The questions the hit my email box are humdingers at times! And that’s why the website was first launched back in 1995. In my infinite wisdom, I figured if I’d create this new thing, a website (we were the first wildlife photography website in the world) where I could answer everyone’s questions, then my daily email load would go away. Stupid me! Coming up on 4000pgs now, the website demonstrates that all the answers aren’t out there because as it should be, we keep asking new questions. That search for knowledge, that thirst for learning for many is stronger than ever and we turn to the internet seeking those answers. But it’s kinda like The Curse of Oak Island, you keep digging, get mud all over yourself only to discover rather than finding an answer, you’ve got two new questions.
The one reason we did NOT start the website or blog is for our business. Yes, it brings in many of you great folks to our events and workshops and while that is part of our business, it’s not our business. Our business is the selling of photography mainly in the editorial and commercial markets. While many of our clients come to the website to get a laugh out of Moose, when it comes to buying images, they use the old fashion method, the phone. And when we go looking for new clients, I don’t post a new photo here or Facebook or Tweeter, we use the old fashion method, the phone. So then why keep adding to the website, why keep doing all these posts you ask? On some days don’t think I ask myself that very same question out loud, a lot, cause it’s a chore. It all comes back to the need to make a difference, perhaps help someone with a lesson I’ve learned on my travels and to give back to an industry that has given Sharon and I so much. The funny thing is, the reason why I started the website way back when, to decrease my emails, ya, that didn’t work out so well. It only increased them which goes to show you how much I know!
I receive an email saying this probably once an hour. Ok, maybe once every other hour but it’s pretty much none stop. Over the years I’ve had all sorts of comebacks to this but of late, I tend to stare at the question wonderin how I should answer it. Why, what’s the change? The change is I’ve gotten older and with that some knowledge has stuck in my thick head that in part stops me from saying my first knee jerk answer. And the other is, wondering what gave birth to this question from those who ask it. What do they think they are missing in their photography to seek or ask this question? That brings me to the photo you see above and perhaps my current answer to the “big” question.
This photograph of a Mountain Goat billy was taken a couple of lifetimes ago. I remember clearly seeing the opportunity, the panic to get parked and to the billy before the photograph would disappear. I remember all the great things I believed would come if I got “the” photo I foresaw unfolding. And then the billy was in the viewfinder, a much better photograph than I previsioned and I went click and then I said, “I’m a professional!” with great pride (inside words of course, been really stupid if I yelled that out). And while I still love this photo dearly and all that led up its making, it’s not for any other reason than it was a great lesson taught to myself.
You see, being professional has nothing to do with one great photo or a thousand of them. Being professional is being serious about your craft inside, in your heart and mind, so you keep pounding at it day after day always putting your best foot forward. No one, no camera brand, no one photo will ever elevate you to being a professional. And that old adage, if you get paid for it makes you a professional couldn’t be further from the truth. Professional is a state of mind that all of this combined and so much more grants you.
It’s truly great to have the desire of wanting to be a professional! Redefining what a professional is, the commitment in what it takes and the long road to get there just needs to be not only better defined but understood. If you were to be truly, truly board and read through all I’ve written over the decades, the one thing you’ll be hard pressed to find is my calling myself a professional photographer. Whenever that thought even begins to emerge all I have to do is look at the billy and I’m instantly brought back to what it is to be a visual storyteller. Now there’s a title I can latch onto!
Thanks for tuning into the Moose Podcast. If you would be so kind and Tweet or Facebook these podcasts, that would be huge! I’d love to hear from more of you with questions and what would help your photography!! I had none this past week :-( Send in your questions and ideas for the podcast here: Moose Podcast THANKS! (emails sent to this address will get no direct response)
PT-17 Stearman captured by D5 / 70-200FL
People, Companies, Products Mentioned during Podcast: B&H Photo
We get this a lot when we talk about the snow we receive at our home / office. When I tell folks that a normal winter we have 25 vertical feet of snow, their face betrays their disbelief. Well, this is the snow height as of 01.24.17 at our home (19′). As you can see, you can barely see the top of the roof of our two story home. Many imagine life is impossible in such conditions when 20 feet of snow fall in three weeks. Mammoth is kinda unique in many ways, one has to do with snow. As you can see, the road is clear and the skies are blue. Mammoth is a town designed to deal with snow, lots of snow so when it comes (it’s been seven years since we’ve seen this “normal” amount of snow), life just goes on for those of us who live here all year. To us, this is paradise!
It’s no secret that I’m a HUGE fan of IoSafe. I’m a even bigger fan of their tech support! We had this weird power surge Sunday with the storm. I say weird it popped just one circuit breaker that had no load on it. Some time later, I went to get images out to a client and found I couldn’t talk to my IoSafe 1515+. Tried all the normal things and couldn’t connect. I’m not a Network guy so I was totally lost but I didn’t panic cause I knew I had IoSafe Tech Support behind me. I called them and they quickly figured out the problem and I’m back to work. The issue? All I can figure is that weird power surge somehow got through all the surge protectors and nailed my hub. The Tech Support knew how to run the test to verify and in minutes I was functioning. It’s such a small and simple thing but it’s a biggie. The moral of the story, in buying that storage for your precious files, there is more to it than just buying a box!
My love affair with the IoSafe 1515+ and Synology is stronger than ever! I have come to rely on DS File in a way that a year and a half ago I would never have guessed. The beauty is I can access all my photos from ANYWHERE in the world if a client needs them. This sounds grandiose but twice now, being able to grab the Nef for a client while in their presence made all the difference in making the sale. The ability to retrieve and send files from the IoSafe 1515+ from my iPhone using products like HIGHTAIL without ever logging into a computer has become a common occurrence now part of my workflow. WRP files are all organized and easy to find, every images has it’s own unique alpha-numeric code, a system we initiated forty years ago here making finding any ONE image in the 2.6 million simple. I thought when I went to the IoSafe it was just to safeguard our digital assets. I had no clue the IoSafe 1515 would rock our business by making every file accessible anywhere in the world! So six months after installation, it just gets better and better!
