Look what a late afternoon visit to Okinawa’s Okukubi River netted me.
Archive for the 'Travel Writing' Category
09
Apr
12
Okukubi River
Sometimes a bird’s photo just won’t go anywhere in a Wildlife Photo Contest.
Really want to know why ?
Today is one of those days and you can read all about it over on my other blog.
Out of the four Guinness Records held by Okinawa, Japan, I’ve only captured two with the camera.
Some of these records, I worry, will be broken by someone from another country.
Being the competive person I am, I don’t like seeing a title lost to someone else.
But, take a look at this last record and if you think can beat it…
26
Jun
10
The Early Years Pre-Dijicam
This is a photo taken of me, oh, I don’t know, maybe forty-some years ago, back when I was a chick magnet and could play and sing Hank Williams tunes and drink Smirnoff Vodka ’til the sun came up and still put in a good day’s work. Danang, Vietnam 1968 ?
Now, that’s a pretty old photo and I was really shocked when the photographer who shot it with his film camera contacted me a few months ago. Ron Meadows, damn, we were sidekicks. He taught me how to play that guitar, or one just like it, 42 years ago!
Well, the world evolved. We have digital stuff everywhere, now. That’s how Ron found me, scanned a photo he probably had stuffed in a shoebox or scrapbook all those years and emailed it to me. He searched for me a long time, before the internet was invented, spent money looking for me, even. After awhile he figured I was dead. Along came the digital age, the internet, scanners, digital (Diji, in Japanese) cameras, Facebook, laptop computers, satellites, GPS, Celular Phones and lithium batteries and I’ll be a sonovbitch if Ron didn’t find me!
Before I really do die we’re gonna get drunk together, maybe, one more time. Thanks, Ron, we’ll do beer and not ride Harleys, OK?
14
Apr
10
Lookin’ Back
Over the past year I’ve been fortunate enough to have gotten published in alot of places and I think now’s a good time to review some of the lessons I’ve learned. In no particular order here they are:
Editors are people:
It took me awhile to figure that out. I know some of them can seem demanding. They’re probably busy folks and under more stress than freelance writers. They have deadlines to meet and I imagine they have a lot more juggling of articles to do than we could ever dream of.
For some reason, I used to picture editors eating their offspring just so they have more room at the kitchen table but, most of them really don’t. They’re actually humans, just some of them have their antennas tuned in to a different frequency.
Editors who send rejections are pretty decent folks. They take the time to write back to you and tell you what you’re doing wrong. I save every one of them and use them as guidelines for my next submission. I figure you don’t have to like editors; they have to like you.
Everybody makes mistakes:
When something goes wrong, whether you did it or the editor did, get it fixed, as quickly as possible and move on. I’ve pulled some doozies when my Spellcheck was sleeping on the job. The damn thing doesn’t know the difference between Maria and Marla, years from tears, far from fart, goof from golf and probably rapper from paper, for all I know. It’s a good idea to have a second opinion; get someone, anyone to proofread your work before you submit it. That’s kinda tough sometimes when you’re in a foreign country. Most of my proofing is done by email. Other times, I’ve caught errors after my submission’s gone and I’ve looked it over a day or two later but, had time to catch the editor before it hit print.
Then, there’s the times an editor had a computer hiccup and misspelled something in the editing process. A misspelling actually gets published. If you don’t tell them, you’re not doing them any favor. They can usually make corrections online and will thank you for your support. Next thing you know, you trust them and they trust you. That can be a good thing but, it also lead me to make the…..
Biggest Mistake of my one year writing career:
One editor trusted me with WordPress before I really knew what it was capable of doing. So, playing around with it one night, while she was out doing whatever editors do, I accidentally posted an article, right on the front page of her magazine! Damn, what are you supposed to do?
I couldn’t do the manly thing; blame it on my wife because she wasn’t here. Dammit, I didn’t mean to submit a story. I was just experimenting. If it had been something halfway decent, I might have let it go but, this was garbage. After I cussed and said, “Holy Frickin’ Sugar” a few times I sent an instant message or Tweet, not sure if it was invented at the time. Anyway it went something like this, “OMG, I just published an article on your website, by accident. It’s on the FRONT PAGE, where are you?” Within minutes we were in a conference call and got it straightened out. Old people shouldn’t have that kind of access until they know enough about WordPress. So, now I don’t.
Check your facts:
This isn’t easy to do online but, it is important. There’s an awful lot of misinformation floating around on the internet. When you’re researching and a few Doctorates are disagreeing on Wikipedia, either put both sides of the argument in your story or go check Britannica; it’s a kid’s Encyclopedia but, always leads to some reliable references. It must be against the law to lie to children in the UK, or something like that.
Promote your work and the publication it’s in:
Use the social media to promote your articles. Online magazines bread and butter come from hits or views on what’s posted on their sites. Most editors know how many visits have been made to your material. The writers drawing the crowds are the ones magazines like writing for them. If you promote your work, the homepage and other writers’ work, everybody comes out ahead. It’s your way of thanking the editor but, I always make it a point to thank them by email, too.
Do whatever you can to make the editor’s job easier:
It may be something as simple as finding photos on Flickr to go with your article or sizing the photos yourself. It could be typing in the html codes for your links or putting them in parentheses, just ask. Every online publication has their own method and it’s not always included in their writer’s guidelines.
Make sure you know the publisher’s deadlines and get your work turned in early, not at the last minute. Editors know the people they can count on and forget about those they aren’t certain of.
I’m always looking forward to being in new publications, lots of them. So, what’s the big deal about LOOKIN’ BACK?
I’ll answer that with a question.
How many times has something sneaked up in front of you and bit you in the butt?
01
Apr
10
Not in a Writer’s Frame of Mind
This probably happens to the best Writers in the World, sometimes!
You know what I’m talking about. One of those days where words just don’t flow.
There’s all kinds of advice about it you can read online.
Take ten deep breaths.
Have a coffee break.
Take a hot and cold shower.
Go for a walk.
Do some Yoga.
Ride a bicycle.
Eat chocolate.
Rotate your socks.
Play your favorite music.
Treat yourself to some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.
Salsa, Lasagna, Pizza
Stand on your head.
Water your plants.
Get drunk and phone home.
Well, I’ve tried them all and nothing seems to work. Even the damn computers are giving me a hard time, today.
Extracted from an email I just sent:
“I went and fooled around with my Google Blog on the website and think I’ve really screwed it up. The site looks good enough but, I was building an Amazon Camera store and selecting only stuff I wanted to sell. Well, all the HTML Codes and whatnot, I had to copy and paste into a bucha jibberish I don’t understand, obliterated everything! Poor girls in their orange kimonos have POWERED BY GOOGLE on them!
But, other than that the site looks great. Mr Adsense Google may not like it though, I got him beat down to a little skinny banner at the top of the page. Wonder if anybody ever wrote a Google / Adsense / Amazon Affiliate / HTML Codes for Dummies book, yet?”
I’ve discovered, the best thing for me to do is yell at Mr. Google, Amazon Dot Kom, Billybob Gates and MR HTML Codes loud enough for them to hear me through the monitor. Tomorrow, I bet I’ll be writing. We’ll see…..
08
Mar
10
Behind The Scenes
Sometimes shooting people can be a real challenge.
Not too long ago I billed myself as a wildlife photographer and that was all I took pictures of; wildlife, only. Nowadays, being in the travel writing line of business, I’ve had to change a few of the things I carry around in my camera bag. I probably should change my biography on a few dozen websites, too. Maybe, I should call myself an outdoors photographer and travel writer.
When you go to shoot a story with people in it, it’s not only the lenses on the camera that need to be changed, it’s the whole way you approach the subject. Wild critters, you can research them before or after the fact, go shoot and get the job done. When you’re doing a people story, you need a whole new bag of tricks.
A wild critter catches you taking his picture, the worst thing that can happen is (usually, they run or fly away) they rip a leg off of you or maybe even kill you. Humans, on the other hand can do even more; they can bring a Lawsuit against you and make you miserable for the rest of your life!
Print Magazines and some online magazines Require Model Releases.
In dealing with several publishers over the past year, I’ve learned to carry a pile of realease forms in my camera bags and get the subjects of my photos to sign them. Quality magazines won’t accept your photos without a release, signed by any and all recognizable persons appearing in them. Right now, most Blogs don’t require releases. It’s probably just a matter of time before they’ll insist on having them, too. All it will take is the first million dollar lawsuit a subject is awarded over a photo they didn’t want posted all over the world wide web. So, to be on the safe side, I take lots of people pictures and I get lots of release forms signed.
Before and After the Photo Above.
Whether you are the writer or photographer doing an article like The Shinugu Matsuri plan on spending weeks or months preparing yourself for the story. Being a foreigner, just breezing into some remote village, snapping a few photos and asking a couple of people questions for an article won’t give you much to write about.
This particular event was something that only happens once, every two years. Months prior to the festival, I began making visits to the village and months afterwards, I’m still going back. I make liaison with the people, getting them used to the foreigner with the cameras and people with me asking questions.
When they recognize you and know you by name, you get much more cooperation whether trying to get a story or a photo. People who know you will be more relaxed and act naturally around the camera, not stiffen up or be shy and they will also give you a more detailed story.
Caption Months After The Photo Above
Published in a featured article at Go Nomad, this photo is one I’ll never forget. It was taken 22AUG2009 at 12:56PM, using a Manfrotto 725B Tripod, Pentax 18mm, Cable Release, Spot-metered and panning. f/11 1/60 ISO 100. The rituals being performed only occur once every two years. It was the Shinugu Matsuri (Festival) in Ada Kunigami Okinawa, Japan. For me, it was a twenty hour day. I had a translator on the assignment with me. I gave her around 50 Model Release Forms, all in Japanese. I wanted to concentrate on shooting, only. And I tried to make my shots with as few recognizable faces as possible. The next day, I found out, we had no Release Forms signed. Almost six weeks later, we went back to the village and found, Furugen, the man with the drum. I gave him a print of my favorite shot that day. He smiled and bowed. And he signed a Release !
A Work in Progress.
With five or six trips to Ada, the remote village this festival takes place at, I continue stopping by every few months or so and visit the friends I’ve made. By the time the next big event rolls around in August 2011, I should be able to get a story like none you’ve ever seen before.
Just have to practice being the man behind the scenes.
Recent Comments