Making Use...

Tonight

Photographing Nature's Giants: Nick Nichols 

Hosts a Fundraiser for the Ivy Creek Foundation

 

Michael Nichols/National Geographic

Tonight, 8 pm, at the Paramount Theater in Charlottesville.  Be there or be square.

Blogging for Others, Part 2

Nick's picture story, Redwoods: The Super Trees is on newsstands now in the October issue of National Geographic Magazine.  

 

The images in the story are gorgeous and moving, a powerful testament to the majesty of our natural world.  The photographs took Nick and Nathan (his photography assistant), as well as a team of scientists and editors in California and at the Geographic, about seven months total to create.  Of course, seven months' worth of photographs actually takes two years to collect.  That is many trips back and forth, from coast to coast, many calls and emails, and much coordinating.  So if you are the archive assistant, working in the office in Virginia and witnessing all this travel and coordination from a perch at a computer (that'd be me), this story is a long time coming.  

If you buy a copy of the magazine you'll get a tear-out centerfold portrait of a 300-foot redwood.  Yours to keep!  Awesome.

Please check out the two wonderful videos on the National Geographic Magazine website.  In the first, Nick talks about what feats of engineering and photo magic went into the creation of the gigantic centerfold portrait.  The second video, by field assistant Nathan Williamson, explains how three of his and Nick's favorite images were made.  

So what's next for Nick?  

I'm afraid I am not at liberty to say...

Face to Face with Gorillas

Over a year ago, Nick and I started working on a book project through National Geographic Children's Division.  The book was to be part of the Face to Face series.  The subject?  Gorillas.  

There were planning meetings with the editors in DC, conference calls with Elizabeth Carney, the writer, and lots of digging through the archives for the best gorilla images.  That was my job.  

My official title on the project was "photo researcher," though I was equally Nick's note-taker and handler.  I even took the job on the road with me, spending hours in a Delta lounge in the Atlanta airport, organizing and submitting digital workboxes of gorillas (Mountain, Lowland, orphan, infant, adolescent, adult, etc...) before flying off to Central America during one deadline.  

Finally, the book came together.  

Last month we got an email from the editor at Geographic.  School Library Journal, "the world's largest reviewer of books, multimedia, and technology for children" had given the book a star of distinction.  

"To nurture a desire to save these endangered creatures, Nichols shares his brilliant photography and professional experiences in the world of the gorilla. In addition to his highly entertaining stories and his insight into the next generation of photographers and researchers, he focuses on the condition of gorillas in the wild, including report-type data: a distribution map, habitat, physical features, and diet. These facts as well as fun insets teach young people “how to play like a gorilla,” the differences between monkeys and gorillas, and, most interesting of all, “how to greet a gorilla.” During a tour that got out of control, Nichols found himself suddenly thrust too close for a 400-pound gorilla’s comfort, so he used his knowledge and experience to get out of danger. A concluding “Facts at a Glance” section strongly supplements report information, but it’s Nichols’s passion for gorilla conservancy and about life in the wild that raises this book above assignment fodder into the realm of pure inspiration."–Nancy Call, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Aptos, CA 

That last sentence is pretty cool, huh?  

And, look, my name is even in the book!

Next up (hopefully) is another addition to the series, which so far includes sharks and elephants and polar bears and so forth.  Unfortunately, I am not at liberty to reveal which creature we will be pulling from the archives this time, but if you know your Nick Nichols' images, you might be able to guess...  

[I'm willing to bet that no child in the world has these three books stacked together on their bookshelf...  But I could be wrong.]

Hance Partners

Richard Jackson of Hance Partners Inc,  in Flagstaff, Arizona emailed me about this great promotion last week:

                                                                                                                         photo credit: © Gary Ladd

We've earned a reputation for making fine art gallery prints for famous photographers. But they're not inkjet prints.  Why not?  We could launch into a long-winded explanation, but we'd much rather imagine the look on your face when you get your print. Send us a file and you'll see what we mean. 

For many prints, inkjet is a perfectly capable medium. But jaw-dropping fine art prints demand -- and deserve -- better.  How much better?

Find out in this special limited-time offer. For only $35 plus $12.00 for ground shipping, we'll take one digital file and make a 16 x 20 Fuji Flex silver halide chromogenic print for you. Offer good thru January 31, 2009.  One print per client.

So take the challenge. Send us your digital file today (instructions below).  And prepare to see your print in a whole new light. 

All the best,

Richard Jackson

Hance Partners Professional Darkroom

INSTRUCTIONS:

File specifications: Flattened RGB TIFF file, 300 dpi@20 inches on the long dimension, sharpen layers not recommended.  Use Adobe RGB 1998, ProPhoto or other equivalent color space.
Send: a CD or DVD, or post a file to our FTP site to take advantage of this special offer.  For FTP instructions, email richard@hancepartners.com. 

Richard does the printing for all the prints sold on Nick's website.  Hance Partners is also responsible for printing the extra large banners that hang in the trees along Charlottesville's Downtown Mall during LOOK3.  That means he's a big FOF, for sure!  

After months of emailing and the occasional phone call, we were finally able to meet for coffee on Sunday morning after the festival ended this past June.  He shared some print samples with me and they were beautiful. 

I am most definitely taking advantage of this offer.  A beautiful 16x20 print?!  At that price?!  You should take advantage of it too.  You won't be disappointed!

Bossman in the Bush

Photograph by Michael Nichols, National Geographic Photographer.  

Yesterday morning I woke up to find an email from Nick containing the link to this great video that he and Nathan put together from Samburu.  Last fall, on the day I started working with Nick in his office, he and Nathan, his field assistant, were packing their bags (and bags and bags and pelican cases--photographers don't travel light) for Kenya.  They worked there throughout the fall and winter, photographing families of elephants for a story that is in the September 2008 issue of NGM.  

The pictures are gorgeous and this video that Nathan made is wonderful.  It's fun for me, since I spend a lot of time looking at the still frames and hearing about adventures, to see a little live-action footage.  And I like the little chuckle at the end--very Nick!

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/video/player?titleID=1711767169 

The September issue is on newsstands now; go check it out.

When Nick Is Away...

...Jane comes to stay.

Or at least she did for the first week.  

Look at that tongue!  Look at that snaggle tooth!  What's not to love???

Love in the First Person

Love in the First Person by Matt and Melissa Eich

In the span of a year, Matt Eich, 20, won College Photographer of the Year, Melissa Eich, 19, discovered she was pregnant, they married and moved to Portland for Matt's internship. See the project at http://mediastorm.org/0019.htm

Matt Eich showed at the SHOTS exhibit/party at last year's LOOK3. Although he is super talented and already quite accomplished, he wasn't really on my radar then. Last week I met him briefly in the kitchen of Tim Kelly's house after the NGS seminar. He is currently the the photo intern at the Geographic.

I just came across this lovely little multimedia piece on mediastorm.org that he and his wife, Melissa, made.

Talk about an incredible start to a lifelong project...

Alec Soth Called Me "Socially Awkward"

I went up to D.C. this week for the annual photography seminar at National Geographic. My name got on the invite list because I work for NGS staff photographer Michael "Nick" Nichols at his home office, and because I work for LOOK3 (Festival of the Photograph). There were 9 of us who came up from Charlottesville and it was great to see all my festival friends out of town at an event that we were not organizing!

I spent Wednesday night in Georgetown with my dearly beloved friend, Jodi, and rode the D6 bus down to 17th Street on Thursday morning. Here is the schedule of the day's events:

All of the presentations were fantastic--I saw some work I'd seen before and some things that were completely new. Each photographer presented in their own voice (literally) and it was incredible to hear the stories and humor and personality behind the images. Even though I've done it a lot in recent years, I still LOVE hearing artists talk about their work. And sometimes I really love to talk WITH artists about their work.

That is why I introduced myself to Alec Soth.

Alec Soth is a photographer whose work I really admire--so much, in fact, that I nominated him to be included in one of the shows at this year's LOOK3 (the board will not make their decisions until March so my fingers remain crossed). Here is an example of Soth's work:

Charles, Vasa, Minnesota, 2002

It was great to hear him talk on stage at NGS, to see him in his beard and baseball cap. But I wanted a little more.

So during the cocktail reception, somewhere between catching up with friends from NGS and LOOK3, hearing about Nick's recent Kenya trip from the perspective of his assistant, Nathan, and eating about a dozen yummy kabobs, I found Alec Soth and introduced myself.

Mostly, we made small talk for a few minutes.

Cut to several hours later: the after party at Tim Kelly's house. I spent the first couple of hours chatting with friends, drinking wine, eating far too much from the plate of assorted Italian meats and cheeses, exploring the gorgeous house, watching the pair of rabbits that live in their own bedroom on the fourth floor, and meeting new photographers. Finally, though, I'd had enough.

You see, since I was very young, I've been pretty good at going to parties and... schmoozing. My dad, an admitted "strong, silent" type, is a businessman who works at the state and national level in his field. Through him I was exposed to cocktail parties and formal dinners, to shaking hands and meeting new people. Through my mom, I inherited a quick smile, the urge to make people feel comfortable, and, frankly, charm. All said, I'm pretty good at going to a party full of mostly strangers and engaging people. On the other hand, for all my trained extroversion, I'm also a true introvert (shy around new people, inclined to observe much and say little). After a full day of meeting new folks and shaking lots of hands, I was tired. So I took my glass of wine and sat down on the empty sofa in the living room. Even though I was happy to just be with myself for a little while, I thought, "God, I'm being SO socially awkward right now... Everyone else is chatting all around the house and I'm sitting here alone..." And that's when Alec Soth came and sat with me.

He agreed that I was being socially awkward. We discussed it.

But then, because we were in a more comfortable environment than the cafeteria at NGS (nice, but not as nice as a Woodley Park living room), we could talk more openly. I asked questions about his photographic process. I told him his beard was nice. We talked about how he approaches his subjects and how his free associations inspire his work, leading from the creation of one photograph to the next. I told him about one of my own associations, how a particular moment in a yard had started me off on this landscape project I've been working on for the last fifteen months. I haven't told too many people where these photographs are coming from inside me, but I told him because I knew he'd "get" it and because it was late and there was a lot of wine.

You know what he said? He said, "That's a great idea. I'm going to steal that one."

So for now, this entry is entitled "Alec Soth Called Me 'Socially Awkward'", but if he steals my idea and makes an award-winning book about it, I'll change the title to something slightly more inflammatory, like, "Alec Soth Got Me Drunk And Stole My Project."

The end.