bbuh wrote:
Kru..
The problem i have when i submit photos is that there is absolutly no feedback.....I regulary email new shots in and "check-in" but get no reponse. I know every email doesnt need a reply and that you guys are busy, but is there any way the photo editor can let the guys know if they using their shots or not..... becuase otherwise we sit and wait for 3-4 months and hear nothing, in that time the shots are old and useless!!! its abit one sided.....
Ask for feedback on why your shots are not getting run. If you have and have not got a reply then our bad.
The guys running this mag are all pulling late nights and missing out while others are bodyboarding or socialising in order to make sure this mag gets out to you guys. We do it for the love of the sport - to support it and help it grow and that extends from the sport itself, to the industry and you guys as photographers. Being able to handhold every photographer or 'sometimes' photographer who submits some shots is an ideal and the fact is that they do not have the time. Time is simply one of the biggest problems for an outfit that does not have any full time staff and when you do start trying to be proactive and start emailing out and entering discussion, you find out that this just starts mushrooming because the more you email out, the more you get back in ... simple ... which means less and less time to spend on your main responsibilities, which means your quality of work drops. (and is evident with my input into sixty40.co.za --- as my time dealing with issues or discussions increases, the time I can put into development decreases)
If you ask for feedback, I am sure someone will try - the real problem is time.
So for everyone who is trying to get shots into the mag ...
Help the guys out a little and be a little critical of your shots too and ask other established photographers to crit your shots. Take a look at your best shot which you submitted and apply the criteria Ian has shared with you ...
Kru wrote:
Taking into account what part of the country the rider is from, the number of shots we have run of that person recently, quality of image, politics, etc.
... and then ask yourself if you would have run your shot. And if you wouldn't have run it yourself then it is not fair to have a go at the guys at the mag - either directly or through moaning to mates.
Being a Cape Town based photographer means you do not have it easy and if you want to succeed it means hard work. Usually means teaming up with some good riders, building a good relationship with them at working together to get good shots as well as missioning to spots out of Cape Town which we do not have a million shots of.
Take a leaf out of the book of guys like AVG or Danny Black --- these guys didn't just pick up a camera and start getting shots run in mags - AVG, as Ian says persevered until he got good enough (whether he got feedback who knows but if the Zag did not, I'm sure he would have not given up and would have hounded them for feedback). As for Danny Black --- when he started out he used the web to market himself - he used sites like this to post real good quality shots and after a few months everyone knew who Danny Black was and you now see his shots regularly in international mags. For the sake of building your name, I would suggest trying to build a good quality image gallery. I don't shoot but if I did I would be very critical of my images - anything average would not get posted. If you want to WOW people then better to only post 5 good shots than 20 shots with only 5 good. The quality of your work which you put out there reflects on how good a photographer you are.
And have realistic aims - about what you are expecting from the sport and about yourself, your skill levels and how dedicated you are to become successful and successful means putting in the efforts to get the shot that people want to see, marketing yourself so that people know you as a "photographer" and doing all the follow up and relationship building to help your shots get in.
Surf photography is an art - an art I enjoy and am a fan of but I unfortunately do not possess the gift myself. Anyway, I'll leave you with a few quotes from my brother Alan's favourite photographer, Ansel Adams - arguably the best landscape photographer there has been:
Ansel Adams wrote:
A good photograph is knowing where to stand.
It is amazing how often you see a photographer standing in the wrong spot and is comparable to seeing a guy paddling out with all the right gear but he doesn't know where to take off on the wave. In both scenarios it is a fundamental which separates the guys with skills from the wannabes.
Ansel Adams wrote:
A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed.
Ansel Adams wrote:
In my mind's eye, I visualize how a particular... sight and feeling will appear on a print. If it excites me, there is a good chance it will make a good photograph. It is an intuitive sense, an ability that comes from a lot of practice.
Ansel Adams wrote:
Landscape photography is the supreme test of the photographer - and often the supreme disappointment.
That is so applicable to surf photography.
Ansel Adams wrote:
There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.
Ansel Adams wrote:
There are no rules for good photographs, there are only good photographs.
Ansel Adams wrote:
There is nothing worse than a sharp image of a fuzzy concept.
An example of realistic goals:
Ansel Adams wrote:
Twelve significant photographs in any one year is a good crop.
Ansel Adams wrote:
When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.
And finally, one of his most famous quotes ...
Ansel Adams wrote:
You don't take a photograph, you make it.
I was like a kid in a candy shop when I got mine.