Thanks to Gordon McGregor for this information. Using these settings reduced the size of my PDF from 18 MB down to 3 MB and still maintained good quality.
No, it’s not a very good story – its author was too busy listening to other voices to listen as closely as he should have to the one coming from inside.
-Stephen King
Yes, I read Stephen King and I like his work. He writes so very honestly. There’s no pretense. I read his book, On Writing: Memoirs of a Craft. And I have to tell you, although small, it is packed with excellent advice for writing or, perhaps any other facet of life. In it, he says that he doesn’t write the stories, he just listen to the little voice in his head. The stories are already written, the just come to him. The book that I produced, may or may not be good. I don’t know. It pleased me. I had no idea of where it was going to end up, but when it finished, it was finished. I know, it sounds mysterious and it is. I wanted to add a lot more pictures, but it just ‘felt’ done and that if I had added more, it would be overdone.
Early finish
Coming across the finish line early has it’s perks, I suppose, but an unfortunate side effect of that is now there is something to compare to. We are, it seems, inexorably drawn to compare ourselves with others. I’ve seen several mentions here and there about raising the bar. I must admit, I looked at Gordon’s book before I submitted mine and thought: Man, that guy did a fantastic job, I hope mine is that good. Then, sanity took hold and I thought, mine is mine, and his is his. There is no comparison. Each book is based on the photographer’s preference, subject, personality, and feelings about the project. No two books will be alike … at all. And that’s a good thing. I’m looking forward to seeing the wealth of ideas presented and the variations on subject, layout, and picture selection.
I didn’t have a clue as to what I was doing, save for the structure of the book, thanks to a book about book design … other than that, I was lost, other than when I was taking pictures. What I produced was simply what felt right to me. There was no profound planning, to be sure!
Hopefully, being out front doesn’t cause anyone else to be discouraged. I’m certainly looking forward to see all of the offerings. I’ve already looked at Gordon’s book about 3 times. I’m sure that I’ll go back and have a gander again. So, here’s to the rest of you: Show us what you’ve got, as long as it satisfies you, it’s perfect; after all, that’s who you did it for! Seek quietness so that you can hear that little voice inside telling you what it wants.
The end is near
Photography, SoFoBoMo 08
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Apr 232008
I remember a scene from a movie, The Peaceful Warrior. In it, Nick Nolte, as Socrates, a modern day philosopher is trying to teach his student, Dan Millman about goals and expectations. He tells Dan that he has something to show him once they get to the top of the hill. So, Dan is quite excited and follows Socrates for several hours. Finally, he’s had about enough and they finally crest the hill. He asks Socrates what it was that was so important. He wanted to see this all important thing. Socrates looks around and then finally points at a rock on the ground and says “Right there! That’s it!”. Of course Dan goes ballistic and is greatly disappointed. Then Socrates makes that point that Dan was enjoying the journey all the way up to the top, but then when he got there, to the goal, the goal was anticlimactic. Dan, at that time, had only one thing on his mind, winning the Olympic gold medal and that was his obsession. He wasn’t enjoying the competition, training, or anything along the way. He just had his eye on end. He thought that getting the gold would be the one thing that made him happy! He learned a valuable lesson that day.
I was reading Gordon’s blog today and he talked about the burnout that he was feeling and that he has basically finished and is glad. On Anita’s blog, she was talking about wanting to do more, perhaps as many as four books per year. She also mentioned a brass ring, in other words, the goal. Nothing wrong with goals, to be sure. Just don’t miss out on the fun in between the beginning and the end.
As for me, I’m a bit tired right now. There are lots of things happening in my personal life and the book requires nice, clean energy, of which there seems to be precious little of right now. However, that said, I am still enjoying the process, but sometimes hit a lull. All it takes to clear some of those clouds is to look back into the book, gaze at some of the pictures, and remember the fun time that I’m having doing it. Sure, I want to finish just because I set out to do it, but the journey has been so valuable and rewarding in and of itself. Also, I’m glad to be part of the first group out of the gate. I think that all of the sharing has provided a unique bit of learning as well as a good amount of camaraderie.
Would I want to do another book in a month? No! I think that, for me, the joy comes in the process, not by finishing. I think that I am feeling a little burnout myself, which is why I have switched gears a couple of times and went to shoot elsewhere, or have actually taken my camera and just sat without taking pictures. There is a joy in listening to the wind cruise through the leaves of the trees without any particular goal in mind. 
Apr 212008
Scribus will be crashing because of an access violation!
The above message was at least courteous! The application did warn me that it was about to go south. There was nothing that I could do about it, but at least I was warned. They say that “You get what you pay for”. Well, I didn’t pay anything for Scribus. Actually, it’s not a bad piece of software. I like open source software and try to support that community.
So, I’ve started on the building phase of my book and, compared to the photography part, this is some serious work. I’ve switched formats a few times, wrestled with Scribus over how fonts were supposed to look, and have been, in general, flailing about. Editing is hard work. First, trying to pick out the pictures, then the even more difficult task of trying to put them in some kind of order that makes sense to your mind.
I’ve also decided on a few chapters with, perhaps, a uniform number of pictures in each. So far, 2 chapters and 18 pictures. One could say that I’m about 1/2 of the way there. The front matter, for the most part, is taken care of. I’ve just got to come up with a couple of more chapters.
Certainly, I have enough pictures for several more chapters, but I don’t want to just start slapping pictures here and there. Also, I need to go back and clean up some Scribus scat. Ick!
To take a little break from the glen, I decided to go back across the path to the Susie Harwood garden. Spring is certainly in the air there as these pictures will attest to! This was also the first time that I used my wide angle over there. Usually, it’s the macro.
The clock is ticking. Only 9 days to go!
Apr 192008
All of the shooting is done, at least for now. There are about 12 days remaining and now the hard part comes. I thought that I had a cool idea that I was going to use, but it is just not fitting together they way that I thought it would. Oh well, back to the drawing board. Lurking below the level of consciousness is an idea. Somewhere, among those 554 pictures, is a pattern, an idea. It is one of those ideas that disappears into vapor once you try to speak it. I know that it will surface; I just need to play a bit with different things and keep feeding it.
I’ve done lots of work on my proposed idea, but it’s just not working, so there’s no use in crying over spilled milk, so they say. I’ll just move back a few spaces and give it another roll and see what happens. No need for panic as that seizes up the synapses and all creativity ceases to flow. Slow and steady wins the race.
This weekend is another basketball weekend, but then again, which one isn’t?! Tony’s team is playing in Rock Hill, SC, about 1 hour from here. So, I’ll go, enjoy some basketball, and let this idea, whatever it is, bubble to the surface. Vaguely, I know that it has to do with the pictures and perhaps some quotations, but I’m not sure of the overall format. I’ll be excited to see what it is when it finally reveals itself to me. Meanwhile, I’ll just keep feeding by looking at all of the pictures that I’ve taken.
I’ll just get out of my way and let the answer come… One cannot force a thought, it must, and always, happen on it’s own. This is my way of practicing Wu-Wei, one of the basic parts of Taoism. Wu-Wei, often described as non-action, but more appropriately, non-forcing, letting things happen. Wood is always easier to cut with the grain, than against.
Go, Kings! Go!
Large prints feel the same way as when someone uses all CAPITAL letters in an e-mail. There’s a certain ‘shoutiness’ to it that makes me want to cover my ears and say: Wait a minute! Let me look at it as I want to. Dont force it on me; don’t push me with your print; let me look at it, let me put it in my hands; let me cuddle it; let me bring it close to me. –Brooks Jensen
This is a quote from this podcast, Resisting the trend toward big prints, in which Brooks Jensen talks about the trend of photographs to get larger and larger as each photographer seeks his or her 15 minutes of fame. He was talking, primarily, about 20 x 30 and larger prints that seem to be the trend in galleries, up to the wall sized prints that are sometimes made.
I’ve been thinking that I’d love to hang a dozen or so prints from my SoFoBoMo project after I finish. I have a few options on prints sizes, namely:
- 6×9 : 9×12 frame
- 8×12: 12×16 frame
- 12×18 : 16×22/16×24 frame
- 16×24 : 20×28 frame
Mind you, these are not all of the options, especially frame sizes, but it’s what I’ve narrowed it down to. A couple of practical considerations are merited:
1. Wall space available.
2. Cost per frame.
I can get complete frame kits from Frame Destination for a very reasonable price and I have a completely blank wall in my office that is 9 feet tall, by about 10 feet wide, so I have 90 square feet to work with, or about 8.4 square meters. Actually, that’s a lot of space.
In looking at a few print sizes, I find myself somewhat drawn to smaller prints. They invite a closer look, so I’m pretty sure that the 16 x 24 is out, and I’m not so sure about 12 x 18. However, printing for 8×12, there is not really a paper size that I’ve found that really makes that worthwhile. Printing on A3 sized paper, which is 11×17, would require that I move up to a 16 x 20 frame, giving quite generous borders. The thinking then is, if I have to have a 16 x 20 frame, why not have a 12 x 18 print inside of that. Less generous borders, which I like. Not to tight, but just right.
Anyway, after all of that practical stuff, it still comes down to finding the right size print for the photograph. I think that I’ll have to order a couple of frames and try them out to see how they feel.
I am, however, interested in your experience, especially with 8 x 12, and how you framed them and which sized paper you used to print them on. I never dreamed that this SoFoBoMo would encroach on so many areas. It’s a good thing!
Apr 162008
Today marks the first day of the second half of my SoFoBoMo project. Assembly time, I think. I visited the glen again this morning, bringing my total up to 554 pictures. As I intend to have somewhere between 50 and 100, it’s time to start editing.
I’ve not visited the glen for about a week and, as expected, it is showing me a different face. More and more flowers are in bloom. The small stream that had a bit of vigor after several days of rain is now but a trickle. The various wildflowers along the trail are starting to peek up and show themselves. There is an abundance of activity in the trees. Lots of crows, a few raccoons. Even the inchworms are making an appearance, spinning their delicate silk lines here and there.
I could continue to visit, be perfectly happy doing it, and collect more and more pictures of a place that I’ve come to adore. However, now it is time to edit. There are decisions to be made and, as I’ve been remiss in making those decisions, I think that I have to stop shooting right now as it only makes the job of editing much harder.
I think that, as far as shooting, I’ll go back to the other garden, which is a riot of color and smells and is just begging to be photographed. So, that will be my entertainment as I prepare my book layout.
It’s taking on a life of its own. I can’t believe that it’s the 2nd half already!
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