SUCCESS WITH LANDSCAPE PHOTOGRAPHY AND KUDOS TO ERIC MCLEOD
I’m often asked if I still like my job. So many people think it would be great to to get paid to take photographs, it has to be wonderful, right? I spent some time with one of America’s best known and most successful nature photographers recently and I was amazed at how jaded he was about photography. Perhaps he had just done so much, so fast, that he had burned out. It could be that since we artistic types are prone to depression and to constantly questioning the worth of what we’re doing, or that he was just on in a down period.
When I say most professional photographers are a little insecure, I must admit many I’ve met have actually have the insecurity of a brain surgeon, and egos to match. I was recently at a gallery where one of the photographer’s old cameras was displayed. Below the camera with a strangely worded message: DO NOT TOUCH THE CAMERA OF ………., like it was a holy relic. Don’t get me wrong, there are some professional nature photographers who are wonderful, down to earth guys.They feel lucky, not entitled, to have won life’s lottery when the jobs were handed out.
I have often been surprised at the animosity I have received from photographers (in most cases people who never met me), who feel my success, such as it is, is undeserved. They attribute my luck to “marketing,” I guess. First, I don’t see why one photographer’s success, however large or small, diminishes other photographers, and second, many times the animosity is directly proportional to the photographer’s work ethic.The photographers who work the least seem to expect the most and maintain the most anger over entitlement. A child could see that’s not the way this all works. I occasionally recieve emails from jealous and disgruntled photographers that are reminiscent of the taunting of gunfighters in Western tv shows. The childish immaturity of these commnications is laughable.
All the weirdness doesn’t just come from unknown photographers. One successful photographer photographer came to Moab, saw my photos on the post office wall, and immediately went postal about how wonderful he was compared to me. He hauranged the poor staff with tales of his greatness and I think scared them a little. Another famous photgorapher met a friend of mine at Kane Springs and threatened physical violence to me if he ever ran in to me in the field. Again, the grade school level of this sort of thing is mind boggling to me.
Recently I read somewhere that a nature photographer was saying that anyone who suceeds at this business has really, really worked hard. That’s my secret. It’s not talent, marketing, or technical savvy. It’s not innate artistic inspiration. The digital age has upped the ante–requiring more work than ever, and proving the adage that work saving technology always creates more work.
Obviously, anyone who is involved in the arts and puts their work out for the public to see should expect some criticism and rejection. Perhaps the fact that I’ve made a living at nature photography for several decades is due more to having a thick skin and a willlingness to roll with the punches rather than any particular talent I have. I also have little interest in my position in the hierarchy of photography business except where it pertains to having enough money to continue doing what I’m doing.
I can also say that the encouragement and countless kind words I’ve received from so many strangers about my work over the years infinitely outweighs the the mean-spirited criticism I’ve suffered.
So, back to the original question, and my answer is yes, I love my job more than ever. The last six months have been some of the most productive and happiest of my life. I’ve expereinced so much beauty during this time, most of it in the American Southwest, that I can’t imagine ever stopping or even slowing down my work. Ironically, since the markets for my imagery have shrunken over the las ten years, fewer people will see this work than they did before, but I’m becoming convinced it really doesn’t matter. I love what I’m doing and I pray that my work provides some small enjoyment for others.
The name of my new book, out this fall, is Success with Nature Photography, and that is what I wish for everyone who tries their hand at the genre. The more great nature photographs we have, the more people we have out photographing nature successfully, the better chance we have to save the natural world from its many enemies.
My most recent shooting sprees include a trip to Panguitch Lake, which was recommended by my office manager Lucy. The west end of lake glowed bright pink with blossoms of an aquatic plant–duckweed? It was a really different shooting opportunity for Utah. We also had a ringside seat for the La Sal Mountain fire. Resembling a volcanic eruption for a few minutes, the winds quickly dispersed the mushroom cloud, but it was an amazing sight for a few minutes. Its beauty belied its danger, but Fortunately no one was hurt and no buildings were damaged.
In Northern Arizona, while tempting fate on numerous soggy roads, I was able to jeep and hike to a beautiful pinnacle. The only published image of it I’ve ever seen was in Crampton’s Standing Up Country. It just goes to show, that even with all the photography that has been done in the American West, there are still lots of opportunities to find and photograph new subjects. My friend from Las Vegas, Alan, tipped me off to the beautiful spot. I used a gps to guide me to the location and also used my vehicle coordinates to guide me back after dark.
Earlier last month I visited a great painted rock art panel with the most beautiful painted sun I’ve seen. I used Photomatix to handle the contrast problems in the photo, which shows the shadowed sun and a lit wall and sky beyond. I’m conflicted about Photomatix , which combines several images with different exposures, and “Fill Light” control in Lightroom. Both are tools for High Dynamic Range photography, and take the place of GND filters by digitally mitigating images with a high range of exposure values. I find that many times using the Fill Light produces a more natural looking image that what I’m getting with the plug-in. Sometimes though, using Fill Light does produces some strange fringing and chromatic aberration. Each image is different, and I continue to experiment and read as much as I can about HDR techniques.
To quickly change the subject, I just want to make everyone aware that Moab’s gift to the movie industry, Eric McLeod has done it again with his production work on the great comedy Tropic Thunder. It’s such a thrill to view a wonderful flick and see his name in the credits–not down the list somehwhere with the Best Boy, but right at the top. As a lifelong movie fan, I have a small inkling of how tough Eric’s job must be, and since he works with the biggest talents in the business (Robert Downey, Jr., Tom Cruise, and Ben Stiller this time) he must be one of the best in the business. Eric was a student of mine in high school, and now I just one of his many fans.
Finally, a plug for my upcoming books. My first instructional book Success with Landscape Photography will be out in November. It will be available through Amazon, your local bookstore, and the Tom Till Gallery. I don’t know how great my text is, but the images come from all over the world and I’m pretty proud of them. The book itself is being published in the UK, and they have done an excellent job. Actually the book provides a lot of information, including a large section on both 4×5 and digital photography, and tips garnered from my 32-year career. aren’t too Early next year, a book I waited a lifetime to do will be available. I was hired in 1982 to do a book on Canyonlands National Park which never came out (a story for another blog). Since that time I’ve always wanted to do a book on my favorite piece of real estate in the world, and through the auspices of Jeff Nicholas and Sierra Press, I’ll at last have a chance. I’ve shot a lot of new work for the book, and my hope is that the publisher will use lots of it. My daughter Mikenna and I are also working on a new book for next year, which I will report on in the future.
