You Boys Like Mexico!

Name the movie and I’ll give you props. (Have a feeling most won’t be able to nail it.) But the line stands true this week as I prepare to head down to Guadalajara, Mexico for the Society of American Travel Writers annual conference. I’ll be speaking again this year on multimedia and will also be launching my new company Plus Ten Media. It’s going to prove to be quite the trip I’m sure, but like all things, I’ve come to realize I won’t now it’s full power for many years to come.

The Road Ahead

Starting a journey may require taking a step, but it also includes looking up and enjoying the view.

Picture is from this Friday night as I drove out to Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Life Is All About The Little Things, Like Waking Up Next To A River

Forget Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, and text messaging. Yep, life is at it’s best when everything’s turned off, a fire’s raging, and good friends are all around.

Shots are from this weekend’s rafting trip down the Arkansas River in Colorado. Three days of solid class III-IV whitewater and clear blue skies.

Random thoughts while driving through Kansas

• Birds in Kansas are fing crazy. Like they can really fly 75 mph? Nuts…
• Only two billboards have lights: Jesus and Adult Book Store
• 70 mph speed limits suck
• Colby, Kansas is either 41 or 40 or 38 miles from the first cluster of billboards
• Apparently Nebraska’s number one tourist attraction is Pioneer Days. The billboard however is missing a few things, like when and where the place actually is.
• Just before entering Kansas you pass “Now leaving beautiful Colorado” and what is Kansas’s response? “Welcome to Kansas the wheat state.” Now that’s selling me…
• Gorillas can be found at the Oasis Flying J. Actually for that matter, so can Starbucks, cheap greasy food, and palm trees.
• Whatever you do, don’t miss the world’s biggest prairie dog! It’s right next to the live five-legged cow.
• Worried about missing the dog and cow? Don’t, eight billboards point the way.
• Look south at mile 173. See the blue Walker shed? I bet the red truck is still parked there….
• Apparently Kansas is home to the 2^nd friendliest yarn store in the universe. Still looking for #1 and wondering why they just don’t decide to take the title.
• Flying J atms suck. $3.75 to take out $20
• Hay’s History Museum slogan: “Where history comes to life,” seriously wondering if this is EVERY history museum’s slogan.
• Rush Limbaugh is on FM radio. Apparently Obama is responsible for unconstitutionally closing down Chrysler plants and giving Rush enough to talk about for decades.
• During May the grass is green and when the sky is dark the prairie comes alive with color.
• I’ll be making this drive a lot so might as well get used to it…

Rethinking Newspaper Travel Stories – Don’t Just Tell, Show

New Written Road Piece

We read a lot about the death of print these days. For travel journalists like myself the statement is usually followed up with a stiff drink and not-so-fleeting moment of insecurity. Just this past week at the Society of American Travel Writers’ national conference in Houston, Texas, I met travel editors from around the country who were feeling the pain of budget cuts, restructuring, and mounting pressure to do more with less. But even after a series of potentially deflating conversations, I still maintain that there is a space for travel writers in the new media landscape: it’s just a matter of finding and pitching evergreen content that can be supported online.

Take for instance this stellar piece the New York Times produced focusing on the last stop of subway lines. The concept was simple: what’s at the end of the line? The delivery: genius.

The article itself was a long piece of beautifully written prose, but what really makes it a bright spot for me was the well produced multimedia package (video, audio, and photography) that accompanied it.

Sure, the production cost was huge, and this kind of content goes beyond the typical skill sets of most freelancer writers, but the concept is important: as we move forward, we would do well to adopt a screenwriter’s perspective: don’t just tell, show.

A few weeks back I spoke with Tyson Anderson, a visual journalist with a strong affinity for infographics and online storytelling. His insights and experience at the Rocky Mountain News play nicely into the change that is happening, and provide an insiders look to how travel writers need to rethink traditional newspaper stories.

Written Road: Would you mind elaborating a bit on infographics, and explain what they are, and how they can enhance a story?

Tyson: An infographic does more than just add decoration to a publication. An “info”-graphic’s job is to display information visually. After a certain point, a list of numbers or a textual description makes it hard for us to understand or draw any conclusions because we don’t have the ability to take all that information in, categorize it, and then relate it to the rest of the data. An infographic does a great job of doing these things, and if used properly can help people visualize stories and increase comprehension. Infographics are also very good at conveying a large amount of information very quickly to readers, which is very good in today’s internet world where you might only have someone’s attention for a few seconds before they are off to something else.

Written Road: While you were working at the Rocky Mountain Times, did you learn inside tips on how to pitch editors multimedia packages?

Tyson: Most of the things I did at the Rocky, luckily didn’t really have to be pitched. They were either planned before I started or I was given an idea and I got to take it where I wanted. However, I think the best way to pitch multimedia to an editor is to show them a little piece of it. Things are much easier to imagine if there is at least a little part you can see. For example, I did a map at the Rocky comparing 1908 Denver to 2008 Denver. The project consisted of two maps, one 1908 and the other 2008, displayed on the screen together. If you drag one map around, the other one moves simultaneously. Also, two cursors appear on the graphic, one at the exact place you’re looking at on both maps. Because this interface was something I hadn’t really seen anywhere before I had to create some kind of way to demonstrate it before I actually spent the time creating it. I did this by mocking up the interface. I made two ugly boxes in the place of where the maps would be and wrote the code for the basic interface. I was then able to show my editor and others the general idea of the project and get feedback on how we could make it better.

Written Road: What advice can you give travel writers just starting out about producing new media?

Tyson: Take advantage of the tools around you. If you don’t know how to write code, don’t feel you can’t utilize the web for telling stories. The web provides many free services that you can use to enhance your stories without knowing a single line of code. For example, if you don’t know how to use the Google Maps API, a service used to embed custom google maps in your website, you can use Google’s myMaps service which requires no coding at all. Learn and adapt. Don’t allow yourself to get stuck in a buggy while the automobile drives past. The internet changes every day, it takes a lot of work to keep up with it but it’s necessary. I like to read blogs about upcoming technology or view sites like digg.com that allow people to submit things that are new and exciting on the web. Don’t be afraid of learning a little code. I think that there is a common misconception that code is something only for MIT grads sitting in dark rooms typing ones and zeros all day. The truth is that with a little training, code actually isn’t that hard to learn. Just one example, Flash, is a good place to start because it combines a traditional drawing environment that can be used with little or no code but then, as you get more experienced, can be extended with Flash’s coding language ActionScript. There are also great resources online to help you out, lynda.com and gotoandlearn.com are just a few of my favorites. Remember that if you can teach yourself to utilize these wonderful new tools and not be scared of them, you can let readers experience the stories you are trying to tell in ways never before possible.

The Hills Are On Fire… Colorado Aspens

Gave up sleeping in on Saturday to head up to Rocky Mountain National Park and soak in the Aspens one last time this fall.  Rumor has it a huge storm is headed our way and the leaves might not last past midweek. So please enjoy.

PS: The girl is Jessie — a good friend from DU who I love to explore the woods with.

 

 

New Written Road Column: Talking Travel Photography With John Kaemmerling

Check out Written Road’s new video channel over at Vimeo.com.

The first video features John Kaemmerling, a San Francisco based portrait and wedding photographer, discussing some of his favorite travel photos and what he thinks about when shooting the world over.

New Written Road Column: Shoot Everything – Even That Double Espresso Currently In Your Hand

This weeks Written Road Column:

Shoot Everything – Even That Double Espresso Currently In Your Hand

My friends think I’m nuts, but I usually just laugh them off. Don’t get me wrong; I pay for my arrogance by lugging around 15 lbs. of camera gear just about every time I go outside. The reason? Photography no longer requires a sugar mama or second mortgage, and as a writer also creating web-based content, I never know when a picture I take will come in handy.

Nearly two months ago, Flickr, one of the world’s most popular photo sharing sites, partnered with Getty Images to license photographs through their stock agency. The news sent professional photographers into a frenzy, while amateurs rejoiced. Sure, the chance of getting a photo bought is slim, but the move made one thing very clear: If you’re not shooting photos, the person next to you most likely is, and his shot could eventually wind up well beyond the refrigerator door.

As writers, the added stress of photography sometimes isn’t practical, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the medium altogether. Canon, Sony, Nikon and Pentax (just to name a few) have cameras to fit every application and personality, and unlike the old film behemoth you most likely learned on, they are crisp, quick, and cost effective once the initial purchase has been made.

Need more information? Check out the following websites for camera reviews, industry news, photo essays, forums, tutorials and photo contests. Whether you’re a pro or a newbie, the sites are valuable resources worth keeping tabs on. Because you never know when that shot of an one-eyed monkey scampering across a burned-out forest could be the difference between landing the clip and eating ramen for yet another night.

Luminous Landscapes: High-level technical prowess, deep discussion forums and a low-key pre-web 2.0 layout make the site standout. Think the gold standard of photo sites.

Steves Digicam: In-depth camera reviews, breaking news, great reading recommendations and a killer photo contest.

DP Review: One of the best camera forums on the web, where participants can answer just about any question. Forums are broken down by make, and then model, so the site doesn’t force users to sift through thousands of Nikon queries if they own a Canon. The reviews are solid, and the photo contest is also strong, but it’s the forums that keep folks coming back.

Radiant Vista: Worth a look for the daily critique, in which a professional photographer critiques a selected photo and produces a short video explaining the conclusion. The best part? Videos are made for iPods, which mean anywhere, anytime.

Have one to add? Throw it in the comments section and help make us all better photographers.

Rocky Mountain National Park – 21-Mile Loop

God I love this place. Saturday was a day of solitude, a day of inner conversations, working things out, and praying about what’s next. I woke at 4:45 am. and immediately cursed myself for dreaming up such an idea. Just short of an hour later I was at the trailhead, basking in early morning light, cinching up my boots and starting the GPS track. The first three miles were the worst, and more than once I almost turned back to watch TV, read and relax. But alas I didn’t. Here are some shots from my beautifully long day hike, which took me up, over, around, and through everything Rocky Mountain National Park has to offer.

Early morning light on the trail:

Sunrise:

Longs Peak shrouded in clouds:

Trail Sign:

The east face of Longs:

Elk in the distance:

Lush meadow:

Aspens:

Best Photo Ever: Just Look At The Eyes

So I’ve posted this photo before, but screw it, it should be viewed at least once every six months. The folks are some of my best friends on their first trip down the Middle Fork of the American.

(ps: the first time I rafted this river was as a guest in high school. I was scared shitless. Funny how things change and our comfort zones expand. Good times for sure.)