For the third time this year, one of my images graces the cover of Backpacker magazine.  The March 2010 issue’s cover shot is my image “Lago Pehoe Fiery Sunrise“.  I also give tips on photographing wide-angle landscape scenes in the article “Shoot Like a Pro” on pages 36-42, and my image “Spray Park Wildflowers 1” is featured on page 37.

In other news, I am currently updating my website to make it is easier to sign up for my photography tours, purchase my fine art prints, and license my images.  The overall design is going to stay the same, I just need to simplify access for my customers.  I also need to add several new galleries and update my older ones with the new images that I have created during the past 16 months.

I am excited to announce that my image “Torres Dramatic Sunrise” will be a Highly Honored Landscape in the 2009 Nature’s Best Windland Smith Rice International Photography Awards!  I created this image 2 years ago while backpacking in Torres Del Paine National Park in Chile.  Most trekkers who have visited this location have done so while multi-day trekking and usually only spend 1 night before moving on.  However, my only goal during my visit was to photograph the Torres in epic light, so I spent 5 days/4 nights camping in the same location so that I could photograph the spires each day.  My last morning was the most dramatic.  You can read more about it in my previous post on the Singh-Ray filters blog.

Last month, I was contacted by a travel video production company in California.  They are putting together a DVD on Patagonia and were looking for a spectacular image to use on the DVD cover.  After searching the internet and even contacting the late Galen Rowell’s Mountain Light stock photography agency, they decided that my image above was the most spectacular image of Torres del Paine National Park that they could find.  I gave them a reasonable quote of $300 for using it on the cover of up to 5,000 DVDs.  I did not hear back from them until yesterday.  Fortunately, they have decided to go ahead and purchase my image, even though their distribution partners are not going to pay for it and had wanted to use some less interesting images that they found on micro-stock sites for $30 or less.  At least in this case, my client decided that the less expensive option was not worth it, but it highlights the tough reality that we as photographers have to deal with on a daily basis.  Is my photography too expensive?  Are there too many options out there for photo buyers?  What is the value of a photo in the digital age?

I checked my Twitter account this morning, followed a link from @FiNS magazine, and discovered 1 of my tiger shark images being used on-line, possibly without my permission.  You can read the article here.  There is no image credit, but it is no doubt mine.  I sent off an email to the London Evening Standard just a short while ago and am waiting to hear back from them.  They could have gotten it from one of my agents like Alamy or SeaPics, or they could have just used it without permission after finding it on the internet.  We’ll see what happens.

Another case in point.  I was in the Seattle REI this past spring.  They sell my mini prints and I have taught photo classes there.  I saw one of my best images of Mount Rainier being used on a promotional brochure for climbing Mount Rainier.  It took a few days, but I finally tracked down where it came from.  It is still posted here, and is apparently free, even though the site says at the bottom in tiny letters something about respecting copyrights.  The only place that this image could have come from was from the Singh-Ray filters blog where I am occasionally featured.  One of my fans, decided to grab the image and stick it on this website without even giving me credit.  The graphic designer that I now work with directly at REI did not see any copyright information (even though it is in the metadata!) so he thought that he could use it for free.  REI did eventually agree to pay me several hundred dollars for using it.

The internet is an amazing tool.  It allows me to travel the world chasing pictures and work from home.  I have spent a lot of time & money modifying my website to the point that it is Search Engine Optimized (SEO).  I now get hundred’s of visitors every day who find my site simply by typing in a Google search for something that I have photographed.  I am fortunate to be able to pursue my dream full-time.  I could be making more money doing something with my degree or the tangents that I briefly followed, but I made a decision that being stuck in traffic and working in an office was not for me.  I am very grateful that I have been able to make my modest career possible, but my biggest concern in the years ahead is, what if there is no longer any value in my photographs?

My friends and peers who have been in the industry for the last 20-30 years are very pessimistic every time that I talk to them.  There is no doubt that the analog days of the stock industry in the late 80′s and early 90′s was great time to be a photographer.  Distribution was tightly controlled by a few agencies.  Can you imagine having to pay several hundred dollars for a basic research fee every time that you wanted to look something up on Google?  That was what you had to do in order to then have original transparencies Next-Day shipped to you.  Next, you had to pay for using the slide, even if you just took it out of it’s sleeve to consider it for mock-up purposes.  My point here is that those days are long gone.  In this era of technology making our lives ever more spectacular, we as photographers need to be vigilant that we are not being taken advantage of, but we also need the search engines to help people find us in order to make sales.

I get requests all the time from people and organizations that want to use my images for free.  If it is a cause I believe in, I usually have already donated money, but I will consider donating an image in exchange for a credit line and I typically ask for at least a small purchase of one of my prints or note-card sets as an acknowledgment of the value of my photography.  Most of the time people agree to this modest request.  One of my favorite questions that I ask designers that contact me on behalf of someone else, is whether they are working for free for their client?  No is almost always the answer.  So why do they expect me to work for free?

I understand that new photographers are very excited just to have any of their images published and almost always give away their work for free.  My only question is, is that a viable business model that I have not yet learned about?  Most photographers just don’t use their heads when they are giving away their work, but unfortunately, they are the rule now rather than the exception.  Royalty free and micro-stock sites are here to stay, even though I can not justify selling images that take me weeks of effort and sometimes thousands of dollars to produce for those prices. On the consumer side, I understand that a whole generation of people has been brought up thinking that everything on the internet is free.  (I personally never downloaded any music until iTunes came out and my computer software is all paid for.)  I recently followed a blog thread by a well-known underwater photographer who had someone copy and make a painting of one of his images and then offer them for sale without his permission.  He politely asked them to stop doing that.  The person did stop, but not before sending him a long nasty email where she kept referring to his photos as “just stock photography.”  Apparently, “just stock photography” now means it is for free.

Tougher times are ahead my fellow photographers, but I wish you success however you may find it.

I am proud to announce that my image “Torres Dramatic Sunrise” won 1st Place in the Photography category at the 2009 Edmonds Art Festival Juried Gallery!  I was notified while I was in Alaska last week.  The following information is from one of my previous posts.

I created this image in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park in the region of South America better known as Patagonia.  I’ve been familiar with these mountains since well before I even knew what a mountain looked like.  I was first introduced to the Patagonia clothing company by my Uncle Jerry way back in junior high school while growing up in Michigan.  While I was very active in rock-climbing and mountaineering during the 90′s, I read a number of amazing stories about climbing the famous granite spires of the region.  Even though I am no longer interested in technical climbing, I had always wanted to visit these legendary mountains and in 2007 I finally had the opportunity to do so. I loved the spectacular scenery so much, that I went back in January 2008.  I did not have enough time during my first trip to backpack to the famous Los Torres viewpoint, so I made it my main objective on this second visit.  It is a 16 mile roundtrip hike up to the Torres campground, so in order to photograph the mountains at sunrise you need to camp overnight.  I took enough food and equipment to spend 5 days and had uncommonly good weather.  Every morning, I would get up an hour before sunrise to hike up the ridge to the famous viewpoint and wait for the sunrise. I did this 4 days in a row, and on my final day I got lucky when the clouds parted for a brief moment and the sunrise light illuminated the spires in golden light.  It takes a lot of energy to travel that far for a few images, but the results are worth the effort.  I created this image using my Pentax 67II, 75mm lens, Singh-Ray 2-stop Hard GND filter, Gitzo Basalt tripod, Acratech Ultimate ballhead, Fuji Velvia 50 film at f22 and 3 seconds.

I am proud to announce that my favorite image from 2008 is “Torres Dramatic Sunrise“. I created this image in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park in the region of South America better known as Patagonia. I’ve been familiar with these mountains since well before I even knew what a mountain looked like. I was first introduced to the Patagonia clothing company by my Uncle Jerry way back in junior high school while growing up in Michigan. While I was very active in rock-climbing and mountaineering during the 90′s, I read a number of amazing stories about climbing the famous granite spires of the region. Even though I am no longer interested in technical climbing, I had always wanted to visit these legendary mountains and in 2007 I finally had the opportunity to do so. I loved the spectacular scenery so much, that I went back last January. I did not have enough time during my first trip to backpack to the famous Los Torres viewpoint, so I made it my main objective on this second visit. It is a 16 mile roundtrip hike up to the Torres campground, so in order to photograph the mountains at sunrise you need to camp overnight. I took enough food and equipment to spend 5 days and had uncommonly good weather. Every morning I would get up an hour before sunrise to hike up the ridge to the famous viewpoint and wait for the sunrise. I did this 4 days in a row, and on my final day I got lucky when the clouds parted for a brief moment and the sunrise light illuminated the spires in golden light. Patagonia is one of my favorite travel destinations and I am going back again on January 25 for 15 days. I am going to have a photographic rematch with Mt Fitz Roy and the elusive Cerro Torre in Los Glaciares National Park. It takes a lot of energy to travel that far for a couple of images, but the results are worth the effort. I created this image using my Pentax 67II, 75mm lens, Singh-Ray 2-stop Hard GND filter, Gitzo Basalt tripod, Acratech Ultimate ballhead, Fuji Velvia 50 film at f22 and 3 seconds.

I bumped into my friend and actor Tom Skerritt yesterday down at the Madison Park Starbucks. Tom is best known for his roles in the movies Alienand Top Gun. He was out for a walk with his wife Julie and their little baby girl. I asked him about his Detroit Tigers ballcap and whether he was from Michigan? I was also born and raised in Michigan, so we got to talking about how unfortunate the economy is back there and the auto industry bailout. Eventually, we got to talking about the changes going on in Hollywood, and how every industry is changing from the old business model to whatever is next? GM and Ford were doing great 10 years ago selling SUVs, but now they are broke. The music industry use to sell CD’s for $17, but now many bands are independently releasing their own records online and selling via iTunes. Photographers use to be able to let stock agencies sell their images, but now the internet has allowed everyone to market their work. I think that there will always be a place for professional photographers, it is just a matter of figuring out what that new place is going to be.

So, back to my top 10 favorite images from 2008. This image “Cuernos Sunrise Panorama” was created last February in Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park. It was my second visit to this incredible location. I had scouted the park during my first visit in 2007 and knew that I needed to come back with a slightly longer lens than I had at the time for the panoramic image that I envisioned. Several days in a row, I got up very early in the morning and drove to this viewpoint hoping to capture a dramatic sunrise. In order to set up my camera and tripod, I had to use the tiny rental car as a windbreak against the powerful winds that are constantly blowing in Patagonia. Even with the front element of the lens barely poking out from behind the car, I was lucky to get a few sharp images without any camera movement. I used my Fotoman 612 panoramic camera, Nikkor 210mm lens, Singh-Ray Lighter Brighter Warming Polarizer, Gitzo Basalt tripod, Acratech Ultimate ballhead, Fuji Velvia 50 film, at f22 and 6 seconds.

I recently got my 2008 entry returned to me. I again did not have any of my wildlife or landscape images make it into the competition, however, I did have 8 out of my 12 images that I submitted make it to the Semi-Final round of judging, including this image of the spectacular Cuernos at sunrise from the shores of Lago Pegoe in Torres del Paine National Park in Chilean Patagonia.

Please visit more of my images from Torres del Paine National Park.

I have just returned from a 14 day trip to Patagonia. It took me over 27 hours of travel to fly from El Calafate back to Seattle. I spent 5 days backpacking and trying to photograph the famous Torres at sunrise. I was fortunate that I was able to photograph the spires 4 mornings in a row. I had to hike up a big hill for about an hour every day to be in place for the sunrise. On my final attempt, the wind was just screaming and it was very difficult to shoot. Right as this cloud came over the top of the spires, there was a brief lull in the wind and I was able to capture one frame that was sharp at the peak of the drama.

Please visit more of my Torres Del Paine National Park Photography from Patagonia.