an hour with the 600mm mounted to the tripod, Sharon & I stood in 9 degree temperatures just listening to wolves announce they were so happy to be fed and alive one more day. Even if a wolf or the whole pack appeared, would a single click, video clip or full-length feature movie capture that moment? I doubt it so why even try, why not just take it in and let it enrich the soul? I mean seriously, why don’t wildlife photographers just simply take comfort and peace in the moment, and not have the silence be broken with the sound of a camera shutter? There are always plenty of moments when the slam of the shutter should be heard and must be heard and those images captured shared with everyone. But there are those moments when the silence is golden. It is very possible that not shooting is the right shot for that moment, letting the experience be forever engraved on the thin emulsion of your mind and in the pulse of your heart. Is it possible that for most photographers, this unsettling thought might bring some comfort?

If Only…

It doesn’t help my photography one bit, but I like to collect stats on things that occur during the business day, week, year and decade because, well, I just love trivia. I don’t count how many paperclips we use at WRP (which, with the advent of digital we hardly use them anymore) but I do count how many times certain questions are asked. I’ve written and spoken many times that the #2 email question I receive is, “What is the best f/stop?” With that trivia thrown out there, I’ve never been asked what’s the number one question. Looking over the stats for 2009, I was surprised that one question had eked its way up into the #10 spot.

“If you only had one lens to use, what would it be?” Now you might think this question is a sign of the times, budgets are thin, or a photographer just starting out, trying to make the most of the dollar they have. But I’ve been asked this question since 1991 when the 1^st edition of Nikon System Handbook was released. What always gets me is, typically folks preface the if only question with, “I just read over the contents of your camera bag” which to me kinda indicates that I feel that I need more than one lens for my photography. Of course when I point this out, that I have many lenses, each one filling a particular notch in my visual quest, they still repeat the if only question.

This leads me to a much bigger question and one much more important to photography then my stats. Why do photographers tend to limit themselves? Doesn’t life do that enough without our seeking such limits? My 600VR, my baby, went in for its annual check-up in December. That was the longest 8 days when it wasn’t sitting next to me at my desk. Birds were coming in but I couldn’t do a thing without the 600mm. At least that was my first reaction. I had two choices, not take any photographs or, push the imagination and try some other lens on some other subject. You’d think at first that the only lens I did own was the 600mm during those 8 days by my mobbing but it was quite obvious very quickly the only limitation was my imagination and not my lens selection.

“If you could only go one place this year to shoot, where would you go?” Another if only question I receive (doesn’t make the countdown) also seems to be a self-defeating question. I am incredibly fortunate and I will go to many places this year, all places I want to go to. With that said, just because I want to go to them and plan to go to them, will they produce great images just because I’m there? About half the time, no, I’ll get skunked and that’s with all my contacts and expertise. If only it weren’t so bloody hot here in Yellowstone where I am right now I could make some incredible images (it’s +40 hotter than normal). But it is that hot and it’s still Yellowstone, and as my good friend just said so well, wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now. I understand folks have vacations they want to plan and often they are shooting vacations. But why limit yourself to some place I might want to go. Hell, I spend time in smelly sumps in Bakersfield for fun, you sure you want to follow me?

If only it was our imaginations we were pushing and not the gear. If only great light were present every time we ventured out with our lens. If only the critters would come to play on our schedule and not theirs. If only there weren’t clocks and rules and work and all that horrible stuff that comes to us on the news. If only…

There is no one magical lens, no one magical body, no one magical Photoshop trick or magical computer. There is no one right photographic teacher. What is magical is the spirit in each and every photographer to take the sensory input they receive and turn it into a photograph that can grab the world. There’s no if only in this, it is a limitless “if”, if the imagination and heart are permitted to do what they do best. Wander! You need a bag of gear (I don’t want any calls from spouses from that one), a calendar of time and an area the size of the planet to fill that wandering. And when you start on that quest, then you’ll know firsthand that there is no “if only”. As soon as you put your right foot in front of your left foot, you’ll have the answer and the best part is, you’ll have the answer for yourself. Sheyrl Crow sings it best and what I remind myself daily. “It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got”

Oh, and what’s the #1 question I get asked? What’s the B. in my name stand for? My answer is one that was provided me in a phone call we received once. An elderly lady called and asked if the B. stood for Bull. I like that answer!

Friday Thought – Jake Style

Jake pretty much summed it all up, can’t improve on perfection so give it a good read here. And be sure to check out his Gallery Here!

Thanks Jake!

UpRighting the World with Photography's Greatest Reward

Photographic rewards come in many flavors. You’ve got contests, that’s pretty cool. Who hasn’t had one or more of their family members tell you that you should go pro. That’s rewarding. There is getting your photographs published in a magazine, getting your own book and of course there is the sale of a print for a handsome price. That’s just downright sweet. Topping this is that moment when you think you’ve made that great click and then when you’re looking at your images later, you know you’ve made that great click. Now we’re talkin rewards. But I think there is one even greater that comes from photography for many of us fortunate shooters.

Do you ever feel that you’ve got everything backwards and perhaps you’re looking at the world upside down? Not so much as the world as a whole, just the photographic world. For example, have you heard this silly competition thing between Nikon and Canon owners? Or how about Mac and Windows? While there are some great jokes for one side or the other, what gets me is when folks actually take it all really seriously, like the future of the planet depends on determining which is best. And it seems like just yesterday there was the pixel race, who’s got the most. Glad that’s cooled down so now we can debate who has the best high ISO. Now there’s a debate that keeps you on the edge of your seat!

One of my all time favorites that come up almost yearly for the last 30 years I’ve been involved in the sport, is the question, “Do I buy the current model or wait for the next, best body that surely is coming?” One of our best selling images still to this day, was taken with a D1 body, an image with a little noise, not super dupper tack sharp but yet, the light, color and gesture just keep it selling and selling. Even with that knowledge, I’m always one of the first to jump on new technology just because…because history has proven for us it’s a wise business move. But this doesn’t bring the greatest reward in photography I think.

Photography is a struggle, at least it has been for me. I’m talking the whole package, from the content creating to the image selling to maintaining business . It’s a struggle. In the beginning I remember bad times when selling a lens was the only way to pay bills. I remember passing on projects because there simply was no capitol to fund it. I painfully remember those projects I didn’t do to my best ability for lack of knowledge. Yet even with those struggles, somehow, we managed to keep moving forward. There isn’t a day that Sharon & I don’t wake up and look at our home and pinch ourselves knowing that photography paid for it. Even this to me isn’t close to the greatest reward photography has to offer.

Since our oldest son Brent was two weeks old and Jake at two days old, they have been out there with me when I was shooting. Brent’s first word, seriously, was Nikon (he had a damaged FM-2 he played with as a kid). When we went camping, speaking engagement, a party, a conference, or nearly any social function, photography was somehow involved. And so it has been for 22 years. Today was an example of exactly what I’m talking about. Working on a new project, Sharon, Jake, Brent & myself spent the day flying in WWII warbird T6 Texans. The air to air photography was amazing and I was incredibly fortunate again to be working with our youngest son Jake. You can see him being ninja shooter, a little bit of forehead peaking over his camera as he photographs the plane I’m in. And as you can see, I’m photographing him photographing me (or he’s photographing me photographing him).

Then after our morning flight, we landed and Brent & Sharon went up and flew and Jake and I photographed their flight. Afterwards we all got back together and went to a hamburger BBQ in the hanger with other pilots on the field and talked planes. Stories from WWII, Korea & Vietnam as well as “ramp rumors” filled the air. It was just a helluva day!

And now we’re getting to what I think if the greatest reward photography has to offer. And that’s permitting us to follow our passion and share it with others. This can be done in many ways and all day long. I’m so fortunate that I have a great family who not only have supported my craziness for all these years, but actually participate in it. And what’s still amazes me that the one type of photography that gets us all out together and incredibly excited is not wildlife, landscape, skiing or fly fishing photography but is aviation photography. Anything that brings and keeps a family together is a good thing. I’ve seen photography work its magic on other families and I’m so glad its part of ours.

In our family, Dad gets away with nothing and this is particularly true with photography. I have a house of very qualified critics who have no hesitation telling me their opinion of my images (I wonder where they got that from, must have been Sharon). It’s a reality check I relish because their comments are not just based on technical or artistic merits, but also how Dad’s photography should be felt. That’s when the world all turns upright again and I experience photography’s greatest reward. Forget everything else and just open your lens, shutter and your heart and let the light in and then share it. You too will experience photograph’s greatest reward!

Photos captured by D3s, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film

UpRighting the World with Photography’s Greatest Reward

Photographic rewards come in many flavors. You’ve got contests, that’s pretty cool. Who hasn’t had one or more of their family members tell you that you should go pro. That’s rewarding. There is getting your photographs published in a magazine, getting your own book and of course there is the sale of a print for a handsome price. That’s just downright sweet. Topping this is that moment when you think you’ve made that great click and then when you’re looking at your images later, you know you’ve made that great click. Now we’re talkin rewards. But I think there is one even greater that comes from photography for many of us fortunate shooters.

Do you ever feel that you’ve got everything backwards and perhaps you’re looking at the world upside down? Not so much as the world as a whole, just the photographic world. For example, have you heard this silly competition thing between Nikon and Canon owners? Or how about Mac and Windows? While there are some great jokes for one side or the other, what gets me is when folks actually take it all really seriously, like the future of the planet depends on determining which is best. And it seems like just yesterday there was the pixel race, who’s got the most. Glad that’s cooled down so now we can debate who has the best high ISO. Now there’s a debate that keeps you on the edge of your seat!

One of my all time favorites that come up almost yearly for the last 30 years I’ve been involved in the sport, is the question, “Do I buy the current model or wait for the next, best body that surely is coming?” One of our best selling images still to this day, was taken with a D1 body, an image with a little noise, not super dupper tack sharp but yet, the light, color and gesture just keep it selling and selling. Even with that knowledge, I’m always one of the first to jump on new technology just because…because history has proven for us it’s a wise business move. But this doesn’t bring the greatest reward in photography I think.

Photography is a struggle, at least it has been for me. I’m talking the whole package, from the content creating to the image selling to maintaining business . It’s a struggle. In the beginning I remember bad times when selling a lens was the only way to pay bills. I remember passing on projects because there simply was no capitol to fund it. I painfully remember those projects I didn’t do to my best ability for lack of knowledge. Yet even with those struggles, somehow, we managed to keep moving forward. There isn’t a day that Sharon & I don’t wake up and look at our home and pinch ourselves knowing that photography paid for it. Even this to me isn’t close to the greatest reward photography has to offer.

Since our oldest son Brent was two weeks old and Jake at two days old, they have been out there with me when I was shooting. Brent’s first word, seriously, was Nikon (he had a damaged FM-2 he played with as a kid). When we went camping, speaking engagement, a party, a conference, or nearly any social function, photography was somehow involved. And so it has been for 22 years. Today was an example of exactly what I’m talking about. Working on a new project, Sharon, Jake, Brent & myself spent the day flying in WWII warbird T6 Texans. The air to air photography was amazing and I was incredibly fortunate again to be working with our youngest son Jake. You can see him being ninja shooter, a little bit of forehead peaking over his camera as he photographs the plane I’m in. And as you can see, I’m photographing him photographing me (or he’s photographing me photographing him).

Then after our morning flight, we landed and Brent & Sharon went up and flew and Jake and I photographed their flight. Afterwards we all got back together and went to a hamburger BBQ in the hanger with other pilots on the field and talked planes. Stories from WWII, Korea & Vietnam as well as “ramp rumors” filled the air. It was just a helluva day!

And now we’re getting to what I think if the greatest reward photography has to offer. And that’s permitting us to follow our passion and share it with others. This can be done in many ways and all day long. I’m so fortunate that I have a great family who not only have supported my craziness for all these years, but actually participate in it. And what’s still amazes me that the one type of photography that gets us all out together and incredibly excited is not wildlife, landscape, skiing or fly fishing photography but is aviation photography. Anything that brings and keeps a family together is a good thing. I’ve seen photography work its magic on other families and I’m so glad its part of ours.

In our family, Dad gets away with nothing and this is particularly true with photography. I have a house of very qualified critics who have no hesitation telling me their opinion of my images (I wonder where they got that from, must have been Sharon). It’s a reality check I relish because their comments are not just based on technical or artistic merits, but also how Dad’s photography should be felt. That’s when the world all turns upright again and I experience photography’s greatest reward. Forget everything else and just open your lens, shutter and your heart and let the light in and then share it. You too will experience photograph’s greatest reward!

Photos captured by D3s, 70-200VR2 on Lexar UDMA digital film

The Sun Does Rise!

It was bloody early, I mean, it hurt to hear the alarm go off and force the eyelids open. The prior day had been a helluva long one. Like always, up prior to sunrise, checked the emails, took care of business and then met the group in the parking lot in pitch darkness. Shot and talked all day and after dinner looked at images and talked until 11PM. Went back to my room and proceeded to upload images from the day, get them filled, get two blog postings completed and scheduled and then took care of work. Two hours before the alarm went off, I had just fallen to sleep. I just hoped I was getting up and going through this to be rewarded with one helluva sunrise.

I say that because many times in the past, I had paid what in my mind were my dues and was owed a great sunrise only to be served up yuck. I know, one man’s yuck is another man’s treasure but when working on just adrenaline, yuck is yuck and such words of wisdom run right off your back. I looked at the weather radar, did some quick calculations in my head and figured we were screwed. The sun would rise but it would just burst on the scene and then we’d go from darkness to light with nothing in between. We’d get up this bloody early, drive two hours (that’s the crazy part) and park on the ridge only to get skunked. Even with all of that pulsing through my mind, the engines started and off we drove.

It might just be me, but when I get in the truck and start to make such a drive, my mind begins to wander and takes me places where it normally doesn’t go just sitting at my desk. Many of my articles, workshops and project ideas come during these drives. Knowing that about myself, I always (well almost always) have pad of paper and pen with me to jot things down. The creation of DLWS & Base Camp came from the cab of my truck on a drive; the open road just seems to clear out “stuff” making room for creativity to flow. Typically, just like this morning, my mind slammed back to reality in seeing the first glimmer of light on the horizon. On this particular morning, the overcast I’d seen on the radar had broken just enough that there was a small aperture in the clouds to the east. Damn, we could be late for a great sunrise! 90mph seemed too slow but go we must. Please, no ranger in the shack, we gotta make time!

Right now is when the drivers in the cars following me say something like, “Damn, Moose is a speed freak!” (or something worse) as they uncomfortably try to catch up. The drive is new and the location never before explored so they don’t know what they might be missing but with faith in me, they get up to speed and the chase is on. We make the turn off the highway and hit the country road, the rolling road giving you that Smokey & the Bandit thrill ride. Ahead is the ranger shack and entrance to the Nat’l Park. I slow for only a heartbeat when I see no one is there and then I floor it. OK, no bison, prong or sheep on the road, we keep on going. We make the bends in the road and head down the small rise and there is the parking spot. We pull in and get out of the cars. The faces of the folks looked like they just came out of a jet with no canopy. I quickly explain what gear they might want and then point and say, “It’s Comin’, GO!”

As sunrises go, it’s not killer, it’s not bad and in fact, it’s pleasant enough to suck you in for quite a while as the day’s glow climbs into the sky. It’s a good morning!

The calendar is about to flip a page and a New Year rises up before us tomorrow. You might be checking the radar and not seeing bright, clear skies before you. Looking back on past experiences when you’ve been skunked, you might not want to get up and tackle another day. Yet we do and as we start out towards that goal, something tends to take over. The mind clears and on that journey creativity filters in and takes over until reality snaps us back. Only speaking for myself here, but I’m not sure I would know something is great if I didn’t have that other end of the spectrum for comparison. Without that suckie sunrise, how would I know the one before me is glorious? I don’t go out seeking the yucky ones to have a measure, but I don’t let it stop me from going out the next time. No matter how bad the year might have been for you, there was surely at least one great time, experience or photograph that came from it that you will always treasure. Take that inspiration, learn from the rest and make 2010 a great year for yourself. The journey will have its ups and downs but you will be better for it. Always remember that no matter what happens, tomorrow, the sun will rise!

Happy New Year to you all!

Cast Your Net Wide!

It’s that time of year when folks seem to take an extra minute to reminisce and look toward the New Year. I’m incredibly fortunate to have a marvelous family as well as an amazing group of friends. It’s during this time of year when the spirit of the season settles in and conversations turn perhaps more reflective than otherwise would during the rest of the year. Such is the case for a number of conversations I’ve enjoyed this last week. Mostly, we’ve talked about our profession of photography, photography of the masses and our own predictions for the next five years. Most of these discussions arise when I say I’m trying to figure out the direction I want to take my photography and where I think my photography will take me in the next five years.

This all assumes we have control over our future, in part or total. When I started out in business, as in I was first self employed, three months into self employment the Gulf War began. We couldn’t give away a critter shot. Had lots of requests for Arabian species or oiled birds, but nothing from North America. Not the best first step in business, definitely not what we planned, but there was no way to foresee the war.  So learning from the past and looking forward, we’ve learned that we put our best foot forward always keeping an ear out for the unplanned. That brings up that wisdom from age question in my mind.

Setting goals for the next five years requires looking into the crystal ball to include where is the profession going and how will technology affect it. The most obvious is the inclusion of video capture in our DSLR bodies. Video isn’t new, not by any means, but it still feels new to me and to my workflow. It’s totally new when having to shoot both stills and video with the same body attached to the same lens. That’s a mind bent that’s still screwing with my small brain. And with the first video sales this month out of our office and more in the works for 2010, it makes me scratch my head and wonder. But this is just the mechanics and while important, it isn’t really the main goals Sharon & I set for ourselves or the business. I’m talking about the ones that really count!

Getting to the heart of the matter for me is the message itself. Just to who and how, and with what and then when does the message get out that I want and need to share? And in the coming years, in what format does the message go out as, still, video, web, print or combination of one or all? That brings us back to the heart of my conversations with a couple treasured friends this past week. “Does one cast their net for all the small fishes or throw the harpoon for the sharks?” That quote was just thrown at me this morning and still has my head spinning with the implications of its meaning. It’s a more philosophical asking of the quantity or quality question. And I don’t have the answer, yet, but somehow feel that in finding that answer a whole lot more answers might come flooding in that have eluded me. It requires looking at what we’ve done so far, our successes and failures and the rewards and thinking through if they are repeatable. Thinking through if they even apply to the future!

What makes this more complicated is trying to see how others might be dealing with the same influences in the artistic and commercial market place that might affect our business. Even more important is, do we care or just do our own thing? I would really love just going out shooting and shooting and shooting and not thinking about this at all, but such is not the case. Life just doesn’t permit it. But that’s the desire and passion, which if not fulfilled the rest of the house of cards comes crashing down. You might be thinking this is really too heavy a conversation to be having this time of year, but it’s the time of year that brought it all up. Where does the photograph come into play and how does it drive the train?!

You could easily take this same thought, the casting of the net, and put a totally different twist on it, the reason for the season. And perhaps that isn’t too bad an idea. Photography is a visual communication. In many cases it’s a response to the moment and in other cases, it’s a thought out process being summed up in a click. Either case, the person behind the camera, YOU, brings to those moments all the thoughts and feelings that make you, you. You have the ability and means to take just one photo or thousands and cast them out and change lives, save places and bring delight. With that kind of power, how will you then take advantage of it, what avenue will you take in presenting the world through your eyes and heart and photography? It’s one thing to take a Saturday off just to go make a couple of clicks to clear the mind. It’s a whole other one when you turn those couple of clicks into ones that can fill hearts. Take the spirit of the season, use it to give a purpose and goal for the years to come and let it run away with you and fill your photography for the coming year. Cast your nets wide and fill them with hearts!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Moose, Sharon, Brent, Katt, Jake & Stephanie!

Is It The Openness of Youth or The Wisdom of Age?

There’s this myth that with age comes wisdom. It’s a myth I put to the test everyday. Of course at what age comes what wisdom is not told in this parable, it’s just assumed that it will come. Now that I’m “older,” am I or do I feel wiser? Sometimes yes, most times no. I wish there was a written test to measure what we had, what we’ve acquired and now what we posses but no such test exists. Here’s my concern, how much of what I have learned can I still access and how much is now lost and with that loss, is wisdom gone with it? Or, does that leave a void to fill with new acquired knowledge? Does merely asking that question demonstrate wisdom? I doubt it.

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Why ask this question of one ’s self? It started with me when I did something really stupid that I figured a wise person would know better never to do. But then again would they or, does merely asking the question mean you’ve learned from past experiences and so you have learned more? I find myself asking more questions then coming up with answers in this quest. And this whole question came up again today when working with my assistant Stephanie. I gave her what I thought was a helluva challenge in Photoshop to find an answer, I couldn’t. Not only did she find an answer in a heartbeat (dang her) but in the process taught this old dog new tricks. Seriously.

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So where does the openness of youth and the ability to take on any task fearlessly, get replaced with the caution and “set in one’s ways” in the wisdom of age? The “I can do anything” attitude replaced with the comfort of “doing it the same old way.” And more to the point as a photographer, either one on their own could be the kiss of death especially in a business atmosphere. The Darwin Theory of Photography, evolve or parish is always at the forefront of my thought. But the successful photographer and business person would have a careful balance of both (with some other things added in for good measure). Did I find my answer? Is it that balance of the two that makes up wisdom?

What Stephanie did was simply brilliant! It was literally simple and its effect is brilliant. I can’t wait to share it with folks at Photoshop World this year. It goes right to the core of my style of photography and image finishing yet subtle, while following the KISS theory. And it’s so simple it went flying past me for years, I did see it or what’s probably worse, didn’t seek it out. Did the wisdom or old age let me down all these years or did it serve me well by giving Stephanie the challenge in the first place, tapping into that pool of youth?

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Pushing my craft, engaging my visual communication skills and refining the message is something I’ve prided myself in regarding my photography. When I start to feel too comfortable, I feel uncomfortable and I throw caution into the wind to see what comes out of the big blow. There is no doubt I try everything until in my mind tells me it is a failure or a success (the measure of which is probably influenced by wisdom?). But you’ve gotta have your eyes wide open to see all you should try. Close your eyes or close your mind and then those new opportunities never appear. So perhaps that’s where the wisdom thing kicks in, having the smarts to try things in the first place and then the wisdom to pursue those things that work for your own photography. I truly enjoy having Stephanie in the office, she makes me laugh. That has now grown with respect for her youth and the “take on all challenges” attitude. Openness of youth or wisdom of age, I wish I was old enough to have the wisdom to figure out the answer! More importantly, will the answer find its way into my photography? Only time will tell which brings me back to what I wrote a few weeks back.

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