One of my underwater humpback whale images appears on billboards in New Zealand this month.  (Anyone in NZ able to send me a picture?)  When I first set out to make a living as a professional photographer, I initially found success selling fine-art prints through galleries & art shows.  That business model ceased being effective with the down-turn in the economy, so I turned my focus to my website.  Many of my modest sales now come from having good SEO.  This sale is a perfect example.  A design firm contacted me a few weeks ago after searching the web, offered me a reasonable usage rate, I emailed them the file, and they wire-transferred the money to me.  How easy was that?

Tonight is the awards ceremony for the 2010 International Conservation Photography Awards at the UW’s Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture.  The exhibit opens to the general public tomorrow.  My image of a Steller sea lion underwater won 2nd Place in the Underwater category.  It is featured on most of the promotional materials, including this poster that is currently displayed all around Seattle.  I also received an Honorable Mention in the Landscape category for my Badwater Salt Crust Sunrise image from Death Valley National  Park.  I am really looking forward to seeing some of my friends, like Stuart Westmorland & Sean Bagshaw, and meeting a number of photographers that I only know online, including Todd Mintz, Jim Patterson, & David M Cobb.

I am pleased to announce that my image Humpback Whale 6 is featured on the cover of the February 2010 issue of Alaska Airlines magazine!  Be sure to check it out if you are on an Alaska Airlines flight this month.  Also, the opening double page image to the humpback whale article was photographed by my friend Brandon Cole during a previous trip that we took together.  I have the exact same image, since we were next to each other in the water when we both almost got run over by a humpback whale mother & calf.  Photographing whales above or below water is my favorite kind of photography.  It also helps that I am comfortable swimming in the open ocean in 10,000 feet of water and enjoy staring down into the blue depths underneath my fins.

This is a great blog post to transition from my dramatic landscape photography to more of my new wildlife images from the last year.  I’ve been tightly editing my image archives the last few weeks and have come across a few keepers that are worth sharing in the days ahead.

Yesterday was my last day in Hawaii.  Overall, the trip was exciting and adventurous, yet the photo opportunities were limited.  The volcanic haze (vog) foiled almost every sunset landscape image that I tried to shoot.  I also went boating 4 days to try and shoot some underwater wildlife.  Even though I encountered spinner dolphins, pilot whales, and oceanic white tip sharks, none of them came close enough to me in the water to capture a publishable image.  I always say that you better enjoy the boat ride when you are looking for pelagic critters.  The chances of finding them are few and far between, yet when you do, it is an incredible experience.

I lucked into this image yesterday morning while snorkeling near the Place of Refuge.  My flight home was not until the afternoon, so I decided to go for one last swim.  Almost immediately, I found some green sea turtles feeding underwater, but soon turned my attention to a large school of yellow tangs that were moving back and forth in the wave surge.  I noticed how dramatic the waves appeared in the background of my useless fish photos, so I turned my attention to capturing the drama of the large waves breaking over the coral reef.  After some trial and error, I got my timing down for when I should dive underneath the surface and how to angle my camera up to shoot as the waves boiled over the reef.  Of course right after the waves hit me, I felt like I was on the inside of a washing machine!  It was challenging, but I had a lot of fun shooting something different.

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.

Like I mentioned in my last post, I’ve got a lot going on personally right now that is requiring my attention, so I have not been able to keep up with my blog posts as much as I had hoped to. Since it seems harder and harder these days to get by on just my publishing income and art sales are slim due to the economy, I need to take better advantage of the tangential things related to my work to bring in some new business. I have been getting a fair bit of traffic to my website without really trying for my photo-workshop/tours. I need to refine and add more pages to that portion of my website. With my new found SEO skills, I am confidant that I can bring in some new clients. For example, take a look at my Google search results for Patagonia Nature Photography Workshops. I need to make my site come up high in every manner of searches for whatever type of photo workshops I want to offer. I also need to better define the tour products that I am currently offering.

I am also actively soliciting website SEO work from other photographers and small businesses. I’ve got a few clients that I have already sold on my SEO skills, now I just need to work on their sites. I also intend to build a web page for that aspect of my business, because I believe it is so important for every website to take advantage of the free advertising that comes from the search engines.

Here is another great image from my recent Steller sea lion shoot. This sea lion is biting the front of my dome port. Even with the dome and a +2 diopter, you can still see that it is a little soft around the mouth, but is that close or what? This images was created with my Canon 5D digital SLR in an Ikelite underwater housing with 2 Ikelite DS160 strobes set on Manual to -4, at f4 and 1/125 second.

For any of my regular visitors, I have to apologize for not keeping up with my promise to try and post more the past few weeks. The economic uncertainty that we are all facing has started to demand my attention, as well as some personal family issues. I canceled my trip to return to Argentina this week, and am trying to work on some other projects for the time being as I try and sort everything out that is going on. It might be awhile, so I am just trying to regroup and focus on what I can do for my business and family at this time. Some of the bigger concessions that I am trying to make include selling my boat up in Alaska and eliminating my film expense by going all digital. I’m looking into trading in my Pentax 67 and Canon 5D so I can upgrade to the new Canon 5D mkII. I’ve got some new projects in the works to lead more photography workshops next year, so it only makes sense that I should shoot digital so that I have something to show to my clients, rather than waiting for my film to get processed after the trip. I think that I will keep my Fotoman 612 panoramic camera to still shot some film once in awhile, because I really like the detail I get in my larger prints.

I’ve got some more editing to do from my recent dive trip with the Steller sea lions, but this is one of my favorite images. I shot about 2600 images over 3 days during 8 hours of diving. I deleted at least 1800 in my first cut. Now I need to process the top 40 or so images from the shoot. This images was created with my Canon 5D digital SLR in an Ikelite underwater housing with 2 Ikelite DS160 strobes set on Manual to -4, at f4 and 1/125 second.

I have had a great week scuba diving with the Steller sea lions. This is my 4th visit to Hornby Island, but the first time that I have chartered the resort with only 3 other photographers. I have been mobbed by 20-40 sea lions on 5 out of my 6 dives. I routinely disappear into a ball of sea lions as they gently bite on my drysuit covered legs and pull on the back of my wetsuit hood! When it gets too much, I just sink to the bottom and hold my camera over my head until they lose interest and go bother someone else. It is impossible to take pictures in the middle of that much chaos. They are constantly chasing each other and dive bombing me from the surface. I think they are having as much fun as I am. This is one of my favorite images of a juvenile blowing bubbles at me underwater. It was shot with my Canon 5D digital SLR, 17-40mm f4 lens, B+W +2 diopter, Ikelite underwater housing with an 8″ dome port and two DS160 strobes set to -4 at f5.6 and 1/200 second.

It is pretty pathetic outside in Seattle today. I have been home all day listening to NPR while working on several submissions and doing a printing project for a client. Both I-5 and I-90 are closed due to extensive flooding throughout the state. We even made the national news for how miserable it is. I’ve only been back from Panama for 1 week, but I am already vowing to not be here at all next winter from my daughters Christmas break through January. I really get bummed out and depressed in this weather so that is why I started traveling and working for myself 8 years ago. I am really looking forward to my diving trip next week. The weather forecast is starting to look very promising, so I’ll keep my fingers crossed. I am also looking forward to going back to Patagonia for a backpacking and photography trip in 2 weeks.

My February trip to Hawai’i was my best trip that I have ever had for humpback whales. I talked Paul Souders into joining me for 2 weeks on the water and we had a great time together. (Paul is also going to Hornby Island with me and Ken next week.) I created this image using my Canon 5D digital SLR and 20mm lens in my Ikelite underwater camera housing at f2.8 and 1/250 second.

I just got back from a very relaxing family holiday in Bocas del Toro, Panama. We missed all of the bad winter weather in Seattle while working on our sun tans and drinking too many pina coladas. I lost a lot of my motivation to do anything other than sit around in a hammock. My kids are now going to bed at 7 pm and waking up at 4:30 am, since there is a 3 hour time difference between Panama (EST) and Seattle (PST). With all my free time early in the morning, I’ve been thinking about a new blog entry and came across an idea on an acquaintances website for posting my Top 10 Favorite Images of 2008. That sounds like the right amount of effort to ease me back into reality. So, over the course of the next 10 days, I will endeavor to add a new image and story each day for you my visitors.

This image of “Humpback Whales Underwater” was taken in March in Hawai’i. It takes weeks of patience on the water in order to have the opportunity to get this close to a whale, let alone photograph it. I have always said that if I could do only one thing photographically, it would be to follow whales everyday of the year, but it is also the most difficult and expensive thing that I do. This image is of 2 enormous males that were pursuing a female and her calf during what is called a “heat run”. I created it using my Canon 5D digital SLR and 20mm lens in my Ikeliteunderwater camera housing at f2.8 and 1/200 second.