Discovering Life….

My little nephew discovers there are other little people in the world.

Going on Vacation? Don’t Get Scammed…

Lately I have been seeing quite a few over-priced seminars and conferences about how any average Joe going on vacation can sell their story and not only become published, but be reimbursed for their trip. This is utterly ridiculous. Writing travel prose is not just rehashing a trip to Hawaii or talking about the crazy Britt you ran into while staying on the bottom bunk of a hostel in Italy. And it’s definitely not about just getting a free vacation. Nope. Nada. Don’t get scammed. It’s way harder than it looks and many times after just a short period of being rejected by publications people give up. Trust me, I see it every day. So save your money and buy a few more margaritas. At least that way only your stomach will reject you the next morning.

Lose Yourself

If you haven’t already I would strongly recommend picking up the June/July copy of National Geographic Adventure. Grab a cup of coffee, sit down in your favorite chair, and take an hour or two to really go through it, page for page. The photography is stunning, the content fresh, but most of all the writing is tight. So tight in fact that it’s hard to believe the editors can turn out an issue once a month.

Seasoned and Exceptional Writer Dan Baum’s Website A Great Resource For Writers

I stumbled upon Dan Baum’s personal website yesterday while catching up on a few hundred blogs I have been neglecting recently and found myself reading for hours. His most recent venture, an account of why he was let go by the New Yorker, is a quick easy read that will help any budding journalist learn to navigate the volatile word of freelance writing, while also providing links to story proposals that were successful. Dan makes sure to claim the proposals in no way are an example of how to write one, but rather a good example of what worked for him. The site also has just about everything he’s written in PDF form, allowing me to catch up and learn from his style and voice.

If you’re a budding writer or just looking for an interesting perspective on freelance writing, I would highly encourage you spend a few minutes checking out his work and blog.

Forget New York It’s All About The Stars…

Friday night’s campsite deep in the Colorado backcountry.

Photojournalism at its best – New NYT’s photo blog

Just give yourself a few hours and check out the new New York Times photo blog appropriately titled Lens. The collection of photographs, stories, and slideshows is one of the best things to come out of newspapers today. And the packaging is near genius.

Another day in the office…

Took yesterday to shoot b-roll in Rocky Mountain National Park for Backpacker magazine. Minus the rain it was one hell of a day.